Chapter 515

Nathan

The sound of my alarm jolted me out of a surprisingly deep sleep—the first deep sleep I had had in weeks, actually. But what should have been a relief actually turned out to be my downfall.

“Ugh,” I muttered as I sat up, rubbing my sore back. There was nothing quite like a heavy sleep on a shitty mattress to remind you that the place you were sleeping wasn’t home.

It had been weeks since I had slept in my own bed back at the villa. Weeks, and Olivia still wouldn’t speak to me. I had been sleeping in this hotel room for those weeks, and each day was getting harder than the last. I wanted to go home more than anything, but I couldn’t do that if Olivia wouldn’t even speak to me.

I knew I fucked up, of course. But if she would just hear my side of the story…

No. There was no use thinking about it now. Olivia would come around eventually and we could talk—and for now, I had a meeting to get ready for.

I spent the next hour and a half getting ready, to the best of my ability. Then, after a free breakfast consisting of a dry piece of toast and some rubbery eggs from the hotel lobby, I headed out.

The drive to the Alpha association building was long and silent, and as I took my seat at the table, I couldn’t even bring myself to lift my eyes from the notebook sitting in front of me.

“Let us get started,” Dan said. “First order of business today is the matter in regards to the southern packs that intend on leaving our union. Let us begin with a debrief…”

Over the next forty minutes, Dan went into excruciating detail on the matter. As it turned out, a small number of the southern packs had been wishing to secede from our union, a union which had been keeping the packs in our region as a whole, cohesive unit for decades.

“Of course, if these packs secede, it could cause a major ripple effect,” Dan explained. “My stance is that we should not step down so easily.”

“I agree. The union exists for a reason; if we let these packs secede on a whim, who’s to say that they won’t form their own union and attack?” another Alpha said.

As I listened, I jotted down notes on the matter. It was a nuanced matter, and one that required a lot of tact to handle.

On a normal day, maybe I would have wondered why they wanted to secede, and where we were failing as an association to cause them to want to leave; but today, with my back sore, my eyelids heavy, my head pounding, and my heart aching, I kept silent throughout the meeting.

“Very well,” Dan stated at the end of the meeting. “I will arrange a tour of the packs that wish to secede; perhaps we can… convince them to stay. By whatever means necessary. Meeting is adjourned.”

As the other Alphas began gathering their things and preparing to head out to lunch, I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my eyes, stifling a yawn as I did so. God, I just wanted to go home. But Olivia wouldn’t even look in my direction, let alone talk to me.

Suddenly, a firm hand on my shoulder caused me to look up to see Dan towering over me.

“Nathan,” he said. “Aren’t you going for lunch?”

I nodded stiffly. “Yes,” I replied. “I’m just… taking a moment.”

Dan looked down at me for a moment, recognition flickering through his eyes. He knew what had happened that night at the summit. He knew about the prostitute; hell, he had been the one to set me up with her.

But he didn’t know yet that Olivia knew. Although, I guess he found out by now.

Before I could say anything, he sat down in the chair next to me and leaned a little closer.

“She found out, eh?” he asked.

I swallowed, not really wanting to divulge the situation between me and my wife yet but if he already realized it, then I guess I had no choice. Finally, I nodded. “She did.”

Dan looked me up and down, taking in my somewhat haggard appearance: my tousled hair, my five o’clock shadow, the fact that my suit wasn’t as neatly pressed as usual.

“You’re sleeping in a hotel,” he said quietly. “Aren’t you?”

I let out a sigh and ran my hand through my hair. “She kicked me out a couple weeks ago,” I said. “Won’t speak to me. Won’t even let me see my kids.”

For a few moments, Dan just stared at me. I couldn’t read his stony expression; whether he was disappointed, empathetic, or downright glad was a mystery to me. Finally, though, he pushed his chair back and stood.

“I have a spare room at my mansion,” he said. “You’ll stay there from now on.”

My eyes widened as I blinked up at him. “You—what?” I asked, standing now myself. “Dan, you don’t have to do that. Really, I’m fine. I’ll be home soon enough, once Olivia talks to me.”

Dan chuckled, a low and rumbling sound that I had become all too accustomed to over the months. “Your wife caught you cheating,” he said firmly. “I’m afraid you’re not going home, my boy.”

I frowned. “But my kids,” I said. “You live hours from my pack. I can’t be that far from them.”

“From what I understand, they’re not even your children.”

Dan’s words sent a shiver down my spine. It hurt to admit it, but he was right; they weren’t my kids, at least not biologically. I had spent so long thinking of them as my children that I had almost forgotten that fact.

“I…” My voice trailed off. I didn’t know what to say anymore. Hell, I didn’t even know what to think anymore.

“I won’t take no for an answer,” Dan said firmly, clapping me on the shoulder with his broad hand. “You won’t be sleeping in a hotel room any longer; just stay with me until you find a place of your own. Or until you get your house back from your soon-to-be ex-wife.”

I frowned again and went to protest, to tell Dan that it had never even been my house and that I would never expect Olivia and the kids to leave anyway, but then closed my mouth again. There was no use, and besides; I was too exhausted to make a fuss out of it.

“Alright, then,” I said, nodding curtly. “I’ll stay with you until I find an apartment. Thank you, Dan.”

“It’s my pleasure. Stay as long as you need.”

As we gathered our things and walked out of the meeting hall to head to lunch before hours of more meetings waited for us, Dan turned to me one last time. The mischievous grin on his face was nothing if not a telltale sign of what he was about to say next; I could sense it before he even uttered the words.

“Well?” he asked. “You’re lonely, are you not?”

I sighed, knowing where this was going. “I guess you could say that.”

“Very well,” Dan said, looping his arm around my shoulders as we walked. “I’ve got another girl for you; she’s blonde, and quite flexible. I can have her sent to your quarters tonight, once you’ve settled in.”

I paused for a moment, considering his offer. But then I had a better idea.

“Actually, I’d like to see the same one again.”

Dan grinned. “Consider it done.”