Page 33 of Alpha Wolf's Arranged Bride
I park near the café, and all of us go inside. There’s a table full of women in the far corner, and they beckon Scarlett over. Jarrod joins a nearby table of kids who are happily tucking into cookies and cake. I watch Scarlett sit down with the others before I head to a booth out back.
Celeste, Dorian, and Galant are waiting for me. All of them appear relaxed and happy.
“Good morning, Rex,” Celeste says, getting up to kiss my cheek. “How are your first few days of marriage?”
“Great, thanks,” I answer with a smile.
Galant chuckles. “I know that look, boy. You’ve got woman troubles, and it’s keeping you up at night.”
“You got me,” I reply. “It’s taking time for my bride and I to get used to each other.”
“It’s always like that, son,” Dorian says as I sit down. “But early days yet. The two of you will figure it out.”
“I hope so.”
“I had news from your mother,” Celeste says. “She’s in Rio and sent me a few pictures. She’s sad she couldn’t make yourwedding, but looking forward to meeting your bride when she gets back.”
“That’s good,” I say. “So long as she’s keeping her mind off Father’s passing.”
A brief, respectful silence falls, and the others bow their heads a little.
“What news from Eccles?” I ask, trying not to seem too eager.
“Commerce and trade,” Dorian says. “I’ve been emailing with a fellow named Franklin and his head of logistics, Danny.”
I know them. They were in charge of resources five years ago, too.
“How’s it going?” I ask.
“Really good,” Dorian answers. “We’ve had a few of our trucks go in, and we’ve been well-compensated. The goods they’ve sent to us are of high quality.”
“That’s excellent news,” I reply. “Anything from the alpha?”
“Not directly, no, but an official letter stated they may want to strengthen the alliance with more marriage ties.”
“That can only be a good thing,” I consider.
The others go on to talk a little about the goods from Eccles, and I only loosely keep track of the conversation.
This is how we want pack meetings to go. The more boring it is, the safer we are. No threats, no attacks, and no drama.
So why does it feel so fucking fake?
We talk a little more about general pack business, and Dorian suggests taking down some of our defenses.
“We really should,” he says. “Since we have peace now, we shouldn’t waste resources on having warriors out on the perimeter.”
“No,” I say as gently as possible. “Keep our guard up, at least for now.”
“It could be seen as threatening,” Dorian counters. “As if we don’t trust the treaty.”
“Do they have their guards up?” I ask pointedly.
“Yes,” Dorian admits.
“Then ours stay up, too.”
My phone suddenly buzzes in my pocket, and I drop out of the conversation to check my messages. There is only one, and it’s from the secure number that only a Shadow would use. It’s a code. Something that couldn’t be deciphered if anyone saw it.
