Secrets of his Mate

Seven

Alessandro

Elana nodded her head while her eyes wandered down to the rose portrait again. "He died a few months ago in a horrible accident." A single tear rolled down her cheek as she tried blinking away the others that wanted to follow.

"Is that who you've been visiting at the cemetery?"

"Yes," was all she said with sadness obvious in her voice.

At a loss for words, I sat across from her feeling her pain. I tried forming words, but my mouth simply hung open. I understood why it was so hard to get him out of her head. She was still mourning the loss. I wanted nothing more than to console her, but I needed to take things easy with her. I wished I could take all the pain from her, although I began to see the bright side from this. With him being completely out of the picture knowing he could never come back, it was going to be easier for her to forget him and focus on me.

"Did you really think I wouldn't be putting up more of a fight if I actually had something to fight for?" Elana spoke suddenly trying to control her emotions. It really blew my mind how small bits of sass sounded so cute coming from her mouth.

I shrugged my shoulders hoping I appeared unbothered. "You do put up a bit of a fight, but not as much as I originally thought you would. You just like talking back and testing my patience. Why is that?"

"It's fun," she answered teasingly. I looked at her shocked and confused. When I didn't respond she rolled her eyes and spoke again. "I have no family or friends and the man I love is dead. Now, even though it wasn't planned, I'm living in this... castle with some hot, crazy man who's obsessed with me. Let's be honest, it could be a lot worse."

I couldn't help but smirk. "You think I'm hot?"

"I also said crazy and obsessed," she corrected.

"Are you forgetting that I'm a werewolf too?"

She chuckled. "I'm still trying to convince myself that was a dream."

I frowned. "You don't have to. I am what I am. I'm not embarrassed about it, and you should be happy to know the truth about me. I would never lie to you, love."

"Yeah," was all she said before taking a sip of orange juice and redirecting her attention to her breakfast.

We sat in silence for a while as we finished eating. It was hard for me not hearing her voice or knowing what she was thinking about. This was starting off as a good morning and I didn't want to upset her, but I wanted to know more. "What was his name?" I asked breaking the silence.

She didn't need to ask. She already knew who I was talking about but chose to think for a moment as if deciding whether she should say it or not. "I can't tell you that."

"Why not?" The man was dead for crying out loud. There was nothing more I could do to him.

"Because…" she began. "If I tell you who he is, you're going to go and look him up. I don't want you in his business. He's already gone. Just let him rest in peace."

She was a smart one. Elana was going to be the perfect Luna. I had no doubt about that. "I think you know me a little too well, but I guess that's fair." I gave her a small smile feeling guilty.

My phone buzzed several times in my pocket. "Sorry, love. This should only take a second." She shrugged and sat quietly allowing me to take the call. "Yeah?"

"There is a delivery truck coming in. The gatekeeper said there were a bunch of packages for Elana," Roman gave me the heads up.

"That's perfect. Send them straight up when they arrive." I ended the call and faced Elana with a smile on my face. "Looks like your order will be up here shortly."

"Oh," she said. "That was fast."

"Yeah, I had Tony hack into the laptop from downstairs to make sure you got everything you needed as soon as possible."

She c****d her head to the side. "Who's Tony?"

"A really smart seventeen-year-old kid who has been working extra hard lately to be recognized and move up in this pack. He was only doing what I ordered him to so don't be mad at him."

"How can I be mad at someone I've never met?"

"Well about that," I began to say hoping she would accept my request. "I was thinking we should have a pack party tonight for you to meet everyone. I know they're all dying to meet you."

Elana was frozen still staring at me. "A party?"

"I just thought it'd be an easier way to get to know the members of this pack and even though I haven't formally announced your presence here yet, the rumors have already started. Besides, they deserve to know who their Luna is."

"Stop calling me Luna. I never agreed to that."

"I know, but you are my mate which will make you the Luna once I mark you." I ran a hand over my hair. "Look, I'm not trying to force this on you, but we really should get this over with. Mostly because I need to prove to you that we're good people here. I also want to show them how amazing their new Luna truly is."

"I don't know what to say. That honestly sounds like a lot of pressure. I'm not sure I can deal with something like that."

I shook my head and held her hand. "Not at all. I'll be with you the entire time and we don't have to stay the entire night if you don't want to."

"Um... I guess," was all she said.

I couldn't help but smile. She didn't agree eagerly, but she still agreed nonetheless, and I couldn't be more excited. It was my chance to show her off to the pack, proving what an excellent choice the Moon Goddess had made.

My sharp hearing detected the bedroom door being opened along with some rustling that caught Elana's attention as well. "That must be your clothes being brought in." I grabbed her by the hand and guided her into the bedroom. The waiter quickly cleaned our mess and departed.

Roman was stacking boxes in front of the two closets. "Just a few more and I'll be out of your hair."

"Thanks, Roman." I turned to Elana and caressed her face. She looked down timidly, but I wasn't going to react negatively towards her action. "I can send one of the maids up here to clear out the closet and organize your things."

She shook her head. "I can do it. It'll give me something to do for a while."

I was in awe of her determination and independence. "Just let me know if you change your mind then." I caressed her one last time suppressing the urge to embrace her before leaving her alone.

"Last one," Roman grunted setting down the box.

"Good. I need you to gather everyone for a pack meeting in half an hour. I have an announcement to make," I said looking back at Elana. "I'll be back for you later tonight, okay?"

She nodded her head shyly. With that, I took off locking the door behind. I walked into my office to prepare a speech for the pack. I was in such a great mood, no one in the world be able to take that away from me.

Thirty minutes went by quickly. I looked at the sheet of paper on my desk. Not one word was written for my speech. I was too anxious to come up with anything to say. I was just going to have to wing it.

Roman and Eric stepped into the office. "Everyone's getting situated in the auditorium, Alpha," Eric notified me.

"I'll be down in just a moment," I stated, hoping they wouldn't sense how nervous I was becoming. I never had stage freight before, but something about the mere thought of Elana threw me off completely.

"Are you scared?" Roman asked with amusement in his words.

I scoffed. "Me? Scared?"

"You're getting sweaty," he laughed. "What is going on with you?"

"I really don't know. My hands are getting sweaty. I guess I'm just nervous about announcing Elana to everyone. I'm not sure how they'll react to their Luna being a human."

"After all this time, they've come to the conclusion that might happen and they don't care as long as you're happy. No one is doubting you," Eric reassured me.

"I hope so. I'm just going to wait a moment so everyone gets a seat and settles down."

"Why don't you tell us how breakfast went? Elana didn't look totally disgusted with you," Roman smirked.

A smile appeared on my face instantly. "It went great. She thinks I'm hot," I proudly gloated.

They both laughed. "No way she said that," Roman teased.

"It slipped, but she did." I couldn't help but grin ear to ear remembering her words.

"I don't believe you," Roman laughed rolling his eyes. "What else happened?"

"Well," I began to explain as I gathered my thoughts. "This little love of her life guy is dead. That's who's she's been visiting at the cemetery."

"Oh," was all Roman could say.

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" Eric spoke up.

I nodded. "Definitely. Now let's get to the auditorium before the pack starts getting antsy."

We made the way down where the Silver Moon pack of approximately fifty thousand werewolf members waited anxiously for me. I already knew rumors of my mate were spreading like wildfire, but I was going to confirm all of their speculations.

I stood in front of the podium facing my pack and tapped the microphone making sure it was on and working properly. I looked at all the happy faces in the crowd easing my nerves. "It has come to my attention that there are rumors spreading within the pack about me." The room fell dead silent in fear. "I'm here to let everyone know once and for all, those rumors are true. I have found my mate," I announced happily.

"What?" I heard the muffles of everyone's shock. There were cheers and applause. Some members even shed tears of joy for me while I could hear a few groans and snickers from some of the single women wishing they would become my mate. I ignored those and focused on the positive energy coming from the rest of the pack.

"Okay now," I began trying to get their attention back as they settled down. "As some of you may have heard, she is a human."

The first thing that pierced my ears were the smacking lips of Amy Whittaker. She has had a crush on me since middle school. When she turned sixteen, she even met her mate, but rejected him hoping the Moon Goddess would then choose me as her mate instead. She has been bitter ever since. I glared at her until her eyes widened and sunk into her chair embarrassed.

I cleared my throat before continuing to speak. "I know that may come as a shock, but she will be your Luna and deserves your respect as such. That is not a request," I firmly confirmed gazing at the pack, especially at Amy who did not dare look my direction. "Since she is human, she's still adjusting to this new lifestyle, so I want everyone to be nice and welcoming to her at tonight's pack party."

Cheers erupted at the word party. It had been a while since there was something grand worth celebrating, and my mate was definitely a good reason.

"What is her name, Alpha?" a voice shouted from the middle of the auditorium.

I smiled. "Her name is Elana," I said proudly. "Elana Ivy Venturi." There were awes from the crowd. "Now let's get ready and show her what a great pack we are."

Satisfied with the meeting, I made my way upstairs to give Elana the update. I was so excited I didn't bother knocking. She was in the center on the closet. My belongings were already gone, and she had most of her new stuff organized. When I stepped closer, I could see my clothes were thrown in the other closet with no regard. A chuckle escaped my mouth causing Elana to look up at me.

"What are you doing here?" she asked breathlessly.

"It looks like you need a break."

She shook her head. "I'm almost done."

"Whatever you say," I teased. "So, I told everyone about the party tonight. They're all excited to meet you."

Her face dropped. "Oh yeah," she whispered.

"I told you I will be with you the whole time. You don't have to be nervous."

"Sure, meeting a bunch of new people of a place you don't know with the company of a man you barely know as it is, isn't reason to be nervous at all."

"You know me, love. Anything more you want to know, just ask. I'm an open book."

She rolled her eyes. "Maybe another time. I'm busy," she said dismissively.

Her words hurt me a bit, but I did not allow myself to show it. "That time will come, I promise."

"The rogues are back, Alpha. They're trying to get past the guards," Eric's frantic voice come into my mind link.

Yesterday's events flashed back in my head. I was becoming enraged at an uncontrollable speed. "Make sure you guys catch them and throw them in the dungeon! If I get ahold of them, I will rip their heads off," I told him. "Nothing better ruin this night for me!"

"Yes, Alpha," he answered quickly.

"Are you ok?" Elana asked confused at my sudden change in mood.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. "Yeah. I'm fine, love. Why do you ask?"

"Um... Because you're red and just looked like you wanted to strangle someone."

"Everything's fine," I said giving her a smile. "I need to get some work done. I'll have one of the maids bring your lunch. Then I'll come back for you at six to go to the party. That should give you plenty of time to get ready."

Elana looked confused but didn't challenge a word I said. Instead, she simply nodded and said, "Okay."