The Alpha's Runaway Mate

Chapter 9 - THE MEETING AND THE ULTIMATUM

 JACE

It had been a week since the girls left without a trace. We have searched everywhere. The last place we looked at was the train station which showed them getting onto the train, but the man who had their tickets couldn’t remember where they were heading.

We have been tracking every stop on that train, but nothing has come up. It is like both girls have disappeared into thin air.

Rita and Aaron have been helping in the search with the help of Liam. Rosa came to the pack and was a little startled to learn we were werewolves, but the way she acted was like someone who had known about them. Something didn’t sit right with me; Rosa promised she would try ringing them on the numbers she had for them, but there had been no such luck.

Dan has been pacing and has been hard to live with as he snaps at everyone. 

I'm trying not to lose my mind, but Rolf has a sense that our mate is okay; he seems calmer than usual lately, but we have been on more runs, and we have even been looking into more possible leads. I have difficulty controlling him when the tips fail, but he knows we are trying everything to get to Thalia.

Today is the meeting with Elder Archie and the other council member.

I have all the documents ready that he wants to look over. The annoying prick sent a list to me through email to let me know what he wanted to look at, which was a lot of bullshit. Everything he has asked me to look at is back when my father was alpha. Something tells me that someone in the pack wants to learn more about my father's dealings, or someone is trying to throw a spanner in the works for the pack.

Elders and council members don’t interfere in pack business but can make a pack break if they think their alpha is unstable, which I can say I am not. 

There was a knock on the door, “Come in,” I shouted as I ensured the office was all ready for the meeting.

“Hey,” says Dan as he came in, “Are you all set? The Elder and the council members are here.”

I nodded and looked around. But my eyes land on Dan, we both feel defeated, but we need to show a united front.

“You ok Dan,” I asked him.

Dan sighed, “I am, I will be in here with you, and I will keep my cool.”

I nodded and smiled at him, “We need to show we are ok; we won’t mention anything about our mates, not until we have tidy intel on them.”

Dan nods, but he looks at me with concern. “I do have a funny feeling about this, I think...” he starts to say, but someone knocks on the door.

I sighed and looked at him, “I know, I feel the same way, but we need to figure out what they have planned or mainly what they want,” I said to him.

He nodded and took the seat to my right, “Come in,” I shouted as we stood in front of the chairs.

The door opens, and Aaron comes in with a man and woman. The man looks older than the woman, but he has no emotion on his face. The woman looks at us and smiles, “Hello, my name is Councillor Astrid, and this is Elder Archie. We are here for a meeting with you, alpha Jace.”

I smiled at her, “It is nice to meet you; this here is my Beta Dan and Gamma Aaron; they will be sitting with us as we can discuss the folders you have asked for,” I said.

Astrid looks a bit confused, but Elder Archie speaks, “Ah Councillor Astrid, I asked the Alpha here to let me look at some of the dealings and some other bits, but it will be done here,” he says.

I looked at him. Something feels off.

Astrid looks at the Elder but turns to me, “We will be here for the meeting, and then we will leave, not taking any folders or anything, so I do not have any idea about what the Elder was referring to, but he will be staying here for a few days” she says and moves to the chairs in front of them, she sits, and we all follow suit.

“This feels weird,” says Dan, through mind link.

I couldn’t agree more. What the hell is going on?

“May I ask why you are here?” I asked her.  

Astrid smiles. “Well, I am here to find out how you are?” She says.

I looked at her confused, “I don’t understand, I'm fine,” I said.

She smiles, “We were given an invitation from a pack member to come and visit you, to assess you as an alpha as you have not found your mate yet,” she says.

I looked at her, but I didn’t say anything.

“We have invited the person who sent the request here as we need to hear both sides,” she says.

There was a knock at the door, “Young Gamma, could you please get that?” Says Elder Archie, who has a smirk on his face.

Aaron looks like he wants to rip the Elder a new asshole, but he does what he is told and opens the door, but when he moves back, his face has a lot of emotions running through him.

I c**k my head at him to work out, but the scent that comes into the office makes both Rolf and I let a low growl slip through.

Frank and Ariana.

Both of them come into the office with smiles on their faces.

I can feel Aaron and Dan’s eyes looking at them, but they are also looking at me. I keep my emotions in check even though Rolf would love to be set free to kill them.

Frank and Ariana sit next to the Elder, but I don’t smile.

Ariana looks at me with a smile, but it goes away once she sees my face. It must have said a thousand words, but not the words she wanted to see.

“Alpha,” says Frank, “I wanted the Elder here and the council to talk to you about the future of this pack; it needs a Luna. We need a Luna, and you have done nothing to find her.”

“THAT WOLF WILL BE DEAD,” roars Rolf in my head.

“I know, but we need to think carefully and show we are not unstable, so try to keep calm,” I said to him.

I stared at the man in front of me, but I turned to the Elder. “So let me get this right, a member of my pack asked you about the future of the pack and me not finding my Luna; why would it concern you again?” I asked him.

“Well, I am here on another matter, but Alpha Jace, you should have found your mate by now,” he says, but he looks at me. “Have you been looking for her?”

“Well, why would you think it's a woman?” said Astrid, who turned to the Elder.

I can’t help the smirk that appeared on my face. The Elders' face looks mortified, “You mean, you like....” he says, but Ariana cuts him off, “Alpha Jace is not into men, Elder, he likes women.”

She looks at me with a smirk, but I'm still smirking at her, “How would you know?” I ask, which makes her look at me confused, “Well, I have never been with a she-wolf, I never touched you, so I have to ask, how would you know?” I ask.

Ariana looks at me, but something tells me she knows I have been with women. 

“She has been following you,” says Aaron through mind link. I look over at him, but he is glaring at Ariana.

“Well,” says Astrid, “Are you going to answer your alpha?” 

I look back at Ariana; she clears her throat. “Well, I have heard that he took humans as he never wanted to take away the virtue of a she-wolf for her mate,” she says. So she does remember that I told her but that never stopped her from trying to get with me.

Frank clears his throat, “I have a suggestion,” he says as he looks at me.

I look at him; something tells me I'm not going to like this.

“I think Alpha Jace should choose a mate,” he says.

I growled, “I don’t think so,” I said to him.

Frank looks at me, but his face becomes certain, “I think Alpha Jace, you need to decide whether you choose a mate or you hand your title over to someone who can look after the pack with more authority.”

I shoot up and growl at him; Dan places his hand on my arm and pulls me back, moving to the front of me.

“Calm,” he says. But he turns to glare at Frank, who looks a little startled.

“I think you should not speak right now,” says Dan through gritted teeth, “He is having a hard time controlling his wolf due to your outburst.”

Astrid stares at me, but Elder Archie smirks, “This proves that.....” he starts to say, but Astrid stops him. “Nothing, this proves nothing,” she says and glares at the Elder, “This only proves that these two only want power, and I am going to be blunt, who would you suggest he chose as a chosen mate?” She asks as she looks at Frank.

Frank gulps but clears his throat. “My daughter, Ariana,” he says as he looks at her.

I growled loudly, “THAT AINT HAPPENING,” I snarled.

Ariana looks at me, slightly hurt.

Astrid looks over to me, “I think Alpha Jace, we need to take a break so you can calm your wolf down,” she says.

I was about to agree, but Dan cleared his throat, “What if he met his mate, but she left before he could say or do anything to have her here?” He asked.

I glared at the back of Dan’s head.

Astrid looks at him but c***s her head to one side, “Is this true?” She asks, looking right at me.

Dan looks over his shoulder and then back to her; he sighs, “We both met our mates a week ago; we have been looking for them but seem to be at a loss, but what if we find her?” He asks, “Would this whole mess be gone?”

Astrid looks at me, and I don’t move or say anything.

“I think all of you need to leave,” she says. The Elder looks at her startled, but she glares at him, “You sent me here under false pretenses, so you can all leave,” she says.

Everyone leaves the room without saying anything, just leaving the two of us.

I sat down, and Astrid looked at me, “I'm assuming you have been searching for her. Do you have a photo of her?” She asks.

I stare at her.

I move out of the chair and head to my desk, picking up the photo I have of her from the train station.

I moved back and handed her the photo. She takes it from me and scans over the image, and sighs, “She is a beauty,” she says.

I nodded and gave her a small smile, “I have been looking everywhere for her. I need time to find her. She could have gotten anywhere,” I said.

Astrid nods at me, “I know, is she human?” She asks. 

“I think so,” I said, not telling her that both Dan and I had no clue what our mates were.

Astrid looked at me, “The Elder and that pack member are trying to make you submit for some strange reason, but also we have noticed that there have been some inconsistencies with some things that we looked on about with this pack. I want you to talk to you about something,” she says and grabs the folder in front. She scans over it and looks up, “That’s interesting,” she says.

I look at her confused; she smiles, “Do you trust me, Alpha Jace?” She asks, “I'm going to give you an ultimatum in front of the Elder and those two idiots, and you will agree, but I am going to give you this,” she says as she goes to her pocket and pulls out a card, she hands it to me.

I looked at it; it had a mobile number on it. I look back at her, confused, but Astrid smiles. “That’s my number, you agree to the ultimatum for me, and I will help you find your mate but also, we could make the Elder suffer, he has been making agreements with people who are not worthy of having any help from us.”

“You will help me find my mate; what else?” I asked her.

She looks at me, “I will help you find your mate, but also I will be the only council member that you will deal with,” she says, “I hear a lot of nice things about you, Alpha Jace, I asked around your pack and got a good amount of information that you are a fair alpha, and no other member has any worries about you not finding your mate as you don’t need one. The member who brought us here has a hidden agenda; his previous little w***e daughter wants you, and we are dragged into it for some reason.”

“What about the Elder?” I asked her, “What does he want?”

Astrid looks at me, and she hands me the file she picked up. “Look through this one; you may find something in this, but don’t hand it to him as he will use it to destroy everything that you have worked for in this pack,” she says.

I stare at the folder. I move out of my chair and place it in the drawer on my desk.

I turn around, and Astrid is standing up, “Agree to the ultimatum Alpha Jace, and I will help you,” she says.

I had nothing to lose, and Rolf was watching on with an amused look.

“What do you think, Rolf?” I asked him.

“I think we should trust her, and she seems to know everything, and not only that, we need a new lead on mate,” he says with a sigh.

I looked at Astrid and nodded, “I agree with what you are going to ask,” I said to her.

Astrid smiles and mind links the Elder to bring in the others. Everyone walks in, Dan and Aaron look at me, but I keep all mind links up. I will tell them once everyone has left.

We all sit, but Astrid looks at me and smiles, “I have given Alpha Jace an ultimatum about meeting his Luna; he will have a full year to find her. Once he does, he has his Luna, but I will be picking the chosen mate for him if he doesn't find her.”

I looked back at Astrid in surprise. 

Frank looks at her and looks annoyed, “You mean you will pick someone from this pack to be his mate,” he asks.

Astrid turned to glare at him. “No, I will choose his mate. No one else and Alpha Jace has agreed to this,” she says.

“You agreed,” says Ariana in a frantic voice.

I nodded and smiled, “Yeah, I have.”

“I think we should leave and Elder Archie,” said Astrid, as she turned to him. Elder Archie looks at her but with a blank expression, “I think you need to take the files away with you as I think you will be busy.”

Elder Archie grabs the folders and nods. 

Astrid looks at me and nods, “Alpha Jace, Beta and Gamma, I will want reports on what happens,” she says.

Both Astrid and Elder Archie leave, with Frank leaving right behind them.

Ariana looks at me, “You never found your mate; that slut was nothing,” she says. 

She doesn’t see me coming; I grip her by her throat and slam her into the wall behind her. She tries to gasp for breath, but Rolf is close to the surface.

“Now listen here, your pathetic little she-wolf,” I said in a snarl, “I don’t want you. If I find out you have followed me again, I will place you in a cell or send you to another pack to live in. Do you understand me?”

She tries to nod, but I let my grip on her throat go as she slumps down to the ground.

I knelt and looked at her, “I will not accept you; I want my mate,” I said to her.

I got up and looked at Dan and Aaron, “Make sure she is never around me,” I said to Aaron, and he nodded.

Aaron walks over, grabs Ariana by the arm, and moves her out of the office.

I told Dan everything about what happened when they left the office and what Astrid offered me.

Dan looked at me, stunned, “The councilwoman helped you with the Elder. What was in that folder that she made you put back?” He asks.

I shrugged, “I don’t know, but we will look through it later, but she will help us find our mates,” I said.

Dan looked at me with hope in his eyes; we both needed this.

“We need to work out what the hell is going on,” he says.

I nod.

“We will, both Aaron and you, help me here and also get Rita to help as well,” I asked as I walked over to my desk.

I sat down and looked at him, “We will even get Rosa and Liam to help, but we need to do this discreetly,” I said.

He nods.

This is the first time that Rolf and I feel hopeful and know we have a year to find her.

Thalia, we will find you. 

I want my mate.