#11 Meet Me in the Emerald Forest

Lukas

I was two seconds away from losing my shit because of some guy showing up asking about my mate when Garrick mindlinked me.

“Uh, boss, we have a problem.” He sounded worried.

“What?” I snapped.

“Mateo and the Luna’s….uh, friend, Caleb are….uhm….well they’re mates.” Garrick forced out.

“Excuse me?” I laughed humorlessly.

“Well, I mean, you know that Mateo is…uhm, fluid.” Garrick sounded nervous.

“Garrick, I swear to the Goddess, if you’re fucking around with me…”

“I’m not, Alpha! But, things are getting messy here. Mateo has no class or patiences and the guy, Caleb, has a gun.”

“Get Mateo under control even if you have to knock his ass out. Tell Caleb,” I seethed his name, “That if he calms down he’ll get to see Clem.”

“Yes, Alpha.” Garrick agreed.

“Lukas!” Clem was shouting at me.

“Clem, Goddess, I can hear you.” I muttered but she was too busy glaring at me to notice the volume of her own voice.

“Apparently not! I’ve been saying your name for the last five minutes now.” She complained dramatically.

It’s literally been maybe two minutes, but okay, I laughed to myself.

“I was talking to Garrick.”

“You were not.” She sassed me and I couldn’t help but laugh at her.

“Mindlink, remember? Mateo said something about it to you when I shifted.” I reminded her and she frowned, obviously still confused, “Any member of a pack can speak to each other telepathically.” I explained.

“Of course you can.” She sighed.

“Garrick is trying to bring Caleb here, but there’s a bit of a situation.” I tried to control my temper.

“What kind of situation?” She asked skeptically.

“As it turns out, Caleb and Mateo are mates.” I said. Clementine’s eyes went wide,

“They can’t be.” She gasped.

“I assure you that they can.” I chuckled.

“But, Caleb isn’t….well, he isn’t gay.” She stated obviously.

“The Moon Goddess doesn’t make mistakes.” I shrugged.

“Excuse me, but Mateo doesn’t seem gay, either. He seems very interested in women.” She replied with an attitude.

“Mateo is, or rather, was, interested in anything that can breathe.” I laughed.

Clem pressed her lips together with a puzzled expression, seeming to be thinking hard about this.

“There coming.” I said after Garrick mindlinked me.

Just then, the door banged open and the sounds of stampeding feet stomped through my house. We were still standing in the middle of the living room so it only took them a second to join us.

Garrick was restraining a very pissed off looking Mateo with two guards following behind them. Leading the charge was an unfamiliar man who, I assumed, was Caleb. He looked to be in his early 30s, and of average height and build. He had brown hair that was cut short on the sides and a little longer on top, and hazel eyes.

“Clem?” Caleb’s face lit up when he saw Clem.

She wiggled out of my grip and ran towards Caleb while I resisted the urge to snarl and restrain my mate.

“Caleb!” She was caught up in his arms and a low, threatening growl escaped my chest, “Are you okay?” She asked frantically, completely ignoring me.

“I came here to ask you that question. Daniel called saying he was trying to get a hold of you and find out when you would be home. He said you were at Quantico but, when I told him that you weren’t, we both started to worry. So, I had Gabi track your phone and it showed that you were here. Wherever here is.” He looked around and narrowed his eyes suspiciously on me.

“I’m fine, Caleb. I should’ve called and warned you. I lied to Danny so I could get a quick break from him. He’s been so overwhelming and, you know me, I can’t handle that.” I was surprised with how easily Clem lied.

“Why are you here?” Caleb’s eyes pulled together in question.

“This is Lukas, he’s….the leader of this….community. He’s a friend of mine and is letting me hide out for a little while.” She stumbled through her explanation as she motioned towards me.

Bastian howled in my head when she called us her friend and I felt the sting of jealousy as well.

“Community? Seems more like a cult to me.” Caleb threw an accusing look my way.

“Look again.” I growled and Clementine glared at me in warning.

“Well…” Caleb acted like he was going to approach me when Clementine put her hand on his chest. I wanted to rip him apart right then and there.

“Relax, Caleb, I’m not dealing with two Alpha males comparing dicks right now.” She shoved Caleb back.

Bastian snorted in my head,

“No, please, let’s compare dicks.” Bastian snapped.

“Keep it in your pants, dog.” I warned him.

But, I couldn’t help but smirk at Clem’s clever little joke. She glanced backwards at me and rolled her eyes but there was a playful smile dancing on her lips.

“What is going on here, Clem? What’s with that guy?” Caleb asked, jabbing his thumb towards Mateo who was still fighting Garrick’s grip.

“Oh, don’t worry about him, he’s just an idiot.” Clementine shrugged absentmindedly and Mateo growled at her.

“That’s it! Get him out of here!” I roared, shouting at Garrick and the guards to remove Mateo before I ripped my Gamma’s head off for growling at my mate.

“Let’s go, Caleb.” Clementine’s voice brought me out of my haze, “You can take me back to Danny’s and I can let him know that I’m fine.”

“Clem.” I stumbled forward, well aware of how pathetic my voice sounded.

“I’ll call you later tonight and we can….figure things out.” She said, shooting me a sympathetic look.

She grabbed Caleb’s hand and pulled him from the house. I felt my hands blindly tighten into fists of fury before I slammed one fist into the wall, punching through the drywall. Better than Caleb’s face, I thought to myself.

When the guards mindlinked me that she and Caleb were in his car and driving down the driveway, I ran out of the house. I felt it the second my mate left the pack’s territory. It felt like my heart was being pulled from my chest and was leaving with her.

Bastian immediately took over and roared angrily as we shifted. Bastian’s massive wolf took off through the backgrounds, dodging trees and other pack members as he ran in a blind rage.

After two hours of running, Bastian had finally calmed down enough to give up control and we shifted back to human form. After grabbing some clothes, I went straight to Mateo’s house where Garrick had taken him.

“Mateo.” I called out, entering the house without knocking as I had done a thousand times before.

“Where is he?” Mateo snarled, his eyes black as night. He jumped off the couch and lunged towards me but the guards in his house held him back.

“He’s with Clementine at her house.” I said, stuffing my hands in the pockets of my jeans and pacing through the small living room of his cottage.

“I need to see him.”

“Collin, you need to chill the fuck out before I sedate you.” I used my Alpha command on Mateo’s wolf who whimpered and shrinked back in his humans’ mind. Mateo showed me his neck in submission and blinked rapidly as he returned to control.

“Sorry about that, Alpha.” Mateo sighed.

“It’s okay, believe me, I understand what you’re going through, but now isn’t the time to lose our heads.” I said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Mateo looked up and nodded sadly.

“What do we do?” He whimpered.

“I’m not going to lie to you, shit’s bad. Clem hates you so I doubt she’s going to be quick to want to help and I’m leaving it to her to decide when she’s ready for Caleb to learn the truth.” I warned him. Mateo’s eyes flashed black again but his wolf quickly submitted.

“I understand.” Mateo nodded.

“I suggest you grovel to your Luna.” I added.

“Alpha, you have to know that I never meant to hurt her.” Mateo said, his face begging for forgiveness, “I just needed her to stay and I had no idea how else to make that happen.”

“Mateo, I’m not happy about what you did. There had to have been a better way to handle that, but, what’s done is done and I’m not mad at you. You owe Clem an apology and you need her forgiveness, not mine.” I said,

“Yes, Alpha.”

“How about we all go and train?” I suggested, looking between Garrick and Mateo.

“Yes, please.” Mateo looked relieved and Garrick was already grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“Come on.” I laughed, throwing an arm around Mateo’s shoulders and another over Garrick’s.