The Arrangement
Chapter Seven

The office reminded her of home, and yet not.

They were similar, but this one, this one made her uncomfortable. This one caused a feeling of uncertainty. It felt like she was in danger.

It didn’t make her feel warm and welcome and safe. Like at home. Home was where she longed to be. But she chose this. She chose to be here. She chose to be mated to the Alpha beside her. She chose to be the Pack ’s Luna. She chose this. So now she had to follow through. She had to uphold this end of the arrangement. Otherwise Mystic Peak would be doomed, and would eventually fall to the Rogues.

Madeline took a seat across from Benjamin, crossing her legs. She sat stiffly, the cushioned chair even gave her this uneasy feeling. She didn’t let it show. She kept her face mostly neutral, having only a soft smile plastered on her lips.

She did her best to not look at Emerson, only occasionally glancing at him. from her short glances, she could tell that she wasn’t the only uncomfortable on here.

Benjamin took a seat behind the computer, making it clear that this was his office. He had a delightful smile, either not realizing that both her and Emerson were uncomfortable, or he was delighted because of it.

“The sooner this Mating Ceremony happens the sooner I can get wolves to Mystic Peak.” Madeline noted that Benjamin said I and not we. She noted how he was undermining his son. How he was taking over even though he was no longer Alpha.

Emerson knew too, as his claws were out and piercing the arm of his chair. Madeline didn’t know what overcame her, but she reached over and put her hand on his forearm. She subtly shook her head, trying to convince him that a fight would not be helpful. Not today.

His arm tensed under her touch, but he did not pull away as she had thought he would. Carefully, hesitantly, she gently rubbed her thumb on his skin in soothing circles. She hoped that she was not over stepping her boundaries by doing so, but as he did not pull away, and that tension somewhat eased from her body, she figured that this was okay. That she was not doing anything wrong.

“Sounds fine with me. Would Friday be a good day?” Madeline said, with a cheerful voice. “I know that it’s only a couple days away, but it seems as if you know how to get these people to work. with so many of them, surly you could get it ready by Friday. If not, we can always push the date back.”

Madeline felt the Alpha’s eyes snap to her, but she didn’t dare look at him. She only looked at his father, with that sweet smile filled with poison. Just because she had grown sheltered from politics of, didn’t mean that she didn’t know how to play the game. She knew how to play it. and she knew how to win.

“Of course, it is not a problem. Friday it is then.” There was a strain in Benjamin’s voice as he spoke. His smile not reaching his eyes.

“Good. We will leave you to your planning.” She stood up, Emerson following suit. She stopped just before the door and turned to back him. “Don’t worry about my dress. I will get it myself. No offense, but I don’t trust men when it comes to fashion.”

Madeline nor Emerson spoke, not until they were back in the Alpha’s Wing. Madeline watched as he grabbed a bottle of wine and poured them both a glass. She took it from him and downed it in one drink. She refiled the glass and took a small sip from it this time.

Madeline had been ready to go into that meeting and work out the hard details of the Ceremony. She was willing, though she had dreaded it. But…the way the Benjamin was behaving, as if this was his Pack, it had made her blood boil. She wasn’t exactly sure why, though she guessed that it was because her wolf was aware that she was about to become Luna. And she refused to let someone else call the shots while she sat there smiling and waving.

“He’s going to keep walking all over you if you keep letting him.” She voiced her thoughts out loud.

She turned to him when she heard his scoff. “You don’t know anything.”

“I know enough to know that he’s the one calling the shots, and you’re letting him. I get that you’re hurting, but this is your Pack. Take responsibility for it-”

Madeline suddenly found herself pushed up against the wall with a very angry Alpha in front of her. His hands were on either side of her, trapping her in. Her eyes went wide but she did not back down. She would not.

His voice was deadly calm when he spoke. It was cold and hard, but calm. The worst kind of rage there was. “You don’t know anything. So keep your mouth shut and stay out of this before you make it worse.”

She noted the fact that his were out and were piercing the wall. She did not let that frighten her. Instead, she stared him right in the eyes and said, “It’s going to get worse if you continue to let this happen. He will not stop. You know that. I know you do.”

He snarled. “You know nothing. Stay out of it or I’ll make you.”

And with that Emerson was gone.

Madeline stood there, blinking at the spot where he had just been. She turned her head, and sure enough, there were punctures in the wall where his claws had been. She pushed off the wall and smoothed her hair. She would not let this scare her off. She was not a coward.

She bent down and cleaned up her broken wine glass, that had fallen when she was pushed up against the wall. she threw away the broken shards and cleaned up the wine before it could stain.

Madeline washed her hands free of any wine or soap on her hands and dried her hands. She smoothed her shirt and took a couple small, deep breaths. Seeing as Emerson walked out on her, giving her nothing to do, she figured that now was a better time than any to explore the Pack on her own.

That, however, did not happen.

As soon as she appeared on the first floor, she was stopped by Benjamin, who was accompanied by two guards.

“Ah, Madeline. I was just on my way to go see you.” He said. “As you are about to become Luna, it puts you in a dangerous position. There are some who would like to see this Pack fall, and may target you. So for your safety, you will have guards with you at all times, unless dismissed by myself or Emerson. And don’t worry, both are mated so Emerson won’t throw a hissy fit with you hanging out with unmated males.”

It took Madeline a moment to grasp what he was saying. She nodded after a moment of silence. “Yes, yes of course.”

Not that she had a choice it the matter, that was clear just by looking at the former Alpha. But it was better to agree with this. It would make things more difficult if she didn’t cooperate.

“Good. Great. This is Isaiah-” He pointed to the red head with green eyes, who had disturbing scars on his face, as if someone had clawed his face. “-and this is Ricardo.” Ricardo had tan, olive skin, and the bigger of the two guards. “They are not to let you out of your sight. So no trying to run away from them.”

Madeline could only nod. She watched Benjamin walk away before facing her two guards. “Right, so, um…I was just going to look around the Pack. Explore, you know.”

She rocked back on her heels. She had never really had guards, besides those few months when she got grounded for setting off those fireworks. And they had been temporary, this sounded permanent.

The darker skinned one smirked at her. “Feel free to wonder. We’re just here to make sure no one tries to kill you.” He had a Mexican accent, though it was heavy, it was not heavy enough that she couldn’t understand him.

Madeline nodded. “Right, okay. Let’s go then.”

So her plans of going out alone vanished, though she tried to pretend that she didn’t have two guards trailing behind her, and who knows how many more watching her. Though it was hard to ignore that fact that two wolves were right behind her and almost everyone seemed to stop what they were doing when she stepped out of the Pack House. Word seemed to get around fast about why she was there.

She tried to control her blush but her cheeks still flushed. Despite wanting to bury her head in the ground, she kept her chin high. She was their Luna, or she would be in two days. She had to act like it.

Madeline turned her head to Ricardo, the less intimidating of the two. Though he was certainly bigger than his companion, he didn’t have any horrifying scars and he had a friendly smile on his face. she was sure that she would get along much better with Ricardo than Isaiah.

“Do you know where the boutique is?” She asked him. “I have two days to replace a dress suitable for the Mating Ceremony.”

He nodded. “Yes. I’ll show you to the one my little sister always goes to.”

Ricardo took the lead, with Madeline following and Isaiah behind her.

Madeline looked around as they walked, taking in all the different buildings and training grounds. She distinguished the different paths, the ones for walking and the others for wolves.

She spotted a few wolves, running through the trees. Their behavior caused her to think that they were mates, though she could be wrong. They were just so playful with each other. Like how Madeline used to be with Lucas.

Her smile dropped at the thought of her dead mate. She took a deep breath and purge him from her thought. No, she would not think of him. She had to move on. Let go. That’s what he would want. He would want her to move on and be happy. So she would. She would live for him.

Madeline hadn’t realized that they had stopped walking until she ran into Ricardo’s back. She stumbled back into Isaiah’s arms. He set her up right and she mumbled an embarrassed apology. He just gave her an amused look. Or at least she though it was amusement. She hoped it was.

Ricard snorted softly then coughed to covered it up. “So, this is where my sister always goes for her gowns, and drags me along with her.”

She shifted to the right slightly and stared at the cute building. There were a couple gowns in the window, each one different and unique. Rosebud Boutique. Cute name.

Ricardo held the door opened for her and she stepped inside. Dresses were handing everywhere, material laying out on tables. There were a few girls there, looking and trying on dresses.

A smiling, bright face approached her. “Hi, I’m Casey. I’ll be helping you today. Mating Ceremony dress?”

Madeline blinked. “How do you-”

“Everyone knows. Benjamin got word around pretty quickly. The whole Pack is helping to set it up. Hope you don’t mind a big Ceremony, because that’s what you’re getting.” Casey said as she walked throughout the small boutique, giving Madeline no choice but to follow her.

Casey led her over to rows of white dresses. The white symbolized light and goodness and purity. It was customary that both parties wore white for the ceremony. It symbolized the joining of two people, to live in harmony.

Casey randomly took dresses from the racks and shoved them into Madeline’s arms and towards the dressing rooms.

Madeline was already starting to regret setting the date so soon.