Valledor had just returned from his hunt in the nearby forest. Of course, he was surprised to see the many expensive vehicles parked in the compound, along with the Lotus wolves that were gathered outside, receiving small food items the foreign soldiers distributed, complements of the silver alpha. It took a while to push through the crowd before he was able to reach his quarters, there he met his personal guard, also his rat, Luca waiting for him there.
He was impatient to ask, “what’s going on? Why is everyone gathered? And what’s with the soldiers and the vehicles?” He asked so many questions all at once.
“The princess sire, she is back!”
“What??!!! How could this be?”
“I don’t know sire, but she returned with a mighty alpha. He’s the one who owns all those vehicles and soldiers.”
Valledor then realized, “it’s the silver pack’s alpha Damian! This is outrageous! I thought he’d killed her! Samara had already told me she’d taken care of it! Miranda was not supposed to return!!!”
“I don’t know sire; I was also as shocked as you are now when I heard she’d returned unharmed. But that is not all; I overheard the conversation between her and her friends, it seems as if alpha Damian has come to ask alpha Luther for Miranda’s hand in marriage.”
“What the…? Where did all this come from??? I thought she was his prisoner??? Why did he propose to marry her all of a sudden?? NO!!! This is not good! That marriage cannot hold else I’ll lose possession of this pack forever, all my efforts will be wasted; I’ll be damned if I ever let that happen!”
“So, what will you do sire?”
Valledor didn’t answer him, he stormed and left the inquisitive guard to go in the direction of Miranda’s room, as he reached there, he could already hear laughter and giggles exchanged between her and her friends inside. Indeed, they were discussing about Miranda’s wedding plans.
He didn’t wait for an invitation, banging the door with all his might so it swung open with force. Miranda and her friends could clearly see rage coursing through the beta’s face, it made them shiver with fear, Audrey and Beatrice quietly excused themselves leaving Miranda to speak to beta Valledor alone not wanting any trouble, they were all scared of him as it was his daily routine to punish wolves of lower ranking.
“What is this I hear about another wedding Miranda?”
Miranda beamed, ignoring his question, “oh, beta Valledor, how nice it is to see you! It’s so good to see how worried you were about my disappearance.”
“Don’t play games with me when I’m talking to you child! Do you even know what you’re doing? You put the whole pack in jeopardy, and you don’t even care about your actions! Silly girl!”
“I care about this pack more than anything else Valledor, and that’s the sole reason I agreed to marry the silver pack’s alpha!”
Why would someone of such high status agree to marry someone like you, his former prisoner who’s not even from a well-respected tribe??? It makes no sense… Can’t you see he’s using you for something? I’m sure someone like him wouldn’t agree to this union unless there was something in it for him…”
“No one else in this packhouse knows that I was his prisoner apart from my father, so would you care to explain how you found out Valledor?”
“What?!! Don’t you dare change the topic on me!!! I could have gotten that information anywhere, besides, I asked you a more important question, and I demand to know the answer! Why did the silver pack’s alpha agree to marry you? What deal did you strike with him?”
Not that she owes him any explanation as to what she chooses to do with her inheritance, but yes, he still deserves to know as the pack’s beta, “alpha Damian and I made an agreement. He would have my hand in marriage and support the lotus tribe in exchange for our elite batch.”
The words struck Valledor like lightning, he found it hard to remain on his feet then, “my word… Miranda, you are a wicked child! So, calling off your former engagement where no such loss would have happened was not enough for you, now you want to give away the last thing that makes us stand tall as the Lotus??? The only thing that has saved our pack from extinction!! You want to finish us, Miranda!!!
“Trust me Valledor, this engagement is even better than the former one, there is less to lose here, and I would have never agreed to it if it weren’t for the greater good for the Lotus.”
“Open your eyes child! Can’t you see he’s using you??? Do you think he’ll give a damn about us once he runs off with our soldiers!! How could you have possibly agreed to this with your two open eyes??? How???”
“I do intend to give him our wolves, and I know what Damian is up to, he seeks to create a union that will last like no other and I am in full support of it…”
“Shut up!! Shut up your stupid mouth before I shut it for you!!! Such insolence… you dare to speak boldly knowing that you are leading this pack to its destruction…”
“Let this be the last time you speak to me that way Valledor! I might have run off the last time you hit me but I won’t let you treat me like the garbage you are anymore! I think I deserve a chance to stand up for myself and I refuse to be bullied by trolls like you!”
“What the… how dear you speak to me that way???”
“Yes…. Now you know how I really feel about your attitude towards me, the only reason I’ve been quiet long enough is because of the way Walden holds you so dearly as a friend, but now that my relationship with Walden is over, I don’t think there’s anything more to hide.”
Valledor turned and began to storm out of the room. Apart from the fact that he could no longer tolerate the disrespect from Miranda, his mind was distraught by the sudden news but he would deal with this brat later.
“Your father will be hearing about this, you stupid girl.” He then slammed the door behind him and then Miranda was left all alone.