Chapter 1 - Prologue
Benjamin
“I didn’t think you’d be waving your cell phone around like a teenager all the time, the only thing missing is you swinging your legs in the air,” remarks Alexander.
I look at him as he sits in his armchair on the other side of my desk.
“You’ve clearly seen too many movies with Elena,” I remark, slightly annoyed.
“What? I didn’t write that much with Elena when I met her,” he says and I want to punch him in the face for his grin.
“You’ve also been together most of the time since you met. You’ve had the happiness I dream of because your dad isn’t trying to be the alpha again and also because your beta didn’t just run off without a word,” I reply curtly.
“Has he still not contacted you?” asks Alexander, sounding worried.
"No.”
I leave the comment about my beta Jonas in the room without mentioning that I would love to rip his head off.
He’ll have his reasons, he’s a wolf like us, nothing will happen to him, but he could at least have spoken up.
“How long has he been gone?” Alexander asks.
“No idea,” I answer curtly, although I know the days exactly, even the hours.
Alexander laughs. “Relax, it won’t be long before your mate is with you,” he tries to reassure me.
I nod. Soon she will finally be with me. Soon I will finally be able to touch her and make everything she has written in these messages come true.
What we both want.
“Have you told your father yet?” asks Alexander curiously.
I look at him. “Not yet. You know how he’ll react.”
Alexander sighs and leans back. “Crazy, isn’t it? That he still thinks so old-fashioned”
I agree with him. My father is old school, he thinks wolves are much better than humans. Actually, he thinks all other shapeshifters and humans are worse. Like we wolves are destined to rule the damn world.
Above all, however, he detests the mateship between man and wolf. As if that were absurd, new or just a horror story.
“She is my mate and I will bring her here, no matter what he says,” I declare resolutely.
Alexander nods. Then he laughs. “It’s not like you have a choice, is it? To be honest, I’m surprised you haven’t gone mad yet."
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Then you could run two companies. But who would look after your Elena then?” I ask pointedly and have to laugh when he growls softly.
“To be honest, I’d enjoy watching Elena spit you out after she’s eaten you,” he threatens me with an amused grin.
I shake my head in resignation and raise my hands in surrender.
Sophie and Elena are best friends, but their characters are as different as night and day. Elena seems cold and cool at first glance.
She keeps her feelings under wraps, whereas Sophie clearly shows her feelings, her friends and also her fears.
We only spent a little time together, but I could read her feelings as if she were an open book.
“And how did you tell Elena again that we’re wolves?” I ask, while I think long and hard about how to tell Sophie.
We are mates, our touch will soothe her, that’s what she’s there for when I tell her.
“You know what that was like,” he growls quietly.
I have to smile. Alexander didn’t tell Elena directly. No, she found out by accident when he turned. He lost control of his wolf because he thought his beta Christian was interested in her.
She traveled to him especially to tell him that she loves him too and wants to be with him. When she found him, she saw how he had changed and he was forced to explain it to her because she wanted to run away.
An understandable reaction for people who don’t know what’s going on.
Lost in thought, I notice Alexander watching me with amusement.
“Don’t worry, Benjamin”.
“Don’t worry about it,” I repeat in frustration.
Alexander points to my cell phone. “Elena didn’t text me that she loves me after we saw each other once,” he tries to encourage me.
I sigh and look at her message. She’s written it and I want to say it back. But not like this - not by message.
She deserves more. So much more.
“I can’t leave here as long as Jonas isn’t here, otherwise I would have flown to pick her up long ago,” I explain.
“I know, Benjamin, I know,” Alexander replies calmly.
“It’s so complicated, what if she rejects me?” I ask, and my wolf howls at the idea that this could happen.
“She won’t. Elena hasn’t freaked out either, and if she does, I’ll send Elena after her,” he replies.
I have to laugh. Alexander and I were in town for a business meeting at InnovaraTech Solutions. The little businesswoman we thought was a man when we were emailing back and forth with her was her - Mrs. McMackenzie. And she did everything, but she didn’t make it easy for him.
It was wonderful to see how nervous he was for the first few hours, like a puppy seeing a woman for the first time. But then he forced me to follow him into that bar - or rather, I tried to stop him from ripping out the throats of anyone who just spoke to her.
As soon as we entered the bar, her scent hit my nose - a scent that was unique and wonderful like no other. The scent of my mate sent by the goddess.
Sophie.
But I had to wait. People need time. I couldn’t just follow the scent and drag them here. With a shapeshifter it would have been like that, primitive and simple. But not with humans.
I had to trust that Alexander and his mate Elena would somehow manage it. And he did - only the goddess knows how. And we ended up at this weird dog show with Sophie, Elena and her friend Jasmine.
She was so warm, so open. And she felt it too. Her annoying little dog barked at me as if he had something against me. But he loves her as much as I love her. So I understand that. He would do anything for her to protect her, just like I would. Maybe he thinks I’m a danger. Who could blame him?
Who would let the girl go with the wolf?
“What about Owen, can’t he do that?” Alexander asks, snapping me out of the memory of her beautiful smile as she looked at the other puppies with her dog in her arms.
I look at him, confused. Alexander shrugs his shoulders. “I know he can’t cover for you as well as Jonas, but before you wait any longer? Elena said the wait was driving her crazy and I should have told her straight away.”
“I’ve already told you, I have to be here and I’m definitely not going to tell her on the phone or via text message,” I reply. Alexander nods, because he knows I’m not the type.
There’s a knock at the door and we both look surprised, as we had deliberately said that we didn’t want to be disturbed.
Owen comes in and looks kind of nervous. “We have a problem,” he begins.
Alexander and I look at him in confusion, and the thought of leaving Owen in charge of the company, let alone the pack, for even a short time quickly fades.
“Something happened in the forest, you have to see it, Alpha...” he finally explains.
