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SIX

Alexia

If falling asleep last night next to Kai made me feel at peace, then sitting in Clayton’s office next to him right now makes me feel like I want to come out of my skin. There is just something about being around his father that gives me a bad feeling. I don’t know why; he’s never been particularly rude to me, but he’s never really been nice either. And the way this meeting is going so far... I don’t see things changing for the better.

The way he’s eyeing me and Kai is seriously unnerving. It’s like he’s waiting for us to do something, like we’re on display, and he wants us to perform. Newsflash, Clayton: We aren’t your trained seals, and even if we were, we wouldn’t know what to do because we don’t even know what to do in private.

Not like I would say anything like that to his face. I may be impulsive, but even I can hold my tongue around this dude.

So far.

“So, Dad, what did you want to talk to us about?” Kai presses, clearly ready to get this show on the road.

Clayton’s gaze shifts lazily to his son, and he sighs like the question is bothersome to him. “It’s time for Alexia to go ahead and complete the full transition.”

Transition? What transition?

“What are you talking about? My things are being moved here next week?—"

Clayton chuckles, a condescending sound that grates on my nerves and makes me clench my molars together. “No, no. Nothing like that. I mean, the transition from civilian to royal.”

Kai and I exchange a glance. “Meaning... what, exactly?” I ask.

Clayton clasps his hands on his desk and looks me dead in the eyes. “Kai is going to take you to your office today and help you pack up your belongings.”

Every cell in my body goes still and a cold sensation washes over me. “What are you talking about?” I ask, keeping my voice steady.

“Your office. It’s in the Shenandoah State Park, correct?” He doesn’t wait for me to answer. “I’ve already had my staff draft and send your resignation letter. They’ve informed me that your employer states you can get your personal effects today. We need to get that taken care of.”

I look at Kai again and his lips are parted like he wants to say something, but he is just as shocked as I am. I truly hope that’s the case.

“I’m sorry, what?” I hold up my hand when he starts to speak again. “No, I comprehend your words. But this doesn’t make sense. Why would I resign from my job?”

I worked really hard to get the job with the state of Virginia as an environmental scientist so soon after college. University wasn’t easy for me. Earning my Bachelors degree was something I was always determined to do, but with my ADHD, I had to work harder than many of my cohorts. To earn my 3.85 GPA, I had to study every night, make use of the tutoring center and accommodations, and stay on my medication like clockwork. When I went on leave for the cleansing ritual, it almost broke my heart. I had to lie to the people I’ve built not only professional relationships with, but friendships. The letter that was written for me by a shifter doctor stated I had a medical condition and my treatment for it would have me out of work for three months. I was scheduled to return next week and very much looking forward to it, and now I won’t be doing that. My job meant more to me than most people understand, and he just... took it away from me?

“Your focus needs to be here, with your people and your mate. From this point forward you only have one responsibility... bearing my son an heir.”

I dig my fingernails into the wooden arm of my chair, and I divert my gaze to the bookshelves lining the walls, the bay window behind the king regent’s desk, to the ornate burgundy rug beneath my feet. Looking a man in the face who just told me that my dream career is insignificant to my reproductive system is impossible. Suddenly, it’s like my worth as a person is equated to my ability to breed.

“Dad, what the fuck?”

My head snaps up, my eyes darting to Kai. I’ve never heard him talk back to his father like this before, but I have to admit, I'm glad he is right now because I truly have found myself speechless.

“Excuse me, son?” Clayton says, his eyes wide as if he can’t believe what he’s hearing.

“I said, what the fuck?” he repeats, reaching over and taking my hand as if he knows I’m about to lose my cool. I grip it gratefully and he continues. “How could you do this? Take it upon yourself to send in her resignation letter? This was not ever something Mom talked about when she explained what it meant to find a mate.”

Clayton rolls his eyes. “Your mother romanticized everything about being mated. She never talked about the logistics of it or even the logistics of ruling this pack. Everything was just rainbows and hearts with her.”

I hate the way he’s talking about Olivia. It’s almost insulting, which is bizarre because all I’ve ever heard about her from Clayton are doting words. From the look on Kai’s face, he hates it even more.

“Don’t talk about her like that,” he says in a voice hardly above a whisper.

“It’s the truth, Malakai. And don’t take that tone with me. You’re not king yet.”

“And Alexia isn’t queen yet either! There is no reason for you to have done what you did!” Kai exclaims, jumping to his feet and letting go of my hand. “You have to take it back. Email them and retract it.”

Clayton slowly stands, coming around his desk to stand directly in front of Kai. “Are you telling me what to do?” he asks in a low, deadly voice that for a moment, terrifies me.

And for the first time I’ve seen, Kai looks scared of his father.

“No, I just?—”

“I didn’t think so. Now, take your mate to gather her things so this can be over and done with.”

I swallow and say, “I’d just like to go on the record as saying I’m not okay with this. My job is really important to me. If you needed me here physically with Kai some days, I’m sure we could have worked that out. But not giving me an option about my future is unacceptable.” I’m struggling to maintain my composure when I am screaming on the inside. My entire body is quaking with anger and the impulse to unleash that rage on Clayton.

Clayton strikes me with an icy stare and remains unnerved. “I’m sorry you feel that way. Perhaps you should take your grievances up with the goddess. She’s the one who mated you after all.” His nostrils flare as he sniffs the air and turns back to Kai. “While you’re at it, complete your mating bond. She lacks your scent. Claim her as yours, Malakai.”

Kai springs from his chair and grips my hand, pulling me to my feet. “We will take care of Alexia’s job but stay the hell out of our sex life.”

We say nothing to one another as we stalk down the hallway. Kai is seething, his body shaking and breath ragged. I don’t blame him. If it weren’t for my embarrassment about the last thing Clayton said, I would be just as physically enraged as him.

We march down the stairs, and Kai grabs his keys from a decorative bowl that sits on the console table behind the couch. He pulls me toward the front door with a desperation to leave this house that matches my own.

Xander jumps up from the overstuffed chair in the corner of the living room. “What the hell is going on?”

“Dad sent a resignation letter on Alexia’s behalf to her job. She needs to get her stuff from her office,” Kai says in a clipped tone.

“What?” Xander looks at me with confusion written on his face.

Tension builds in the air. The last thing I want to do is make this matter worse. Getting these guys more riled up will do nothing to fix this, so I work to de-escalate it. “It’s fine. I have responsibilities. I can’t fulfill them and work a nine to five at the same time.” I don’t believe a word of it, but what’s done is done at this point.

“Fuck that!” Xander squares his shoulders and makes for the stairs.

I grab his bicep to stop him. “Please, just leave it alone.”

“He had no right,” he hisses.

“Please, Xander.”

He studies my face, his blue eyes taking in every detail. The sharp lines of his cheeks and jaw soften and the coiled muscles under my hand relax. He releases a long breath. “I’m sorry, Alexia.”

“Me too,” I respond, letting him go.

“Do you need my help?” Xander asks Kai.

He shakes his head. “We got this.”

Xander nods and looks at me for a long moment like he wants to say something. But instead, he looks at Kai and says, “Call if you change your mind.”

“Will do,” he says, and without another second’s hesitation, we’re out the door.

It’s not as cold today, and some of the snow has melted. The sun beams down on us as we jump into Kai’s Land Rover and make our way down the mountain toward the highway. We don’t speak until we’re cruising at 80 MPH, I finally look over at him.

“Kai, I’m sorry I’m causing you so much stress.”

He grips the steering wheel harder and shakes his head, glancing over at me. “You’re not. It’s my father. I can’t believe he did this. Taking your job from you, then demanding that we...” His cheeks flush and he clenches his jaw.

“I know,” I say softly. “But if I hadn’t chosen you?—”

“You didn’t. Luna did,” he says, looking at me from the corner of his eye. “Right?”

“Right, but still. You wouldn’t be dealing with this.”

“Stop, Lex. We can’t play the ‘what-if’ game; it just is what it is. We have to deal with it now.”

I fall silent and stare out the window. I know he’s right. I just can’t believe my career that I worked so hard for is flushed down the toilet. My boss probably thinks I’ve lost my mind. I don’t even know what the letter said, what the reasoning was. It’s not like the world knows shifters exist. He couldn’t have said, We are writing to inform you that effective immediately Ms. Rush has found her mate and now she’s stepping up as the queen of the Crescent pack.

“Where’s your office?” Kai interrupts my inner monologue.

"Just outside of the park entrance. You will see a building to the right before we reach the gate.”

“Gotcha,” he says. I guess Kai never had a reason to come to my work before. He didn’t spend much time with me while I was in college, and I didn’t share with him all my most embarrassing moments. Truth be told, we have a history but neither of us know much about the other’s present life.

Several minutes later, Kai exits the highway and follows the country road for a short distance. We pull into the parking lot, and I sigh as I get out of the car. I can’t believe this is it. This rundown building housed my dream job. By no means was it glamorous. I studied stats about tree growth and water levels and the population of wildlife. But it was what I studied so hard to do. And I loved it.

Kai opens the glass front door for me, and we step inside. I stop to talk with Ronald, the older park ranger who mans the front desk. He asks me question after question about my health. And a wave of guilt washes over me. I’ve lied to everyone in this office in order to keep the secret of what I was truly doing these past months. The regret lingers even when the conversation comes to an end.

“That was awful,” I whisper to Kai as we walk down the corridor that leads to the lab where my office is—well, was.

He gives a hushed apology, and we fall into an awkward bout of silence. It’s like there is a canyon between us. We are fighting to walk this together, but it feels like being alone. I just need to keep reminding myself that I’m not. Kai is here. He sympathizes with my frustration and wants to help. But from the look on his face, he feels just as helpless as me.

We reach the labs, and the automated sliding door opens for us. Everything is in a shade of gray from the pictures on the wall to the empty reception desk at the front. It’s sterile, clean exactly the way a laboratory should be.

The only thing bright in the room is the smiling face of my supervisor, Sophie. “Well, well,” she says in a sing-song voice. “You made time to come and say goodbye. Are you sure you were gone on medical leave and not searching for that new fancy job you landed?”

I try not to cringe and force a smile on my face. She has been given an entire story about my life, and I have no clue what it is.

But I can’t mess this up. It’s too important to the entire pack. “I know the timing is suspicious, but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I am going to miss y’all so much, though!” I say, crossing the room to her.

She holds out her arms for a hug, and when I step into her embrace, I nearly cry. Sophie and I aren’t best friends by any means, but she’s definitely my closest work friend, and I look up to her. While she isn’t my boss , I went to her for advice many times during my tenure here.

“Aww, we’ll miss you too, but don’t worry. We’ll have to make sure we go out for drinks sometime.” She gently pushes me back and looks me over from head to toe. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m good and ready to move on with what’s next for me.”

She glances over my shoulder before raising a dark sculpted eyebrow. “Uh, who’s the hottie?”

My face heats up, and I rush to pile another lie on top of the mountain of deceit I’ve created. “Oh, this is my—” I pause, not sure what terminology to use with a human.

I expect Kai to step in and help me out. But when he doesn’t say anything, I turn to look at him, and he looks as confused as I do. Guess we should’ve had this conversation before now.

“Boyfriend,” I finish.

“Your boyfriend ?” she whispers. “You never mentioned a boyfriend. Is this a new development?”

“Yeah, you could say that. We’ve been friends for years, but?—”

“Oh, I think I know who this is. Is this Carrington’s twin brother?” she exclaims.

I laugh. “It is.” I turn back around and beckon Kai over to us. “Kai, this is Sophie.”

Kai sticks his hand out and she shakes it. “Nice to meet you, Sophie. Alexia has told me a lot about you.” Not true, but nice touch.

“I wish I could say the same,” Sophie says, shooting me a playful glare. “Alexia has been holding back on me.”

Kai looks at me and grins. “Alexia, not oversharing? What?” he asks incredulously, and I elbow him in the ribs.

“You’re funny,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“That’s why you keep me around,” he says, and I smile because I missed this banter between us. It used to be easy. Before everything changed.

But when we’re alone packing my office, it’s back to the awkward silence and furtive glances. We have to figure this out soon because it’s starting to get to me, not being able to read him.

When we are in the car with my two boxes full of stuff after a tearful goodbye with Sophie, I look over at Kai as he backs out of the parking spot.

“What?” he asks, glancing over at me.

“Are we okay? Everything was great last night, and now I feel like we’ve taken a step backward.”

He sighs. “Yeah, Lex. We’re fine. Things are just confusing.”

“I know... but we have to figure this out, Kai. It’s not going away.”

“We will. Just give me a second, okay?”

“All right, all right, let’s talk about something else,” I offer. “What did you think of Sophie?” I may not work there anymore, but I hope to keep in touch with her.

“She was nice, seems like a good friend to work with.” He thinks for a moment. “Is she from here?”

“No, she’s from New Mexico and moved here a few months before I started working for the department. Why?”

“Oh, she just looked familiar, and I wondered if she went to our school.”

“Nah, and she’s a couple years older than us.”

He nods and then asks me what I want for dinner.

He might as well be asking me how I’m liking this cold weather.

The small talk only lasts a couple more minutes, and then we’re silent again. I shift in my seat the rest of the way to his house. I can’t find it in me to keep dragging out meaningless conversations that neither of us seem interested in having.

We pull up to the house, neither of us saying a word. I can’t imagine the tension between us getting any thicker. But I’m quickly proven wrong. The moment we walk through the front door we find Clayton almost nose to nose with Xander, the front of his stepson’s shirt balled in his fist. It’s clear that shit has officially hit the fan, and we just walked into the line of fire.