The Alpha's Groomer [Semi-Paused]

Ch 63: Groveling

Theo's POV:

The meeting went better than I expected. We discussed our alliance and my mate. I met with his son and the future beta. Overall, I think our alliance is strong and will last long. I look forward to seeing how his son and I will work together as the years go on. As I was leaving his house, I just got in the car when I got a mindlink from Carter. 

 *mindlinking w/ Carter*

'Theo, are you done with the meeting?'

'Ya, we just finished. And before you ask. Yes, the meeting went well. We had a small chat about mates. He congratulated me on finding mine. Also told me to congratulate you as well. We went over some treaty stuff and agreed on some alliance stuff. Everything's good.' I still can't understand how he always has such great timing. 

'That's great but I'm not mindlinking you about the meeting...when I went over to tell Alex about your meeting and dropping off your bags she asked me to send Ally over. I did and a few minutes later, I felt a lot of anger in the mate bond so I ran over the room thinking something was wrong.' I couldn't help but worry. 

'What happened? Is everyone okay?'

'Everyone was fine. Before I even knocked, I overheard what they were talking about. It was about you. Alex is really mad that you didn't tell her about the meeting and that you didn't invite her. That she thought mates were equal and that you made a decision without her. And anyway that made Ally mad as well. Last I heard was that they're deciding what to do to you.' 

'Thank you for telling me. I'll figure something out.'  I have no clue what I'm going to do but I can't bother him. His mate has an important next couple of days and I can't be selfish. 

'Alright. Good luck man. Let me know if I can help.' 

*end of mindlink*

As I'm sitting in the car on the way back to the hotel, my mind is running with a million things. I thought that she'd be happy to not have to go. Alpha duties can be mind-blowing and boring! I can feel Xavier getting annoyed at me. I'm not in the mood for his attitude. I can't figure out how to make Alex less mad at me with him screaming and giving me a headache. I end up having to pull over. I can't even drive with Xavier acting as he is. I end up sitting on the side of the road for a few minutes before Xavier starts ignoring me again. I decided to go to the closest store and hopefully find something to apologize for. 

After about 10 minutes in the store, I have chocolate, snacks, and flowers. I made my way back to the car and headed straight for the hotel. As I'm driving, I keep running through apologies in my mind. I could tell her that it was boring and she wouldn't want to be bothered or it wasn't as important as it sounds so I didn't want to bother her or that the meeting was just supposed to be alphas only. I don't know how she'll react. If she was a wolf I'd be able to just sense how to act but she's human. I don't have as good a reading on her emotions. Before I know it, I'm pulling into the hotel.

I got out of the car and headed straight up to the rooms. I knocked on the door and waited a few minutes. I honestly didn't know whether or not she'd open the door. I was about to head to Carter's room when suddenly I heard the door unlock and there stood my mate. 

I stood in the door for what felt like forever. I don't think I've ever seen her look this mad. She just looks at me before walking away from the doorway. I follow her into our room and set the flowers, chocolate, and snacks down on the bed. Alex takes a seat on the couch and just looks at me. I couldn't help but let out a sigh. At least she let me in the room. I take another deep breath and study her features. I'm afraid if I say the wrong thing she won't stay in our room for the night or worse, cut the trip short and fly home. I, of course, would follow her home but I don't want our first trip together to end like that. We both just stare at each other before I finally break the silence. 

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the meeting and I'm sorry that I didn't ask you to attend with me." She finally at least looks at me, which I hope is a good sign. I wait for her to say something but she just stares at me for what feels like an eternity before she just grabs her phone and starts doing something. "The meeting was not even that great. It was just boring pack business and formalities. It would've bored you to death. It even almost bored me to death and I was trained for this my entire life. So if you think about it, I did you a favor by not taking you." The last part seemed to catch her attention because she looked up at me from her phone. She stared at me for a few minutes before she went back to her phone. I waited another few minutes just hoping she would give me some sign, but unfortunately, she didn't. I let out another long sigh and walked over to her. I dropped to my knees and grabbed her phone from her hands. I quickly put it into my back pocket before she had a chance to grab it back and finally, she looked at me. "I am sorry. I did not think you would want to come. It's just pack business. I didn't want to ruin our trip with business stuff. I promise I'll never make that mistake again. Please just talk to me." I just look into her eyes hoping she'll at least show some type of change. However, unfortunately for me, her eyes go from angry to mischievous. I am starting to think maybe the silent treatment wasn't too bad. 

"You want my forgiveness?" I nod my head faster than I thought was possible. "I have three conditions." I nod waiting for her to continue. "One, you never lie to me again. Two, if any other pack business comes up again on the trip then you tell me and give me the option to be involved or not." 

"I swear on my life that I'll never lie to you again. And you will be the first to know if any pack business arises. No matter how small. I will tell you." She smiles and hugs me. Oh how I missed her hugs, even though it was just an hour or so, I missed her. "Wait a minute, that was only two. You said three." She gets that mischievous look in her eyes again. 

"Three, it's more of something that Xavier needs to do." That caught Xavier's attention. He was more than happy to just stand back and watch me grovel but now he seems to be paying attention. 

 *mindlinking w/ Xavier*

'What does mate mean? I didn't do anything wrong you did!'I roll my eyes. 

'Not so fun watching me grovel now huh.' He lets out a huff and I go back to listening to mate.

*end of mindlink*

"What exactly is the third thing?" 

"As you know, I have my dog grooming exam coming up. I need a dog to groom for the evaluation. I originally was going to ask a client from work if they would let me use their dog, but now I'm thinking that would be a great way for Xavier to make up for lying to me as well." I stare at her dumbfounded. I don't even know what to say. I do not want to make her mad at me again because I know I messed up but this, this is a lot. 

'I didn't lie to mate. You lied to mate. Why do I have to suffer for your mistake? How is that fair? Why am I getting punished for your actions? You messed up not me! This is not okay! Don't you dare agree! I did nothing!' I block our Xavier before he starts to give me a headache. 

"And you'll forgive me?" She smiles and nods. I can't believe what I'm about to say. 

"Okay."