The Alpha's Mate

Chapter 16

Charlie's POV

Two months had finally passed since I had been accepted into our pack. My English had gone from one-worded sentences to being able to speak almost exclusively in English. The only thing I was having a problem with now was just getting a moment alone with Presley just to sit down and talk to him. It seemed like every time we were finally alone, and then someone would link him needing some sort of help.

I wouldn't voice my opinion on the matter either, and I understood he was the pack's alpha. I understood he had responsibilities I probably couldn't even begin to think about.

I only did the grunt work with August. He would show me what he would do daily. He would always go to the nursery ward in the morning, and he would bless any of the newly born pups with their parents. He had begun to make me do it within the past month, but some parents did not want me to bless their baby. It hurt knowing their bias toward me was because of some of the pack's hatred toward my father.

When we blessed a child, we presented them to the goddess, and we would say a prayer for the baby, wishing it strength and happiness. After that process was done, we would accept them into the pack.

Then in the afternoon, we would bless a pack member that passed away, cleansing the body of evil spirits before we lay them to rest.

I had been on the phone with my mama for about an hour, venting to her about my worries. "I don't know what to do, mama," I rubbed my face, frustrated.

I heard her sigh over the phone. "Well, baby, have you told him you just want to spend a day with him?" She asked.

"Mama, he's always busy. He's also planning for the next audit he's supposed to be conducting next month." I whined.

"You're his mate Charlie; you have to be able to communicate. It's the only way to make everything work. You said you know how to speak English pretty well now. So why don't you make your voice heard?"

"Mom, I see him for thirty minutes after he gets home. All he does is eat when he gets home, and it's always super cold because he comes home hours after I cook it. Then he showers and goes to bed. So I don't get to speak with him but a few sentences, mama." Tears began to well up in my eyes, ready to spill.

It hurt to work too hard to be able to communicate with him, just to feel as if I were being swept under the rug. I felt second best to the pack as if I weren't his number one priority. I had felt myself relating and relying more on Mateo than my mate. It felt ass-backward.

"Have you expressed this to him? Honey, you're his mate, his omega. I think you're letting your anxieties speak for him versus you trying to communicate this to him." I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"How can I express it to him, mama? Should I just take him away from his duties–" She cut me off.

"Your papa and I mated when he turned 18. He had a lot happen in the first year of us being mated. He took over our pack, but you want to know what your papa also did?" She asked. "He made sure he sat two whole hours for us to spend time together each night. His Beta knew only to interrupt him if rogues were on pack grounds. He was new to being an alpha and my mate. We learned to make things work no matter what. I'm not saying that our relationship has always been happy. We have fought every once in a while, but he made sure we wouldn't go to bed angry at one another. I guess I have to give that to him."

My mama was right, as always. How did I even ask him that I wanted more time alone with him? It wasn't as bad when Mateo held his lessons daily because I was occupied most of the day. Now that I could fluently speak English, I didn't spend as much time with Mateo learning as just hanging out with him.