[Arthur]
I looked at the phone screen and saw that the caller's name was Chris Anderson and hesitated for a few seconds.
Before I came to the White Star Lake pack, I left a message for my most trusted beta and best friend saying I was going out for a while. Then I never contacted him again.
Even when Paul and I used to go out on trips, I would keep in touch with Chris on the way, telling him where I was and occasionally dealing with some urgent paperwork. This was the first time I hadn't responded to his messages for more than 24 hours.
To get him to deliver what I wanted, I had to choose to slide to Answer and had the foresight to keep the receiver away from my ear.
"5 seconds, no more than 5 words, tell me where the fuck you're going to die!" he yelled at me hysterically.
I glanced at Steph, who was watching me with bated breath. I shook my head to show her it was fine, then walked out of the room.
"Chris,"
"Four words ...." He started counting down.
"I found my mate," I said.
"Don't fu*king talk about your fu*king mate." he was already pissed off out of his mind.
"Mind your mouth and calm down, man. I said I found my mate," I warned and reminded him again of the point.
Steph came out of the room, and she seemed to be worried about me after hearing Chris' angry rant earlier.
"Calm down? I've processed 760 files for you. And there are 305 files waiting for your authorization. Do you know that Stary Night Pack's new Alpha King and Luna Queen are arriving in two days? And now you're just telling me you found your mate..." He suddenly paused.
"Hold on, what did you just say? " After a second of silence, Chris finally picked his brain back up.
"Are you talking about the MATE as the MATE for wolves? Or you said the date, or you mean partner in human's expression or someone else?"
Well, it sounded he still needed me to get his brain back.
"I'm in my mate's pack," I replied.
"You know if you lie to me, I swear I will burn these damn files immediately, disband the office, and go on vacation with my Tracy!" Chris confirmed to me again, hinting by the way how much he didn't want to help me with the extra paperwork over the last few dozen hours.
"If I tried to lie to you, would you be able to detect it?" I asked.
"Oh, don't trick me! I just want to make sure you don't go back to that human woman or to some dangerous place because of that non-aging monster." Chris exclaimed.
I saw Steph raise her eyebrows, and she heard what she said.
I wasn't afraid she'd know about Lassie's existence.
But she might wonder about the things of me and Emily. My heart missed a beat considering she didn't fully trust me right now, even though nothing had happened between Emily and me.
If she knew that I had initially planned to use the Phoenix Blood to save Emily, she would have woolgathered, such as why I didn't choose to save Emily instead of her.
"You've already known your mate pretty well. You can just tell her about what happened between you and that human woman." Paul said.
Like Chris, I knew Paul had never liked humans very much, so they kept referring to Emily as 'that human woman.'
"I'm going to tell her on the way to take her to meet Emily," I said.
"Chris, do you have everything on the list I sent you?" I asked Chris and chose to turn on the speaker, so Steph could hear our conversation more clearly.
"Hell, that list. 10 Potent Antidote Serums, 20 Antidote Serums for Wolfsbane, a Hematology Analyzer and a Serum Separator, Doctor Carlton Leeds and Doctor ·Ansel Leeds. Are you going to open a hospital with your mate? Is your mate's pack in some kind of toxic swamp?" Chris asked.
Although he sounded disgruntled, I knew he would have what I wanted ready for me.
"Get a couple of guys, oh no, it better be you. Take them personally to the entrance of Leyte Mountain. I'll have Eric send a member to pick you up tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. See you soon, Chris," I said to Chris and hung up the phone without further ado.
"Is he your uncle? Or is he your family?" Steph said.
"If my beta heard your question, he'd throw a fit," I said with a laugh.
No wonder Steph thought so. Eric did sound like an old man.
"He's your beta? But he was just very ...." Steph trailed off.
"Rude to me?" I added the latter part of her comment.
I smiled again and explained to her, "He was acting so grumpy because I suddenly left the pack and never contacted him. That caused him to help me with a lot of work."
"Alright, who's that human woman? Another trustworthy friend? Or, your date?" asked Steph.
It didn't appear that I could avoid this now.
"She, her name is Emily, and she's my only human friend. I met her when I was studying in college in a human city 30 years ago, sorry, 29 years ago." I said.
Steph just nodded and then continued to look at me with her very intrigued gaze.
"Then she declined my invitation to date and married the human male she loved so much. She lived a happy life until her 48th birthday. It was liver cancer, an advanced stage. Well, next year, to be specific, on July 22, 2022, of the wolf calendar," I said.
Steph's hand covered her opening mouth in shock, then she grabbed my arm and asked me, "Did you notify her? Tell her to go to the hospital for a quick medical checkup."
Her reaction made me happy because what she was thinking and what I was doing coincided with this issue.
"I did. I already sent urgent emails to both her and her husband on my way here. If she hadn't noticed, the guy would have." I said.
["Near far,"
"Wherever you are."
"I believe that the heart does go on."
"Once more"
"You open the door"]
My goddess, speak of the devil. Here came Emily's call.
"Wow, My Heart Will Go On. That's a unique ringtone for a unique caller, Mr. Affectionate Alpha," she said sarcastically.
Her amber eyes moved from me to the blank wall. Still looked so adorable when she was jealous.
"What's your favorite song? I'll set it as your unique calling ringtone, too." I asked her with a smile before I slid to answer.
This song was Emily's favorite song. I had set it as the ringtone for her calls only-to remember my time in the human world and remind me that I still have someone to encourage me to wait for my destined soul mate.
"It was Perfect. Now it's Try, sang by Colbie Caillat." she shrugged.
"Sounds like your style. I like it," I nodded.
"You like what? Arthur, thank God you're finally answering the phone. Where are you?" Emily's voice came over the phone.