I stormed into Aleksei's office angrily, "What the hell is your problem?"

He blinked in surprise as I interrupted him in the middle of his phone call and held up a finger as a signal for me to wait before I exploded any further, "Alpha Laurel, I apologize but I will have to call you back."

He hung up, and I slammed a hand on his desk, "Why didn't you approve the plans?"

"Why?" He asked, raising his eyebrows almost incredulously, "Are you asking me why I didn't legalize abuse?"

"It's not abuse. It's discipline," I snapped, irritated with his tone, "And it's the only way anyone will ever take you seriously. You're too lenient."

He was in up in a flash, "What are you saying?"

"You're weak," I spat, "You have to be able to put fear in people with just your name."

I knew my words were harsh, but he refused to accept my input and that pissed me off. My role as his Beta was to help him turn in the right direction.

"Oh, and you would be able to do that? You're just a Beta," he snarled, shoving me back.

"I'd be twice the Alpha you are. My title might be Beta, but my blood is Alpha."

His face morphed into a harsh glare as he bared his teeth at me, "Is that a challenge?"

"Yes, it is. What? Don't think you can handle it?" I mocked as he got in my face.

He raised his fist–

"Alrik?"

I blinked and stared at the ground, feeling a sense of shame as I recalled our fight.

"Alrik, is that you? Is everything alright?" Aleksei's tone shifted to concern, and it furthered the guilt that was burning in the pit of my stomach.

After the way we had left things, his first thought was my well-being.

"Everything's fine. I just–I–"

A pair of arms curled around my stomach from behind, and I exhaled deeply as Jaslynn quietly comforted me, encouraging me to continue and not just hang up.

"I wanted to talk, but if it's late, I can call you back if you'd like," I said, but quickly adding, "Or not if you don't want to speak to me. I understand."

"No, no, we can talk now," he rushed out as if he was nervous as well, "I'm not that tired anyway."

There were a few moments of silence as if we were both trying to catch up with reality. Hearing his voice after so long made me feel like it was a dream. It was just as commanding as I remembered.

"So, how are you?" I asked, scratching the back of my neck awkwardly.

He let out a shaky laugh, "You ask me that as if I am the one who had a massive transformation in the past century. I might live across the ocean, but I am still subjected to gossip about you and your pack."

"Nothing good probably."

"It's been mixed, but the most recent rumor I have heard is that you found your Luna. Is that true?"

I glanced at Jaslynn over my shoulder and smiled as she kissed my shoulder blade, "I have. She's an angel."

"She's beside you, isn't she?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, "How did you know?"

"You used that same infatuated tone you used to use when you spoke to Pearl," he said smugly, and I could imagine the broad smirk on his face.

I felt Jaslynn's nails dig into my abdomen, "Pearl?"

"No one important, kroshka," I muttered, turning my head to kiss her temple before I returned to the call where Aleksei was laughing loudly, "You never told her about the other kroshka in your life? What a shame, Alrik. I think they could have been good friends if Pearl hadn't run away."

Jaslynn stiffened behind me, and I sighed, "Kroshka, Pearl was my pet cat when I was a child."

"You're a werewolf, and you owned a cat?"

Aleksei snickered at her incredulous question, and I glared at the phone screen, "You're already causing trouble, and it's only been a few minutes since we started talking."

"It's entertaining to hear how possessive your Luna is. My mate is the same way."

My chest tightened at the mention of his mate, "Luna or Alpha?"

"Alpha," I could hear the affection in his voice, "I told you the Moon Goddess wouldn't pair me with a she-wolf. She knew I preferred wolves to she-wolves."

A small smile formed on my face as I pressed my lips against Jaslynn's hand, "What's he like?"

"Perfect. Although he does snore like an elephant, still perfect. You'd be surprised if you saw him," he trailed off.

It was silent while we both acknowledged how much of each other's lives we had failed to see.

"I've missed you, brat," I admitted gruffly, "I'm sorry for how we left things. It was my fault."

He sighed, "You weren't the only one who fucked up. I said a lot of shitty things as well. Instead of showing you the right way, I abandoned you and set you up for all sorts of issues. So I'm sorry too."

"Do you think we could put this behind us?"

"I would like that. It might take a while to get used to, but it's definitely possible."

A glimmer of hope ignited inside me.

"In that case," I paused, wondering if it was the right time to even ask the question, "How do you feel about coming over for a visit?"

"You serious?" He asked, a hint of excitement in his tone, "Just say the fucking word and I'll get on a plane. Well, after sunrise, because Yerik gets pissed if you wake him up too early. Unless it's for se–"

"Aleksei."

He guffawed at my disgust, "I almost forgot how much of a prude you are."

"Prude, eh?" My eyes darted to Jaslynn, who was rubbing her fingers along her mark as if she was recollecting just how wrong that statement was.

"Anyway, I'll let you know how our travel schedule will go, but it's most likely we can be there by tomorrow afternoon."

"Good, I really want to see you, Aleksei."

"As do I, but I also want to kick your ass in the training ring. You'll be weeping in your mate's lap. Yerik showed me–"

"That's nice. Goodbye, brat."

I hung up abruptly and rolled my eyes at Jaslynn's horrified expression, "Don't look at me like that. Once you get Aleksei started on training, he'll never shut up."

Her lips curved into a perfect smile, and she moved around to hug me from the front, "I'm really proud of you for doing that. I know you've been building up the courage to call him."

"I'm glad I did it too," I stroked her hair away from her face, "I think your permission to mark you was all I needed because if you could forgive me, why couldn't he?"

Her eyes gleamed with pride and joy as she reached upward to give me a peck on the lips,

"Now about that ramen you were supposed to make me..."