C5 Beta blood

"Don't you think we are moving too fast?" James said as he looked at me with eyes clouded with something I could not quite place my hands on.

"what do you mean moving too fast" I said chuckling as I tried to get out of my dress.

the wedding had been tiring and I was still kind of on edge because of my mate issue. I was still yet to talk to anyone about it, mostly because it was kind of obvious I really could not talk to anyone about it.

"I mean, we barely just got married and now we are moving to southern California" he said coming to meet me and help me zip down my dress.

"baby" I called to him as I faced him "we are moving to California for a holiday. you were the one that said that you felt bad that we were not going to go on a trip and now the opportunity is here. why are you still resisting?" I said giving him the most questioning gaze I could muster.

"it's just... " he said then closed his eyes. "you are right" he said then let out a breath. "I am being a jerk when I know quite well that I am meant to be happy. I guess I am just being paranoid" he said and smiled at me then gave me a peck.

"now" he said his eyes switching from serious to lustful in a matter of seconds. "how about we take this to the bed." he said giving me a mischievous smile. "you know" I could barely keep my eyes off of you today. and now, little James is ready for some action" he said then wiggled his eyebrows.

"well, little James would just have to wait a little bit more because I am tired, and since we are going to have a honeymoon, then I think I want to wait." I said smirking "it would make it a little bit special don't you think?" I whispered in his ear and bit on his earlobe.

"you know, if you really want to wait, you should not be doing that" he said in a strained voice.

"good night" I said and laughed.

I turned off the light and went to go and sleep or at least I tried to. no matter how much I tried, I could not take the image of Caspian out of my head. his strong chiseled face, his dark eyes and his dark hark that was cut short and laid sexily on too his head and most especially his dark and rich voice that seemed to make my body shiver and vibrate in a way that I could not understand. all of that kept me awake till the next morning.

"hey babe" James greeted me as he stood up and dressed up to go to goddess knows where.

"hi" I said my voice coming out hoarse "where are you going" I said looking at the clock that showed that it was six o'clock.

"I just need to meet with my boss and let him know that I would be traveling this evening so that he would not bother" he said and then bent down to kiss my forehead.

"okay, but don't take too long" I said and smiled and him and then he returned the smile. "of course. you are like the oxygen I need to survive" he joked and went out of the room.

knowing I was not going to get any sleep, I decided to get up and clean up. no doubt I was looking like a troll this morning.

I looked myself in the mirror in my bathroom and 'yikes' I really did look like a troll. my hair was everywhere and I had forgotten to clean off my make up yesterday so it was smeared all over my face no doubt all over my pillow too.

with a sigh, I washed my teeth and then removed my clothes and stepped into the shower.

I stood under the shower and let the hot water flow down my back as I thought if it was really a nice choice to hide an important fact from my husband.

"Ari!! are you there" the sound of my mother's voice along with her banging my door brought me out of my thoughts

"mum?" I called out as I turned of the shower and went to open the door.

"mum?" I called out again "what are you doing here?" I said looking at her with disbelief as I used another towel to dry out my hair.

"well it's still kind of my house so I thought I was allowed here" she said sarcastically rolling my eyes and making her way into my room.

"well mum it's still kind of my room but oh well who is complaining"

"the alpha of the southern water pack wants to meet with us, to form an alliance with us. I was thinking that you should be the one to represent us" my mother said looking serious and disregarding my comment.

"why do I have to be the one to go?" it was not out of place for me to go but it was Jake's job he was meant to be the one handling it.

"Jake had to go with the alpha to a conference this morning" she said.

"since when did Issac come back" I said lifting a brow.

"a day before your wedding"

"what!!, why did no one tell me?"

"he wanted it that way" she said and stood up to leave.

"I don't want to do it" I mumbled.

"I would have but you know-" she cut herself off from completing the sentence. I knew what she meant. and I immediately felt very stupid for bringing it up.

"I will see you around." she said as she left the room.

ever since my dad died, she had lost the power of beta female. I mean technically, she still was but that was just out of respect. it would be cruel to remove her title just because her husband died.

since she was not a born beta she was just a carrier of the beta blood line and although the pack understood it, outsiders would not and her trying to make a decision would be like an ordinary wolf was trying to give a wolf of higher status a command, which was a big no no.

sighing, I laid on my bed and looked up at the ceiling.

"Issac" I whispered into the air afraid like he could hear me or something. which by the way was stupid because he obviously could not.

he was my first boyfriend. my mind drifted back to the time when we were Soo in love. we were certain that we were going to be mates the pack witch had even confirmed it. but I guess it was not true. I still remember how broken he looked on his coronation day when he found out that we were not mates. it was horrible. he got really devastated and felt betrayed by the pack with that he had her executed. I thought that was a bit extreme but obviously I did not have a say in it. after all, he was not my mate.

years later, he did not stop having feelings for me and with the absence of my mate, he felt like we could be our own chosen mate. but I could not agree to that because in a way it seemed wrong.

"I better dress up before I have a repeat of yesterday" I said to myself as I stood up and pulled out some undies and a Flora dress. sometimes I was really grateful for my small boobs I could not imagine myself wearing a bra all the time. it must have be tiring for women who do.

I looked myself in the mirror and checked for any mishap but I was good to go.

'mum? where is the meeting holding' I called to my mum mind linking her.

'in the den' she replied. the den was a room where we held pack meetings. I really did not know who named it that. it was kind of stupid but what made it worse? was it was just opposite the alpha a.k.a Isaac's office.

'great' I thought to myself as I rolled my eyes. the den was in the pack house. I had avoided that place for years mostly because it was were Issac lived and I did not for the life of me want to encounter him. I mean who in their right mind would want to meet up their ex when you. clearly know shit went down on the day you were meant to be each other's forever.

I walked towards the pack house. with one intention in mind. "stay away from Issac."

I kept reciting it like a mantra but apparently, luck just seemed to not be on my side because standing there, was no other than him