I glance up, staring at Nick's face, the first time I see him being slightly civil. I sigh disappointed, we could've gotten along had he tried things differently.
He turns around and addresses the man "Alpha Joseph, I'm sorry for what happened before. My mate was slightly nervous" I deadpan at him. I was not nervous, but I guess he can't know that.
"Your mate? Congratulations Alpha Nicholas! I'm glad, she'll be happy with you" he says and shakes hands with Nick. I seriously doubt I will be happy with him.
"Thank you, Alpha Joseph. Luna Claire, it's nice to see you again" he now addresses the woman in a red dress.
She smiles amiably and offers her hand, Nicks shakes it "Allow me to present you my mate and Luna of this pack, Alice" Nick says with a radiant smile. He looks proud. Why is he proud? I never accepted being his mate or Luna, he's basically lying.
"I'm not any of those things" I say seriously and shake the hands they both offer. They offered their hands at the same time, so I decided to use both hands, one of the handshakes is weird since we're using the right and left hand, but I don't care.
"Human mates always say that" The woman giggles.
"Ummm, I guess that's true since there's a lot of humans enjoying the company of their werewolves lovers… I will take your words into consideration, thank you" I say honestly, I have to take that into consideration, I don't want to just end up accepting things because I can't leave. I might change my stance if he changes his attitude but he's running out of time to do it. She flinches at my words.
"Are you mocking me?" she says angrily. I tilt my head in confusion, why does she think that? "The robotic voice? Is it to make fun of me?" her voice rising a little.
I sigh annoyed, pinch the bridge of my nose, and look at her "I always talk like this".
"Claire, Love, we're here to ask for assistance, not fight" the man, Joseph, puts a hand on her shoulder and she relaxes under his touch.
"Alpha Nicholas, after the attack of Rogues that killed our previous Alpha and I took over, I started to investigate the increase of rogue attacks within my territory and we found the River Pack was behind it" He stops talking, he sounds calm but behind that he's shaking with anger "Even now, rogues are still attacking our territory with the support of that Pack. We hope to ally with your pack in order to fight the Red River pack, it seems they've been active in your territory as well" Joseph stops talking.
"LIER" *he* shouts angrily. *He* starts clawing at him, trying to slash his neck but it doesn't work for obvious reasons "I trusted you! You were my beta! My brother in arms! Traitor!"
I can't suppress the smile that creeps up my lips crooking my face a little. I finally found it. I finally found how to do my mischief.
"Indeed, the Red River has been sending rogues here too. Alpha Joseph, I'll be glad to fight alongside you. I will keep you informed of the movements of rogues within the territory; I expect you to do the same. If they attack in either of our territories, we will go aid the other" Nick sounds serious and collected. I thought he was only a fool but apparently, he can at least do his work right.
I yawn, I can't help it, I was woken and I'm sleepy. Plus, it seems Nick only wanted me here as a trophy wife of sorts, neither I nor the other woman is talking. I still pay attention to what they're saying, I need the information to form a plan.
"I'm glad to hear that Alpha Nicholas" they shake hands and with that, they're done. I thought the meeting was going to be longer or something but apparently, this was just to make sure they're going to be allies.
I glance at the man called Joseph and I have to fight my smirk. I don't smile this often, but this is just too funny to ignore.
They talk a little more and apparently, they will stay for a couple of days to form an action plan, Nick is giving instructions through mind link to prepare a feast for the 'silver dagger' pack Joseph is the alpha of.
I'm glad they're staying longer, that will give me time to deal with the baggage they brought with them. The couple starts walking out of the office. Once they leave, I grab Nick's sleeve.
He looks at me in surprise. I suppose he was not expecting me to talk to him. "Nick, don't trust him" I say calmly. I'm not necessarily a fair player but I do feel obligated to at least give a little warning.
His eyes soften and look at me tenderly "You don't have to be afraid, Alice, nothing bad is going to happen. They're friends, allies".
"That's right mate! You don't have to be afraid; we will keep you safe" Apollo says while waging his tail.
"I wish you would just leave me alone. I don't want your protection but thank you for offering it" I say honestly. It appears these people forget that I was literally kidnapped less than 2 days ago. I'm not accepting any assistance from them.
Nick rolls his eyes and walks away leaving me alone, why is he storming out like a brat throwing a tantrum? Well, I have more important things to do. I don't have time to care about him.
I turn around and breathe out, I finally feel the pressure in my chest leaving me. The hate in that ghost was too heavy, he's so mad at that man he didn't let him go, not even to speak with me.
Ghosts like him are tiring and dangerous, but I'll deal with him later, my words are not going to reach him right now, I'll deal with the ghost in this room first. I turn around and look at the crying woman.
"Please, stop crying, let's talk" I say calmly, and she looks at me surprised, finally realizing I was actually speaking to her.
"Please help me" she says in between sobs. I groan annoyed. Ok, let's do this.
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I sigh heavily, this is just too much. The talk with that crying woman was too heavy. Eliza, the female ghost's name, was walking in front of me, guiding me through the group of unknown people of the Silver Dagger Pack.
She points towards a tall man, almost as tall as Dylan "That's him! That's my Wes, my Wesley" she says in a loving but sad voice "Please tell him I'm always near him, please tell him to take care of our son" she says solemnly. From what she told me, apparently many werewolves that lose their mates decide to take their own lives. Eliza wants me to tell him to not give up, to not leave their child alone, as expected, mothers worry about their children even in death.
I remember what she told me, she taught me how to reach him, how to show him I'm really talking to her. I stop once I'm barely 3 feet away from him, I smell the familiar scent of Lilacs and I smile faintly.
I take a deep breath and start talking "It seems you still confuse Lilacs with Lilies; they have similar names but are different-looking flowers, Wes" I say in my monotonic voice.
He flinches when I finish speaking "Eli…!!" he turns around and looks at my face, the happy desperate smile on his face disappears "..za…" he says the last syllable with a heartbroken face.
His lips tremble and I smile faintly "I'm sorry… I mistook you for someo-" He started to say regretfully but I cut him off.
"For Eliza" I say calmly "You mistook me for Eliza" I keep eye contact and he opens his eyes wide. His shock is soon replaced by anger as if I was violating a sacred memory. It's not the first time I get this reaction. It reminded me of the time I broke my most sacred rule back in elementary school.
A classmate was kidnapped on her way home. Her parents were looking for her, trying to find their daughter but I knew… I knew they would never find her, at least not alive. I went to their house to tell them, to talk to her ghost in front of her family and help them get closure… let's just say it backfired horribly, to the point her father almost killed me out of anger.
I keep telling myself that it didn't hurt me, that it was to be expected but that experience left a big scar in my heart, to the point I never trusted anyone with my secret. The good or bad thing depending on how one looks at it is I'm no longer shaken by those reactions, I'm far too numb to the living to be hurt by their reactions anymore.
"Who are you?" he says in a dangerously low voice, I can hear his anger seeping through his lips "How did you know about the flowers?" he keeps going while glaring at me.