Sabrina snapped at the waitress as she placed the water bottle on their table. “About time! It’s just a bottle of water – did it really need to take you ten minutes to get it?” Sabrina peered at the bottle. “Fiji water – did you get it directly from the source?”
The waitress retained a polite expression even as her cheeks turned slightly pink. “I apologize, madam. Would you like me to pour?”
Sabrina snorted. “No thanks, I have plans in April, I can’t sit here for months waiting for you to pull yourself together.”
Harold grasped the bottle and poured while Sabrina made her dinner order. Naturally, the order was convoluted, and likely some part of it would be wrong – Harold believed Sabrina made the order difficult just so that she could complain. She was a lot like his grandmother – one of the reasons Harold had been seeing her.
Since turning thirteen, Harold had known he would have an arranged mating which is why he only dated women he had no interest in mating. He never got too close to any of the females he dated. The relationships only lasted six months, and they were not personal – his females were on his arm for events with the pack, and as a bedmate once a week but that was it. What they did when they weren’t with him was up to them. He could care less if they had ten other men on the go. He made sure he picked women from his pack that wanted what he was willing to give - which was not very much. He also made sure that they knew from the beginning that their relationship would remain casual. He never lied to any of them – he made sure they knew that their relationship was never going anywhere. If they weren’t okay with that, then he would say goodbye.
The harried waitress looked at him – as usual when he ate out with Sabrina, he would be leaving a large tip. “For you, sir?”
He placed his order and waited while Sabrina checked her make-up. They had been seeing one another for four months. She was about his age and a junior member of the pack legal team. She was an attractive young wolf shifter, but like his grandmother, she seemed to enjoy upsetting people and thought only of herself, but he didn’t mind. Company was company. He was not a man who had many friends. He was too busy working, and people found his coldness to be off-putting. He was perhaps well matched with Sabrina, though he couldn’t imagine spending the rest of his life with her. Though, maybe his wife-to-be was worse than her. It didn’t matter; he could live with anything.
Sabrina eyed the retreating waitress. “I didn’t like her attitude; I think I’ll talk to the manager about her.”
Perhaps his impending marriage was coming at just the right time. Sabrina was starting to behave like… well, like an alpha mate. Other pack mates were already irritated by her high-handedness and bossiness. Being on his arm didn’t give her any power, but she acted as if it did. He had been considering breaking things off with her for a few weeks now.
“Sabrina, we must talk.”
She gave him a megawatt smile. “Yes, darling?” she cooed.
“My father has arranged a mating for me. I am getting married.”
Her upper lip curled. “I see. When?”
“In three weeks.” At least that was the plan. It was somewhat worrying that the other alpha still hadn’t agreed to the actual mating. Especially considering that he heard his mother ordering a cake earlier.
Sabrina leaned back in her chair and ran a finger around the rim of her water glass. “What about me?”
“This must be our last dinner together.”
“Just like that?” she hissed, anger flashing in her eyes.
“Sabrina, I told you from the beginning that I was due to have an arranged mating.”
He made that very plain from the get go. He had hoped she would have taken the news of his mating as easily as he did. He really didn’t understand women particularly well.
“You really don’t feel anything at all for me?”
Harold pondered that, before settling on, “I enjoy your company.”
That was true – he did. Other than spending time with Sabrina he was usually working, or attending work related dinners. Being out with her was pleasant, in spite of her spikiness towards wait staff. She could be witty and charming, and he found himself increasingly looking forward to their time together. He was never a particularly charming person, but with her on his arm, he found people more interested in him. She brought something out of him, a certain degree of diplomacy that was never there before. She had foibles, but she had her good points.
“That’s it?”
“Of course I care for you.”
He cared for all the women he had been with, perhaps a little more for Sabrina than the rest. He always wanted them to be happy. He wouldn’t want any of them to be hurt.
“I am sorry,” he added.
Sabrina growled and shuddered as her wolf bubbled to the surface. “Who is this female?”
“I do not know,” he admitted. All he really had was her name, though hopefully, that would change soon. Not that he didn’t trust his family, but they had a tendency only to tell him what they wanted him to know, and with that in mind, he had set a member of his security team on finding out everything they could about Christine Morrow. Christine. Pretty, old fashioned, but pretty. Mine.
Harold gulped his water as his body heated. Yes, soon she would be his. He had never claimed to have any hold over the women he had been with – indeed he knew they saw other men. He had never wanted any claim either. But this Christine would be his wife. His and his alone, and it incited some very strange feelings inside him. Something deep, almost primal that only his inner wolf could understand.
“But you’re willing to marry her?” snapped Sabrina. Her cool façade completely gone.
“I agreed a long time ago I would.”
A long time before Christine had any idea he existed, he agreed to marry her. The thought almost made him laugh out loud.
“I see.” Sabrina pushed her anger aside and pouted. “Can’t you do anything?” she asked coquettishly.
Flirty Sabrina was perhaps worse than the waitress slaying Sabrina. He hated women who thought they could just bat their eyelashes and make men fall at their feet. It only strengthened his resolve.
“No, you knew there was an expiration date on our time together.”
Honestly, he never thought she would argue about their time together ending. None of the others had. Six months in his company had been more than enough. They moved on and mated with much more suitable men. But maybe he should have seen this coming with Sabrina. He had an inkling that despite his assurances that they could not mate, that she had her hopes set on being his mate, and one day, the alpha female of the pack.
Maybe, he could make this easier on her. He didn’t have to be so brutal. He could have let her down gently, but that wasn’t who he was. He treated this as a business transaction – it was the only way he knew how to deal with people. Besides, it was better that she hated him. Hate he could care less about. It was if a woman loved him that would have him at a loss. Hate was something he garnered in his dealings. Love was not something he ever had to worry about.
“Harold?!” she growled.
“It’s over, Sabrina,” he said bluntly.
Sabrina scowled. “Asshole.” She grabbed her purse and stomped away as easily as four-inch heels would allow.
The flustered waitress returned with their meals. She blinked at the empty seat. “Will madam be returning?”
“No,” replied Harold. “You can take her dinner away.”
“Of course.” The waitress beamed at him. Well, at least he had made her day.
*
“Where have you been?” snapped Roark.
Yes, Christine was two hours late for their date.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured, trailing into his apartment.
Once she got in her car, she ended up just driving around for half an hour, before she decided to visit a few of her pack mates. Like George who had worked hard for the pack for seventy years, and was enjoying retirement, or Carrie, who she had known since she was five and was now pregnant with her fourth pup – Carrie started young. They were important people, who depended on the pack business and she loved them.
But, she also loved Roark, didn’t she?
Roark glared at her, in uncharacteristic fury. Normally, he was so easygoing. Normally, she didn’t stand him up or do anything to upset him.
“Where were you?”
“Thinking.”
“Thinking?” he scoffed.
“Yes, thinking,” she replied insistently. “I have a lot to think about.”
He grumbled. “Dinner is ruined.”
“I’m sorry, but we can’t see each other again,” she blurted.
Roark blinked at her. “Look, I’m annoyed about you being late, but let’s not overreact.”
Christine shook her head. She cared about Roark a lot, and yes, she did believe she loved him, but not more than her pack. What was her happiness in the face of seventy other people’s misery?
“It’s not about us, I… I have to mate with another alpha’s son. My father has arranged a mating for me.”
“Is this some kind of joke?” he asked quietly. “Because, hobbit, this isn’t funny.”
Christine withheld the sigh at his pet name for her. He thought it was cute because she was a little on the small side for a wolf shifter. Her sister Cissy got the pet name princess from her mate; being called a hobbit was not cute.
“It’s not a joke. My father has made a deal with this other pack. He needs money to save the business, and as part of it, I’m going to mate a member of their pack – the alpha’s eldest son.”
“So likely you’ll be an alpha female one day,” he said coldly. “Didn’t think that was important to you.”
“It’s not, I don’t care about that, but our pack needs this money. I don’t have a choice.”
Roark was a new member of the pack, joining less than a year ago; he perhaps wouldn’t understand that she had to be loyal to her pack. But the importance of the pack had been drilled into her from a young age, and given that she was an alpha’s daughter, she had a particular responsibility to look after her pack mates. She didn’t want to mate someone else, but she also didn’t want her pack to be penniless and homeless.
“There is a choice. Surely your father can just sell the business – he’ll get a lot of money for that.”
“But that would leave people without jobs, and their homes are mortgaged to the business. They’d have to move, look for new jobs – it would be too much upheaval, too much pain for a lot of the pack. I can’t do that to them. Besides, the business is ours; we can’t let it go.”
Roark laughed in disbelief before turning red with anger. “This is… I can’t believe you're serious! How archaic and dumb. You can’t marry some random asshole; you’re supposed to be marrying me!”
“You never asked me,” she murmured softly.
Perhaps if he had, they’d already be married, and this would be a moot point.
“Asked you?” he exploded. “It took six months of dating to get you into bed, you prudish bitch!”
“Roark!” Christine gasped as tears pooled in her eyes.
She’d never seen him so furious. He’d always been so kind and gentle, charming his way into her heart. Yes, she had been reticent about sex, but she had to be careful. She had only been with one other man, and as the alpha’s daughter, she couldn’t just jump into bed with anyone. She had to be respectful to her father’s position. Maybe she waited longer than necessary, but she wanted to be sure she was making the right decision.
“Nine months of bending over backward for you, of chasing after you and kowtowing to your dumbass of a father and this is all I get? See ya; I’m marrying someone else?!”
Christine took a few steps backward. She’d never felt threatened in his company before, never felt like she was in any danger, but this was a side of Roark that had never come out before.
“I should go. Sorry,” she muttered flitting towards the door.
“Christine!” he roared.
The door was still ajar from when she came in, and thank heavens one of their pack mates turned up at that moment.
Dwayne pushed it open. “Hey, Roark!” he called. “Oh hey, Christine, everything okay?”
“Fine, see you later.”
She darted around him, thankfully using him for cover against Roark.
“Christine!” Roark snarled.
“Dude, what’s wrong?” asked Dwayne.
She didn’t wait to hear that answer. Nope, she was already halfway to her car, wondering what else was going to happen to her that day. They did say things came in threes.