"This just ca up by your pack courier. Marked urgent, Alpha to Alpha."
The official Duskpaw ssage arrived while I was reviewing quarterly projections. I didn’t get to see the ssenger they sent personally, which is probably just as well. I’m not sure I could control myself around one of them looking for her.
Claire placed it on my desk with an unusual amount of hesitation. With a more serious, professional expression this ti in her eyes... than the cheek holding, smug look and occasional thumbs up she kept giving the first hour after we started work today.
She wouldn’t tell why she was in that good of a mood this morning. So much that she was being more like her off-work self than her ’robotic’ assistant mask.
But she did ask a single ti if I liked girls that are ’really into rock’.
"Seems like this is important."
Her tone made set aside the finance report imdiately. I broke the wax seal and caught Claire lingering there. It always made her nervous when she couldn’t spy on sothing digitally.
But I’d rather not let her see react to whatever they are trying this ti.
"That will be all for now. I’ll let you know imdiately if there is more."
She nodded and slipped out. Rarely would my assistant fight back if the matter had to do with werewolves. I’d earned that sort of trust, apparently.
The ssage itself was brief. Yet sohow dripping with more archaicentitlent than I’d seen in years. A demand, using that word, for the [imdiate return of the female werewolf Helene Duskpaw and the Duskpaw offspring she currently carries].
My fingers tightened on the thick paper. Creasing it as my vision tunnels and I let out a heavy, slow breath.
Pregnant. Citra... was pregnant.
Just thinking those words hit with unexpected force. I hadn’t considered that, even with all her wariness.
I set the paper down carefully, suddenly aware of how close my claws were to ripping it on their own. My jaw cracks as I open it slightly, pulling back all the little partial shifts in my form... to a ’normal’ human.
I lost control. She is going to have a child. And the Duskpaw pack are claiming ownership of both mother and baby. At least, that is the excuse they are using this ti.
I pressed the intercom, needing to possibly... prove it. And I could only think of so many ways to accomplish that beyond just calling her... but she might not even tell if I asked.
"Claire, pull up the New Beginnings program records for the past month."
"Right away."
While waiting, I reread the demand. The wording was precise enough, citing their pack laws regarding offspring conceived during a mate bond and wielding it like it was inviolable.
Traditionally, even with the interpack laws of the council, a child conceived during a bond belonged to the father’s pack. A patriarchal rule that had always disgusted .
From the mont I’d beco Alpha, I’d worked to modernize many of these outdated traditions within my own territory. The push for fertility technologies and a more robust understanding of our own dical science was my doing.
And for that I’ve earned the resentnt of more traditional packs, like the Duskpaw, in the process. They viewed my leadership - my very existence so deep and highly integrated into human society - as a threat to their way of life.
Now they wanted to invoke those sa antiquated laws to claim ownership over a woman and her unborn child. A woman that had been rejected and likely driven from their territory.
< My Mate! >
Demanding a person’s return as if she were nothing more than a vessel for their precious bloodline. Even if she was not my potential mate, I would bristle at the thought.
When Claire sent the files to my tablet, I opened it and checked the recent transaction statent for the account. Sothing I told myself I would never do when I created it.
A charge was there from Silverton Won’s Health Clinic, dated two days after Citra checked into the Starlight Suites. With Dr. Lang’s electronic signature on the approval.
The day of our first dinner at that food truck park. After she was hounded by rogues. Rogues probably sent by soone from her pack... soone like her forr mate.
I closed my eyes briefly while releasing the device before my wolf surged with so much protective rage. So much explosive anger that I couldn’t even think straight to count to ten.
This feeling... wasn’t just about Citra anymore. It was about her child as well. And what others wanted from it.
My mate’s child. As good as my own. Protect it like her.
To steady myself, I had to place both palms flat on my white slab desk. The densified polyr composite and reinforced floor underneath resisting the amount of pushing strength I used. An expensive but nearly indestructible surface.
Eventually, I tapped the intercom again.
"Claire, tell Luca to co to my office imdiately. And hold all my calls."
"Yes, boss."
Ten minutes later, which felt far too long, Luca entered without knocking. He could imdiately sense my tension. The scent that I’ve released is not being cleared quickly by the active ventilation system.
"What’s happened?"
I handed him the Duskpaw ssage without a word. His eyes widened as he read it.
"Is this true? That rogue is pregnant?"
"Her na is Citra."
I corrected him almost automatically. Trying not to be upset that his focus was on that and not their entitlent.
"I expect this is a yes, she is. But I also know that they have no evidence."
I think I know. Where she is right now, or who she might have told when she learned - I don’t know. Maybe it is what she is out there ’dealing with’.
My Beta set the ssage down, studying carefully. Gauging how upset I am before speaking.
"This complicates things."
"Does it?"
He sighed and eased his stance further. Trying not to look like he was challenging ... too much.
"Kyrie, you know it does. If she conceived during-"
"No. They have no claim. They lost it when she made it here, past our borders. And my city has facilities that make no sense to deny her if she needs them."
"...The council might disagree."
"Let them. I’ll draft a response and make it clear where we stand."
"And where exactly do we stand, Kyrie? You’ve been evasive about this woman since she arrived. The pack... is noticing."
I looked at his face and turned around. Stepping to the window, looking out at the city and the graying clouds. The territory I protected and the people and pack I lead.
For a mont, I considered continuing to keep my cards close. But my Beta deserved better. Luca does - and I needed him on my side for this.
I needed to know he would understand. That I had backup. Or... I needed to make a larger decision.
"She’s my fated mate."
I could see his shock in the small reflection in the window. And I wondered if that was anything like how I looked when I first learned, myself.
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