Chapter 55

“How about we address the elephant in the room?” Marcellus asked loudly, turning his eyes to linger on every single person around the table but especially the wolf on his left. “Why are you forcing me to take a mate?”

“Technically, we’re not forcing you to take a mate but rather, we’re just speeding along the process.” Malachi grinned as if his logic made perfect sense even though Marcellus had never heard such bullshit in his life before.

“I don’t see any difference in those two things.”

“That’s because you’re being stubborn.” Malachi replied nonchalantly, not even bothering to look up from his food as he spoke.

“As if you guys are being very accommodating in your terms and conditions either.” Marcellus snorted, sitting up straighter as Dalton nodded his head in agreeance, backing up his friend and Alpha. “I don’t understand what the big issue is anyway.”

Elder Harriet – or rather, Aunt Harriet as she and her mate, former Alpha and current council member elder Deryck had always been good friends with his parents and so they had watched him grow up – perked up in her seat, addressing the Alpha directly with a respectful nod as she spoke.

“Alpha Marcellus, how about we start off by answering all of the questions and apprehensions that you may have?” Harriet suggested, the first person to speak sense.

“Thank you, elder Harriet.” He smiled gratefully at her and shot her a cheeky wink before turning his attention to the other council members around the table, including his father. “Like I said before, I don’t understand why I’m being pressured into finding a mate right now. I’ve been running the pack with Beta Dalton to help me for the past ten years so why do I suddenly need a mate now? And why have I got so little time to do it?”

Elder Paulo, the former Alpha of the Moon Shadow pack and Alpha Romano’s father was the one to speak up.

“I understand that the circumstances are unfortunate but it has recently come to our attention that you don’t quite have the pack as under control as we had previously been under the impression of.”

“And what do you mean by that?” Marcellus frowned as he frowned deeply and crossed his arm over his chest, his food long forgotten now.

Paulo pressed his lips together firmly and turned his head to glance at Maverick, silently asking him to explain the situation, hoping that he would take the news better if it came from his own father; lessening the blow, somewhat.

“Son, there’s been a complaint about you lately but since we can’t really talk about it, let’s just leave it at that.”

Any other time, Marcellus would have slammed his hand down on the table and demanded to find out the identity of the person that had dared to file a complaint about him, however, because he already knew that it was his mate who had sparked the fire, he made sure to keep his lips sealed.

When Marcellus sighed but didn’t try to purse the situation further, Dalton sent him a lingering stare but he avoided his gaze.

“Other than the complaint, are there any other concerns with me running the pack without a Luna?”

“Well, studies have shown that most wolves that go without meeting their mates for so long have a much higher chance of eventually losing their mind.”

“I heard most.” Dalton was quick to point out. While he was completely on board with the Lupum Griseo pack having a Luna after having gone without for ten years, but he wanted nothing more than his Alpha and friend to be happy and ultimately, a wolf would never be as happy with anyone as they would with their mate.

“I don’t understand the need for this question-and-answer session.” Malachi groaned in frustration and reached a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “We’re the council. We make all the decisions around here so why are we wasting our time here?”

A small argument sounded around the table as Malachi’s complete disregard of the sensitivity of the situation had triggered Marcellus and after a few chairs had been thrown over, a few broken glasses now littering the floor, they all decided to cram themselves into his office, having dragged a few dining chairs into there so there would be a seat for everyone.

“I feel like you’re being prejudiced against me.”

“Why do you feel like that?” Deryck asked, his eyes trained intently on Marcellus.

“Because I’m not the only Alpha that is single and running the pack without a Luna.” Marcellus insisted for what was not the first time, having resorted to crossing his arms over his chest as he stared back at all the council members.

“Are you comparing yourself to Alpha Orpheus?” Malachi snorted from the other side of the room, the only person in the room refusing to take a seat.

“Why? Have you got an issue with that?”

“Okay, okay.” Maverick groaned aloud as he rose to his feet, sending a warning look to both of the men. “Since we can’t all seem to agree, we’re just going to have to lay it all down on the table.”

Harriet, Deryck and Paulo all hummed in agreement, just as tired as him after all the back and forth between Malachi and Marcellus, both during and after brunch.

“Like we mentioned a few weeks before, we expect you to find a mate if you wish to keep the Alpha title and if you fail, we’ll have no choice but to strip of the title and opening up the Alpha position to an open challenge. You can either find your moon destined mate or take a choice mate. Either way, it doesn’t matter as long as by the end of it, the Lupum Griseo pack has a Luna and you have a mate.”

The fuck they’re going to take our position away and give it to whoever they want! His wolf roared loudly, his hazel eyes burning a deep gold at the clear threat.

When Marcellus refused to answer or even acknowledge their words, too busy in a deadly staring match with Malachi, Dalton spoke up.

“How much time do we have?”

“One month from today.”

“We’ve already narrowed it down to two potential females so there’s absolutely nothing to worry about.” Dalton spoke up, making it known that there would be absolutely no reason for Marcellus’ Alpha title to be taken away from him.

“Well, since that’s all sorted, we should be on our way.” Malachi chuckled from the other side of the room. “We wouldn’t want to over stay our welcome, now would we?”

With all the different ways that he had planned this conversation panning out in his head, Marcellus had sincerely hoped that he would be able to come out of it on his own terms, not conforming to needing to take a mate within the time limit set for him by older wolves who meant absolutely nothing to him – apart from his father.

“Dad?” Marcellus spoke quietly, calling out to his father in one last attempt to change his fate, the hope evident in his tone. “Is there nothing that you can do?”

Maverick sighed deeply and ran a frustrated hand down his face, “Son, as much as I don’t agree with the decision, it appears that I’ve been overruled.”