The Alpha and the Oracle (The Belesone Pack #1)

Chapter 4

When Katarina walked out of the room crying, the Alpha had no clue what to do with himself or what to think. She walked up to him and forced a smile.

"The Elders wish to speak to you now. I am to wait for you." She explained gently, surprising him.

Milo looked back at Leo, who nodded and gestured for Katarina to follow him. He braced himself and went into the room, closing the door behind him. He took the seat before their table without being asked. "Why are you here? What has it to do with that girl?" He asked, demanding answers from the men before him.

"Calm down young Alpha. Do not forget that we are your Elders. In power and in age." Constantine reminded him, with disdain.

Milo sighed; he knew he was hot headed and not entirely innocent. He had been in many fights as a child, using his better skills against the weaker of the pack. He had even participated in bullying or making fun of the younger, less able wolves of their pack when he was younger and not so wise.

"We have given you much time, Milo. More than any other Alpha." Constantine argued, gently. "We made allowances for the young age at which you took over leadership...for the great things you had to learn in such a short time." He continued, with a smile. "We even allowed you two extra years to search for your mate, because you insisted she was so close to you."

Milo didn't need the reminder of how good the council had been to him. He felt guilty about it all the time. They gave him so much and he gave them so little in return. But all he could do was explain.

"I do not understand my bond with her, Elder Constantine. At one moment she is near to me and at times I do not feel her at all. It is...disturbing." He shifted uncomfortably in his chair at the admission. He didn't know what it meant and he had a feeling that the Elders didn't either.

Milo could understand their impatience. He was an Alpha; he had to think of the pack before anything else. Finding his mate would make him stronger, faster and it would bind him as the Alpha of the pack more securely.

The whole point of being the Alpha was to find a mate and produce a child, who would be heir to his leadership. Milo couldn't imagine Katarina being his mate. Or producing such a child.

"Yes, we know. Which is why we are here, Alpha. We have chosen for you."

"Katarina." He muttered knowingly.

"Yes." Constantine smiled.

"But she is...she will not be my mate! The girl is clumsy and pathetic...boring, useless...she faints at the first sight of blood." Milo protested to all the things he hated about Katarina. He couldn't imagine a worst mate.

His heart started beating erratically and he had to close his eyes. He could feel his mate. She was in pain. Was it because of this decision? Because she could feel he was being given to another?

"You cannot do this! She isn't even pretty." He objected.

"I beg to differ, Alpha. Perhaps her beauty seems plain to you, but on the inside that girl is a gem. She is the rarest beauty of all." Constantine spoke calmly, trying to keep himself from getting angry, but it didn't work. "She is also my granddaughter."

Milo looked up at Elder Constantine, surprised. His blood was strong, ancient; how could his line have produced someone as pathetic and weak, as Katarina. It seemed impossible. "Your granddaughter? What...Elder, what happened to her?" He asked, convinced that something must have happened to taint her blood or a sickness infected her at childhood that their people couldn't cure. There had to be some explanation for the way she was.

Constantine scowled back at him. "There is nothing wrong with Kate!" He shouted, instantly on his feet, pacing. "You do not understand the girl. That is not surprising. For an Alpha you are surprisingly closed minded. I don't approve...but, I have no other choice. Your twentieth birthday is in ten days and you must have a mate before sundown. Katarina will be that mate." He nodded to himself, as Milo watched him. He felt like there was lead in his stomach. "You have until Friday evening to find this true mate you talk so much about. If you have not found her before then, you will unite with Katarina." He decided.

"And if I do?" Milo asked hopefully.

Constantine raised his eyes to look directly at him. "Then Katarina will be mated to your Beta. The girl deserves that much." He muttered the last few words, confusing Milo.

Why did Katarina deserve anything? His Beta would be furious. He already didn't like the girl, but to be united with her? They both felt the same about that. She was a runt.

"But we have some conditions to go along with your courtship." Constantine interrupted his musings. "Tonight, once you have explained the situation to your Beta and Kate, you will escort her home, personally. You will speak to her father about what a great honour it is," he said, with a bite to his voice that told him it would be an honour. "that you are to be mated to her. You may explain the alternative if you deem it fit to." Constantine continued his pacing as he talked.

"From now until Friday, you will sit with Katarina in every class at school and every lunch break. After school, you will train her in the school gym, for at least an hour. Strength and endurance, mostly." He ordered, with no chance of argument. "You will walk her home every day and ensure her safety. Every second night, beginning tomorrow night you will take her on a date. One venue at least, for a duration of at least one hour." He smiled, as though he expected good things. "If you wish to spend more time together, or go to more than one venue, that is your choice."

Milo frowned as Constantine spoke. How was he going to find time to find his mate, if he spent so much time with Katarina? Or was that the plan? Was he being punished for something? Was that why they were deliberately trying to keep him from his true mate?

"You will be nice to her, Milo." Elder Donnell smiled.

Milo forced a smile back. "Of course."

"No, Alpha. That was not a request. That was an order." Donnell clarified. "This girl is more than you or any other in your pack see. You will protect her, at all costs except your own life. You will guard her and comfort her. You will be nice and civil to her and you will treat her like the Queen she is." He smiled the whole time, but Milo knew there was a hidden threat there.

Somehow, he had a vision of himself being whipped or caged like the lowest criminal if he wasn't nice to Katarina. He nodded again, to let them know he understood.

"Very well. You may leave us." He waved him off. "Give your mate the good news and we shall see you again on Friday evening. If you have found your mate, be prepared to present her to us." Constantine excused him, but there was something niggling at Milo that he couldn't let go.

With a sigh, he got to his feet. Then it came to him. "What about my Beta? Can I warn him of his impending union, if I find my mate?" He asked, bringing a smile to Constantine's lips that he didn't like.

"No Alpha. The Beta will hear his fate on Friday evening." He commanded, giving him no way out. "If he is to be united with Katarina, they will be granted a few months of courtship, until he has reached his nineteenth birthday. That will allow them to get to know one another." He replied shortly, before turning away and chatting with Donnell.

Milo nodded and excused himself from the room, fuming mad and ready to break something. There was no way pathetic Katarina was going to be his mate. He was going to make sure of it.