Chapter 57

HUDSON

What goes up, must come down.

And there was no better example of this than the past week. Alexis and I were practically floating on clouds last week with the idea of having a pup and this week, everything went downhill.

I had completely forgotten that we were supposed to induct the pack warriors in training. To do that, we needed medical records, family history, behavior reports, and of course, training reports that I needed to sign off on.

Matthew was in charge of training all of them, and I was in charge of judging if they were ready to join or not. If they were, they would be part of the ceremony in a few weeks, if they weren't, they continued to train under Matthew until next year.

But on top of all the stress of the inductions, I had a meeting with The Council so I could give them the blood contract to store. The Council consisted of five humans, who were aware of our existence and made decisions for the species if we couldn't come to an agreement. They didn't have any sort of bias towards one species so all of their judgments have been fair. Now, I had to hand them the agreement I had made so that they could make sure the terms were satisfied.

I glanced at the pile of paperwork on my desk and mentally groaned. My plans of spending the evening with Alexis were slowly going down the drain. There was no way I could finish this before next week if I kept taking time off.

"Knock knock," a soft voice called from the doorway. My eyes trailed over to the figure and a tired smile formed on my face, "Hey, beautiful."

Alexis stepped inside and kicked the door shut behind her as she carried a plate of food over to me.

"I thought you could eat something since you've been locked in here for hours," she said, placing the plate on my desk and moving my papers aside.

I sighed and took her hand, waiting for her to walk around the desk and sit on my lap. When she was settled, I buried my face in the crook of her neck, feeling relaxed for the first time today.

She was dressed warmly in her thick pajamas, and her hair was tied into a cute little top-knot like it always was when she was feeling lazy.

"Why is it that when you're feeling tired, you manage to look gorgeous, while I look like someone beat me up a couple of times?" I questioned amusedly, pulling a loose curl behind her ear.

She smiled mischievously, "Not to worry, I'm totally digging the little grey hairs you've got going. They make you look distinguished."

I rolled my eyes and picked up my fork, knowing very well that I didn't have any grey hair.

As I ate my Pad Thai, Alexis started rummaging through my papers carefully, making sure she didn't mess up my system.

"You know," she said, furrowing her eyebrows as she flipped through a packet, "I can take some of this off your hands."

I shook my head and pecked her temple, "Thanks but no thanks. I don't want you stressing out because of this. It isn't good for the baby."

She shook her head, "I don't want you stressing out either. Besides, I'm not needed at the hospital for a few days. I can take of the medical reports and whatever paperwork you need done for the meeting."

I opened my mouth to protest, but she turned and gave me a stubborn glare.

"No buts," she said, pointing her finger at me.

I pushed her finger down and kissed her soft lips, "Fine. I'll give you those papers later. I still have to collect a few so I'll hand them over all at once."

She nodded and got off my lap, "Finish your food and come home. I'm getting bored of watching Boston and Gracie blush around each other."

I smiled and watched her ass sway as she walked out the door.

***

The next two days, I managed to get all the papers Alexis wanted to work on and started separating them into piles so it was easier for her to keep track.

"Hey Hudson."

I looked up and nodded at Max, "Hey man, what's up?"

He shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged, "Nothing much. I wanted to see what you were up to. You, Boston, and Matthew seem so busy."

"You got that right," I muttered.

He sat in front of me, "I'm starting to miss the days when we were young and could get drunk whenever we wanted. No mates, just us."

I laughed, "No one got drunk except you. If the rest of us did, my dad would have beat our asses the next day during training."

"I guess, but you guys have changed after finding your mates."

"You'll find yours soon. I'm sure she's somewhere close by or even in South Africa."

He was silent, "About that. I was thinking of staying back. I love traveling, but I just need a break."

I nodded, slightly preoccupied, "I'll send someone else in your place then. Take some time off. You deserve it."

"Thanks," he muttered gruffly, "Well, I'm going to go train for a while. Blow off some steam."

Just as he reached the doorway, I placed the last piece of paper on the stack and called him back, "Would you take these to Alexis and let her know that these have to be finished in three days?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Is that enough time?"

"It should be. I believe in her."

He nodded and took the papers without another word. I stretched my arms and got back to work on the training reports.

***

ALEXIS

There was a knock on the back door so I quickly dropped the dishes and rushed to open it.

"Oh. Hi Max," I said, moving to the side to let him in. He stepped inside and looked around.

I wasn't quite sure why he was here. Hudson was in his office, and we didn't exactly know each other well.

For some reason, I got the feeling that Max didn't like me. He seemed a bit cold the few times we did talk, and the way he stared at me made me feel like I did something wrong.

"Is Hudson here?" He asked, looking around the kitchen.

I shook my head and grabbed a glass to pour him some lemonade, "He's in his office. Would you like some lemonade?"

"Sure," he mumbled, taking the glass and throwing it back like it was a shot of alcohol.

When he was done chugging, he slammed the glass back on the counter, causing me to flinch.

Was he drunk? Why was he being so aggressive? Why was he staring at me like I ran over his cat?

"I've gotta go. I need to find Hudson," he mumbled almost inaudibly.

I blinked and swallowed nervously, "Okay. I'll see you later, I guess. Can you ask Hudson to give me those papers? I would like to get started so I have enough time to finish."

Max shrugged, "Sure whatever."

I watched him saunter out of the house and slam the door behind him so the windows shook.

I frowned and pressed a hand to my nonexistent bump.

"I have a bad feeling about him, baby," I said quietly, watching Max's back disappear.

I looked down at my stomach and pursed my lips, "I hope he won't do anything stupid. I can't deal with anymore drama."

My stomach growled in response, causing me to chuckle and grab a pot to cook myself some food.

I. Was. Beat. But even that was an understatement.

If I had to look at one more report, I was ready to call it quits and become a rogue. And from the look on my dad's face when he walked into my office, I probably looked like one too.

He pretty much picked me up by the collar and yelled at me for overworking myself before having Boston drag me back to my house so I could clean myself up and take a nap.

I was almost certain that Matthew called my dad after I nearly strangled a pack warrior for grunting too loudly while fighting.

However, in my defense, he didn't need to sound like a lawn mower while wrestling someone to the ground. I let it slide the first few times, but it got on my nerves when he didn't stop.

It didn't help that my wolf was pissed and kept growling at everything he didn't like. He did not appreciate the fact that we hadn't been able to spend enough time with Alexis. He just wanted to cuddle with his mate and listen to the heartbeat of our pup but that wasn't possible with the workload I had.

So altogether, I was worse than a she-wolf on her period.

I collapsed on the couch and groaned loudly as the pounding in my head got worse. Boston yanked my shoes off and dropped them by the door before heading upstairs, probably trying to find Alexis.

It was quiet for a few moments before there was a soft patter of footsteps coming down the stairs. The familiar scent of honeysuckles filled my nostrils, and I felt myself relax as Alexis brushed the hair away from my forehead.

"Long time no see, stranger," she whispered, kissing my forehead with a chuckle.

"Don't remind me," I muttered, pulling her close so I could hide my face in the crook of her neck.

She scratched my scalp gently and kissed the top of my head, "Go to sleep. We can talk when you wake up."

I hummed in reply and soon, I was knocked out.

***

I thought I would be in a good mood once I woke up, but nope. The moment I saw it was dark outside, I felt pissed all over again.

The meeting with The Council was tomorrow and the assessment day for all the potential new pack warriors was the day I came back, so I had no time in between to finish the stupid training reports.

That only meant one thing. I had to pull an all-nighter.

I growled angrily and ripped the blanket off my body before stalking to the kitchen to get some food. When I entered the kitchen, my eyes immediately landed on the piles of papers on the island before Alexis, who was writing furiously.

My anger went up a few notches when I realized she was still finalizing the paperwork required for the meeting tomorrow.

I gave her these papers three days ago, and she still didn't finish. What the f uck was she doing this whole time? I worked my ass off and finished the same amount of work in one day.

"You didn't finish the paperwork I gave you?" I said through clenched teeth, trying to keep myself from exploding.

She jumped in surprise and turned around to look at me as I moved closer to the island, "Hudson, you scared me. I finished most of the medical reports, I just have–"

I slammed my fist on the counter, cutting her off and causing her to flinch.

"Are you f ucking kidding me? You're not done? What have you been doing these past three days?" I yelled, slowly releasing all of my pent-up anger.

I wanted to punch the wall. Of course, something else had to go wrong. From the looks of how much she had got through, I would be late to the meeting because I would have to finish the finalizations on top of everything else.

Alexis furrowed her eyebrows, "What do you mean by–"

"If you didn't think you would finish, why didn't you ask for help? I'm sure Boston or Matthew could have taken the load off your hands," I snapped again.

"I–"

I held up my hand to stop her from giving me excuses, "I don't want to hear it. "

"But Hudson–"

"Your dad said you were trained to be an Alpha. Where the f uck did all your training go? You're supposed to be able to handle large amounts of work at once. It doesn't even matter if you're not an Alpha, even as a Luna you should be able to handle a heavy load. And you definitely should not procrastinate! Don't even give me the excuse that you're pregnant–"

"Hudson. Marvel. Benett. Get your ass outside right now."

I turned my head and glared at my dad, who was standing there with his arms crossed and a furious look on his face. Boston stood beside him with his mouth slightly open as his eyes went back and forth between me and Alexis.

At that moment, I realized that I was leaning over the island and yelling inches away from Alexis's face. My claws were out and gripping the tile so hard that there were tiny cracks surrounding them. I backed away slowly and tried to ignore the hurt look in her eyes.

She seemed ready to cry.

And I was so angry that I was passed the point of caring. It was like I felt she deserved to be embarrassed.

I stormed out the back door and down the stairs as I heard my dad following me out after saying something to Alexis.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?" He asked, yanking my shoulder so I faced him.

I glared at my feet as my chest heaved with every breath. My blood was still boiling in my veins.

He stared me down for a few moments before shaking his head, "Go for a run, Hudson. You're out of control right now. We'll talk once you get back."

I didn't say a word and quietly shifted into my wolf before running into the woods.