"We're doing this. But if you're feeling ill, I'll get a healer. We'll have one brought to the house after we're mated, and you can have them examine you."
"You really don't have any sense of what's wrong, do you?" She asked, looking at me like I'd lost my mind.
I frowned. "You're scared." "Yeah. Of course I am."
I unbuckled my seatbelt and then hers, reaching over her and undoing the tether I'd secured her with. "You have nothing to be afraid of."
"Easy for you to say."
"Sage," I said firmly, and her eyes met mine, "there's nothing for you to be scared of. I'll protect you. I'll take care of you. All you have to do is trust me."
Sage's lip quivered, and she blinked back tears. "Trust you?"
I nodded, and then her expression changed, going hard.
"Everything you've done since you showed up at my door did the opposite of making me trust you. I will never be able to trust you."
Anger flared, but I tamped it down. "Fine. I don't need trust. Just obedience. Now let's get this done."
Between the time I stepped out of the car and when I reached the passenger door to grab Sage, I'd slipped on my mental armour of an Alpha. Sage had wasted the opportunity for me to be soft and kind with her, and least until we were fully mated. I quickly untied the tether on her hand, and before she could voice her complaints, I tugged her out of the car and started towards the entrance.
The ten or so pack members that had shown up were peppering me with questions, some of them gasping when they recognized Sage, but I tuned them all out. My focus was singular—get Sage before the Council, and get the ceremony done.
Cal was waiting at the door and fell into step beside me as we entered the Council house. He couldn't stop looking over at Sage, surprised and hesitant, but when he spoke, it was only to me. "I managed to get everyone gathered, but they aren't thrilled with how short the notice is."
"They don't need to be. This is happening, whether or not they like it." Cal nodded. "Okay. I'm with you."
The council stands when I push the door to the meeting room open, and I can feel Sage try to dig her heels in before she loses her balance and stumbles into the room behind me, my hand still locked around her wrist. I don't know what the council thinks is happening. It's clear Sage is
not here of her own accord, but the laws of mating and the pack are old and traditional, and as long as I'm following the steps, no one can intervene.
"Noah, what is this?" One council member asked, and she's looking between me and Sage like she's trying to piece together what's happening. "I thought we were here to welcome you back after your time away. Who is this you have with you?"
"This," I began, tugging Sage closer to my side, "is Sage, a former member of the Silvervine pack and the current healer of the Brokenclaw pack in Crystal Creek."
"Healer?" A different council member spoke up. "How could a she-wolf like that have such a high-ranking position in a pack like that?"
I didn't let Sage speak for herself because I could feel the tension rolling off her body, and I didn't want her to lash out. She'd had a rough enough day as it was, and it was best if things were done sooner rather than later.
"She is a witch. And she is my mate. I'm here to marry her in front of you, the pack elders, and respected leaders."
Shock rolled through the council, some looking pleasantly surprised that I'd taken a mate while the others were clearly fixed on the fact that Sage was a witch.
"This is an outrage!" One man said, "Your father would be furious. Have you even bothered to tell him?"
When the man raised his voice, I bared my teeth, calling on my power and letting my Alpha dominance roll over the room. The wolf was right about my dad being angry, but he would be in deep shit if he dared to question me like that again.
"I have made no secret that I'm a supporter of modernizing the pack. Sage is mine, and I've come to claim her, witch or not."
My voice was strong, and the council, no matter how unhappy, knew they had no choice but to stand down. Sage was shaking, her face pale and drawn, and I knew it was from fear. Her instincts were telling her to flee, and it's the only reason she isn't fighting, caught between the two urges.
"Bring in the officiant," the oldest council member says, and then turns to look at me. "If this is what you want, then we will support it. It will be good for the Alpha to start a family and have pups, and maybe that will outweigh the fact that she is...unusual for the pack."
"Yes. Call Georgia. She's ordained as an officiant." I replied and then looked down at Sage. "Come. We will start the ceremony."
She was trembling, her face twisted up, but when she opened her mouth, no words came out. My plan was to rush her through the process so she had hardly any time to comprehendwhat was happening or fight back, and it was working. She was scared and upset, but she wasn't fighting. It was far from the way I wanted our mating to start, but she wasn't giving me any choice. I felt a plan of regret, but banished it, telling myself that I would make it up to her once the ceremony was all said and done. I might have been a terrible mate at the moment, but I would do everything I could to reverse it after Sage became my wife.
I led her to the center of the room and waited for the officiant to arrive. She was an older she-wolf, and she was one of the only people in the pack I trusted to help marry me and Sage without judgment. I'd learned the women in the pack were much more eager to accept change than the men, and it meant that I regularly sought them out when I needed something I knew would grate against the tradition that the older men held in such high regard. It meant this official, Georgia, was the perfect choice.
