Olivia Blake
Caleb had called for a pack meeting a week into January. We hadn't had one of those since he'd been appointed Alpha and I'd made my run for it away from him, only to be caught and dragged back to him by Johnathan. The Beta today, though, didn't have the same edge as he stood next to Caleb front and centre. He looked nervous. that was odd for Johnathan, generally a pretty competent guy in his role – at least I thought so.
Caleb turned toward John and said something just between them. Again John's face winced... what was going on?
I put a hand to my stomach as I sat in a chair next to my mother. She'd insisted on sitting beside me, nagging in my ear about the pup and how I wasn't as ready as I should be.
“Mother....” I sneered at her.
“You are so fly by the seat of your pants, Olivia. How do you not have a nursery set up yet?”
I sighed with a shrug. “Why don't you ask Caleb?”
My mother's mouth shut at the mention of him. She would never ever ask him that and it was almost amusing to me. We sat in silence waiting for the meeting to start. This left my mind wandering to the idea of a nursery... I had assumed there would be no need for nursery till the pup was a bit older. It wasn't like Caleb would be letting our newborn offspring out of his sight.
When I looked up he was walking toward me. I straightened in the chair, not expecting his sudden approach. He leaned over me so his mouth was at my ear and I felt the eyes of our pack watching us. I didn't know what hundreds of eyes felt like till that moment.
“John thinks it's a good idea if you stand up here with us.”
“What?” I moved my head to look up at him.
The corner of his mouth twitched. “For appearances.”
This didn't make any sense. My brow furrowed with the confusion. “Since when does my presence matter?”
He took my wrist before our conversation got heated and led me to the small stage area that was set up in Silvermoon's recreation hall due to the bad weather outside that day. Caleb dropped his hold on my wrist and I glanced out to the room of eyes. this time it felt worse than them watching the Alpha talk in my ear. I put my hands nervously to my belly and looked to Caleb as he stepped in front to start the meeting.
The pup kicked my ribs and I muttered an ow.
Caleb looked over his shoulder to me and then snapped his fingers at one of the male patrol members behind me- one got up and gave me his chair.
“Thanks.” I rubbed my lower back as I sat in the chair.
Once satisfied, he turned back to the pack and cleared his throat, glancing over the note paper in his hands. My eyes fell on a Sara in the crowd, she'd been sitting a couple rows back from me and my mother but she hadn't said a word to me. I started to wonder if I'd pissed her off that bad. Caleb took up a lot of my time. it was true but he wasn't always around during the day. Maybe I hadn't made enough of an effort to stay friends with her. After the meeting, I decided I would go and talk with her...
“Thank you all for coming,” Caleb's deep voice soothed the room into silence. He had a way of projecting his voice that made others want to listen. God, he was hot. How had I run away from that.... a small smile budded as I stared at his ass in jeans.
“I know it's not typical to be having winter pack meetings but we're dealing with a bit of a situation and we feel it's necessary to inform everyone of it.” A murmur spiked before he began to speak again. “At the end I will answer any questions but for the moment, I ask you just to hear me out.” Caleb was right on the ball, how could you not want to hear him out?
“Some of you may know, my niece and her mother; Lara have been staying in Silvermoon's territory for a few months now. I pulled them out of a dangerous situation and they needed protection. Now, Lara's mate has made failed attempts to threaten and push back against me. This is a man not deserving of a mate and no child should be living in the conditions he was providing for them.”
I looked to Johnathan as Caleb continued to explain how he was dealing with Jackson. The Beta had sweat pouring down his forehead and he was soon wiping at it with his palm. I didn't find the lights on us overly hot, so it left me wondering what was going on with him.
“On a last note, Lara has asked to become a member of Silvermoon so she may fully commit to our pack. I see no reason not to grant her the status but of course, we need to do a pack vote. There are ballot boxes at the back of the room for when you are on your way out.” He paused as the room stared at him with an energy that unsettled me. Some members even looked pissed off. “I'll take any questions now.”
Members stood from their chairs and I started to count but stopped at thirty.
Caleb pointed to a nearby male. “Go ahead.”
“I don't like to speak ill, Alpha Wyler but if I'm understanding correctly, you've willingly put our pack in danger of invasion. For a she-wolf that isn't part of our pack and now you're asking if she can join Silvermoon when her dangerous mate is still running loose?”
Caleb stared at him as the room turned into agreements and shouts. His eyes soon cascaded over the angry room and it startled me up and out of my chair.
“Enough!” He finally boomed above the pack and they settled, but not like they had at the beginning of the meeting. “I know how this must seem but they aren't strangers to me, this is a child and her mother.”
“We don't owe them our safety!” Someone shouted from the middle of the room.
I looked to Johnathan and finally realized why he'd been sweating. they'd both been full on anticipating a fight with our pack about Lara and Krissy!
It infuriated me to know he hadn't bothered to warn me. He just pulled me up on stage as a tool to remind everyone how pregnant his Luna was and they should give him some sympathy. I walked across the stage to John as Caleb battled back the constant rebuttal.
“You knew they wouldn't like this?”
John didn't reply to me as he continued to stare out at the crowd as they ate my mate up.
“John.”
His eyes came to me and his expression said everything.
My face flushed with anger. “I'm out of here!” I rushed off the stage and heard Caleb call my name. Here I was, running out of another one of Caleb Wyler's pack meetings...
I didn't bother to find my coat hanging along one of the many racks and just stepped into the blizzard to walk my ass back to the pack house. It was only one, very long, uphill climb along an icy road. I'd be fine. That's what I'd told myself the first half of it.
Finally, his truck pulled up beside me.
“Liv!” Johnathan called to me once the window rolled down. I glanced in the truck and realized my mate wasn't with him. He'd sent his Beta to pick me up. It angered me more. “Get in the car, Liv.”
“No.” I sneered, pulling the sweater around my hands as I kept walking.
“Shit, Olivia! Can you just get in the damn truck?”
I stopped from his rough tone. “What do you care?”
“Caleb is all ready to roll heads. Do you want to piss him off more?”
I laughed with a roll of my eyes. “You both knew this was gonna happen and neither of you warned me!”
“Everything will be fine, Liv. Caleb will get it under control.” Did he believe that? Because it sounded weak in my opinion. “Just get in... for your pup.”
I finally stopped walking and decided to get out of the cold for my baby's sake. Johnathan sighed in relief. “Thank you.”
I looked out the window as he drove me home. Once we got in front of the pack house, I turned to Johnathan. He'd been expecting to drop me off like his job entailed but I wasn't going to let him off that easy.
“Are they going to overthrow Caleb?”
“Are you joking?” Johnathan smiled.
I stared at him with the panic I felt.
“The only way for Silvermoon to challenge Caleb is if every qualified male here voted to match him. They're not going to do that, okay? That's insanity--”
“But he's violated their safety. They could.”
Johnathan looked out the window and shook his head. “Who's going to actually have the balls to challenge Caleb? You've seen him shifted. It's not going to be me, Olivia, I promise you.”
I swallowed hard. “I can't deal with this. I mean look at me.... why did he bring them here!”
John cringed as my eyes started to tear. “He was trying to help. I get it...”
“He's made a mistake, hasn't he, John?” I shook my head through the realization. “Hasn't he!”
Johnathan leaned back with his stiff shoulders and pained face. “Liv...”
“Don't lie to me!” I lashed out and hit his shoulder. “We were best friends!”
His eyes went to me through his hesitation.
“Look at me.” I pointed to my bulging stomach. “Since when has being mated and pregnant been my goal in life? I need to know what you think will happen. Caleb will never tell me.”
“Jackson's planning to invade. The wolf we got in the woods....”
“What wolf?” I blinked.
He snorted. “Shit.”
“Johnathan!”
“Look, Olivia!” He turned to me sharply and grabbed my arm. “You can't tell Caleb I'm telling you this, okay? If he finds out I told you...”
“I won't say anything,” I promised.
“Caleb tracked and got the wolf on Christmas day. We've locked him up since, questioned him...”
I winced from what that really meant.
“Jackson's going to invade Silvermoon in a week or so. He's got a pack of rogue wolves after bloodshed. We're not sure on exact numbers.”
I cupped my mouth in shock. I'd had no idea. Caleb hadn't said a word. in fact, he'd done a scary good job of not showing any bit of a clue that he was dealing with the threat of invasion. My hands came to my belly and I rubbed the kicking pup. I knew then, I had to plan a way out for the baby and I, and it wasn't going to include my mate.