Chapter 3: Unplanned Visitor

(Danny POV)

It was late in the day on a Friday afternoon, and I was going through a never-ending pile of paperwork on my desk.  I was exhausted, but I had at least another 3-4 hours of work before I could call it a day.

Frustrated with the constant stream of interruptions today and my inability to get anything done, I had asked my assistant not to allow anyone through unless it was an emergency.

Thus, when my assistant said that the Pack’s Head of Security was here, I knew there was a problem.  And likely another one I was going to have to deal with on my own.

“Send him in,” I told Rebecca.

Moments later, I heard the knock on my door.

“Beta Nichols?”

“Come in, Andrew,” I said politely.  “What’s going on?”

Please let it be something simple and easy, I thought.

“We have a situation at the front gate,” Andrew informed me.

“What is it?”

“We have a Ms. Jenna Maxwell here.  She is demanding an audience with Alpha Rivers.”

“Who?”

“She’s a pack member, Sir.”

Huh.  I didn’t recognize the name.  Then again, in a pack of 45,000 pack members, that wasn’t that unusual.

“Okay, and ---”

“And we have been trying to reach Alpha, but he is not answering his mind links or messages.”

Of course he’s not, I thought.  Kade was newly mated, having met his fated mate five months ago.  Ever since then, my workload had doubled because Kade had been blowing off most of his pack responsibilities in favor of spending time with his new mate.

“Well, tell her that he’s busy.”

“She’s being …um… rather demanding, Sir.”

I groaned.  I hated entitled, demanding she-wolves like that.  And I hated even more that I was getting interrupted to deal with this sort of nonsense.

“This is not an emergency, Andrew.  We pay you good money to deal with this sort of thing.  Just tell her to make an appointment for later in the week and be done with it.”

“Sir, I ---”

“What, Andrew?” I snapped.  “Stop wasting my time and tell me what the issue is.”

“She’s talking about the pack constitution, and a provision that says that she is entitled to a meeting with the alpha within a reasonable period of time.  And ---”

“And she can make an appointment like everyone else.”

“She has, Sir.”

“Okay, so what is the problem?”

“Alpha Rivers missed the appointment.”

“No surprise; those sorts of things happen.  She can make another one.”

“Yes, Sir, but ---”

“But what, Andrew?  I’m losing my patience here.”

“She has made 13 appointments, Sir.  Alpha Rivers has missed all 13.  Today was her 14^th try.”

F&&k.

“She says that she is going to report us to the werewolf council if she doesn’t get the meeting today.”

F&&k, f&&k, f&&k, f&&k.

The last thing that we needed right now was an inspection or visit from the werewolf council.  The new werewolf king had just taken over a year ago, and he was already known for being tough and exacting. 

The last thing we needed was someone like that inspecting our pack after the last five months.  I mean, I had done my best… but I could only do so much.  We needed our alpha to do his job too.

I ran my hands through my hair in frustration, as I debated the options.

Finally, I decided.  I was going to go upstairs, get Kade, and demand he do what needed to be done.

“Tell Ms. Maxine ---”

“Maxwell, Sir.”

“Fine, whatever.  I will go get Alpha Rivers.  Tell Ms. Maxwell that he will be down to talk to her in 30 minutes.  Surely she can wait that long.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

******

It took me 20 minutes of pounding on the door, 15 mind-links, and a yelled threat to break the door down before Kade finally answered the door of the alpha suite.

Of course, he was half naked and reeked of sex.

“What do you want, Danny?  I’m sort of busy in here.”

“Yeah, I can smell that, you a&&hole.  Get dressed.  You are needed downstairs.”

“Is someone dead?”

“No.”

“Dying?”

“No.”

“Has war started that no one has bothered to tell me about?”

“No.”

“Then deal with it.”

Kade started to close the door.

“Don’t you dare close that door on me, Kade. I don’t care if you are my best friend and alpha.”

Kade growled at my disrespect, but he didn’t close the door.

“What do you need?”

“I need you to do your job.”

“My job right now is taking care of my mate, your new luna.  Unless someone is dead or dying, or the pack is burning down, you can take care of the rest.”

“Your job is to be an alpha, you son-of-a-b&tch.  I have been covering for you for five months.  Now get dressed and ---”

“Five months?  That is nothing in our world and you know it.  Surely it hasn’t been that long since you and Beth were mated.”

Beth and I hardly had sex, you a&&hole.  And we definitely did not have a five-month-long sexcapade.  Not that I wanted to share any of those details with him.

“We were only 20 when we met Beth,” my wolf reminded me.  “Maybe it is harder for an alpha, especially as they get older.”

Whatever.

“Kade, seriously.  I don’t want to talk about Beth right now.  I just need you to help me.  Ten minutes, maybe twenty.  And then you can get back to your mate.”

Kade sighed.  “What’s the issue?”

“A pack member… Jenna Maxine?  She is here and demanding an audience with you.”

“Jenna Maxwell?”

“Yes.  You know her?”

“Yeah, she is the illegitimate daughter of Alpha Black.  Moved here as a baby.  Last I heard of her, she moved away for law school.  Hasn’t been back since.”

Huh.  That sounded vaguely familiar.

“Well, she is here, threatening to go to the werewolf council if you don’t meet with her today.”

“She can make an appointment.”

“She did 13 times.  You missed all of them.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.  Can you please just come downstairs and meet with her?  I don’t know what she wants but I’m sure whatever it is won’t take that long.”

“Yeah, that’s fine.  Give me a ----”

Just then, Luna Ashley walked up behind Kade.  I saw her manicured fingers as they began to rub his back.

“Baby, come back to bed,” she purred.

I saw the look in Kade’s eyes, and knew what was coming even before he said it.

“Take care of it for me, Danny,” Kade ordered.

“I can’t.  She wants to meet with the alpha.  YOU are the alpha.”

Again, I saw the wheels turn in Kade’s mind.

“I, Kade Rivers, temporarily vest the alpha title in Beta Danny Nichols.  This vesting shall last….”  he turned his head and looked at his mate “… for the next 24… no 72… hours.”

Before I could say anything, Kade closed and locked the door.

Mother f&&ker.