Four: Mason Crescent

Four

Mason Crescent

"What are you doing?" I demanded. I stormed into my sister's office the minute he had seen the e-mail about the new hire. Rachel Conner was Mia Conners aunt. And, according to the company wide e-mail my sister had just sent, she was also going to be the new secretary working for me.

Brooklyn smiled. "I'm helping out family."

I glared at her. Inside, my wolf was pacing, and it howled with anger. Whenever it did that, my eyes blazed yellow and Brooklyn must have seen it.

Her eyes blazed yellow too as if in response. "Don't take that attitude with me. Mason, Mia is your mate, and you've stayed away from her long enough. Harper's your daughter. You deserve to be happy and I don't want to see you die because you're too stubborn to be with her. Rejecting her is making you weak. You need to embrace happiness."

I clenched my jaw. "She'll get killed."

"You don't know that," said Mia, "the world isn't the same place that it was years ago. Everyone knows that our family is one of the most prominent werewolf packs in the world. You have a whole pack behind you that will keep you safe. Besides, Harper is your heir. She needs to be trained to be the Alpha."

"The pack won't like it," I said, "she's part human, and the role is typically male."

"The pack can fuck off," said Mia, "it's Harper's destiny to rule that pack. No one is going to take that from her otherwise they're going to have to deal with me."

I sighed. "You're annoyingly optimistic, do you know that?"

She shrugged. "That's how I got to own my own company without any help from my family, thank you very much. Besides, I've always thought that the two of you should be together. I think that you're just being stubborn about the whole thing."

"I was trying to keep her safe," I said.

"She'd be safer if she had her mate with her," Brooklyn told me, "Anyway, it's my company and I want Rachel working here. So, you're just going to have to get used to Mia being in my life again."

I scowled. "I think this is a terrible idea."

Brooklyn shrugged. "Too bad. If you had done the right thing in the first place, you wouldn't be in the position that you are now. You've been given a second chance, Mason. Make it right. Now, go do work. I've got my own to do."

I wanted to argue with her more, but Brooklyn was my boss. What she said went. I was grateful that she had given me a position when my pack had decided I was unfit to rule, but I still didn't like that I had to answer to my younger sister. I was used to being the one in power. Brooklyn having control was new to me.

I went back to my office, and slammed the door behind me. There was a knock on it. "You okay, Alpha?"

I winced at the old title. I wasn't an Alpha. I hadn’t been in a long time, and I probably never would be again. Not with my clock running out. Not when I refused to put Mia in danger. Owen had come to California with my sister, Meredith, his mate, at the same time that I did. He hadn't liked the way my brothers had taken over everything.

            "I'm fine, Owen," I grunted.

            The door opened anyway. Owen was tall, with a blond hair, and a buzzcut. He smirked at me. "No, you're not. You might not be the official Alpha anymore but I can still sense when you're pissed." He sat in the chair across from mine. "I'm guessing Brooklyn told you who is going to be your new secretary."

            I sighed. "Yes."

            "And you're not happy about it, because that means you are going to be back in Mia's world."

            "Yes."

            "Well, you'd better get over that, Alpha," he said, "because I just saw something that I know is going to make you pissed when I was at lunch."

            I looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "What exactly did you see?"

            "The Carina Wolf Pack," he told me, "I saw the youngest, Sullivan. He was out with some girl. He said they're expanding to California. They're opening a new, private residential home for werewolves. Which means Carina Construction will have a homebase here, in Delta."

            The hair on the back of my neck stood up. Carina was the wolf pack that had tried kidnapping Meredith shortly before her and Owen realized they were each other's mates. She had dated one of their betas in high school, and he'd developed an obsession with her. The months when Meredith had been kidnapped had been some of the hardest on my family.

            It had resulted in a feud between my pack and the Carinas. The war that had come from it had been violent. It was part of why I hadn't wanted to let anyone know that Mia was my mate. I was worried about what the other pack might do in retaliation.

            "We're going to need security. You should call Cole. And tell him I want it for Mia and my….my daughter."

            Owen nodded. "I'll get right on that, Alpha. Don't worry."

            "Thank you, Owen."

            "Anytime," he said, "although, might I make a crazy suggestion?"

            "You can make it. I can also choose not to listen to it."

            "I think that you should go and protect Mia yourself. Reconnect with her. The universe obviously still wants the two of you together. You're her mate, and the best person to protect her would be yourself."

            I shook my head. "You're wrong, Owen. People will know that she's my mate then. And people will use that against me. I'm not going to put her in danger. Please Owen, just do this for me. Alright?"

            Owen sighed. "Alright. I'll make the call."