“You are in no shape to head to the office. Come on,” she says quietly, leading me away from the stairs and toward a room.
Pushing open the door, I walk in first, taking a seat on the bed inside while Claira closes and locks the door behind us.
“What happened in there?” she asks, sitting beside me and pulling me into her arms.
“He apologized to me,” I state, tears falling down my face. Without waiting for her reply, I repeat every word exchanged between us, including how he didn’t know he had rejected me. Claira listens, letting me cry out my frustration and pain while holding me tightly.
“So what are you going to do then?” Claira asks, the two of us lying on the bed as I take deep breaths to calm myself down.
“I don’t know,” I answer.
“Well, he is your soulmate, and we only get one,” Claira states, and I roll my eyes, heaving a sad sigh.
“I know. But I can’t just forgive him. He doesn’t deserve my forgiveness for just a simple apology,” I retort, pushing off the bed and pacing the room.
Claira sits up, watching me as I begin to think. I can’t just pick up my life and leave now that Julian knows where I live. Not only that, but I built this pack from the ground up to give Saben a stable life.
“Well, then he has to show his sincerity to you,” Claira states with a grin.
I stop pacing the room and turn to look at my friend, silently agreeing with her words. Julian is the one and only soulmate I will receive in this life. If he wants me back, he will have to prove it to me through his actions. His failure to believe me and to put the royal pack in their place is why he rejected me in the first place, whether he realized he was rejecting me or not.
“Do you know how long the royal pack will be staying in our pack before going to the next on the royal tour?” I ask my beta.
“Two weeks,” she answers. “The royal pack will be visiting each pack around the world for a maximum stay of two weeks before leaving for the next, with a break of one month every three months to return to the royal pack and check on his wolves,” she answers.
I sigh and walk toward the window, only to catch sight of Julian climbing onto a golf cart with Serina and Fabian. It seems the tour of my pack lands is just starting.
Suddenly, Julian looks up, his eyes meeting mine, and I frown. I know he can see me watching, but he doesn’t react. Instead, he turns to Mikos, saying something to his theta, who sits on the other golf cart, before their small group takes off.
“So he has two weeks to prove to me that he will change. If he can’t win me back in two weeks, I will reinitiate the rejection and make sure it is permanent this time,” I state with steady resolve.
“If you accept him back, what will happen to Haven Trail?” Claira asks, the question making me pause for a moment.
“Nothing will happen to it. I will always be the alpha here, and if Julian can’t accept that, then he doesn’t deserve me.” Turning around to find Claira standing behind me, I give her a reassuring smile and motion for her to follow me. I have wasted too much time because of Julian, and I need to head to my company to see how the tests from last night ran on the new security program. If all the results are positive, we can launch it right away because the sooner we launch it, the better. I have a few alphas ready to have my company assist with their cybersecurity, which would help Haven Trail earn some new allies.
31
Julian
“So far, I have shown you the residential area, the farms and greenhouses, and the daycare,” Theta Aidan says as we stretch, with Aileen the vampire and Serina watching our every move.
As usual, Aileen is aloof yet respectful, not showing any disdain or friendliness toward me. The same can’t be said for Serina, who glares at me, watching me with steady attentiveness when she isn’t driving the golf cart.
“Right now, we are at the training ground. Hannah had this built a year after creating Haven Trail, once her business started turning a profit. She stated that we needed a proper place to train, and my crew and I went to work building this place,” Theta Aidan continues, guiding Mikos, Fabian, and me to the large barn in front of us. Beside it is a parkour set, with four wolves working hard at it as they carefully jump from one obstacle to another, improving their speed and hand-eye coordination.Hannah used to say that the royal pack needed a course like this, and I just ignored the suggestion. Now, seeing how nimble the Haven Trail wolves are, I regret not using her idea and add it to my growing list of regrets.
“The outside is incredible,” Mikos whistles, impressed as his eyes scan every detail of the obstacle course. “I didn’t know Hannah was this brilliant,” he adds, and I notice a flicker of guilt in his eyes before it disappears.
“No one did. It was part of her role as a hidden guard,” Fabian states before I can, a look of pride on his face.
“Hannah is an alpha-blooded wolf, just like her parents were, but due to her position, she had to hide her power and appear meek and unassuming to protect me,” I add, catching a look of surprise on the Haven Trail wolves as I speak. “She-wolves in our pack became jealous of how close she was to Fabian and me, so they spread rumors about her. Rumors I should have stopped right away,” I continue, looking away from the parkour course and making my way inside the barn.
Everyone else follows silently after me, and I can feel the judging stares from those loyal to Hannah. I had a feeling that my being her mate and the rejection had spread to the rest of her pack, and from the hostility I felt wherever I went, I can confirm this to be true.
Stepping into the barn, I stop dead in my tracks, not expecting a clean, spacious gym with state-of-the-art equipment. The space is bright, with some wolves currently working out or sparring in one of the four sparring rings.
“Wow,” I whisper, impressed by this place.
“Yeah. Hannah didn’t hesitate to invest in this build,” Theta Aidan says with pride, a grin splitting his face. “I tried to make some of the building process as inexpensive as possible since she had hired my crew to build it, and in the end, this was the result.”
