He settled, looking at me before I spoke. He probably already knew what I wanted to say.

“The Camellia pack, sir? They aren’t even worth the energy it takes to look at them,” I growled in frustration. “I’m sure the others can find Joseph without me.”

Merrick rose from his elk hide throne that sat opposite of where I was standing. He let his hand slide over the antique wood of his black oak desk as he crept forward. A sly grin stretched across his lips. If I didn’t know him, I’d think he was in a good mood. However, that isn’t the case. I know him all too well, and the malice in that smile flipped a switch in me. I wasn’t surprised when my posture wound up tighter than a hooked fishing line on instinct.

“You’re right; they can and most likely will. However, they won't be able to take out whatever it is that's killing everyone. As for attending school, well Darla is concerned with your people skills. Your mother and I homeschooled you because there was far more we could teach you than any classroom.” There was a hint of pain in his eyes as he spoke of my mother. “However, Darla believes you will benefit from socializing with kids your own age, outside of the pack. “He grumbled.

“I don’t care what Darla thinks...”

“She is your mother now! Understood,” His voice was void and harsh, but what stunned me were the words themselves. It wasn’t a question or a fatherly hope that I would get along with his newly dimwitted bride. No, he was demanding that I accept her as he had, and it made my veins burn. The festering heat coursed through my body, lighting up from head to toe.

“LIKE HELL SHE IS!” I roared furiously in his face within a second. “SHE WILL NEVER BE MY MOTHER!” I spit through fastened teeth.

His hand came in an instant; shock from the open-palmed blow blew away the heat and replaced it with sheer hatred. I felt like I would erupt and was surprised steam didn’t shoot from my ears. At that moment, I imagined shifting and tearing my father apart with my teeth. Every part of me wanted to maul the stranger in front of me, but I knew better. Despite his lack of fatherly appeal, he was still a man I respected, he was still the Alpha.

Though I didn’t comprehend why he was so dead set on me calling that two-faced woman mother, I understood this. This was the only way he knew how to communicate effectively. I snorted harshly at him, meeting his glare with my own. My breaths were strained as I fought to keep myself from changing and enacting my earlier fantasy. The sting from the blow crawled through my cheek like a spider over the skin.

“What happened to school being the Council’s way of brainwashing, manipulating, and developing mindless drones?”

“Damn it, Harou! Why do you have to be so fucking difficult? Huh?” he was breathing heavily. I didn’t bother to call him the pot because he already knew. After a minute, he wiped his beard and continued. “You will attend school, you will find and deal with whatever slipped past those sorry asses in the Inner Circle, and you will return. I don’t care how many bodies pile up in the process. Understood!” His voice had little volume, but the intensity in his tone felt like he was challenging me. Daring me to disagree with him again.

“When I return, you will exempt me from all missions for one month.”

“Three weeks,” he snapped back.

“That was non-negotiable, Merrick” I spit his name.

Time was irrelevant as we locked ourselves into a battle of wills. It didn’t take long for his purple irises to illuminate and indicate that he was about to unleash his more primal instincts. I steeled myself and fixed my searing orbs on his, confident they were shining just as brightly. It was like looking into a time-warped mirror, and I hated every second of it.

’ When did we get like this?’

It was the unvoiced question. Since we both knew the answer to that particular query, we left the elephant in the corner of the room, ignoring it, futilely hoping it would disappear. Our competitive snarls thrummed in my ears, vibrated my entire body, rattled a glass that set cozily in its coaster on my fathers’ desk, and reverberated about the room. We were a millisecond away from an all-out clash.

“ENOUGH YOU TWO!” Darla’s bellow was swallowed instantly and did nothing to quell the situation.

“I. Said. Enough Merrick!” The vile woman who resembled a snake entered the office in no mood for arguments. Like a pup looking for tit, his eyes found her, breaking our deadlock. Instantly his challenge stopped, and the room was enveloped in a silence that didn’t quite feel right.

′Unbelievable′

I snorted disapprovingly at Merrick, earning me a subtle growl. “Knock it off, Harou,” she said, annoyed. Her voice was as poisonous as a basilisk. The very sound made me want to rip her throat out. “One day, you will find a mate, and karma is going to be a bitch to you.”

"What!" I growled callously.

“You know a mate, like a person you want to be with,” she said slowly, throwing her hand out in a circular motion like it was going to help her explain more clearly. My fathers hand caught my shoulder as I moved toward her.

“It’s not as simple as liking someone. The term belongs to only one individual in a werewolf’s entire life. I will not tolerate you speaking anything of it human,” I snapped.

“Whatever, it’s just another word,” She rolled her murky brown eyes and left.

She may as well have slapped me in the face and walked out. I gritted my teeth. She knew nothing of it, nothing of what a mate means to a werewolf and for her to disrespect and scandalize such a privilege was unforgivable. If she weren’t human, I would have killed her on the spot for making light of it. My father understood; the look of sympathy that betrayed his features agreed with me.

“Merrick!” She yelled after him. “Enough with him, come help me upstairs.”

Without another word, he heeded her call, leaving me rooted in the middle of his office bristled.

Darla is human. She had a husband that died. Though I think she killed him, that or he killed himself because of her. Which, I wouldn’t blame the unlucky bastard if he did. She has two kids, but they’re off attending school in the town at the mountain’s base. Schooling, clothes, shelter, food, and entertainment that the pack, my pack, paid for out of pocket. The thought doesn’t do anything to calm me.

′Days like today are why I stay on my mountain.′

I sighed irritably. Today had gone entirely opposite of how I had hoped it would. After a mindless one-hour run through the territory, I returned to my room.