187

Quinn
I was back home. We had won the war. We had chased off the wolves to wherever else they could go through and had gotten our men back. I knew that the men weren’t ever going to come back with what we had done to them.
I had been trying to have pity on them, knowing they were a homeless pack and wanted to reach a compromise with them, working on how they could live happily with our men without breaking any code of conduct and making a mess of the law but they hadn’t composed themselves in the manner of a pack that I would want my men to live with. Before long, if care wasn’t taken and I allowed my men to get used to men as barbaric as that, they would be corrupted by their bad manners and start living as animals which was less than what they were.
I leaned on my bed as I got out of the bathroom and splayed wide, explaining the rest I had. I needed it after the war that I had fought with those miscreants.
I heard a subtle knock on the door and wondered who it was. Mia and my brothers wouldn’t be knocked on the door and would have barged in as they liked. The wolves were back to their respective houses as soon as the ceremony was over.
Tyrex had also left with his father even though he had eventually moved out of their house to the house of the general of the pack which wasn’t far from where I lived. Even at that, he wouldn’t be knocking at this moment. We had departed minutes ago and he hadn’t told me that he would like to see me afterwards. The elders had all gone back to their houses and I didn’t ask for the staff so I doubted that it could be any of them.
The knock came again and I quickly dashed off the bed, throwing some clothes over my naked form.
“Who is that?” I yelled at the door. My much needed peace had been broken into.
“It’s Elsa, my lord, from the kitchen.”
It took a minute for her words to register in my brain. I was used to having the household staff call me young master that it was a bit disorienting to have them call me lord.
“Come in.” I said to her eventually.
She walked in with a tray of food. The aroma wafting from the dishes was so good that I couldn’t help the slight growl that emanated from my throat. She seemed to have caught that and smiled softly at me before bowing her head and blushing, pretending to be looking at the food when she noticed that I caught her staring and laughing at me.
I blushed myself, embarrassed that I had growled like that in the presence of our household staff. I guessed I should have eaten first when I got home instead of looking for rest. I didn’t know that I was hungry until she came with food. I checked the time and wondered if it was time for dinner yet and frowned when I realized that there were still some hours left.
“Are we having an early dinner?” I asked her.
“No.” She shook her head. “Dinner isn’t served yet.”
I thought as much. There was a strict timetable to the meals in our house and I had to wonder when it was changed if we had to have dinner at a time no one had been expecting.
I glanced at her. “Then what are these? I didn’t ask for a meal.”
“The young Miss thought you would need it and told me to bring it over. She cooked it herself as she didn’t want to stress out the kitchen staff, knowing that they would still have to prepare for dinner.”
I smiled. That was sweet of her. I was glad that she had remembered that I had gone on an outing and had been kind and considerate enough to prepare a meal for me. I was touched that she had gone through the stress and made the meal by herself.
Elsa smiled at me, knowing that I had been touched. “Should I set the table for you?”
“Please do.” I said, waving at her to do as she liked.
She set the table and placed the food on it. She was barely out of the room before I opened the dish and started scooping in the food into my mouth, moaning in delight as the taste burst into my mouth.
Few minutes later, I heard another knock on the door and asked the person to come in without asking who it was at the door, thinking that it was Mia who had sent the maid to give me another food.
I paused with the spoon halfway to my mouth, staring in shock as I watched the elders trooping into my room. What were they looking for? I didn’t think I had any meeting with them. I thought they were already back at their respective houses as well.
They could have called me on phone if they wanted something to say. I guessed it had to be serious for them all to be gathered together and come here.
Albus hid a smirk as he walked in and saw the dishes before me. I didn’t know why but I suddenly lost my appetite. They were making me shy and unable to finish my food. Seeing them together made me feel they were here for a serious meeting and I had to be serious as they were.
I was glad that I was almost done with the food before they came in or I would have hated wasting the food and not eating much, not after Mia had gone all out to make the food for me. It would have hurt me to have Elsa clear almost half of the meal when she came back to clear the plate.
I wiped my hand and pushed the stool away from me, indicating that I was done with the food.
“Don’t mind us. You can eat your meal.” Fredo said.
I didn’t know if he meant it or was teasing me and I didn’t have the strength to start analyzing his words, tone and facial expression to know what he meant. Now that I had eaten, I realized that I wanted to sleep and couldn’t wait for the elders to be done with their impromptu meeting and be out of my room.
I waved a hand at him, signifying to him that I was done with the meal and he didn’t need to be worried about me. I was curious to know what they had to say that they couldn’t wait till I was outside and had to come into my bedroom to discuss it.
It had to be really private.
“We were told that you would be here.” Kehlan began.
“You could have asked me for a meeting and I would have showed up at a convenient place.”
I wasn’t saying that my place wasn’t convenient but I didn’t like strangers in my room. Moreover, the way Fedro was looking around my room with a sneer he didn’t bother to hide on his face was making me remember all the reasons they shouldn’t be in my room.
I fought against the urge to snap at him to stop looking at the room. I didn’t want him to know that he was cringing me out with his eyes darting around. That would make the bastard feel like he was on top of the world and I would hate to see the stupid smirk on his face.
Albus shook his head. “This place is okay.”
I nodded and didn’t say a word, waiting for them to continue. It was already obvious that it had to be serious for them to call all the way to my bedroom when they could have requested to have it with me in the living room.
I wasn’t using the study as I couldn’t bear to chase dad out of it and assume it as mine. I had grown up knowing the study as dad’s instead of the alpha’s and it was going to be like that until dad found another place in the house to use as his study. For now, I didn’t have any private room I could have confidential conversations and I reminded myself of that so I wouldn’t have to be angry at the elders for walking into my bedroom.
I had given them the right to walk into my bedroom as they liked by not finding where I was going to have my meeting.
“I heard about the war.” Albus began. “I heard that you were able to get back the land for our men.”
I arched my eyebrows at him. That couldn’t have been what he wanted to tell me. They would have talked to Tyrex and any of the other men that we had gone together if that had been why they wanted to see me. That couldn’t be it. I wasn’t the only one who had gone there so I didn’t think that was why they would be here talking of it as if it was special and what others shouldn’t hear of.
I snorted as I looked at Albus. “I’m sure that is not what you are here for.”
He chuckled. “You are still as smart as I remember. You catch on quick.”
I didn’t respond to that as I didn’t have response for what he said. Still as smart as he remembered? Was there a point that I was meant to go dumb?
I waited, wishing that he would say what he had to say quickly so they could be out of here and I could have my rest.
“Why are you all here?” I finally asked when it seemed like they weren’t ever going to talk.
“It’s time for you to have a mate. You have to pick a mate from the pack, your lordship. The Luna ceremony is meant to happen few weeks after the coronation ceremony of the alpha.”
“Do I have to pick a mate as soon as soon as possible?” I asked.
They nodded. “Of course. The lady has to be a wolf though.” Fredo added.
Binoo chuckled. “As if he would. He knows that the Luna has to be a powerful lady. He wouldn’t be with a weakling.”
“That depends on what your definition of a weakling is. Have you seen those human females that he is working with in the force? They are strong.” Albus said.
Fredo snorted. “As if they could be stronger than a wolf. I would not accept a weakling for a Luna.”
I snorted with him. Of course, he would be part of those who believed that anyone who wasn’t born as a werewolf was a weakling. He hadn’t met enough people or he would have changed his orientation. I wondered what he would have done if he had met the dark wizard. That blasted bastard of a sorceress was a hard nut to kill that he had taken vampires and us to have enough strength before we could kill him. I knew that Fredo would lose his misplaced pride in a jiffy if he fought with the dark wizard.
Kehlan sighed. “Are we going to have a meeting or turn this into a debate? We brought a proposition and we should wait for him to decide.”
“We should.” Albus agreed.
“Should we pitch some female wolves in the pack who are single to you, your lordship?” Fedro asked. “Who knows? He could be single.”
I sighed. I had finally had enough. It was no wonder that they couldn’t talk in the living room where anyone could have overheard them and had decided to talk in my bedroom.
I spoke up with a loud voice, silencing anyone that might want to say anything else. “Thank you all for your concerns. I have heard you all but you don’t have to worry about finding a mate for me. I’m not single.”
“Good.” Albus smiled. “You have a girl you would like to mate with?”
I smiled, not blaming them for their confusion. I didn’t think they met with Mia during the party. They would have sensed my bonding scent on her – with that of my brothers.
Of course, they wouldn’t have bothered about her. They were probably like what did they need with the human daughter of their former alpha and the human sister of their present alpha? The keyword there was human and they had disdained her. If only they had known.
I shook my head, telling them that they were wrong. “No, not that I was about to mate with her but I had already mated her.”
“What?” Albus asked with his eyes widened. “You have a mate already and we didn’t know? How come? Was she at your coronation party?”
I nodded. “Yes, she was but I didn’t think you noticed her.”
“You certainly do know how to maintain a secret relationship.” Fredo chuckled. “Who is she? Who is her father and from what clan is she in the pack?”
“She is Mia.”
I knew they wouldn’t make the mistake of assuming that she was another person because there was only one Mia that everyone knew to be close to me. They all looked at me in shock and the silence that followed afterwards and reigned in the room was enough to make a man go crazy.