Chapter 5.

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I dialled my Paps number again but did not lift the phone to my ear, instead watching as it rang for a while before it went to voicemail causing my frown to deepen. I had the feeling he was purposely ignoring my calls, and Sean was doing the same. They really never took anything seriously. It was so frustrating. I needed an update on what was happening back home.

Sighing, I let my head fall back so I was staring at the roof of Karabo's office. I had been in there for the past fifteen minutes. After exploring and watching a bit of TV, my friends and I had eaten lunch before they decided to take a walk and have a look around the Letsela pack grounds. At the time, I opted not to go along citing that I needed to check-in with the Alpha and Beta we had left in charge.

I swung around in the chair while deciding to text my younger brother Danté to ask him how the pack was doing, because I knew my Dad would be on Paps and Sean's side and probably not answer his phone either. I ignored the door when it opened, continuing to spin while typing.

"How old are you?" Karabo's chuckling voice came from across the room.

"It depends on when you ask." My reply made him laugh. I smiled as I stopped turning and we both looked at each other with crooked, awkward smiles.

"Sorry." We spoke in unison and his smile grew into a more genuine one.

"Did you have lunch?" I nodded leaning my head back to stare at the ceiling above me again.

"Uh-huh. Did you?" I asked.

"No. Let's go." My eyes moved from the roof to look back at my mate. He had changed from the suit he wore earlier into soccer pants, sneakers and a t-shirt. He looked like he was about to go for a jog...

"I thought you had work."

"I did." I sat up straight leaning my arms on either side of the chair and he watched me from where he stood in the doorway.

"I'm not trying to be rude, but what work does a pack like yours have?" I asked. "Pack finances and stuff can be done in a couple of days," I added.

"Well, right now, some pack wants our land and since I'm not willing to sell any of it, they gave us an option to merge or fight." My brows rose and he noticed, "I've got it handled."

"We have a pretty strong army. Need help?" I asked.

"We don't need your army. We might not always be fighting, but we're always ready."

"I just offered some help." I said.

"I don't need your help." He replied, his voice edging slightly towards anger.

"Well, I think you might have to – wait. Stop." I cut myself off realising where I was headed, "I'm sorry." We sighed and fell silent.

"Can we... not talk about pack related stuff?" He asked.

"Definitely." I got up and walked over to him. "So, what are we doing, Mate?" I leaned close to him to see his reaction and he just turned and left the room making his way down the hall. That was amusing.

"Getting lunch for me." He replied. I chuckled as I followed him.

We walked from the house into his garage and I frowned at one of the two cars.

"You fit in that?" I was referring to the purple Mini Cooper.

"Anyone can fit in it." He shot me a look, "It's my moms."

"Why is it here – she lives with you?" I had come across a room with female clothing in the closet when I was exploring. Of course, I had been really curious about it, especially because of what he had said when we met, but I hadn't asked about it because I didn't want to seem jealous or anything.

"Yes. She's visiting some human friends in the city right now though."

"Let me guess, this is your dad's?" I asked as he unlocked the black BMW.

"Was." He corrected as he climbed in. I hesitated before I got into the passenger seat. His father was dead?

"How...?" I asked slowly as he started the car.

"Killed himself." He replied, a clear slight resentment lingering in the words. I watched him try not to look angry but his hands were tight around the steering wheel as he reversed from the garage. Once we were outside he looked at me and gave a smile. "Talk about your family."

I fought my curiosity and nodded returning a smile that was more real than the one on his face. He looked away from me seemingly relieved as he backed out of the driveway and I began telling him about Tamia, Danté, my parents and grandparents while he drove. He seemed really interested in everything, especially my siblings because he was an only child. I drifted off into stories about our childhoods, like when our parents made me watch a one-year-old Danté alone for the first time and I essentially lost track of where he was in the back yard but luckily one of our neighbours found him not far away in the forest behind our house. She agreed not to say a word to my parents when I bargained that it was a one-time opportunity to have an Alpha owe her. She had yet to cash it in and I had a feeling she was never going to.

When we got to town Karabo parked the car somewhere underground before we headed up to the sidewalk and I walked beside him while he led us to where he was planning to get lunch.

"Where are we going?" I asked him when we had been walking for a while. We'd passed so many stores, I had even managed to buy a Swiss Army knife and some fireworks because Danté was obsessed with that. The knife was mine. I collected sharp objects.

"I don't know." He shrugged while swinging the inflatable hammer I had bought him because he looked like he really wanted it but didn't want to seem immature. He didn't have a problem looking immature now that he had it; I had been hit with it at least four times in the past three minutes for absolutely no reason.

"You haven't decided yet?" I asked in disbelief. Why had we been walking all that time then?

"How was I supposed to? You spoke the whole way here."

"So?"

"Would you rather I ignored you?" He asked.

"You're so weird," I muttered before grabbing his hand and pulling him into the closest restaurant I saw.

"I don't want to eat here."

"You're going to." I shoved him into a booth before sliding onto the couch across his. He frowned at me but it quickly tilted up into an excited smile.

"Oh! Let's pretend it's my birthday." His eyes were wide with excitement, it looked really cute but I was confused.

"Why would we do that?" I asked.

"Free ice cream." He replied.

"Uh... we could just buy ice cream and not garner the attention of everyone in here." I said.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't get the song and the clapping." He gave a disappointed pout while looking at his hammer.

I stared at him slightly astonished. Was there a way to fake being an Alpha? He could not possibly be an Alpha... This guy could not have the faith of an entire pack of wolves in his hands... Didn't he ask how old I was just that morning? Karabo raised his brows at me silently questioning my studying him but before I could say anything, a voice spoke up from above us.

"Good Afternoon," I looked up as a waiter introduced himself and glanced at Karabo to see him looking torn. "Would you like your drinks now?" The young guy handed us menus as he finished his introduction and I nodded.

"Yes. Also, it's his birthday." I glanced at Karabo and almost shook my head at the grin he had on his face. I half wanted to hide as the waiter began singing Happy Birthday and the rest of the staff joined in and Karabo clapped along with them before the waiter asked him when he wanted the ice cream. I answered for him stating that he would have it after the meal and he shot me an angry look once the waiter was gone.

"I wanted it now," he said.

"I know, you're more of a child than Danté is." That was saying something. Danté was fifteen, but he made it really easy to guess that he was the youngest in our family.

"I'm not a child. You're just not fun." Karabo retorted. I laughed grabbing his hammer so I could take a swing at his head, the glare he gave me only made me laugh more.

He chose to have pizza and whined about how he didn't want to eat alone so I would have to help him finish before he ordered it. As we waited, we returned to talking and eventually I looked outside and frowned seeing a couple of people standing in front of a store across the street.

"You let Vampires onto your land?" I asked still watching the girls as they laughed about something, not noticing Karabo and me watching them.

"They're harmless." He replied. No, they weren't. Vampires are the most careless and reckless supernatural creatures around, it was risky having them nearby. They never cleaned up after themselves and not many of them compelled humans to forget after they had fed on them. Some witches worked as doctors and police just to clear that up. "My pack's never had problems with the Vampires that live here and they've been around for nine years."

"You let them stay?" I asked looking at him.

He nodded. "They had nowhere to go. My dad took some convincing, but after a trial period he agreed with me. Plus, they help us compel sometimes."

Right. Only certain wolf breeds could compel; I could because I was mixture of Novulaní and Amarelo – Amarelo wolves famously having the ability to compel other creatures.

Karabo looked at me as he tilted his head. "Aren't you a little too sceptical of everyone?"

"No," I replied. I never trusted anyone I just met and my pack had a bad history with other supernaturals.

"I think you are." He said.

I shook my head and we opted for talking about what we would do after we had lunch until our food came instead of diving into that because it seemed like it would lead to another disagreement. We ate in almost silence because Karabo was really hungry and I just liked watching him focus on his food. I had never been fascinated by someone eat before – I found it gross – but watching his cheeks fill-up was adorable, it was probably because he was my mate. He stopped eating when my phone buzzed and I looked at it. It was a message from Danté telling me he had been eavesdropping on one of our Paps and Sean's meetings and got some information.

"It's my brother. Mind if I call him?" I asked looking at Karabo. He shook his head since his mouth was still full and I chuckled as I got up and walked out of the restaurant before dialling my brother's number.

"Okay, you know owe me for this," The way he answered the phone made me roll my eyes but I did not argue and waited for him to continue speaking, "This morning, they had a meeting at the centre. I think to avoid having anyone overhear." Our Paps probably knew I would ask Danté what was going on since the leaders and our Dad were all deliberately avoiding my calls.

"What did you hear?" I asked.

"Another rogue's gone missing. The elders and Deltas think maybe we should look into it before we begin getting strategized attacks from the rogues around us since so many of them believe we have something to do with it."

"Has anyone confronted us about it?" I asked.

"No, but there are rumours circulating." He said.

I bit my lip uneasily staring at the ground. I should go home... No. They could handle it. Right, they were more experienced than I was, they probably had a good handle of the situation... but I was the current Alpha and should be there and aware of anything that involved our pack.

"Oh yeah, Paps is acting weird too. I can't find out why. They work a lot so he's only here late at night." He said.

"What do you mean weird?" I asked.

"I don't know, he clears his throat a lot." I shook my head. Danté freaked out when anyone looked even slightly sick despite the person being a werewolf which made it practically impossible for them to get sick. It was the aftermath of having one of his human friends pass away a couple of years back after she got sick and brushed it off as the flu. Their friend group was council about the sudden loss but still seemed very affected by it.

"Maybe he has an allergy?" I asked.

"I'm serious, Eli." I could practically hear the frown in my younger brother's voice.

"I know. Look, I'm sure he's fine, Danté. We don't get sick and you know how strong he is. How are you?" I asked.

"Great. Dad's letting me sleepover at Michael's house this week. I bet it's because they're trying to hide something, but whatever, I'm not complaining. Oh yeah, I borrowed your controller because Michael broke both of his." He said.

"My Xbox controller? Why don't you just use yours?" I asked.

"Because we need more than one. Anyway, just letting you know he might have broken yours as well."

"What?!"

"What?" He repeated, "Oh – Dad, I'm coming. Eli, I have to go." Liar, it was obvious no one called him. That was such a basic trick.

"Danté –"

"I love you and Tammy, see you next week!" I ran my tongue against the inside of my cheek annoyed as I pulled my phone from my ear once he had hung up.

Danté and Michael seemed to have forgotten that I planned their training schedule... They were going to have a very bad couple of months when we returned home.

I made my way back into the restaurant but stopped a few tables from mine as I saw Karabo on his phone. He seemed slightly upset, which made me curious and concerned as I watched from a few feet away.

"Right now...? Where are they...? I'm on my way." There the Alpha is, his tone was so serious. I frowned as he hung up before hiding that behind a smile as I made my way to our table.

"You alright?" I asked seeing his discontented face.

"I have to work." He replied carefully, like he felt bad about ending our day so soon. I nodded in understanding.

"Go ahead. I'll explore."

"You sure you're fine alone?" I gave him a flat stare at that question and he chuckled, "We'll hang out later."

"Of course. Be careful." He side-eyed me as he dropped some money on the table and left – not forgetting his hammer.

I chuckled leaning back into the seat as I watched Karabo jogged down the street before disappearing out of my line of sight. The waiter returned and cleaned up what was left on the table before asking if we wanted the ice cream, I nodded and he headed back to the kitchen. My phone buzzing drew my attention back to it and I found that it was another message from Danté.

'Have you seen this?' I played the first five seconds of the video attached and recognised it as the video Kevin had made us watch earlier. The views had sky-rocketed since we had seen it in the morning. Who would have thought an adult so adamantly ranting about the existence of mythical creatures could go viral? I told Danté I had and it was funny before setting my phone on the table.

"Birthday boy's in the restroom?" I looked up at the waiter who was now holding a tray.

"No, he had to leave. Can I have his ice cream?" I asked.

"Oh. I actually made one for each of you." He said placing two bowls down. I chuckled. "They're both free," he added.

"Thank you, you can have the other," I replied.

"Yay! It's almost my break anyway." he sat down across me where Jayden had been minutes ago. I suddenly missed him being annoying with that inflated plastic hammer.

"Your manager's alright with it?" I did not want to get him into any trouble.

"It's not busy and he's really laid back." I smiled at him.

"I'm Eli." I reached out my hand.

"Greg," he replied as he shook my hand. He had really soft hands...

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