Chasing My Unhappy Mate

Chapter 5

Alice pov

We finally got to sit down and I glanced at the menu, even though I knew it by heart. This was my favorite restaurant, I came here all the time. This wasn’t a big town, but it was to the west of our pack only thirty minutes away. It had quite a few restaurants and hotels, a giant park and stuff like that but no schools. So we used it for shops and restaurants and such, but we didn’t have any schools for the pups to go to after the rouges destroyed the one we were using. At least until we signed the treaty with the Blood Moon pack, and ended up forcing me to be mated to this man.

I peeked up at him from over my menu, trying to be inconspicuous in case he was looking at me. He was studying the menu, a strand of his blond hair fallen into his face. I looked at his long eyelashes, framing his chocolate brown eyes, and sighed. ‘There is nothing wrong with Ulric. You are attracted to him, he’s our mate. Just accept him.’ Clarke said to me.

I sighed again, looking down at my menu as I bit my lip. ‘So he can abuse me? So I can give birth to a child that has to watch me get abused as my mother did? To fall in love with him so completely and suffer from neglect like Liane?’ I asked her.

She whined in my head, placing her head on her paws as I thought about Liane.

I went to visit her before I came here with Ulric. It wasn’t long that I was away, but she looked so exhausted and pale today. She could barely catch her breath, the hard part was watching her try to smile to make up for her lack of ability to talk forever like she use to. Her stomach was ten times bigger than her, straining so much I asked Ginger if she could just do a c-section on her to get it over with. But of course, Liane being her self sacrificing self, covered her stomach and said they were staying until they were ready to come out.

We ended up talking for so long, she wanted to know in detail what Adaline was like and the other pack members. She was texting away to Adaline most of the time, and I was glad they became friends. They were so completely opposite from each other, but the same at the same time.

Then Alpha Brian walked in with Renee, who had to glare and tsk at everything. Making comments of how dirty the room was and so on, subtle hints of how Liane needed a shower even though she could barely move. I suspected Brian was bathing her anyway, she seemed perfectly washed and I could tell Renee was just making comments to hear herself talk.

Of course, it made Liane sad. In a way, I wish she was never mated to Brian. She loved him for so long, and when they both turned eighteen and discovered they were true mates she’s was on cloud nine. Then she married him instantly and found out soon after how much he loved her, silently. He never stood up for her, never told his mother to leave her alone. Renee walked all over Liane and she was too sickly and nice to stop her. Brian was the Alpha, he should have made her stop or stand down, but he always just kept silent, only speaking when he absolutely had to.

Then Liane tried to change the subject to me having a true mate and I watched Renee’s eyes light up as she opened her mouth, all too ready to talk about my frivolous ways. At that point, I couldn’t get out of the room fast enough.

I was already annoyed when I walked out of the packhouse, I knew I shouldn’t have taken it out on Ulric. I didn’t expect him to be on time, he doesn’t strike me as the punctual type.

‘He has proven he is though, you can’t deny that at least!’ Clarke said with a giggle.

I rolled my eyes at her. ‘He showed he is on time once. Like I said before, we don’t know him. It could be an act. He could be doing it only to impress me, and once we accept him he becomes a completely different person.’ I said to her. The image of my mama bent over me, her blood trickling down from her busted lip and falling onto the carpet at my feet as daddy beat her flashed in my eyes and I stiffened, closing my eyes tightly to try and make the image go away.

Ulric cleared his throat and I lowered the menu, biting my lip as I saw the worry flashing in his beautiful eyes. I could tell he wanted to ask me about it, he probably felt the fear I was having, but he surprised me with not even mentioning it. “So, are you ready to order? I can call the waiter over.” He said. I nodded tightly, my eyes wide in surprise.

‘Why didn’t he ask me what’s wrong?’ I said hesitantly.

‘Maybe he’s giving you space to tell him in your own time. When you’re ready.’ She said wisely.

‘Or maybe he’s already tired of me. I figured it wouldn’t last long.’ I said.

She barked at me, annoyed by my thought process but didn’t say anything as the waiter came over. We placed our orders and handed him our menus, then there was nothing to do but wait. He was staring at me, I could tell, there wasn’t anything else to look at now that the menus were gone so I stubbornly stared at my fork on the table.

Ulric cleared his throat again, making me look up at him. “What’s the training grounds like for the elite?” He asked me. I blinked at him, not expecting that question.

I cleared my throat and sat up straight. It was fine, these kind of topics were fine. “It’s not as advanced as your old pack. We have two training grounds instead of three. The warriors have their own, and the elite share with the royals. As you could tell we don’t have as big as a space behind the elite house as the Blood Moon pack, and we didn’t want to cut down any more trees to place a training field. The royal training field is big enough for both, and we don’t have as many elites as y’all’s did.” I blushed, feeling my country twang come out slightly as I spoke, and hoping he wouldn’t notice.

He smirked at me, making me know he did, and my face flushed from embarrassment. Thankfully, he didn’t mention it. “What’s the deal with the packhouse.” He asked me. I frowned, not understanding his question. “I mean, you see the difference between these houses and Tate’s. Tate’s is nice and bright and colorful, well taken care of. But these ones are neglected and dirty, no flowers or decorations of any kind, it’s dreary.” He said sharply. He blushed, scratching his head and making a few more strands of his hair fall in his face. “I’m sorry, I just blurted that out harshly.” He chuckled awkwardly.

I blinked in surprise at him, his ability to just say what pops into his mind without thinking was astonishing. “Well, it was more taken care of before honestly. Once Alpha Hector, Alpha Brian’s father, was killed, Madam Renee didn’t care as much about maintenance. Honestly, it wasn’t that pretty before either, she didn’t have the decorative touch or care as Luna Adaline does. Luna Liane doesn’t like the look of it either, she said multiple times she wanted to have it fixed but Madam Renee talked over her, said it was a silly thing not important at the time and She eventually stopped saying anything about it. Then she got pregnant, and she’s always been slightly weak, she has been on bed rest for most of her pregnancy.” I said with a frown.

I could see his hesitation, he must feel my worry for Liane, but he didn’t say anything. “Has Alpha Brian and Luna Liane been Alpha and Luna for long?” He asked casually.

I shook my head no. “We are all the same age. I’m nineteen, Alpha Brian became the Alpha of the pack only one week after he turned eighteen, he was only true mates with Luna Liane for three days before he became the Alpha of the pack. They were rushed into marriage within the next week, and she became pregnant about seven or eight months later. It’s a new leadership, and Alpha Hector has only been dead for a little over a year. We just had a big remembrance ceremony before I left to go to the Blood Moon pack.” I said to him.

“So Alpha Hector was a great Alpha? I mean for them to still have a remembrance ceremony, I doubt Tate and Adaline are going to care enough to have one for Alpha Titus.” He asked, curiously.

I paused, thinking how to answer that. “He was a stern leader. He was hard, he followed the rules. He was harsh with Alpha Brian, whenever I saw them together he was usually screaming at him. I didn’t know him much, he didn’t care to get to know his pack much. I was made Beta after he died, so I didn’t really get close to him.” I said carefully.

“So how long has Luna Liane been pregnant again? Isn’t she almost due?” He asked.

I frowned at him. “Not long enough I’m afraid. She’s only seven months pregnant, but they are twins and twin births are common to come early. I just hope she delivers safely, and the twins come out healthy as well.” I said softly.

He nodded, frowning down at his fork. The waiter came and placed our orders down, refilled our drinks, and left us to our meals. We ate in relatively comfortable silence for the most part before Ulric started up his questions again.

“How are Betas and Gammas picked here?” He asked.

‘Well, he’s very curious.’ Clarke said with a Chuckle.

‘He is, but it’s to be expected. He’s new to the pack and wants to know about it. I’m thinking of this as a normal new wolf interview.’ I said casually.

She barked at me. ‘Sure you are.’ She said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes at her.

I looked up at Ulric, he was watching me argue with Clarke and he was smirking at me. “Why are you so curious?” I asked hesitantly.

He smiled at me. “Because this is my home now. I need to know all about it.” He said matter of factly.

I blew out a breath of annoyance. “You just want to be with me because you can be Beta again.” I blurted out. I covered my hand over my mouth, surprised. Did I really just speak without thinking? I never do that, what was wrong with me?

I looked up at him slowly, wincing at the hurt in his eyes as he cleared his throat. “Alice. I would want you even if you were an Omega. It has nothing to do with the title. Step down and I’ll prove it to you if you need me to.” He said softly, his determination thick in his voice.

I regarded him hesitantly before I decided to change the subject away from what he said and answer his previous question.

“The tradition of our pack is when the Alpha turns eighteen we hold a competition of the Elites. We use Elites between the ages of eighteen and thirty. They all compete and the two who win then wait another week to recover before they fight each other. The winner of the two becomes Beta and the other becomes Gamma. Then the pack is handed over to the young Alpha and the older one steps down.” I said.

He whistled, a low impressed whistle. “You fought against all those people and won?” He asked incredulously.

‘He’s checking you out again.’ Clarke snickered.

‘He thinks I’m really strong. He’s going to be disappointed.’ I said with a sigh.

“Because of the sudden death of Alpha Hector, we didn’t have time to do a competition. Alpha Brian, well he isn’t the most on top of it. At that time Renee was in despair of her husband’s death and didn’t leave her room. So honestly Luna Liane took over. She told Alpha Brian to appoint her two best friends as her Beta and Gamma. Me being her very best friend and also top of the school he agreed to make me Beta. He made our other best friend Gamma. She died shortly afterward in a fight with bear shifters, but by then Renee snapped out of her misery and was telling Alpha Brian what to do, and stomping all over Luna Liane, so she had Alpha Brian choose her niece as Gamma. Not that Luna Liane could really fight back, she was in despair over our friend’s death.” I said softly. “So no, I didn’t fight anyone for the title.” I finished.

He nodded, understanding crossing his features as he finished his food. I could tell he was contemplating all the information and I finished my food as well. ‘He’s going to think I’m stupid when he realizes how weak I am. I couldn’t even train until after daddy was killed and even then Liane and I didn’t do it much, she was busy ogling Alpha Brian.'

After dinner, we drove back in comfortable silence, and I could tell he was sitting there talking to his wolf with his occasional chuckle. When we got to the packhouse he stared at me, as if he wanted to kiss me, but he said his goodbye and I watched him walk to his car. I wasn’t sure if I was disappointed or not, but I shook my head no.  I wasn’t going to let myself feel disappointed. I wasn’t going to let myself feel sad when his presence left. I might be empty, but I was okay with that. It’s how it’s always been, and always will be.