Page 146 of The Married Alpha And His Arrow: Vol 1

Neither Frank nor I spoke for a moment. Frank broke the silence, “I’d like to apologize. I shouldn’t have bugged you or told you to stay away from my son.” I agreed, “No you shouldn’t have. That’s not why I’m here.” Frank added, “I’m also sorry about your family, and that my words picked at an open wound.” I waved my hands, “You had no way of knowing that. It’s just a sore subject for me. Again, that’s not why I’m here.”

Frank gently asked, “Then why are you here? Chase said I had to stay away from you.” I teased, “He could hardly hold this against you. I came to you, and I told him I wanted to talk to you. He’s aware I’m here.” Frank pressed, “Why are you here then?”

I sat in a chair then questioned, “Can you tell me about Sophia’s father?” Frank was visibly surprised, “You want to know about Sophia?” I nodded, “Well, not her. It’s her dad I’m curious about. My brother told me a little about her. God, I should back up. Ok here’s the deal. I don’t want to know Chase’s situation that he and Haley are trying to fix. I know by the way you’ve been acting lately you figured out what Chase and I are to each other now. The complete one eighty sealed it for me. So, I don’t want to know until it’s dealt with.”

Frank frowned, “That’s why you haven’t moved into the pack? That’s why you haven’t been marked by my son?” I shrugged, “Being marked is Chase’s deal. He wants to have his situation handled before then. I’m not totally against being marked, but I’m not sure I’m ready yet. When I am, I’ll tell him. Then it’s his choice to keep waiting or not. Again, that’s not why I’m here.”

Frank snorted, “You know he won’t confirm it to me that you’re his mate, but you straight up told me.” I admitted, “I don’t have a problem with you knowing.” Frank asked, “Who do you have a problem with knowing?”

I groaned, “I don’t want Haley to know I’ve met him yet. I like our bubble. I’m not a fragile person, but I just want to be happy. I don’t want whatever is hanging over Chase to get in the way of our relationship. Being in a steady non emotionally abusive relationship is new for me. I’m protective of how happy I feel right now. Again, that’s NOT the point.”

Frank studied me being agreeing, “All right. Sophia’s father was a good man. A bit of a wild soul before he met Martha, Sophia’s mother.” I interrupted, “What happened to her, Martha? No one has mentioned her to me.”

Frank sighed, “She passed not long after Sophia was born. We aren’t really sure what happened. Allister didn’t share.” My brain found that odd. I asked, “That’s her father’s name? Allister?” Frank nodded, “Yes.”

I pushed, “What illness killed him?” Frank sighed, “It was a simple mistake. As wolves we do runs with silver in our system. It’s not straight silver but we want our pack to be able to know what that feels like. Allister had made his pack do them more often than most of us. His shot didn’t get diluted enough. He took on too much silver, and it made him susceptible to illness. He got cancer.”

I sat back, “No one found that odd? That he was basically poisoned?” Frank shrugged, “He would’ve been fine if he hadn’t gotten cancer.” I sighed, “So, you didn’t find it odd.” Frank stared at me, “I’m thinking your people do find it odd.” I evaded a bit, “I do.”

Frank sighed explaining, “Allister put the doses together himself. I always… well I shouldn’t speak ill of the man. He’s dead.” I pressed, “You always what?” Frank ran a hand through his hair, “I think his daughter reached an age she could take over. He’d lost his mate, and he wanted to join her. I thought it was his way of killing himself.”

I could see why he would think that. His first mate had died, and he probably thought about joining her. I admitted, “I still think it’s odd. Did he get cancer treatments?” Frank nodded, “Yes, they didn’t work.” I pointed out, “Why would he bother with treatments if he was trying to die?”

Frank opened his mouth and shut it several times. Then said, “If someone killed Allister, then we’ve let them get away with it far too long.” I went back to the comment that touched on what I was trying to find out, “You said he was a bit wild before he met Sophia’s mother.”

Frank laughed, “He enjoyed his fair share of women. Even some she wolves in his pack, which Alpha’s tend to avoid unless there are direct conversations about behavior when the Luna is found. Alpha Eric was brutally honest with the people he was with.”

He added, “Anyway, Allister had a knack for coming across she wolves as they went into heat.” I was stunned, “Doesn’t that mean they have a mate?” Frank winced, “Not always. It means they used to have one at the very least. Mated she wolves go into heat even if their mate has died.” I frowned, “So, he wanted kids?” Frank seemed to struggle to find the right words, “It’s not exactly that. The pheromones secreted by a she wolf in heat are VERY hard for wolves to resist, especially Alpha Males.”

Haley was going to have a field day with that. I pressed forward, “Do you know who the she wolves were? The ones that he came across.” Frank said, “I know who one of them was. She was in his pack. Her mate was a warrior who’d died literally the night before she went into heat.”

Seriously? How many people conveniently died in this pack? I asked, “Was his death suspicious?” Frank answered, “No, he was on patrol and their guard unit was overwhelmed. He died protecting his mate’s little sister.” Sophia’s pack seemed to have bad luck in spades.

I shook myself, “Who was she? The woman who went into heat.” He looked away as if thinking before he answered, “Her name was Tenley Olsen.” I questioned, “What happened to her?” Frank frowned, “After her heat she was embarrassed. She didn’t get pregnant and asked Allister if she could leave the pack. He tried to get her to stay and told her it was nothing to be embarrassed about. She insisted that she wanted to go. She ended up joining another pack. I believe somewhere in Illinois.”

I was disappointed, “So you don’t know how to get a hold of her.” Frank frowned, “I could ask around. Why?” I shrugged, “I just want to talk to her. Do you know anyone else that Allister was with before Sophia’s mom?” Frank’s eyes narrowed as he replied, “They weren’t from his pack.”

A thought formed in my brain. I added, “Wait, the sister. The one her mate saved. What happened to her?” Frank scoffed, “Opal.” He didn’t like her, that much was clear. I laughed, “Opal Olsen?” Frank smirked, “Yeah, it’s an absurd name. She never met her mate, but after Beta Alfred Junior’s mother passed the Beta mated and marked her. She’s still there.”

I waved my hands, “Wait, Beta Alfred’s mother died too? That’s a lot of dead higher ups in one pack.” Frank frowned, “Yes, actually. It is. I could ask Opal about Tenley. That would be the easiest way to get in contact with her.” I didn’t want that at all. I quickly said, “No, I’m trying to be more covert about it than that.” Frank raised an eyebrow, “Why?” I responded, “I just am.”

Frank questioned, “Have you met Sophia?” I shook my head, “Oh umm no. I just... I guess I empathize with her. I lost my parents too, but I had Heath. She has no one.” Frank hummed, “That girl has more than she realizes. It’s hard for those of us with Alpha blood to know who our friends are sometimes. We think we know everything. I know I do, and so do my sons. They are wrong though. So is Sophia. It’s part of being young. You think you’ve got everything figured out. You just don’t. One day they will look back and go ‘man, I was an idiot.’ They will all be right too.”

I pointed out, “I’m sure Sophia has a lot of pressures Chase and even Cameron don’t. Even though he’s not your firstborn son, no one opposes Cameron ruling a pack. I’m sure plenty of people oppose Sophia because she’s a woman. Wolves are very antiquated in how things run.”

Frank laughed, “You’re very smart and you are also right. Sophia has had her share of trouble because she’s a woman.” I continued leading him to water, “A fact her father would’ve known. Did he love her? Or was she just his legacy?”

Frank assured me, “He loved her. She was his little Princess. He always wanted a big family, but when her mother died, he just couldn’t think of having pups with someone else.” I nodded. I got that. I couldn’t think of a family with anyone but Chase.

I clicked my tongue, “So, he didn’t get a second chance mate then.” Frank shrugged, “He didn’t go looking, so he might have and just never knew.” I found myself curious, “Did you go looking?” Frank laughed, “No, I wasn’t looking for Nadine, but I’m damn we found each other. I needed her.”

He studied me, “I can guess why you want to track down Tenley. There’s no way she had the Alpha’s pup. She’d have stayed. Her pup would’ve taken care of and wanted for nothing.” I argued, “Even if Tenley understood the Alpha couldn’t resist her, which I think is bullshit, she was still grieving the loss of her mate. It’s not like she was drunk, but her choice was still stripped away. She probably wanted control. Did he make her get a pregnancy test?”

Frank was stunned silent again. Eventually he admitted, “No, he didn't. He trusted her word. You certainly have a way of putting things don’t you? I think you and your friend in Black Mountain will shake things up.” Yes, we would. I said, “A woman’s perspective never hurts. Plus, I study people often. I know a lot about the way people think.”

I paused then added, “I’d like this to stay between us. I’ll even keep you in the loop about what I find.” Frank laughed, “You mean you don’t want Chase to know about this.” I sighed, “It’s not that. It’s... if I can find family for Sophia I want to give it to her. I don’t know what her ally status is with Chase. He tenses whenever we go into her territory. That’s where my P.O Box is, which I’m sure you know since that turned into a complete fiasco the last time I went.”

Frank cut in, “Fiasco is word one you could use. I find it lacking, but it’s still a fitting word.” I smiled, continuing, “I know Chase has got a lot on his plate. This just seems like something I can do. Chase wouldn’t understand it like I can. If I could put some family in her life, then I’d like to do that. She shouldn’t feel as alone as she must feel right now. Or as Haley would say, I’m projecting how I would feel onto Sophia. I’m right though.”

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