Bound to My Mate Ch. 12

As we drove out to the meeting Emily quizzed me on the ten wolves she had picked out of the stack. I wanted to remember name, rank, job, and something personal about all of them. It seemed appropriate since they all knew me.

"Madam Alpha, I've never spent much time in human company before," Emily nervously admitted to me as we drove into town.

"Please don't call me Madam Alpha, the humans won't understand that," I told her.

All my fears were realized. This was a terrible idea. Emily would unmask us all.

Margaret spoke from the front seat, "You should call her Mrs. Latro if you need to speak to her. Humans will understand who you are when she introduces you as a personal assistant. They will not expect you to talk much, just take notes on what seems important."

At the meeting Emily was surprisingly helpful. I was not good with names and I couldn't keep up with all the people Margaret knew so well. Emily had made a point to write down the names and reminded me when I forgot.

When it came time for lunch I had Emily call and get reservations for us at the Club. Emily ate her meal and I made a point to order desert, which she also ate. Shockingly, this therapy seemed effective.

On the way back to the den, Emily read the instruction manual for a PDA her mother had given her. I helped her and she quickly learned to use it. Before we made it home she had all my appointments scheduled into it.

I saw Margaret look back at Emily frequently. It wasn't hard to guess why. Emily looked better. There was color in her cheeks and she spoke with a smile on her face. It was a far cry from what she had been just the day before.

I met Joel back at the den and we went to another meeting about the shipyards. The human law enforcement had let the thieves be killed in their custody. The wolves had no leads on the potion they were sure was involved. As far as anyone could tell the men were just regular, low quality burglars. It was a long unsatisfying meeting.

"Except for the fact they kept claiming to be invisible, which the police did not understand, they were normal humans," Joel told me shaking his head.

"They obviously didn't understand the spell they took," I mused. "I wonder how they came across it?"

"No way to find out now," Joel lamented.

After the meeting we had dinner and then went to the gym. The pack's gym was huge. There was space to lift weights, mats for wrestling, and rooms set aside for private training. The wolves took physical fitness seriously.

Joel had told me the Alphas in a pack should be the strongest and most knowledgeable members. I was getting a crash course. The training I was getting during the day was to make sure I knew the pack inside out. At night, with him, I learned to fight. Like Joel, I was supposed to be a leader and defender.

At night we worked in the gym or the circle, where ever Joel felt I needed more work. In the gym I learned to fight in human form. He often took me to one of the smaller rooms and taught me to fight with weapons. When we went to the circle we fought as wolves. It was strenuous, but it was a relief to not be crammed into a meeting room.

After the work out, Joel and I took a short run, as we did most days. I loved to be out of doors. My wolf exploded into my mind and took over, tearing through the forest. When we ran like this she was completely in charge and we only stopped when Joel made her.

As I wove through the undergrowth, Joel sent a thought my way.

'Lucas is a Beta, he's going to start working with the security team. He's as tough as dad said he was,' Joel thought happily.

We ran for another few minutes and Joel herded me back home. I was upset to be going back already, but tomorrow was another long day. I forced the wolf down and back inside my human body. With everything going on Joel and I just didn't have time to spend all night galavanting in the woods.

Besides, I thought ruefully, gotta get to bed so I can wander back out here in a few hours.

The next day was bright in the woods when I opened my eyes. I stretched out next to Joel and wondered how long I was going to have to go through this. Emily was standing quietly about fifty yards away looking at her PDA.

Once Emily saw me look at her she approached and sat down cross legged in front of me.

"You and Alpha Latro have a conference call at nine o' clock to speak to federal agents about the break in at the shipyard," she whispered. "I spoke to Nate and the humans think it may have been part of a foiled terrorist plot. Nate doesn't think so, but the humans still want to know what types of things were in the shipyard at the time of the break in."

"Good morning, ladies," Joel said stretching and pulling me against his normal morning erection.

I groaned. I wanted to shower after sleeping in the dirt all night. If Joel had his way with me now that wasn't going to happen, so I tried to wiggle away and was pulled back tight.

"You're very quiet Emily," Joel complimented her and she grinned. "I take it Nate decided to give you the job of delivering me tasks I would rather not do?" he asked her nuzzling into my hair.

"Yes, Alpha Latro, it looks that way."

"Joel, I love you. I need you, but I need to shower after sleeping on the ground," I said trying vainly to get up.

"So, if I don't let you shower in the morning, you'll stay in our bed?" he asked playfully rolling me underneath him.

"Pardon the interruption, my Alphas," Emily said continuing to sit watching us, "but it is eight o clock now. I was supposed to come and get you an hour ago, but you looked tired, so I let you rest."

Joel groaned and lay his weight over me. "I heard you an hour ago. I suppose I should have woken the sleepy Madam Alpha then if I wanted to play," he said getting up and pulling me with him.

We walked back to the den with Emily tagging along behind us. She was busily tapping away on the PDA. I had no idea what she was doing, but it seemed to make her happy.

'She looks better,' Joel sent into my mind.

I agreed with him. It looked like this arrangement was working. I just wished we had some way to fix the problem about me and sleeping in the forest.

Joel and I washed and dressed quickly, so we wouldn't be late. We went to a meeting room with a number of high ranking wolves that ran the shipyard. I groaned inwardly to be starting the day with a meeting.

The talk with the feds was not enlightening. There was absolutely nothing in the shipyard at the time of the theft that would have interested a terrorist. Joel told them he believed it to be as straightforward as it seemed and eventually they agreed.

After that meeting a pack Council meeting took place. The wolves were interested in the burglars, but not for the same reasons as the human law enforcement. We wanted to know how they got hold of a spell.

Anthony had managed to get in to examine the bodies in the morgue.

"Their scent had returned by the time I got to them," he told us, "I was able to take a sample of their blood and gave it to the healer. She will try to find something out. They were really just regular burglars. From their police files they've been caught breaking into houses several times. There is nothing interesting about any of them."

My only question was why the healer needed their blood and I asked Joel using our bond.

'The healer's grandmother was a witch. She learned a great deal from her grandmother. The healer has been studying spells her entire life. She knows more about magic than anyone in the pack,' he told me.

"I address the pack Council with respect," Anthony said, "I humbly offer you an opinion you have not asked for."

"Anthony, your opinion is respected here," Joel said giving him permission, "please continue."

"The security we have at the den currently would not have detected these thieves had they attacked here. We may not have sensed them. We all remember when Saul's mate, Katrina, broke into the den. We found her because, although she was stealthy, she left a scent trail. I fear the humans may try to steal from us again."

He looked around, but no one interrupted him.

"I have heard the humans talk when they learn I live in this complex. They believe we are a wealthy organization. I, of course, insist we are not and tell them we are just a large extended family. Many talk when they don't think I can hear about the riches our organization holds. They talk about vaults of gold bricks we have."

Several of the Council were looking concerned and one of the older members encouraged Anthony to continue.

"I believe they are talking about the secure room downstairs," Anthony said. "We had several human contractors work on it and the word got out."

I knew the secure room. It was meant to house the pack in time of attack. It had four feet concrete walls and a metal blast door. If you didn't know what the wolves used it for, you would think it was a vault.

"It is my opinion we need to install more security here. The newly installed locks and increased patrols were a good start, but cameras and sensors should be used. It would keep the pack safer," he finished bowing his head.

"Your concern is valid. The Madam Alpha has already indicated she thought we needed more security also," Joel said, "I second the need for increased security here. Especially in light of the recent attempted theft."

The Council agreed and they started to discuss which security measures to institute in the den. I wondered how the pack would feel about cameras everywhere. I didn't think they would really mind, but it would be a change, which would probably unnerve them.

I watched quietly as the meeting continued. It was one of so many. I was glad for Emily now. When I zoned out I could always trust her notes about what had happened were accurate. I felt caged and just couldn't shake the feeling. Meeting rooms were not intended for wolves, I decided.

The next several weeks were frustrating. I continued to learn all about the pack which was good, but my night time excursions got more and more frequent. Even with Emily helping me all day, and she was a help, I went outside every night to sleep.

With that in mind, I was surprised to wake up in our bed. It had been a long time since I'd woken up here. I stretched and luxuriated in the feel of the silky sheets. Except the nagging soreness in my muscles, this was turning out to be a good morning.

Rolling over I looked at Joel who was smirking at me. He grabbed me around the waist and pinned me beneath his weight. My animal half stirred under my skin. I loved a good morning tussle, but this morning I was interested in how I was still in the bed.

"Why am I not waking up in the forest?" I asked him.

"I persuaded you to stay in bed last night," he said coyly pressing his morning erection between the juncture of my thighs.

"You've convinced me like that before and it has never worked," I pondered. "What exactly did you do that made me stay in the bed. We've got to figure it out so I'll stop doing this."

"I forced your wolf to submit to me," he said cautiously watching my face.

"That's fine, you are my mate and I don't mind submitting to you. I've told you that before," I answered, "but why would that have anything to do with me sleeping in the bed?" There was a lot more to this story than he was telling me.

"I followed you out and herded you to the circle," he said. "As you know some of the pack always follows us when you sleep in the forest, last night was no exception."

I waited for him to go on. He took a breath and continued.

"I pushed you to the center of the circle and told you where I wanted you to be, in our bed. You ignored me, as you usually do when you are sleep walking and turned to walk toward your favorite spot."

"I got in front of you and charged you in my wolf form. You shifted and started to fight with me. It was very heated. You can be very aggressive and I was making you angry. Eventually, I forced the wolf to submit completely in front of the pack that was present," he finished still looking down at me.

I searched my mind and found my animal half. She was feeling strange. She conveyed immense love and respect for Joel. There was also this feeling I can only describe as getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar.

"She knew what she was doing all along," I mused. "I thought we understood each other. I thought we had a good vibe going between us. She never let on she wanted to be outside that badly."

"It has been my fault, love. What she wants is what is best for her. I've had you learning about the pack and not yourself. The drama with the witches isn't helping either. It's taken away our time and I have been denying you," Joel sighed. "I haven't even taken you to hunt live game."

"I killed and ate a rabbit the first day," I told him to assuage his guilt.

"You should be able to hunt and kill for the pack. It would make you feel better if you could. If I allowed you to spend more time as the wolf you would be more in touch with her. Right now it sounds like you are back to being two separate beings in one body," he said watching my eyes.

I'd talked to him about the change and he understood it better now. My animal half was part of me, but the division wasn't native. Bonding with that part of myself took time and energy, Katrina had seconded that notion. Now, I was back to being two separate creatures in one body.

"We're canceling meetings for the next several days," he said rolling off of me. "We'll take a few days and go into the forest. I owe you weeks to run and find your wolf, but I'll give you what I can. It's pathetic. I'm making you sneak around to get enough of what you need."

I rose and stretched. I was sore. The fight last night must have been monumental.

"You give me plenty of what I need. She doesn't have to-" Joel cut me off with a raised hand.

"You still don't understand, love. You are the wolf, the wolf is you. The only reason it seems foreign to you is because you haven't accepted that part of yourself yet."

"I'm not sure how you could have. The entire time you've been a wolf I've been dragging you to meetings and going over security protocols. Letting you run in the woods for thirty minutes before we go to bed is not sufficient," he huffed turning to walk into the main room.

I watched his back disappear and gasped at the deep, but healing, gash down his right side and hip. Following him and that horrible gouge, I was almost too afraid to ask how he got it. I wouldn't be lucky enough that he was involved in multiple battles last night. Odds are I did that.

"Joel," I felt awful and couldn't finish.

No one attacked their mate and hurt them. This was humiliating for both of us. I was completely out of control. No wonder he wanted to get me away from the pack. I couldn't believe they had seen me do this to him.

He was in my face when I looked up. "You were very adamant about where you would sleep, love. I didn't realize how deprived you felt. I'm not angry you made your feelings known. In addition, I now feel much more secure in your ability to defend yourself."

"I am so sorry," I told him softly. "I love you. My wolf loves you. I can't imagine her doing this intentionally to you. I can't believe any part of me would harm you this way. I would never do anything to hurt you. I'll have better control."

He hugged me tight as he spoke. "I underestimated you. The pack was admittedly a little surprised to see me injured in a fight. They were not surprised you were the one that did it. Your speed is quite legendary, they've noticed that."

"How will I face them? This is so ludicrous. They must think I belong in a mental ward. God, you must think I belong in a mental ward..." I was rambling and Joel just hugged me tighter.

"I forgive you. The pack understands you are new to this and the timing is less than ideal. The old timers have been on me for weeks to get you out in the woods. They actually warned me your animal half was having difficulty because I didn't let her out more often. They've told me it was the reason for the sleepwalking, I just didn't listen." I pressed my hot face into his chest and continued to feel embarrassed. Silently berating myself, I let Joel go so he could go call off the meetings. If this was going to be the result of me not getting enough "me time" I better fix it.