Page 72 of Protected Promise
“But I don’t think I can. You don’t know how protective I am of those I love. I’m going to kill someone.”
Tobi bit her lip, but I could see she was giddy having heard him drop the L-word. I knew he was just upset. He couldn’t possibly mean he was in love with me. Not this soon at least. I hoped it would happen someday, though. I knew I already cared a great deal for him. Enough to fight for my life to remain by his side.
“I’ve heard that some of the packs are refusing Challenges for true mates. You guys are true mates,” Tobi pointed out.
“That’s what Dereck said too. That’s why I need to talk to Kyle.”
“So what are you waiting for? Call him,” she urged.
“It can’t hurt, I guess.”
I didn’t actually want to fight anyone to the death, but I would do whatever was necessary.
Landon picked up his phone and dialed Kyle’s number. It was still a little surreal that he was an Alpha. When it was just the two of us it was so easy to forget that, but being back here in his territory was like seeing him in a whole new light.
“Kyle? Hey, do you have a minute to talk? I have a problem that I’m hoping you can help me with.”
Landon dove in to recount what had happened since our return.
My head was swimming with the realization it had only been a few hours yet so much felt like it was changing quickly. I’d met the Pack. They didn’t exactly seem thrilled with our announcement, but I had held my head high and refused to be discouraged by it.
I was going to have to win them over, but that was okay. I didn’t mind putting in the work, and Landon was right, a lot of the things I’d been studying in hospitality included dealing with people and defusing hostile situations. I had a feeling that those lessons were going to come in handy around here.
The fact that he was letting me remodel our quarters was huge for me. I was so excited that I’d gotten started right away. I had a million different ideas for the place.
But the thing that kept resurfacing the most was the memory of the old run-down hotel that was near the highway. I knew there wasn’t much of a chance I could resurrect it, but I wanted badly to at least try. I would have to bide my time on that one and find out more about the place and what Landon was considering doing with it. If solid offers were coming in then it might be more beneficial to the Pack to sell it, but I also sensed that my mate was a proud Alpha who would rather do almost anything, before selling off Pack land.
“Wait, are you serious? Can I put you on speaker?”
I could have been listening to his conversation, but I had zoned out with visions of what that hotel must have looked like in its glory days.
Landon set the phone down on the table and Tobi and I leaned in to really listen.
“Okay, can you repeat that, Kyle?”
“Sure, so Thomas and I along with a few other packs have submitted a notice to the Grand Council that until the Challenges have been reviewed and reconsidered for an exemption of true mates that we will not be accepting challenges against true mates. They have not addressed the issue whatsoever. Therefore, we have agreed that until they do, we will hold the course—no challenges for true mates. Not every pack has signed onto this, so really it’s up to you.”
I didn’t dare let myself get my hopes up, but it was clear Tobi and Landon considered it a done deal.
“What do I need to do to make this happen?”
Kyle chuckled. “I suppose you would want to before the she-wolves descend. There aren’t many Alphas unmated at the moment. Sawyer’s about it and I think the ladies gave up on him years ago.”
Landon groaned. “We only arrived today with seven of them already here waiting. They didn’t even know about Kaitlyn yet. At least one of them has already requested a challenge. Of course, I denied it explaining we hadn’t even given an official announcement. Truthfully, I don’t even know what that means or what I need to do, but Dereck mentioned it too, so I ran with it.”
“Nice. Yes, you will need to just send an email to the Grand Council members explaining that you have found your true mate, and have sealed a bond with her. But first, make sure you submit the letter denying true mate challenges. I’ll send you a copy of what Thomas and I sent to them. You can just update your pack information on it and then send that to them. Then afterwards, you can let them know about your mate. After that, it’s really up to you, Alpha.”
“Thank you, Kyle. You have no idea how relieved I am by this.”
“I really should have explained all of this while we were at the ARC. I honestly didn’t think about it. I’m glad Dereck had you reach out to me. He’s a good man.”
“He is. I’m considering asking him to be my Beta.”
“Wow, are you growing that quickly?”
“Not really, but right now I’m a twenty-four hour Alpha and we’ve only been home a few hours and it’s already…”
“Driving you insane because you want alone time with your mate?”
