I stared at my phone for the umpteenth time, wondering why she wasn't calling.
"Is there a problem?" Lucius asked through our mind link.
I was dying to tell him I could speak, but I needed to find the right moment and make it seem as natural as possible. I didn't want to startle anyone.
"Nothing," I said and returned to reading through the documents in front of me.
It was the proposal Olivia had sent in that morning and Lucius had printed out a copy for me to go through and vet, but I couldn't seem to concentrate. She filled my mind.
Occasionally, I would feel a pang of guilt for thinking about another woman who wasn't my wife Selene, but after a while, it'll fizzle away. It seemed as if I was overreacting and slowly; I felt less guilty about the whole thing. Perhaps it was time for me to move on and heal.
"Are you expecting a call?" Lucius pressed further. "You've been staring anxiously at your phone all day,".
"It's nothing," I said firmly. "And I like the proposal," I said in an attempt to change the topic. "It seems doable,".
"It's similar to all the proposals we've been getting, Xavier," Lucius sighed. "There is no difference,".
"It may be similar to what we've seen, but consider how she has helped a lot of packs with her expertise. C'mon, Lucius, let's give her a chance,".
Lucius leaned back as he stared at me. "You like her, don't you?"
"W-What?" I stuttered.
The question threw me off guard.
"Is there anything that suggests that I do?" I retorted, composing myself.
"Not really," he rose to his feet. "It was a wild guess, but if you don't feel that way about her, then it's fine. She also requested that she'd like to visit the pack by the end of this week with her children and requested a guide. Something about wanting to show them around and at the same time, see how things are from a personal view,".
"Splendid," I said. "Just keep me posted on whomever you choose,".
"Yeah," he nods and starts for the door.
At the door, he turns and comes back to the room. He has a puzzled look on his face.
"Doesn't Olivia look familiar to you?" He asks "I feel like I've met her somewhere and somehow, but I can't seem to place my finger. Do you feel the same way?"
"No..." I shook my head.
All I felt when I was near her was a familiar rush of excitement. The kind I had experienced when I was getting married. To me, Olivia was a beautiful woman with two beautiful daughters.
"What of her children?" Lucius pushed. "Don't they seem familiar to you?" he asked again.
"No..." I narrowed my eyes at him. "Are they someone that I met before? Have they been to our pack in the past?"
After Selene died, I lost so much that it was a miracle I was still alive. I lost my night vision; I lost my smell and the better part of my memory. I couldn't remember what I did as a child until adulthood.
So, I was constantly worried that I might meet someone whom I'd known in the past and not be able to recognize the person.
"Ah!," Lucius exhaled "Don't worry. It's nothing, I just feel that one of her kids looks like you. It's probably in my head or something, but..." he trailed off.
"Okay..." I said slowly, staring at my Beta "I think it's high time you find a mate or something. It's the mating season too and I think you've been lonely for far too long,".
"This isn't a joke, Xavier," he gritted his teeth in annoyance. "The other day when you were with her kids...".
"That's enough, Lucius," I chuckled. "I know you've been trying to get me to remarry or something, but you don't have to go to these lengths to remind me that I need an heir. I know I do,".
"You're not listening to me," he hissed.
"I've told you that I would accept Belinda by the next full moon. It's better I marry someone who has been here all this while than marry out of the pack. Besides, she's waited for me for ten years,".
"For fuck's sake, Xavier," he yelled, "How can you marry the same woman whom you cheated with on your wife... the same person that made you drift apart from her? Make it make sense,".
"But Selene is dead," I argued. "And it's been three years now. I haven't been with a woman, Lucius. Don't you think that's enough punishment for me already?".
"You can do anything, but please, not with Belinda. What if Selene comes back or something?"
I sighed.
Selene's death affected Lucius much more than it did me. For months, he kept sending search parties after the other to look for her. He had insisted that even if she wasn't alive, they should find her body.
"Selene is not coming back, Lucius," I said quietly. "I know you miss her but...".
"If you marry, Belinda," he stopped me mid-sentence, a determined look on his face, "If you as much as sleep with her, Xavier. I'm going to leave. I would resign as Beta and move far away from here. Your life was handed back to you after several nights of uncertainty and if you decided to make the same mistakes as before... then there's no need to serve as your Beta. The choice is yours,".
He turned and left the room.
I watched him retreat, surprised at his outburst, and wondered why it was so. I tried to check what I said, wondering what might have triggered his outburst.
Running a hand through my hair again, I sank into the couch in my office, feeling the hotness on my neck.
Hastily, I ran to the window and checked... it was Selene's mark on my neck and it was glowing again. Sighing, I ran a finger around it. A moon priestess had told me that whenever someone with a similar fate was born into the world, I would feel it.
She had also said that because of how tangled our fates were, a simple rejection wouldn't suffice. In her words, there was no room for that as we were destined to be with each other for the rest of our lives and, of course, make each other miserable.
Sighing, I went back to the room and picked up my phone, contemplating if I should just call or keep waiting and see if she would call. As I dropped my phone to check the proposal again, it rang.
I snatched it up without checking the caller ID
"Hello,"
Olivia's voice came on strong immediately. She sounded breathless and immediately I became alarmed, and I almost felt my wolf, Colton, perk up.
"Alpha," she said, "We're under attack. There's a lot of them here and I don't know... it's chaotic out here. Can you send a rescue to us? Please...".
Every part of my body stiffened as I felt anger course through me. At that point, it felt like appearing at the hotel where they were and snap the necks of the attackers. I've never been so angry as I am now.
"Is there anything or someplace you can hide?" I asked, running out of my office in search of Lucius or Theo.
"There's no place to hide, Xavier. These men have destroyed every part of the hotel and they're shooting. I'm scared," she cried "My babies,".
"Hey, listen to me, Olivia," I felt my body wash with calm. "Nothing is going to happen, okay? As soon as I drop this call, I'm going to send the finest of our soldiers and they'll get you and the kids. In the meantime, did you travel with any herb or something?"
She paused for a minute before her voice came back strong. "There's dried Mugwort leaves with me," she said.
"Good," I nodded. "See if you can grind it into powder and spray it all over the room to throw your scent off. Okay?"
"Okay," she agreed.
"Now, look for anywhere to hide and we'll be there in a short while,". I said and hung up. As I turned to hurry towards Lucius's office, I saw him standing in the corridor, his eyes widened to their fullest extent.
"There you are," I sighed in relief. "That was Olivia on the phone now. She said we had attacked them. Mobilize our strongest soldiers and send them to the hotel immediately,".
Lucius shook his head as his lips trembled–"You..." he trailed off pointing his index finger at me "You can talk...".