Meeting the Parents

Despite the challenge that Sienna had set, I had every intention of having her move in with me.

I knew the invitation would cause her to react—especially since she was a domina—and while I liked it when she acted feral, if she thought I would back down with my tail between my legs, she was in for a surprise.

I decided to give her a few hours before I made my next move. If she wanted me to play the game, then she’d better get ready to lose.

But until it was time to execute my little plan, I had a two-hour conference call to take care of. I opened the video chat on my computer, trying to get rid of the smirk I knew was plastered on my face.

“Norwood,” Christopher Chambers, alpha of the Canadian Pack, answered, staring at me through the screen. Next to him sat a man—Jamie Wells, his mate.

“Chambers,” I greeted dryly. “I trust you’ve been well.”

He gave me a thin smile, his gaze directly on mine, which, even across the screen, could be perceived as a challenge. “How is Maine treating you?”

I smiled back. “Great, now that you northerners are no longer pushing my limits.”

“From what I hear, someone else is pushing your limits,” he said, his voice deceptively flat.

Stifling a snarl, I turned to Jamie. “You seem a bit worn out, Wells. Is your mate treating you right?”

Chris growled at once, eyes flashing gold, while Jamie’s lips twitched in amusement.

“Stop it, you two,” he said, rolling his eyes and turning to his mate. “And you. You should know better than to let him distract you like this.”

Growl vanishing, Chris murmured something unintelligible before turning back to me. “Don’t ever question whether I treat my mate right or not.”

I gave him a smirk. “Only if you mind your own business. Are you really that interested in gossip about my pack? And where exactly are you getting your information anyway?”

Chris snickered. “An alpha never shares his sources.”

“Just think of it as a step toward strengthening our pack relations,” I pointed out. “Isn’t that what this meeting is about? You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.”

“Nice try, Aiden,” he said, smugly. “Nevertheless, I’m happy for you, man. People were getting worried.”

My hand was itching to punch something. I was through with being condescended to as if I was a child.

“I’m the alpha of the second-largest pack in North America,” I growled. “I can take care of myself.”

“Ah, you naive fool.” Chris shook his head in a patronizing way that made me want to knock his teeth out. “The whole point of a mate is to have someone take care of you.”

Jamie rolled his eyes again, and I let out a heavy sigh. “While I wish I had the time to talk about this bullshit, we have more pressing matters to attend to, Chris.”

He sighed too. “Yeah, I suppose we do. You should come over sometime. Quebec is lovely this time of the year.”

“Also very cold,” I mumbled and then switched gears. “Tell me about Maine.”

“For now, things are quiet,” he said, his face no longer relaxed but tense.

I could see Jamie scooting closer, knowing he would be able to take some of the tension away. It made my heart twinge, but I ignored it and listened.

“After I took over, we tightened security around that sector. There are no more wolves attempting to challenge my pack members.”

I nodded. “I visited last month, and the wolves there seemed far more stable, now that Sinclair is out of the picture.”

A few months ago, the former alpha of the Canadian Pack had tried to get a piece of my territory by aggravating the northern borders.

He started with Maine since it had a significantly lower werewolf population than in other states, and the wolves there had almost started a war—and rightfully so, in my opinion.

But warring with the Canadians was a bad idea.

Raphael Fernandez, the alpha of the Millennium Pack, had advised me against it and tried to act as a third party in the feud, but I wasn’t having any of it.

The situation was tense for a couple of months before Chris came into the picture. Strong and dominant, he challenged the alpha for his position. He’d tried to refuse, but his pack urged him to accept the challenge; as an alpha, backing down wasn’t an option.

However, the alpha’s powers had been dwindling, growing smaller, what with him not finding his mate.

Chris, however, had a mate, and since he was almost as strong as their Beta, he overpowered the opposing alpha and finished him off.

The alpha’s calling had transferred to him, and now he was leading the Canadian Pack in a good, healthy direction while also opting out of any scuffle with my pack.

In the last few months, Chris and I had hit it off, but while I liked Chris, he was still getting used to his alpha position, and that meant he was still establishing his place in the hierarchy.

“As long as your wolves behave themselves, there is no need for concern,” he now said, the undertone of a warning in his voice that I didn’t appreciate.

I didn’t bristle, but I gave him my signature alpha stare. “You don’t need to worry about us.”

Chris leaned back, his face breaking into a grin. “I don’t know, I heard you’ve been acting pretty unpredictable since you marked that fiery little plaything. You’re going to have a fun Haze, I’d imagine.”

~So, we’re back to the gossip.~

~Except in this case, the gossip is true.~

He was jerking my chain on purpose, in a way alphas often did with one another. Raphael was like that too.

“Gee, look at the time,” I said, deadpan. “I need to go. Why don’t you take care of your own Haze.”

Chris’s annoying grin remained. “I will. But not before I give you a piece of advice.” His grin widened when my eye twitched.

“When you’re with her, make her see who you are beyond your title. You and I, we’re not just alphas. We’re men too.”

I growled low in my chest, warning him to shut up, when Jamie said, “He’s right. You’re Aiden first and the alpha second. Don’t let your title define your relationship.”

I wasn’t an idiot. I understood what they were telling me. But the difference between us was that I’d been the alpha for almost ten years now, and it had become an integral part of me.

Yes, I had asked her to call me by my name, and yes, I agreed to let her challenge me in private because I knew I needed a take-no-shit mate, but to completely forsake my alpha identity? That was impossible.

“Noted,” I snarled now. “Go fuck yourselves.”

“Will do,” Chris smirked and hung up.

As much as I hated to admit it, they were right. And I really respected the relationship they had built together.

I was out of my depth, but I knew Sienna wouldn’t connect with me if all she saw was my alpha side.

Now that I’d cut my call short, I had some planning to do. I needed to find a way to show Sienna my softer side. And I had an idea of just how to do that.

***

“Aiden!” Josh was calling out to me from down the hall.

I didn’t stop walking as I attempted to leave the pack house. I had somewhere to be. “I’m done for today, Josh.”

My beta caught up with me. “No, you’re not,” he said, an edge to his voice. “We need to discuss what happened earlier with Mercer.”

I whirled around to face him, my eyes flashing gold. “What goes on between me and Sienna is of no consequence to the pack, or to you,” I growled, my temper short.

“Now, if you don’t have anything else to say, I have something important to do.”

Josh gritted his teeth. “She challenged you!” he snapped. “Are you seriously letting that go?”

“Careful, Josh,” I said, voice low, warning him with my gaze. “You do not raise your voice to me.”

He started growling, then bit out a curse. “Fuck, Aiden. Jocelyn said she met Sienna outside some gallery uptown and that she seemed completely overwhelmed by all this. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

That hit me like a punch to the gut. But I didn’t say anything. I just simply stared at him until he threw up his hands in defeat.

“Fine!” he said. “I don’t know why I even bother. Let me know when you start thinking with your head instead of your dick.”

The urge to put my hands around his throat was so tempting, but I had to remind myself that he was my best friend, my beta, and he was doing his job.

I reined in my wolf and walked off, not wanting to speak in fear of saying something I might regret.

Thankfully, I wasn’t interrupted again, and I jumped into my black Audi, then drove through rush hour, emptying my head of any thought other than the most important one: Sienna.

If I was going to show her that I was more than just an alpha, I’d have to do something pretty fucking unconventional for me.

~Let’s just hope it doesn’t backfire spectacularly.~

An hour later, I arrived at the Mercer house. Parking in the driveway, I got out, strode toward the door, and rang the bell.

This alpha was about to do something he’d ~never~ done before.

I was going to meet the parents.