He’s My Alpha by Cassandra M (Jake & Clair)
Chapter 87
Clair.
It has been a week since my union ceremony with my mate. I started to find my place in the pack, although the real Luna work has not yet begun.
On the other hand, Jake had his head pressed against his work, especially now that his Beta wasn’t around. After the revelation that Alia, Alpha
Caspian’s sister, was the Beta’s mate, Jake decided to send him to their pack instead of Aaron’s second- in-command to administer the training for their pack warriors.
It was supposed to commence next month, but unfortunately, during my Union Ceremony, the Blue Meadow’s pack — Alpha Caspian’s territory — was attacked by a number of rogues. They had few casualties and many were injured, so Alpha Caspian requested to have the retraining scheduled immediately. Seeing this as an opportunity for the Beta to fix his bond with Alia, Jake sent him off there.
I, on the other hand, was still adjusting to my life as Jake’s mate.
I was expecting that I would be pushed to attend meetings and review files that would help me do my duty as the Luna of the pack, but it never happened. Jake was patient in allowing me to adjust to the pack house before putting me on a much higher level of work. So I have free time to fix our suite as well as work on something I’ve been wanting to fix
since that day Jake confessed about his father.
A part of me knew that this could tick off Jake, but I also knew that for him to truly heal and move on, I needed to do this. Dad has been good enough to work on my behalf to reach out to them. And after a few conversations, the date was finally set.
I would finally meet my father-in-law and his mate today.
I paced back and forth at Jake’s office while I waited for him. He was currently at the training ground and about to be done with his session. He would come back here any moment now.
I could smell his scent mixed with sweat even before he entered his office. I grabbed the towel I had with me and faced the door just at the same time it opened, revealing my mate still in his training shorts.
A big smile was on his face as he came nearer. I threw the towel on him before taking big steps to pick up the clean clothes I had prepared for him.
“Stop. Don’t come near me when you’re that sweaty.”
He laughed and hugged me from behind, at which I tried to wriggle free while laughing back.
“Why? You used to love hugging me, despite that. What changed now?”
“I just showered. Get off me…” I chuckled while trying to avoid his face as he was attempting to kiss me. “Dry off and change clothes first.”
He let go of me and took off his shirt, followed by
his shorts. He was now naked in front of me, drying off his sweat with a towel.
“You just have to say that you want to see me naked, baby. No need to be shy.” He winked at me, making my cheeks burn while I roamed my eyes around his perfect naked form.
Damn it! If I didn’t have anything planned, I would definitely jump on this yummy treat in front of me.
I tossed his clean clothes at him and cleared my throat. “There’s somebody in the meeting room that you need to meet.”
His brow hiked up while he put on his shirt, followed by his boxers and sweatpants. “Who?”
“Promise me first that no matter what, you will go and face them?”
“No, I’m not going to do that.”
“No, Clair. You can’t force me to face someone I don
see. And I swear, if it’s him, I’ll make the person who allowed him to enter the territory pay for it. Except if it’s you, but I won’t let you get away with it,” he said without smiling. “And who would that be?”
“Aeon. Don’t f*uc*king tell me he’s here. Or your uncle. I will f*uc*king castrate them and make them eat it.”
I chuckled. A big burden was lifted from my shoulder.
“No, it’s not them.” I went up to him and placed my palm on his chest, trying to calm him down with my touch, which it did.
He took my hand and kissed it before he wrapped his arms around me as I tilted my head to look at him. “Please, talk to them, for me.”
“Tell me, who then?” He pecked my nose, but I just smiled at him and wriggled out of his hold, taking his hand with me as I pulled us out of his office. “Just be open-minded and let them talk,” I told him while we walked in the corridor on the way to the meeting room.
He stayed quiet. But once we were outside the
room, he let go of my hand, and a dark expression crossed his face. He smelled him.
“Jason,” he said in a cold voice that sent a shiver down my spine.
I swallowed an invisible lump before I faced him. “It ’s Dad, Jake. I asked them to come, so please don’t push them away. Please…”
He closed his eyes and placed his forehead on mine. “For you, Clair. Anything for you,” he answered in a whisper. It was enough to restore my confidence.
Jake.
The moment I smelled him, I felt my whole body stiffen. What did Clair do?
My eyes shifted from the door to my mate. Her face was pale, hinting to me that she was nervous about this ordeal. I saw her swallow before meeting her gaze.
“It’s Dad, Jake. I asked them to come, so please don’ t push them away. Please…”
I closed my eyes and placed my forehead on hers. “For you, Clair. Anything for you,” I answered in a whisper.
I felt her shoulders relax as she pulled away from me, one hand coiling on the doorknob while her eyes were still fixed on mine.
“Ready?” she asked, her eyes beaming with hope.
I nodded.
Without any more delay, Clair opened the door.
I saw my father first. He stood up from the chair and fixed his eyes on mine. He didn’t say anything, and neither did I.
I felt Clair’s hand on my back as she pushed me inside the room, guiding me in front of the big round table I used during my meetings. My father was on the other side, and beside him was his mate. She was standing as well. A female younger than Clair was beside her. She was sitting with her head bowed down, and from the way she was biting her lips, I could tell she was nervous.
“Who is she?” My eyes didn’t leave the younger female.
My father’s mate Jessica pulled the female up from her seat and coiled an arm around her.
“She’s your sister,” my father replied in a low voice, but I could hear authority in it.
“How old are you?” I asked her specifically.
She raised her head for the first time, and I was dumbfounded to see a female version of me and my father, except that her eyes were green and her hair was wavy and a lighter shade of brown.
“I’m 16, almost 17,” she answered in a soft voice “16?” My eyes darted to my father, a scowl written on my face. “16, and I only found out about her just now? Where was she when you came here 14 years ago?” I couldn’t help the anger in my voice.
I felt Clair’s hand on my arm, and my heartbeat slowed down.
“We didn’t bring her with us. I didn’t want you to think that I was choosing her over you.”
“Which you did!” I snapped back.
My father’s hands coiled into fists while my sister sought comfort from her mother’s chest.
Clair moved away from my side and went to where my sister and her mother were. She held my sister’s arm while she looked at me, her eyes begging for understanding.
“I will take the females for a while so you can talk privately.” She wasn’t asking my permission. She was telling me what she would do. I didn’t move a muscle. My eyes were just following their movement as she led them to the door.
Before they left, my mate came up to me and placed a kiss on the corner of my lips. “Give him a chance to explain. For me. For us,” she said softly, her palm brushing my chest before she left without hearing my reply.
I closed my eyes for a second to take in her smell to help calm my nerves.
For her.
The moment the females went out of the room, I took a seat on the chair in front of me. My father did the same thing, and now we were facing each other.
I cleared my throat and started to speak. “I’m not sure what my mate wanted when she requested you. I have nothing to tell you,” I said flatly.
“I’m glad she did. I’ve been wanting to see you for the longest time.”
I snorted out a sarcastic laugh. “If you really wanted to, you could have done it. Grandfather didn’ t ban you from the territory, and I hadn’t changed anything on that.”
“I know. But I couldn’t get past the idea that you hated me.”
“I still do. So what changed now?”
“You have a mate.”
“And?”
“You would understand me better now.”
I squinted my eyes and leaned my back further on the chair, my elbows resting on the armrest. “Talk.” “I’m sorry I left you.”
“I’m sure you are,” I replied sarcastically.
“Jacob, I’m sorry I was a coward and ran away from the pack. I could have taken you with me like you wanted, but I couldn’t do that. This pack needs you.
“And what about what I needed?”
He didn’t reply for a long time. We just sat there staring at each other. When I couldn’t take the silence anymore, I stood up and walked towards the window, looking at the ground outside the pack house.
“I tried to fight off the mate bond. I did. When I left, I already knew about her for over a year. I made her suffer for that long. Every time her heat came, every time I touched your mother.”
I turned around and walked to the table, slamming my fist on it. “Don’t you f*uc*king say anything like that! Like you’re disgusted with the idea of touching my mother!” My anger blew up, and I felt the pain my mother must have gone through knowing her chosen mate wanted nothing to do with her.
“That’s not what I meant. All I was saying was, I tried. I tried! But I couldn’t get her out of my mind. And she suffered so much because I couldn’t find it in my heart to reject her. She wanted me despite knowing I had a son and a chosen.”
“Are you telling me that makes her a good mate? That she waited for you while she was slowly destroying my family?”
“Son…”
“Don’t f*uc*king call me that! I have a name!”
“If Clair was mated to someone else, would you wait and give your all until she chose you?”
I couldn’t answer him. He had hit a spot there.
“You can argue that if I really wanted to end up with my mate, I should have waited and not picked a chosen mate. But I didn’t know I would want her. I grew up believing I could easily reject my fated mate. And I did love your mother the best way I knew how. And I didn’t regret choosing her because I have you. Regardless of how messed up it was, or how much of a coward I was, I did everything because I couldn’t bear the thought of someone else claiming my mate. Jessica is mine! I came here not to tell you to forgive me. I have already
accepted that you won’t. I came here to tell you that I never stopped thinking about you. I never stopped caring. I always had my eyes on you.”