Duncan
It was 7:20 am and I had already been at work for an hour.
I'd barely slept last night and I knew I'd be lucky if the stress of the day didn't land me in hospital.
Maybe my sister was right. Maybe it was time I retired.
My phone started ringing, and I picked it up quickly.
"Hello?"
"Duncan, is Joel with you?"
It was my sister and she sounded worried.
"No, I've given him today off why?"
"Well, when I went to check on him this morning he wasn't there. He's not been here all night."
"Well, maybe he's at one of his friend's," I said, eyeing the 'to do' list I'd made for myself. I really could do without having this phone call right now.
"He could be, but there was a note on his bed. From Casper."
Suddenly my sister had my full attention. "What did it say?" I asked, as a pit of dread settled in my stomach.
"It asked him to go his room at 8pm last night."
I felt the colour drain out of my face.
"Oh god no!" I said, lowering my head onto the table and banging it lightly.
"Duncan, what's going on? Why is Casper asking to meet Joel?"
I sighed. There was no easy way to say it, and I didn't have time right now.
"I'll call you back later," I said and hung up the phone.
What had the boy gone and done now?
I rushed out of my room and headed towards Casper's.
I would just have to think of an excuse to go in there. There was a good chance that Joel went round last night, they had a conversation and then he left. Maybe I was worrying over nothing.
As I approached the door to his room, I heard voices inside. Raised and angry voices.
I was about to press my ear against the door, when I heard someone stepping towards it from the other side.
I quickly walked down to the end of the corridor and ducked into a supplies cupboard.
I left the door open a crack so I could see who came out of the room.
I heard Casper's door open and close so I peeked through the gap.
Joel was stood in the corridor, hastily getting dressed.
I felt my blood run cold. He had stayed the night? And he had clearly been undressed at some point as well!
I was frozen to the spot, only being shaken out of it when I saw Joel walk quickly away.
I rushed out of the cupboard, closing the door quietly behind me, before hurrying to go and catch up with Joel.
I needed to know what had happened. Had they sealed the bond? And what were they arguing about?
I rounded the corner quickly, then stopped abruptly as I saw a figure in the corner of my vision.
The Alpha was stood in the corridor, his mouth wide open, staring at the door that a half dressed Joel had just run through.
I turned to say something to him. But I didn't know what, then without a word he turned and walked off in the other direction.
I stood rooted to the spot. What should I do? Should I go after Joel to find out what happened, or should I follow the Alpha to see what he would do?
I choose the second option and slowly followed the Alpha, making sure to keep a safe distance. I heard the door to his office close, so I hurried over and put my ear to the door.
I could hear that he was on the phone.
"Yes, the scrawny one with the messy hair, Duncan's nephew........Yes that's him.......and make it look like an accident.......yes, maybe in neighbouring territory.......yes.........but not today, I don't want anything spoiling today...."
I slowly backed away, my heart pumping wildly in my chest.
I needed to act and fast.
I shot down to my office, and was met with a group of about 6 new staff and Simon.
"Ah, there you are Duncan. Can you let these guys know what they need to be doing. And Steve is having a bit of a meltdown in the kitchen," he said before wandering off.
"Urm, right," I said, looking at the expectant faces in front of me. "Can you just go and wait in there for a minute?" I said, pointing towards the kitchen, "there's an important phone call I need to make."
I quickly ducked into my office.
My phone was already ringing so I picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Duncan, the flowers have arrived," said Mandy, one of the maids, "where do you want them to go?"
"Urm, just put them in the ballroom for now. I'll send some people up for them in a second."
My head felt incredibly fuzzy and I could feel sweat starting to drip down my face. How was I supposed to get through today now?
I picked the phone up and was about to dial when my door burst open and Steve stormed in.
"Duncan, will you please get rid of all these newbies? There's enough to get done in the kitchen without having to step round them every two minutes."
"Right, yes," I said, blinking hard a few times before putting the phone back down.
I stood up and made my way back to the kitchen.
"Ok, can everybody follow me please," I announced, before walking back out of the kitchen, leading the new staff like the pied piper into the dining room.
I looked round for the head waiter but he was nowhere to be seen,
"Mark!" I shouted on seeing him setting one of the tables.
"Yes Duncan," he said coming over.
"Please can you let Dominic know that his extra staff are here, and help show them the ropes?"
I could see Mark looking at me curiously. I knew my usual perfect facade was dropping, but there was nothing I could do about it at the moment.
I turned and walked out before Mark even had a chance to reply.
I needed to make that phone call.
"Duncan," a voice growled, making my blood run cold.
"Yes Alpha," I said turning and bowing towards him.
"My office, now," he said, before turning on his heel and marching away.
I swallowed hard, to no avail as my mouth was suddenly bone dry. My feet somehow carried me forward, despite my head screaming at me to run in the opposite direction.
The Alpha had a reputation as someone with a short temper and an inclination towards violence. And that was on a good day. I wasn't sure my ageing body would be capable of handling the type of attack I had seen him dish out to some of the younger, less experienced members of staff.
Nethertheless, I walked into his office and shut the door behind me, wondering whether I'd sealed my fate in this small, slightly dusky smelling room.
The moment I turned round to face him, the Alpha lunged at me, grabbing me by the collar and pining me up against the wall with a thud.
I gasped slightly as the wind was knocked out of my lungs.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!!" He roared in my face.
"I'm sorry, Sir," I spluttered out. I could feel my whole body shaking.
"DON'T SAY YOU'RE SORRY!! TELL ME WHY YOU THOUGHT I SHOULDN'T KNOW THAT MY SON HAD FOUND HIS MATE!!"
"I didn't know that he had, Sir," I replied, rather surprised at the specific nature of the allegation.
"You know everything that goes on here Duncan! How come I had to find out from some written tip off from one of the other staff!"
My eyebrows shot up. So one of the staff had said something.
I was suddenly dropped back onto my feet. The Alpha walked back round to his desk, and leant over it, looking suddenly exhausted.
"Tell me everything you know," he growled, then added, "and if I find out you're keeping anything hidden, I'll eject you and your family from this pack."
I knew him too well to know that he would be true to his word.
I took a deep breath. Partly to try to control my nerves, and partly to prepare myself for what I was about to tell him.
"I found out a couple of weeks ago, Sir. But it was only suspected that they might be mates. The bond had not been sealed. Both parties agreed that they didn't want to seal the bond, so they have stayed away from each other. Joel has even been applying for jobs elsewhere."
"So what happened last night?" he asked. "From what I saw, it looks like they chose to seal the bond."
I had no idea what had happened, but I suspected he wouldn't believe me if I said that.
I had to think on my feet, and fast.
"Last night Casper officially rejected him."
The Alpha sat down abruptly, shock clearly written across his face.
"He rejected him? His mate?" he asked, as though he didn't believe this would be the case.
"Yes," I said confidently, "he said that the pack meant more to him than his mate, and that he needed to marry Emily for the sake of the pack. He was quite adamant, Sir."
I saw a flicker of something pass across the Alpha's face. It looked like pride.
"Ok....." he said, obviously thinking it over. "But why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I had the trust of Casper, Sir. I thought that it was best that I was kept in the loop, so I could manage the situation. I was scared that if I told you, he would no longer trust me, and things might have gone........ unchecked."
The Alpha let out a sigh. I could tell that his anger was dissipating slowly.
"I'm still the Alpha. You should have told me," he said, but his tone was no longer angry, just commanding.
"Yes Sir, I will never keep anything from you again," I said, contritely.
"Ok, you may go," he said.
I shot to my feet and thanked him before quickly bolting out of the door.
I may have bought Joel a bit more time by making him think that Casper had rejected him, but I knew that the threat to his life was still very real.
I needed to make that phone call as soon as possible.