Laying down the law for the Alpha
A few hours later, Theo and Kayla over their sulk at neither of them being allowed to shower with Seph. They stood in the middle of the formal dining hall. A large, high-ceilinged room, the walls were painted a neutral magnolia. There were large round tables set at intervals around the room. Flowers, balloons and lights in silver and red with the occasional black wall decorations and table centrepieces. A series of flower walls covered the top wall and a balloon arch over the entrance. It was simple and tastefully decorated, just as Seph had planned, but the overall look was still impressive. The room was empty for now, but it was only a matter of time before the guests began arriving. The ceremony would occur outside; that was the only way all the pack could be involved with all the visitors. They had to set up more tables in the regular dining room for many of the pack. Only about 4 of the tables could be used for the pack in the formal dining room.
While checking that everything was set up and in order, Theo led the girls back into the office. They weren’t supposed to be seen until the ceremony, but they could watch as everyone pulled up from there. They had been hiding for about 10 minutes when J barged into the room “fucking hell, where have you been? I have been looking for you everywhere! It smelt like you were all in the loft, but no one was there. There was no trail or anything” he panted, it was clear he was beginning to get frantic in his search. Theo looked between his mates as if he wasn’t quite sure what to do with a frantic Beta.
“J, hey, come on, you found us. What do you need? What’s gone wrong?” Kayla asked.
“What’s gone wrong? What’s gone wrong? This! This is what’s gone wrong!” J waved a piece of paper in Kayla’s face. The note was an irregular shape and charred around the edges. A fire message.
J looked rather like a teenage girl overreacting to a broken nail. Seph was struggling not to laugh. “Is that from Odilio?” She asked, reaching out to take the paper from J. Odilio, being the only creature she knew capable of sending a fire message and who might actually want to reach them. J shook his head and held the paper out to Theo.
Theo took the paper from his friend, his face paling as he looked at the scrap in his hands. “This has to be a joke… they can’t… I mean, it’s 2 hours’ notice? How are we going to be ready? Seph doesn’t know the customs or anything.” Theo was beginning to sound slightly hysterical at this point too.
Seph looked at Kayla for help. Trying to work out what was going on. Kayla looked up at Theo. “Are you saying what I think you are saying?”
Theo sank heavily onto the chair behind the desk. His hands ran through his hair, and his jaw clenched. After a few moments, he finally lifted his head. “Right, ok, J, organise a room for him, just in case. And get an extra place set on our table or move someone. Make sure the outdoor area has a suitable place for him too.” Theo sighed heavily, rubbing at his face. “Seph, baby, you probably won’t like this, but I need you to do it for me, please, my angel.”
Kayla, too, looked nervous as she sat on the edge of the desk. Her hands fell over each other in her lap. Theo looked up at Seph with his wide, puppy dog eyes on, the fact that he knew Seph could never resist. “Will someone just tell me what is going on? Right now.” Seph demanded. Slamming her hands flat on the chair at either side of her hips.
Before anyone could answer, Odilio barged into the room “Which pompous, stuck-up prick are they sending? You know she isn’t under their authority. Technically, none of you are. It’s written into the treaties when the courts were formed. They must suspect. Do not let them sway you. They never help you. You just have to drag them along with you, not that they have much choice.” Odilio paused, thinking perhaps or just catching his breath. Theo thought he was going to continue; Seph, however, had other ideas. Odilio was pushed down onto the sofa with a complicated hand wave and seemed unable to speak. His face was a picture of shock and horror for a few seconds before pride and respect filled his eyes as he looked at Seph.
“Tell me what is going on. Right now, Theo Galloway or nothing will be going on at all because I will seal our borders!” In surrender, Theo held up his hands as Kayla laughed lightly, slipping off the desk and heading over to Seph’s side.
“He’s just a man. The royal court has decided to send the prince to meet with us about the witches and oversee the ceremony. It’s unusual but not unheard of. But they may not like that you are both our mates because this is unheard of; Theo and I are clearly not identical twins, and only identical twins share a mate. And they have all of these weird rules that they expect everyone to know and follow.” Kayla told Seph quickly, not seeming so bothered by the prospect of the visit.
“Exactly, we have two hours to ensure that Seph can do it. She’s not a wolf, and it won’t come naturally to her!” Theo exclaimed, rather overdramatically, Seph thought.
“None of you are under their authority… you are the mates of the Sanctorum,” Odilio said again, clearly annoyed at having to repeat himself; Theo wasn’t paying him any attention.
“Ok, Seph, you can’t look him in the eye, and you must keep Dextra hidden. We don’t know how he will react; you mustn’t speak to him unless he speaks to you first. He may not even acknowledge you until after the ceremony. What do we do with you?” He directed the question to Kayla after throwing a series of demands at Seph incredibly fast. It was clear he was nervous.
“Theo Galloway! We do not need to hide my other mate! Now stop this at once. I will be polite, and he will deal with it because, as Odilio has pointed out, we don’t have to answer to them, and we can protect our pack if needed. I will not bow and scrape to another man ever again. I will be me, and he can like it or lump it. It’s hardly going to change anything between us, is it?” Seph told Theo firmly. Theo could only shake his head no. How could he force his mate to subjugate herself to another man? After everything she had lived through and how far she had come. Even he didn’t, couldn’t, demand her submission. The pack loved her, and she made a great luna, if a somewhat unconventional one. What other pack could say that their luna worked in their hospital and was the best anaesthetist they had ever met? Or that their luna gave lessons on spotting types of magic and identifying when friends and family are under the influence of a spell? Luna’s typically arranged parties and celebrations were rarely seen without guards and often were unapproachable. Not Seph. She even trained with the pack. No one was scared to go to speak to her or seek her out when they needed help. She was perfect for this pack and for Theo.
Kayla had taken a seat by Odilio to watch the interaction between her brother and her mate. Smiling softly, an air of great pride about her as Seph laid down the law for Theo. She could tell that Theo was fighting the typical alpha urge to demand that Seph give in and bend to his will, but he couldn’t do it; he wouldn’t do that to her. She had come too far from the girl they found in the woods. Even Odilio nodded approvingly.