Chapter 46

Dominic

I don’t know how long I had been staring out the window of my office.

Mira’s words from earlier had stuck with me. I was replaying our conversation in my head, trying to interpret every gesture and expression she had made during the conversation.

It was becoming more complicated than I had thought to follow a contract with a Mate, especially the more one gets to know that Mate.

I never wanted to push Mira, but suddenly the thought of sleeping at a distance for the rest of our lives sounded like a dull and miserable future.

If that was what Mira really wanted, however, I would respect and honor it.

Few Alphas have the privilege of marrying someone they love, and that was a potential sacrifice of which I was well aware.

Maybe she will change her mind.

My wolf’s desires were crawling to the surface, and for a moment I let myself swell with their power and force. This Alpha had a hidden passion that could launch a thousand ships.

There was a knock at the door.

I snapped back to reality and shook off that sensation. Sitting up straighter, I put on the mask of a leader to greet whoever was waiting at the door.

“Come in.”

The door creaked open slowly, and just a head came around the door.

“Hey you,” Lila said, slowly opening the door the rest of the way.

“Lila,” I said with a touch of surprise, “you’re early.”

“Yeah, sorry, I was just ready, I mean I was around and couldn’t wait,” she said, seeming slightly on edge.

“No worries at all, come sit down.”

As she came fully into the room I saw she carried two coffees on a tray in one arm. I recognized the logo from Common Ground Coffee, a small cafe on the other side of the city that we’d gone to since childhood.

“I bring libations!” Lila said cheerily. “You still take your coffee black, right?”

“I am a simple man, to be sure,” I said, taking the steaming cup from her. “Did you really go all the way out there just to bring me a coffee?”

“Well it’s your favorite, isn’t it?” she said, seeming worried that I might say no.

“Yes, it is one of the best roasters in the area,” I said, trying to break the tension. “It just wasn’t necessary to go through all that trouble.”

“No trouble,” Lila said. “I like to do things for you.”

I brought the cup to my lips and noticed how hot its contents still were, so I placed it down on my desk.

Lila’s eyes followed the cup down, and then looked back at me. Her smile drooped a little bit, but her eyes were still bright.

“I’ll let it sit for a bit,” I said. “So, Lila, how’ve you been? What did you want to talk to me about?”

She looked down at her hands, suddenly very nervous.

“Oh, nothing too important, sorry if I’m taking up your time,” she stuttered out.

“Lila, it’s fine, you can relax,” I said, leaning forward on my desk. “I make time for people who are important to me.

She perked back up as I said that, but it was slightly off-putting the way her mood was changing so quickly.

“Thank you, Dominic, that’s so nice to hear from you,” she said, reaching her hand out to touch mine. “I know things have been hectic for everyone lately, but I can’t tell you enough how important you are to me.”

“Right, you are important to me too,” I responded. “We’ve always been good friends.”

“And more, I think,” she gave my hand a squeeze. “I mean, such old friends are connected on a deeper level, don’t you think?”

“I suppose…” I said warily.

“That’s why I feel like I can talk to you about certain things, about anything,” she started to pick up speed in her speech. “And I hope you feel you can tell me anything as well.”

“Lila, is there something you came here to say?”

“No no, just checking in on my old friend!”

There was that cheeriness again, as if she had a button to press to turn it on.

“How are you, D? I heard about some mess out at another little back, Rogues again? Just awful!”

“Oh, yes, the Brooks settlement,” I said. “We are doing what we can to help them recover from the attack. A young girl was kidnapped, and time is so crucial when there is a missing person.”

“Did you see any of the Rogues? I hear they’re dreadful. ”

“No, they were gone by the time we arrived,” I confessed.

“I hear they’ve been doing some freaky medical procedures, creating their own monsters. The Alpha is supposed to have supernatural strength, and was basically “Frankenstein-ed” in some creepy lab somewhere.”

My mouth fell open as she spoke, and I quickly righted myself. Lila’s gossip was hitting far too close to the puzzle Mira and I were trying to solve.

I didn’t want to encourage Lila’s curiosity until we knew more.

“That sounds like something out of a legend or a myth,” I told her, making the idea sound absurd. “Stories always shift the size of the event and the people in it. We continue to learn more about these Rogues, and soon we will be able to drive them out.”

“I sure hope so,” Lila said, sitting back in her chair. “I can’t imagine how terrifying it would be to be attacked, in your own homes. The place you are always meant to feel safe.”

“Don’t worry Lila,” I said, with promise, “our security is iron-clad and our Pack is strong. They wouldn’t dare try to come up against the Greys.”

“Cheers to that,” Lila said, raising the coffee cup in the air.

I pick mine up, noticing that it had already cooled in temperature.

“Cheers,” I said back to her.

I was raising the cup to my lips to take a first sip when the door to my office flew open.

Mira stood there, out of breath, and I judged by the color in her face that she had run here.

“Mira, what happened? What are you doing here?” I ask urgently, rising from my chair.

“Don’t drink that!” she said loudly.

“What?”

“What are you saying, Mira?” Lila was standing too now. “There’s nothing wrong with the coffee.”

“Dominic, I’m serious,” Mira came further into the room. “I don’t know what is going on here, but I really don’t think you should drink that cup.”

My eyes followed Mira, then went to the cup, then looked to Lila.

If what she said was true, Lila might have done something to my drink. If that were the case, I wanted to keep her calm so she didn’t do anything drastic.

I made eye contact with Mira once more, and she seemed to get the idea because she stayed between Lila and the door.

Calmly I removed the lid from the cup and looked at the coffee inside. It looked normal to me.

Keeping my face calm, I poured some of the liquid into the plant on my desk.

The soil hissed, and smoke rose up into the air.

Everyone gasped and stared, frozen place.

Within a minute, the plant was dead.