Page 85 of Crossed Fates

Good grief, I should have grabbed a coffee before leaving. Nothing is better than coffee. A pause.Well, Alaric is definitely better than coffee.

I tried to keep my presence from being known but lost the battle and laughed.

Out of my head, Calder.

Don’t fantasize about me so loudly.

Ugh! I’m not talking to you.

I shook my head with another chuckle and did as she asked. I focused on the meeting ahead so I wouldn’t listen in on her thoughts. Appealing as the idea might be.

Just before nine, my father and I gathered in Tyler’s office. I sat in the executive chair behind the large oak desk, feeling an odd mix of reactions. I’d never wanted to take Tyler’s place as alpha, yet sitting here seemed to confirm that I had no choice in the matter, which left me feeling a bit awkward and unsure.

However, then a series of memories assaulted me, ones of me playing with my brother in this room while our father worked on pack business. And later of me visiting Tyler here and being so damn proud of the alpha he’d become.

This was always meant to be your place, Ric. Stop living in the past and fucking own it.

I could feel Makayla’s presence on the periphery of my mind and knew she’d picked up my thoughts about Tyler and the words I’d imagined him saying. But she remained silent, and when the first alpha appeared on the big screen plastered to the wall of the office, I pushed everything else away and focused on the task at hand.

Alaric

“Neo’s dead.”The Elk Neck Beta flinched as he said it, his gaze lowering in a subtle display of apology before returning to the camera. He cleared his throat. “From the scene, it’s obvious someone hunted him down and slaughtered him.”

My jaw clenched.

All the alphas and betas had assembled in their various offices, their stances solemn and tones quiet. Many of them had looked to me to kick off the conversation, so I’d started with the obvious question: Have you found Neo yet?

And, well, they’d found him.

Dead.

What the hell?

I wanted to rage and demand he tell me how the hell his team had let that happen—how the fuck they’d managed to let our best lead die—but my father stepped in, giving me a moment to collect myself.

“Word obviously got around when we sent the information to all of the packs,” he said from his chair beside me. He’d pulled over one of the two from a table in the corner, sharing the executive desk with me and facing the camera and screen against the wall. “Don’t blame yourself, Beta Mavi. I’m sure you did what you needed to do. However, I recommend that all of us evaluate who had access to that information and assess if they could have warned someone with ties to Neo.”

I nodded in agreement and took a few slow, deep breaths, then I moved on to other topics.

We each shared what we knew, which wasn’t much, with the other packs. I told them some of the information we’d gathered from Jude’s files and explained a few theories Makayla and I had come up with along the way, as well as the fact that I’d been specifically singled out by the initials carved into the victims’ feet.

“We decided that I’m needed here, and Makayla pointed out that if I go to the city, I’ll be playing by their set of rules,” I added, feeling oddly hollow without her nearby.

She really should be here, I thought, noting all the males on the screen. Not a single female in sight.What is this sexist bullshit?

Makayla’s agreement brushed my mind, causing me to bite back a smile.I thought you weren’t talking to me, baby?

She started humming in response, and the smile broke free, curving up my lips.

“Alaric.”

The sound of someone saying my name pulled me back into the meeting. I glanced at my father, who’d been the one to grab my attention, and cleared my throat. “Sorry.”

I’d never heard of Bitten mates acquiring telepathic links, so this development would take some getting used to. Same with the mark on my chest. Although, I kind of liked the reddish-brown wolf tattooed into my flesh.

I probably shouldn’t since it just tied me down more, but I couldn’t really argue destiny’s choice here. Sure, fate had essentially castrated me, but now that I’d tasted Makayla, I understood why. The woman had effectively ruined me for all other females, because no one would ever come close to comparing to what we’d experienced last night. I was absolutely determined to have her beneath me again just as soon as I figured all this shit out.

Which would work a hell of a lot faster if I focus on the conversation at hand, and not my dick,I thought, forcing my attention back to the meeting.