Page 43 of Half Wolf Mate
“She hates me.”
Damian glanced at me, his eyebrows puckered. “Who?”
“Sydney.” I let out a sigh and sat back in my office chair.
“Why do you sound so bothered by that? You rejected her.”
Justin, my assistant, who was busy clicking away on his laptop, stopped to stare at me, waiting for my answer. I glowered at them both but reluctantly confessed, “I feel awful for hurting her.”
Justin stroked his chin. “Are you talking about the mate you rejected?”
I nodded.
“May I propose a solution?”
“By all means,” I said. While Justin had a head for business and could solve just about any problem, which was why I hired him, I doubted he could help me with my current dilemma. He was human. He understood many things about the supernatural world because I taught him, but he couldn’t understand the bond between an Alpha and his people and the bond between a shifter and his mate.
“Unreject her,” Justin said with an impatient huff. “Simple.”
Damian chuckled.
“It’s actually quite complicated,” I told Justin.
He shook his head. “Of course it is. Let me guess—some archaic rules made by stuffy elders eons ago?”
“You’re on to something,” Damian muttered.
“This is why I stick to my regular human business.”
Damian nodded. “You’re better off, my friend.”
I gave them both raised eyebrow stares. My Beta trusted the human with our secret, which was saying a lot, considering Damian had major trust issues.
“Shut up, the both of you,” I said.
Justin got up. “I’m going to head down to my office and leave you two to your shifter stuff. I have a meeting in an hour. I’ll give you all the details after.”
I nodded. “Great. Thanks.” Meeting with clients was one less task on my plate, thanks to my assistant.
He took up his laptop and gave me a mock salute as he marched to the door.
“Later,” I muttered.
Justin had been working for my company for about five years. His loyalty to me as a human was humbling. We met when I rescued him from a nest of vampires he’d stumbled upon. Justin’s fiancé was killed by a vampire. Since no one believed him, he foolishly decided to avenge his lover’s death on his own. Luckily, I had been after the leader of that same nest and saved his ass from being their next meal. We’d been tight ever since.
“Justin has a point, you know,” Damian said. “Claim your mate. You’re obviously dying to.”
“I’m the Alpha, and it doesn’t work that way for me. If I decide to claim Sydney, the pack will demand I step down as leader. They’d take my action as a betrayal.”
“Sucks to be you,” he hummed. “I’m going to get going too. I promised Sydney I’d take her shopping.”
“Shopping?”
Damian paused at the door. “Don’t go into jealous mode, man. It’s completely innocent. Besides, you demanded I be one of her bodyguards. I’m just doing my job.”
I gritted my teeth. “I’m not jealous. There are hunters after her.”
“Look, I know you want her to stay hidden, but she’s been going stir-crazy cooped up in your apartment for three weeks. I figured you wouldn’t mind too much if I personally accompanied her on an outing. I’ll guard her with my life, Cole. You know that.”