Chapter 21|His Intended.

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The two members with the highest ranks, the Elders and the Alpha took positions on their designated seats at the boardroom in the Pack House which was also known as Casa de Luca.

Alexander braced himself for the words about to be sprouted out of the Elders' mouths, he felt it deep inside him that it wouldn't be in his favor.

"We are glad to have you return with no major setbacks. A lot has happened over the days when you were no where to be found, you were searched for at every nook and cranny of the world by our very best trackers to no avail. Damon led the search and you above anyone know his capabilities." Sylvester Skorr, an elderly man who worked alongside his Father when he was the Alpha of the Pack began with a strong voice that broke no room for argument.

Damon raised a brow up at the mention of his name and gave a slight inclination of his head to assert that he truly was a part of the search, something he'd already told Alexander back at the penthouse.

"We received visitors from the Lichen Pack, north of the Bane Pack where our loyalty lies. The Bane Pack are our most trusted allies and a representative came from them alongside the Lichen Pack members. They came with the Betrothal edict that was made from your blood to the daughter of the Pack's Delta, this isn't a mere agreement between two Packs, it is a decree from above and no one has the right to terminate it or reject it." Finality rang in Dominique Alberto's voice, he was another one of the men whom were a part of Enzo's parliament and now Alexander's.

It was a known fact that denying a betrothal decreed by blood was a cause for disaster, in the olden days there was said to be an Alpha who refused a betrothal ordained for him at birth, calamities befell the whole of his pack starting from himself, he was sent to exile and no one ever heard from him again, the pack members including the innocents one by one met strange accidents that caused their deaths within the time span of a fortnight, no weed grows on the soil they once lived in to date. The folktale was shared amongst all other packs and since then no one dared to call upon himself such a catastrophe.

Alexander listened as they prattled on and on about what needs to be done to finalize the betrothal, make an engagement and have him marking her as his mate. The final part made him raise his head to meet their gazes.

"It's too late for me to mark any other woman." He announced taking in the sharp intakes of breath, narrowed gazes and oaths he received in response without so much as blinking an eye.

"What do you mean it's too late, your betrothed is your mate." Dominique Alberto snarled.

"I found my mate and she is currently under this roof, under my protection as well as under every other Pack member's. I'm not leaving Isabelle for anyone or anything." He glowered at the men who were openly against his words.

Ian Fraser, an Elder stood from his chair, brought a fist down the table and began speaking "Do not let lust lead you by its collar, you make decisions logically and not with your manhood Alpha. Think not of yourself but of all the innocent people and wolves we have here. Do not be selfish this one time in your life, do not risk everyone else's future because of a whor.. "

Damon stopped the man from speaking before Alexander got to his feet, his hand wrapped itself around the man's neck waiting for the slighest encouragement from the Alpha to cut off the older man's air supply. Francis intervened by pressing on the thick corded muscles of Damon's arms in an appeasing gesture.

He was apologizing on the other man's behalf.

Alberto observed with keen eyes as the hold on Fraser's neck loosened. He watched all the other members present and as expected he found none with expressive emotions.

After the heated temperature in the room subsided, Alex unclenched his tightened fists, he was proud that Damon had accepted Isabelle and was ready to protect her from whomsoever spoke ill of her. He turned his head to Francis who began speaking.

"It is best if we not be judgemental at this moment. We need a way out of this status quo and unto a more desirable one not hurl words of discourtesy towards one another."

Sylvester Skorr took the lead the moment Francis was done. "The situation we have on ground is grave. There is a girl who was brought here as your intended..."

"Under false pretenses." Alexander interjected with a growl.

Skorr swallowed at the Alpha's firm resolve. "My Alpha, I'm not deliberately disputing your opinion but the stakes are high. Yes a thorough investigation has to be carried out before we affirm and accept the lady as your mate but as I said earlier, I am not deliberately disputing your opinion, the Lichen Pack members came with all the proof we need including the vellum upon which the edict was annotated on and with your blood."

"We've conducted all the research needed and any questions you may have regarding this matter would be something we've already thought of and cleared. Each and every member of the De Luca Pack matters like the one next to him does, have we smelt foul play in this we would've gotten rid of the whole matter before you caught a whiff of it. With all due respect Alpha, I believe you have no other choice but to concede to the betrothal not for your sake, but for the sake of every Pack member including the girl you're claiming as your mate. The calamity attached to a betrothal edict indited by blood and sealed with blazing flames surpasses our mere imaginations. It goes way beyond everything we could possibly imagine." Dominique Alberto surmised.

"What if I go on with it instead of the Alpha?" Lucas for the first time spoke.

Alexander's eyes darted to his Brother's whose face was void of every emotion as though he wasn't the one who spoke.

"Replacing the intended brings more doom than rejecting it." Alberto who was more knowledgeable about the ways and doings of the ancients explained.

Alexander felt a sudden pain gnawing at his chest, it made sweat break out of the pores on his skin, his teeth ground hard as his brain processed the fact that the pain wasn't at all coming from him but from Isabelle. Panicked on the inside he rose from his seat compelling each and every other seated member to rise on their feets.

"This discussion will be continued later in the night." Without further explanation as to the cause for his sudden disruption he strode out of the room forcing himself not to cause alarm by breaking into a jog.

He traced Isabelle's scent and found her in Old Bea's room, not bothering to spare the older woman a glance he searched about until he found her lithe form sobbing on the Queen sized bed in the middle of the bedroom.

"She's in pain." Old Bea concisely voiced out.

"Is there something you can do about it?" He asked, lowering himself to the bed and taking her whole body into his arms. Alexander wiped away the tears running down her closed eyes with his tongue, moved tendrils of her hair that escaped its confines and pressed a close mouthed kiss to the top of her head.

Her muffled sobs subdued after she released a huge sigh. Pulling her into his embrace and ensuring her comfort Alex lowered her to the bed with the intention of moving to answer to Old Bea's unspoken summons. The woman was staring at him with a face full of questions and he knew what the look meant.

He was in for a crucial discussion.