Chapter 21 Mr and Mrs Northam

Anna May

There was no reason for her not to go to work. She was in NYC in the first place for that exact reason. To work. It had felt like she had been slacking at her job. Just because her mate was her boss. She humphed. No way she would let anyone think that of her.

Moreover, she desperately needed the distraction. If she stayed home and stared at the four walls of the library once more. She was going to scream.

Promptly at 8 am, she showed up at the breakfast nook dress for the day at the office. After glancing at the head of the table where Alexander should be, she went to the kitchen island instead.

Poor Baxter. He didn't expect her to be up so early. With his king out of the country, he had obviously assumed she would stay home. Fat chance of that happening today.

With a packed breakfast and lunch prepared by the servants, she was off to work. At least ten SUVs escorted her. She rolled her eyes. Quite irritated. She was even more protected than the Queen of England.

Occupying Alexander's desk, she signed urgent documents for him and acted as she meant to go on. His wife. Or mate. Or whatever. It was the least she could do to help him and ease his burden. Especially now that he was dealing with hers.

With the papers on his desk cleared, she returned her attention to her scheduled lecture.

"I always knew that you would give my brother a run for his money." She stopped typing on her laptop. Alexie. She knew she would follow her here.

"I need to work, Lex. My mind is about to explode with worry." She pleaded at her. Hoping she won't ask her to go home with her.

"I know, dear. Me too. That's why I am here. Although I need to warn you, our mates will tan our asses for this." Alexie grimaced. What did she mean?

"Thank you, Alexie. The seminar has to start today. We can't afford it moved to a different date." God! It was supposed to start yesterday. They were so behind schedule.

"I'll gather them. Be ready in 30 minutes. We will use the auditorium on the first floor."

"Yup. Meet you there. I'll gather my team."

"They are ready for you." Her soon-to-be sister-in-law winked and left the office. She hoped Alexie won't get in trouble with her own mate by following her here.

***

Why was she nervous? She had done this sort of thing before. This time won't be any different. She will just have to deal with a bigger crowd.

Glancing at her audience, she couldn't help but lose a bit of her confidence. These people immaculately garb in Armani suits and designer corporate dresses were the bosses. And she was about the give them lectures on their products.

She licked her dry lips. Okay. Here it goes. She stepped on the podium with Alexie behind her.

"Good afternoon everyone. Before anything else, I would like to thank all of you for attending the start of the week-long seminar. This training will provide us an in-depth knowledge of our product specifics. We will reevaluate how each of these will impact the market. We will concentrate on branding, sales, promotions, and publicity. I know seminars can be mundane, but hey, who wouldn't want to step out of their cubicles for at least two hours and stretch while listening on me yap, right?" She heard chuckles all around her and it made her smile and it relieved the tension in her shoulders.

"Do you have any questions before we begin?" The room grew quiet. Then finally a cutie raised his hand.

"Yes, sir?" She smiled to encouraged his question.

"Are we going to see your beautiful face until the end of the seminar?" He grinned, showing his perfect teeth. Awkward.

"Yes. I will be here with my team." His colleagues began to tap his back and they all snickered. Oh. I see.

"Any more questions?" Another guy raised his hand. She can see that some of the people inside the room were getting uncomfortable. "Yes, sir?"

"You are new here, miss. Can we ask you to hang out with us at the club sometime?" She heard Alexie mutter behind her about how humans can be stupid sometimes. Her posture grew rigid, finally realizing. These male human executives were picking on the new girl. Hmmm. She had dealt with stupid men before.

Eyes narrowed to their group, her lips flat in a disapproving line, Anna answered in a cool and reserved voice. "Unless you want to lose your jobs on a shitload of a sexual harassment case, I suggest you stop raising stupid questions." Alexie choked on her laughter while the girls snickered at her back.

Absolute silence filled the room. Much better.

"Shall we begin?" Anna arched her brow.

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Alexie

She admired the way Anna May discussed one of the most important engines of their company. Their selling products. All of the Americas and Canada, some even in Europe and Asia were affiliates of NorthAm. It was good to know that her Queen Luna knew so much about their telecommunications business.

She focused her gray eyes on the group of stupid egotistical humans who asked equally stupid questions earlier. She made a mental note to call them to HR later and hoped her brother doesn't learn about the not-so-innocent incident. Which was maybe impossible. She winced. Those men will surely be fired.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen. That's it for today. We will resume tomorrow. Same time. Same venue. If you have suggestions or relevant questions, please don't hesitate to let me know." Everyone waved their goodbyes and left the auditorium silently.

Her eyes widened, finally saw the couple standing at the back. Oh, my goddess!

"Mom, Dad!" She ran to them. Her dad chuckled, catching her in his arms while her mom embraced them both.

"My child. I miss you." Her mom kissed her cheeks, smiling widely, and her eyes widened. "You are with a pup!" Exclaiming excitedly.

"We are going to be grandparents. At last!" Her dad beamed and hugged her and mom once more.

"Now, I want to meet my other daughter." Her mom blurted. Happy and elated with the turn of events. Knew she had been waiting for this for a long time.

"Come on. I'll introduce you." She clasped her mom's hand, approaching Anna with wide grins.

The future Lycan Queen was shyly smiling at them while she shuffled her feet.

"Anna, this is mom and dad. Mom, Dad, this is Anna. Our Queen Luna." She introduced proudly.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Northam," Anna tried to bow, but mom hugged her tightly, kissed both her cheeks before releasing her.

"You don't bow to anyone, my dear." Anna giggled nervously.

Alexandria's father, always a gentleman, bowed to her deeply. Anna was astonished.

"Mom, Dad. Stopped teasing her." Alexie chastised.

"I'm just so happy we finally meet you. Where is my son?" Her father looked around him, expecting her brother to appear before them. "And my son-in-law?"

Uh oh.

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Anna May

Mr. and Mrs. Northam was the coolest couple she had ever encountered. She couldn't believe they were a royal couple once, before their son, Alexander, inherited the throne at the age of twenty-eight. The age that he had reached his full potential to be the Lycan King.

"When is he coming back?" Dianne, she insisted for her to call her that or mom, asked.

"We have not heard from Xander and Michael since they left," Alexie answered for her.

Anna wondered where he could be at right now. She couldn't bear it if something bad happened to him because of her. Please let him be safe.

"I'm sure he's fine, dear. He will be back soon." Alexie's mother patted her hand, reassuring her. Diane looked gorgeous. She was a classic beauty and she couldn't be more than a day over 24.

Anna guessed they stopped aging once they completed the mate bond.

"I hope he will come home soon," she muttered. She missed him and it was not even twenty-four hours since he left.

"You have to concentrate on your coronation, the full moon will be on Friday. That's why I am here. I will help in the preparation." This Friday? Was she even ready?

"Thank goddess you are here, mom. We have a lot of things to do. I have contacted the florist, caterer, Vera Wang, and the decorator. Rie will do the cake. I also..."

Letting their conversation washed over her, she kept thinking of her mate. Was he ready to be tied down to her forever?

Was she?

Yes.

But she had obligations to her sisters. She took a deep calming breath. Sometimes she forgot that she was not alone anymore. She had Alexander. Rie's future will be secured. She will start her dream come Monday. Mish will study music and sooner or later, at a legal age, she will be crowned as Vampire Queen.

It was time for her to embrace her future. And her future lies with Alexander. Her King.

"Anna, do you think you will be ready by Friday?" She turned to Diane. There was uncertainty in her voice. She was nervous and she thought Anna might back out. She couldn't be more wrong.

"I will be ready, mom." Her beaming smile made everyone sigh in relief.

-I will be ready, Alexander.-

-Please come home.-

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Michael

Two days. Two fucking days of not seeing his mate. He was going restless. His king was no better, constantly growling and snapping.

They had raided and killed more rogues than they could count. Still, they were at a dead end. They don't have enough hard evidence to pin Victor down. But they will not lose hope. They had called the best team of hackers they could find.

The only option that they have was to catch the fucker in the act. It was a waiting game. Too much was at stake. They only had one shot and had to do it right.

Lucas and Lucifer were on the hunt. Tasked to look for the death angel's tomb and burn it to the ground. Not an easy feat. It was akin to looking for a needle in a huge haystack.

The thought of sacrificing the queens made his blood ran cold. That was the main reason, Alexander and Xavier were close to bloodlust. Their Queens were in immediate danger.

Thank Goddess, Xavier's army surrounded the entire royal pack. Amidst the investigation, he remained at the mansion to guard his beloved and the Lycan Queen.

His cell phone vibrated in his pocket, jolting him from his thoughts. He reached for it and glanced at the caller.

His eyes widened. Shit!

"Baby," How could he be so afraid of his mate? Pussy whipped for sixty years and proud of it.

"Don't baby me, Michael. You have not called for two days. Why?" Alexie was not even shouting, yet he trembled in his boots.

"My love, we are on a mission. But we are almost done. I promise we will be home soon. Please don't be mad, baby. That's not good for our pup." Goddess. He was out of breath.

"Just come home." Hearing her sniffed. Shit! Alexie rarely cried. Pregnancy hormones? Already?

"Baby, please don't cry. It kills me to hear you cry. We will do anything you want when I get back." Mentally kicking himself and feeling like a prick. He should have called her sooner.

"Promise?" She whispered in a wobbly voice.

"I promised." He sighed relief when she stopped crying.

"Please tell my brother that the mating ceremony will be on Friday. And his mate is getting sick without him. Really, he should know better. You both should be here tomorrow. Love you, baby. Bye!" Before he could respond his Alexie ended the call. Then he remembered her words.

Oh, shit!

They were in fucking Greece right now. Frantic, he tried to link his king --he couldn't reach him. The pack must have covered hundreds of miles.

It was a stroke of genius he was left at the command center or else they would have totally missed the mating ceremony. He trembled at the thought. Imagining the ramifications.

Finally, at 5 am, Thursday, he was able to reach him.

-My king, you have to come back now.

-I will be back in a few hours beta.

-Now, sire. Your mate needs you.

-I'll be there. I'm leaving now.

He smirked. That did the trick. Pussy whipped. But, seriously, they will both be in the dog house if they missed the mating ceremony. Especially, his king.

An hour later, he was restlessly pacing the grounds of the Dragon King's estate, ignoring the lustful gazes of women scantily dressed in bikinis.

Made him wonder why the king kept these women in his estate. He was not even using them to fuck. Like the other kings, he had vowed celibacy more than a century ago. His dragon no longer allowed him to be intimate with other women. Well, maybe he has his reasons.

Michael squinted his eyes at the far distance. A mirage of pure black fur was pounding the ground with its massive paws. He gave a huge sigh of relief. Alexander in his beast was running fast in his direction. Thank Goddess!

The Lycan King lunged gracefully and shifted to his human in mid-air. Fuck! He was not even breathing hard even if he ran for miles to get here.

"What's the news about my mate?" Alexander demanded. His eyes piercing.

"The Queen Luna is getting sick, sire." He has that oh fuck look on his face realizing his mistake. And there's more. "Friday is a full moon."

"And?" He narrowed his eyes, he was trying to remember his schedule.

"And the coronation and your mating ceremony are set on Friday at 6 pm, sire. Your mate is upset you won't make it." Michael swore this was the first time he had seen his King's face drained of color. It was Thursday morning.

As he said, they were still in Greece.

"Oh, shit!" Yeah.

"My thoughts exactly. I have our private jet ready. We will be in the doghouse indefinitely if we don't make it on time, sire."

He was left talking to himself without even realizing it. He turned to witness the powerful and fearless Lycan leader ran butt naked towards the garage. Goddess, what they do for love.

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Anna May

He was gone. No calls. No texts.

Nothing.

Just like her father. He decided to leave her and her sisters one day, then nothing.

Her mate had changed his mind. She can feel it. Despite what he told her, he was not ready to complete the bond.

Maybe they should take this slow. Take more time to know each other. Everything happened so fast.

They should stay apart. Give each other more space and time to think. He needed time to think.

She had to leave though. She couldn't be here, couldn't look at these people frantically preparing for the mating ceremony and the one person that she wanted to bind herself with has jilted her. Better than walk down the aisle on Friday with no groom waiting at the altar. The humiliation will crush her.

Had he forgotten her?

She had to leave. Tonight. She has her work visa. She could make it. Find a small apartment. Extra work. Anything to support Anna Marie. And Mish. Her baby sister was healthier now. Mish can breathe easily without an oxygen mask. No asthma attacks for days. She was thankful for the doctor's help. But she doesn't trust the power of the bond anymore. Xavier will leave her sister as Alexander left her.

There was no true love.

She had decided. And come back in a few days to get her sisters. Maybe if she went away, she won't feel like dying anymore.

Maybe she can breathe again.

She needed to leave.

She left.

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