She's My Beta and My Mate

Chapter 3: So-Called Best Friend

Micah

I'm staring at a map of my territory, wondering how much longer I can keep Dark Eclipse pack from invading my borders when there's a knock on my office door. It opens before I can say, “Come in," and I know it has to be my best friend Eli because the only other person who would come in before I said it was okay is Zariah, and I would've smelled her before she knocked.

“Hey, Alpha," he says, sticking his head of curly dark hair in before the rest of his enormous frame. “Hope I'm not interrupting."

“No, you don't," I say with a smile.

He laughs and comes in, closing the door. A few fall leaves blow in, and he crumples them with his size fourteen boots as he walks to my desk, not noticing or caring. “You're right. I don't," he laughs. He sits down across from me. “Seriously, though. We have a problem."

I'm not surprised to hear it. Normally, if Eli comes into my office, it's with a group of friends, laughing and being obnoxious, unless there's a problem. I lean back in my chair, waiting for him to give me the news. He doesn't until I ask for it. “What is it?" I say.

“A pack of Omega guards saw some Dark Eclipse warriors out toward the south-central border about an hour ago. They were in the middle of the forest, in their wolf form. The Omega I spoke to, Hector, said they seemed to be a scouting party."

“Sh*t," I say under my breath. “How many of them were there?"

“Six or seven," Eli says, rubbing his chin. He adjusts in the chair that is too small for his wide girth. He's muscular like all of us, but he's also a big guy, sort of like a teddy bear if teddy bears practiced bench pressing and lifted weights on the daily.

“All right," I say, looking at the map. “About here?" I ask, pointing to a spot that I think corresponds with where he had described the sighting. I was just going over the location of the other sightings when he'd come in, so I may as well mark this one.

Eli points with a meaty finger. “Yeah, I'd say a little further to the east."

I use a pencil to make an X. “We'll need to increase the patrols out there. We can take out a party tomorrow and see what we can find. I'll get a group together in the morning, when there's more light." I glance out the window to be sure it's actually getting dark outside and see that the sun is going down. It is too late to go now, just as I suspected. While we can send out an extra patrol, it wouldn't do us any good to go looking for clues at the moment. If we wanted to track them, to make sure that they were really from Dark Eclipse, we could rely on our noses, but our eyes would do us little good.

“Sounds like a plan," Eli says. “You about done here, bossman? You've been spending a lot of hours in the office lately."

“Since when do you care about my mental health?" I ask, smirking at him.

Shrugging, Eli says, “Who said I do? I just don't want to be the one who comes into your office one day and finds you slumped over at your desk, dead at a young age, because you don't know how to take care of yourself. That's all."

I can't help but chuckle at him. “I'm fine," I tell him.

“Yeah, well, maybe this Moon Goddess Ball will do you some good. You can find a pretty young thing to treat you right, and then you'll be in a rush to get home in the evenings." Eli winks at me and makes a clicking sound with his mouth that makes me either want to blush or punch him, I'm not sure which.

“Whatever, man," I tell him. “I'm not all that worked up about it."

“Why not?" he asks, his massive arms flailing. “There's a good chance the Moon Goddess might overlook the likes of someone like me, a lowly Omega warrior, but you? You're the freakin' Alpha. I'm sure she'll help you find your Luna at last."

All I can do is shake my head. “I don't wanna talk about the ball, man," I tell him.

He smirks at me. Telling Eli I don't want to talk about something is a sure-fire way to encourage him to talk about it. “Oh? Do you have a lovely lady in mind, Alpha Micah?"

“Knock it off," I tell him. No one else could get away with this, talking to me this way. Well, no one except Zariah… and that's only because she won't listen to me when I tell her to stop.

“Who might it be?" he asks. “Candace, that beautiful, buxom, blonde?" I make a face at him. She's pretty, but not my type. “Maybe Gretta? Or Reece?" I raise an eyebrow. Reece is really beautiful, and we've talked a few times. But… I don't know if she's Luna material. “Oh! Wouldn't it be great if it was someone you really get along with? Someone who knows you better than anyone else? Someone who can practically finish your sentences before you even start them?"

I know where this is going before Eli even opens his mouth, and I am begging him not to say it. “Eli—don't you dare!" I say.

“What? She's perfect for you! And so pretty!"

“Stop it, Eli!" I say. “That's an Alpha's orders!" He can't disobey my orders when they are given that way—or else he'll be in the sort of trouble he doesn't want to deal with.

Eli deflates. “Fine," he says, sighing like I just burst his balloon—and he is a five-year-old. “I won't say that I think it would be great if Zariah was your mate."

“Eli!" I shout at him. “I just told you not to say that!"

“And I said that I wouldn't say it!" he says, spreading his hands out as if he is innocent.

I shake my head in frustration. I am about to pick him up and throw him out of my office when there's a knock on the door.

“Oh, maybe that's her now!" Eli says.

“As if Zariah ever knocks," I mutter. “Come in!"

It's James, and he looks a little perplexed. He's probably heard us yelling. “Sorry to interrupt, Alpha Micah," he says, looking from me to Eli. “Hello," he says to my friend.

“Hi, James," Eli says with a wave, and I know that they have met, and I don't need to introduce them.

“You're not interrupting," I assure him. “Come on in."

James takes a few steps inside. “I was wondering if you could help me find the epinephrine you said you thought the last healer had on hand. We have a couple of kids who might need it, and I want to know where it's at in case of an emergency. I searched the supply closet, but I can't find it, and I'm wondering if the other healer kept it someplace else."

“Right," I say. “I think I might know where it's at." I'm glad that James has rescued me from this conversation. “I'll see you in the morning, Eli," I tell my so-called best friend.

“Yeah, see you in the morning, Alpha," he says, standing to follow me out the door. I walk out with James, closing my office up behind me, figuring I'll just go home after this.

Maybe Eli is right and I do need a Luna to go home to.

But I know Eli is wrong about one thing.

It shouldn't be Zariah.

It can't be Zariah.