Refusing my Alpha mate

Clair

"You would be my Alpha." He said in the firmest voice I've ever seen him use. "We would be the first Pack with two Alphas." I really didn't expect to hear that. "Although you organize events very well, I would still want to give my opinion, almost your Luno, what do you think?" Now Arthur laughed loudly, one of his deep laughs that took my breath away.

I laughed back. Would he accept me as his Alpha too? It brought me more confusion than peace. But then Arthur frowned and sat down next to me. It was as if I could hear his messy thoughts trying to take shape, I could almost hear his head boiling, he had discovered something.

"They called you Luna, not Alpha. That's the reason for the attack, they don't accept a female taking over." He spoke slowly, and I saw his eyes going from side to side, his thoughts racing and him trying to make some sense of it all.

"But why would they prefer to kill you after taking over? If they killed you now they would end the future of the Pack… do you have cousins?" Arthur asked me and it was as if I could hear his racing and confused thoughts.

"No, just an uncle, my father's brother, but he lives in another Pack and doesn't have any children yet and…" I started to say but as if a click made him understand everything.

"If they killed you now, your father has already signed his retirement, the Pack would be left without an Alpha, hierarchy doesn't go backwards, it's legal law, he couldn't take over. Maybe he would stay in his Beta temporarily, until his uncle comes to take over if he wants , there is no specific law for this case, but it would still destabilize everything, a Pack with no future on either side." He straightened in place and continued speaking. "But if you die after taking over, your Pack is in charge of the Council until there is an election for a new Alpha. Because you have no living relatives, no cousins, your uncle does not count as a relative in legal terms, because he counts as a relative of the your father, not yours. And you have a document that allows you to take over alone, giving full power to just you, they don't need to kill a couple, just you." Arthur said and with each sentence his eyes grew wider and wider, I was getting more and more scared, and then he smiled, he smiled and ran his hands through his hair as he got up and started to get dressed. "I have a plan, I'm going to get us out of here."

"You're kidding, right?" I was in a mix of incredulous happiness.

"I think there are people from the Council involved out here, hence the hoods. I'm going to say that we're going to come out together, having a male Alpha, their anger at you being a woman and coming out alone has already diminished, and I have 8 cousins in total, if they kill us thinking that I take over with you, there are 8 people to take over and your Pack would not go to the Council." I listened to his plan, but while it seemed brilliant, it seemed ridiculously too simple.

"Arthur, are you sure?" I asked starting to get dressed.

"We have no other choice, do we?" He asked me and I sighed, I finished getting dressed putting all my hopes in his plan.

It was just a few minutes before midnight, Arthur still seemed to be thinking nonstop, as if he was putting together the entire strategy inside his head.

"I'm going outside, they have no interest in killing me, you stay inside until it's safe. Okay?" He asked me, holding my head with both hands and I just nodded yes, but Arthur had a stupid smile on his face. "Have hope, Clair, I'll get us out of here."

He said leaving me sitting in a chair close to the door, I could hear everything that was happening outside, but I was too scared to try to see.

Arthur pushed the sofa away and opened the door, coming out with his hands up.

"Arthur Hausen, I'm unarmed, don't shoot." He started talking and I heard footsteps gather around him.

It was almost midnight.

"What are you doing here? We are not interested in you, only in her, where is Clair Troffendoll?" The voice of their apparent leader echoed in the background again.

"If I were you, I would be interested in me…" Arthur's voice was deep, full of certainty, it made every hair on my body stand on end. "I'm her mate."

"And what does that mean? She actually rejected you at the ball." At that moment I felt the pain for Arthur, of having to listen to this while he tried to save my life.

"Not anymore, we reconciled yesterday, and we are going to come out together, we will tell it at tomorrow's ceremony." He said it with the same certainty as before, more than a certainty, it was imposing, it was as if every word was the purest truth.

"No, that can't be, we would know and…" The man broke down, he started to speak and choked as if all his certainty was slipping through his fingers, little by little.

"We've already mated, it's done," Arthur said, and in this case, it was true, and anyone who came near him would know it, my scent was stuck to him everywhere and in every possible way.

I couldn't see outside, and the silence that took over the area was deadly, I wanted to look, but I was too terrified to move.

"Even if you kill us now, I have at least 8 cousins ready to take over, the power doesn't leave here, making our deaths useless. Even though I know that your problem is with her being a woman, taking over a Pack alone, this’s not going to happen, not anymore.” Arthur's last words came out almost like screams, and after that, I didn't hear anything else.

At that moment I was afraid, a paralyzing and horrible fear, that everything was in vain, that they were going to kill Arthur and then come for me, and I feared every second that passed that I would hear Arthur scream, or stop feeling him.

I waited, but I don't know exactly how long it took until I heard the door open slowly and Arthur walked in with a huge smile on his face.

"They're leaving. I can't believe it, but they're leaving." He said and it made my jaw hurt from the smile I gave, I jumped into Arthur's arms and pressed him tightly against my body until I heard a scream in the background, and they got louder and stronger until I heard swords and arrows, Arthur released me and we went to look through the windows of the hut, in the very back and all those hooded men fighting against my guard, they were running away when they were attacked.

At that moment I didn't know if it was better to leave the cabin or stay there, Arthur just watched through the small wooden window as they were captured, one by one, and when he saw that we were safe he extended his hand to me.

"Let's go?" Arthur offered me his hand and I gave mine before we left the cabin together.

Soon ahead I saw Beta Jackson and my father, I released Arthur without even thinking and ran into his arms. My father hugged me and lifted me into the air, spinning me around.

"Clair, my daughter, are you okay? Did they hurt you?" My father slowly released me and ran his hands through my hair, looking for any signs of injury on my face.

"No Dad, I'm fine," I said and turned to Arthur who came behind me, he was looking down and looked up when he felt me looking at him. "It was all Arthur again, he came up with a plan and tricked them into leaving."

"Always surprising me, son." My father said, approaching Arthur and slapping him twice on the back. "Thank you, again."

We returned to the Pack in silence, I called a meeting there, that very morning, with the guard, my legal, administrative, my Beta and my father, we had prisoners and I needed to take some actions. Veronica made my tea, and I took a few sips as I went to, now, my office, and Arthur came after me, my father and David went to set up the meeting in the meantime.

"We need to talk, Clair." Arthur's words hit me, and to be honest I didn't want to talk to him right now.

"Arthur, can't we leave it for later? I need to see about this invasion, see what follows from this meeting." I said, running my hands over my face.

"We said and did things at the cabin thinking we wouldn't leave there, but we did. We need to deal with the consequences of this now." Arthur said, leaning his hips on my table, and slowly raising his gaze until he met mine.

"But there will be no consequences, Arthur, everything just stays the same," I said, almost vomiting the words.

"Do you still want my rejection? Won't it change anything, Clair?" He now asked me and I could hear all the pain in every word.

"Yes," I said in the firmest tone of voice I could muster.

"But why Clair, why reject me?" He now shouted, loud and clear.

"It's not about you Arthur, it's about my mate. Why would I make all this effort to change a law so I can take over a Pack alone and not use it? How am I going to make history by being the first woman to take over alone, if I take over with you? It goes against everything I've built all this time." I tried to make him understand, it hurt me to even say it out loud.

"Can you hear yourself? Do you want to not only condemn yourself to having a life alone but also condemn ME to spend my entire life alone, because of a SHIT law? That you, being completely selfish, didn't even make it about any single woman being able to take over, you linked it to your name, so only you can. Because this wasn't about feminine power, about freedom, it was just about your power, and your belly button." Arthur shouted back, his eyes were red and I felt every vibration of his every word echo inside me, I could feel his anger, penetrating his every cell, and he slowly lost control.

"Arthur, it's not that simple…." I had no more arguments, I had one more reason, the main one, but I didn't dare say it, I only felt hot tears burning my eyes and running down my cheeks.

"I only saw perfection in you, but I think it was with our matebond blurring my vision. In fact, you're just a selfish child who received a Pack as a gift from your father." Arthur said now without shouting, but with the same certainty and conviction that he had. "If it's going to be like this, I don't know why I'm here. Goodbye, Clair." He said walking out the door, completely out of control, at exactly the same moment my father, Jackson, and David entered the room, my father's gaze followed Arthur leaving and he furrowed his eyebrows looking at me.

"Send two men to make sure he gets home okay," I said directly to David, who turned behind Arthur.

"He won't stay?" My father asked, and my heart sank at the question.

"No, he left," I responded, and my fear was that it would be forever.

We went from heaven to hell, however, does everyone agree that Clair needed to hear that?