50

"Come in."

Chesca breathed a prayer for patience and calmness before pushing the door open.

She was met with an empty study, except for Kaiden who instantly rose from behind a large desk and smiled at her. "Hey, you found me! Welcome to my office," he waved his arms around but she just watched him closely, warily. Suspiciously. And she hated the feelings twisting her gut, but there was definitely something about this room that made her feel off...

"I just finished talking with Caleb, my head guard. We actually made a call to your new head guard, Eric, seeing as we'll be collaborating a lot between our packs..." he trailed off when he saw Chesca staring about, disinterested in his words.

When her eyes landed on a picture frame on his desk, she swallowed hard and forced a smile. "It's a nice office," she commented, coming around to stand beside him and see the picture front on from his side of the desk.

All her doubts slipped away as if a bucket of warm water washed over her in relief. Smiling back at her in the ornate gold frame was a beautiful young woman, with dark brown hair and even darker eyes, her arms around two young boys, holding them close. One boy looked a little like Elah, and the other was undoubtedly her handsome mate with the same caramel brown eyes and boyish smile.

"My mother..." Kaiden began and picked up the frame.

"She's beautiful," the words stuck in her throat as Chesca felt guilty for doubting and mistrusting her mate once again. She knew now the scent had to belong to his mother, as she recognised a few tones of familiarity as the same as Kaiden's scent.

"She used to work in this office, which is why I chose it as my own."

Chesca could only nod. "I understand. You feel closer to her here."

"Exactly."

She laid a hand on his chest. "If it's alright to ask, how exactly did your mum die? I won't push you if you're not ready to talk about it, but you accused your father of killing her..."

Kaiden took a fortifying breath before looking at the picture intently. "It was a car accident. She ran off the road going down the valley range. I had the car further inspected and found the brakes had been tampered with."

His bluntness surprised her, but more so did his words."So it might not have been Elbert directly—"

"My parents had been arguing on and off for years. I saw the toll it took on my Mum, all the hateful things Elbert would say and treat her in such a demeaning way. She had finally decided to go and stay for a while with some friends on the coast. Elbert never agreed. He needed a good loyal mate to maintain his perfect image, yet craved total dominance over her, I see that now. I hated him for it. But in a way, I nearly turned out just like him..." Kaiden's voice trailed off with regret and self loathing.

"But you didn't," Chesca placed a hand on his cheek, turning his face so he'd meet her eyes. "You're a much better man than your father ever was. You proved that to me, and to our packs. You may have wanted to take over and control my pack, since you temporarily lost yours under Elbert's thirst for power, but you never tried to hurt me. And I know you never will. You care about me, about our mate bond, and as an extension of that I know you care for my pack as well as yours."

He nodded, his expression deep in thought. Then his arms moved around her and pulled her in for a hug. "What did I do to deserve you?" he breathed against her neck, placing a gentle kiss on her mark.

"It's not about what we've done to deserve something, it's about what we will do with the blessings each one of us receives. I know that now with you in my life, I am a better version of myself, and can serve and lead my pack so much more faithfully and genuinely."

Kaiden chuckled at her fancy words but quickly sobered. "I'm afraid I don't have such a pure heart as you, my dearest. You have too much faith in me. What if I let you down again?" his conflicted eyes held hers before looking away, landing on the picture frame once more. With a sigh, he laid it face down.

"So don't let me down," she responded quickly, placing both hands on his shoulders.

"I couldn't even stop Elah..." a growl rumbled from his chest and he tightened his fists.

"He made his own choices, Kaiden. You can't blame yourself for what happened."

"Then I'll blame Elbert," he turned from her and sat heavily in his chair.

"That will only hurt you more as the bitterness grows," she stated flatly, finding it hard to believe even her own words. Truth be told, she harboured much anger towards the man who had destroyed her family's live all those years ago, and ruined his wife's and sons' too.

"Stuff it all, Chesca!" Kaiden suddenly stood again and raked both hands through his hair. Pacing the office floor, agitation rolled off his shoulders, making her heart clench and ache for him. She hated seeing her strong Alpha like this. "I can't even look at a picture of my brother without... ..without hating him or my dad or... I loved Elah, but it hurts so much..."

"I know, I know," Chesca bit her lip and sighed. "I feel the same about Cora. I was so mad with her for leaving, for throwing everything away, but the love I still had...still have..for her only makes it that much more painful," she steadied her breath but her heart was thudding unevenly. The ache now spread to her arms and down to her icy fingers.

"How do you do it?" Kaiden spun to face her, his eyes begging for some relief, some comfort. "How do you remain so calm and graceful when it's tearing you up inside?"

"I..." she took his hands and stepped closer, buying herself some time to formulate the years of anguish in her heart into some words that made sense. "I forget about her. I push all my thoughts about her to the back of my mind. I place all my feelings in a box, lock it with a key and move on. It's the only way to survive." It was probably a really stupid way to survive, but she hadn't made it this far without a method to her madness. Maybe one day she'd need to confront her feelings head on and deal with the pain, but that day was not now. Not when so many other things needed processing first.

Kaiden slowly nodded, his breathing returning to normal. "So you're alright with how she's being dealt with now? Since her involvement with Elbert's schemes..."

"I trust Alpha Asa. He's the wisest Alpha and I don't need to know what forms of discipline he chooses for her."

Cora had been captured and transferred to Asa's pack after the battle. Rumours had gone around, saying her own mate that she'd rejected years ago was the one to restrain her from getting away. Whether or not he had any say in her fate, was unclear. But Chesca honestly didn't care. If Cora had reformed and wanted to be a part of a wolf pack once again, realigning with her heritage, good for her. If she languished in Asa's dungeons for years to come, so be it. It was out of Chesca's hands, and Chesca could once more focus on her own responsibilities. Namely, her pack and her mate. Her Alpha mate...

"So would you let her be part of your pack again, if she were to change her heart and ask for forgiveness?"

"Who are we talking about?" Chesca let a smile steal over her face, and looked up expectantly at her mate.

Kaiden chuckled and tapped her forehead. "Oh right, you forgot. I must say, you have the most disciplined mind."

"Only when it concerns everything... but you," her eyes darkened as he stepped closer, but before he could so much as kiss her cheek, she walked around the desk and lifted the picture frame to stand upright. "One more thing I don't understand. Elbert said he had a score to settle with my dad. Do you know anything about that? What it might have been?"

Kaiden shook his head and once more sat in his chair. Pulling Chesca onto his lap, he rested his chin on her shoulder. "I was hoping you might know something. You were a lot closer to your father."

"True..." Chesca scrunched her eyebrows as she thought over it. "I've read all his pack reports and diaries--thank you for returning them, by the way."

"Of course," Kaiden placed a kiss on her cheek.

"--But I can't recall reading anything about a conflict between our packs. Maybe it was something more personal between the two Alphas?"

"Probably," her mate sighed. "Every wolf has their secrets of bad decisions and mistakes they've made."

"And each generation thereafter keeps suffering the consequences," Chesca's fingers played with Kaiden's hair, loving the feeling of his soft strands. "Let's hope we break that cycle."

Resting his forehead against her, Kaiden kissed her nose before answering. "We can try, but I guess we'll never know the full reach of what's happened until far into the future. Things have a way of coming back to bite you when you least expect it," and to accompany his words, Kaiden pinched her waist and pulled her closer.

Letting out a giggle, Chesca pushed away from him. "Is that your way of lightening the serious mood? It's not really funny, you know."

"Oh really? Did I not just hear you giggle?"

Chesca immediately tried straightening her face, but failed when Kaiden stood and stalked towards her, a cheeky grin on his face.

"You're so adorable, did you know that? I'll never stop trying to make you smile, Chesca."

"Well, I...um, that's nice and..." flustered by her mate's words and the goofy smile in his eyes, Chesca stuttered before giving up and sighing. With a dramatic sigh, she flicked her hair over her shoulder and changed the topic. "So... have you thought more about the convergence of our packs?"

"I think what you mean is coalition," Kaiden wrapped his arms around her from behind, then blew in her ear.

Shivers ran down her body as goosebumps rose on her skin. "No, that sounds too political. Convergence is more... romantic," she bit her lower lip and smiled sweetly. Pulling away from Kaiden, she leaned back against his desk and faced him as he once more sat in his chair.

Kaiden's eyebrows shot up. "Romantic, huh? I suppose you've thought up a romantic name for it too?"

"As a matter of fact..."

Kaiden buried his face in his hands and gave a small playful groan.

"What do you think of ForgedHearts Pack?"

His head perked up. "Forged hearts?"

"You know, it kind of combines both our old pack names, and includes the fact that you like metal work and forging new objects from metal..."

"Combines them both? If you have a good imagination," he raised an eyebrow skeptically, tilting his head sideways as if viewing the name in his mind from another angle.

Chesca slapped his knee and pouted, "Are you making fun of me?"

"Never, my dear mate," he grinned. "I like it," he stood and kissed her cheek before leaning over the desk, spreading out the large map that lay across it. "So our new boundaries would remain mostly the same, excluding the one transecting our old territories. We'll let the scent markers fade, and allow our wolves to cross over and live anywhere they please."

"Perfect. Our forged pack will be one big happy family," Chesca cupped his cheeks with both her hands and pulled him close for another kiss. "We'll cut a road through the forest and over the mountain range, allowing easy travel between the pack town centres."

"Or...we could just let everybody take the shortcut," Kaiden grinned mischievously.

"Ohh, don't remind me of that!" Chesca laughed and shook her head, remembering the arduous journey Elbert's disgusting warriors had taken her through the forest to the pack house.

Kaiden looked at the map once more, and drew with a fountain pen in bold letters the name of 'ForgedHearts' across the boundary lines of their packs, making it one territory.

Chesca hugged his arm tightly, "Why does it feel like we just named our first child?"

The warm rumble that ended in a nervous cough from Kaiden's chest filled the quiet office. "Let's not talk about that yet, shall we? You never even answered me how many you wanted."

If she didn't know him better, she would have missed the slight reddening of his cheeks as he spoke. But there was no denying he was blushing. She grinned slowly, "Hmm five. Maybe six." His eyes widened but she poked him in the ribs. "Just kidding! Or maybe I'm not. Maybe I do want lots of little Kaidens running around—"

Her words were cut short when he placed his mouth over hers, and all the breath got sucked right out of her lungs. The way his arms wrapped tightly around her, pressing her body to his, was a feeling she never wanted to grow tired of. Chesca ran her hands over his head, down his neck and over his shoulders. He lifted her onto the desk, deepening the kiss as she wrapped her legs around his waist. His fingers delved into her hair, gently tugging on the strands.

"I believe there's something we'll need to do first before any pups come along, isn't there?"

"Kaiden..." She whispered his name passionately as his lips sent tingles of pleasure cascading down her back, his hot kisses trailing from her jaw to her neck and mark. With a shove to his chest, Chesca pushed him back into his chair, before climbing into his lap and gaining control of the kiss once more as her mate tugged on the hem of her shirt.

A sudden knock on the door made them both jump apart.

Chesca stumbled back and bumped into the desk. What a moment to be interrupted! Her heart was racing like a hound from the excitement and shock, and she ran a shaky hand over her hair to smooth it. Kaiden's jaw clenched a few times as he stared over her shoulder at the intruder.

"You must be Chesca, our Alpha Female."

She turned to face the speaker, and already had a smile in place. It faltered only slightly at the handsome man standing there, holding a box in one hand. He was tall, with striking black hair slicked back perfectly, and a dashing smile that surely made any shewolf fall for his slightest attention. "Allow me to introduce myself," he continued in a smooth, rich voice when she didn't respond. It was as if her tongue had taken leave as she stared into his captivating green eyes, deep like pools of ice crystals. "I am head guard Caleb Knight. You may call me Caleb. I am very pleased to swear my allegiance to my Alpha's dear mate."

"Th-thank you?" Her statement came out more as a question, and she could almost hear the intake of breath from Kaiden behind her.

"At your service, Alpha Chesca." Instead of shaking her outstretched hand, Caleb bowed over it and placed a kiss on her knuckles. "Might I say how extraordinarily beautiful you are?"

"No, you may not," Kaiden growled and moved up closer behind her, his arm wrapping firmly around her waist in a very possessive manner.

Caleb seemed to not notice his Alpha as he kept staring at Chesca with a charming smile. "The rumours most certainly don't do you justice," he winked.

He winked!

Chesca sucked in a breath when Kaiden's grip tightened, and suddenly she wasn't sure he wouldn't rip the guard's head clean off his shoulders.

"Well, that just proves you can't believe the rumours," she forced a chuckle before turning in Kaiden's arms. "I'd always heard my Alpha was such a ruthless and cold-hearted wolf, but turns out he's the strongest, most amazing man I've ever met."

The guard chuckled, "Only a feisty and gorgeous wolf like you could tame him. However, if you grow weary of his childish games, you know where to find a real man." Caleb's eyes sparkled even more as he pointed to his own chest, his lips holding a smug and charming smile.

The growl that came from Kaiden only made Caleb grin harder, lifting his hand to cover his mouth as a laugh threatened to escape.

Kaiden's arms tugged Chesca impossibly closer, his fingers digging into her waist and she knew his wolf was ticked off. No one should dare be messing with a possessive Alpha. Was Caleb an idiot, or truly arrogant enough to believe he could play with fire and not get burned?

Laying a hand over her mate's, Chesca spoke calmly to Kaiden. "It's okay, I can handle this one." Then she looked Caleb in the eyes with a gentle smile. "I'm sure you are a wonderful man, Caleb Knight. And you are indeed handsome. But never compliment me in that way again. For I am taken. My heart has already been completely and entirely captured, and belongs to one man only—my mate and your Alpha Kaiden. No other man will ever compare to him in my eyes." Then she dropped the smile, her tone turning deadly serious. "So I suggest you take your charm elsewhere, or suffer the wrath of your new Alpha. Give me nothing but respect, am I clear?"

Caleb dropped his head in submission, "Of course. My deepest apologies, Alpha." He bowed and stared at the floor for a satisfactory amount of time, before lifting his eyes to her once more. All traces of flirting and playfulness were gone.

Chesca smiled her approval, then she turned and kissed Kaiden deeply. Taking her mate's lips between hers in gentle passion meant to soothe the fiery jealousy and anger inside him, to confirm her complete devotion to Kaiden in front of the other amorous male. It worked, as she felt the ferocity of Kaiden's heart rate slow down to a more gentle pace. "Thank you, my love," he whispered.

"So..." Caleb's uncomfortable cough interrupted them, and Kaiden smiled against her lips before pulling away, his boyish grin setting her stomach to doing flip flops. "Care to take this off my hands? It's already poked me once, whatever it is you have in here." Caleb practically shoved the box towards Kaiden, then studied his index finger as if it had been chewed off by a crab.

"Well, that will teach you to stick your fingers in someone else's business! You always were the nosy one," Kaiden growled and took the box gently, glaring at his guard before turning a warm smile to Chesca. "I thought you might like this gift, my dear Mate."

Chesca took it gingerly, still observing the grimace on Caleb's face and wondering just what on Earth would cause the tough guard to show pain like that. Maybe there was a snake in the box? A scorpion? Why would Kaiden give her such a gift?