Magnus

I had my mate's phone number.

We'd had lunch together and I had made him smile. Several times, actually.

I did a happy dance around my office, which mostly involved a lot of fist-pumping and victorious butt-shaking. It didn't do much to take the edge off my giddiness, but it was fun.

A knock sounded on my door and I paused my dancing to take a whiff of air. "Come in!" I told Roy.

I was still when he entered, but I knew I still wore a big, goofy grin. I couldn't help it. I had found my mate and he was perfect. I barely contained another gleeful butt-shake and forced myself to focus on my assistant.

Roy's serious gaze and the stern set to his mouth froze me. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Opal Reyes filed an appeal against you with the Summit," Roy said.

I let myself adjust to the weight of that for a long moment before walking around my desk and taking a seat. Roy sat across from me and ran a nervous hand through his brown curls.

Opal was an alpha's second daughter, powerful in her own right but without a pack to inherit. She had gotten it into her head that I was unfit as a leader and that she deserved to take over Tourmaline. I suspected someone had told her that before I became the alpha, we had been planning on giving the title to her. That was years ago, but I wasn't surprised she was taking her time with this. You couldn't stage a successful coup without supporters, and she would have needed time to build a network for herself. She must have it now, or think she did.

There had been rumors she was putting together a case against me. Call me naïve, but I never took them seriously until now.

"What does this mean for us?" I asked Roy. He knew a lot more about werewolf law than I did – another reason he was indispensable to me.

"It means that at the next Summit meeting, they'll review her appeal to determine whether there's enough to warrant an investigation. If they decide to conduct an investigation, they'll hear testimony from Opal, yourself, and various people from our pack. Anyone in a leadership position will be called upon, as well as a representative selection from the rest of the pack." Roy's tone was grim and I knew I had to be missing something.

"She has no claim on this pack," I said. "No one ever made her any promises and she has no ties to it. Besides, what legitimate complaint could she have against me?"

Roy held my gaze for several seconds and I knew he was reluctant to answer. Finally, his eyes slid away from mine and he sighed. "She said you aren't the true alpha because you didn't truly defeat Marcus. She somehow found out that he was already severely wounded when you fought with him."

My heart pounded in my chest even as I raced to deny what I was hearing. "What's that got to do with anything? Marcus created the rules of challenge and our fight fulfilled his conditions."

"Yes, and the first thing you did when you became alpha was repeal his laws. You changed the rule that let you become alpha. That's an admission that you disagree with it, which opens up room for questions."

"I feel like I need a lawyer," I complained.

"You might," Roy said gently.

I dropped my head forward onto my desk with a thud and groaned. Where could I find a werewolf lawyer, anyway? We didn't have any in the pack. "This sucks."

"Yes, sir," Roy said, and for the first time since he entered, I heard amusement in his voice.

Footsteps approached and I lifted my head from my desk to watch Felix walk in with Everett on his heels.

"I called them in," Roy explained.

I nodded and put my face back down on the cool wood of my desk while Roy ran through the situation with my brother and his mate.

"We need to know how the pack feels," Everett said when Roy was done. "As far as I know, people are generally happy to have Magnus as their alpha, but they would hardly tell me if they thought otherwise."

"You're right," Felix agreed. "Roy, do you think you could do some fishing?"

"Of course," he agreed.

"I'll start researching to see whether this kind of thing has happened before," Everett said. "It must have. You can't be the only alpha to be challenged like this."

I sat up straighter. "Maybe that's it. If Opal just challenged me-"

"No, she can't," Roy cut in. "Pack law clearly states that you must be a pack member or a relative of the alpha to challenge. She is neither."

"Neither was I," I pointed out.

"Which is exactly the argument she's going to try to use to usurp you," Felix said, looking disgusted.

How could such a beautiful day be blighted so quickly? I wanted to go back two hours, to when my mate and I had been sitting at a café table together long after our plates were emptied. Those had been the best hours of my life, and how dare Opal overshadow them like this? I snatched my phone from my desk and scrolled to Lachlan's name in the contacts list. I wanted to talk to him again. I wanted to be able to lean on him for support, but that was impossible. We needed to have the werewolf talk before that could happen, and it was far too soon to bring him into the world of the supernatural.

That didn't mean I couldn't lean on him just a little, though. Before I could overthink things too much, I sent him a text, the first since I had texted him at the café so he would have my number. "I really enjoyed our lunch today," I sent. I smiled happily at the words on my screen, feeling a little better just for having reached out to him.

I tuned back into the room and the people around me, though I kept my phone gripped in my hand so I would know the instant Lachlan texted me back. Felix was smiling indulgently at me while Everett and Roy talked.

"Lachlan?" Felix asked.

I nodded and looked down at my phone even though I knew he hadn't replied yet. Felix had been here when I got back from the café and I hadn't been able to resist giving him every detail. Talking about it had let me relive it, and I hadn't wanted to stop.

"I'm happy for you, little brother," Felix said with an indulgent smile.

My cheeks heated and I looked away from him, both pleased and embarrassed. "Thanks."

By the time my office cleared again, everyone had a job except me. Everett would research old Summit cases, Roy would survey pack members to learn how they felt about my leadership and keep digging into the law, and Felix would work with his friend Molly – another alpha – to find out who Opal's supporters were. That left me to keep the pack running, and since it was the middle of the month, there wasn't actually a lot that needed done. We had just finished re-evaluating the tithes we charged our members and had reassessed our budget last month. The pack house didn't need any maintenance and no one had submitted a request for mediation.

My phone buzzed and I fumbled to unlock it and see who had texted me. I dropped my phone under my desk and crawled for it, not bothering to climb back out once I saw Lachlan's name on the display.

"I had fun too. Let's do it again sometime."

My hands shook so hard, I had to give myself a few minutes before I could reply. He wanted to see me again. I had been so worried when I smelled his humanity, worried that he wouldn't feel the mate bond and that he wouldn't be interested. Or he could have been already committed – married, even. Either he was a cheating snake – which I refused to believe – or I had nothing to worry about there.

I texted Lachlan, "Tomorrow?" I would have asked him to have dinner with me tonight, but that was just a little bit too desperate sounding. Besides, I wanted to have dinner with my pack. They always seemed to appreciate when I spent time with them, and I needed their goodwill now more than ever. Thinking that way seemed too much like manipulation, but it was the simple truth and an uncomfortably large part of being a leader was learning how your words and actions would come across to the people you led.

It was always good to feel like I had earned my title and the salary paid to me by the pack through its member's tithes, so sitting here while others scrambled to help me stay in power wasn't an option. Instead, I headed down to the pack house's kitchen, where four pack members were preparing a huge dinner for everyone.

Tourmaline was one of the few packs left that had a true pack house where its members lived communally. Families had suites and everyone had their own bathroom, but no one had a full kitchen of their own. Meals were to be shared with everyone. I had my own house and so did many of the families, as well as a couple of single members who wanted space, but for the most part everyone was happy living together. It brought a sense of kinship and community you couldn't get any other way.

I had always kind of envied the people who lived here. It was just me and Mel in my house, and it felt lonely. I thought of Lachlan and couldn't help smiling again. Maybe it wouldn't be so lonely soon.

"What's got you smiling so wide?" Margery asked. She was our head cook and had been nourishing the pack for decades. Her son-in-law, Joseph, was our other regular cook. Together they provided almost every meal the pack ate, with a rotating cast of others who helped in the kitchen part-time. Today, Margery and Joseph were aided by Penny and Lewis, who were a young newly-mated couple.

I looked around the room and noticed I had all four of their attention. Even though I probably should hold back my news and even bit my lip to try and keep from speaking, I was too excited and it was hard to pass up an opportunity to talk about him.

Then again, telling these four would mean the whole pack would know I had found my mate by sundown.

"I had a really good day," I said instead. Even with Opal's appeal against me, this was the best day of my life. It would take a serious tragedy to offset finally finding my mate.

"Oh?" Margery pressed.

I thoroughly scrubbed my hands while I thought. I shouldn't tell everyone about Lachlan until things were more settled between us. What if the pack found out and got curious? They might seek him out, and then who knew what would happen? Oh, they would mean well, but someone might let something slip. "How can I help?" I asked Margery, silently pleading with my eyes for her to let the subject drop.

Margery's eyes narrowed playfully while she gave me a considering look, but she finally shrugged and waved toward the refrigerator. "Why don't you start shredding the carrots in there? I'm making carrot cake tonight."

"Yes!" Penny jumped in. "You haven't made your carrot cake in ages!"

Margery snorted and swatted at Penny with the towel she held. "I made it two weeks ago, girl."

"Exactly – ages!"

Penny and Lewis dissolved into laughter. Watching them in the couple of weeks they'd been together had been hard, but now it stirred an intense feeling of anticipation. How long until Lachlan and I could be together like that?

My phone buzzed in my pocket and even though I knew I would have to wash my hands again, I couldn't resist checking it.

"Tomorrow sounds good. Where/when?"

I stared at the text from Lachlan while my heart pounded hard in my chest and sweat broke out down my spine. He had said yes.

But... where should I take him? And could I get away with dinner rather than lunch? Dinner seemed much more like a date, though it would mean I'd have to go longer without seeing him. The incomplete bond between us was painful and being near him was the only thing that soothed the ache it caused in my chest.

It would be worth it, I decided. Dinner lasted longer than lunch, so the time waiting for him would be an investment. I just had to choose a place. I wiped my trembling fingers on my pants before texting, "Do you like Italian? And would you be opposed to dinner instead of lunch?"

I stuck my phone back in my pocket and washed my hands again before returning to the carrots. I hated grating since it was a struggle not to scrape my knuckles, but I wasn't in a position to say no to Margery. I had offered to help, so I would.

I was almost done shredding a veritable mountain of carrots when Meleri came in. She stopped and snorted when she saw me. "Who let Magnus in the kitchen?" she asked.

Margery's eyes twinkled as she replied, "Well, dear, you know how much he appreciates when we let him help out." Margery loved humoring my sister's sass.

Mel surveyed the bowls of shredded carrots in front of me, then made a show of looking over my knuckles. "Looks like you beat the odds and did a decent job," she said.

I rolled my eyes and started cleaning up my work area. "Without your praise, I am nothing," I said.

Mel patted my head. "I know."

I swatted at her, but she had already danced away with a giggle. I caught the amused looks of our observers and couldn't help laughing along with them.

When we first moved here and I took up my role as alpha, this had been a pack full of fear and grief. Marcus, the alpha before me, had caused the death of almost every strong member they had. He had raised the tithe rate so high that people hardly had anything left for themselves and had cut the kitchen's budget so much that Margery had struggled to feed everyone. All that extra money went straight into his bank account. His leadership didn't allow for mistakes, and anyone who disobeyed or disappointed him was swiftly punished. The punishments were severe.

Then the pack heard that he had been killed by a challenger while he was away – me. They hadn't known anything about me except that I killed their alpha. Felix and Meleri helped me remove Marcus' strongest supporters from power while the pack watched my every move, trying to figure out what kind of leader I would be.

When they saw the way Meleri treated me and that I didn't punish or lash out at her, it did a lot to drop their guards and make them trust that I would treat them better. With Roy's help, I immediately repealed all of the changes Marcus had made in the pack when he took it over. I also inherited Marcus' accounts as well as his house and his alpha position since he didn't have any heirs, and I spread his money out over the pack to help make up for what he took from everyone. Some of the funds went toward new security measures and repairs around the pack house, as well as incentive pay to get new defenders to sign on with us. Everyone still received a healthy stipend, though.

Some had thought it was bribe money, but I thought that by now I had earned their trust and shown them that I really did have good intentions here. I had been Tourmaline's alpha for almost two years and I thought I was doing a pretty okay job. They would stand by me... wouldn't they?

I forced my dark thoughts away for now. This wasn't the time or the place for them. With a forced a smile for Margery, I asked, "What else can I do?"