Mated To The Wrong Alpha
Chapter 37

Ava skipped down the stairs the next morning. It was a beautiful day, even if the sky was grey and overcast. Last night had been incredible and its afterglow was transferring to her whole day. Arthur had made love to her not just had s*x. It had been slow and sweet, everything she had ever imagined. He’d worshipped every inch of her, gently stroking and caressing, all the while whispering tender words that had made her heart melt. While he hadn’t initiated a b***d-bond, she was sure he was close. His teeth had grazed her neck several times and he’d seemed on the verge of saying something, only to draw back. At one point, she’d considered mentioning it, but then he’d used his wickedly talented fingers to distract her.

Never mind, it would be soon she consoled herself. She could tell. A secret smile played over her lips; her cycle would likely start tomorrow or the next day. Surely then Arthur would lose his reserve. Already she was feeling so much closer to him. What would it be like to be bloodbonded and to be privileged to have a sense of his actual thoughts and feelings? An excited shiver ran through her at the very idea.

Impulsively, she turned towards his office instead of the kitchen, which had been her original destination. She rapped lightly on the door and popped her head in. He was hanging up the phone and looked more than a little frustrated. The smile left her face and she walked over resting her hands on his shoulders. “You look like you lost your last best friend. What’s wrong?”

He leaned back against her and sighed. “You know the environmental report I was telling you about? The one I thought I’d misplaced yesterday? Well, I found it this morning and read it over, but it’s not nearly as positive as I’d been led to believe it would be.”

“You mean the land isn’t environmentally significant?”

“No, the report doesn’t negate the fact the area is of interest, but it doesn’t say anything about it being endangered if the oil drilling were to occur.” Arthur rubbed his eyes. “I don’t get it. Chloe and the people at the university knew what we needed in the report and had sounded so positive when we’d met, but this reads like a whole section has been left out.”

“Could someone have forgotten to print out part of the report?”

“I suppose it’s possible. Maybe I’ll give Chloe a call and ask her about it.” He shrugged his shoulders as if trying to ease the tension and she began to knead the tight muscles. “To top things off, I just finished talking with our lawyers. Apparently, Northern Oil has already gotten wind of our having a study done. Now they want their own people to do another assessment because they question the validity of our experts.”

“But how did they find out so fast?”

“I don’t know. Only a few of us in the Alpha house knew about it. Maybe someone at the university let it slip.”

“Does it really matter? I mean, won’t another assessment show the same thing? It could even help if their own people come up with similar findings.”

“That’s not how these companies work. Their ‘experts’ will make sure the report is favourable to the company that hired them. Studies and statistics can always be reworded and twisted around so they seem to support whatever point of view you want.”

“So it comes down to our word against theirs.”

“Pretty much. The courts will have to look at the qualifications of the ‘experts’, check previous work done by them, their educational background, even how much they’ll profit by the report. It’s a long drawn out process and can get really petty.” Arthur turned in his chair and pulled her down into his lap, nuzzling her neck. “But enough of that. Your incredibly talented fingers have managed to transfer the tension in my shoulders to an entirely different location.”

“After last night, I don’t know how you could possibly need—”

“Ava, when I’m around you I always need.” And with that, he kissed her thoroughly Eventually, the ringing of the phone had her pulling away.

“We should answer that,” she panted.

“Let the machine take it. I’m too busy.” He nipped at her ear lobe. The answer machine came on and a crackly male voice spoke. “Hey, this is Marty’s Auto calling. The part for the sensor in your car is in. If you can have it here before noon, I can get it installed today.”

She g*****d and regretfully pulled away from Arthur. “As much as I hate to stop, I really should go. I want to get the car taken care of today. The mechanic could be fixing it while I’m at work.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Arthur let his hands drop from her waist.

Giving him a quick peck, she climbed off his lap. “We can finish this tonight, I promise.” “I’m holding you to that.”

Smiling, she started to leave, then paused in the doorway. “That voice didn’t sound at all like the mechanic I talked to. I think you need to get a new answering machine.”

“Yeah, the tape is probably getting worn out. The machine is actually the one Zach used.

I’m thinking of going with an automated voice mail through the phone company.”

“Might be a good idea.” With a wave, she headed to their rooms to gather her coat and purse and then hurried downstairs, intent on getting her car to the shop and still making it to work on time. Opening the back door, she walked right into Marla.

“Oh, sorry, Marla. I wasn’t expecting you.” Looking at the other woman, Ava frowned at her appearance. She’d never seen Marla dishevelled before; the woman always seemed to have stepped out of a fashion magazine. Today, her hair was windblown and her hands were dirty. Even a few of her manicured nails appeared to be broken. Glancing down, Ava noted that mud still clung to her shoes and pant legs. “What happened to you?”

Brushing at her clothing, Marla gave a nervous laugh. “Oh darn, you caught me. Don’t tell the others—I have to keep up my image of being a total sloth, you know—but I was out for a run and went farther than I’d planned. Excuse me.” She pushed past Ava and hurried inside, her head down.

That was strange, Ava mused as she walked to her car. From all reports, Marla hardly ever did the wolf thing, being more in touch with her human side. Why had she suddenly changed her habits and where had she been running to have gotten so muddy? There hadn’t been any rain for almost a week.

Shrugging, she pushed the matter from her mind and headed to the car, only to come up short as she started to open the door. Darn! She’d forgotten about Seth. Arthur still didn’t know. She considered running in to tell him, but then thought about the time. She only had a few minutes to spare and if it took longer at the garage… Well, the fact that she’d met with Seth wasn’t that earth shattering of an event, was it? Last night had shown her that she and Arthur were building a good relationship and something as minor as seeing Seth wasn’t really a problem.

Yesterday, she’d allowed Marla to get her all worked up over nothing.

Climbing into the car, she pushed the matter aside. Tonight would be soon enough to let Arthur know.