"Mate" Blaze screamed again. I could feel him pushing for control. It took all my strength to hold him back and maintain composure. It felt as though he was clawing up my insides in a frenzy, desperately trying to come forward and see his mate for himself. I gritted my teeth, making eye contact with Fiona. She was smiling, but it was a political sort of smile. She didn't seem to react to my touch the way I reacted to hers. If she felt the mate bond she hid it well. I managed to bite my tongue, not trusting myself to speak. Question after question ran through my head.
She moved on to the next topic, casually dropping my hand and turning to walk up the steps while speaking. I stared tight-lipped as she did so. I couldn't help but watch how her body move as she walked up those stairs. Questions floated around in my head. Had she not felt the bond? Was she ignoring it? Why?
I couldn't help but look to Alpha David. He looked angry, I couldn't be sure if he realized what happened or he didn't like me. Most Alpha's didn't like me. He had not stopped glaring at me since Fiona approached me, revealing who she was. Surely he would notice my eye darkening, maybe that is why he was glaring.
Dante could sense something was wrong, but I had shut down the mind-link to focus on controlling Blaze. Being my Beta he would be able to feel Blaze trying to come forward. I could feel him pulling on the mind link, which I kept shut. I had already missed a chunk of what Fiona was saying. She paused at the top of the stairs realizing that I had not followed her up. Dante nudged me, clearly I had meant to follow her up the stairs.
"Alpha Astor, I can see you are tired from your trip," she said returning to me. "We will do the official tour later, you look like you need some rest." I didn't trust myself to speak, luckily Dante stepped in.
"I would be great Alpha Fin," He smiled, putting on his charm to make up for my silence. "It was a long ride and Cyrus wouldn't let us stop. You know how some Alpha's can be about making good time." Fiona seemed to accept this and turned to the others on the stairs.
"Betas," she called. An older man, maybe in his fifties and a young female appear next to her standing at attention ready for her command. She turned to us: "These are my Betas." she said "Beta Ned and Liz Drax." She then turned to her Betas again and spoke to them: "Show Alpha Astor and Beta Clifford to their rooms." She looked at me flashing her most charming smile and quipped, "they might not be rooms for royalty, but they are very comfortable with plenty of space. I put you and your Beta in adjoining rooms. If you need anything my Betas will be more than happy to help." Her Betas nodded in agreement. Two betas? I realized in my short time within the Crescent Moon Pack they weren't ones to follow the mould. I was unsure how the King would react to all it since he was a man of tradition. I hope for my mate's sake he would shrug them off as quirks and not threats.
"You're not showing us to our rooms Alpha?" Asked Dante, once again turning on his charm. Blaze disliked it and was grumbling. He had settled down a little, but I wasn't ready to let my guard down yet.
"Unfortunately, Beta Clifford, I cannot," she said apologetically "Alpha David has been patiently waiting for a meeting to discuss some urgent business and I've feared I've made him wait too long already. Alpha's are always so busy, as I'm sure you are well aware. Take some time to rest and settle in. I will meet you after dinner to give you a proper tour." Alpha David looked smug and stepped down to position himself behind Fiona again. "Rest well," she said "I will see you two again soon." Alpha David put his hand on the small of her back and led her up the stairs into the packhouse. I suppressed the growl from within as I jealously watched them walk away. Soon she vanished and Blaze settled down, disappointed his mate was gone. The world seem to grey as she left. It was like she was the light that made everything so vibrant.
I turned the Betas and greeted them. They wasted no time in showing us to our rooms. I remained quite thankful Dante made small talk with the Betas as we walked to the rooms. I wasn't sure how to ask them what I wanted to know. Dante was better at collecting information without revealing his intentions. It was a large part of what made him a great Beta.
"It's quite unusual for a pack to have two Betas" Dante commented as we walked down the hall.
"Well, I was in the old Alphas inner circle and helped to run the pack day to day," the male Beta, Ned, spoke: "I also played a large part in supporting Fin when she became Alpha so I was a natural choice. My daughter," he said referring to the female Beta, "Liz is great at building connections with the pack members. She has her finger on the pulse of what is happening. She also runs training all but one day a week. That day is when Alpha Fin sees how everyone is progressing." Beta Liz blushed at her father's compliment and added: "Alpha Fin thought having two betas would provide well-balanced leadership and strengthen the pack. It also means my father can train me for when he retires one day. I don't think he ever will though, he would never leave Alpha Fin's sides. To be fair I wouldn't either." It was a credit to Fiona that she inspired so much loyalty. It was esstenail for Alphas have loyal Betas. Those that didn't often suffered from internal power struggles, which weakens packs.
"What about this other Alpha? Alpha David? They seem very close". He commented casually. I listened intently trying to pass as not interested.
"Alpha David supplied us with the resources we needed to rebuild. He also helped Alpha Fin through some very tough times when they were children," Beta Ned stated, "they grew up together, practically raised together."
"Everyone thinks they will be mates" Beta Liz spoke excitedly "They seem so perfect for each other."
"We're here," Ned said abruptly, ending the conversation. "we will be back to bring you to dinner Alpha." They left before I could ask any more questions and, oh, I had some burning ones. I would be replaying that conversation over and over in my head all night. I turned to the door disappointed. The doors were carved with detailed images of forest landscapes with a Cresent Moon hanging in the top corners. Normally I would take a moment to admire the detail but my mind was elsewhere. Dante followed me into my room, not giving me a choice.
"Spill," he said once the door was shut "What the fuck is going on with you?"
"What?" Dante asked sitting down on a large plush couch in the room after I told him that Fiona was my mate. Dante had a concerned look on his face and fired question after question at me. "Why didn't you say anything? Why didn't she say anything?" His knee was bouncing up and down with enough force to drill a hole in the ground. It was one of his nervous ticks. I paced around the room and thought about why I hadn't said anything. It was a large room and looked like it came straight from a magazine. The room was mostly white with natural colours and dried flowers spotted through the room. There was a bay window overlooking a garden and several doors led to unknown places. I would have to explore the room later. "I don't know" I admitted finally. It shook me, I was always so confid
*Fiona*"Well, that went as well as I could hope," I said sitting on the couch in my office placing my legs across David. I was not happy that the King had managed to worm his way into the pack, but at least we were ready to take him on. This might also prove useful for me to gather information on the King. I was naturally distrustful, but even so, something about the King just seemed off to me. Not that would tell Alpha Astor or his Beta that. Skylah was pacing inside me, which made me nervous. She only got that way when big things were about to happen. She had a sixth sense about things, although they were always feelings and never anything concrete. I was left to guess why. This time I chalked it up to nervous excitement for David's birthday tomorrow. David spoke; his words kept me from wandering off with my thoughts.
*Cyrus*"She's late" I mind-linked Dante at the dinner table. Normally Dante and I would joke about our insatiable appetites. Werewolves had high metabolisms and could eat a lot, but Dante and I, well even for a werewolf, ate a lot. The Omega who stocked our kitchen in the Golden Moon packhouse learned that my idea of a snack was more of a meal for a small family. After months of pulling his hair over how much we ate, he finally gave us a separate fridge, which we'd still clear out daily. Today was different though. All the food in front of me look delicious, the pack had done their homework and had a lot of my favourites. Yet, I couldn't find my appetite. I pushed around a piece of brisket on my plate, not wanting to be rude. "Dinner has barely started" Dante replied via mind-link. 
*Cyrus*Everyone was quiet for a moment, looking at the ground. Fiona inhaled deeply, the anger clearing from her face. When she spoke it was in a neutral tone."This garden honours her legacy and reminds us what happens when a pack is run with greed." She said it with finality, shutting the book on the conversation. "Let me show you the inside of the community centre," quickly shifting focus back to the tour. "We offer classes for pack members who want to learn new skills. We teach everything from art courses, trades and courses to help pack members who wish to attend university. It is all run by volunteers from the pack who want to support growth and wellbeing. Normally it's older pack members looking to explore new horizons, but we will get some high schoolers who want to study something beyond what is offered at the school."
*Cyrus*"If she wasn't your mate," Dante mind-linked me when Fiona stepped out of her office the next morning for a break. "I would have a few choice words to call her." A growl from Blaze shut him up, but I knew Dante was right. Surely, it was just the stress of answering to the King. Fiona had been snippy all morning as we looked over her income reports. There were a few times she outright glared at me, not needing words to get her message across. To be fair, they were times when I would be trying to flirt or make 'unintentional' contact. In the most recent offence, she simple threw her hands up in the air and walked out, leaving Dante and me staring at each other, wondering what we had said to offend her. There was a knock on the door and an Omega girl came in with a platter of snacks and a pot of coffee."Alpha Fin asked me to bring yo
*Fiona*I felt odd sitting on the plush couch in my closet, letting two near-strangers go through my clothes. It was a little exciting despite the situation. I wasn't allowed to have friends inside the packhouse growing up, and even when I became Alpha, I found my time for socializing limited. It was even stranger to me that two male wolves were inspecting my clothes. I didn't think they would agree to it, honestly. It felt like I was the main character of a movie, having her big glow up montage to win the man of her dreams. I mean I was, wasn't I. Alpha Astor and Beta Clifford were helping me find a dress to woo David. It was a nice distraction from the anxiety growing in my stomach. Why hadn't David shown his face at midnight or even called me? It was odd for him to not do something when he said he would.Beta Clifford had brought a
*Fiona*When we arrived at the party, my nerves were at an all-time high. I was glad that I had asked Alpha Cyrus and Beta Clifford to come. I had not expected the King's Alpha and his Beta to be so down to earth. Beta Clifford kept the mood light, making jokes with Liz during the ride over. Liz had been keen to come as well. She had not left the pack in three years, neither had I. We'd been so busy training and building the pack from the ground up, tonight felt like a new chapter, one where we could let loose a little. Liz even agreed to be a sober driver that night. I took her up on her offer seeing as we manage to polish off a few bottles of wine, during my 'make over' as Beta Clifford called it. While Beta Clifford was the life of the party on the ride over, Alpha Cyrus was relatively quiet, deep in thought."So much for being a party animal," I thought."Ma
*Fiona*I stood at a tree, out of view of the tent silently crying. The image of David kissing his mate burned into my brain. Skylah had gone silent and disappeared. Before she left I could feel her sadness. I was tempted to shift and run home, leaving quietly without a trace. After all, I hadn't officially made an entrance, so few would have realised I showed up at all. With Skylah hiding, however, I wouldn't be able to shift. I didn't have the energy to try and convince her to resurface."Fiona?" Called a voice growing closer."What?" I snapped at Alpha Cyrus as he approached. Without a word, he pulled me into a hug. At first, I stood there rigid, but he held on tight. After a moment my muscles started