She swallowed hard, wondering what he could say in person that she couldn’t to make Tyson listen. It was a long drive, and he didn’t sound happy about having to come down. She felt like a failure for not being able to help more.
“Can’t you call him rather than coming all the way down?”
“No, I’m tiring of his stunts,” he said. “It’s time for him to remember who’s in charge.”
****
Xander had been driving for hours and was pissed off he had to make this journey at all. For years, he’d tried to instill his values into his only son, but it was like talking to a wall. The boy hated humanity with a passion and wanted to live feral. Shifters had to embrace both their sides in order to survive in the modern world. It was a matter of adapting or going extinct, but his son wouldn’t listen to reason.
He’d done well in business and wanted to teach his son how to run the empire by his side. Business school wasn’t optional. A thorough education was the key to getting ahead, to maintaining balance as a shifter. His son liked to accuse him of being a sellout, of siding with humans rather than embracing his true nature. Xander may enjoy human luxuries, but he didn’t neglect his wolf. He had hectares of forest around his mansion and spent equal time in his fur and skin.
Today, he’d set his son straight. Not only was he his father, but he was also his alpha.
He parked his Mercedes in the visitor’s lot and headed to the library where he was supposed to meet up with Tyson. His tutor arranged the meeting.
As soon as he entered the library, her scent was potent, stirring his wolf into wakefulness. He had to force his canines down, and he usually had excellent control over his impulses. In all his forty-four years, he’d never scented his mate, but today there was no mistaking it.
She was here in the library.
He looked around, only finding students and a few faculty. This couldn’t be right. Why now? Why here?
Then he spotted Tyson and forced himself to focus on the task at hand. Just seeing the boy brought out all his deep-seated feelings of love and the urge to protect him. It would be too easy to let him lead his own way, but he was young and making unwise decisions. He’d raised Tyson alone since he was a baby, learning as he went. Some days he felt like a failure, others he felt such pride. Right now, he’d put his emotions aside and be the authority figure he needed in his life. His hormones were out of whack as he transitioned from a juvenile to an adult shifter. They were volatile years for a male.
“You didn’t have to come all the way here,” Tyson said, his arms folded.
A young woman was with him.
“Apparently, I did. I thought I made myself clear that you will complete your business degree.”
“It’s pointless.”
“Do you need more tutoring?” he asked.
“There’s nothing wrong with my tutor,” Tyson said. “It’s everything else that’s the problem. I mean, look around here. I’m fucking surrounded. My skin is crawling.”
“You’ll adapt.”
“I won’t!”
He braced both hands on the table and leaned closer to his son. “Watch your fucking tone with me. Stand up and show some damn respect.”
Tyson immediately stood up, uncrossing his arms.
Xander tested the air, turning to look at the woman still sitting at the table. “Who is she?” he asked, nodding toward her.
“You hired her.”
He narrowed his eyes, looking her up and down. “Willa Young?”
“Yes, sir.” She stood up, and he scented her fear … and more. He had to be certain though. There were many people in the library. If she was the source of the addicting scent, that meant his son’s tutor was his mate.
It couldn’t be true though.
She was a human.
After decades of him searching and hoping, fate had finally gifted him a mate in the form of a human being? Tyson’s mother had been a full shifter, a one-night stand that turned into a pregnancy. She’d been killed almost eighteen years ago by hunters, fueling their son’s hatred of humanity.
This couldn’t end well.