25. Vivianna #3
The woman seemed relieved with my response, and taking the last step closer, we exchanged formal greetings.
This was repeated for all the members of my pack, the same words repeated and answered.
Now that I was almost done with the whole thing, I didn’t see why I’d been so worried.
Many of these wolves were as nervous as I was.
That reminded me that alpha females had been gone for two hundred years or so.
All the younger people in the pack had never experienced this, just like myself.
Once all the pack members were done with their greetings and back in their seats, it was my turn to introduce my mates.
“My pack, allow me to acquaint you with my mates. Know that they speak for me when they give directives. If I hear that anyone has disrespected them in any way, you will be punished by being removed from the pack permanently.”
The tension in the air at my words was palpable, but I needed them to know how serious I was. If we combined our packs the way I wanted to, this was going to be vital to keeping order in such a large population.
“My mate Tavas, once of the Scarred Forest pack,” I called out, reaching out a hand to Tav as he walked up to me. I nuzzled his cheek and kissed his mate mark on his neck just to torture him a little.
“Alpha Rikkart and Koit of the Silver Mountain pack. Many of you know them and their pack, having been friendly with each other all these years. We ultimately plan to combine the packs, growing our pack so it may prosper,” I announced, shocking the pack as gasps echoed throughout the room.
“Alpha Darius of the Moonlake Pack.” I paused a moment when he reached me, grabbing his hand after our greeting. “Darius’s pack will also be integrated into ours, on top of bringing his security company headquarters here to Kursar.”
People started shouting, jumping to their feet as the unease grew at my proclamations. I let out a burst of my alpha energy, silencing the room. Everyone bowed their heads.
“We do not know each other, but trust that I want to see everyone grow and prosper, to bring us out of hiding and into the world around us. I vow to keep our traditions alive. You all have fought long and hard to preserve what many have forgotten.” This seemed to settle everyone down, so I decided to move on to greeting the mate prospects.
Astrid stepped up as my mates arranged themselves on either side of me and just slightly behind. “As is customary with the old way, the surrounding packs have sent mate prospects for our Dama. Let us see if our Dama finds any of them worthy.”
So how are we handling this?
What do you mean?
We are claiming two of them. Is that our limit, or are we going to see what else is out there?
Wait, what?. We are claiming two of them? Since when?
Girl, are you kidding me right now? Bentley and Tristan, those two are for sure ours.
I agree about Bentley—I refuse to let The Collective use him. But Tristan? Really?
You’re going to let that smexy-smelling, wicked smart man walk away?
I paused a moment, thinking back to our interactions in my office, and I knew I couldn’t deny that I had a thing for him.
The pull he had around me was scary, but I knew I would regret letting him leave without exploring things further.
Completely lost in thought, I was going through the motions of greeting these men.
It did not bode well for them that a conversation with my wolf was more important than paying attention to who I was greeting.
The sensation of someone biting my ear—hard—made me gasp and pull back from the man in front of me. Cupping my bleeding earlobe, I found myself caught up in a pair of almond-shaped violet eyes that shone with mischief. Quickly, I went through the list of men that Darius had given me.
What was his name?
Orion…
As I took Orion in, I was surprised to see that he was much smaller in height and build than most of the alphas I’d met.
He was eye level to me, and he had more of a swimmer’s body, lean and trim.
His Asian features were more angular and elfin, with unusual pale white skin.
His white hair was shaved on the sides, but the top was long and pulled back in a topknot.
Even his eyelashes and eyebrows were white, making him striking to look at.
Before I knew what I was doing, I leaned in and rubbed my cheek along his and returned the ear nip with a smirk on my lips. His violet eyes flashed with triumph as he grinned at me before he left.
What did I just do?
Looks like we’ll be keeping three men now. Hahahaha.
Why did we do that, though?
Because that man is something special, and we knew it instinctively. He needs to be with us.
Do you think the guys will be mad?
You only picked him out, we didn’t mate him. They can still feel him out before we do anything permanent.
Nothing more eventful happened as I greeted the rest and marked Tristan and Bentley.
Finally done with all the formalities of the evening, I was escorted to my table.
Astrid and I had finally decided that those I picked out of the prospects would join me at my table for dinner.
So, here I was, seated with my mates and the new guys I was supposed to be courting.
This is like going on a blind date with your boyfriend. Who’s idea was this?
Would you rather have all of them join us and make it more awkward as they try to win my attention?
Nope. You’re right, this is good.