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“I can understand that,” Lucy acknowledged.
Lucy soaked in hot water that night. She missed home. However, she was afraid to go back because she knew that if she did, she would likely be exiled unless she agreed to marry Micah.
She called Ginger from a burner phone while she settled in the comfortable bed.
“I had an interesting visit,” Ginger said.
“Let me guess, my father or grandfather.”
“Actually Micah, but he was looking for you. Don’t worry, I didn’t tell him anything.”
“Thank you,” Lucy said. “There has to be a way out of this situation.”
“How about you come back, pack up your things. I’ll pack up my things, and we’ll both move to Ivy Springs.”
“That might not be a bad idea,” Lucy said, only half joking.
5
Micah
Micah silently drummed his fingers on the table as he sat through another long meeting. He was pretty sure that the sole occupation of the alpha was to go to meetings. He was equally certain that ninety-five percent of the topics covered during these meetings could be easily covered through email messages. One of the first things that he was going to do once he was alpha was limit the number of meetings they went through each week and put a time limit on how long the meetings would take. A four-hour meeting that only had seven agenda items on it was cruel and unusual punishment.
Finally, the meeting was starting to wrap up. Micah had a million other things that he needed to get done and it was already mid-afternoon. He stood up, intending to leave before anyone could catch him in a sidebar conversation that would take another hour.
However, his hopes were short lived when he heard one of the elders, Lucy’s grandfather, say, “Micah, do you have a minute?”
Micah hung his head and swallowed a heavy sigh.
“Sure, Elder Kane. What can I do for you?”
Micah’s father stood beside the elder and said, “Have you heard from Lucy?”
“No,” Micah said.
“According to Henry, she’s been gone for about two weeks now and no one has heard from her,” his father said.
Micah simply nodded.
“This is ridiculous. Lucy has a duty to her clan. She has been informed of her duty, and she is expected to obey,” Elder Kane said. “Running away is irresponsible and disgraceful.”
“I’m sure that she is simply overwhelmed. Lucy had dreams and her life planned out. It didn’t include going through a mating ceremony with me or anyone else,” Micah said. “I’m sure that she is simply taking the time away from everything to process everything.”
“She has known her entire life about the betrothal and the expectation that she would take her place as the alpha queen once you become the alpha,” Elder Kane said, his voice hard.
“We were children when we went through that ceremony. I barely remember it myself and I certainly didn’t think about it at all once it was over,” Micah replied. “No one ever brought it up to me again and I doubt if anyone reminded Lucy, either.”
“She should have remembered,” Elder Kane said, folding his arms over his chest.
Micah knew that no amount of arguing on Lucy’s behalf was going to change the old man’s mind.
“If she isn’t back in time to go through the mating ceremony with you, she will be exiled,” Elder Kane added. “I will not tolerate a member of my family disgracing me this way and disappointing the clan.”
With that, he turned and briskly walked away, Micah’s father right on his heels.
Micah groaned. He had no idea where to find Lucy. Once he found her, he had to figure out how to convince her to go through the mating ceremony with him, for her sake. The problem was that Lucy might be stubborn enough to decide that being exiled was not too much of a price to pay for her freedom.
Later that night, he paced around his living room staring out at the full moon.
