1, Helping a friend

Mikael smiled as he saw the name on the screen when his mobile phone rang.

“Hello my friend, how are things?” he answered.

“Hi, Mike. It’s good, how are things at your end?” Graham asked.

“Quiet and a little boring now that the rogues have been dealt with. How are the Beans?” Mikael smiled.

“Growing at an alarming rate. I don’t know what Ellie is feeding them, but they are growing while I watch them,” Graham chuckled.

Mikael was happy for his friend. He sounded truly happy and content. No one deserved it more than Graham.

“And Bella?” Mikael asked.

“You know Ellie, there is nothing she doesn’t excel at. I truly have no idea how I survived before I had her,” Graham confessed, and Mikael could hear the love in his friend’s voice.

“I have been admiring how well she has managed to cope with not sleeping at night. If it was for Theo, we would get a full night’s sleep every night. But Stella isn’t that peaceful, and since she wakes her brother, Ellie and I tag team.,” Graham told him.

“I have been a walking zombie and Ellie has even offered to stay a couple of nights at her dad’s with the Beans so I could get some sleep,” he continued.

“Let me guess, your alpha pride won’t let you admit she can handle it when you can’t?” Mikael chuckled.

“Partly that, and partly because I wouldn’t get any sleep without her, and I don’t think I would be able to let the Beans that far away. I’ve been thinking she was some kind of super wolf, managing her luna duties on no sleep,” Graham said.

“Then yesterday, I needed to ask her something just after lunch. I could have mind-linked her, but why do that when I can walk over and actually talk to her?” Mikael’s friend told him.

“Yes, I’m sure you only were thinking about talking,” Mikael smiled.

“Shut up. So, I walked into her office and the Beans weren’t there and Bella was sleeping on the couch. Of course, me barging in wakes her. When I ask her what was happening, she tells me it was her nap time. She and Mickey have been trading babies. He takes the Beans for an hour to let Bella nap, then she takes them and Mavis back so he can nap,” Graham said, sounding utterly surprised.

“Then I asked if that is why she has been so rested. She says yes, and that she was assuming I was also napping during the day. Then she asked me the big question, why hadn’t I been napping since she has the Beans most of the day,” Graham continued.

“What did you say?” Mikael asked, curious why his friend hadn’t taken naps.

“Because Ellie hadn’t told me I should,” his friend mumbled.

Mikael laughed so hard that he was crying. He actually had to put his phone down for a moment to brace himself.

“Some alpha you are,” he finally managed to say as his breathing returned to normal and he wiped his tears away.

“Yes, I have become useless without her,” Graham agreed.

“As much as I enjoy ravelling in your uselessness, I’m thinking you had another reason for calling?” Mikael asked.

“I did. Do you remember the investigator down south that was obsessed with Ellie?” Graham said.

“Yes, didn’t he get suspended?” Mikael answered.

“He did, and then he disappeared. This was around the time the pups were born, so I didn’t want Ellie to worry. I asked the Mistvalley pack to have one of their agents look into it. Alpha Brutus was kind enough to put one of his best agents on it when he heard it was for Ellie’s peace of mind,” Graham told him.

“Your mate is loved by everyone on the alpha council, I think,” Mikael smiled.

“I’m well aware,” Graham grumbled.

“Anyway. I have heard back from Brutus, and his agent has tracked Frank to your neck of the woods,” he continued.

“And you wanted to know if I would grant this agent access to our pack land and a place to stay?” Mikael finished the sentence.

“Yes”

“For Bella, it would be my pleasure. They are welcome and I will make sure to give them any help they will need,” Mikael said.

“Thank you, my friend. It means a lot to me,” Graham told him.

“Don’t mention it. Bella has always been a friend to my pack. I haven’t forgotten her generosity when we first met. Neither have my men, or Diana for that matter. They have been almost obsessed with me finding a mate since they saw how your luna is.” Mikael smiled.

“Ellie has that effect on people. Don’t worry, my friend, your time will come,” Graham told him.

“You know that I’m cursed, my friend. That is not in my future,” Mikael sighed.

“You are a full-grown alpha, Mike. You need to get over what happened. You are not cursed,” Graham told him.

“Okay,” Mikael agreed.

“That was not you agreeing with me, Mike. That was you trying to change the subject. You were a teenager, you had no power, and there was nothing you could have done. At least it led to some change in the pack,” Graham said.

“It did,” Mikael agreed.

There was a loud scream in the background of Graham’s call.

“Hold on one moment, Mike,” Graham said.

There was a moment of screaming and then silence.

“Hello, Mike. Sorry about this. Stella needed her dad. She can be such a daddy’s girl sometimes,” Bella suddenly said.

“Hello Bella, no problem. If Gray has another female that has him wrapped around his finger, does that mean I can finally snatch you away?” Mikael smiled.

Bella laughed at the other end. Mikael truly loved his friend’s mate. She was like a combination of a friend and a little sister. He had liked her just for the smile she had put on his friend’s face the first time Graham had introduced them. But she had become so much more to him since then.

“Mike, you truly are the biggest flirt,” Bella smiled.

“Tell Mike he needs to find his own mate to flirt with,” Mikael could hear Graham shouting.

“He isn’t wrong, you know,” Bella told him.

“I will keep my eyes open,” Mikael promised her. He hadn’t shared that part of his past with Bella, and he knew Graham wouldn’t do it without asking him.

“Good, Gray has soothed the beast, so I’m handing him the phone. Take care, Mike,” Bella said.

“You too, luna,” he smiled.

“Sorry about that, Mike,” Graham said.

“No need at all, my friend. Family life suits you,” Mikael told him.

“I’m as surprised as the next one,” Graham confessed.

They talked for a while longer to arrange a date for the agent from Mistvalley to come, and some other things. As Mikael hung up the call, his eyes went to the little glass case on his desk.

It had been specially made to hold its precious content. On a midnight-blue velvet stand, the amber necklace he had got from Rayvin was displayed.

He had been looking for her for almost eight years. But it was like she had vanished from the face of the earth.

Even though she didn’t know it, Rayvin’s departure from the pack had been the beginning of the end for Mikael’s father as the alpha of the pack. Once word had got out about how he had banished the young girl, based only on what the Beta’s daughter had said. The smouldering ambers of discontent that had already existed, ignited.

It was clear the accusations of Milly had been unfounded and even if no one but Mikael said so openly, they all knew they had been outright lies. But as they lacked proof of this, the official version was that she had misunderstood something she overheard.

Almost a year after Rayvin had left the pack, Mikael’s father had officially been asked to step aside as alpha and hand the position over to Mikael.

Since that day, Mikael had worked hard on two things. He was determined to make his pack a place where anyone would feel safe and welcome. Fortunately for him, most of his pack shared his vision, and they had become a tight-knit pack with good values.

His second goal had been to find Rayvin and bring her home to where she belonged. He had never succeeded with that. And that is what he saw as the root cause of his curse. Part of him believed the goddess wouldn’t let him find his mate until he righted the wrong he had let happen. The other part of him still held out hope Rayvin was his mate.

It was pure wishful thinking on his part. Maybe the remnants of a teenage crush that didn’t get to fade away naturally.

Maybe he could get a feel for this agent from the Mistvalley pack. If they were reliable, he could hire them to look for Rayvin, Mikael thought. It was worth the steep price to get some peace of mind.

There was a knock on the door to Mikael’s office.

‘Mike, it’s time for the meeting with the elders,’ Ben, his beta, mind linked him.

‘I’m on my way. I have a new topic to add to the meeting,’ Mikael answered as he got up and grabbed his tablet. He walked out of his office and joined Ben, that was waiting for him.

“What is this new topic?” Ben asked as they made their way down to the ground floor of the pack house.

Ben was running his hand through his bright red hair. Something he always did when trying to get a grip on an unfamiliar situation. Ben was an excellent beta but needed to know everything about everything. He had significantly relaxed since meeting his mate, Diana, a couple of years back. But he still felt uncomfortable in unfamiliar situations.

“We are going to have a guest from the Mistvalley pack staying here. They are working for Gray and need access to the area,” Mikael explained.

“Sounds like fun. We wouldn’t want to get bored or anything,” Ben sighed.

Mikael knew that if his beta had the power, he would make sure that nothing exciting or unexpected ever happened. Luckily for all of them, he didn’t have that power.

“It will be fine, they will stay with us, but I’m assuming they will spend most of their time off pack land, investigating,” Mikael laughed and patted his betas shoulder.

“Well, that doesn’t sound too bad, I guess,” Ben nodded.

“That’s the spirit. Diana and I will turn you into an adventurer one of these days,” Mikael said.