Chapter 67

Tyler POV

Moonrise Entertainment - Tyler's Office (Executive Level)

Nathan Lewis was going to be taking my mate on a trip into archaic wolfen territory and I was getting sex advice from an Alpha Inspector sent by the Council to give my mate a way to band herself away from me.

I was not having a good day.

My pulse was racing enough I knew I would have been fighting my wolf for control if he'd been awake.

I left my desk to go get myself a bottle of water. I ignored the look on my personal assistant's face as I passed her to go into the small comfort room we kept beverages, snacks, and courtesy articles in for offering guests, clients, or subordinates. She probably thought I'd never fetched my own drink in my life.

Unfortunately, she wasn't wrong.

I grabbed the wrong side of the fridge to open the door before growling at it and swapping hands.

The sheer number of beverages stored in the refrigeration unit was absurd. I knew my father liked to flex his power and money any chance he got, but this was ridiculously excessive. I was tempted to browse just to waste some time only I knew Lonnah would come looking for me soon if I didn't return to my office on my own.

I drained half a bottle of ice cold water before taking an unfamiliar glass bottle with me back to my desk. I knew it was some kind of sparkling water. Rachel was drinking nothing else lately. I figured I'd get used to it.

My skin prickled as Lonnah's eyes tracked me from the comfort room back into my office and I resisted the urge to bare my teeth at her. I had the unfamiliar sensation of being hunted until I closed the door again.

I was barely holding myself together as I tried to live without my wolf. I wanted to reach out to my brother William to ask how he managed it day by day, but doing so would be akin to signing my own death warrant. My father would waste no time ousting me from my position both at work and in the pack if I no longer had Wynd sharing my body with me.

A part of me worried others might see through my bluffs the way the Alpha Inspector had---or had he learned I was without my wolf some other way?

I knew next to nothing about how the Alpha Inspectors conducted their investigations. Mystery surrounded them the way shadows gathered in the dark. I would chew through my own tongue before asking him to explain, too.

Weakness was not to be tolerated among Alphas. We were bred to hunt down the weak first.

I finished my water before giving in to the urge to use my personal laptop to search for something racy for Rachel. I'd never spent much time looking into sex sites as my wolf usually wanted it rough and wild whenever I did decide to take Rachel to bed.

Before mating Rachel, I had experimented with women who were paid for their time. I'd indulged in every manner of sin for a while. I wasn't proud of my past, but I was grateful I wasn't completely clueless where females were concerned.

I found a list of most popular vibrators for women and set myself the task of investigating them all to see which one I could tolerate imagining Rachel use on herself.

I was a jealous man by nature and my beast was worse. I didn't like the idea of even an inanimate object pleasuring my female. I liked the idea of her being ripe and ready in the company of Nathan Lewis even less. At least if I sent her off with a toy, she'd most likely be unable to climax without thinking of me.

I definitely liked the idea of being able to make her come from memories of me alone.

All of the toys on the list had a feminine look to them I appreciated. Some sex toys looked closer to weapons or tools than pleasure products. I was able to narrow the options quickly by rejecting anything designed for insertion -I didn't want anything inside my woman except me- and then choosing only those listed as 'discreet.'

I found myself fascinated by the descriptions; I put on my headset to listen to the review videos.

Ultimately I chose a vibrator in a purple shade which fit into the palm and molded to a woman's natural curves. I looked up retailers in the area before making a call to one near enough to be an easy drive for Adam. The saleswoman was very helpful on the phone. She agreed to gift wrap the toy for me with a personalized card for Rachel.

I felt smug as I realized I had taken Art's advice without letting myself worry how my female would take the gift of a sex toy.

I wasn't some boy. I didn't need to be the only source of pleasure for my female. I wanted her to writhe with passion for me and me alone and I was secure enough in my masculinity to know Rachel could live a life of ecstasy only for me whether I was the one touching her directly or not.

Fantasies weren't a bad thing by any means.

I wanted Rachel to stretch her imagination---while keeping me in mind.

On a whim, I went back to the website for the store and browsed their offerings until I found a little gift for Alpha Inspector Art Windsor, too. I knew he would have a strong reaction to it though I couldn't make myself assign any particular mood or feeling to the man based on my limited exposure to him.

I didn't know where he was staying, but I did know my Beta could track a man down in the middle of a Million Man March. Adam would take the gift to him wrapped in white as a flag of peace even as it was my way of declaring our war was not over.

Calling the store back, I gave the saleswoman my instructions along with my second order. She was only too happy to oblige. I realized she had the wrong idea as she was taking down my request for the card's personalization, but I decided I would let her keep her assumptions rather than tell her Art was not another of my lovers.

Sometimes I felt I lived my life too strictly. I didn't have the joy most Alphas of my age exhibited. Who did it hurt to let a stranger believe I had two lovers?

My wolf was temporarily gone which gave me the freedom to pursue another person in my bed. I hadn't wanted anyone other than Rachel so I'd not bothered. I would never choose a man even if the man weren't another Alpha.

I supposed I just enjoyed the idea of being a man who lived a hedonistic lifestyle since I knew I hadn't been able to explore as much as I wanted before I found my mate.

Rachel had taken my youth from me when she'd crashed into my room at LUST. I didn't regret meeting her. I only wished we had met some other way on some other day.

Our mating would have been much better for the both of us if only we hadn't started everything off with lies.

"Adam. I need you to go to Intimate Treasures at the address I texted you. They have two gifts waiting to be picked up. Deliver the one to Rachel first, then you'll need to track down Alpha Inspector Art Windsor for the second one. Make sure he takes it, too."

"You got it, boss. You sure you want to poke the bear with that Alpha Inspector though? He's a monster."

I didn't like even my Beta had noticed the size of the other Alpha. I did like---no, I loved the idea of Art accepting the gift I'd chosen for him.

Regardless of how he felt, I knew Art wouldn't hurt my Beta. Adam would be safe enough delivering the gift on my behalf. I'd have taken it myself if I thought otherwise.

"I'm sure I want him to have this gift. I picked it just for him. You can tell him that if you want. I have a feeling he'll find it funny."

Adam snorted, "I have a feeling he doesn't find much funny unless he's laughing at his own jokes."

Adam had good instincts. I could imagine Art being the kind of Alpha who only laughed at his own strange sense of humor.

"Get going. You need to deliver those then be back here to get me before I give up on you and take a cab. You know how I feel about cabs."

I could practically feel Adam shudder through the phone connection as he agreed to get on with his errands.

I settled back into work while I thought of Rachel writhing in ecstasy with my name on her lips. I was going to call her tonight to test the toy out before she left.

We could both use a good night after a not-so-good day.