Raymand
Raymand jumped out of the shower and shook his head. He couldn’t believe how ballistic Maple became when they talked about Cora’s after school routine. The first time they were alone he would take the chance and complete the bond with Maple.
“I need to get Cora out of this house before Maple completely bonds with her.” Raymand yanked up his boxers then jeans on before grabbing a shirt. On his way to Drake’s office, his wolf slowly pushed little images of what Maple might look like in the throes of passion. Each new scene grew hotter leaving him with a freaking hard on.
“How could this day get any fucking worse?” Raymand growled as shut of the truck. He took in a breath trying to calm himself and get rid of his arousal. When he climbed out Maple’s faded scent still lingered in the parking lot making his hard dick press against his jeans. He rolled his shoulders and strolled into the building. Raymand needed to get a couple to agree to take Cora today before Maple demanded she stayed forever.
He made himself a promise not to force someone to take Cora in, he didn’t want to be that kind of alpha. The front reception lady kept her head down as Raymand headed straight for Drake’s office. Even without completing the bond he trusted Maple enough to keep Cora safe. The fire in his mate grew bright, especially for the pup.
“Hey, alpha.” Drake glanced up from his computer and met Raymand’s gaze for a second.
“Do you have anyone for me?”
“Yes, there are two couples for you.” Drake continued to type on his keyboard. Raymand’s aggravation grew with every tap of the keys.
“Where are they?” He growled and Drake’s head snapped up.
“Sorry, I have a client coming later today and she sent, oh never mind. They’re in the conference rooms down the hall. Bry is with Michelle then there is Ace and Lori-anne. Michelle hasn’t ever been fertile, so they seem pretty desperate. Lori-anne has one kid but there were complications during delivery making her infertile after.” Drake handed Raymand two files. A wolf should heal from any delivery wounds but he didn’t mention it.
“Thank you.” Raymand opened one and found Michelle’s photo with all her stats on where she lives and how long they had been mated. “Where the hell did you get all of this information?”
“The Wolfbase.” Drake shrugged like the answer would be obvious. He tapped on the computer again.
“Right.” The Wolfbase was a database for alpha eyes only but bigger packs the alpha could give the second in command access. Just last week Drake’s older brother, Ash asked to get information about a witch and her family. As long as it didn’t endanger anyone he had no problem reuniting a witch with her werewolf family. Some coven information had been put on the database about a year ago.
Raymand flipped open the second file on Lori-anne before leaving the office. He easily found both couples in different rooms. He chose to talk to Michelle and Bry first since they had never had children like Drake suggested.
“Hello,” Raymand spoke after he opened the door. He closed the file before shutting the door. His wolf pushed more images of Maple into his mind. Are you freaking kidding me right now?
“Is there some kind of problem?” Bry adjusted in his seat and wrapped an arm around his mate.
“Not exactly. As the alpha, I’m in charge of taking any orphan children of the pack if they don’t have family who can take them.” Raymand sat across from them to get the best view of their reactions to his questions.
“It’s so sad,” Michelle whispered.
“Yes. It’s now my job to find her a good home and it’s why you’re here.” He opened the file again and glanced at Michelle’s profile.
“Oh, okay.” Bry relaxed in his seat.
“So, you’ve never had a heat cycle before?” Raymand glanced down at the file then looked over to Michelle. Her face turned red.
“I had one but when I had an accident at seventeen some glass cut so deep even my wolf couldn’t heal me completely.” Michelle nibbled on her lower lip.
“I see. Bry are you ready to have a child in your home?” Raymand turned to the older male, they had about a five-year difference between the couple. But when you imprint there is no turning back.
His mind wandered to his own fiery mate and her explosion this morning. I can’t wait to fucking complete this freaking bond. He only had less than three freaking days to mate with her or he would lose his wolf and his pack. His whole life would be fucked if he lost his beast. Everything he cared about would be completely lost to him.
“Yes. I would like to have a chance at being a father.” Bry nodded.
“Is this child a boy or girl?” Michelle asked.
“Girl. She will turn eight in a few months.” Raymand had made a mental note of this fact after Drake had dropped her off.
“Wait are you talking about the little girl who lost their parents to the hunters?” Michelle glanced at Bry. Raymand’s back stiffened but he tried not to show any signs of worry.
“Why?” Raymand didn’t like where this was headed. Cora was a sweet little girl, someone must want to take her in.
“I’m sorry but we couldn’t take her. Especially since the woman who went to get her things got attacked.” Michelle shook her head.
“How do you know about it?” Raymand growled. He didn’t like how the news had traveled through the wolfvine so fucking quickly.
“My brother is over there doing a patrol and told me about it.” Michelle kept her gaze on the table in front of them.
“Well, I will let you go then.” Raymand stood and he stormed out. He wanted to punch the wall but barely resisted. How could a couple that seemed so desperate pass up a chance to be a parent? Being a parent required protection and nurturing and yet they completely gave up on Cora before even meeting her. After he took in a shaky breath, he stepped into the other room but Lori-anne shook her head violently.
“No way. I’m not endangering my only child to take Cora in.” Her eyes were wide with fear as she stared at Raymand’s chest.
“Yesterday was a fucking fluke and if it would make you feel better we can have more wolves to patrol your street.”
“No. Little Tim doesn’t need a sister that bad.” Lori-anne shook her head violently again. Anger spiked toward the two couples. A pack should support each other and all he saw were selfish people.
Raymand slammed the door behind him and marched back to Drake’s office. Keeping his own promise to himself might be harder than he thought. I love my pack, I freaking love it. He repeated the words to help remind himself, as the alpha he had to protect them. Not have them bend to his will twenty-four seven. A human with long blonde hair sat across from Drake when Raymand slipped in. Her eyes widened and hints of arousal mixed with her scent.
“They were a fucking bust. I’m going to the morgue to get the lady’s final notes. You need to do better than this.” Raymand turned and stormed off. He had hoped Cora would have been out of his house by tonight, but it didn’t look fucking possible. If she had the damn nightmares again, his chances of completing the bond with Maple would be freaking slim.
He would have to neutralize the fucking problem of the hunters taking children before he could get rid of her. After the morgue, he would go to Maple’s store and check on her. Ideas of taking her in the back zipped through his mind as he crossed the parking lot to his truck.
When he climbed into the truck, an odd sensation someone watched him rolled down his spine. He turned around but didn’t catch any eyes right on him. Raymand jammed his finger onto the window button. The glass inched down he scented the air. He wished he had a better nose like Zac, who had the best tracking nose in the whole pack. Only Maple’s old aroma and unfamiliar human scents filled his lungs. Very small traces of silver burned at his nose but they were so small, it could be caused by a necklace or earrings.
He pushed down the worry and turned the engine on.
“I will get my home back.” Raymand’s anger simmered under his flesh.