Maid for the Alpha

Chapter 17

I kind of rushed through the editing process to get this chapter posted, so there may or may not be some mistakes.  Not sure :-)

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Regent Alpha Collin Embree. The Alpha for the entire North American continent, who oversaw all six of its Territories. On the phone. Expecting Leland Moore, the Lord Alpha to the Appalachian Territory, to heel at his command. Arrogant asshole! Leland thought to himself. Out loud, instead of releasing the stream of cusswords he wanted to say, he acknowledged the summons through gritted teeth, and with a human in their midst he used the old tongue so as not to alarm the werewolf before him. "And to what do I owe this honor?" He nearly choked on his words.

The wolf shifted nervously before answering in the same ancient language, "He did not say, Sir. But he seemed agitated."

"Agitated?"

"Yes, Sir. Like he was not happy, extremely unhappy."

Shit! Leland wanted to shout, but thought better of it with his Mate in the room. He didn't need to frighten her any further. Why today? Why now?! With a sigh of defeat he mustered up enough strength to say "Tell our most honored Regent Alpha Embree that I will be right with him." He nearly puked from the foul taste of those words in his mouth.

The hulking brute of a wolf bowed his head respectfully as he answered in kind, "I will inform the most honored Regent Alpha Embree of your response immediately. Thank you Lord Alpha Moore."

Leland nodded, granting permission for the man to depart and relay the message, though it was nothing at all what he wanted to tell the Ass. He would love nothing more than to put the blowhard in his place. But that would have to wait. There was a time and a place for everything and right then it wasn't the time or the place to challenge his Regent Alpha. In fact Collin's timing couldn't have been more terrible. He had plenty of shit to deal with between finding a murderer and controlling an entire Territory full of testosterone-fueled alphas. Not to mention he found his Mate! That alone was stressful enough.

It was as if the Universe was testing him to see how much he could handle all at once. He barely refrained from cursing said Universe, in case any retaliation would ensue. Taking a deep breath he needed to clear his mind before addressing Liz again. Wait. He breathed in once more, sniffing the air, as he looked around his office for the first time since the other wolf had appeared. Where's Liz?

Panic choked his thoughts. He searched the room as if she were merely playing hide and seek behind his furniture. No. She was gone. Again.

"FUCKING HELL!" He bellowed as he rushed out into the hall.

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He was not in the mood. Whatever the bag-of-hot-air had to say he wasn't interested. After confirming that, once again, Liz had bailed on him, he just didn't have the energy to deal with the pompous prick. Unfortunately he had no choice. If he were to ignore his Regent Alpha it would be taken as an outright challenge to his authority, which wouldn't be such a bad thing. Leland had no doubt that he would dominate over the Canadian candy-ass. However, it would also open up his current position for challengers, and with tension running high in his Territory he was running low on supporters. Which meant a higher number of challengers and once word got out that his own pack alphas felt confident enough to challenge him, it also meant alphas would be coming out of the woodwork for a chance to take his title.

Leland growled at the thought. He had enough to worry about without adding that mess to the plate. So, as much as he hated it, he had no alternative but to comply with his Regent Alpha's wishes. Another growl rumbled in his throat. He had to get his wolf in check before answering the phone or all hell would break loose.