Battle of the Alphas

Epilogue

A couple of days later, Benjamin was in my office sleeping whilst I worked when he suddenly jolted awake.

"Are you alright?" I looked over, confused.

"Smoke," He growled. "James Sandler."

"What? I can't smell anything,"

"He's coming here." Benjamin sniffed the air.

"Calm down," I rolled my eyes. "It's probably just about the treaty, that's all."

"I don't trust him."

"Neither do I, but we'll wait until we hear what he has to say." It was at that moment, that I caught onto James' scent.

It didn't take long after I gave my approval to the guards to let James in for him to arrive.

"I must say I'm surprised to see you here," James didn't even greet me as he walked through the door.

"As am I to see you." Benjamin's voice was cold.

"Isobel." James nodded to me. "I was hoping we could discuss something relating to pack business?"

"Certainly." Above all, I was an alpha so, despite my discomfort I mind linked Benjamin to leave.

"Now that we are alone, I have a proposition for you. It will only serve to benefit both our packs." James sat down in front of my desk.

"Go on," I was curious. There wasn't anything I could think of that would help us both.

"Be my mate." The words flowed from his mouth, casually, as if it was not such an outrageous thing to say. Mating with another that was not your true mate was heavily frowned upon. In my mind, I felt a surge of anger come from Benjamin but I forbid him from entering. I was an alpha and I could handle this.

"Do you not wish to find your real mate?" I decided to entertain the notion for a minute.

"How do you know that I am not yours?" He rebutted.

"And you think this would benefit our packs," I ignored his previous question and changed the subject.

"Precisely. Two mated alphas are a powerful force." James leant back in his chair, a smug look on his face.

"Indeed. What about the living arrangements? Your pack is not near."

"Well, obviously you would come and live as my luna,"

"You would not wish to live in my pack?" I raised an eyebrow.

James laughed, "I could not leave my position."

"And you think I can?"

"Your brother is ready to take over, is he not?"

"No he is not." I frowned, getting fed up with this discussion. "However, there is a slight flaw to your proposal,"

"Which is?"

"I am not sure my mate would be too happy with me leaving him."

"You are mated?" James seemed very surprised by my announcement.

"Indeed. So, I am afraid that I shall have to decline your very tempting offer." I stood up, waiting to escort him out.

"Well, that is a shame. Hopefully there is something else we can arrange." James hovered by the door.

"Perhaps," I replied, having no intention to ever do so.

"It was nice seeing you again, James." Benjamin was just outside the door, leaning against the frame with a smirk on his face.

It took James a minute to work it out and when he did, he laughed, "Him? He's your mate?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Benjamin stood up straight, glaring.

"Nothing," He shrugged. "I mean, you could've done better, couldn't you?"

Before Benjamin could reply, I interjected, "I'm very happy, thank you. I'll get someone to show you out."

Once James was gone and it was just me and Benjamin in my office, I had a little laugh about how stupid that proposition was.

"Did he honestly think I would give up everything I have worked so hard for, for someone who wasn't even my mate?" I slid onto Benjamin's lap.

"So you're willing to give it up for me?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, let me rephrase. I'm happy to change some of my life for you, so long as you're happy to do the same."

"Is that even a question?" He reached up to give me a kiss. "Speaking of, the house is coming along nicely."

"What house?" I replied, confused.

"The house I'm having built on the border of our territories, as suggested by you." Benjamin said smugly.

"Are you serious?" I gently grabbed his chin to determine whether he was joking but all I saw was sincerity. "How could I not know about this?"

"Because I'm sneaky and also the best mate in the world?" He jested, a grin growing on his face. The reality of it was setting in and so I eagerly got to my feet, already out the door. "Where are going?" Benjamin quickly followed behind me.

"To see the house!" I shouted right before I shifted, racing into the woods towards the Arctic territory.

It wasn't long before Benjamin had caught up to me, shifted into his big wolf form. As we sprinted alongside each other, I realised that this was the happiest I had been in a long time.