My Gentle Alpha

Chapter 5: Picking Up The Bride

Alea was sitting on a bench in her yard. After resting for a few days she felt that she was fine. During that she also tried the limits of her new body. At first she wasn't very comfortable with the sudden increase in strength and speed that she found herself capable of, and even less so with trying to coordinate herself with her new body's proportions. Luckily, she had a very stable foundation that she had built up over the years that she could rely on instead of having to try and forge a path by feeling alone.

This practice has taken the majority of the last few weeks. However she has been forced to take into account more pressing issues. Her wedding to this cousin she's never met is currently digging itself in to her daily life, as if to make its presence known. She has started to learn the process needed for the wedding. This not only consists of rigorous etiquette training, but also horse riding practice and detailed knowledge of what she'll be doing on the day of the wedding.

Don't talk about future plans, she doesn't even have time to rest at the moment. She never knew ancient weddings were so tedious, she just feels exhausted. Although she feels very complicated about this marriage, she believes she can have a polite exchange with her fiance after the wedding is over to try and figure out a reasonable way to treat each other. She doesn't believe that her fiance is happy to marry some distant relative she may have met when she was a child, so she's certain that they can come to some sort of arrangement.

Another development has also sprung up recently with the return of her second brother Azel. After meeting him she understood why her aunts had used a mocking tone when speaking about him. He is a perfect example of arrogance and misogyny. If at best he's a romantic and learned scholar, then at worst he's a booze addled brothel addict that's managed to memorise a few books. In the time that he's been here she's seen him harass almost every female beta in the estate whilst making everyone else treat him like he's gods gift to this world. She knew that he was going to be a thorn in her side, so she has begun to think of a way to get rid of this trouble that would cause the least suspicion towards herself.

Unfortunately she is still under monitoring by the main wife, so this thorn cannot be picked for the time being, which has made her quite irritable. The only shining light is that guy seems to be more interested in visiting the brothel than he is in messing with her. So apart from the monotonous days of lessons, and exercise she can enjoy the quiet and tranquillity.

Although that tranquillity will end tomorrow as she has to travel to the next city over to pick up her bride to be. After the sunset Alea ate a meal and washed before laying in bed. She blew out the candle and closed her eyes, falling asleep as quickly as she normally did. It seems the upcoming wedding was not important enough to make her lose sleep.

After she woke up she washed and tidied up and went to the main dining area where the rest of her family were. Seeing that she was here, Ridel raised his chopsticks and everyone else followed suit. During the meal, Genas mentioned the itinerary to Alea who nodded in understanding. When making plans Genas wanted Azel to accompany her to pick up the bride seeing as he didn't have anything to do at the moment, but Alea rejected the idea saying that he could use the extra time revising his knowledge for the imperial examination. She didn't want to be in close proximity with him for any extended period of time, otherwise she might end up killing him regardless of the consequences. Alea swears she saw a bit of disappointment in the main wife's eyes after she replied. It seems that she had the idea of dumping that trouble on her for a while. Alea isn't surprised, the amount of times the main wife must have had to clean up his mess is definitely not small.

When everything was sorted she set off with the team in a mighty manner. She wasn't very happy being the centre of attention, but she knew that if she didn't show at least the superficial excitement she would not have any good fruit to eat when getting to her in laws house.

The journey went smoothly and she arrived in the next city after a short rest the next morning. When she reached her fiances house she could see a tall and elegant man standing with an upright posture. She assumed this was her brides father. After the team stopped Alea dismounted and walked towards the man. Although he had received a letter from Ridel about his daughters redifferentiation, Silas was still astonished by the alpha in front of him. Alea had gotten used to this expression on everyone that saw her, so she spoke while ignoring his shock.

"Good morning uncle. Have you been well? ".

Silas hadn't seen Alea since she was a young child, and after he had heard she differentiated into a beta he was vehemently opposed to marrying Raya to her, but unfortunately he doesn't have much say in the house, and his wife was adamant the marriage be fulfilled. Though he was sorry for his daughter, he knew the importance of this marriage to his wife. A promise to her beloved sister, she'd keep it even if the other party was an omega. He knew she just wanted to prove that their bond would be close in life and death. Sometimes he was jealous of how much Delia loved her sister. He was certain if she had the chance to sacrifice his life for her sisters, she'd jump at the chance. Though it doesn't matter now he thought.

Now hearing the girls polite greeting he felt a little more cordial. Perhaps growing up as a beta, she wouldn't have the flaws that plagued an alpha. The inherent arrogance and disdain that he has seen in so many. The eyes that look at those omegas as playthings or tools of marriage and convenience. He never agreed with their views, but he wouldn't speak out about it. He knew he couldn't change their fundamental thoughts. After recovering from his daze he replied.

"I'm well thank you child, Raya and her mother are inside. Why don't you head in and pick her up?"

"Thank you uncle, I'll head over there now".

When she came to her fiances boudoir, after she was led inside she met a woman that was very similar to her in appearance. Based on the fact that her mother and aunt were twins, she wasn't surprised when she met someone so alike to her.