Osias

It's been two days. Two, agonizing days since Berlin left me in a stunned silence, leaning against the closet door like an idiot. At the time, his words caught me so off guard that I could not speak or even move to reach out and prevent him from scrambling out of my room. For the first time in my life, I felt as if I had no control over a situation. 

For these past 48 hours, my wolf York had been pacing impatiently in my mind, whining painfully at the fact that our mate does not accept our bonding. Although Berlin did not formally reject us, his reluctance to advance in our mating relationship quickly took a toll on both my physical and mental well-being.

I had to fight my own stubborn wolf after the first day, forcing him back into a deep sleep in order for him to shut the hell up about mounting and claiming our mate before anyone else does.

It didn't help that I was practically drowning in paperwork regarding the merger. The details of this ordeal were such a bitch to deal with, even with Ortiz's help. 

I didn't have a second of peace.

A feeling of sheer, raw, and unadulterated need was also beginning to pull at me as the hours dragged by. I was a wreck of an Alpha - attending meetings in a jittery stupor and even zoning out when meeting important guests - all because of the little twink whose scent and body was engrained into every crease and crevice of my brain. Thoughts of Berlin were slowly driving me insane, and I knew that if I did not do something about it by the end of the day, both my wolf and I may lose control. 

I couldn't allow that to happen. Not with the way he could barely be around me even on my very best behavior. 

Werewolves, especially Alphas, have an extremely strong bond with their mates from the moment that they find them. It runs deeper than mere blood, DNA or a random gene pool selection, but rather a specific pairing chosen by the goddess herself. The mates are dependent on one another, and without their match, a wolf may suffer pain both mentally, physically or at the same time. If the pairing is rejected or denied for an extended period of time, the two involved will both go be forced to endure the pain of their choices. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't in fucking agony right now.

I knew that he was actively avoiding me at all costs. At most, I would be able to catch a glimpse of shiny, blonde hair flurry around the corner from the dining hall, or catch wind of his twinkling laughter as he giggled until his face assumed the color of a ripe strawberry with his parents. Even so, I knew something was very wrong. His heart was laced with sadness, and it penetrated him to his very soul. His pain was so deep that I could almost feel the barbed wire around his heart pierce through mine as well. It made me curious to know that could have caused him such a deep-seated sadness, but I knew that if I tried to force it from him it would only make my situation worse. 

"Ortiz, I want you to call for Danny Cahill. To my office." I waved away my Beta, sending him a growl as he rolled his eyes and fell off of the couch in the far side of my office, on which he was taking a nap. So childish.

"Whatever." he grumbled angrily, rubbing sleep from his eyes and shooting me a glare over his shoulder before pushing himself off of the floor and stomping out of the room in a similar manner to what I would have done myself. 

Ortiz and I had a sibling-like rivalry. To the untrained eye, it may seem like we are always fighting, but deep down we always knew we loved each other like family. He was the one person I had ever truly called a friend.

As I waited for Ortiz to fetch Danny I swiveled in my office chair, heaving a sigh as I glanced out of my window that overlooked the expansive front lawn of the Pack House. What I saw caused me to do a double, and then a triple take. My breath hitched at the sight of Berlin sitting on a bright blue picnic blanket alone, eating from a bag of baby carrots and cradling a large novel in his hand. The soft wind caused his hair to swirl around his heavenly face, and an admiring smile slid its way onto my face. He was a perfect sight, I only wished that I was able to join him on this beautiful day.

One day.

"Alpha... You called for me?" came a timid voice from the other side of the french doors of my office.

"Enter." I replied calmly, leaning back in my leather office chair and tearing my eyes away from the angel outside of my window. The door slowly swung open as a larger version of Berlin walked into my office. Although he was taller than Berlin, he was still on the short side on the werewolf scale. Danny kept his head down in both a respectful and submissive manner, only glancing up once in order to briefly examine my slightly recumbent position in my chair. He stayed quiet, waiting my next words as if he was a puppy awaiting orders; although rather than shaking from happiness, his slim fingers were shivering with what looked to be sheer terror. 

"I am guessing that your husband is waiting for you outside of this office, so I will attempt to keep this short." I drawled, my icy eyes flickering over him as I paused my words. "That is, as long as you answer my questions well." I finished, raising an eyebrow as I waited for his reaction. The small man hesitated for a moment before nodding his head gently and waiting for directions once again. I couldn't help but smile, always pleased at the power I possessed over others. 

"Tell me, is Berlin troubled about something that may have occurred in his relatively recent past?" I asked, leaning my elbows on top of my desk. Danny's eyes widened slightly as I spoke my last words.

"H-how did you know?" he whispered, taking an involuntary step away from my desk. His actions somewhat reminding me of his son. My foot tapped impatiently underneath my desk.

"I'm the Alpha. It's my job to know everything. Now answer my question... please." I added the unfamiliar last word through clenched teeth, knowing that it probably wasn't a good idea to leave a bad first impression on my mate's father. 

"I-..." he trembled, gulping thickly and twisting his fingers. "If I didn't know that you two were mates, I wouldn't tell you... But I suppose because you are, it only makes sense." he finally lifted his head to look at me a moment later, although he didn't exactly meet my eyes. 

"Berlin has been depressed since the rogues were sent to take our pack... He lost someone very important to him." he said, trying to keep his voice steady, but his body language heavily implied that he was ready to bolt from my office as soon as I gave him permission. 

I stared at him for a moment, my eyes narrowing as I thought deeply. 

I understand that he lost someone, but how exactly would that correlate to our relationship? I have no idea, but the fact that this... Person that passed away had so much power over Berlin that he chose to avoid me caused my anger to spike to an unimaginable height. 

"Can I please leave now?" Danny asked his voice returning to its usual, soft and timid level. His head lowered as he became all too interested in his shoes. I snapped back with a loud growl as my anger continued to flare from my overthinking, and was immediately met with a sobbing Danny. 

Well, shit.

So much for a good impression.

"BUNNY?!" screamed a deep voice from behind my office door, followed by a loud banging on the heavy mahogany . "LET. ME. IN. If you made my mate cry, I don't care WHOSE Alpha you are, I'll fucking SHOOT YOU!" 

I sighed aloud before waving out Danny in a dismissive manner. I didn't need the parents of my mate hating me too much in the first couple of days after meeting him. 

The petite man wasted no time in scattering out of my office. After I heard the couple's footsteps fade down the hallway, I allowed my vision to wander back to the window. My anger lowered to a simmer at the sight of my Angel, now laying down on the blanket and clutching another old sweatshirt to his chest as he slept with the fat novel still in his hand. 

Just the sight of him made me want to burst through this window and hold onto him forever.

I'd wait, though.

|A Few Hours Later|

Exactly five hours later, I lost it.

It started with claws. As I was signing a treaty contract, I was confused to see blood dripping onto the parchment. Upon further inspection, I realized that my claws had dug into my skin as they'd involuntarily performed a partial shift. From there, it only took a few moments for my wolf to take over even though I remained in human form for the most part. 

With my wolf York in control of my body, all logic was out of the window. He was pent up, angry, and wanted to see his mate, point-blank period.

I glanced into the mirror on the way out of my office, noticing that York's golden eyes were brighter than ever. I could only hope that York wouldn't somehow lost his shit and hurt our mate. The beast was usually calm and collected (albeit perpetually horny), but when he got worked up, it was game over for whoever stood in his path. 

It was a matter of moments before I reached the dining hall, which held two long tables stretched out throughout a room almost as large as our ballroom. A few of my pack members eating dinner swiveled their necks as they noticed my unusual entrance as I practically ran down the walkway between the two tables, heading straight for the short blonde boy at the end of the table on the left.

"You're coming with me." my wolf spoke, his dominating voice lower than mine by a couple of octaves. Berlin jumped and spun around in his seat quickly with wide eyes, still holding a buttered bun to his mouth. My breathing was halted at the sight of his milky, smooth skin, brown eyes and pouty lips that glistened with the oily butter. The sight only caused York to lose control of his sanity even faster. 

"Wha-" his words were cut off as I smacked the piece of bread out of his hand. York wrapped his strong arms around his mate's waist and effortlessly hoisted him over my shoulder with a grunt before making a beeline for the private Alpha's garage. 

"Hey!" he squeaked out angrily, kicking his short legs and smacking the strong muscles of my back with his hands in a fruitless effort to get York to set him down. "What are you doing?!"

York simply growled out in reply and grabbed the keys to one of my BMWs, unlocking it and opening the passenger door to gently set Berlin down in the seat. York quickly fastened the seatbelt across his mate's chest before he froze, the proximity of his face to our mate causing our heart to skip a beat.

I could feel York's will bending and threatening to snap like a dry spaghetti noodle as he struggled not to force his lips upon his mate. After a moment of painful deliberation, he miraculously managed to pull himself away from the temptation, rounding the car to the driver's side before getting in, not bothering with a seatbelt as he reversed out of the garage and relinquished some power back to me since the dick didn't know how to drive for shit. 

"I'm taking you on a date." I murmured, smirking at Berlin's stunned face as he attempted to register what had just occurred. 

"But-" I pulled a hand off of the steering wheel and gently rested a finger to his lips as Berlin attempted to protest. York forced his way back to the surface, overtaking my speech for the next utterance. 

"And no, you do not have a choice. Just enjoy the ride, darling."