Page 11

Caelon

N umbers don’t judge.

They don’t ask me why I’m not like my brother.

They only ask for me to figure out the answer. I like that about them. They are easy, predictable, and always there when I need them.

They don’t have emotions, changing based on how you feel. They don’t smirk when they hear me walking up, or leave traces of sandalwood and musk behind when they pass by. They are just here, behaving.

Not like my wolf.

And definitely not like my heart.

I’ve been staring at the page of numbers for hours now, trying to get my brain to focus on the task at hand.

It’s not the numbers failing me today, it’s me.

I drag my pen down the column of numbers for the fourth time in the last ten minutes.

With the Summer Solstice Festival coming in three days, I really want to make sure we don’t blow our budget this year.

Between food, lighting, staging, cleanup crews, and security, there isn’t a single dollar of wiggle room.

Thankfully the mountain lions have stepped in to be security, relieving us of some of the burden, but not much.

The neat lines of numbers line my leather ledger, showing not a single penny out of place.

All the money coming in from the various shifter businesses, donations from pack families, and our own leaders' contributions, is accounted for. In the last six months I’ve been able to pull us from being completely in the red, to being in the black, a term for breaking even on your expenses and incomes.

We can never go back into the red, pushing us into a place where we are unable to continue to provide a safe space for wolves to exist without the pressures of the typical pack life.

Other packs would attempt to come in and challenge Silas for his position as Alpha.

Finances are a big part of an Alpha’s strength as it shows his ability to care for his pack.

The stiff page cracks with a vibrating pop as I flip the page to the next set of numbers to review for the day.

Silas laughs every time because he knows no matter what, I’ll look over my ledger each day ensuring nothing has changed.

My finger is about to run down the next line when the smell of a summer thunderstorm reaches me.

The ocean is calling me like a siren begging for the sailor to jump overboard.

She’s here.

Her scent washes over me like a tidal wave before a hurricane.

Drowning me in her sea salt and ylang ylang.

Like a man swimming to the surface for air, I can feel myself moving towards her.

My wolf surges forward causing the chair to scoot out from under us.

Calix is pushing so hard I’m afraid I might lose control before I can stop him.

He’s trying to take over, push me to the back where I can’t control the outcome.

A growl rips from me as Calix’s anger bursts from us.

“ Let me go to her.”

“ We can’t. ”

“ She’s right there.”

“ She’s not our mate and she hasn’t even had a chance to figure out who it is.”

“ She’s OURS! ”

“Y ou can’t know that Calix. Plus she is only a teenager.”

“ Mark my words Caelon, she will be our mate. You just wait and see.”

He stops pushing for us to walk out of the room, choosing instead to pace back and forth inside us.

“ Calix, I can’t even look at her for that long. She is too far out of our league. ”

He only humphs before continuing to pace.

I can sense her, just beyond the wall. Her words float to me as I listen in to the conversation. Gail knew exactly what she was doing bringing her here. She might claim it’s about some project, but I know that isn’t the only reason.

Grasping the back of my desk chair, I scoot it back into its’ spot before plopping down into it. I can hear Gail tinkering with her glass vials which can only mean she is making a tincture, but for what?

Gail’s faint words filter through the door, “…before you go, I have some tea for you. It’s my personal blend for clarity. I know you’ve had a lot on your mind lately, maybe a tea on your front porch will help clear up some of those questions for you.”

What does she mean that Selene has had a lot on her mind lately?

I’ll have to see about sitting on my porch this evening to see what she needs clarity about.

I can hear them talking about her leaving.

I can’t go without seeing her. She’s right there, I can almost feel her skin, even though I’ve never been close enough to touch it.

Pushing out of my chair, I try to gather my feet under me, but end up stumbling over them in my haste to get to the door. I’m halfway to my door when I hear Gail call out to me.

“Caelon, can you be a dear and come here? I need to go over this budget issue with you for the healers!” she calls through the wall, halting my steps.

I don’t want to exactly look like an idiot who rushed over there.

We’re going for a cool guy here. Straightening my spine, my chin lifts up as I brush down my wrinkled polo shirt.

Shit. Selene is going to think the worst of me.

Look at what I’m wearing. Don’t girls like her care about stuff like that?

It’s alright. It’s cool. We got this.

Calix chuckles. “This is going to be great.”

“Oh do shut up.”

Clearing my throat, I call out to Gail. “Of course.” As if I haven’t been standing here freaking out over running into Selene.

I can hear Gail’s bell-like laughter ring out through the wall. She knows what she’s doing. She is far too cheerful, too knowing. I swear I hear her mutter something about, “Destiny is standing right here.”

My hands grasp the cool metal of the brass doorknob, resting there as if I could just change my mind. Giving me one last moment to turn around instead of rushing out there.

Selene’s scent moves closer, suffocating me in her musk. She has to be standing exactly where I am but only on the other side of the wall.

“Let her see us. Let her know.”

“I’m nervous.”

“Then let me out.”

“Absolutely not.”

My hand twists the doorknob, throwing the door open giving me no other option than to embrace it.

The hallway stands empty with nobody venturing this far down. Move Caelon, she’s not going to stay there forever. The door to Gail’s office scrapes against the wood frame as Selene swings it open.

Pushing myself through my door frame, I turn to see a wide-eyed Selene blinking at me. Her plump bow lips are open in a tiny O as her eyes move down my body, taking in everything I am. This might be the first time she’s ever really seen me.

Gail clears her throat from within her office, knocking me into action. I whisper an, “excuse me,” as I move to walk past Selene.

Her shoulder barely shifts in time to prevent ours from hitting, causing our hands to graze as I pass. A tiny spark of electricity runs up my arm at the contact. She sucks in her breath faintly, almost too quiet to hear. My hands clench to keep Calix from reaching out to grab her.

We stand in the doorway staring at each other as our breaths mingle. Neither of us moving. One heartbeat. Two. Long enough for me to feel it.

Gail clears her throat. “Caelon.”

That’s all it takes for me to mumble an “I’m sorry” before walking the rest of the way into her office.

It’s taking everything in me to not turn around, to not show how much that affected me.

Selene must have also snapped out of it only a few seconds later as the door clicks shut behind me.

I know she felt it too—I saw it in her eyes.

My feet shuffle to the chair that Selene just left, her musk still lingers in the air, caressing my skin like the soft waves along the shore.

“I was hoping you had a minute to go over some things with me.”

I blink the haze from my eyes, shaking my head gently to focus back on the person in front of me. “For you? Always.”

Her fingers steeple atop her desk next to a steaming mug that smells suspiciously like the clarity tea she just gave Selene. Piles of paperwork sit next to a leather-bound book with aged paper. I’m pretty sure that’s where she holds all her healing recipes, at least I think it is.

“I wanted to let you know that I’ll be putting in for a budget increase for the healers next quarter,” she says as she thumbs through the loose paperwork sitting on her desk.

“We are running low on several of our important herbs, some of which are costly and take time to get here. I don’t want us going into the winter months unprepared.

Moonwort takes months to grow and even longer to ship to us.

You know the Johnson boy almost lost his leg because we ran out of supplies.

If it wasn’t for Marlowe having some in her personal stash, we might not have saved it. ”

I nod, pulling out my cell phone where my digital version of my ledger is easily accessible.

Yes, I have these numbers in several places, never know when they will be needed.

Scrolling through the excel spreadsheet, I see a few areas where I can make adjustments without needing to pull heavily from another area.

When I took over the financial mess that Orion, the last Alpha left, I broke each part into sections: Schools, Training, Businesses, Alpha/Luna, Medical, and etc.

Allotting each category a certain amount of money.

If we don’t use the funds for the month, they roll over to the next month, continuing to increase our wealth.

Areas that I can easily pull from are training and businesses as they don’t generally use their allotted money in a month.

“I can shift some funds around to meet your needs. How much are you estimating?”