The Alphas Mate

Chapter 1 Alicia’s POV _Anguish..._ It hung in the air, its feel so thick, that I felt I could cut through it with a knife. My shoulders heaved, as I sobbed gently. "Let's go." My mother's words startled me. It was the only coherent word she'd let out since _his death._ As my feet led me to where his covered body lay, I fought back my sobs. And when I finally stood in front of him, I froze. I didn't move. More like I _couldn't move._ I stood there, still as statue, not budging at all. Not even when my panicky mother ran out of the room. Lifting my head, I roamed my eyes over everyone present in the room. _Everyone who'd come to pay their last respects to my father._ The only ones in the room were the council officials. Taking a deep breath, I pulled off the cover from his face. A bitter taste crept up the back of my throat, and my hands shook. “Rest on dad.” I whispered, placing a bouquet of rose on his chest. _It'd been his favorite._ *** I inhaled the fresh air deeply once I was outside. “Alicia.” My mother's voice sounded parched. She was leaning against the wall, her white dress hugging her curves beautifully. Tears stained her face, and looking at her closely, my heart ached at how frail she looked. "Later Mom," And without another word, I ran to my room. Memories poured in, and my tears flowed fast. He'd been the most caring person I ever met, and he always treated me like a princess. _He was gone now._ Spasms upon spasms of pain hit me, and I cried harder. I cried until my voice cracked. Cried until I slipped into oblivion. I was awoken by the knock on my door which woke me up from my sleep. “Who’s that?” I asked groggily. “There’s a meeting in the courtroom and the council requires your attendance immediately.” A feminine tone said from behind the door. “I’m not coming.” I said seemingly. “The Beta commands it too.” She added. I sighed in frustration because I didn’t want to disdain my mom. I stepped out of my room coldly and steered straight for the courtroom. I sauntered in and saw all eyes turn to me as soon as I walked in. I looked over at my mom and she had an uncommon look on her face but I shrugged it off guessing it might be because of my dad. “Now that she’s here we may begin the discussion.” The head of the council said and the others nodded in accord. I stared blankly wondering what sort of meeting it was for my presence to be mandated. “So as well know, we lost our Alpha yesterday and this would alter everything. Our pack would head downwards if we didn’t look for something to do immediately. This is why we reached an agreement to sign a contract with Moon Pack. They clasp all our monetary achievements and in order to secure that we need a contract to seal it off.” He declared and made a steep pause glimpsing over to my mom. My mom sighed intensely before she continued speaking. “We all agreed that the best judgment to make is to deal with the contract by getting Alicia, the only successor to the pack, wedded to the son of the Moon pack.” My mom ultimately said, looking straight at me. The whole gaze in the vestibule turned to look at me as I finally snarled into reality that I wasn’t hallucinating. “What!” I shrieked standing up from the chair. “Be seated young woman.” The council elder declared, looking over at me with a frigid look. “No, I won't. You can’t just make such decisions, you just can’t. ”I declined, frowning back at him. “Alicia, seat down.” My mom said softly as I dug into her eyes and saw how frantic she was. After much reluctance, I sat down only because of her. “This is the only choice we have which is why we have resulted into it.” My mom added trying to evade my questioning gaze. “What about me? What about what I think about this? Why would you just agree to get me married to someone I don’t know?” I questioned as tears gathered up at the hub of my eyes. “Alicia, you need to calm down.” My mom said sniffling hard. “No I can’t calm down, I know if dad was alive he would have never agreed to this. You want to sell me off to make for the benefit of the Pack, what about me? What about my happiness?” I yelled out slamming my hands hard on the table. “You need to calm down, Miss Alicia, this is the best decision for us to make. You need to accept it.” Another council member let out. “How would you feel if it were your daughter? What if your daughter had to sacrifice her happiness for the sake of the contentment of others? You won’t like it would you?” I barked out, gaping at him. He looked away from my gaze. “Just like I thought, none of you would want it for your daughters but yet you want me to embrace it? “ I conveyed as tears fell freely from my eyes. It dawned on me that my mom wasn’t going to say anything to prevent this. “We will try to get the arrangements done before tomorrow. We can't afford to lose their support.” The council elder said in finality. “Why the rush? Why tomorrow?” I asked instantly. “The earlier the better.” He responded ostensibly and the meeting ceased: They all stepped out of the chamber till I was left with my mom. I scoured into her eyes as she slanted towards me. “I want you to know that if there was something I could do to help you, I would.” She whispered gently, sniffling gently as she steered out of the room. I sat there and everything that occurred played before my eyes. I kept tweaking myself repeatedly wishing it was a dream but it dawned on me that it was not.