Page 22 of Entering a New World

Chapter 7

Rhett

My Alpha was a fucking idiot.

My best friend was a tactless asshole.

My brother of the heart was going to get punched in the face.

Okay, no, I wouldn’t punch Gray in the face, but I would definitely shout at him once I got him all to myself.

Sighing, I looked at my mate’s sleeping form, worry rising inside of me. On one hand, I was glad he’d basically passed out after breakfast and before I’d needed to tell him about the fated mate thing. On the other hand, it was just a short reprieve. I’d have to explain it to him once he woke up again. I wasn’t foolish enough to think a nap would make him forget about it, but I sure as shit hoped so. I’d wanted to take things slow. Tell him about shifters first. Introduce him to a couple of my packmates. Maybe show him the town, and the pack’s different businesses. I’d wanted to show him how great things could be out here before breaching the subject of us being fated to spend our lives together.

Now, Gray had inadvertently destroyed my timeline.

Sighing, I stole another glance at my mate. He looked so incredibly peaceful like this. Buried under the thick down comforter, eyes closed, face relaxed and peaceful, his full lashes resting on his cheeks, his breathing slow and even.

The only thing I didn’t like was the fact that his cheeks were bright red and the heat emanating off of him was too warm for a human. Jasper had warned me about Levi getting sick, catching a cold or whatever. His immune system had already been weakened even before the storm had hit, and that combined with the hypothermia… apparently, it was an ideal place for bacteria and viruses to grow. I just hoped Levi hadn’t caught pneumonia or anything.

Jasper would be back in a couple of hours to talk to Levi and examine him again, but he’d agreed with me it was more important for Levi to rest.

He hadn’t even made it through breakfast. After drinking his tea and eating maybe half a plate of fruit and one small pancake, his eyes had started falling shut again and again, until he’d just drifted off.

I didn’t mind at all. Watching him was enough for the moment. Yeah, it was creepy, but seeing him safe and sound asleep calmed me and my wolf. We’d both been on edge ever since finding him, and even though Levi wasn’t where we wanted to have him the most—in our bed, in our arms—we were happy he wasn’t out there in the cabin anymore.

Speaking of the cabin, I needed to go have a look at the damage that had been done. Not just to the cabins, but I had to estimate how much damage the storm had done.

I’d have to send out teams to take stock of everything. We not only needed to check how many trees had fallen, but to make sure there weren’t any trees in danger of falling—and if there were, we needed to cut them down safely, so they didn’t hit unsuspecting hikers next year.

My mind was swirling with all the things I’d have to organize. I knew I needed to start now. It was my job. I wasn’t just the one responsible for the patrol schedule; I was the one responsible for our packlands, just like Diana was responsible for everything concerning the town and Oakley was responsible for everything concerning the pack members. Yes, ultimately Gray was the Alpha, and he had the last say in everything, but he had a whole team to make sure the pack was running smoothly and he didn’t run himself ragged.

Taking a deep breath, I looked at my mate one last time before getting up.

My wolf whined in protest, trying to dig his paws in, trying to keep me from taking even one step away from our mate.

We have responsibilities, I reminded him, but he didn’t want to hear it. I got it. It wasn’t as if I liked leaving Levi, but logically, I knew he’d be out for at least an hour or two. I could spend that time on work and be back when he woke up.

Nooo, my wolf whined, his howls echoing through my head. I felt his restlessness, his anger, but I pushed through and quietly closed the door to Levi’s room from the outside.

It wasn’t like we were leaving him. Not really. I wasn’t about to go out and check the forest myself. Nope. I’d be downstairs in my office, putting out a map, dividing our territory into sections and assigning different members to check each section. That alone would take a couple of days.

Then I’d have to evaluate their findings and come up with a plan on how to proceed, but it didn’t make sense to start on that now if we didn’t even know what we were dealing with.

Maybe me being out there with Levi had made the storm feel a lot worse than it’d really been.

Two and a half hours later, I knew the storm hadn’t just felt bad because my human mate had been out in it. It had been bad.

Already, reports started coming in, mainly pictures of roads blocked by fallen trees or branches.

I was busy calling the right people to clear the roads, to organize teams that would cut the trees down and trucks to transport them off to our timber plant.

“I’m surprised you’re here,” Gray said, standing in the doorway of my office. “Then again, maybe not. You’ve always taken your responsibilities extra seriously.”

Placing my phone on my desk, I waved him in. “I wanted to get things organized before Levi wakes up.”

Gray winced. “How did the fated mates conversation go? I’m sorry for putting my foot in my mouth. I got excited when I saw the two of you so relaxed and comfortable with each other. Your connection is obvious.”

“Is it?” Had Levi been relaxed with me?

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