Chapter 20: A Traders Family

Chapter 20: A Traders Family
Sydney
I take a seat behind my desk. Silas and I are still in our workout clothes from tryouts. Elder Joseph is glaring at me. His two adult sons, Ralph and Vance, are glaring at him. Ralph's son Ambrose is standing at attention like a soldier waiting for orders, and of course, Vance's daughter Amber is cowering behind her father like a wet dog. At least that horrible perfume has been washed off.
Si stands next to me, as seems to be his style. I don't know if I like it or just getting used to it. Gideon hasn't left yet, and he and Lucas have made themselves comfortable on the sofas waiting for the show. Well, I guess I would have to deliver.
"Thank you all for coming so quickly. It has come to my attention that Amber attempted to seduce my mate. I say attempted because she almost got herself killed in the process." I stay as calm as I can. I feel like this is some kind of test. Silas snarls at Amber, and I want to laugh at how terrified she looks, but I hold it in.
"It was grandfather; he told me to," Amber shouts from behind her father.
"Dad, is this true?" Vance was a friend of my father's. I remember him bringing Amber over when she was just a toddler. She was scared of me even then.
"Of course not. Alpha, I would never undermine your authority like this. Amber must have developed a crush on the Lumiere." Amber has always feared me. She never insulted me or tried to befriend me. She ran in the other direction. She was a chicken has been since we were kids. I'm hard-pressed to believe she would suddenly become bold enough to seduce Silas without coaching.
"Liar! You said I could be the Luna if I seduced him and got him to mark me." That sounds like Joseph. He was one of the reasons I was not considered for Beta under Tarlo, even though it was my birthright.
"Alpha, my son and I have nothing to do with this, and to be honest, I barely speak to my father for this very reason." Ralph's mate was related to my father, and Ambrose and I grew up playing together. He was the closest person I had to a friend, but Tarlo ostracized my mother and me more and more as I got older. Ambrose and I just stopped talking. I didn't expect much from Ralph, but I knew he was not like his father.
"Dad, how could you set Amber up like this. Not every male is as weak as you." Vance is spitting out hateful words at his father for what he did to their mother. It's a well-known fact that once her sons both became adults, she left her fated mate and completed the rejection ritual. Rosemary lived out her days as a scarred one in the Ashwood pack.
Vance's harsh words hit a nerve with Joseph, "Shut up all of you." He sneered out.
I was done with this family drama. "Joseph, I am stripping you of your Elder title, and you will be moved to the outskirts of town."
"You can't do this to me. I've been an Elder of this pack longer than you've been Alpha." Silas takes a step forward. I grab his arm before he can take another.
"My tenure as Alpha has nothing to do with this decision. You violated basic ethics, and I cannot trust you to counsel Silas or me on pack matters. I don't want to hear another word." Silas glares down at the old man, who makes the most intelligent decision he's made all day and shuts up.
"Amber will be demoted to an Omega and do cleaning duties in the mess hall for six months." Amber was just a pawn, but she needed to learn to think for herself.
"No, Alpha, please… Ouch." Vance grabs his daughter's arm and shakes his head. He knows this is a light punishment compared to what could happen. "Yes, Alpha."
"I doesn't seem that you three were involved, but I will have to pull Ambrose from the Beta and Gamma tryouts."
"Please, Alpha, give me a chance. We are second cousins on my mother's side. I have Beta blood. I can do this." The truth was Ambrose was the best candidate for Beta; I just couldn't trust Joseph.
"I'm sorry, Ambrose, I just can't take the risk." I really didn't want to punish him for something his cousin and grandfather did, but I needed to set an example.
"I denounce my grandfather, and I'll change my last name to my mother's Loopnoir. Please, Alpha." Joseph snarled, but the death glare he received from his son and grandson shut him up quickly.
"Alpha, I will take my son's punishment. Please don't take this chance from him." Ralph was always a good guy. I never understood how he was Joseph's son.
"I'm sorry." I shake my head. I need to stand my ground. I can't let this slide.
Ambrose suddenly drops to one knee, "I Ambrose Loopnoir of the White Ridge Pack, pledge…."
"Stop. Everyone out except you." Gideon yelled so loud, and forcefully I almost got up to leave. Joseph, his two sons, and Amber quickly leave the room without question. "OK, you can continue." I have no idea what's going on right now.
Ambrose is still on one knee. He lets out a breath before continuing, "I Ambrose Loopnoir of the White Ridge Pack pledge my Loyalty to Alpha Sydney Eld and Lumiere Silas Youngblood, the mother, and father of our pack. Please accept my pledge." He extends a claw and cuts his palm; I have no idea what for.
I look up at Silas to see if he knows, and he looks over at Gideon, trying to find the answer. Then something clicks. "This is the loyalty pledge you talked about." Gideon nods in affirmation. I look at Ambrose, who's kneeling, presenting his bloody hand. I guess it's up to the goddess. I stand up and walk over to him. "Well, let's see if you are truly called." I cut the palm of my hand. "I accept your pledge." I take his hand and let our blood mix.
Ambrose jolts back, "My pack mark feels like it's burning." We all look, and it's getting bigger richer in color, and behind the mountain peaks, a full moon emerges in all her glory, confirming his ranked status.
"Well, it looks like you found your Beta. Even better, he comes from the Eld bloodline. You said second cousins, right?" I nod. I can't deny we have the same great-grandparents.
"I guess so." I huff. Well, he was the best candidate anyways, and we are related. The goddess called him, but I still didn't want to let my guard down. He might be related to me, but he's also related to Joseph.
"Wait, what just happened?" I guess we didn't explain what just happened to him, did we.
Silas reaches a hand to help the confused Ambrose up." Beta, Ambrose Loopnoir, please work with us to restore this pack." Silas chuckles and claps Ambrose's shoulder. His eyes are about to pop out of his head.
"I'm the Beta? Really? I just did that because I felt like I needed to. I didn't even know what I was doing.”
"That was the goddess calling you. You did as she instructed. Congratulations, you are the new Beta." Gideon walks over and slaps Ambrose on the back.
Ambrose's eyes are glossy, and I can see how memorable this moment is for him. "I will do everything I can to help you and the Lumiere revive the pack." He bows his head with respect.
"I'm confident the goddess called you for a reason. You will need to move into the packhouse by tomorrow so we can all work together." I smile at him. It's forced, and so are my words, but I can't do anything about what the goddess has planned. I wish I could.
"Yes, Alpha! I'm going to go pack now." Ambrose bows one more time before rushing out of my office.
"Well, that wasn't expected. Do you trust him?" Silas was testing me. He knows I don't trust anyone.
"To some extent, I guess. I don't think we have much of a choice. He was called just like you and me." There is a knot twisting in my stomach. I want to trust Ambrose. I want to trust Silas, but I'm always let down whenever I trust someone. Will either of them be any different?
"I guess we have to have faith in the goddess." His smug grin pissed me off. I was about to snap at him when Gideon cut me off.
"I'm leaving, but I'll be back in four days on the night of the half-moon with my Luna. Alpha John did some research and found that the Lumiere ceremony is slightly different from the Luna ceremony, and it's done on a half-moon. The next half-moon is four days from today. By then, you both need to be marked, and Silas needs to be a pack member." Gideon stands up and starts for the door like he just didn't drop a giant bomb.
"What! Wait, you never told me that before." I wasn't ready for this. We either had to mark each other tonight or wait three days. Either option felt rushed.
"Yeah, I talked to John while you two were training." Gideon walks out the door waving goodbye before closing it behind him.
Silas is just looking at the closed door. I hear him murmur, "Four days till my ceremony. We will be ready."