Chapter 6

“Who is she? Why does it seem like I know her somewhere? Like I’ve met her someplace before…” Ronald McKenzie asked himself as he paced about the main quarters of the packhouse. He had his hands folded behind his back as the cold weather breezed through the windows right into the quarters.

The main quarters had a combination of mundane and ancient interiors, from the furniture to the other pieces of equipment. It made it have an otherworldly vibe to it, and this was primarily due to how long the occupants have been in there.

It was right in the early hours of the day since he got up from bed just to think through something. The bags under his eyes made it a realization that he didn’t even have a nice sleep.

He had been continuously pacing about since he arrived in the living room, proving that he indeed had something on his mind. And whatever issue it was, it seemed to be more than what he could handle.

Something was going wrong around him, and he could feel it. His Alpha instinct was making him aware of that, but he didn’t know the exact spot he could pinpoint it to. But he was sure he had the idea of where the issue resonated from.

It all started when his son brought in his mate — that strange girl that his system couldn’t help but feel something against.

She was indeed strange. Yes, she was. But he couldn’t tell why he felt that way about her. She was meant to be an ordinary she-wolf to him, but instead of that, he was almost feeling threatened by her presence in just a few hours of meeting her.

The way she had carried herself the day before had been more like she was hiding something from him, and he didn’t like the feeling of that one bit. Not when she was in his territory. And he wasn’t going to start getting all suspicious about his son’s mate. It would produce different questioning of his authority from members of the pack. And that was what he always made sure to avoid like a plague.

He could clearly remember how the girl had stared at him. The stare had carried so much weight like she knew something about him that he didn’t know. That had been the most impolite way of addressing an Alpha like him, but he had let the issue slide cause he seemed fascinated with the girl’s boldness.

What had fascinated him more and gotten him worried at the same time was when he had released a bit of his pressure toward her. The pressure had been slightly intense, but funny enough, she hadn’t even budged.

And what about when he had decided to listen deeply to the rate of her heartbeat to detect how pressurized she had been. He hadn’t gotten anything from it at all. It was at a slightly higher rate, which meant she was either nervous or shy. But he would have to go with her being nervous because she had been firm in her demeanor.

He eventually went to take a seat but not without making a mind-link to the one who was likely the actual cause of his current predicament.

‘Garrett… come over here now!’

It didn’t take too long before the younger version of himself appeared via the hallway. He could still see most of the qualities he had in his son, ranging from his features up to his facial appearance. The most notable difference between them was their hair color — which was mainly as a result of him aging already — and eye color, with his being brown while his son had a pair of green ones.

His son looked like he had just woken up from sleep, and this was a bit strange to him. He had to look up at the overhead clock to hope he wasn’t overthinking things, and he could see that it was almost seven. His son had never woken up that late in the past six years.

That matter was for another day as he had something else to find out from him.

“Father, you summoned me. Is anything the matter?” Garrett asked him.

He squinted his brows at his son, who, obviously, forgot to do the necessary. He didn’t need to say anything before Garrett realized his mistake.

“Sorry, father. Good morning. So, is anything wrong?”

“Where did you say you met her?” was the first thing he asked his son as he intertwined his fingers together while giving out the neutral stare of his.

“Met who?” Garrett asked, trying to comprehend who he was talking about. “Adaliah?”

He gave a nod and said, “Yes, Adaliah. Where did you meet her?”

“At an event in the human territory. I think she was there for the same thing that I was,”

“Just to have time away from her duties?” He saw the change in expression on his son’s face after he said that. His question was more of a trigger, and he could see that it had worked well against the young man. “Are you sure she isn’t a rogue?”

“A rogue?” Garrett, while looking away, almost scoffed at the mention of that. But he was sure to remind the young man of his presence. “Well, she doesn’t smell like one, so I doubt if she is.” Garrett then looked at him again with a change from the mocking gaze to a serious one. “Why do you ask that, though, father? Did she do something to displease you?”

He adjusted himself on the seat before speaking even though he mostly wanted to get up from the chair. “No, she hasn’t done anything,” he told the young man, clearing his throat a bit. “But I feel she’s going to do something. It makes me think she is trying to cover up something,”

“I doubt that, father.”

He looked over at his son who had this frown mounted on his face. He couldn’t blame him though, if not, he would have lashed out at him for being somewhat rude to him.

The mate bond was making his son all defensive, and it was expected of him in the first place, except if she wasn’t his mate. The bond makes both individuals involved act without knowing what they are doing, especially if it involves someone talking ill about their mate.

Seeing he couldn’t cope with sitting anymore, he stood up and went over to the window where he could watch the far end of the territory. He found it soothing most times to watch as the day broke, and this time was one of those times he felt he should watch what nature had to offer.

He was still backing his son when he asked, “What would she be doing in the human territory if it isn’t that she’s a rogue? Maybe a most recent one. And you said she’s from the Red Crescent pack. Are you certain of that, or you are only being defensive of her claim again?”

He didn’t need to look back to know his son was now more furious than anything. He wanted that reaction from him, though. It was like a way of making his son know that he should be more cautious of the things he does. And never to be too trusting. But the message wasn’t being passed now as his son was outrageous blindly.

“Father, trust me, Adaliah isn’t a rogue. And she truly is from the Red Crescent pack. I’m sure of that,”

“But you just met her!” he snapped at the love-stricken young man, a growl escaping his lips as he turned around to look at him with a furious expression now plastered on his own face, completely overshadowing that of his son’s. “I know she is your mate and all that but haven’t I taught you not to be too trusting of people? Haven’t I?”

This immediately got the young man a bit sober as he looked away. “You did,” Garrett said in a forced tone.

He shook his son as he was clearly disappointed with the young man. “You know what is going to justify all of this? It’s you looking properly into her background. I don’t want any complications at all because you finally found yourself a mate. You know how the pack policy works,”

“I’m on it already,”

He heard Garrett say, and he couldn’t be more than happy that his son was already being responsible by taking the necessary step in ensuring the pack's safety. But, of course, he didn’t show how he felt to the young man. “You did?” he asked soon after.

“Yes,” Garrett nodded. “I told Luke to do that for me, but he hasn’t delivered anything yet. But I promise to get back to you once he has any news on it,”

“Of course, you will.” He headed back to the seat he had gotten up from. While seated, he looked at his son as something came into his head. “And what do you intend to do with Adaliah today?”

“I’ll be taking her back to her pack so she can get her stuff from there. According to what she told me, she’s got an uncle who is still very much alive.”

“Good. You may go now.”

He watched as his son began walking out of the room. An idea came up in his head while he was doing that. And at the last point of the young man getting out of the quarters, he called, “Garrett!”

Garrett turned around almost instantly to look at him. “Yes, father,”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

The look on Garrett’s face showed he had no idea what he was talking about. “I don’t think so,”

“What about Brix?”

The sigh that escaped from Garrett’s lips showed he was having a bit of difficulty regarding that question. And he had deliberately asked him that because he knew he had to bring that up eventually.

After some time, Garrett looked up at him. “I’ll find a way to put it through to her,” he said and walked out of the room.

He stared at the pathway leading out of the main quarters while thinking of what he would do. He couldn’t just sit and wait for his son to get the task done. He had to do something as well. And that was what he was going to do eventually.