Dante’s POV
Monday rolled around the corner and I was in my office.
Sunday was busy and I didn’t get a wink of sleep. I had really let myself go. I had stubbles on my beard and my hair had grown unkept.
I got a well-deserved haircut and shave. I needed to look perfect.
I sat impatiently in my office. Erica had told me that she was coming by 9 a. m. I had come an entire hour early and now I was stuck looking frantically at my watch.
The minutes seemed to pass by slowly. I felt anxiety rise inside of me. It was soul-crushing. I could barely take it.
It was 8:30 a. m. I had managed to wait thirty gruesome minutes. I could…
Knock! Knock!
My heart skipped a beat. She was here. I readjusted my cuffs but soon the scent hit me. That wasn’t Erica.
The door opened and Robert came inside. He had a grin on his face as he looked me over.
“What a transformation. I was getting worried about you. When you came out of your room yesterday, I almost didn’t recognize you.”
He took up a seat and I stared at him with a narrowed gaze. He was in better spirits than usual. What was going on with him?
“What are you doing here?” I snarled.
He smiled and leaned back in his chair.
“You are still in a bad mood I see. Pity. I’ve always enjoyed your company. Seems like the incident at the hospital with Laura took a lot out of you. Glad to see you in better spirits”
He leaned forward and I felt my body tense up immediately.
“So tell me, when is Erica going to be here?”
I looked at him in shock. How did he know?
“Come on, don’t look so surprised. It’s not that hard to tell. You were drinking the day before yesterday and now you are right back on your feet and back in the office.”
“What if it isn’t Erica that brought me back here?”
He broke into a loud chuckle and I immediately flared up. I stood up in anger and glared daggers at him.
He still didn’t stop. It took a while before it died down. I was uncomfortable. What was going on with Robert?
“Need I remind you that you are the Beta of this pack? You have no business in my private affairs. They are of no concern to you.”
“But they are, Alpha Dante.”
His voice became deeper and more menacing. I watched as the funny personality was stripped away from him.
“If your relationships are a reason why you would ignore the pressing matters of the pack then they are very much my business. Need I remind you that we still have a threat lurking at the doorstep of our pack? While you were busy frolicking with between Laura and Erica, we have had four recent deaths of our wolves posted at the Eastern and Southern borders. I have no doubt that they are from Hazan.”
My eyes opened wide.
“And you are just telling me this now?!”
“And if I had told you earlier, what would you have about it?”
His cold and serious demeanor slowly returned. This was the Robert that I knew.
“I am happy that things with Laura have been laid to rest. The council will be off our backs for a long time. Wrap things up with Erica so we can have a concrete plan on ground. If I recall, she was sent here so that we could help each other and not so that you two could fuck each other. The both of you should get your act together so that we can put an end to Hazan’s threats. I will not lose any more men!”
I slammed my hand on the table and stood up. My eyes darkened and glowered at Robert. He had crossed the line.
“Don’t you dare talk to me like that. I am your Alpha…”
“Then fucking act like it, Dante. I am your Beta so I can get you in line when you fall out of line. Get yourself together so that we can fix this. If she is going to help us, then you two should get down to thinking of a plan.”
I felt my rage increase. How dare he talk about Erica like that?
“How dare you? Erica is my mate…”
“She ceased to be your mate ever since you treated her like trash six years ago. Someone else has her now but you can’t just live with it. The classic scene of eating your cake and still wanting to have it. You wouldn’t be in this mess if you had accepted her back then. But you chose someone else and now, you have pushed Laura away and are groping at Erica again. This is all pathetic, Dante…”
I grabbed his collar angrily. My eyes began to glow and my wolf was fighting to get out.
I didn’t care if he was my Beta. It would have him insult me like this. I wouldn’t have him talk about Erica with such disregard.
“Don’t you dare speak to me like that again. Don’t even talk about Erica like that. You can’t understand the way I feel because you have no mate, you have no idea how I feel when I’m with Erica.”
Robert glared back at me. We were locked in a stalemate. My hands didn’t let go of his collar.
“You’re are right, Dante. I don’t understand how you feel and do you know what, I will never understand the way you feel because I am not a coward like you. I would never abandon my mate only to crawl back into her life like a pest several years later. My mate is the most beautiful lady in the world. She had blonde hair and blazing orange eyes. I love her and I would never treat her the way you treated Erica.”
He pushed my hands off and we stood there staring at each other. Hate and anger were brimming like a looming disaster.
“Get this fixed, Dante. You have responsibilities to the pack. Also, I am no longer interested in whatever you have with that assassin. You’re on your own. If anything happens, you have yourself to blame.”
Knock! Knock!
I knew who it was but I didn’t look at the door. Robert didn’t take his eyes off me, either
“She is here. I’ll be taking my leave…”