Damsel in Control (18+ Only) - The Rogue Pack

Chapter 11

'9 Missed calls: Dad."

Erm... What? Why?. I can't help the angry tension that creeps up my spine as I reread the notifications. He hasn't called me in over a year. And when he last called me it was to tell me that I was a disappointment to my family for running away and rejecting my mate.

'Incoming call: Lina."

I snatch up the phone as I sprint from my desk. I'm still at work, and there are a couple of colleagues around that should definitely not hear this conversation. I make sure the door of the supply closet is locked behind me before I finally reply.

"Lina! Hey. What the fuck is going on? Dad just called me nine times."

"OMG!! Rayna!! Do I have some news for you!" I can hear the bustle of people in the background of her call and get even more confused. She usually only calls me when she's alone. Ever since I ran off, I am not even mentioned by my family, like a strange disease that they're afraid of catching, so she has to be very discreet when she stays in touch. In her phone I'm not even saved as 'Reyna' but as the name of a local beautician.

"You're never going to guess what happened!"

"Lina. Please. Just tell me!"

"Em, is that Rayna?" My father's voice in the background of the call jolts me more than I would have expected possible. His deep, comforting Spanish accent reminds me of my childhood, of the years when we were inseparable. I can still remember his cheeky smile when he'd let me do something that my mother had expressly forbidden, his proud smirk when I was training alongside his warriors, his conspirational glance when we'd sneak chocolates from the kitchen.

"Dad..." My voice comes out quiet and broken, my eyes instantly filling with tears. Yet the angry tension in my spine doesn't dissipate.

"Em tell her...tell..." There's a long pause as he seems to think. "Just tell her what happened, will you Em?" Aida growls in my head. Even after all these years, he decides that another person should talk to me. Avoids talking to me himself. I gulp down the sob that threatens the back of my throat.

"Lina?" My voice is surprisingly steady. She replies immediately.

"So basically we're all at the pack house, and there's this big dinner planned at one of the other pakcs. So we're getting ready, and I'm wearing the red dress. You know the pouffy one that makes my ass look..."

"...Lina..."

"Yes sorry, right. So we drove all the way to this dinner party. It was a big event, a huge regional thing. All the big packs of the North are there. And guess who walks in with his MATE!"

I stay silent, a bloom of hope blossoming in my chest, not daring to breathe in case my deepest wish is finally come true.

"Rodrigo. RODRIGO! He walks in with his mate, happy as anything, his fresh mark adorning her neck. And so we're all surprised, obviously. And uncle Alex goes up to him, to congratulate him, but also to find out if this is his actual mate. And you'll never guess what!"

"What?" I do little to disguise the combination of excitement and disdain that laces my voice. Excitement because of what I think she's about to tell me, something that'll prove that I was right all along, and that my family was in the wrong. That they kicked me out of my home needlessly. And disdain because even now, after everything, they only believe what Rodrigo tells them, and not me.

"It was his actual mate. Like they had felt the mate bond, and then bitten each other. Can you believe it? A second mate!"

"Lina..." I know she tries her best, but even she doesn't believe me.