Chapter 5

Blossom POV.

Even with Diana's sharing of knowledge about what it means to be a she-werewolf, I am petrified of becoming the alpha's mate. I don't know the first thing about being anyone's mate, let alone the alpha. The crowd is probably right; I am nothing but a substitute for a substitute. I hope I can at least make Dean believe that I know what I'm doing. Oh, my God...Dean. He is so incredibly handsome; no wonder others envy me for this position.

I had been told he was incredibly good-looking, confident yet not boastful. That combination made she-werewolves swoon. Now that I've laid eyes on him, I see what they mean. I am not sure whether I should be more frightened and nervous, wondering if I measure up, or feel overjoyed that I am lucky enough to have Dean as my mate.

But now—now, he isn't saying anything! I don't understand why his father interjected himself into the situation anyway, but I have heard that the alpha's father is "in bed with the court." I'm not even sure what that means exactly, but I can only guess that he has extremely close ties with the Royal Elders, which makes it all the more exasperating that he would have the nerve to say the decision lies with his son, the alpha, and not ultimately with the Royal Elders.

I wish it would just all be over. When I learned that I was going to be forced to take my sister's place, I was overwhelmed. Frankly, the thought of being free from my uncle outpaced the thoughts I had of what it meant to be the alpha's mate.

But I never gave any thought at all to the idea of appearing before the Royal Court. I assumed any agreements would be done through paperwork or perhaps a meeting among the elders, my uncle, and Dean. I did not anticipate being put on display, with all these sets of eyes staring at me, sizing me up.

And yet, the one person who probably should be sizing me up—and I wouldn't blame him—is Dean. Yet, he continues to stand there, as though entirely indifferent to everything that's going on around him. He had plenty of time to simply provide some affirmation to what the elders have already stated. But he did not. Instead, he remained standing, unmoving and unemotional. Is this how he's going to be as a mate? Diana has filled my head with stories about how wonderful love is, both the emotional and the physical. Is there even going to be any emotion with this alpha? His performance so far leaves me wondering.

Now his father has decided to do some prodding, but I don't think he is doing it so Dean proclaims that I am his mate. I get the sense that Dean's father does not like me. Not that he knows me at all, but that's not to say he doesn't have some reasons of his own for hoping to derail this whole process. Does he have someone else in mind for Dean?

Finally, after what seemed like hours though, in reality, it had been only minutes—Dean turned suddenly to address the Royal Elders, who stopped their whispering and fell silent in anticipation of his words.

The alpha stood straight and tall, his perfect jawline, piercing eyes, and majestic flow of dark hair striking a spellbinding figure for my eyes. I stared, waiting for him to tell all those present that yes, he wanted me. He wanted me to be his mate. This would be the start of our happily ever after.

Only a few minutes before, the Royal Elders had stated their decision and voiced their approval, then asked Dean to affirm his choice, expecting the response to be near immediate.

But instead, they had gotten silence from Dean as he stood before them. That is, until now. All eyes were again on the alpha now in anticipation of him effectively sealing the deal.

"I will not," he simply stated.

There was an audible gasp from all assembled. I immediately felt rejected, and for an instant, I thought I might just hate Dean. But then I caught his scent, and my inner wolf was immediately attracted to him, despite my growing anger. I felt an emotional tug of war going on in my heart and my mind.

Maybe there had been some misunderstanding on Dean's part, I thought to myself. Why would marrying me be such a disaster? I glance his way, but Dean's eyes are not focused upon me. He had looked only at the court, his emotionless stare still intact.

I can feel my uncle grab for my arm again, his grip now like a vice, as the full realization of the alpha's words hit him. I knew my uncle was about to completely lose his composure, all thoughts of improving his stature with the other pack suddenly less important than releasing his anger. I knew, too, that unless Dean retracted his statement, the entire process would be for nothing, and my uncle would be all too ready to take his rage out on me.

I frantically tried to think of a way to save the situation. While I had been unsure about being the alpha's substitute mate, I now knew that it would not go well for me if everything did not go forward.

Up until this point, I had held fast to the idea that this was a way to get out of my uncle's house. While I was aware marrying Dean would not necessarily mean I would find myself completely free of my uncle's influence, I was sure that I would be freer than I was currently. As his wife, I would be under the protection of my mate, after all, and I believed he would have no qualms about putting my uncle in his place, should he attempt anything.

It would have been better for me if Dean had remained silent. At least the Royal Elders and all assembled would probably have taken the silence as a "yes" eventually and allowed all to go on their way. Yes, that would have been preferred to the situation I found myself in now. I certainly didn't need to hear it directly from Dean. I was ready to leave my uncle's home and go forward with him, whether he ever said the words or not.

But that isn't what happened at all. Instead, after a very pregnant pause, the alpha had finally responded. He made it abundantly clear that he was not interested in taking me as his mate, not in any way.

He must think something is wrong with me—something so horrific that he would defy the court's decision and refuse to accept me as his mate. But how could he come to such a callous decision when he had refused to even look my way? Was he unwilling to even give me a chance?

I was beside myself at the thought of being unworthy. It seemed that while Dean had been fine with having my sister serve as his substitute mate, at least based on what I gathered from my uncle's rants, the alpha had a completely different reaction to me.

.....