Amongst the crowd
Ava was fine. The baby was fine too, the healer had assured him that her fainting was just as a result of her putting too much strain on herself, but in all, she was going to be okay. Lucas had ensured he’d gotten this news before leaving her side to heed to any call. Apparently, that “Rian” guy had gone to report him to alpha Daryl for ruining the supposed union that was supposed to happen today. Lucas didn’t have anything to say about this, nor did he have any intentions of going at first, but to honor alpha Daryl, he decided he would, but not until after making sure that Ava was okay.
He kissed her on the forehead as she was asleep after being given some sedatives to calm her nerves. He gave instructions to her servant, Keisha, telling her everything the healer said about what she would do when Ava woke up, and when he was done with her, he left to head to the Daivie court.
Alpha Daryl was there on his seat, as well as Rian, who stood near him with an angry scowl on his face.
“That’s him!” Rian pointed upon spotting Lucas’s entry. “That’s the evil wolf who mistreated Ava, and it’s because of him now that Ava refuses to marry me.”
“Shut up!” Daryl yelled, much to the shock of Ryan, who had expected that all the anger be directed towards the wedding crasher. “Have you no regard for an alpha? Or does he look like your mate?”
Shit. Rian didn’t know of him being an alpha, he’d seen the signs, but chosen to ignore them, as he’d met many wolves of different sizes, many claiming to be the mighty alphas’ they were not. He’d seen many impersonators and he’d assumed that this would be one of them. Now look how he’s made a fool of himself.
Daryl turned to Lucas, “alpha Lucas, please forgive this foolish follower of mine. He stormed into my chambers this morning complaining about some wolf that came from nowhere to take his bride from him. With the way he spoke, I thought he was referring to some commoner, I never realized it to be you, my mind has been so…”
“No need to explain anything, Daryl. I understand perfectly how much it means to lose something so dear to you, so I wouldn’t blame Rian for his anger. What I do blame him for is the manner in which he spoke to my family. I will not have anyone calling my woman a prostitute, not to talk of calling my child a bastard. It’s because of the respect and honor I have for you Daryl, that this omega can live to so much as dare to come to you to report me.”
Daryl got up from his seat then, heading to Lucas with empathy. “Please forgive me, like I said, I’m the one to blame for all of this. I should have never approved this silly union in the first place.”
“It’s all right. Let him just be glad that no harm came to Ava today because of his careless tongue.”
“I heard what happened to her, I didn’t even know it was because of this. I am truly sorry, Lucas De’ Clan.”
“No worries. She’s fine now.”
“No… let me handle that, I will see to it that Rian gets the punishment he deserves.”
Rian spoke then, “my lord… I…”
“Not anther word from you, Rian Dipinti, else I’ll triple your punishment and banish you afterwards.”
All Rian wanted to mutter was an apology, but with all the anger directed at him now, he thought it best to just keep his mouth shut.
“Guards!”
“Yes sire.” The armored wolves chorused as they came rushing in.
Daryl then pointed towards an ashamed Rian. “Take him away, and make sure he’ll be doing community service for the next two weeks. He’ll be scrubbing all the gutters.”
It seemed like a fair enough punishment, because it hurt much more to lose Ava than whatever amount of community service he’d been obliged to. Rian would do well to control his tongue next time and never to doubt the presence of an alpha. He thought this in sadness as the guards led him out of the court.
**********
Ava was back on her feet by evening time, and was able to attend dinner with the Daivie wolves. Lucas was there too, as he’d chosen to dine with alpha Daryl tonight since everyone was now aware of his presence. She couldn’t have glowed more in his eyes as she entered the hall with her servant behind her, she’d taken a seat far from him, amongst where some other omegas sat, but that didn’t mean he took his eyes off her.
For the sake of not putting too much strain on her thoughts, he’d stayed away from her for the entire day. Not that this was easy, but from the healers’ words, it was what was best.
All the merrying was suddenly stopped by the clinking of a glass as there was a new announcement to be made, and this was by the alpha himself. Daryl stood from his seat after getting the attention of all the wolves gathered at the dining hall.
“Good evening, everyone.”
“Good evening, alpha Daryl.” They chorused in response.
“I do not want to waste any time here, so I’ll just go on to say what I have to say tonight. I’m sure that instead of the normal dinner gathering, everyone here was expecting a wedding this evening. Some of you… in fact, majority of you are already aware of what happened today. I apologize for it because I as an alpha, should have taken certain steps in the past to avoid such happenings, but thanks to having such a strong relationship with one of my allies here today, we are glad that forgiveness supersedes any form of dispute or grudge that might want to come between our trust.”
The atmosphere remained quiet as everyone listened, paying rapt attention to the wise words of the alpha. Daryl was glad to have their focus as he continued.
“Tonight, I am glad to introduce you all to my most honorable ally, whom many of you have heard about as the man who saved us all, alpha Lucas De’ Clan.”
Cheers were spread amongst the Daivie wolves faces as Lucas De’ Clan had to stand up then, to honor the remarkable speech made on his behalf. All eyes were on him, but his own eyes remained on one woman who never failed to stand out so much, even whilst seated amongst the crowd.