That night, sleep was far from Floyd's eyes. He stared blankly at the ceiling, hoping morning would hasten.
He could feel incessant tingling sensation in his fingers, hands and legs as a jolt of nervous energy hit him continuously.
He couldn't wait to see her again, to hear her voice again, to apologize for all he did, to tell her how much he loved her.
He laid on his bed fully awake his arms wrapped round each other until few hours after midnight when he sat up. He headed to the bathroom, freshened up and slumped into the sofa waiting for the sun to rise.
As for Otto, he ensured he relished the sweetness of his soft mattress and got drunk in sleep as he had no idea if they would wait at the river bank the entire day.
A knock on her door woke her from sleep. She sighed in annoyance, grumblingly got off the bed and gazed out the opened window, it wasn't yet dawn.
With deep frown on her face she pushed herself to the door and opened it.
"Sorry to disturb you, but I need to talk to you urgently." Sebastene was at the door with Chlyde his beta.
Alora's heart skipped a beat. The urgency in the alpha's voice caused an ache in her belly. After a brief moment, she stepped aside for them to come in.
They sat on the small chair in her room while she sat on the bed, her heartbeat pounding in her head.
"You don't have to panic, it's nothing bad." Sebastene noticed the anxiety gathered in her eyes.
And her racing heartbeat decelerated. "Okay."
Sebastene cleared his throat. How should he start?
He glanced at his beta who slowly bobbed his head.
"Ehm.. the thing is.... well....okay. if things turn out right and you're privileged to return to your mate, will you go back to him?"
Her brows contorted.The question sounded out of place or rather rhetorical, but the men in her room held the highest authority in the pack she found refuge in, so silence would be rude.
Her brain rumbled in deep thought. If she had an opportunity to return to Floyd, would she? She missed him, but he hurt her!
He had a luna who had a wolf while she was wolf-less. A wolf-less mate would be useless to him.
"I don't know."
"Why? Don't you miss him?"
"I do, I miss him but things won't work between us, I don't have a wolf." Her eyes misted over as she recalled the past.
Chylde stared deeply at her. "Even if he loves you?"
"Love me!" She drew her brows and shook her head. "Impossible!"
The two men glanced at each other. The Floyd they saw was in deep grief, one who wouldn't return until he saw her, one whose expression, action and voice were evident of his love for her.
"What if he loves you Alora? Have you ever thought about that? What if he has developed feelings for you?"
Can Floyd love her? Isn't it impossible?
"Can he love me?"
"Do you love him?" Sebastene fired the question back at her, and an air of quietude swept across the room.
"Tell me truth Alora, do you love him? Do you wish you could return to him?"
She loved him, she missed him, her heart ached whenever she thought of him.
"I love him, I wish to see him again." She'd tried to forget him but it seemed like a knot had tied them together. She gazed at her abdomen which was slightly bulged. His child.
"You're from Broln pack." It wasn't a question but an affirmative statement.
Alora gaped. They must have found out!
"Yes." She mumbled.
Sebastene stared at her intently, then rubbed his eyes and his forehead.
"Alpha Floyd wishes to see you." And she trembled greatly, her eyes darting around vigilantly.
"He won't hurt you and can't be here!" The vigilance in her eyes rose an urge in him to probe her further on her relationship with Floyd.
"He will sentence me! Don't let me see him please!"
She scrambled farther into the bed and wrapped her arms round her raised knees.
"Alora!"
What exactly did Floyd do to her that only the mention of his name gave her so much fright?
"Floyd can't step his feet into our pack, you can't cross that river, so there's no harm in seeing him!"
She blinked, trying to process his words. That's right, he wouldn't be able to step into the cursed pack.
Then she slowly unwrapped her arms and sat upright.
Sebastene bored his questioning eyes into her. He needed to know what transpired between the two mates.
He was aware Floyd had a luna who he took several months ago, the daughter of a dangerous alpha, Donovan.
"Can you tell me exactly what happened?"
She lowered her eyes, her face twisted. "I'm his first mate but when he found me, I couldn't shift because I have no wolf."
She wiped the tears that gathered in her eyes. "I expected my wolf to appear, perhaps in months, but it didn't."
Sebastene turned to Chlyde who shook his head. "And he chose to treat you badly because of that?"
She nodded readily. "Yes."
Chylde let out a deep breath and repeatedly wagged his head. Why should Floyd treat her badly? It doesn't make sense? He could have rejected her or she would have rejected him.
"Alora, how long did his maltreatment last?"
"Four years."
"What!!" The two men looked at each other in disbelief.
"And you didn't reject him as a mate to save yourself?"
How could she endure five years of ill treatment when she had the right to free herself?
Alora swallowed hard. There was no point hiding it.
"I didn't reject him because I couldn't bear to. We were friends way long before he became an alpha, before he even shifted."
She was the first to ride on his wolf after he shifted. She recalled how happy she was that day on top of his hefty wolf.
Later that same day, he asked her to give it a name and she chose the 'Kylo.'
Whenever she recalled how good their friendship was before her sixteenth birthday and how Otto cared for her after her sixteenth birthday, she had no intention to reject him.
Chlyde chuckled lightly. She was beginning to make sense.
"Or you couldn't reject him because you love him."
She bit her lower lip and her eyelids involuntarily blinked repeatedly.
Chlyde looked at Sebastene and shrugged. The truth was out, obviously she loved him and couldn't bear to reject him.
"I'm an alpha. Though my pack is struck by Selene, but I must keep to my words. Floyd is a good man, the first time I met him, he did something no body had ever done for Riverville pack. I owe him numerous favours and this is one of them."
He rose and walked over to the bed. "See him please, I'm begging you Alora."
She was at loss for words to say. Would she refuse an alpha who saved her?
She fiddled with her fingers, her head lowered and her face writhed as though she was holding back her tears.
"Please Alora."
Letting out a deep breath, she nodded. "Okay, I will."
"Thank you. Go back to sleep, we'll leave before noon." And they left the room.
Alora sank in thought. How could he call Floyd a good man? A man who made her life a living hell for four years?
She laid on the bed, shut her eyes to sleep, but the scary images of Floyd she'd created in her head forced her eyes to remain open.
Why was he looking for her? What does he want from her? Thousands of thoughts and images skulked through her mind.
It was at dawn the pregnancy hormone came to rescue her from the tight grip of insomnia.
By the time she woke again, the sunlight had brightened her room with its golden rays which penetrated through her window.
She stretched, yawned, slowly sat up the bed and rubbed her face tiredly.
She would be meeting Floyd soon. Her heart missed a beat and her body trembled slightly at the thought.
What if he harmed her? What if it was a trap to kill her. Sebastene said he was a good man and wouldn't harm. Impossible!!
"Favour me today dear goddess." She mumbled then straight to the bathroom to freshen up.
She wore one of the beautiful dresses Cecelia made for her, then stood before the mirror in her room to look at her reflection.
The dress was well fitted the first time she wore it, but after several weeks, it'd become tighter especially around her abdomen which was slightly swollen.
She checked other dresses and they were the same, tight around her abdomen, making her bulge visible.
Her forehead crinkled, she didn't want Floyd to notice her bulge, but left with no other choice, she picked the flowery dress and stuffed herself in it.
She looked at her reflection again and subconsciously smiled. She looked beautiful in the dress.
Done, she left her room to look for the one who'd become her mother. She met her in the dining room setting the table for breakfast.
"Hope you slept well!" Her face burnt with happiness the moment she saw Alora heading towards her.
"Mother." She smiled and hastened to her. "I did."
"Thanks to the goddess." She drew out a seat.
"Sit, I'll serve your meal." Cecelia dashed to the kitchen and soon returned with a tray of sumptuous meal.
Alora felt a bundle of kindling in her gut. How good it was to be treated like a princess. She wasn't allowed to assist in any chores either in the royal house or the pack.
"Hurry and eat, the alpha is waiting for you." She poured some water into a glass cup and set it beside her plate.
"By the way, you look stunning!" Alora blushed. Cecelia would never cease to shower praises on her.
"Thank you mother." She reminded her of her biological mother, who used to pour accolades on her until her wolf disappointed her.
The woman who told anyone who cared to listen how much she regretted birthing her.
"You will look good in this pregnancy, look at how you're already glowing!" Her eyes sparkled with excitement and good humour as she spoke.
"Mother, isn't it early to tell?" She munched her food slowly.
"Trust me, you will look lavishing." And a jolt of pleasure coursed through Alora.
"May the goddess bless Riverville pack for all they've done for me."
How she wished life would be better for Riverville pack, for Sebastene, Chlyde, Cecelia and all who had shown her care in the pack.
How she wished the goddess would take away her malediction and shower them with blessings.
Cecelia drew out a chair, sat beside her, held her hand and rubbed it gently. "The child will meet his father today."
Alora's shifted in her seat and swallowed hard. Sebastene must have told his mother about Floyd's request.
"No matter what happens later today, please be nice to Alpha Floyd, he's a good man."
Alora stared blankly at the older woman. How well do they know Floyd to tell he was a good man?
"Promise you will be nice to him." Her expectant eyes pierced through Alora.
How many years does she have before the curse would take her that she wouldn't make peace between two beautiful souls.
Though it was impossible for Alora to return to Broln pack, but a good relationship could be maintained between the two mates.
"I promise to be nice to him mother."
"Good girl!!" She finger combed her hair and placed a kiss on her cheek.
"Finish your food." Then she left the dining room.
Left alone, Alora ate her food silently and when she was done, took the dishes to the kitchen to wash.
Done, she made her way to the court to meet Sebastene and his beta.
"Ready?" The two men rose but Alora shook her head.
"I'm sorry alpha, but I don't want to go. Forgive me."
She'd thought about it and had decided not to see him. Since they had no relationship or connection it would be safer to stay away from each other.
"What!!" Sebastene muttered, glanced at his beta who had slowly placed his butt back on the chair.
* * * *
Otto was enjoying his peaceful sleep when Floyd kicked him. Jolting from sleep, he saw him fully dressed.
His face twisted and a deep sigh left his lips. He sat up and gazed at the fully dressed man in confusion. "Whe...."
And he recalled the dressed man had an appointment to see Alora that day. With a deep sigh, he laid on his bed, ignoring the man who was giving him a stern stare.
"We need to leave Otto!" He wouldn't let him sleep as he kept kicking him until he angrily got out of bed.
"Didn't you scold me yesterday? Why wake me this early?" Otto grumbled as he dawdled to the bathroom.
"Is yesterday not in the past?"
"Damnit Floyd!! You're really something!!" And he shut the door heavily.
Floyd shrugged and slouched down in the sofa. Not that he couldn't go alone but was suddenly smashed with nostalgia.
After a while, Otto emerged from the bathroom, dressed up, then slumped into the sofa.
"Why are you sitting, let's leave." Floyd rose from his seat but Otto didn't flinch.
Giving him an intense quizzical stare, he thumped him lightly on the shoulder. "Let's leave."
"Is too early, let's wait till noon." He was awoken early, then impelled to leave for the boundary at an hour when some wolves were still in the wild hunting. Was he the offender or an accomplice to suffer with him?
Floyd slipped his hands into his pant pockets. It was too early to leave but he couldn't stay in the pack any longer. All his thoughts were on Alora.
"Beta, I'm sorry, it's just that my anxiety is shredding me."
His heartbeat thundering in his head had resulted to an intense headache that might burst his head.
Otto gazed at him and for the first time that morning noticed his eyes.
He frowned deeply at the thick dark circles that'd formed under his eyes. "Did you sleep last night?"
Floyd sighed and Otto raised his brows meaningfully. Obviously, his alpha didn't sleep.
Otto stood up. "Let's go."
If his alpha didn't sleep the previous night, then they better leave for the boundary.