Chapter 6: Messing it up.

**DELANEY**

I feel extremely bad for hurting Orion like I did. All the blood pumping through me with him holding me like that I really didn't realize the force I put behind it. It wasn't intentional at all.

Then he got mad that creepy Chris had me in the same hold. Which I thought was sweet and also strange. Why would he get mad about that? Was he feeling upset that a pervert was going to harm another child? Was it because it was me?

I mean I don't see why. I am nothing. A pathetic werewolf orphan. But he could've killed me in those woods but chose to help me. I think I want to ask him why but I'm not sure if I want to know the answer. I hope he isn't expecting anything from me.

And then there was the handsome Kylo. Trying to butter me up, there is obviously some beef between him and Orion. I should ask him about it. 

We walked back up to the pack house garden when I finished my thoughts. I even think he was faking for the last few minutes we were walking. I take a deep breath because I know we are fixing to meet people and he will have new questions. I just hope I can impress the pack. I have never cared if anyone liked me because they always had a reason not to.

Kids I lived with thought I was the charity case that was replacing them. The adults only saw me as a meal ticket. Teachers just saw a new face they'd never remember after I was gone. But I thought that this place could be my home eventually, so I want to give my best impression.

"Orion, before we go inside can I ask you a favor?" I told him. Wondering if he will agree. He studies me for a split second. 

"Laney, you can ask me to DO anything and FOR anything. And I will be here for you and do what I can." He sounds sincere, could just be being nice since I have no one else.

"When you are introducing me to everyone can you not tell them I am an orphan especially from the human world. This is all going to be new to them and really new to me. I don't want anyone to feel like I am a threat or that they can't be comfortable around me because of where I came from."

He contemplates it and looks at me.

"Already thinking of others. Of course, I can tell them I saw you almost being attacked by a bear in the woods. And I ran the bear off and offered you sanctuary here. I will be honest with you though, my best friend and future Beta knows about you but he doesn't know you were an orphan. I kind of told him I didn't think you knew you were a werewolf." He smiles sheepishly.

"Well, we can just tell him that I didn't know how to sense a werewolf since I was young and that I didn't trust you enough yet to tell you what I was until you told me."

"You are ridiculously smart and so quick at solutions. You are going to be the perfect assistant. Also, if anyone gives you any problems or makes you uncomfortable just say, "bear". Okay? That way I can divert that person or step in. No one will know what it means and just think you are talking about how we met." That wasn't too shabby for something off the top of his head.

"Perfect, thanks again. Alright, I am ready to meet the pack members of the.... What's the name of this pack? Do you guys name the packs? Or is that just in the novels?" I giggle. Me and my dumb questions.

"Hahaha, yes we name our packs. Our pack is the Dark Pine Pack. We are the largest and strongest pack in the United States. " 

"Oooooo I like it. Perfect since it's in the forest and it is kind of dark.” I say, laughing. Gosh, I have been the goofiest the last few days, Jesus I have to chill out or he's gonna think I'm a weirdo.

We step into these two huge double glass doors that are on the patio next to the garden. Through these doors we walk into the sitting area it looks like. And it is huge. There are couches, recliners, loveseats and tables everywhere.

The first person that noticed us was a guy looking through his phone leaning against the bar.. He has dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. He stands up and walks over to us, bowing his head to Orion. 

“Hey Terrin.” Orion says with a smile. 

“Hey O, hello Miss. You must be Delaney.” He says extending his hand for a handshake smiling. Not looking at me like a piece of candy like Kylo did, I happily take his hand and shake it.  

"Hello Terrin. It's nice to meet you." Terrin nods and smiles. "A pleasure Ms. Delaney. Orion here has talked highly of you. Will you be staying in the pack from now on or are you just passing through?" He asks sweetly and it sort of concerns me.

"I am thinking of staying here in the Dark Pine pack. Maybe after my birthday this week? But I'd like to learn the ins and outs of the pack and meet the members. Make everyone comfortable around a newcomer. I'm surprised the big lug guy here warmed up to me so quickly. Being the future Alpha and all. I have no idea why." I giggled. All three guys laughed. Orion laughed a little nervously.

"You seem to be fitting in quite well already, Laney. Is it okay that I call you that?" Terrin asks. I nod. 

"That is fine. I have never had a nickname, and I know Delaney is sometimes a mouthful." He nods with a warm smile. I could be friends with Terrin. But dammit, why is every male in this pack so hot? Terrin turns to Orion. 

“Can I talk to you for a second?” He asks. 

Orion nods. “I’ll be right back, Laney. You don’t have to talk to anyone if you don’t want to. When I’m done, I’ll show you the office.” 

 I smile. I want to walk around anyway, have a look at everything. The curtains in this room are open and the sunshine is lighting the room. I love naturally lit rooms. 

“Wow, sunshine. I didn’t think Jughead would leave you alone.” I hear Kylo snark behind me. I laugh slightly. Okay, he’s kind of funny. 

“He is over there talking to Terrin.” I say pointing at the two who are talking but both are staring at me. I turn around, I hate people looking at me for too long.

I am admiring this huge fireplace with a pretty mantle decorated with nicknacks, and pictures. 

“So what are you up to today?” Kylo asks. He’s being nice, not overstepping my boundaries, and is keeping his distance. 

“I believe I am supposed to be learning how to be the Alpha’s assistant.”

“Hmmm. Sounds like the Alpha has other plans in store for you..” He said scratching the scruff on his chin looking at the wall. I quirk my eyebrow at him.

“What are you talking about?” I ask. 

“Listen very carefully to what they are saying.” He said as he stepped a small step closer to me. 

“It’s rude to eavesdrop.” I scolded him. “Miss Delaney, if someone is talking about you. Wouldn’t you like to know what it is about?” He said looking at me out of the corner of his eye and he shrugs his shoulders. 

I think for a second. Actually yes, I would. Especially Orion… 

I try to focus my ears on Orion, he is speaking low. But not too low.

“So, what happened to just getting her into bed, O? You surely are pulling out the stops to keep her here..” Terrin says. What the fu.ck?

“That plan hasn’t changed, it’s just taking longer than I expected. Trust me, ALL I want from her is the lay her down. She’s beyond hot..” Orion says. And I am not even mad. I am hurt.. I mean I didn’t think he liked me, but I had hoped. But he is just like any other male I have ever met and only wants one thing… A stray tear falls from my eye and I feel a calloused thumb brush it away. 

“Miss Delaney, I am sorry for you to hear that. But if someone had said that about me. I would like to know. But don’t let him see this tear. Him nor his words are worth that.” He says with such a genuine smile…

I didn’t really pay much attention to Kylo’s appearance earlier. But he is pretty hot. Raven black hair, messy on the top, shaved on the sides. He is really tan, like all he does is lay in the sun. His eyes are a golden honey color. And they shine. His arms are covered in beautiful tattoos, mostly of forest trees, moons, and wolves. I like them.

“I appreciate that, Kylo. I have endured much worse.” I smiled. 

I can feel holes being burned into the back of my head. 

“Anyways, I want to know if you would like to hangout after you find out what your job is, Delaney?” I hear Kylo ask, footsteps approaching behind me. 

I think for a second when I hear Orion. “She will be pretty busy.” He growls slightly.

“I don’t know how late I’ll be. But being my first day, I am sure it won’t be too late. So if you are up I wouldn’t mind.” I say with a smile to the handsome man in front of me. 

I will not be used the way Orion thinks he will use me. I have been treated like an object for other people's pleasure my whole life, and I’ll be damned if that sh.it continues. 

“For you Miss Delaney, I will wait up. Meet back here when you are done?” He asks. I smile and nod. 

I turn around and see a very angry Orion standing behind me. 

“What the hell was that?” Orion asks me. I can feel his anger coming off in waves.

“He’s just being friendly. I want to get to know all of the pack members. Everyone should feel comfortable with me around. Even if you don’t care for them.” I say. 

“Now, you said you would show me to the office where I will be working?” I ask. He nods his head tightly. But he doesn’t move.

Must be talking to his wolf again, he won’t quit looking at me. When my eyes connect to his they are flickering. Between Gold and Green… hmmm. Weird. 

 He finally starts to walk and I follow him to the second floor. There are offices lined on both sides of the hallway. We walk all the way down to the end and stop in front of a door on the left. He turns around and points to the door on the right. 

"Through that door is my dad's office. The current Alpha. Him and my mom work there. You'll meet them tonight. He can be somewhat intimidating but he's a nice guy. And my mom is pretty sweet. " I nod. Just the thought of parents makes my chest hurt.

He opens the door to his office and I walk in first and look around. He has a big dark mahogany wood desk up in front of the center wall so it's the first thing you see when you walk in, straight ahead. With a nice black cushioned chair.

To the right is a huge glass window that covers the whole wall. You can see the garden, the training grounds and some of the woods in the distance. It's beautiful. To the left is a similar but smaller desk. With a beautiful crème and gold cushioned chair that matches the black one.

Right above his desk on the wall is a portrait of him standing next to a huge and gorgeous wolf. The wolf is Black with red and purple hues on the tips all over. I bet that wolf is gorgeous in person.WAIT!  Holy shit!!! That has to be Orion's wolf!!!!

"Is that your wolf, Zeus?!" He nods, tight lipped. 

"I might be out of line for asking this, but can I see and meet him?" I ask, a little over enthusiastically. 

**ORION** 

I can't believe she wants to meet Zeus. No other girl I've been around has been interested in meeting my wolf. They never ask about him. And she is so new to being a werewolf. She has no idea about how he feels about her. I know he'd never hurt her and he can't take her anyway until her wolf comes forward and she shifts for the first time, so I don't see the harm in it.

I’m still pissed off that she agreed to hangout with Kylo after our work is done. 

But if I can make her change her mind about that it would be to do this..

"You can meet him tonight if you want after we have dinner and you meet some more pack members. Sound good?" She nods her head and smiles big. Just looking at her makes me dizzy.

"Alright Bossman. Show me what to do and where you want me." Goddess. There are so many places I want you. I have been stealing glances of her all day long. 

And now that I know other people are so drawn to her, I have to play this right. 

‘I’m telling you, Orion. I think she heard what you said to Terrin. Maybe that is why she agreed to hangout with Kylo..’ Zeus pipes up, he is overjoyed that she is interested in meeting him, but also mad that he has to think about her hanging out with Kylo. I shake it off. I can’t risk upsetting her.

"Hahaha, Okay. First, this stack on the left is pack member complaints. Here is a list of the people who are in charge of jobs throughout the whole pack. I need you to go through these and separate them into different stacks. Whatever supervisor is able to deal with the issue without me having to step him separate them by that person. If it is something that seems a little more urgent, put it in my stack. If the issue seems like it can't be handled by anyone but me also in my stack. But all the urgent stuff is on top. Got it?"

"Yep, easy peasy, lemon squeezy. " She smiles slightly and I smile back at her. But instead of blushing like she has all day when I smile at her, her smile disappears.

"Okay you can use this desk." She looks at me and then at the desk we have reserved for the future Luna. She seems unsure for a moment.

"Didn't you say that your dad uses the office across the hall? With your mom?" I nod. Not sure where this is going. "Wouldn't that mean that this desk be reserved for your future wife?" She drops her head a little, like she's disappointed. But quickly recovers. I smile inwardly. She's sad about the thought of me having a wife.

"It is. But I don't have a girlfriend, or a mate. So there is no one that is needing it at the moment. But you're my assistant. I don't want you uncomfortable sitting in one of the hard guest chairs and that desk is big enough for you to get everything done on." She tight lipped smiles at me. 

"I just don't want to be a burden to anyone, or anyone thinking I'm taking their place is all. But if you have no one yet then I guess there aren't any toes to step on." I nod. 

Well I can tell she is relieved there is no one for me. I want to stick to my plan of making her my mate. But the more time I spend around her and get to know her, the more I realize she deserves more than what I wanted her for.

I have really got to think this through. What if she ends up being Kylo’s mate? Will I need to challenge him? Would that even be an option? If she turns out to be his mate, and she ends up falling for him I won’t have a chance. I should just wait until her birthday and see what happens.. But I don’t know why I can’t stop thinking of her being mine…

I have been talking myself down from this fu.cking ledge all day, saying I can’t have a mate. I can’t have someone have that hold on me. And then BOOM. She has made my mind change in less than 24 hours. This time yesterday, I had Heather in her room bent over, moaning and screaming my name. Now if I just even THINK about Delaney being in anyone else’s arms. I’m afraid I’m going to go mad.. 

The other girls made it so easy to ignore them. Just get my release and move on. Basically dropping at my feet. She's not even trying and she's perfect.

'Orion, her aura is getting stronger by the hour. I wouldn't be surprised if her actual birthday is sooner than 5 days away.'

'That would make her first shift sooner. I hope we will be around to see it happen. I'd like to see what her wolf looks like.'

'Me too. I'm happy she wants to meet me!'  She has my Alpha wolf a little whipped.

'Says the Alpha that just admitted in his thoughts of wanting her with him all the time.'

'You know what I meant, Z. With me, moaning all the time.' I rolled my eyes at his huff.

'Mmhhmm. Keep telling yourself that lover boy.' I scoffed. And turned my attention to Delaney. She's already a quarter of the way through the stack and she has about 10 separate piles made up. Wow she's a fast learner and a quick worker. It’s been about a bit since she started.

"How are you doing over there?" She doesn't look up at me. I don’t see her smile. I think she might be mad at me.

"Pretty good. Most of these are self explanatory. Some are a little more difficult to decipher so they have their own stack for me to go over again. But all and all, not too bad."

"Awesome!" I sit down at my desk. Usually new pack members don't deal in the running of the pack, just because you aren't sure who to trust. But I feel comfortable with Delaney. Sharing information. I can tell she's not lying.

"What are you doing over there, Alpha Cu… Orion?” Oh she is definitely mad at me. 

 "I am making a new guard patrol schedule. They usually switch at every 12 hours. I am thinking of shortening the time down. What do you think?"

"I bet the guards you have will appreciate that. I am sure werewolves are strong and capable, but I think you should do 8 hour splits. It would be like a regular job for them. Instead of a long shift they could look forward to getting off at decent times to spend with their families."

I smiled. Great minds.

" Also you should think about alternating weekends between them so everyone always has at least 2 weekends off a month. And the weekends they do work they get 2 week days off. Ooh and you know what else? You should give most of the day shifts to guards with spouses and kids at home. And the ones who don't have families should take the night shifts unless requested. And they can submit request forms for days or nights they want off to you or the person in charge to make sure all patrols are covered but they still get the days they want off. That would make a lot of your patrols happy to know you are thinking of them and their requests." I smiled so wide. Spoken like a Luna already… Fu.ck.. I have to stop her from hanging out with Kylo.

"I love all of that. I am going to write that down and think of a way to implement that. Thank you Laney." She smiles big, blushes and nods and continues working.

Just when I went to get back to work a mind link came through.

'Hey man, how is the new cutie adjusting to her new job? Can't wait for my turn!' Terrin links and I know he is wiggling his eyebrows at me. I growl through the link.

'I have changed my mind about getting rid of her once I am done. I think I'd like to keep her for my own personal pleasure.'

He laughs.

'I can tell you have a thing for her O, I am just messing with you. But seriously how is she doing? Organizing and being your assistant? Is she adjusting well? And when are we adding her to the pack?'

'She's doing well actually. She just gave me a few ideas for the patrols I am working on changing around. Like you wouldn't believe her ideas. And I will ask her when she wants to be accepted into the pack now.'

 Right as I went to ask her about being added, a knock is at the door. 

“Come in.” I don’t even notice who it is until they are standing in front of Delaney.

“Hey Delaney. Want to come get some dinner with me? I know you said you would hang out with me after. But I got called in at the last minute for a patrol. And I didn’t want to stand you up.” Kylo says. He’s showered and is dressed in nice blue jeans. A v-neck grey shirt and tennis shoes. He has the top of his hair combed back and a wide smile on his face. 

“Let me check with my boss.” She whispers to him. I hurry and dart my eyes to the papers in front of me not able to focus on what they say.

“Hey Orion, do you care if I go ahead and leave to have dinner with Kylo before his patrol? I can meet you after for the acceptance and see your wolf?” She asked sweetly. 

If she is feeling a pull to Kylo, I can’t just stand in the way of that. I am the one who didn’t want a mate to begin with. 

I inhaled a deep breath. And when I exhaled she was looking at me with her innocent green eyes, and a small smile on her face. With a look like that, how can I say no… 

“Sure, we can meet at the office door across the hall after to get you accepted as a pack member. And then I’ll show you Zeus…” She looked a little upset at me saying yes.. 

Fu.ckk… ‘She probably wanted to hear you say no. Maybe she likes you and you're just blowing it.’ Zeus says pacing in his mind. Having unmated Kylo near her has him on edge.

“Okay, well I’ll see you after dinner then.” She says, putting on a small smile before walking out the open door held by Kylo. 

He doesn’t even spare me the glance just has his eyes glued to her.

As soon as the door shuts, I throw everything off of my damn table.. I’m pissed. 

‘It’s your fault. I told you she probably heard you talking to Terrin.’ Zeus says. 

‘I didn’t think she could. How would she know she has super hearing? I haven't told her anything about the abilities we have yet.’ I am enraged. I am about to throw a chair at the door. 

‘Why does it matter how she knows what you said, Orion? If you have feelings for her, just fu.cking act like it. She’s not like the other girls you have been around. She could very well be our mate.. But instead you're acting like some grade A ‘fu.ck boy.’ Like c’mon man. Don’t risk losing her.’ He tries to talk me down. I’m not even mad at her. Or hell, I'm not even mad at Kylo. I’m mad at myself. 

‘I’ll have to fix this after she gets accepted… When it’s time for her to meet you. I’ll fix this..’ I tell Z.

‘First things first. Get rid of the Rank chaser behind your office door.’ Z tells me.