Page 44 of The Baby Contract

"Please sit," I ordered, going to take my place beside Boris, who was already sitting at the end of the table. His eyes stayed glued to his hands before him, never acknowledging me once. His eyes were as cold and harsh as they were in the woods when I last saw him.

"Boris, "I greeted, standing next to him as we watched the elders flood into the room, each slow to take their place at the table.

The last time we were here, was before Millie came, before the Contract ever existed.

Boris' chest rose as he took a deep, elongated breath, standing from his chair. "Alpha."

As the elders took their spots, the heavy oak doors closed, the large slam signaling that we were now alone and a meeting was in session.

"Thank you for attending this meeting on such short notice. Please sit, elders," I stood, nodding in thanks, in which they returned, getting down into their seats. "I will waste no time- "

I cleared my throat, looking at the expectant elders, their eyebrows raised. "Is it about Millie Rose?" an old man croaked, slowly lowering himself to his chair with the help of his cane. "Your offspring should be born any day now, right?"

"Yes," I confirmed. "The doctor has confirmed that my children will be born soon."

The elders loved that, their heads bobbing slowly in excitement. "What a blessing!" A lady shouted, clapping her wrinkly hands.

"That's a part of why we are here," I continued, taking a deep breath to brace for what is to come. "My mate, Ember Howling, has returned to Stormblade."

The elders gasped in shock, their hands shooting up to their hearts as they soaked in the news. Loud outbursts made the room explode, the elders shaking their heads and motioning to each other in disbelief.

"Enough!" Boris silenced them from beside me. "That's not all." He tossed me a side eye. "Alpha?"

The room was silent at Boris' orders. "He's right, there is more- "I breathed. "I have been bonded with another. I have been gifted a mateship with Millie Rose."

The room erupted into another round of panicked whispers. "Alpha, that is impossible!" The old man waved his cane in the air. "You cannot be bonded with another wolf if yours is alive!"

"He's right- "A woman pointed. "That's impossible for a wolf, Alpha or not, to have two mates. It has never been heard of in our species."

A loud wave of nods and agreement followed. "And what about Luna Ember?" another elder asked. "It was thought that she was dead! Her death was the explanation behind your grieving soul, Alpha."

"Where has she been for all these years?" one pondered, his face wrinkled in distraught. "How could a Luna leave her mate and pack for so long?"

I looked over to Boris, who rolled his eyes slightly. "Luna Ember claims she was kidnapped," Boris said. "She had just managed to return to Stormblade because she was finally able to escape."

The elders gasped. "Kidnapped? By who? Who would want our Luna?"

"We do not know," I said. "She said they could not see their faces."

The elders whispered amongst themselves. "We must find out who kidnapped our Luna and bring them to the dungeons to be killed!"

"Yeah!" They all cheered. "Taking our Luna from us weakened us."

"We will open an investigation on this matter," I declared. "We will be investigating anyone and everyone who was seen in that area on that night six years ago and anyone who may have seen Ember escape."

"We will also be beefing up security on the borders," Boris added. "If there is someone out there that wants something from us, they might not be far. This is temporary and for safety purposes only. No reason for the pack to panic."

The elders were silent as they soaked in the news, deep in thought. "Alpha, you believe that Millie Rose is also your mate?"

"I am certain," my wolf whined, missing her. "We share a mate bond."

"Are you sure?" a woman asked, shaking her head, trying to add up the information to make sense.

Boris turned to look at me. "Yeah, are you sure, Alpha?" he seethed. "Maybe it was just the pups like you said yourself. What if that feeling goes away when Millie gives birth?"

Boris's eyes were cold as ice as he mocked me with my own words. "I'm sure that the Beta is correct, with all due respect, Alpha," an elder said. "There has to be a misunderstanding."

Boris scoffed, crossing his arms. "Yeah, just a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding? No, this can't be just that. It doesn't make any sense." I furrowed my brows. "How I feel with Millie is the way I felt with Ember when I first met her."

A group of elders whispered amongst each other, discussing. "Alpha, we understand the sensitivity of this subject and do not wish to disrespect you in any way- "

"But, even if Millie Rose was your mate, and you wanted to take her to be your Luna, you would not be able to mark her."

My breath hitched in my throat. "Why?"

"You have marked Luna Ember," they explained. "And, she has marked you."

My mark burned, almost as if it was reminding me that it was there, that Ember's bite marks still lived on my neck from the night of our mating ceremony.

"Your bond is for eternity," a woman confirmed, her eyes sympathetic. "A mark is a soul bond, and you and Luna Ember share one soul." She sighed. "You will be mates forever."

Boris scoffed, his hand over his mouth. "Wow."

"For eternity?" I asked again in disbelief. I knew the answer but hearing it out loud by the elders made me and my wolf wild. "What if I choose to reject my Luna?"

The elders and Boris gasped. "Alpha-"The woman stood, shocked. "That would be preposterous!"

"You should not speak that way about your mate and Luna!" The elders spat. "You are one, Alpha. She is yours forever, and you must be with her."

"Rejection is not an option."

My jaw clenched. "Would there be any way for me to break my bond with her? Please, Elders."

"You can't- "they shook their heads. "Even if you wanted to do as you are suggesting now, it would be physically impossible. You have marked Luna Ember willingly, just as she did you."

"Damn." Boris mumbled.

"If you found a way to sever the bond, you would both die." They confirmed. "Just as you suffered when you thought she was dead, but worse."

My wolf was whining loudly now, restless to get out of this meeting.

"Thank you all for meeting today, elders," I announced. "As always, the information you heard today is not to be taken out of this room."

The elders bowed as they stood, offering their respect to Boris and me. A guard came to open the door, letting them out of the room.

As soon as the last elder left, Boris was right behind them, not sparing me another glance. He scoffed, shaking his head as he stormed out of the room. What the hell was wrong with him?

"Boris!" I called, running to catch up to him. "What's going on? Why are you ignoring me?"

Boris kept walking, following the hallways out to one of the back doors. "What's to say, Alpha? Congratulations on getting Luna Ember back. You should be happy."

"What?" I kept up with him. "No, Boris, I'm not happy. What are you talking about?"

Boris laughed sinically. "I think you know exactly what I'm talking about." He stopped abruptly. "You think it's fucking funny to kiss Luna Ember in front of Mille?"

"Kiss-"I repeated, flustered. "Kissed Ember? No, no-"I breathed. "I didn't kiss her, Boris. She kissed me."

"Don't bullshit me, Alpha," he growled. "I saw you both."

"Why did you even try to get close to Millie for all these months?" He met my eyes with anger. "Just so you could play around with her and have sex?"

"What, Boris-"I held my hands up. "You know that's not true."

Boris sighed. "Dude, I literally was a player- "he looked around, making sure no one was listening. "You know how many girls I was taking to the beach house."

"Yeah. But, this is not that. You heard me in there, Boris."

Boris sighed, his face becoming soft as he relaxed his jaw. "I know. I just feel quite protective right now." He acknowledged. "That was wild, man."

"Yeah."

A silence floated over us. "What are you going to do?"

I sighed, leaning against the wall. "I have no fucking idea."

Boris sighed, doing the same next to me. "Who do you want to be with?"

I pondered on his question. I was bonded to Ember. For eternity, for that matter. But Millie, she was the owner of my heart, the mother of my pups, the woman I loved.

"I think you know that answer." My chest tightened. "But it sounds like I don't have much of a choice."

Boris nodded slowly. "Ember broke you. Millie fixed you."

I nodded in agreement. "Goddess," I shivered. "I love her, Boris. I even told Ember I did. I can't just let her go, I can't. But I'm bonded to Ember. I can never have that with Millie now. I can never share a bond with her."

"So, what are you going to do?" Boris asked. "Be miserable with the woman you marked while constantly thinking about how you can't be with the woman you really love? Wondering every day what it would be like if you had her and not Ember?

My wolf whined at his words. He imagined it, with Ember, his heart constantly yearning for Millie, the one he loves. Wondering where she was, what she was doing, and if she also missed him..

He was heartbroken.

"Orion wants Millie back," Boris whispered, his voice deep with sorrow. "He made that clear, Alpha. He will be back soon to get her."

"No- "I gripped the hand railing. "She won't go back. I can't let that happen. I can't let her go back there, Boris."

Boris shook his head. "I don't think your Luna is going to like that. You and I both know she will not tolerate Millie staying here, especially after you told her that you loved her. She won't want to share you with another. She will be jealous out of her mind."

"It's not Ember's decision," I said, my voice final. "It's mine. And, if I want her to stay, she stays. This is my pack and my home. I make the decisions."

"Try telling that to your Luna," Boris crossed his arms. "And tell me how that goes."

Boris was right. Ember had every right to be jealous of Millie.

"My Alpha has two mates," Boris huffed, shaking his head. "While I have yet to meet my lady. I swear, I'm going to be in the grave before I meet her. But after witnessing this, I don't know if I even want one. Seems like a headache."

I laughed slightly. "You do, trust me." I sighed. "Mateship is what us wolves live for."

"Well- "Boris shook his head. "My mate must be one hell of a woman if she's making me wait this long."

"I'm sure she is, Boris." I clapped his shoulder. "I'm sure she is."

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