9

Maya POV

I woke up startled by my own alarm, it took me few seconds to remember why I've set it up in the first place. Yeah right, the GED tests, we have a long day today. Eliane was already up, I could hear her rummaging through the kitchen downstairs.

After few minutes of staring into nothing, I dragged my feet to the bathroom to get prepared. After doing my business, I washed my hands and face with the grapefruit soap I bought yesterday then brushed my teeth. I unwrapped the towel on my head and examined my hair. Last night, I used my new hair products and I can say that I'm quite satisfied with the results.

I went back to my room to dress up, I opted for a blue floral sleeved maxi dress with a tan belt to wear with my new cardigan and boots. When I was done, I grabbed my laptop backpack and went downstairs. Eliane was eating a toast on the sofa while glaring at some papers.

"Morning gorgeous"

"Morning Maya"

"Are you nervous about today?"

"No, not really. I just want to get over with it" She said while grabbing another toast. I put my cardigan and backpack next to her and went to the kitchen to make some coffee. Before I could reach the coffee machine the doorbell rang, I smiled seeing Eliane darting to the door then stop to fix her hair before finally opening it.

"Good morning Eliane" His eyes were full of adoration.

"Good morning Alex" Her voice was small and timid, "Come in"

"No, it's OK. Are you ready?"

"Morning Alex," I said grabbing my things, there is no time left for making a coffee now, I'll grab some on the way.

"Good morning Miss Evans" His eyes were following Eliane who went to fetch her bag too, "I brought my father's car, I thought it would be more comfortable for a long ride. I hope you don't mind"

"Of course not, that's nice of you" He is really nice. I locked the door and followed them to the car. It was cute how they were fidgeting around each other. I took the backseat under the pretense of needing more space to work on my laptop.

"I took the liberty to grab some breakfast for us", He said while giving me a big travel mug, "A large double shot latte, right?" Wow, I'm impressed. "Apple juice for the young lady?" They shared a look making me feel like the third wheel that I am right now. "I didn't know what you might like to eat so I brought an egg and cheese sandwich, apple pie, and croissant" He gave us each a paper bag.

"One brownie point for you Alex," Eliane said smiling taking out the croissant from her paper bag and giving it to me while I gave her my apple pie.

"Two brownie points from me!" I said while shaking my coffee mug. He laughed at us then started the car and drove away.

"So Alex do you know the way to the test center?" I asked him after few sips from my coffee

"Yes, I've looked it up and I've already entered the address in the GPS"

"Good, then do you both mind if I work with my headset on? I need to concentrate on this particular task"

"No", "Not at all," They both said. Well, It's true that I need to concentrate but more importantly, I wanted them to feel at ease. As much as I want to give them some space, I couldn't stay back today. I already promised Eliane that I'll be with her the whole day today.

I took out my laptop and headset. This SUV was really comfortable and spacious compared to my small car, the backseat had a large fold-out table with cupholders. After starting my Deezer playlist on the highest volume, I started working and forgot all about them.

What Eliane calls my online job is simply my freelance job. I do proofreading, PowerPoint presentations, ghostwriting, product descriptions, and some French and Italian translation jobs. It's a side job that pays sometimes more than the regular ones. Since I started doing it years ago, I took a vow upon myself not to touch its incomes. At first, I kept the money for hard times but now I'm keeping it for Eliane's education.

I was so absorbed in the task at hand that I didn't notice Eliane waiving and calling me until she decided to throw a tissue box at me while laughing. I took my headset off and looked around, we were in a full parking lot. We exited the car and walked to the big building's entrance. There was a big crowd waiting to enter inside, people of different ages and races were there to take these tests.

"So I have a fifteen minutes break between the two first tests and since I'm not allowed to exit the test center during that time I'll see you in about three hours during lunchtime" She said while giving me a hug. I reciprocated her hug with a kiss on her head.

"Everything will be fine gorgeous, I know you got it" I gave her another kiss and then let her go. I took a step back, giving the two kids some privacy. When Alex went for a hug I looked away, knowing my gorgeous, I bet she turned into a tomato by his gesture. I kept looking around until they called me back. She gave us a reassuring smile and walked in. We stood there for few minutes just in case and then walked back to the car.

"Alex, were there any other werewolves in there?" I asked before getting in the car, she was on her own during these three hours, and the thought that anything could happen to her when I'm not around got my heart racing like crazy. I couldn't even know if she needed my help since she couldn't bring her phone to the testing venue.

"Yes, I made sure that few of the supervisors are teachers from our high school, they'll keep an eye on her" I know that he did it for his own peace of mind but still, knowing that she's safe was such a relief.

"Thank you" My voice was a bit strangled, Alex held my shoulder and turned me to face him.

"Miss Evans, she is my mate, my life, my everything. Please trust me when I say that I won't let anything bad happen to her." I nodded holding back my tears. We got in the car and drove away in silence. Ten minutes later we stopped in front of a small coffee shop.

Alex grabbed my back bag and his own, then walked us to the second floor. We sat at a big window table with very conformable wingback Chairs. He took out his own laptop and plugged it on the floor power outlet before taking out books and a plastic file folder from his bag.

"Work or studies?" I asked while taking out my own things.

"Studies, I can't take pack work out of the pack land," He said while organizing everything then plugged my laptop too before sitting down. The waitress came up shortly to take our orders. She was giving Alex side glances but he didn't seem to notice.

"What kind of studies?" I asked him when the waitress left

"I just started a Master degree in accounting"

"So you'll be the pack Beta and account" He smiled

"Well I just started my Beta training too, we have to be multi-skilled in order to be useful for the pack ", he paused hesitant for a bit, "Eliane will have to start hers too", He looked at me waiting for a reaction but got none, "If she accepts me as her mate of course" he looked through the window trying to hide his worry.

"She will accept you Alex" He looked back at me surprised.

"What about you?" I took a deep breath and leaned back on my chair.

"I'm not your enemy or anyone in your pack. When she will recognize you as her mate she will accept you, I have no doubts about it, and I have no plan to stand between the two of you" I could clearly see how relieved my statement made him.

"Even knowing that you will have to stay in the pack forever"

"SHE will stay in your pack forever if she chose to, not me"

"But she'll never..."

"She knows it, it's kind of a promise we made when I took her in. When she explained what she was and what kind of dynamic your kind has" I stopped talking when the waitress came back with my Americano and his Cappuccino but didn't dwell much since Alex had his intense gaze on me. He waited few seconds after she left before nodding at me to continue.

"I promised to keep her safe and give her the closest thing to normality until she finds her safe haven, be it a pack to live with or a mate that will accept her"

"And you'll just walk away? I don't want to be rude but that sound heartless" The last part was said in a lower tone, he was trying not to offend me

"Well I can't stay, I don't do well with people in general and small communities specifically are my worst nightmare, so pack life is out of the question for me. I tried before, the longest period I could stay was for eleven months"

"It feels like she'll have to choose between me and you. And right now I don't think I stand a chance against you" He was frowning.

"First of all, I'm not leaving right away, so you have ten days to win her heart until she recognizes you as her mate on her birthday. And at least two more months to build a solid relationship with her until I finally decide to leave" He nodded his head, "Besides, I'm not cutting all ties with her, moving away. Of course, I'll come to visit her as often as possible. I'll be present on her birthdays, her wedding day, and on your kids' birthdays too" When I mentioned his wedding and their kids, he blushed hard. Cute

"Than can I ask her out on a date?"

"Alex, she is a free person or wolf, I don't control her life"

"Than can I ask her this weekend?" I laughed at his enthusiasm

"You can ask her out tomorrow if you want to"

"Tomorrow I can't, the enforcers are....." He looked away without finishing

"The enforcers are like Interpol, right?" I asked him remembering Eliane's explanations.

"You can put it like that," He said with an amused smile. "They're the royal pack 'police' and can intervene or help other packs when needed". I paused thinking of a roundabout way to ask but then decided to be blunt about it.

"Are they coming for Eliane?" He nodded without meeting my eyes, "Is she in trouble?"

"NO, no she's not, It's just...."

"What?"

"Her situation is unheard of and they need to investigate it"

"How?" My body tensed and my voice turned cold, "How are they going to investigate her situation, Alex?"

" They're going to meet with her, cross-verify all the information that you already gave, and ask for more details". A sick thought crossed my mind

"Let me guess, the 'teachers' that you brought along today are not here for her safety but to make sure that we don't run away?" I felt betrayed and all I could think about was how to leave this place.

"No, no, I swear on my mother's grave that's not the case" I glared at him not believing him, "I swear they are here for your protection, It was dad's idea after talking with you about your encounter with the rogues and I told you that she's my mate and I won't let anything happen to her" He gulped loudly, " The enforcers are here because there is no trace of her existence in our records so they need more information about her parents to know if they were rogues."

"If that's the case, what will they do to her? imprison her?"

"No, they can't, she's my mate, no one can harm her or separate us, it's the law, she's under our protection. Dad and Alpha Jacob are on our side too, they even fought hard to have the meeting after she takes her exams" Thankfully they were considerate about it.

"If you're so sure about it why are you so scared" He frowned a bit.

"I'm not scared, I'm just worried about her, I don't want her to be under stress. Enforcers are usually quite intimidating for regular wolves, besides...Eliane didn't seem to like talking about her past and that's exactly where they're going to dig. They won't care about her feeling, all that matters for them is getting the needed information". He sighed and leaned back in his chair. OK, I didn't expect him to care this much about her feeling.

We sat there in heavy silence for many long minutes, both lost in our own thoughts. Running away is out of the question now, the rogues are out there and It was proven that I'm no match for them besides her mate is here, and separating them would be too cruel.

"Are they going to interrogate her alone?"

"No, Alpha Jacob and dad will be present too"

"But not you?" His jaw muscles tensed

"No, I can't since I didn't claim her or my title yet"

"What about me?" He looked at me confused

"I don't know? you're Human and this is a werewolf thing, I think they're going to inform you about the need to talk with her but I don't think they'll let you in"

" But I'm her legal guardian, does that count for anything?"

"I'm not sure but it's worth the try" He seemed to relax a bit at the idea, "I would really like it If you're with her but again, enforcers are usually very intimidating, sometimes even to Alphas"

"Even to Jacob and Rain?"

"No, dad and Alpha Jacob were enforcers too in their younger days before taking over their titles, so they know all about them and their techniques"

"That's good to know" I smiled feeling relieved, "Let's not tell her about it for the moment"

"Actually, you were not supposed to know about it until they contacted you to fix a date," He said scratching the back of his head with a grimace. "I just couldn't afford to have you mad at us, at me, again"

"How can I get mad at you when you're acting this cute?" I said while finally grabbing my cup of, now cold, coffee.

"Please don't call me that Miss Evans" He was blushing in a cute way making me laugh at him

"Let get back to work now, I have a lot to finish today and I'm sure you have your own load of studies too," I said after drinking half of my coffee. He nodded and opened his books and files and started tapping. I was done proofreading the requested document, the one I started during the drive this morning, all I needed to do is to check it one last time then mail it to the client and start the translation task.

Time always flies by when you needed the most. I was struggling to translate a makeup DIY video for beginners when Alex interrupted me to tell me that it was almost time to pick Eliane up for lunch. He wanted to know if I'm coming too but since we were having lunch here anyway, I told him that I will stay back and try to finish my work. Alex couldn't hide his joy to meet her without me, the third wheel.

Thirty minutes later, they were back with a smile on both their faces. Eliane was satisfied with her performance and couldn't wait to be done with the last two tests. We ordered our lunch, creamy pumpkin soup, and Chicken Club Sandwich, and urged Eliane to tell us more about her tests and what she did during her break. Turns out she recognized some pack members in the test center but she didn't think much about their presence there.

After a relaxed lunch and lots of hugs, she went back to the test center with a confident look in her eyes. By the time Alex was back, I was already done with the translation task and was drinking an espresso this time.

"How many coffees do you drink a day?" He asked me with an amused look

"It depends on the days, today is a good day by the way," I said with a smile while accepting my next task. It was indeed a good day. I was feeling productive and I kept getting good feedback. If I keep it up like this, I could finish two more tasks before the end of the day. So I kept working at a good pace only stopping for bathroom breaks.

Alex was working hard too, typing and writing the whole afternoon. He stepped out a couple of times to take calls, pack-related I guess since the supervisors in the test center kept their reports by texts. Informing us when she started a test and when she finished.

It was late afternoon when I finished my fifth task, I decided to stop for the day and relax so I put away my laptop. When I stood up to move my numb legs, Alex stood up too and started collecting his books.

"Are you done too?" I asked him while stretching my upper body

"I'm done with all my reports and essays, I can relax for the rest of the week"

"Since we're both done, let's go back to the test center and wait for her there"

"That's what I was thinking too, let me grab something to eat for her, and will be on our way. Do you want something too?" He asked me while grabbing both our bags.

"I'm good. Do you want me to drive back?"

"No thanks, I'm not tired" More like you want Eliane to sit next to you again. ten minutes later, we were parked in front of the building waiting for her. We got out of the car and walked around the parking lot. Alex talked more about his studies, his Beta training. Turns out Luc and Alex will each take over their father's title when Luc turns twenty-five. Jacob and Rain will supervise their work for a year before they officially retire. It must be nice to retire in their forties, I'm a bit jealous.

"I'm free!!!!" Eliane surprised me by jumping on my back. Alex looked amused by her childish behavior.

"When will you get the results?" Asked her Alex while walking back to the car.

"I can check it in forty-eight hours but I'm in no rush. What about the two of you? were you bored waiting for me?" She asked getting in the car.

"No, I had a lot of work done" Alex responded with a smile then started the car

"Me too, I did two days' worth of work," I said with a smile too.

"Well, you're both welcome in that case" She giggling, I glad that she's in a good mood. She seems relieved now that she took the exams. Soon we'll have a talk about her future but not now, not this week. We need to go through the enforcers' visit first.

After Eliane finished talking about her afternoon tests and some of the incidents that happened there, I put my headset back and pretended to take a nap while listening to soft music. At this point, I was the one embarrassed by all the not-so discrete flirting between the two of them. When he asked her for a bite from her sandwich, I made a promise to myself to never ride alone with them again.

The ride back home was so pleasant and peaceful that I ended up sleeping for real. They woke me up once we were in front of the house. I thanked Alex one more time and walked in first. I heard Eliane close the front door a few minutes later. We both decided to take a shower first then ordered a pizza for dinner.

"You know they kept smiling at me," Eliane said out of the blue when we were eating in the kitchen.

"Who?"

"The two supervisors from this pack"

"Really, did they talk to you?"

"They said good luck at the beginning of each test and the lady walked me out when Alex picked me up for lunch"

"That's nice of them"

"Yeah, they don't seem to hate me anymore" She had with a frown as if it was hard to believe it.

"Told you, no one can resist your cuteness" I paused not resisting the urge to tease her, "Especially Alex, he couldn't tear his eyes away from you. Then again he did say that you are so beautiful". She was blushing hard by the time I finished talking.

"you're such a bully," she said huffing but couldn't hide the smile creeping in, "So what did you talk about during the day," She asked after a while.

"Nothing much, studies, work, pack but mainly YOU," I said wiggling my eyebrows" and I learned a lot of things too"

"What did you learn?" She said trying to act indifferent about the 'talking about her' part.

I stood up and took few steps away from her "Did you knew that Alex blushes too" I said and run upstairs to my room. It took her a moment to register what I just said but by the time I reached my room she was already behind me. Stupid superhuman speed

"Maya!! What did you do?" her shocked expression was too much

"That's a secret gorgeous," I said laughing. She kept begging me to tell her what really happened while I washed my teeth and prepared for bed.

"You're really a bully!!! I'll ask him next time" She said walking out of my room.

"And say what? Hey Alex, what did Maya do to make you blush?" She stopped by my room's door thinking hard about it then mumbled another 'bully thing' and walked out to her room. I laughed again before switching off the lights and yelling a good night to her.