Mated To The Wrong Alpha
Chapter 21

Marla managed to get herself invited to dinner and ended up sitting on one side of Arthur, while Ava was on the other. As he entered the dining room, Arthur gave Ava a peck on the cheek and it was only when Marla stood looking at him expectantly, that he absentmindedly helped her into the chair. Rolling her eyes, Ava sat down moving her chair in by herself. She wasn’t helpless and could manage her own chair just fine, thank you very much!

For his part, Arthur seemed oblivious to any undercurrents between the two women, merely inquiring how their day went. Marla happily reported that she and Julia had shown Ava some of the woods. Ava wanted to point out that Marla had basically tagged along, but Arthur seemed so pleased that their day had gone well that she didn’t want to burst his bubble. His face seemed exceptionally drawn and he kept rolling his shoulders and turning his neck as if his muscles were too tight. She wondered what had happened that day to make him so tense and made a mental note to offer him a shoulder massage later on.

Despite his obvious stress, Arthur thought to apologize to her for not conducting a personal tour of the territory. “I’d really meant to take you out myself, Ava. I’m sorry. My intentions were good, but with one thing and another the time slipped by.”

“That’s okay. Julia did a fine job of showing me the most popular trails. Maybe one day you can take me to some of the less well-known spots.” Under the cover of the table, Arthur give her thigh a squeeze. Her heart did a quick flip flop when he didn’t immediately remove his hand, and the look he gave her seemed to hold interesting promises for later in the evening. Who knew where that shoulder massage might lead?

Marla chose that moment to lay her hand on Arthur’s arm, drawing his attention away from Ava. As Marla opened her mouth to speak, Carrie suddenly shoved a bowl of mashed potatoes in front of her face. “Here, Marla, you have to have some more of these. They’re Helen’s special recipe, you know.” Forced to take the bowl that was practically touching her nose, Marla removed her hand from Arthur. Immediately, John got Arthur’s attention by asking about a pack meeting that had been called for that evening.

Ava chuckled inwardly at how her friends were putting up road blocks to keep Marla away from Arthur. Looking across the table, she met Helen’s eye and received a slow wink from her. Smirking, she knew the older woman had clued the other two in on the situation. Ava stared at her plate and ate quietly, concentrating on the men’s conversation to keep from laughing out loud at Marla’s sour expression.

“I’ve called everyone about the meeting tonight at seven o’clock. Even our members that live in town are coming here for it. Only Julia and Thomas won’t be there.” John summarized his afternoon efforts. “I told Thomas you’d probably stop by tomorrow and give them a personal update.”

Arthur nodded in approval. “That will work; I didn’t get a chance to check on him today. I have the outline for the meeting run off and the chairs are set up downstairs, so everything is ready.”

“Helen and I made some cookies and muffins for refreshments.” Carrie added. “And John carried the coffee urn downstairs so it’s ready to go.”

Ava marvelled at how efficient a team they all seemed to be and wondered when she’d find her own niche in this group. She hadn’t even known that there was a meeting tonight! Was it a regularly scheduled event or something special? And why hadn’t they told her? Of course, she’d only been here a few days, and she’d been out of the house all afternoon, but surely someone might have mentioned it in passing. Trying to be positive, she decided that it had likely slipped their mind that she wouldn’t know and at least this gathering might give her some more insight into how this particular pack functioned. She didn’t like feeling that she was out of the loop and was coming to realize that Arthur’s pack wasn’t nearly as traditional as her father’s.

“So what’s on the agenda?” Marla asked, flipping her hair and leaning towards Arthur, obviously trying to draw his attention.

“Just an update on recent events. I’d rather not go into it right now. You’ll get all the details the same time as everyone else.” Arthur calmly ate his meal, not really looking at Marla so he missed the frustrated glare that quickly passed over her face. Apparently, Marla wasn’t used to having to wait for what she wanted.

“I wasn’t aware that there was a meeting tonight,” Ava tentatively stated.

“Really?” Arthur looked surprised. “I thought Helen said she’d tell you.”

“Me? Now, Arthur, why would you expect me to tell your mate about the meeting?” Helen looked at Arthur in puzzlement.

“Well…I suppose I thought you’d see her during the day while you were working around the kitchen since I was in and out all the time…” Arthur’s voice trailed off as Helen shook her head at him.

“Arthur, you really need some lessons on being a mate.” John good-naturedly teased him. “Rule number one is never assume your mate spends all her time in the kitchen. Rule number two is never spring a surprise on her because then she’ll fuss and fume about her hair and her clothes. I mean, look at poor Ava right now. There’s a meeting in less than an hour and she hasn’t had a chance to comb her hair from her run or even change her clothes and she’ll be meeting the rest of the pack…” Suddenly John quit speaking and gave a grunt of pain as if someone had kicked him.

Indeed, someone had kicked him. Carrie was glaring at him and he gulped in anticipation of her ire. “John, you have the biggest mouth in the world! Don’t worry, Ava. You look perfectly fine.” Carrie smiled encouragingly at her.

Marla smirked.

Ava felt herself flushing. She hadn’t really looked in the mirror when she came home. Did she have twigs in her hair or dirt on her face? If it was bad enough that John had noticed… Pushing away from the table, she excused herself. “Maybe I should go and get cleaned up. John’s right. I was out running and I’m probably a mess. Do I have time for a quick shower?”

“Well, yes. But you really do look okay to me.” Arthur caught her hand.

“Right. You look fine. I didn’t mean—” John began.

“No, no. It’s okay. I want to look presentable…” She pulled her hand free and backed out of the room, before turning and hurrying up the stairs.

After taking the quickest shower on record, she stood in front of the closet trying to decide what to wear. What was the appropriate attire for a pack meeting when you were the Alpha’s mate? The meetings at home were usually rather stuffy and she’d avoided them like the plague, but were they the same here? She didn’t want to dress too casually and look as if she didn’t care. On the other hand, too formal of an outfit would make her seem stuck up, as if she thought she was better than the rest.

Finally, she decided on an almost new pair of black jeans and a cotton sweater. Slipping in a pair of gold earrings and a bracelet, she studied herself in the mirror, hoping she’d hit the right note. Her hair fell softly around her face and she used a touch of eye shadow to bring out the green in her eyes. After adding a bit of l*p-gloss, she decided the look was about as ‘middle of the road’ as she could hope for. Yet again she wished there was a manual that explained the ins and outs of being an Alpha’s mate. To be sure, her father was Alpha, but he’d been a widower for many years, and as a child, she’d never paid attention to what her mother did or wore.

The bedroom door swung open and Arthur walked in. She was still standing in front of the mirror, adjusting her clothes. He swept his eyes over her and an approving smile appeared on his face. “I see you’re ready for the meeting.”

She nodded nervously. “Do I look all right? Not too casual or too dressy?”

Arthur pulled her into his arms and gave her a comforting hug, then kissed the tip of her nose. “You look perfect, but then again, you did before as far as I was concerned. I thought you might be nervous and wouldn’t want to walk into the room by yourself, so I came to get you.”

“Thanks. I wasn’t looking forward to that. It’s nerve wracking to think that I’m the Alpha’s mate. Everyone will be expecting me to be like Helen.”

“No they won’t. They expect you to be you.” Arthur gave her another hug, then taking her hand, he led her down the stairs to the meeting room. She concentrated on steadying her breathing and composing her nerves. Wolves could smell fear and that wasn’t the first impression she wanted to make.

The buzz of voices could be heard coming from the other side of the door. “It sounds like everyone is there already. I thought the meeting didn’t start until seven?” She checked her watch.

It was still only six forty-five.

“I guess they’re all early for some reason.” Arthur shrugged and pushed the door open.

She peeked inside and gasped.

Arthur grinned and tugged her into the room as everyone called out, “Surprise!” Two large banners were strung across the far wall. One said “Welcome Ava!” and the other had “Congratulations Arthur and Ava” printed across it.

She scanned the room, taking in the sea of smiling faces, not knowing what to say. Arthur squeezed her hand and led her to a table where a slab cake was decorated with a little plastic bride and groom. Someone had made little furry tails and taped them to the figures. Arthur picked one up and examined it with raised brows.

Carrie burst out laughing. “They don’t make Lycan bride and groom cake decorations, so I improvised.”

“Hmm…” Arthur looked at Ava. “If my tail is ever sticking out of my suit coat like this, you will tell me, won’t you?”

She chuckled and nodded before being enveloped in a bear hug by a repentant looking John. “I’m sorry for what I said about how you looked at supper, but I was told to do it. We wanted you upstairs so everyone could sneak in, and figured if you were in the shower and changing your clothes, you wouldn’t hear them arriving.”

“Well, it certainly worked.” She pretended to scold him. “I figured I must be a real mess, and that Carrie and Arthur were simply trying to be nice when they said I looked fine.”

Smirking, Carrie explained further. “I know how we woman think. The more we tried to reassure you, the more you’d believe something was wrong. It was a foolproof plan.”

“Enough chit chat! Open the presents!” Helen urged her towards a large table covered in

gifts.

Ava took in all the boxes and bags then looked at Helen and the assembled crowd in shock. “You didn’t have to bring presents. The cake, and the banner, and… Well, everyone being here was more than enough!”

“We weren’t able to give you two a shower or attend the bonding, so we’re having our own celebration.” Helen said smugly.

“Besides,” Marla added, appearing beside Arthur. “We usually do a large birthday and anniversary party at these meetings for anyone in the pack who had a special day that month.

October was empty and we had nothing better to do.” She smirked at Ava and leaned against Arthur. “Just teasing, of course.”

Carrie’s eyes flashed with temper that matched the red of her hair. She grabbed Marla’s arm and gave it a firm tug. “Marla, come help serve the coffee and tea.” Before Marla could protest, she was whisked away.

Arthur and Ava spent the next half hour opening presents and thanking everyone who had gathered around them. Ava felt overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity and was happy Arthur was at her side to speak to all the well-wishers. Just as on her first day there, most people seemed pleasant, a few were curious, but everyone seemed genuinely welcoming. Well, except for Marla, but that was a different story.

As she stood by Arthur’s side nodding and smiling, she allowed her eyes to drift over the room. Had Marla managed to escape Carrie? After a few moments of searching, she found her near the beverage table. While she wasn’t serving coffee or tea as Carrie had asked, at least she was still in the general vicinity of her post. Why hadn’t Marla abandoned the job as soon as no one was looking? It would have been in character. A shift in the crowd allowed her to see that Rose was standing with Marla as well.

Hmm… She hadn’t thought of those two as being friends, though Rose had greeted Marla in the mall on Saturday, even if it had been in a rather subdued manner. Watching the interaction between the two, it was hard to determine if they were enjoying each other’s company or not. They barely looked at each other and to the casual observer, it probably wouldn’t even be apparent that they were speaking. Rose’s face was impassive but her fists were clenched at her side. What had Marla said to upset the girl? A group of people momentarily obscured the view and by the time they had passed by, Marla was by herself again appearing exceptionally smug while Rose was across the room standing near Phoebe and Zoe. Daniel, Zoe’s brother-in-law was there, and seemed to be talking earnestly to her. At least if Marla had said something cutting, Rose had Daniel there to help pick up the pieces.