An Alpha's Charge
Chapter 18

A Proposal

“So, what are we supposed to do? Sit here and wait for the trials to start?”

“No, we work with the pack and help them start any business they wish. We provide for the pack, but they also must work to help support themselves. We are self-sufficient werebears but also part humans who share space with our beasts.”

“Okay, even though I have a handful of people who work with me, I could use more help and have more people to make the furniture, and we could sell them online to sell around the United States. I know they do well, but I think they could do better.”

“Why don’t you arrange a meeting and explain your desire to help them? You are now my alpha female, running this pack with me. We do not have Lunas like the wolves, but it is the same principle.”

“I will text Jeb right now and request him and his workers or those who run that business for a meeting.”

“Good, how about eating lunch now? Oh, I want to take you out on a date tonight.”

“Oh, where are you going to go?”

“It is a surprise. Be ready by seven; I will pick you up.” Ramiel laughs as he walks over to her desk with the lunch he brought her.

They ate their lunch, and she returned to work designing clothes for a wedding party when she finished. When Lane finished, she sent the pictures off to the bride so she could see what she wanted.

The bride lived in Texas, so she would have her team make the dresses. She had a conference call with her team in Texas, letting them know they would be handling the attire the bride and bridesmaids picked out.

She shut her computer off, locked her office, and headed home. She looked back at the building, stopping to take in what she had accomplished and seeing some shops were empty. She walked back towards it to see what the open spaces looked like.

She turned around and walked back home with a spring in her step. She knew what she was going to do with those empty spots. She was going to put people in there. Lane walked into her home, heading for the bathroom to shower.

She stepped out, wore a red sweater dress, and wore a white silk scarf around her neck, and red earrings. She was not a huge fan of jewelry, but she did wear them when the occasion presented itself.

Ramiel knocked on the front door, though it was home, waiting for Lane to answer it. She walked to the door, not knowing who it could be but was surprised when she saw Ramiel with a bouquet.

“Thank you; please come in and welcome to my humble abode.”

“Thank you very much, my lady.”

“I will put these in a vase; please have a seat.” She walks off, giggling at their playfulness.

“Ready to go?”

“Yes, my lord, I am ready to go.”

He takes her hand, trying not to laugh at how she responded to his question. He helped her into the vehicle, buckled her in, then walked around and got into the car himself. She looked over at him with the biggest smile on her face.

“Still not going to tell me where we are going?”

“Nope, I told you it was a surprise, so hang on; we will be there shortly.”

“How was your afternoon?”

“Eventful, of course, just pushing papers around and making alliances with other packs. Not much, how about you?”

“I moved my fashion designs to my Texas branch, and I will keep my home and graphics design here in Alaska; having all that is too much for me to handle. So, I am delegating my work to other employees and letting them have a chance to shine.”

“That sounds fair enough. What were you doing staring at your office building for?”

“There are empty storefronts, and I am going to fill them; we need to build residual income to put back into the pack for supplies, food, and whatever else we need.”

“Well, my dear mate, I will help with that as I will move my office there too. That way, I am working from home only sometimes. I want normal office hours, end the day, and come home to my beautiful family.”

“That is what I want too, tell me which one you want, and I will design the inside for you.”

“Good here; put this on.”

“Why a blindfold?”

“Told you it is a surprise. Now put it on.”

“Fine.” she groaned as she put on the blindfold.

A few moments later, he parked the vehicle, got out, and opened the door to help her out of the car. He guided her to the place where he was taking her. He smiled as he looked at the restaurant and stepped inside with his finger to his lips. They were all in on the surprise.

He moved further into the room where she could get a better view, undid her blindfold telling her to keep her eyes closed. When he was satisfied with where she was standing, he told her to open her eyes.

“Surprise, my love.”

“What? Oh, my goodness, Ramiel, this looks like the restaurants I worked at. It is a combination of the one in Texas and Seattle. I do not understand how or who?”

“Surprise, Lane. We closed those restaurants to move here and combine them both. You and Steven meant the world to us; we had to be here with you both. Come, we have a private table for the two of you right up here.”

Susan showed them their seats and gave them a menu. Lane looked over it and saw a mixture of foods from both restaurants. One of the servers came over and took their drinks order as they looked over the menu some more.

“Have we decided what you want to eat?”

“We will have the surf and turf with salad, loaded baked potatoes, and for an appetizer, the onion rings,” Ramiel ordered.

They ate their appetizers; then, salads were brought for them to eat. Their steak, lobster, shrimp, and baked potatoes followed only a short time later. When they finished that, Ramiel had ordered an exceptional dessert earlier that day after he told them what he wanted.

The waiter waited for several minutes before he returned with the dessert. Lane only ate a few desserts because she was always busy with work and school and only ate a little. But since she was with Ramiel, she ate a ton of food, and there were no more liquid diets. She gained weight but also muscle due to training with her new family. An equal balance diet and exercise kept her at a healthy weight.

“What is this?”

“Dessert, my love go ahead and take a bite; I think this will become your favorite.”

“A cake? I do not know what to say but thank you.”

She took her fork and cut off a piece of cake, not realizing what was sitting on top. She took a bite and moaned while rolling her eyes. She took another bite, and another moan came from her mouth. Ramiel sat there, clearing his throat and adjusting his pants.

She took the box off the cake and ate the entire cake, not realizing that her mate was trying not to laugh at her. He fell more in love with her at that very moment when she looked at him; she raised her brow.

“What, do I have something on my face?”

“No, but how you are eating that cake...well, let us say it will be an exceedingly long night. Where did that box come from?”

“What box? This box? I do not know, but it was top of the cake, so I took it off; it was in my way of this deliciousness.”

“Okay, I will just take it and open it up for you.”

“Oh no, you won’t. I will open it up.” she grabbed it back from him and laughed.

She opened it up while he got down on one knee. When she opened the box, there sat a beautiful princess-cut three-carat diamond ring set in silver. The diamond is placed in a bear with his paws cased the diamond, and the eyes on the bear were one-and-a-half carat blue sapphires diamonds, her favorite color.

“Lane, we are mates, but I want you to have what your mother and father had with each other. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife, life partner, and mother to our children?”

She shook her head, yes, yelling it so everyone could hear her. She hugged and kissed him with tears building in her eyes. She could never have imagined how her life would have ended if he had come into it when he did.

Ramiel paid the bill, and they went back to their home. They made sweet love all night long and slept the entire day the next day. That was until Steven knocked on the door.

“Coming, one moment.” Ramiel groaned.

“What do you want? Oh, hi, Duke. What’s wrong?”

“Garrett, I cannot contact him, and Gabriel cannot feel him. Something is wrong.”

“Okay, meet at the office building. We will use Lane’s office for now.”

“Steven, what is wrong?”

“Garrett, he’s not answering his phone, and Gabriel cannot feel him.”

“Let us shower and grab breakfast; go get your mate and meet us where he said in an hour.”

She pulled Ramiel back inside, shut the door, and pulled him into the bathroom, undressing him quickly and stepping into the shower. They let the hot water run down their bodies but held off showering until they finished with their sex play in the shower.

When they finished, they grabbed their clothes and headed to the kitchen for a quick bite. They headed to the office, where they met her brother and Gabriel.

“What seems to be the problem with Garrett?” Ramiel asked.

“My brother has been out on an assignment; he has not checked in with us. He has a charge and...” Gabriel trailed off.

“Okay, where is his last known place? I thought he was done with this?”

“We did too, but he up and left a few days ago and have not been seen or heard from since.”

“I know I did not send him out, which means someone called for him. Are you getting any more notices for your charges?”

“No, this was the last assignment that I know of. Therefore, it is strange that we cannot replace him anywhere.”

“What about Vye, your sister? Is she still on the island?”

“Not sure, could be possible, but I thought she was arrested for her crimes?”

“I will call Alex and see what he says.”

He called Alex and confirmed that Vye had not been arrested yet and that she was in Mexico, and Shelby and her siblings were on a mission. He could not elaborate because he did not know what that intel was.

He called the resort on the island, asking if anybody had checked in under the name of Garrett Sheperd. They confirmed that he had checked in but had been absent for three days.

“Well, he is there but has yet to be seen in three days. Steven, I am going to have you go in under Duke Bennett. I would like you to take a team and search for him. I know they have cells there, and nothing about them is nice. Vervain is lethal to them so is the sun. Most of them are vampires, so be careful. Gabriel, you can heal them if you like, but do not engage with your sister if you see her there.”

“Where did Alex say she was?”

“Possibly in Mexico. Why?”

“That is where her drug lords are. She gets them from there as well.”

“Steven, please keep me posted; Lane, do you have everything set up?”

“Just emailed and texted you the information. You have two weeks to get him and get back. The council knows about it. I just let them know as well as Alex.”

“Thanks, sis. We will keep you all posted.”