Huntress and The Alpha

9. There’s No “I” In “Team”

Quinn

Emerging from my office later, I felt distinctly drained. My initial excitement from my wolf sensing our mate had run through. I’d run around my head coming up with plans, each more fantastical than the next. None of which were workable.

So, I made my way down the pack house in search of sustenance. We set our pack house across six floors. It was a huge angular, modern building. I had rebuilt it a few years back as the old one was neither big enough nor modern enough to fit our pack’s needs. I had a well-known LA architect design it. He was also a wolf and understood what we needed. It had all the modernization and luxury we could fit in.

The whole back of the house faced the forest with walls that were almost entirely glass. There was a massive clearing where we had gatherings and barbeques. We also had a pool and a few hot tubs in that space. We worked hard. Therefore we should be able to play hard. Our land abutted the Angeles National Forest to the North of LA, so we had plenty of room for our wolves to roam.

I reached the ground floor and looked around for signs of life. A few wolves lay sprawled out on the snug, low seating area, engaged in Call of Duty. They tipped their heads and raised their hands in my direction. The rest of the area here comprised a huge, sprawling kitchen-diner. The only separate room was the larder, which housed five more fridge freezers and a well-stocked pantry. Wolves had a high metabolism and ate a lot.

I spotted my guys at the counter. We rarely, if ever, used the formal dining room that was up one floor. My beta Grady and my gamma Duncan made the huge island they sat around look small. The tantalizing smell of garlic bread and lasagna struck me in the face. Charlotte, a young she-wolf, and our junior cook unloaded more side dishes from the hot plate. She was an apprentice to Grace, the head cook, who was like the pack’s surrogate grandmother. The staff here were members of the pack but also paid employees. There were no omegas forced into modern slavery here.

My stomach gave away my entrance with a huge growl, and I rushed to scoop up some lasagna before the animals ravaged it.

“The alpha lives!” Grady clapped me on the back and almost sent me into the food.

Grady was a huge, thick-set wolf with dark brown eyes and a neck as wide as his thigh. He was bald and wore the only hair he could grow on his head in a dark beard. Covered in tattoos, he looked like he ought to head up a motorcycle gang. He was overly strong for a beta and loved a good fight. It was amusing to see how terrified my human employees were of him when he visited my LA offices.

“f**k sake, Grady! Watch what you're doing,” I grumbled, hungry and pissed off, “Some of us have been working all day.”

He grasped his chest. “You cut me, Alpha. I’ve been doing beta duties all day.”

“More like Call of Duty all day,” Duncan said from his stool as he dug into his lasagna.

“Hey, that was my lunch break.” Grady grinned, totally unabashed to have been caught gaming.

“What break was it when you chatted that omega up in the village square?”

“Ah well, she had the information I needed,” said Grady, around a mouthful of garlic bread.

“Oh yeah, information on what? Where to find the STD testing center?” said Duncan.

Grady ignored the last jibe and refilled his plate to the brim.

Duncan was Grady’s opposite in every way. He was tall and wiry, built for speed, as he liked to say. He was fast and knew how to use people’s strength against them. He had short, dirty blond hair and blue-gray eyes, giving him an all-American boy-next-door look. He was dressed in suit pants, and his dress shirt sleeves rolled up. He’d been at our offices downtown this afternoon. Duncan worked at Ryan Industries with me, heading up our tech development department. He was sharp and good with people. It helped keep our heads and shoulders above the competition.

“Listen, guys,” Grady said through another mouthful of garlic bread. “It’s my birthday in two days, and I want to hit the town.”

Before I could mount a negative response, he pinned me with his stare.

“Listen, man. You’ve been working all hours recently. You’ve hardly let us help aside from the things we already do, and you need to relax. Plus, it’s my birthday, so you must.”

It was true, all I did was work at the minute, and it wasn’t fair to bow out of his birthday.

“Okay,” I replied, resigned to my fate for the sake of one of my best friends.

“Yes!” Grady leaped up and high-fived us both.

“On the subject of delegation,” said Duncan as we watched Grady do a ridiculous happy dance. “I really think you need to consider having a pack secretary. You’re drowning in work here. You’ve got so much delegated at the company, and it’s working well. Here, however, you’re micromanaging.”

I bristled with offense that I was micromanaging. What was it with the interventions today? If anyone else had said that to me hot on the heels of my parent's meddling, I’d have probably ripped their head off. Luckily, with hot food in my belly, I had the good sense to listen to my trusted friend and conceded he was right.

“Mate will help us,” said my wolf. He was up from his convenient slumber.

“If you knew where we could f*****g find her, that is.”

He retreated once more, stupid mutt.

“Yeah, you are right. It’s been crazy recently. Lan being away doesn’t help.” I conceded as I ran my hands over my face. When did I get so old?

“Conor is a good beta. Just because he updates you doesn’t mean you have to take on every little thing. It does him good to call the shots while Lan’s not there, as that’s what betas do,” said Duncan.

He was right - I didn’t see the wood for the trees. I’d never really thought about drafting in extra help for the pack. Until my parents had crashed into my office earlier, that is. I guess I’d been hanging on for my and everyone else’s mates.

“True. I own a tech company that is paper light, and my office here looks like something out of the 1950s.”

Duncan chuckled while Grady grinned.

“What about Donna? She’s got a secretarial qualification and everything.” Grady wiggled his eyebrows.

“Oh hell, no!” No f*****g way. “If I wanted a secretary that dresses like a porn star and is constantly trying to get me to sleep with her, then she’d be top of my list, but otherwise, it’s a hard pass.”

“You say that likes it’s a bad thing,” Grady joked, clearly enjoying the visual I’d created in his mind.

“Hell, Grady. I know your standards are low, but she’s like the village bike - everyone’s had a ride,” Duncan said, disgusted.

I winced at that. It was true we slept together once. She made it her mission to sleep around the pack after I made it clear it was casual. I think she thought it might make me mad with jealousy and claim her as she wanted. I just felt doubly bad that it had happened.

“Well, I was referring to the idea of a sexy secretary rather than her specifically.”

Duncan stared at him for a beat. “So, you’ve had a ride, then I take it?”

His question was almost rhetorical, but Grady shrugged his shoulders.

“Great, well, as a she-wolf that’s banged the alpha and beta, she probably isn’t the best candidate. Qualification or not.” Duncan rolled his eyes.

“Especially as she was fixated on the idea of becoming luna after we slept together,” I said.

“Yes, that as well.” Sarcasm dripped from Duncan’s words. “Why don’t you ask Luna Amber, whom she thinks would be good? She could even help with training?”

“Speaking of luna-training, what about Sarah?” Grady added the third helping to his plate. He caught Duncan’s raised eyebrow and grinned. “Hey, I’m a growing boy, plus all that 'banging' requires fuel.” He wiggled his eyebrows again.

He had a point - not about the banging - Sarah, his sister, was in theory, a good choice. She was seventeen and, for the last year, had taken to following my mother around, helping out. My mother was still technically luna and held a pastoral support role for the pack. Grady’s father, my dad’s ex-beta, was convinced she would be a luna one day and insisted she learns.

The trouble was, many people thought she would be my luna. Sarah was shy, petite, and beautiful, with blond hair and blue eyes. She didn’t look a shred like Grady but resembled her mother. She was the epitome of “typical luna” material. Tiny, demure, frail-looking, but still strong because of her beta bloodline. I had zero attraction to her, and whenever someone brought it up, I felt like a dirty old man. While age gaps mean little in werewolf culture, I couldn’t help feeling weird about it. She wasn’t yet eighteen, so there was no way to tell for sure, although some said you could sometimes sense it beforehand. I guess secretly, I’d hoped for someone different for my mate - more of a warrior, less delicate and polished. Of course, it wasn’t my choice.

“Mate is far away.” My wolf reminded me.

That was true! Well, as true as my wolf maintained, which was enough for me. I relaxed at that. She couldn’t be my mate!

“Sure, let’s ask her.”

The dilemma cleared up in my mind.

“Don’t you think it might mean more to her and the pack than it looks?” said Duncan pointedly.

“I don’t see why?”

“Well, everyone knows Grady’s dad wants her as your actual luna. Are you saying you can sense the mate bond with her impending birthday?” He stood and ran a hand through his hair. It was rare to see him as anything less than calm and logical.

Grady growled. He liked this subject even less than me, as it concerned his baby sister.

“No, nothing like that. In fact, the opposite.” They both stared at me as if I’d grown another head. “Earlier in my office, my wolf sensed our mate’s connection. He said it had been hidden before and suddenly burst into life, but he sensed she was far away and couldn’t tell me anything else.”

“Oh.” Duncan’s face relaxed. He smoothed his shirt and sat back down.

“Are we off to find her?” Grady stood up.

I shook my head. “I’ve got no idea where to start.”

“Weird, though, for the connection to suddenly appear,” said Duncan. His previous agitation was gone, and he was back to his usual strategic role.

“I know, so that’s how I know it can’t be Sarah. I feel okay offering her a secretarial role if she wants it. Maybe you could talk to her, Duncan? Be clear it’s not a luna-in-waiting position.”

He was very diplomatic when he needed to be, and I’m sure he could put it across. Sarah often clammed up when I spoke to her. Hopefully, this would help her become less shy.

“Okay.” He agreed. “Let's ask her first. If she doesn’t want it, we’ll think of someone else. I don’t think holding interviews as we do at the company is a good idea. Half the females in the pack would be here dressed in next to nothing, trying to get the role of your secretary.” He winked and used air quotes around the word secretary.

I groaned at the mental image. Yes, it was hard enough recruiting non-slutty human secretaries as a well-known, wealthy bachelor, but here it would be open season for any unmated female with her eye on a powerful position.

“Maybe you should relieve their stress and yours?” said Grady. Always the one to lower the tone.

“Jeez! Are there any she-wolves left after you’ve been through the pack?” asked Duncan.

“Hey, I don’t sleep around as much as you make out! Plus, I don’t do underage,” Grady replied evasively. “What would you know, anyway? You must have the bluest balls in the pack. At least Mr. Alpha over there is a human playboy.”

“There nothing blue about my balls, Grady, and we’ll see whose mate is more appreciative of how they spent the last few years when they turn up, hey?” Duncan shot back, irritated by Grady’s constant female obsession.

While Grady was a man-w***e, Duncan had waited for his mate. I admired his resolve - I avoided she-wolves but had taken human lovers—a fact the human press liked to embellish. I was a man as much as I was a wolf. How Duncan managed it, I did not know. Mind you, it made me wonder what my future mate might say about the human women I’d had.

“She’ll be pleased I have some experience,” Grady smirked.

“You hoping she’ll have plenty, too, then?” Duncan said with a nasty grin.

“The f**k she will!” Grady stood again. His stool bounced back onto the floor, and his eyes flashed black and gold.

“Ah, one rule for one and one for another, eh? Those women are going to be someone’s mate one day. Mark my words, you can’t sleep through she-wolves like that, and there be no consequences.” Duncan shook his head.

“s**t, man, did you come out of the womb an eighty-year-old man, or did you just age five times faster than the rest of us? Chill the f**k out.” Grady picked up his fallen stool.

This debate had raged for many years, neither side ever seeing eye to eye. My views fell in the middle. Human women had always been a compromise. Wolves’ s*x drives were high, and alphas were the worst. I always found s*x a way to let off steam and de-stress. It gave me a heady sense of power to repeatedly have a woman come apart in my hands. I was never worried about a s*x story being leaked. I had an excellent reputation and never disappointed, so I hid in plain sight and portrayed the part of playboy CEO. It kept the spotlight on my love life and away from the pack.

She-wolves, for me, were to be avoided because, as Duncan pointed out, we all had a mate. Many she-wolves coveted the luna title for its status, even more so than human women craved the status that wealth could bring. I had only slept with one she-wolf, which was a huge mistake. Donna had been there at a very low point for me. The fact that I ended up taking her virginity made it all worse. She still acts as if I will take her as a non-fated mate. I regularly must throw her out of my office when she propositions me.

“Stop it. You two sound like an old married couple.” I pushed away my plate, sated.

“I don’t know how you do it, Grady. My wolf gave me hell with the only she-wolf I slept with. I had a migraine for days. He’s not bothered about humans.”

“Ha! My wolf’s given up trying to c**k-block me.” Grady smirked as he dug into the apple pie Charlotte had left.

“Anyway, enough of Grady’s s*x life. We need to talk about a conversation I had with nurse Kara today.”

Grady already knew the cliff notes, but I told them about the admissions and Kara’s conclusion why the warriors were needing more medical than ever.

“That’s an interesting hypothesis,” Duncan mused. “She’s got no reason to make things up, and she always struck me as honest.” Duncan always thought about an issue and summarized things well. We often came to the same conclusion.

“Do you think the doc would tell you about it?” he asked.

“Maybe, maybe not.”

The guys knew I had saved her from an assault. They didn’t know she was originally running from an abusive ex, which was why she was in the States. It was fairly easy to spot that she had nowhere else to go. You see it with rogues who chose to leave packs. I had become adept at spotting it, as letting crazed rogues into the pack wasn’t a good idea but slaughtering everyone at the border was not my style either.

“As a shaman, it draws supernaturals to her. But the doc suffered at the hands of a previous partner. Who knows how any unwanted attention is making her feel?”

Grady growled, and Duncan’s face twisted in disdain. They hated men who hurt women just as much as I did. The doc was a caring and gentle soul who did not deserve the horror that lay in her past.

“I’ll handle it, Quinn. I’ll talk with Brian tomorrow before training. This s**t will not carry on.” Grady straightened, serious for the first time. He was in charge of training regimes with Brian and was irritated at the thought of warriors being unfocused.

“Thanks, Grady, either our warriors are getting very clumsy, or they are paying more attention to their d***s than they are to training,” I said.

Grady growled again. “I might talk about p***y a lot, but this is the security of our pack we are talking about. Not to mention the pack’s medical resources. I’ll sort it.” He might spend most of the time joking around, but he demanded perfection from the warriors.

“Great, thanks, guys. I’ll speak to mom about Sarah and the secretary thing. If she thinks it’s a go, then we’ll chat about what’s needed. Duncan can approach her after that.”

My mind was feeling lighter. A problem shared was a problem halved, right? Well, in my case, twenty problems, but it still applied.

“I’ll drop by Zena’s cottage and see if she got any information on mate concealment or even location spells,” Duncan added.

It was a good plan. Duncan strategized while I remained bogged down in the events of the day.

“I hadn’t forgotten,” said my wolf.

Zena was a witch who lived in our pack. She had been with us for many years. She sought aid after a group of paranoid humans attacked her, and I offered her refuge in the pack. In return, she helped us set up magical wards that guarded against unwanted visitors, human or supernatural at our borders. Between her spells and my company’s technology, we easily kept rogue humans off our land.

“Thanks, that’s a great idea,” I said.

“We’d all like to see you with your mate.”

“Yeah, maybe we’d get a look in then.” Grady winked.

I knew for a fact he had little interest in finding his mate, but it was still my fault, apparently.

“Sure, ‘cause you are missing out on your mate with all those she-wolves.”

Grady pulled a strange expression. “Anyway, I’ve chosen Club X for my birthday night out.” Grady switched subjects, clapped me on the back, and strode out before I could argue.

“I guess I’ll have to take one for the team that night.” I shook my head.

A strip club was just what I needed. Not.

Duncan shook his head and sighed. “Remember, there’s no ‘I’ in ‘team.’”