All But The Bond

Chapter 4

The day I had been anticipating arrived, marked by the visit to the Blood Bane pack. I could feel the excitement bubbling within me, something I hadn't felt in a while. As my servants made the final preparations, I found my mind drifting to my mate. I wondered what his morning was like, secretly hoping he got some good rest, as I barely managed to achieve the same objective, thanks to all the paperwork.

I looked out of the palace windows upon my kingdom below me, once again vowing to protect my Kingdom at all costs. 

"We are ready to depart, sire" William spoke, seemingly materializing at my side. I glanced at him, noticing his slightly trembling hand. It seems like he has yet to learn the true art of the poker face.

"Very well. Inform the Blood Bane pack of our arrival time." I said, walking past him and heading out of the palace doors into the waiting car below. 

My chief aide, Gordon, held the door open for me and I entered, sitting down before William entered the passenger seat and Gordon entered after me, signaling for the driver to hurry, to not test my patience. As we left the kingdom behind, I watched the changing scenery with an apathetic look on my face. In truth, I was more fascinated with getting there than the actual scenery.

When the pack borders appeared on the horizon, I could feel an unconscious smile threaten to grace my lips, a threat that was quickly quashed. We passed through the pack borders and pulled to a stop outside the pack house, and William rushed to open my door. I stepped out, looking up just in time to see Hayden walking up to me, a boyish grin on his face. 

I shook hands with him, returning his grin with a charming smile of my own. I felt sparks travel down my spine at that seemingly insignificant touch and he froze for a split second, seemingly stunned, before introducing me to his Betas, Cole, and Alabaster. I felt a surge of pride swell at the thought that I had this much of an effect on Hayden. I introduced William and Gordon to him and Alabaster then led us into the building.  We headed into an elevator that deposited us on the the seventh floor, where it seemed that the conference rooms as well as various meeting rooms were located. It appeared that the office we were in the last time I was here was located on another floor.

We walked into a meeting room, where we sat to finally discuss the practicalities of the peace visit as well as where each of our nations, so to speak, stand in terms of the extent of cooperation. Hayden sent Alabaster to give a tour of the pack to William and Gordon as we discussed the formalities. He suggested linking some instructions to Cole as well. Once they left, Hayden turned to me with a smile.

"So, do we discuss the specifics now to get it out of the way first, or finish with discussing the specifics?" He asked, a devilish smirk on his face. 

"Since I have no idea what else you would wish to discuss with me, so I'd say we get the specifics out of the way first," I replied, to which he nodded.

"Alright, fair enough. How about we start with the proceedings first?" He asked.

"Please do," I replied.

"I had planned for this to be a week-long event since it involves the formation of an alliance between our respective states. During the weekdays, there will be a total of five events. " He said, standing up and heading to the whiteboard, that I hadn't noticed, where each event and what it entailed were documented.

" It will begin with a banquet on the first day, followed by a delegation to my pack on the second, with the reverse happening on the third and fourth day. Finally, on Friday, which falls on the 14th, there will be a press conference, where the signing will take place. After that, there will be a tour of the respective allied state lands. That's what I think should happen. Any input?" He asked, turning to me.