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Chapter 35
- No Means No-

"That was...wow".

Cleon and I were speechless.

This was no regular funeral.

I felt even worse for laughing out of astonishment once we got into the security of his car.

Not one tear was shed at Christopher Griffins funeral. The few pack members that did show up seemed way too pleased as his casket was lowered into the grave.

I thought maybe my eyes were deceiving me.
But they weren't, as the pack members went their separate ways afterwards, they had full blown out smiles on their faces.

It was like they only came to the funeral to make sure he was actually dead and went to the burial afterwards as a bonus and celebration.

It was no way to honor their former Alpha. But that goes to show, he was that bad of an Alpha that his own people celebrates his death.

Unlike everyone else, Romeo was a mess.

He looked unkept, and without a care in the world as he spoke to no one...not even his own Beta or Gamma. Throughout the entire ceremony he stayed silent and didn't shed a tear as he hid his eyes behind large black tinted sunglasses.

It didn't take a genius to know he didn't want to be bothered. Especially with a meeting regarding the very rogue that killed his father.

He was a ticking time bomb, and no one wanted to be around when he went off.

So here we were leaving earlier than anticipated to return home. Tyler and Andrew Bennett following us in their Lexus.

We found it best to have this meeting regarding the rogue as far away from Romeo as possible. Back on my territory.

"From what I could remember, he was a very...sucky leader to say it nicely. I remember my father coming home late nights. My mom would wait up for him sometimes and he would always be stressed. Christopher wasn't an easy Alpha to work under, he was very a sadistic man, especially when it came to prisoners. Always out for blood".

His description didn't sound too off from his son.

"Sounds like someone we know".

He chuckled, "I told you, these people deserve a lot better".

You could tell he was bothered.

It was safe to take his word for it.

Even though he hasn't lived underneath Griffins rule for almost ten years now, most of his life was spent there.

And judging from what I just saw myself, there was no doubt in my mind.

If anything it seems as if the rogue did that pack a favor by taking out Christopher...

"Even though Christopher had it coming. The rogue is still a wild card" Cleon continued glancing over to me. "She got into their territory and torched a former Alpha to death in his home".

"And she knows where I live" the thought distressed me. "She's been in my backyard and possible knows about Clover too".

At this point she knew all three of the surrounding territories land. Now that we know she's out for blood, it was just the matter of who's next?

"I think you're wrong".

"Hmm".

"Clover. She was inside the house when the rogue was spotted in your yard. Clover has no scent, at least to everyone except you".

I could see where he was going with this.

"There's a very slim chance that she knows Clover was in your house that night. I think she anticipated you being alone. If anyone was going to kill an active acting Alpha, what better time to do it then when he's sick?"

It was something I hadn't thought of before.

"So you think she's trying to kill me".

Cleon didn't respond right away, but his expression gave him away.

"I think we have a rogue that strongly hates authority figures. I wouldn't put it past us that maybe you were her original first target and all the extra guards you had surrounding your house that morning possibly saved you".

By the time we got back to the pack house it was late. So we got Tyler and Andrew settled in.

However Cleon wasn't making it easy for me to go home.

"Maybe you should sleep here tonight" he suggested. "Just to be safe until after we have the meeting in the morning and rule my theory out".

I groaned.

All I really wanted was a good nights sleep in my own bed on the phone with my mate. Yeah I had a spare room here at the pack house and a bag of extra clean clothes from our little trip but nothing would make me more happier than to be in the privacy of my own personal home.

My wolf lowly growled at his reason.

"I'm not sick anymore and Denziel has been staying at my house, remember. I'll be fine".

And here Cleon goes with his reason.

"Yeah you aren't sick, but Christopher also wasn't sick when she murdered him in cold blood.  And as for your brother, Denziel is in no mental state to look after you. Now in these days he needs someone to remind him for simple tasks like eating and bathing".

Again, he was right.

There was no fighting his reason.

"I've been gone for the past two days. He needs me".

"Patrick, Oscar and Jordan have been keeping tabs on him since we've been gone. I'll actually go over there to make sure he's okay, but you need to stay here".

Cleon always had good intentions. His reason and ability to persuade was undeniable. Aside from his extensive training as a warrior, I could see him as a leader. That's why I choose him to be my third in command.

If anything was ever to happened to myself and Jordan, I fully trust Cleon to be a great Alpha to my pack until the day he dies.

Lazily making my way to the spare room connected to my office, I kicked the door closed behind me. Dropping the duffle bag by the door and stripped out of my black suit to take a much needed shower.

By the time I crawled in bed it was nearing 1am and I hope she wasn't asleep just yet.

She answered in the first ring, as her tired voice said "hello".

"Hey lucky charm, what's going on".

"Nothing much" there was shuffling in the background as the soft sound of the TV faded.

She must have fallen asleep on her couch waiting up for my call. "How was the funeral?"

I unconsciously let out a chuckle, thinking back to that circus of a funeral.  "It was sad, very sad".

"What's so funny about that? Aren't funerals suppose to be sad?"

The confusion in her voice and the sound of her yawn. Was enough to have me reconsider stay at the pack house.

If I shifted and ran over there. I'd be there in 25 minutes tops.

"Trust me, you don't want to know".

I'm tuning off the light, I found myself back in bed laying back as I listened to her soft breathing as she begun to fall back to sleep.

"I came back early" I said softly as to not startle her. "It's been a week since we've seen eachother and I miss you. I have a couple of guest over, but maybe I could see you tomorrow afternoon?"

The silence on the line would've fooled me into thinking that she had fallen into deep sleep and didn't hear me.

After a couple of seconds of nothingness, I thought to hang up and let her rest but her soft hesitant voice came through.

"Tomorrow isn't a good day for me".

It took me a minute to process what she said.

She has never rejected a chance to see me or spend time with me before.

Maybe it was my own selfish thinking that assumed she would always be available when I wanted her to be. Even thought I wasn't always available when she wanted to spend time with me.

I tried to push my possessiveness aside as I cleared my throat and tried keeping a light attitude.

"What are you doing tomorrow, lucky charm?"

Again, there was a hesitance in her response.

"Nothing much..." she lingered on the idea of telling me what was doing on before sighing and spitting it out. "My brothers are visiting and I'm spending the day with them".

Her brothers were the only family that she claimed and talked about. Why was she so hesitant to tell me? Wasn't it a good thing.

"That's great" I told her. "Maybe I could pas..."

"I actually have to go" she said way too fast. "Goodnight Demarco" then ended the call.

I had to stare at my phone for a couple of seconds, surprised at what just happened.

I laid awake for a while, many questions flooding my mind.

Why would she hang up on me?

She knew what I was going to ask. She probably got off the phone so fast so she wouldn't have to bluntly tell me no.

She met my brother, parents and half of my pack already.

It's only fair that I get to met the two people in her family that she values the most.

Maybe she thinks they would scare me away somehow. Yeah sure it's her brothers that we're talking about but I'm an Alpha. There was no way her two human brothers could intimidate an Alpha.

I yawned, giving into sleep itself.

The most bothersome question lingering in my mind, causing my wolf to whimper in defeat.

Did she deem me not good enough to meet her family?

I hope not, cause that would mean she was ashamed of me.

Ashamed of us.