Chapter 21 Chapter 21
Ethan's POV
I was seated at the banquet table, the food laid out for Sophia and the flowers and candles arranged so artfully by the household staff. I sighed heavily.
“Where is Miss Sophia going?” Max asked as he abruptly came in, his face shone with happiness, for some reason I was bothered by the sight.
“Get out!” I snarled as he came to a halt, freezing and damping that smile just a bit.
“Listen Alpha. It seems that you’re a little bit frustrated right now and clearly you have no place to release that tension. I’ll be back some time.”
“Why are you mad at Max?”
“ Can’t I be irritated by his face once in a while? does somebody want to tell me where in the Constitution it says I can’t hate him?”
“How about we find a woman to… you know, work out a little of our frustration?”
“No. I don’t want anybody else. It’s only Sophia that I love.”
Just a few times: a handful of brief meetings here and there, but not enough to have had any real introduction with the woman, and yet I was already in love with Sophia. It wasn’t just that she was my Fated Mate but every one of her traits stood out and drew me in in everything that I saw of her.
I was drawn to her in every way, and I loved her fiercely.
She was, however, anxious about her previous relationships and that was holding us back from any potential. I rubbed my head irritably.
“My darling son appears to have neglected to keep his Mate at his side today."
I turned my head away with a cold on my face as my mother came over to the different stacks of jewellery I’d made for Sophia and she began selecting pieces randomly.
“I have a solution to that,” she said.
“What is it?” I said, trying to stay calm, but I‘m sure I was just holding my breath.
“Sophia’s pack is in trouble.”
“You want me to give her money to help? Or more soldiers?"
“Of course not!” My mother gave me a glare.
“Mate’s are meant to assist one another and even make a taste of the benefits. It’s meant to be a mutually beneficial relationship, not one person always handing out to the other. Do you get me?”
My eyes lit up when I knew exactly what my mother was saying. With an alliance meeting in a few days, I suddenly suppose I have the golden chance to see Sophia every day!
Sophia's POV
I had rushed back to the Darkridge Pack and upon my arrival, I found Beta Thorne waiting for me at the door. "What happened?!"
"I'm sorry Sophia, the Alpha has taken a turn for the worse."
I felt as though my heart had stopped beating when I heard this and I ran off in silence to my father's room.
He was lying in bed, his face pale and gaunt, his skin with a deathly pallor, and so many of the private doctors in the pack were gathered around him.
I jumped on the edge of the bed, held my father’s hand close and made myself not to cry in front of so many people and to be strong for my father. He let out a slow breath and slid his eyes open and gaze at me.
"Sophia, you're back."
"Hi Dad. I'm back. How are you feeling?"
He groaned, and one of the private doctors standing by his side went up to me.
"The Alpha’s condition isn’t good. The last poisoning took a lot out of his body, and while he’s not under any threat to his life right now, he does need more rest than he’s receiving."
"I understand," I said quietly as a cloud seemed to settle over my face.
I stuffed my fists forcefully at my side. “Lila Scott, I'll make sure you pay for what you did! "
It’s time to settle our score."
“How long will it take for the Alpha to recover?” Thorne worriedly asked the doctor.
“I dunno, but a month at the least.”
“Half a month? You must be joking! That means we can’t go to the Alliance meeting!”
Thorne's anxious voice was ringing in my ear. I had a sudden recollection that the Alliance meeting was coming up in a few days, and it was vital for every Pack. But my father couldn’t go as he was.
“Don’t worry Thorne.” “I will go to the meeting as my father’s representative.”
I rose suddenly and stared at Thorne passion there was like blinding fire in my eyes.
I will make sure that I win in protecting my father and the darkridge pack from now on!
A couple of days after, I slipped into a formal black dress bearing the Pack emblem and pulled my hair up in a neat an elegant business look.
I went with the natural look when it comes to makeup that highlight your features without making you look too much , and took the place for the Alliance Meeting.
I stepped out of the vehicle and as I did so, my eyes met the legendary Altinis Arena right in front of me.
The snow white house radiated divine vibes like the moon goddess with a moon goddess figure standing in the doorway.
I bowed to the statue and took a deep breath.
Moon Goddess, please look favorably upon me and grant me your blessing to enable everything to go smoothly today.
After passing by the Moon Goddess statue, I was brought by the servant to the meeting place.
The moment I showed up at the door, the noisy room quickly hushed, and nearly everyone was looking at me.
It was a very unsettling experience to have everyone looking at me and feeling so self-conscious, but I took a deep breath and put those feelings away, forced a dignified and composed expression onto my face, and walked as gracefully as I could past the group of alphas that was gathered, then took the seat labeled with the name of the Darkridge Pack.
“Why send a woman for the Darkridge Pack?”
"That’s the jealous Luna they were all talking about! She’s poisoned the Alpha’s Fated Mate in public!"
"Does she have the right to participate in the Alliance meeting at all?"
The people around me were loudly murmuring, as if they weren’t afraid of me overhearing their speech.
I was aware that the meeting room was packed with Alphas from different Packs, including some who were influential, and well-known.
Since the formation of the Alliance and the very first meeting, not a single woman from any pack had ever shown up, let alone someone like me with a bad rep and who was recently dragged through the mud in the eyes of the public.
“Where is the Alpha of Darkridge Pack?” A voice suddenly broke the silence, the question was pointed at me.
When I turned towards the direction of the voice, my eyes met a solid, somewhat chubby alpha from a moderately strong pack.
“My father isn’t doing so well at the moment, so I’m here in his place,” I told him with a polite smile.
To my surprise he began to laugh derisively and to speak down to me while tossing glances in my direction with a horrible sneer on his face, “You need not come at all, why send a woman to do a man’s work?”
His voice was so boisterous and authoritative that it attracted the attention of all, and the people near us were laughing.
Their half mocking faces are mirrored in my eyes.
"That's enough!!"
I turned to Ethan, who was being watched by a crowd of people who were looking at him as if he was worthy of worship: Once his voice rang out, the whole room was quiet.