Alpha's Arrangement (Troubled Fork Shifters (Book 2)) (6 page)

Emma smiled.
“It’s nice to meet you.” she said as they embraced.

After they
finished, she turned to see that Alexander’s sister stood in front of her. Trina was a statuesque bombshell. No doubt every male wolf tongue wagged over her for miles in every direction.

“Emma, it’s so lovely to meet you.
” She said.

They embraced and as they did Emma said,
“And you as well. I didn’t realize Alexander even had a sister.”

“Oh? Well,
that
is very interesting. Very interesting
indeed.
” she said as she cast a stern glance in her brother’s direction.

Alexander shrugged while Trina began to reprimand him. Emma rounded the table and greeted Theodore.

“Good morning, Emma. I trust you are well rested?” Theodore said.

“Yes, quite.
Thank you.”

As Emma and Theodore greeted, Alexander raised his right hand in Trina’s direction. “Hey, I just wanted to surprise her. Nothing more. You know how much I love my baby sister.”

“Uh huh.” Trina replied. “Well in any case Emma, it’s a pleasure to meet the woman who will at last turn my brother into a proper wolf!”

Emma smiled and took a seat between her and Millie.

As she sat, Millie leaned in towards Emma and said, “It’s been ages since we have had an arrangement like this in Silver Gulch. I’d say it’s been the better part of thirty years or so. Doesn’t that sound about right, Theodore?”

“Yes, mother. That seems like it.”

“Oh now I remember. It was Malcolm and Hellen Louvel. They are such a lovely couple.”

Emma nodded and smiled. “How did it work out?”

“Perfect! Oh yes, still together all these years later.” she said. “Goodness and their children, oh how I miss them. I wished they’d stayed here in Silver Gulch to start their family but, I suppose that’s the way life is sometimes.”

“That’s true.” Emma replied.

“Yes indeed, but it won’t be the case with you and my Alexander. Will it my dear?” Millie asked.

“I’m sorry? What do you mean?”

“I mean, your children. My grand babies.” She said as she clapped her hands together. “I cannot even begin to tell you how happy it makes me!”

Emma
’s eyes widened as Millie spoke.

“Now if we could just find Trina a man…” Millie said.

“Grandmother!” Trina exclaimed.

Millie wagged her finger in her granddaughter’s direction. “Now Trina, I love you more than anything in this world bu
t the men you pick, oh merciful heavens! It keeps me awake at night just thinking about it.”

Millie leaned over to Emma and patted her on the hand. “And you know how bad it is for a woman of my age to have trouble going to sleep.”

Trina scoffed. “Oh come now. You will outlive all of us and you know it.”

Millie leaned back in her chair. “Well I will tell you this much. I am not
going anywhere
until I get my grand babies! Do both of you girls understand me?”

Emma wasn’t quite sure how to respond.

“Just say ‘yes’ Emma.” Trina said with a wink. “It’s the only way she’ll drop it.”

Emma smiled. She turned to respond to Millie but as she did, she caught Alexander’s gaze. He raised his eyebrows and waited for her answer.

Caught off guard she stammered, “I… I’m sure when the time is right, everyone will get what they want.”

Millie smiled and patted Emma on the hand again. “There, you see Trina? Now is that too much to ask for an old lady’s dying wish?”

“Oh grandmother, please. You
are not
dying.” Trina groaned. “Can we just get off this topic?”

“Excellent suggestion.
” Theodore said.

The group spent the next hour getting to know each other better. As breakfast wound down, Theodore said, “Emma, I imagine you are looking forward to your first day in the office.”

“Yes.” she replied.

“That’s wonderful to hear. It’s so important for a young woman to have a career before she settles down in life.” Millie said. “You know, get out there and see what the world has to offer. What is your area of expertise, Emma?”

“Accounting.” she replied.

“Oh, well then I suppose she’ll be working under Mrs. Williamson. Won’t she Theodore?” Millie asked.

Theodore cleared his throat. “Yes, well, she will be reporting to me in the beginning. After some time, I am sure reporting to Mrs. Williamson will make the most sense. For now, however, I will be getting her up to speed myself.”

“You?” Alexander asked. “Why?”

“For reasons which do not concern you. At least, not at this time.”

“What does that mean?” Alexander said.

“Nothing. Is everyone about finished? We do need to get into the office after all.”

Alexander stood.
“I’ll drive her in uncle.”

“No, Emma will ride with me. I have some details I need to discuss with her.” Theodore said. “There is a lot of information to cover and precious little time to
do it.”

“What? Why? I can take her.” Alexander replied. “Af
ter all, what’s the difference, we’re all going to the same place aren’t we?”

“Alex,
I said
no
.” Theodore replied with a forceful tone.

“It’s Alexander uncle,
Alexander
.”

“Oh hush up, the both of you!” Millie interjected. “
Malthorn men.
Full of piss and vinegar. All of them. Every last one.”

“Mother…” Theodore said.

“It’s true Theodore. And that goes double for you Alexander.” She said. “The two of you need to work this whole thing out for the good of the pack. I want things set straight before I’m gone for good.”

She looked at both of them. “Do I make myself clear?”

The men nodded.

“Good.
” she said. She then turned her head first towards Trina and next to Emma. She smiled and said, “Well, it looks like we’ve got a wedding to plan, doesn’t it?”

Wordless, Emma smiled, nodded and swallowed
,
hard.

***

Several hours later, Emma sat in her office and awaited Theodore’s arrival. At last, he appeared in her doorway with a large stack of papers tucked beneath his right arm.

“Hello Emma, I trust all is well so far.” Theodore said.

Emma smiled. “Yes, everything is fine.” She said. “I’ve been here for a few hours so I don’t think it’s possible I screwed up anything yet.”

“Excellent. Wonderful news.
” he replied.

Emma’s attempts at humor were a lost cause when it came to Theodore. But it was not a complete surprise at this point. She hadn’t seen him so much as smile since she’d met him. It seemed odd but perhaps that’s the way he was. There was nothing wrong with it per se. But it was so different from the manner in which Albondiel conducted himself it stood out to her.

As he entered, he turned and closed the door behind him. Afterwards, Theodore took a seat in an armchair positioned in front of her desk.

He placed the stack of papers in his lap and said, “Emma, as I mentioned when
we first met in Troubled Fork, your visit here is to be much more than a ceremonial one.”

She nodded.

“And this, right here, is the key to all of it.” Theodore said as patted the stack of papers on his lap. “In fact, I…”

He paused for a moment and craned his neck around towards the door. It was almost as if he thought someone would overhear their conversation.

Emma wasn’t sure what to make of it and remained still.

After another second or so, he turned his head back towards her.

“Look Emma, I don’t know any other way to say this so I’ll come right out with it.” Theodore said. “To be frank, I’m not sure I can trust anyone at the moment, other than you, of course. I don’t mean to worry you or anything of the sort. It’s…”

Emma raised her eyebrows.

“Well, let’s say I am very close to having what I need in place.”

“You mean with Alexander?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Oh, o
kay. Well, what do you need from me?”

Theodore cleared his throat and placed the stack of papers on her desk.

“Emma, these are warehouse inventory records which go back for the past two years. I need you to reconcile them for me.”

It sounded like a simple enough task.

“Okay.” She replied. “Who do I speak to if I have questions?”

“Come and see me.” He said. “None of the rest of the staff is aware this investigation is taking place and that’s the way I want to keep it for the time being.”

Theodore leaned toward her and said, “Many things hang in the balance at the moment. One slip up and everything could… Well, I am sure you get the idea.”

Emma nodded.
“Yes, of course. I will begin right away.”

“Thank you Emma, thank you so very much.”

“That’s what I’m here for, right?” she said.

“Yes,
I suppose that’s true.” Theodore replied. “Well, I have to get going. Do you have any questions for me right now?”

Emma looked down at the thick stack of papers on her desk.

“No.” She replied. “Not at the moment. I’ll need a few days do get my arms around all of this. I hope that’s okay.”

“Yes, of course.” He said. Theodore stood and began to walk away. As he neared the door, he turned back in her direction.

“Emma, I forgot to ask. How has my nephew been treating you so far?”

Well, he had more or less said he didn’t want anything to do with her. He’d tricked her into eating a raw hamburger and followed that up by arguing with her about who was sleeping where. All in all, it wasn’t bad for the first day of life with her purported husband
-to-be. Emma folded her hands on the pile of paper in front of her, looked at Theodore and smiled.

“Fine.” She replied. “Nothing
to complain about at the moment.”

“Excellent.” He said. “Of course, it goes without saying if he does anything which upsets you or
…”

“I know.
” she replied. “Let you know, right?”

Theodore nodded. “Yes.”

“I will.” Emma replied. “You will be the first person I call.”

***

Much of the next week or so was, for the most part, mundane. The normalcy took Emma by surprise considering the circumstances.

On the downside, it turned out that she had underestimated the effort required to get through the records Theodore had given her. In fact, she began to doubt that she would be able to
finish the job in time. After all, she was there for a few weeks at most and, as of now, the task looked to be insurmountable.

Compounding the issue was that Theodore had been out of town for mu
ch of the past week. That meant her questions had started to pile up and without answers, further progress wasn’t possible. In spite of that, she soldiered on and figured at some point she’d have her chance to speak with him. For now, she did the best she could.

As for her personal life, things had taken a turn for the better with Devon. They had started to text one another again. After their quasi breakup and his lack of communication for almost a week, she’d begun to think she might never hear from him again.

In a small way, it gave Emma a bit of reassurance that she wasn’t an awful person. She hoped at least she and Devon could revisit things when she returned to Troubled Fork.

After all, stranger things had happened.

On the
pretend
home front, she and Alexander were civil to one another and in a most bizarre manner, they’d more or less settled into a routine. Each morning, they went to work together and each night they’d come home with one another. If she hadn’t known any better, she would have suspected they’d been married for thirty years. In even weirder news, she had started to enjoy his company and although she couldn’t be certain, the same appeared to be true for him.

The situation was odd in a pleasant way.

That night, as Emma got ready to go to sleep, there was a knock at the bedroom door. She came out from the bathroom, walked across the room and opened it.

Alexander stood there pressed against the frame.

“Hey.” He said.

“Hi.” Emma replied.

“So, my friends and family are planning a little get together for us. Are you up for a little fun Friday night?”

“A get together?” Emma asked
. “What do you mean?”

“You know, like a party,
to celebrate our wedding.”

“Oh
wow.” Emma said. She couldn’t have been more taken aback.

He smiled.
“Does that, um, work for your schedule?”