Chapter 48 INTEGRATION OR NOT?
CLEOPATRA'S POV
As expected from the High Alpha, there's no contending with his word. He would always get the final say. I glanced at my dubious mate. He just stood there not doing a thing to help. Nothing he does will ever quell the deep-seated desire to clobber him. My next glance was at the Beta, who was nonchalant and expressionless.
I knew the werewolf laws from front to back. If he went deeper and connected all the relevant clauses from specific articles of the pack laws, it would be a losing battle. It was worth a try but my people needed a home.
We have had to fight to keep our space in the mountains against other rogues. When our fighters got injured, some succumbed to their wounds due to the lack of medical supplies and care. Our children were uneducated because they could not attend school.
We lacked the crucial professionals who would be an added asset to our welfare. If we had become a pack by ourselves, we'd bear an identity that fostered growth and integration for more warriors, skilled and knowledgeable people.
The Rogue Integration System was forcing us to join the existing packs or be eliminated. Because of this, Alpha Vance should not be trifled with, and why I had previously referred to him as a tyrant.
I strongly believe that each life mattered, rogues were not rogues because they wanted to be. Without having much choice left, our notorious position came from painful maltreatment from pack members where there was nowhere to turn for help or to have a voice.
Now, the new system was a way of cleaning up the rogues, or strays as they call us sometimes. Integration left us to deal with the stigma and prejudice of the existing pack members who held us as an impending threat. My wolves will have to endure this as we merge into this pack.
Therefore, I lobbied for our own pack to be officially recognized and registered so that future generations will have greater opportunities. Obtaining a stretch of land and a name for ourselves would provide a better standard of living and livelihood, free of condemnation.
"Do you have anything in place to combat being backlisted? What are the measures that you implement for rogues to be treated fairly and with equal opportunities?" This is what was relevant before my final decision.
"We have a Pack Members Resource Center that is managed by the Social Services Division. After the sworn-in ceremony of each rogue, all names and addresses are submitted to them and they have agents who monitor the newcomers in terms of education, child care, employment, and home life." My stupid mate finally said something. He was trying to sound persuasive. He held my stare for a second and looked away, acting like a shy kid. The idiot!
"We have an army that works hard at maintaining order in our regions," Duke added passively.
"There are appointed Elites who are the heads of those regions, governing the army. All of those do report to your mate and Gamma." Alpha Vance disclosed while twirling the pen in his hand. "And those are separate from the patrolling troops."
Wow, this pack was amazing, but I wanted to probe further. "Does monitoring us mean no privacy?"
"We are all entitled to our private lives. Privacy is given in the home space as long as there is no illicit act or breach of pack standards and laws." The Alpha intertwined his fingers with his elbows on the desk in front of him.
"You will be provided with a set of adherence for you and each member to review, affix your signatures on an acknowledgment document for filing on your records." Duke shared.
"Any abuse or bad treatment from anyone can be reported to the Social Services Division. They will know the steps from there." Blayne became talkative now. I drank from the glass of water that an omega came into the room to put down and left quietly. My eyes were glued to him. His lips were so entrancing. "If they are unable to resolve or settle the situation, the matter is brought here where the Alpha draws a verdict."
"No one wants the Alpha to draw a verdict because that's nothing but failure on the division's head and everyone, I mean everyone will have to answer." Duke underlined, shaking his head slowly.
'Let's stay here with mate,' my wolf implored. 'His wolf wants us to stay. He loves us.'
I ignored her annoying pleas. She hates it when I blow her off and whimpers softly.
"Any further questions?" Alpha Vance inquired with due diligence.
"My wolves have been camping outside the borders. How soon can we move onto the territory grounds?" Given that they catered to my necessities here, I felt disconnected from my people because I could not go to check on their wellbeing, and neither could they cross the borders onto the territory.
Blayne made sure that I lacked nothing. He consistently reminds the omegas to take care of his Gamma female. It was just his attitude to rush into intimacy that made me so mad. I wished that he would see me as the person that I am, not just as the object of his sexual cravings. It's a bluff when I glare at him with determined resolve, but he doesn't know that I look away when my wolf wants to misbehave and my body is reacting to him. I wanted him badly. Since I met him, I have masturbated often.
"I have to forward the agreement outlined here to my lawyer. He should be able to put the contractual details on paper within 24 hours for you and another member of your people to sign. Once that is done, we will make preparations for the sworn-in ceremony and housing, which is another 48 hours. Blayne will go through that with you. So that's 72 hours." Alpha Vance closed the file before him.
This man kept insisting that Blayne assists too much. My intuition says he is throwing us at each other for the mate bond to grow stronger. I already know that the probability of us officially becoming mates is almost certain. I sighed.
He was irresistible and I was fighting everything within me to not indulge in intimacy with him. I ached to be touched and kissed by those hot lips and to have those robust hands roaming my body. My wolf was not helping, as a matter of fact, I was fighting with her too. He must not know how weak I feel when I am around him.
"I will go and communicate with my wolves about the progress here. I hope that you could allow me to spend some time with them today and be back by dinner." I prayed for his leniency.
"Sure, Blayne will go with you." He smiled coolly. Again with that!
"Does Blayne have to be at my side for everything?" I fired cautiously at him.
"You are mates and that's how it should be." His eyes pierced into mine. I shivered as I retreated from my dominant stance and lowered my eyes. "See him as your personal bodyguard."
"We maintain harmony and order. It doesn't mean that things won't happen from time to time, but we like resolutions." Duke adjoined to the conversation and brought us back on track to the relevant subject. "Our way of life creates happiness among our pack members and gives us more time with our mates."
"Less work for everyone when there is unity." Alpha Vance nodded in agreement. The underlying meaning of that was to have unity between me and Blayne.
"I accept the integration and will arrange for the signing off on the contractual terms and conditions." Defeated but not doomed. That was my mantra for today. I got up off my bum. "Thank you Alpha Vance for all that you have offered to us. I appreciate that you are willing to take all of us here and not separate us. That's something that makes us happy."
"Good, good. Meeting adjourned." He placed the folder into his top drawer and gave me the you-can-leave-now-look. Looking at Blayne. "Shall we?" Inevitably, there's no way that I can control my desires for long if he's always around me. I was angry at him for making me feel these turbulent urges that I don't seem to have a say in.
Blayne was perfect, and I was blessed by the Moon Goddess that she gave him to me. He was strategic and smart, with the exception of how to be a gentleman. And I have been used to relying on my own strength since forever. There's a fear within me about letting him inside my heart. A worry that he might let me down.
I didn't know how to remove my insecurities to adjust and open my heart's door. He was like a wire cutter, slowly stripping down my shields.
"We shall," he returned and I rolled my eyes. Together we left the office and strode off to the forest. When we got to the entrance of the forest, we shifted into our wolves and ran to our destination. I maintained my distance and avoided eye contact with him the entire time.
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VANCE'S POV
Cleopatra is headstrong, pertinacious, and hardworking. I admired females like those who lived with a purpose and zest to amount themselves to something greater. She was the leader of the rogues and fought for their survival, liberty, and happiness.
From observation, she glanced at Blayne a lot throughout this meeting. The mate bond was becoming stronger and I had high hopes of them mating soon. Her dealings with this matter demonstrated her strength and qualities of being rightly destined as the Gamma Female.
"Why didn't you tell me that Hailey was here yesterday?" Duke's voice brought my mind back to the issues at hand.
I scratched the top of my nose. "Your sister and my wife are best friends. Should it surprise you that Hailey came to visit? She is still family."
"She normally calls first." He was on to something but it was not my place to tell him about it. "She said that she'd be here for a while. Her old room is loaded with her things."
"Duke, what are you getting at? Women love shopping." Throughout this time, I kept my eyes on my laptop screen.
"Something's wrong." He frowned with his mired thoughts.
"I suggest you talk to her about it." I quickly typed brief notes into a document and emailed it to Attorney Stone.
"Did Sianna tell you anything? Hailey would confide in her." His searching eyes made me feel guilty.
Lying to my best friend was not settling well with me. "I was kicked out of the room." That is the truth anyway.
He exhaled loudly. He was very protective of his sister to the point where guys feared dating her altogether. Hailey used to sneak out of the pack house to go out with one or two guys back then. Only to return to a raging big brother who found out she wasn't at home. Sianna was sometimes her accomplice.
When she found her mate, Duke was unwilling to let her leave and preferred for him to join our pack. However, due to his position there, Hailey moved instead after many deliberations. She was considerate of Raj's lifestyle and not wanting him to give up too much.
"I have to go and see Miriam." I had to get away from his interrogations or else I would slip and leak out what I promised not to divulge.
"Don't tell me something big is about to happen?" The last thing we both needed was another mess. He yawned like he missed out on his sleep.
"I won't know until I see her. I'll head there now." I left Duke in the office going through details to start planning the sworn-in ceremony for the rogues. It was basically the routine procedure but on a wider scale for 127 newcomers.
A ritual house, resembling a temple, has an altar displaying a representation of the moon goddess from her initial existence on earth, surrounded by carved black and white wolf figures and several kinds of moons. In the center of the flooring, is an engraved circular depiction of all that was on the altar, and my pack insignia in the middle of that circle.
I would have to slice my palm and let my blood run from the head of the moon goddess until it filled the entire circle. The same blood will be poured into a cup, and mixed with Alstroemeria root juices. Each rogue would stand in the circle, and take the traditional life-oath on the moon goddess to swear allegiance to me and my pack. Only the elders of the pack who formed my inner council were allowed to enter and keep the temple clean.
Putting that on hold for now, I arrived at Miriam's home in five minutes on the southern side. She lived in a farmhouse-style cottage to give it a modern uplift. She sat on the sprawling off-white porch in a padded cushion double seating chair.
I took the seat next to her and she patted my arm in a motherly way. "I won't keep you long."
She knew my attention span was limited. I hated drawn-out conversations and meetings. Only sex with my mate was worth a prolonged period. The longer an interaction took was the closest I got to biting someone's head off.
"I had a vision of Sianna and it was not good," Her eyes were lost in the trees that surrounded her home. She did that every time she was relating her visions, lost in the memory, so that she enlightened every detail.
My wolf's ear peaked up on alert. I felt him ready for battle to defend and protect our mate. Miriam felt my aura permeating and patted my arm again to inaudibly tell me to calm down. We obeyed for the reason of getting her comfortable to continue with her visions.
"I see a shadow lurking over Sianna and it follows her wherever she goes." She stated, "It is one of envy and betrayal. It will do whatever it needs to separate you and her."
"What form does this shadow appear in?" I asked, with my fingers on my chin.
"It's nothing but darkness in human form." She gently began rocking back and forth.
"Have you figured out why it wants to separate us?"
She was silent before adding, "It wants to rob Sianna of happiness. It could be anyone but the desire exists to rid you of your
heir."
"Did you check into Curtis? Maybe his parents?" He remains comatose but perhaps someone from his bloodline would hate me for what I did to him. "I have many enemies, Miriam."
"This one is not your enemy, but Sianna's." Lines of light blinked through her eyes. "Curtis is a fool in love. A man going crazy because he is losing the love of his life."
My wolf emitted dull rumbling noises at his discontent of hearing her say his mate was the love of another man's. Sure enough, he must have remembered the manner in which she abstained in the beginning because of her relationship with that damn jerk. "Being in love is not a crime," Was she making it worse for me? Saying something like this doesn't mean that I hate him any less. She patted my arm habitually.
The pat of this elder witch was like a magical sedative that made me relax. This action was done to soothe me so that my steaming anger wouldn't cause me to force shift into my wolf. This was her defense mechanism towards my rage, but only
because I permitted it.
The door to the side of the porch where we were opened and her granddaughter, Marlena stepped out with herbal tea and a toasty sandwich bread piled high with sliced cooked ham, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise.
Marlena was learning the craft from her grandmother and would assume the role at the age of twenty-one when Miriam could somewhat retire and enjoy her senior years.
At this house, visitors only got herbal tea for cleansing. I could not refuse, though tea was not to my liking. I took the small ceramic cup and supped. It was warm, they were much acquainted with their Alpha's taste. The sandwich was scrumptious and I finished it in a short time.
"Curtis' mind is hazy for me right now. Digging could prolong his comatose state unless you authorize me to do that." She glanced at me. "His mind is fragile."
"Curtis tried to kidnap Sianna at the Luna Ceremony." I yelped. She could take any information and dissect it into words to get
additional insight.
Her eyebrows curved downwards, and she turned her head lightly to the left and narrowed her eyes. She was piercing into the magical realm for answers. "Curtis doesn't want to hurt Sianna, but he was being manipulated by someone."
"This person could be the shadow?"
"Yes, should I open Curtis' mind to see more?" Miriam said calmly. "The boy's unhinged but you could help him redeem
himself if you spoke to him instead of having your murderous anger thrown out."
"I didn't kill him," when I should have buried him six feet under. I wanted to add that part but knew her counseling advice was
coming.
"But you weren't rational either." she added, and I frowned.
I knew what she was asking about opening up his mind. But if he died from the magical penetration into his soul, would Sianna find out about it and blamed me?
I closed my eyes and entered deep meditation. I connected with all of my pack members and ran through their minds. I was diligently searching for their inner thoughts and the conversations that they were having at that moment.
It was quickly done under two minutes and I opened my eyes. There was nothing aberrant to them conducting themselves according to their lifestyle. I will keep doing this until I find who the shadow was. To do this often is draining and will make my wolf tired, but I had to do this for Sianna and my pup.
"I will have Sianna guarded. You will have more visions coming to you soon, so I will make a decision at that time." I will keep
this from Sianna.
Miriam nodded. I hugged her and left the cottage, heading straight for home.