Andre POV
All the council members had left, and only Doran and I remained. He sat beside me, and I turned my attention to him.
“Well, that went better than I expected. I actually thought that the council was going to go berserk on you.”
I chuckled.
“They all seem to have a lot of respect for Fentris and follow whatever that bastard tells them. Now that he has been exposed, they think more sensibly.”
We laughed at Fentris’s expression when everyone heard that he had brought Nicole into the pack. It was a picture-perfect moment; nothing would have been better than capturing it, putting it in a frame, and hanging it on my wall.
The laughter soon died down, and Doran looked at me solemnly.
“But seriously, Andre. Do you really think that Olivia can live up to what is expected of her? The council was swayed, but they didn’t seem very convinced. Olivia is still very young, and she is quite immature.”
I stopped him right there with a glare. He held his words and looked at me nervously.
“Is there something that you would like to get off your chest, Doran?”
He stuttered and began to sweat.
“Andre, look, I…”
“Do you know my mate better than I do?” I snarled.
“No. Andre.”
“Good, then. In that case, you should know your boundaries. She is my mate, and if I say that she is ready, then she is ready. I am not going to allow her to be looked down on by a bunch of fools like the council, and you, as my best friend and Beta, should certainly not look down on her either.”
I watched as Doran gulped in fear and raised his hands in surrender. He managed to smile, easing the tension in the room.
“Alright, alright. Geez. I’m not Fentris, you know. You know I am truly happy for you and Olivia. I am just worried about the pack like any good Beta should be. Do you really think that I would subscribe to my best friend, the Alpha, being a sad celibate or settling for a bitch like lil ol’Nicky?”
I scoffed, trying my best to stifle a laugh. Doran knew how to diffuse a situation, but this was serious, and I needed him to take me seriously.
“Look, I am sorry for losing it. I am just under a lot of pressure. I don’t want her to feel unsafe and run away again. I don’t want to lose her.”
Doran relaxed in his chair and smiled.
“You really are head over heels for her. Well, your apology is half accepted. You owe me a drink after giving me a nasty scare like that. I’m thinking of exotic red wine. It’s Amelia’s favourite.”
I rolled my eyes and made a mental note for Pierre to have the wine delivered later today.
As soon as he was gone, I grabbed my phone and decided to call the pack’s border patrol.
The phone rang and was answered immediately.
“Good afternoon, Alpha.”
“What’s the situation so far.”
The personnel paused for a while, and I waited anxiously.
“I’m waiting.”
“Well, we were able to stop Miss Nicole from leaving the pack, but then we hit a little stumbling block.”
I raised my brow.
“Stumbling block? What stumbling block?”
The personnel stuttered a little before finally revealing what had happened.
“We caught her, and just as we were about to question her about where she was going, a man in a mask appeared and began to take down our guards. He was outnumbered, but we were outclassed, and he had all of us defeated. He grabbed Nicole, and they zoomed off into her car. All this happened about ten or so minutes ago.”
My rage spiked at his words.
“And you are just telling me about all of this?! Why didn’t you call?!”
The man gulped.
“I… I… ”
“Do you at least have men in pursuit?!”
The man’s voice became weak and inaudible.
“N… No, Sir. Everyone on sight was down. We didn’t have men strong enough to go on a pursuit.”
I snarled.
“It seems your team needs to be replaced.”
I immediately cut the call and slammed my phone on the desk.
Nicole was up to something, and I was going to find out what it was.