CHAPTER 37

The Elders were a Council comprising of the oldest members of the pack; including his grandmother and Adele's father. They served a variety of functions; performing marriage rituals and the rites making him the Alpha among punishing and banishing rogue wolf and a whole lot more involving the laws he was not ready to think about.
All he truly cared about was for them to agree to performing his marriage rites as soon as possible and he was counting on Rose to influence their decision.
A human Luna? The elders were going to oppose tooth and nail.
But right in their midst, he did not expect to hear some of the atrocities muttered against her in his presence and none even had to do with the fact that she was human.
"She?," Thomas had almost choked on the word as he pointed a condescending finger at Shana who had a weird look in her eyes.
Then the finger dropped almost reluctantly as he looked to Rose and he saw the silencing and aloof look she was giving him.
Everyone else seemed to notice the look except an average sized shifter who had a cunning look in his eyes and he did not hesitate raising his objection in a croaky voice. "Now, now, listen Asher. We cannot have another 'pale one' being the Luna of this pack. The pack is still suffering from the blow of the previous Luna," he finished saying the word 'blow' in a way that left nothing to the imagination that he was referring to Asher as the blow. Or the 'by-blow' rather.
Asher gave him a quelling look that made him recoil into himself and no one said anything after that. They were the Council but to him, they were not different from the rest of the pack, no matter the power they wield. That power could easily be vetoed by the all powerful Alpha and they knew that as much as they knew he was close to doing that with the look in his eyes.
Shana sat beside him stiffly and he had to resist the urge to take her hand and reassure her. He discovered that after their mating, they became closer but he also felt like she was so far away, like the look he got in her eyes whenever she did not know he was looking. The look was almost like regret but maybe it was just his mind playing games with him because he could not believe she was finally his for good.
The mating had been their only night together so far as she had refused to come home with him after that, always giving one excuse or the other. Letting her out of his sight was like poking at a wound but he allowed her nonetheless because he did not want her to feel choked in the relationship. But that morning, he had practically dragged her before the Elders without giving her a clue because she was probably going to come up with an excuse about a nonexistent grandmother or mother.
Asher cared so much about her, he was ready to take everything at her own pace but that did no mean her pace was not killing him. Shana seemed like she was not into him like he had thought. She was not asking questions about his life, even though he knew they were questions he was not willing to answer. But whatever she was dishing out, he was willing to take.
The Elders were all left bristling in their seats as a nerve ticked rhythmically in Asher's left jaw. They could all she his temper was close to letting itself lose on them.
He could understand them thinking his mate was a Crier; the 'pale one' as his kind referred to them because of their skin but he knew firsthand Shana was no Crier.
"I would love to inform you all we are already mated," he said in a tight, low voice that brooked no argument as he moved the collar of his shirt to reveal the mating mark, making those in the room gasp in dismay but still held their tongues. "And it is a matter of formality making you all stand here before me."
He was definitely the one standing before them but not a single person was bold enough to make that correction to his intentional mistake.
Thomas continued staring at the obvious telltale signs before him but he said nothing as Rose continued to stare him down to hold his tongue.
Was the old woman becoming addled she could not see the signs before her? What was she thinking keeping quiet while her son got shackled to everything he had always hated in life?
But he realized he did not even have the gut to speak in the presence of the two imposing figures before them. And he was disappointed.
He also realized his dream of Adele becoming Luna of the pack was finally gone, giving him the much awaited opportunity to do what he was sure the former Alpha would want in his grave.
Rose watched her grandson with pride. The Crier was definitely good for him, she thought to herself. The Alpha she had known for the past month had never taken full control as she just saw him did.
Instead, he had always tried to put the happiness and wants of the pack at the expense of his own, all because he wanted them to truly want him as their alpha; not just a bastard who got lucky and was chosen by the moon goddess.
She just could not keep the smile off her face as she watched them all staring like the cat got their tongues. More like the big, bad wolf before them had got their tongues.
But Shana was not smiling and she definitely had a look in her eyes that said there was more than the fact that she was deceiving her grandson about her identity worrying her but she did not dwell much on it.
Her gut, old or not, told her everything was going to be alright.
"Now, I will like to back up what the Alpha had said," Rose finally spoke up, being the only one with the knife able to slice through the tension in the air, or more like the only one who had the gut to slice through it. "Shana is no Crier and since no one has any objection about a human being Luna so far, when should the big day be fixed?," she asked regally, her gaze travelling around the room to subdue any more objections. Not that she rally needed to do that. They only had to look at the Alpha to see the dangerous look in his eyes.
But they were not. Most of them had their heads bowed in subservience.
Very good, Rose thought.
The rites were going to happen faster than even she expected.
"When can the pack meet the family of the soon to be Luna?," Thomas muttered under his breath, like he still could not admit the pale one before him was going to rule by the alpha, ruining all his plans.
Who knows? She might not ruin his plans after all. She just might be the answer to all his prayers. If the pale one he knew before her was as mean as she was, he could bet the one before him was no different. Time was going to tell, while he still had his backup plan with Collins.
Shana was so lost in her own thoughts she did not hear the question.
He knew she was not ready to meet his pack's Council. She was not ready for anything but Asher had more or less dragged her before them after Rose had summoned them urgently. If there had been a way to wriggle out of meeting the Elders, she would have. She had been scared they would find her out, just the way Rose had and she knew not everyone was going to be as nice and quiet about it like Rose was and she had been right.
But she had had no excuse this month. Asher had executed it all so smoothly, like he knew she was going to object if given the chance. Why he was still in the dark about who she was while everyone else knew still baffled her. He was one of the smartest people she knew, so why was he so ignorant about her? He was mated to her and about to marry her in some sort of ritual but he knew next to nothing about her and he was not even asking. To her, that was not normal and she was starting to think maybe, just maybe the Dead could control the minds of people. Maybe Adam was controlling Asher's mind but she knew from years of experience with ghosts that, that was impossible.
"Shana?," Rose spoke her name softly and she was jolted out of her thoughts to stare at the old woman.
"Yes Rose?," she forced a smile.
"Thomas was talking about meeting your family," she said softly with a reassuring smile in her eyes.
If Shana could go any paler, she felt she did at that moment.