Chapter 17 - An uncertain future.

THE FOOD WAS REALLY GOOD and Lena wondered if it was poisoned. It tasted too good to be poisoned. She rolled her eyes at her own thoughts. Surely, they wouldn’t poison her after all that, but then again … She had to remind herself that these were the same people who killed her people.

They didn’t use weapons or spells. They physically killed her people. They attacked them and ripped them to shreds. She closed her eyes and tried to forget. There was no use in thinking about the past. She was the last of her kind and from the movement outside her room she could only guess that she wouldn’t be alive for much longer.

ALARIC SIGHED AS HE WALKED to the dining room. He had been avoiding his people all morning since his announcement. He didn’t know what to say to them. What could he say? She was his mate and he knew they ALL had opinions about it one way or the next! Silence fell as he walked into the room and he sighed.

His only solace right now was seeing little Rebecca at the main table. She smiled as he walked over, but it wasn’t her normal happy smile. He could see the sadness radiating from her eyes. He took his seat beside her and his omega put a plate of food in front of him which instantly reminded him of Lena. Max insisted that she get more than dry bread and water. Especially now that Alaric has spilled the beans.

“So, what are you going to do?” Rebecca didn’t look at him, but kept her eyes on the low whispers throughout the dining room.

“Honestly, I don’t know. What do you think I should do?” He had no appetite, and he sure as hell didn’t know what to do. What was worse was little miss know-it-all just shrugged. “Don’t you know because you are angry at her or because you really don’t know?” He frowned and this time she looked at him.

“I don’t know because I can’t see any of the outcomes.” It was the first time she admitted to him that she could see things! Rebecca had never openly admitted it. She would just drop a comment about something and when she was asked outright, she would shrug and say she had a feeling. Her feelings always seemed to be spot-on, but she never ever admitted to seeing!

“Okay, what can you see then?” He started eating, trying his best not to push her too much, but since she was openly talking about it now …

“I can usually see the different possibilities of different decisions, but whenever I think of Lena’s future it’s dark.” Rebecca sighed. “I don’t know if it’s because she’s not one of us or because I’m not meant to see it.”

“The natives are getting restless, alpha.” Max’s voice pulled Alaric out of his discussion with Rebecca and Alaric looked up. Everyone seemed to have gone silent, as if they were waiting for him to make another eye-popping announcement.

He sighed and decided to leave his fate in the hands of his pack. He didn’t even have the energy to stand up, so he stayed seated. He was looking for advice, for once. Since he didn’t know what the hell to do, he needed guidance.

“You all heard that the blood witch is my mate.” A low rumble echoed through the room. “I know that you are all looking to me for answers, but I don’t have any. If I take her as my mate, we will definitely make enemies amongst our current friends. If I don’t …” He threw his hands in the air before stuffing them in his pockets. “Well, then I will make enemies of the other half of this equation.” A couple of the wolves growled and shouted and Alaric raised an eyebrow at their outrage. “Some of you clearly won’t accept it.” Alaric sighed as he stood up and walked to the middle of the room.

“She is my destined mate, that is a fact. She wasn’t able to cast a spell over me because I realized it while she was in chains and she was knocked out before she saw me.” Alaric could only tell them what he knew. If anybody could prove that she wasn’t his mate, he was definitely going to welcome that proof, but his words seemed to silence the crowd again and it was clear they had to agree with him. The witch hadn’t put a spell on him.

“I know that those amongst us who believe that the mate bond should be cherished would want me to be with my destined mate, even if she’s the last living blood witch. I don’t know what is going to happen, and right now I honestly don’t know what to do about the situation. All I do know is that I can’t kill her. I won’t put my wolf through that agony.”

There … He made a decision, didn’t he? When nobody said anything, he told his people that his door was open to any suggestions anybody might have and he left the dining room. He was so damn tired! He hadn’t slept well in days … Years if you really think about it. Since that moment he found his dead parents, his entire life had been turned upside down and he hadn’t had a good night's sleep since then. He flopped down on the couch in his office like he used to do when he was a young boy and he had a problem he thought only his father could solve and closed his eyes for just a moment.

“You can’t sleep through this.” Rebecca’s voice made him jump with fright and Alaric realized that he had actually fallen into a deep sleep in the couple of minutes it took her to walk from the dining room to his office. She smacked his boot and he made space for her on the couch, smiling sheepishly as his baby sister suddenly looked exactly like his mother.

“Then what do you suggest I do?” He knew she wouldn’t be able to give him an answer. She had already told him she couldn’t see what he should do.

“Speak to the supernatural council. It seems to be the general consensus of the pack.” She nodded as if she was trying to convince herself that it was the best choice. “There should be someone in that silly group of grown-ups that would be able to tell you if Lena put a spell on you. Once we know for sure whether she did or didn’t, it will make the decision easier.” She looked at him and for a split-second he saw her innocence in her eyes again, but it was gone so damn fast!

“I already have.” He sighed. He hadn’t told anybody yet, but the old head of the council called and they all wanted to see him. He was trying to avoid going to speak to them. Telling Rebecca of the call, he walked over to the small bar in his office and poured himself a drink. “That’s what’s making this so damn difficult, Rebecca. It seems that even the council is divided on what the hell I should do. Half believes I should follow my destiny and the other half says that is why we were given freedom to choose for ourselves.” He took a sip of his drink.

“Then let’s start with what we know. Find out who on that council can help us to figure out if the witch put a spell on you.” Rebecca stood up and clamped her hands in front of her exactly like their mother used to when her mind was made up about something and she was trying to show you not to try and change it. Alaric nodded. It was the most obvious choice, even if he believed that Lena hadn’t put a spell on him. It would be in all their best interest to make sure.

If she hadn’t, then they could take it further, but what if he found out that he saved her life because she put a spell on him? He felt like a fool! He would look like the world’s worst fool! But he had no other choice. He needed to find out. Deciding that there was no time like the damn present, he made the call and arranged that the old man who headed up the council would bring someone to the pack territory first thing in the morning.

It actually made him feel just a tad better. It felt as if he was finally doing something about this entire mess! Rebecca’s advise had guided him in the right direction yet again. She was the child amongst all of them but she seemed to be the clear-headed one. It made him realize even more how much he actually depended on his baby sister and how much he needed to protect her. He rolled his eyes as he realized that she would find her mate one day and he had no freaking idea how the hell he was going to handle that one! He got angry just thinking about it! The future always seemed to be so damn uncertain. Why couldn’t you just see which way you had to go and then do that?

Wasn’t that what the mate bond was for, after all? Wasn’t that what the goddess was trying to show him by making Lena his mate? He flopped down onto the couch and closed his eyes in the hopes that this time nobody would bother him.