Ven
I managed to get back to my room safe and sound after I visited Geo in the dungeon. I may be physically okay, however, I'm emotionally confused at the moment. I mean, he said we're too different to be together, and then he kissed me? This man is giving off mixed signals that frustrates me. Why is he doing this?
I decided to take a nap for a while and just figure things out in the morning. But even as I close my eyes, my mind still wanders back to him.
I woke up at around 7 am and did my morning routines for about 45 minutes and by quarter to 8, I'm already descending the stairs to go to the kitchen.
"Good morning Miss Ven." Cynthia greeted me and I gave her a smile.
"What's for breakfast?" I asked.
"Bacon, omelet, and milk." She answered as she served it to me once I sat down on my spot.
"And perhaps, a talk with your father." I looked up from my food and saw dad looking at me with a serious expression on his face. I didn’t even notice he’s here!
"Hey dad, good morning." I greeted and looked beside him to see Alpha Archer. What's he still doing here? "Good morning to you too, Alpha Archer." I said.
"We want to talk to you after breakfast Ven." Dad said as he started eating. We? Does he mean him and Archer? What could they possibly want to talk about?
"Great, cause I want to talk to you about something too." I responded, sipping my milk.
"By the way, you look lovely today Ven." Archer complimented and I almost cringed. How is he suddenly noticing me now when I always sat on a table next to his during lunch time in our cafeteria during our high school years yet, he never even spoke to me. There's something up with him, really.
"Thank you." I said, not bothering to return the favor. After 15 minutes of utensils clanking, the three of us finally finished our breakfast and dad invited us to follow him to his study, where he handles all the alpha stuff and the pack's papers.
"So, what do you want to talk about?" I asked the moment we were seated.
"How about you go first?" Archer suggested and I gladly did so.
"May I know when the elders would be free to conduct Geo's trial?" I started off.
"Ahhh, it's actually going to happen today. Perhaps this afternoon honey. This matter is urgent after all." Dad answered and I smiled. Yes! The sooner the trial takes place, the better. I mean, it would give the guards less opportunities to torture him there in the dungeon. I just can't bear the thought of him being in pain.
"I see, that's good news." I said enthusiastically. "I'm telling you father, he's a good man. Our pack just did him wrong, that's why he took me. But he didn't harm me at all." I added.
"How did we wrong him exactly?" Dad asked. I want to tell him but I hesitated because of Alpha Archer's presence. There's just something about him that I don't trust at all.
"You'll know in court." I just said. "Now, what do you want to tell me?" I asked.
He took a deep breath before speaking. "Even before you were kidnapped, Archer and I had been talking about strengthening the alliance of our packs. And how coincidental it is that he's still mateless at 22 and you are too, at 20. Perhaps this calls for a union..." My jaw dropped at his words, no matter how carefully he tried to explain it. "And now, we owe him for finding you, and so-" I just have to cut him off.
"No father!" I exclaimed. "You can't just tell me to marry him. Dad, what about my mate? He's still out there and I haven't given up on him just yet."
"Calm down Ven." Archer said, putting a hand on my arm which I immediately shrugged away. "You know me. I would be a good mate, probably better than your destined mate. Can't you see? Our union would be great! You have a golden wolf, while I have a white one. Our pups would be powerful!" His words made my jaw clench.
"Power? That's the reason why you'd want to miss out on experiencing fate's greatest blessing? And here I thought you're a righteous man who has a high regard for the moon goddess." I retorted, making sure to show him how disgusted I am with the idea.
"Ven! That's no way to talk to an Alpha!" Dad growled and I rolled my eyes at him.
"And you dad, you really agreed to do this? If mom was here, she won't let you do this!" I snarled and he growled.
"Do not bring your mom into this. I'm doing this for your own good Ven. Alpha Archer would provide you the best life." He tried to reason out but that just worsened the situation.
"So you want to sell me off now? You don't believe that I could fend off for myself? What's those training for then?" I fired with a raised voice.
"Of course not Ven." Archer butted in once again, but he did not dare to lay a hand on me again as I gave him a death glare. "He has a lot of faith on you, he believes that you can be a great Luna in a pack as powerful as mine."
"Shut up! Do you think that's supposed to make me feel better? I don't want to marry you, and that's final!" I said as I stood up and slammed the door of the study behind me. I stormed out of the packhouse to cool off and headed to the park.
"Hey it's Ven. Ven!" I heard Ella called. She's hanging out with some of our school mates and I headed towards their direction. "What's up girl?"
"How are you Ven? What happened with the kidnapper?" Jules, a soldier in training asked as I sat beside Ella.
"Oh he's gonna be crushed! Especially with Alpha Archer lurking around to protect Ven." Ella teased and I gritted my teeth, not liking the sound of it at all.
"Alpha Archer? I did see him and his men around. I'm just curious Ven, is he your mate?" Jules asked.
"No!" I guess it came out too strong as they all looked at me weirdly, so I cleared my throat. "I mean, no he's not." I said in a calmer voice.
"Who's your mate then?" Aliyah, Jules' mate, who is also a soldier in training asked. For some reason, I found her question to be on point, so I just gave them a look.
"Oh boy, you're in big trouble then." Ella exclaimed, clearly getting the message.
We talked some more and then decided to have lunch together in our local dinner. My people seemed happy to see that I'm back and unharmed and I just gave them polite smiles. After lunch, Jules and Aliyah went off to prepare for training and Ella also bid farewell as she has clinic duties, so I walked back to the packhouse alone.
"Miss." Cynthia greeted me as soon as I entered the door, it's as if she's been waiting for me.
"Yes?" I asked.
"The trial would be at 2 pm. You need to get ready quickly." She didn't have to tell me twice as I bolted into my room and changed into a more appropriate attire before heading straight to the court room which is in the same building as the training room and basically the dungeon as well.
I reached there just before Elder Lenora, my grandmother, called the court to order. I quickly spotted Geo in between Carson and Albert, the head guards of the dungeon. He's still chained but thankfully, he looks much better now compared to last night. My risky mission of sending him food and beverages worked after all. I quickly sat beside Carson and Geo's eyes immediately fell on mine. I gave him a reassuring smile before facing my father on the other side of the room being flanked by Alpha Archer and our beta. I took a deep breath and thought, it's now or never.
"Geo Roswell, you are accused of kidnapping the Alpha's daughter, Ven Elise Edenberg, is this true?" My grandmother started.
"Yes ma'am." Geo answered.
"Why did you do that?" She asked.
Geo inhaled before answering, "I did it for revenge as the Golden Moon Pack's soldiers killed my mother and burned everything we had in the outskirts of their territory which we had been residing ever since I was born. Yes, we may be rogues but we're peaceful ones, never had our family tried to conquer a pack, nor attack any who ventured into the free lands, unless they harm us first." He explained and the elders looked at each other, before they looked at my dad.
"Alpha Vlad, would you mind?" Grandmother said.
"We did attack their family on the free lands. That's because they didn't abide to our humble request to leave after the paper for territory extension was approved by the Werewolf Council. They fought with force, so we had to do what we have to do." He explained.
"The ordinance didn't reach us! Unless you're making it up!" Geo said, and surprisingly I have the same thought too. Dad didn't mention any territory extension before, I mean he often shares plans about the pack with me as part of my leadership training.
"I have evidence." Dad said, showing a folder and handing it to my grandmother. She opened it and read it for a while.
"The evidence is clear, but do you have someone who can attest to its validity?" Grandmother asked and Alpha Archer raised his hand.
"I can attest to that, since I'm part of the Council." Alpha Archer said and I just rolled my eyes. For all I know, maybe he schemed this.
"It's valid then. Despite your sentiment for your family's loss, you clearly did us wrong. Do you understand that the punishment of your action is execution or life imprisonment? However the Alpha's daughter claimed that you saved her life. Is that true Ven? And how?"
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