"Oh, she's beautiful!" an elderly female Lorent said. She sounded genuinely surprised.
At this point, I was also surprised. Our spacious library was literally cramped with gifts.
There were chests and cloth-wrapped boxes and crystal vases filled with white roses. If anyone wanted to infuse the air with Wolfbane through flowers, there would be enough flowers to kill all of us instantly.
But we were all alive and well, and I suppose this wasn't the trap that Wolfie was referring to.
And it wasn't the stuff that surprised me, it was the sheer number of people at our private ceremony.
Almost everyone stood up at my entrance.
The only ones who remained seated were my mum and dad and Bell's mum and dad.
And Bell. The moment he caught my eye, I forgot about everyone else in the room. He had been sitting coolly on one of the sofas in a navy blue suit, his usually wild hair swept back but his expressions changed in quick succession as I entered. His original expression was sullen, and then recognition and surprise, and then suddenly softening in his gaze, promptly followed by a hardening around his mouth before the return to his cold and annoyed look.
What? What did I do now?
How could Mum say that he was smitten with me? The idea that Bell was in love was ludicrous! Would someone in love with me look so grouchy at our betrothal ceremony?
"Sam, I'm glad you're here," Dad said. "Please have a seat. We were just done with the introductions."
I looked around the room. The only seat available was next to Mate. So much for avoiding him. But I doubt he could say much in front of all our elders, much less reject me, so I walked over.
Beta Lucas, Mrs. Beta, Gamma Harry, Laura, even Delta Felicity were here. From the Lorent Pack were Bell's parents, the elderly lady who said I was beautiful (of course I liked her immediately), and I smelled him before I saw him...
Earlier there were too many foreign scents, and I hadn't mentally caught it, but now I pointed at the man standing behind Alpha James. "You!"
Beta Lorent looked older, thinner, and smelled less stinky, but it was still him.
"I told you to leave him at home," Mate growled at his dad.
"How can you leave your own uncle and the pack's beta at home on your betrothal?" the elderly woman chided Mate gently. "This is such a happy and important occasion in your life, and as your elders, of course your uncle and I would want to attend."
So Bell knew his uncle was here. Why was this uncle still the Beta? I looked at Killion.
"It's complicated." Killion mindlinked.
"Princess, sit down. We will talk later," Bell said.
I shook my head. And give you a chance to reject me? No way.
Bell sighed. "My uncle... claimes it was a misunderstanding. He was just working from inside the Rogue King's circles."
"That's the official story." Killion mindlinked.
"Just like Bell is 'abroad'?" I mindlinked back.
"Yes, Goddess." Killion said.
I considered this.
{Trap}
Wolfie reminded me.
{Protect Mate}
I moved over and sat down next to Mate. Everyone else sat back down in their own seats too.
I wished at this point I could pause time and consider all my options properly:
A) WARN MATE THERE IS A TRAP
B) PLAY ALONG AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS
C) DO SOMETHING CRAZY
D) ALL OF THE ABOVE
Guess which option I was going to choose?
If you chose D) ALL OF THE ABOVE, then you win nothing but the satisfaction of being absolutely right.
Well, it was not like I had the luxury of time to think each of them through.
I leaned in close to Mate and tugged his sleeve.
He turned almost grudgingly. I gave him my most innocent and cute look.
Maybe I wasn't good at it, because he only growled low at me. He leaned over and said into my ear, "What are you up to, Princess?"
I tilted my head up and whispered back, "Wolfie says there is a trap."
His expression remained stony, but I could see his jaw tick from my angle. Hahaha.
Alpha James cleared his throat, and Bell straightened while I pulled away.
"Our children are obviously in love. Your daughter is so beautiful tonight, see how my son is entranced by her!" Alpha James laughed his usual calm and gentle laugh.
Luna Edith nodded and smiled wordlessly.
I felt my cheeks grow hot. That wasn't it! I was just warning Mate! We weren't being lovey-dovey or anything!
Plus, could they not see his angry face was on? They were acting like this was his usual face.
Dad and Mum just beamed with pride.
Alpha James continued, "This may be belated, but we would like to do the right thing according to our custom and officially have our son and your daughter betrothed. Thank you for agreeing to accommodate us."
Dad nodded. "Although in the Night Leaf Pack, we no longer practice many of the customs from the Mountains, we understand the significance of this meaningful ceremony and are honored to partake in it. We all want to ensure our children's happiness."
Alpha James smiled and nodded. "Yes, we want to secure our children's happiness."
"Only our children can grasp and build their own happiness. As parents, we can only watch them make their own paths." Dad was in his zen.
Alpha James nodded gravely. "Yes, that is true. They have grown up. Now they want to do things their own way."
"It is a new era, and the young people have their own way," Dad answered.
In wording, Alpha James and Dad were both in agreement, but if you listened to the undertones, Alpha James sounded disapproving while Dad sounded optimistic.
"There is a new way and an old way. As long as it is a good way and everyone is willing to run it, it is okay." The elderly lady tried to placate.
"Alpha Kingsley, your daughter is very beautiful and lovely. I see immediately why my brother James and his Luna Edith speak highly of her. And it is obvious that our own young James treasures her."
"The goddess truly favored us by blessing our future Alpha with such a pure and lovely Luna."
Wait, what?
The elderly lady continued, "As you can see from the gifts we prepared, Alpha James and his Luna Edith will spare no expense in providing all that she needs now that she will become one of our own."
There was a silence.
I'm not sure what was happening or exactly what was agreed between Alpha James and my Dad, but I thought I was the Alpha, and Bell was the Luna.
From the looks on Beta Lucas' and Gamma Harry's faces, this had surprised them too. They looked at Dad, who looked at me. I looked at Mate, who looked at his dad.
Alpha James looked like he was put in an extremely difficult position. He looked almost embarrassed. "No, Amber, ah... Sam is the Alpha. She will be the successor of the Lorent Pack. The top three packs of the Green Packland will merge one day under Sam as the Oracle prophesied."
"Then the black wolf in the painting..." the elderly lady named Amber trailed off in realization.
Alpha James nodded. "This is the goddess' will."
"What?" Beta Lorent all but shouted.
Amber looked taken aback at Beta Lorent's outburst, but she regained her composure quickly. She paused to study me carefully. I averted my gaze and looked nonchalantly away.
I could see that on our side, the wolves relaxed. So they had accepted that it was an honest mistake.
Wolfie was watching very carefully. She was in hunting mode. Quiet, steady, calm. Waiting for her prey to make the first move.
"Brother, how can you do this? You are betraying our late father's wishes!" Beta Lorent hissed.
"Do not talk to me about betrayal!" Alpha James exploded then, the hurt from his own brother's betrayal evident on his face.
"When Father died, he handed you the reins to our pack. You promised that you would uphold our pack's glory. You promised that the Lorent Pack will always be led by a Lorent!" Beta Lorent ground out each word.
I was truly amazed by the passion in his anger. If I hadn't known of his betrayal and how he had bled out the Lorent Pack from the inside, murdering and selling his own members as slaves, if I hadn't known it, I would have thought here was a wolf who truly loved his pack.
"That's enough!" Alpha James raised his voice for a moment and then dropped back to a low growl. "We are here for the betrothal of my son to Alpha Kingsley's daughter. This is an auspicious and happy occasion. We will talk about the other things later."
Beta Lorent bowed his head in submission. "As you wish, Alpha."
All this Lorent drama, it didn't surprise me one bit, but I had never once expected that I would become one of the Lorents.
Honestly, this wasn't part of my 'grow up, find my mate, become the Alpha' life plan.