GILBERT
When Kate walked into my room, I knew she wanted something or she might be here, to disturb me. With the look on her face, I concluded it has to be a request.
"You are not here to make a request. Are you?"
"Of course I am. And you have to do it"
"I am not carrying out any of your requests"
"Well you will soon have no choice"
I scoffed. "You can make use of the door, please"
"I am not going to leave until you listen to me"
"Fine! What do you want?"
"I want the slave girl"
I furrowed my brows. "Slave girl? Which of the slave girls?"
"The one you were talking to in the garden"
I batted my lashes. "Xavia?"
"Wow, you know her name. Well, that doesn't matter. I want her to work for me and you will have no say on whatever I do with her or how I plan to punish her when she offends me"
"I did not tell you I am giving her to you"
"You do not have a choice. If you don't give her to me, the Luna would"
"You won't dare to tell the Luna about her"
"You don't threaten me. Let's see who will finally have the girl"
She gave a devilish smile before walking out of the room. I was still thinking about Kate's request when Arden rushed in, looking so worried.
"Have you heard?" he asked and I furrowed my brows.
"Heard what?"
"Heard about the wedding. A date has been announced"
"You chose a day and you did not tell me? I am so disappointed and angry right now"
He furrowed his brows. "What are you talking about?"
"Were you not talking about your wedding date being picked? You did not inform me about it. I feel betrayed right now"
He groaned. "I am not talking about my wedding. I am talking about yours with Kate. A date was picked and it has been announced all through the Pack. Preparation is already going on"
I stared at him and busted into laughter.
"What sort of joke is that? You did not get to me"
He sighed. "I knew you would say that. That is the reason I came with one of the invitation cards, which has been sent to neighboring Packs to invite them". He handed it over to me. "Read through it. I guess you know your name when you see it"
I read through the invitation card and I blinked.
"Did you know about this?" I asked my eyes burning with anger.
"If I knew about this. Would I have brought the card to you?"
I brushed my hair backward and punched the wall angrily. "What the hell?!!!"
"Did you not do what I asked you to do? You did not pretend to accept the proposal?" he asked and I shook my head. "That means the plan we made did not fall through?"
I groaned. "I have been avoiding my mom. How do you expect me to carry out the plan for it to fall through?"
"And you said nothing to me about it?"
"Why am I supposed to tell you about it?"
"You are the reason this happened"
I furrowed my brows. "What does this have to do with me?"
"Everything. You fail to carry out the plan and now look at what has happened"
I scoffed."What does that have to do with this?
He frowned. "You don't know?" he asked and I shrugged. "It has everything to do with this". He brushed his hair backward and groaned. "I should not be having this conversation with you. You are on your own now"
"What do you mean?"
"You spoiled everything, you should face the consequences alone," he said.
Arden stormed out of my room, closing the door aggressively. I could tell he was very angry. Angry that he came up with a plan that can help postpone my wedding with his sister and I did not carry it out. But it wasn't my fault. After the day I ignored my mom's call and headed to the garden, she had not sent anyone to me.
She never spoke about my wedding with Kate at the dining table either so I thought she must have given up on getting me to marry Kate. That is the reason I did not carry out Arden's plan when he told me. I did not tell him I haven't told my mom about accepting the proposal because I felt that wasn't necessary, since my mother isn't saying anything about it anymore. I had not thought that my mom had a different plan which was to announce the wedding without my consent.
I left my room and headed to her room immediately. When she saw me, she sent one of her guards to me.
"The Luna doesn't want to see you, Alpha," he said bowing.
"I need to see her now" I answered.
"I am sorry but she told me to ensure that you do not get in"
"You would not want to lose your head over this" I threatened with my Alpha tone and he moved away quickly.
I entered her room and she groaned.
"I guess he is not strong enough to hold him back. I should get another guard" she muttered.
"What is this?" I asked, throwing the invitation card on the table.
"What does it look like?" she asked not staring at me or the table.
"You must know what I came with because you are not staring at it"
She looked at me. "Why are you here? Say it and you should be fast about it. I've got a wedding to plan"
"Who is getting married?" I asked.
"My son. The Alpha of the Ice Pack who has no mate and has refused to settle down"
"I told you I have a mate, Mother. Why would you choose a date without telling me? I told you I would bring my mate"
"That offer ended two days ago. I told you I do not give empty threats. I thought you knew me. If you do, you would have found your mate by now and brought her to me. But since you did not, please be my guest at my son's wedding"
"Mom, I can't marry Kate"
"Because she is not your mate?"
I sighed. "Mom, my mate is..."
I sighed. Isn't getting married to Kate better than accepting Xavia as my mate? I wondered.
There is no way my mom would not make me marry her if she finds out. But she is already a slave which makes her not a suitable wife to me and that only brings me back to marrying Kate. I will also feel ridiculed being mated to a slave and weak human. I groaned. I can reverse her slave decree if I knew how she was made a slave but I do not know how. I might have to speak to Arden about it but we are not on good terms now. Even if Arden finally helps, I do not know how grievous the crime they lied that she committed is, and If I might have to come clean that I am the one who asked that she is being turned into a slave because I do not want to accept her as my mate. That will make my mom angry if she finds out.
I groaned. I had gone too deep to take her back and I do not have the intention to, because I can't accept a weak human who had been captured once and even turned to a slave as my mate.
Kate will make a better choice. I thought.
She comes from one of the most powerful families. Her father was once the Beta of the Ice Pack. Her brother the recent Beta, mated to the most powerful warrior Queen. Her mother is the head of the banshees and Kate is said to be one of the strongest banshees. That is the kind of family I want to take a wife from.
Even if love is not involved, I do not care!
"Fine!" I muttered. "I will marry her. If that is what you want"
She smiled. "I do not need your consent, son, because you do not have a choice. I already made the decision and that is final"
**
I met with Arden and told him how sorry I was for not carrying out the plan.
"I thought it through and I think marrying your sister is better"
"And your mate?"
"I can't accept her because she is human" I answered.
I had decided to come clean to Arden.
"Human? It's Xavia right?"
I furrowed my brows. "You knew?"
"I thought about it after that day you told me about your mate. Why would you feel sad when she showed up years after she left? Because she doesn't meet your standard and you do not want your mother to find out about her. Why would you insist that she doesn't work close to you? Because you feared the mate bond might become strong and you might not be able to resist. Why did you accept making her a slave? Because that is the only thing that can prevent you from marrying her"
"Why did you not tell me you knew?"
"I do not want you to feel uncomfortable around me"
I sighed. "No one should know about her. My mom can't find out about her"
"What do you plan to do with her? Are you going to reject her or what?"
"I can't reject her. She can't find out she is my mate"
"You don't plan to accept her, do you?"
"Of course not"
"You would not keep her in the Ice Pack forever, would you?"
"No, I would let her go but not so soon"
He sighed. "Poor soul"