Page 32 of Meeting Her Mate
“You saved me. You rescued me when I was passed out and brought me back to the commune. Whenever anyone deals with me, they seem to have some sort of ulterior motive. I know what that is. They want to placate the alpha to earn his favor. I don’t blame them for doing that. It’s just…you’re the only one who has been sincere with me. You’re the only person whom I can look to for honesty.”
“This is the sort of stuff one thinks and says before openly rejecting someone in front of everyone,” Alexis said.
“I know!” It vexed me that she kept bringing that up. “I’m sorry. I know. I apologized for my behavior, and I understand that it’s going to take time for things to ever become normal-ish between us. Right now, I want you to look past all that. Even an alpha wolf, when outnumbered, rethinks his strategy. Right now, I am outnumbered. I don’t know what’s happening in this town, nor for that matter do I have a count for all the foes that lurk in the shadows. I don’t even know if all of the pack members have the best interest of the pack in their hearts.”
Alexis sighed deeply and pursed her lips. “I know I’m going to regret this, but how can I help?”
“I promise you won’t regret this,” I said as earnestly as I could. “Look. I know it’s difficult for me to control myself. I know it’s hard to cope with the changes that my body has been through. I will manage it. In return, I want you to assist me in understanding why the vampires are so bold and out of control. I want your help in weeding out any bad eggs from the pack.”
“Well, you already weeded out one bad egg,” Alexis said. “Maurice.”
“Maurice?”
“Yeah. I saw him come out of Beckett Pharma today. In hindsight, isn’t it clear that he and Blair are conspiring together? Dollars to donuts, Maurice has got something to do with everything. He’s the freaking mayor of the town. He’s got to have an angle.”
“When the vampires attacked, the first order he issued was to flee rather than fight,” I recalled. The more I thought about it, the more it became apparent that she was right.
“Look for yourself. The commune’s in disrepair. The wolves have been under piss poor leadership. They are afraid of vampires. Before Maurice became alpha, this was not the case. Vampires weren’t as blatant back then, either. Everything went to shit when Maurice became the alpha. He was more focused on politics, on how to do these phony fundraising events for the town, and on how to launder that money. The town never saw any of that money. How did I know that? Well, take a look for yourself. Does this place look like it’s been managed by a competent mayor?”
“You’re right,” I said. “There is something fishy about his behavior.”
“You want my help? Look into what Maurice is doing. Why did he leave the commune? Why did he want the werewolves to flee when the vampires attacked? Does any of that add up?”
“You know, you’re quite intelligent for someone your age,” I said. It was meant to come off as a disarming compliment, or so I had intended.
“Dude, I’m twenty-six,” Alexis said, rolling her eyes.
“Fair enough. Though, one can argue that I’m in my nineties,” I said. “So, will you help?”
“I will help. But only because you asked and I kind of empathize with your situation. This doesn’t change anything else,” she said. “I’m not coming back to the commune. It also doesn’t mean that we’re friends or mates. This is just us getting even for you saving my life today. Think of it as a trial basis. If you snap at me or shout at me, then our collaboration is over, and you’ll never hear from me again. Deal?”
I shook her hand solemnly and said, “Deal.”
“Now, if you’ll please excuse me, I have a very important appointment with that mattress over there,” she said, cocking her thumb at the floor. “After all I’ve been through today, I need my rest.”
“I will leave you to it, then,” I said. She was right. It was already quite late in the night. I had my own home to get back to and my pack to look after. It was about time I left. “Take care.”
“Don’t let the door hit ya where God split ya,” she called from behind.
The sheer absurdity of that last sentence made me burst out laughing. “What on earth does that even mean?”
Alexis was giggling too. “It means don’t let the door hit your ass as you leave.”
“One of these days, you will have to teach me this Gen-Z slang or whatever you call it,” I said, standing in the doorway.
“Yeah, well, remember what I said? Trial basis. And keep a cool head while you’re at it.”
“Trial basis. Cool head. Got it,” I said, closing the door behind me.
For some reason that I could not quite fathom, I lingered at her apartment’s entrance even after I’d closed the door. There was something I wanted to say to her. But it did not feel like now was the right time.
It would have to wait until the trial basis was over.
***
I couldn’t just stay outside her apartment building, but I couldn’t quite go right back to the commune either. At least not while danger lurked on both ends. This was one of the curses of being an alpha, a curse that I did not expect anyone else to understand. Here was Alexis, a werewolf who had chosen to live in self-exile. Naturally, I was concerned for her, given the danger that she had been through. And there was my Grimm Abode, where my pack members lived. Pack members on whom danger loomed in the form of vampires that could attack at any given time.
And then there was me. I was a danger to myself. The alterations in my body were severe and many. I did not yet know the extent of the mutations that had been done to me. Besides the uncontrollable bouts of rage, what else had the experiments done to me? I was still young and strong, yes, but was there another change? I wouldn’t get the answer to that question by simply sitting around in my home. Ever since I had been freed, I didn’t have a chance to try out my new abilities, if there were any.