Chapter 4

"Mate" Blaze screamed again.  I could feel him pushing for control.  It took all my strength to hold him back and maintain composure.  It felt as though he was clawing up my insides in a frenzy, desperately trying to come forward and see his mate for himself.  I gritted my teeth, making eye contact with Fiona.  She was smiling, but it was a political sort of smile.  She didn't seem to react to my touch the way I reacted to hers.  If she felt the mate bond she hid it well.  I managed to bite my tongue, not trusting myself to speak.  Question after question ran through my head.  

 She moved on to the next topic, casually dropping my hand and turning to walk up the steps while speaking.  I stared tight-lipped as she did so.  I couldn't help but watch how her body move as she walked up those stairs.  Questions floated around in my head.  Had she not felt the bond?  Was she ignoring it? Why? 

I couldn't help but look to Alpha David.  He looked angry, I couldn't be sure if he realized what happened or he didn't like me.  Most Alpha's didn't like me.  He had not stopped glaring at me since Fiona approached me, revealing who she was.  Surely he would notice my eye darkening, maybe that is why he was glaring.  

Dante could sense something was wrong, but I had shut down the mind-link to focus on controlling Blaze.  Being my Beta he would be able to feel Blaze trying to come forward.  I could feel him pulling on the mind link, which I kept shut.  I had already missed a chunk of what Fiona was saying.  She paused at the top of the stairs realizing that I had not followed her up.  Dante nudged me, clearly I had meant to follow her up the stairs.  

"Alpha Astor, I can see you are tired from your trip," she said returning to me.  "We will do the official tour later, you look like you need some rest."  I didn't trust myself to speak, luckily Dante stepped in.

"I would be great Alpha Fin," He smiled, putting on his charm to make up for my silence.  "It was a long ride and Cyrus wouldn't let us stop.  You know how some Alpha's can be about making good time."  Fiona seemed to accept this and turned to the others on the stairs.

 "Betas," she called.  An older man, maybe in his fifties and a young female appear next to her standing at attention ready for her command. She turned to us: "These are my Betas." she said "Beta Ned and Liz Drax."  She then turned to her Betas again and spoke to them:  "Show Alpha Astor and Beta Clifford to their rooms." She looked at me flashing her most charming smile and quipped, "they might not be rooms for royalty, but they are very comfortable with plenty of space.  I put you and your Beta in adjoining rooms.  If you need anything my Betas will be more than happy to help."  Her Betas nodded in agreement.  Two betas?  I realized in my short time within the Crescent Moon Pack they weren't ones to follow the mould.  I was unsure how the King would react to all it since he was a man of tradition.  I hope for my mate's sake he would shrug them off as quirks and not threats.  

"You're not showing us to our rooms Alpha?"  Asked Dante, once again turning on his charm.  Blaze disliked it and was grumbling.  He had settled down a little, but I wasn't ready to let my guard down yet. 

"Unfortunately, Beta Clifford, I cannot," she said apologetically "Alpha David has been patiently waiting for a meeting to discuss some urgent business and I've feared I've made him wait too long already.  Alpha's are always so busy, as I'm sure you are well aware.  Take some time to rest and settle in.  I will meet you after dinner to give you a proper tour."   Alpha David looked smug and stepped down to position himself behind Fiona again. "Rest well," she said "I will see you two again soon."  Alpha David put his hand on the small of her back and led her up the stairs into the packhouse.  I suppressed the growl from within as I jealously watched them walk away.  Soon she vanished and Blaze settled down, disappointed his mate was gone.  The world seem to grey as she left.  It was like she was the light that made everything so vibrant.

I turned the Betas and greeted them. They wasted no time in showing us to our rooms.  I remained quite thankful Dante made small talk with the Betas as we walked to the rooms.  I wasn't sure how to ask them what I wanted to know.  Dante was better at collecting information without revealing his intentions.  It was a large part of what made him a great Beta.  

"It's quite unusual for a pack to have two Betas" Dante commented as we walked down the hall.  

"Well,  I was in the old Alphas inner circle and helped to run the pack day to day," the male Beta, Ned, spoke: "I also played a large part in supporting Fin when she became Alpha so I was a natural choice.  My daughter," he said referring to the female Beta, "Liz is great at building connections with the pack members.  She has her finger on the pulse of what is happening.  She also runs training all but one day a week.  That day is when Alpha Fin sees how everyone is progressing." Beta Liz blushed at her father's compliment and added: "Alpha Fin thought having two betas would provide well-balanced leadership and strengthen the pack.  It also means my father can train me for when he retires one day.  I don't think he ever will though, he would never leave Alpha Fin's sides. To be fair I wouldn't either."  It was a credit to Fiona that she inspired so much loyalty.  It was esstenail for Alphas have loyal Betas.  Those that didn't often suffered from internal power struggles, which weakens packs. 

"What about this other Alpha? Alpha David? They seem very close". He commented casually.  I  listened intently trying to pass as not interested.

"Alpha David supplied us with the resources we needed to rebuild.  He also helped Alpha Fin through some very tough times when they were children," Beta Ned stated, "they grew up together, practically raised together."

"Everyone thinks they will be mates" Beta Liz spoke excitedly "They seem so perfect for each other."

"We're here," Ned said abruptly, ending the conversation. "we will be back to bring you to dinner Alpha."  They left before I could ask any more questions and, oh, I had some burning ones.  I would be replaying that conversation over and over in my head all night.  I turned to the door disappointed.  The doors were carved with detailed images of forest landscapes with a Cresent Moon hanging in the top corners.  Normally I would take a moment to admire the detail but my mind was elsewhere.  Dante followed me into my room, not giving me a choice.

"Spill," he said once the door was shut "What the fuck is going on with you?"