Chapter 7

ISABEL POV

I didn't know Alpha Xavier was going to come after me. But if he doesn't love me, why did he demand my hands in marriage? I had thought about keeping my duty to my pack and to honor my father, but this was not how I had figured my life would turn out.

I didn't expect to be married off to someone I barely even know and worse of all, to have no say in the issue. My father had simply told me that I was to marry Alpha Xavier, when I persisted in knowing why I had to throw my life away. "Is it in the interest of the pack?" He had said and didn't provide any further explanation.

I had traveled west of my pack territory, I carried the fastest horse but I was not fast enough. Alpha Xavier's men had caught up with me after two days' ride and went north to pick up other members of their pack that were searching for me.

I had questions, I had expected that my father would cancel the mating ceremony since I had gone missing and send members of our pack to find me. I was totally shocked when I discovered strangers were hunting me.

"You have been married off to Alpha Xavier of the Wolfshade pack!" Alaric had announced and it broke my heart. I felt disappointed in my father for not protecting me.

"Hey," a beautiful female came in and disrupted my thoughts in the boarding house where I had been kept, while we waited for what Alpha Xavier wanted to do with me. 

"Hey, it's a bit too much to take in." She drew a chair close by and sat beside me. She had been the only one who treated me with some compassion all through our journey to this place.

She smiled warmly at me. "Now that we are here, I guess I should probably introduce myself to you. I am Thalia, daughter of Thyra, daughter of Isadora." Her introduction was too formal. I was lost for words.

"Ermm," I scratched my head trying to figure out how to reply. "I'm Isabel, daughter of Alpha Dario of the Thornridge pack. But I guess you already know about me." 

She smiled and I smiled also, somehow, I knew I liked her. "I am sorry for everything that's happening to you right now. Everyone should be allowed to choose their mate and decide how they want to live their lives." 

She sounded pained, like she was angry and that made me suspicious. Was she sent to come and spy on me? I couldn't understand the fact that she was openly speaking out against her Alpha. 

This constituted an act of insubordination in my pack. My father Alpha Dario led a tight shift and he was more brutal than ruthless. "Well, everyone in the Thornridge pack is taught duty to the pack from childhood. We all grew up indoctrinated to believe that the pack should and must always come first."

"I could say the same thing happens here, but I really don't care and even Alpha Xavier knows that I am free spirited. I say what I mean and mean what I say." I felt I needed to be close to her, I found myself wishing that she could be like Sara, my friend from my pack.

"So, what's going to happen to me now?" I really didn't know what was in store for me.

"Word has been sent to Alpha Xavier that you've been found. I really don't know what he'll do." She explained and there was uncertainty in her eyes. 

"But why does he hate me so much? I barely even knew what I could have done for him to hate me this much. I had to run when Marita told me about his plans for me."

"She did?" Thalia asked, apparently surprised that Marita had revealed such information. She slowly closed her eyes when I nodded in affirmation.

"I can understand why you ran away, I'd run away if I were in your shoes." She paused and took my hands in hers. "Alpha Xavier wasn't always like this, he wasn't always this....." She trailed off, searching for words to describe Alpha Xavier. I kept quiet and waited for her to find whichever words she was looking for.

"You know," I interjected when the silence between us stretched for too long. "I fell in love with him the very first moment I set my eyes on him." I smiled as a wave of nostalgia washed over me. "My friend Sara had said that I became a poet while trying to describe him to her."

"I can understand, Alpha Xavier is the most handsome male in all of Wolfshade. He is dynamic and..." She trailed off again. "He just changed the moment he lost Sue. It seemed like a part of him died when she died."

"Do you know him very well?" I asked softly, somehow I felt a burning desire to help him heal, to be there for him, to shower him with my love and all of me.

"Well," she smiled and I saw a question lurking in her eyes. "Sue was his first love, his childhood love, she was his friend, his confidant, his playmate. He wasn't always the ruthless, dominant and powerful Alpha. He was just the regular Xavier that was jovial, funny, spontaneous. After he and Valerian took down Alpha Damian, he was..." She trailed off again, but this time I saw pain and anger in her voice. It seemed they must have loved that version of Alpha Xavier.

"It's difficult to replace all of that." I muttered softly, more to myself. I didn't know that Thalia heard.

"You know," She smiled and took on the expression of someone who was trying to think as they talked. "Many females have vied for his love and affection, wanting to replace Sue and give him everything he'd ever want. And," she paused as if trying to recall the past. "most found out that he was a close book and settled to become something else. The closest that came close was Marita."  

My father, Alpha Dario had always said that information was powerful and key to being ahead and even staying alive in the werewolf world. Hearing what Thalia had said made me wonder if Marita didn't lie to me. 

It's obvious that she's in love with Alpha Xavier and he would not be mated to her, but instead, he chose me. What if she told me that story just to scare me off since Alpha Xavier had finally decided to take a mate that was not her.

I flashed back to the night I had met Alpha Xavier, before I knew he was even an alpha. It was the first time in a long time that I had felt anything for a male. I was thinking maybe the moon goddess had cursed me but no, it was because I was yet to meet someone that resonates within me. It was him my inner wolf chose and he had been nice and even came through for me when Marita and his girli were trying to humiliate me.

"Are you done daydreaming?" I heard Thalia's voice and snapped back to reality. 

"Excuse me, what did you say?" I didn't realize that I had zoned off.

"Oh I didn't say anything, however, I must say that you have that look." She smiled while she said it which made me a bit uneasy.

"What look?" I asked, a little bit ashamed.

"You know, the look all the females wear when they've fallen under Alpha Xavier's charm. Somehow, it's always the same look." She chuckled and my face burned even more, with shame. "I'm sorry, but it's indescribable."

I realized that she may be right after all, why should I beat myself up about it. "Thalia, I like you, can I be your friend."

"Awwwn," her expression was breathtaking. In a new territory, it dawned on me that Alpha Xavier may not really have my time. "Yes, I'd love to be your friend too. You are new in Wolfshade, and Alpha Xavier has taken you as a mate. You are bound to have more enemies than friends and even some enemies masquerading as friends."

"Yes'' I wore a big grin but that was part of the problem. Was she also part of those I need to be careful of? She may have thrown Marita out knowingly or unknowingly, but what was her intentions for being kind to me? I was certain none of my rivals would be bold enough to kill me but there are things worse than death.