Page 12 of Alpha's Arranged Mate

She scoffed inwardly, imagining how her packmates might see her and Braxton. Then, just as quickly, she shoved the thought away. It wouldn't happen. It couldn't. She had failed to put her name in. Maybe it wasn't too late? Maybe she could go to Dash quickly now.

Though she suspected that was why Macie had turned up at her door to escort her to the full moon clearing. It was exceptionally clear what Macie thought of her 'unhealthy' attachment to a demon wolf.

Her mating with a McCormack was fair game though, Lottie thought grimly as she forced herself to her feet and grumbled, "Thanks, Ray."

"You're welcome. Can we get this show on the road? The manor is far too quiet, and I'd hazard a guess we are going to be the last ones to the meeting."

"Lead the way," Lottie instructed, gesturing with a wave of a hand. Macie hesitated, silently scowling at her. "What, Macie? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Macie shook her head and averted her gaze. "I was just thinking."

She didn't even bother to try and elaborate before she turned and disappeared from the doorway.

Lottie followed her sister and Ray through the manor, outside and down to the forest beyond the east lawn.

Above them, the moon was rising high into the sky, and Lottie knew that when it reached its highest point the evening would be complete. She would know which unlucky Silverdale she-wolf had been picked. And though she knew that it was wrong, though she continued to tell herself it wasn't meant to be, a part of her wished it would be her.

When they arrived at the clearing, Lottie was surprised to learn that Ray was right. Save for a few other stragglers, the entire pack was ready and waiting, including Braxton, who stood at the very center of the clearing beside Dash. Though he was wearing the usual silver runed wrist cuffs that stopped him from transforming into his demon wolf state, he was otherwise unbound and free to move around.

For just a second, Lottie could imagine that he was just another member of the pack. And her heart raced at the sight of him. She stared at him, noticing how utterly handsome he was now that he had been allowed to get himself cleaned up. The long facial hair he had begun to grow in the dungeons had been trimmed down to a close-cropped beard and his dark hair was swept back from his olive-skinned face as if he had simply run his fingers through it.

Standing beside Dash, save for his dark skin tone and his lack of blue eyes, he almost looked like a Silverdale wolf. And when looking at it like that, Lottie couldn't help but think again why things had always been so fraught between the Silverdale pack and the demon wolves.

Perhaps if not for that long-term war, she and Braxton might have had a future together that wasn't filled with heartache and pain.

"Hey, come on," Macie said, surprising Lottie when she gripped hold of her wrist and dragged her sideways into the crowd. It was not before Braxton turned, as if he had sensed her watching him, and his eyes caught hers. Upon seeing her, his irises danced with something akin to excitement and Lottie felt her she-wolf rearing up once more.

She had to stomp her back down quickly, all too able to sense the pack all around her, knowing that they would sense it if she allowed her she-wolf's excitement to show.

Allowing Macie to drag her further into the crowd, she used the cover to hide from Braxton's gaze. Luckily for her, when her name was not pulled from the box, he would never know that she hadn't even put her name into it.

"We are gathered here this evening beneath the light of the full moon to make a pact, a promise that shall change the future of Silverdale forever," Dash declared, raising his voice so that even those at the very back of the crowd could hear. "We come together to choose a she-wolf who will usher in a new era of peace between werewolf and demon wolf and bring about the end of the rivalry that has been long standing between our two communities."

As he spoke, he gave a waving gesture of his hand, and his red-headed mate, Raya, stepped forward with an ornately carved wooden box clasped in both hands. Though it looked heavy, even for a she-wolf, Lottie suspected it wasn’t due to the slips of paper within.

"Before I choose a she-wolf for the honor, I must ask before all these witnesses," Dash continued, smiling at his mate before he turned to Braxton and said, "Do you pledge yourself to this alliance before the entire Silverdale pack and before those you have chosen to bear witness for your own?"

It was only when Dash gestured in their direction that Lottie noticed the two werewolves, one male and one female, who were stood at the front of the crowd close by to the two alphas. They too wore the wrist cuffs that Braxton wore, though theirs were not the only bindings they had on. Their feet were bound by chains, and they had been cuffed to each other as if to make an escape attempt harder.

At the sight of them, and seeing the grim expressions on their faces, Lottie wasn't so certain that they were pleased with the situation. She could only imagine what they thought of such an alliance after having been locked away in the dungeons for months.

Just going down there as a guard was bad enough. Being trapped beneath the earth for months on end had to be sheer torture to a werewolf who needed to run and feel the light of the full moon on their fur.

Sympathy for the demon wolves made Lottie's stomach clench, and it took all she had in her to refocus on the situation at hand.

"I shall uphold this alliance with my life, and so long as I draw breath it shall stand," Braxton vowed, and Lottie felt a swelling in her heart that quickly turned to bile in her throat when she remembered once more that she had failed to add her own name into the choosing.

Though she had hidden from his gaze, Lottie couldn't stop from rising up on her toes in order to look at Braxton. And when she did, she found he was no longer looking in her direction, but was instead standing with his head held high, gazing out over the heads of the crowd as if he didn’t want to meet anyone’s eye.

“Then I shall not waste any more of the full moon by waiting,” Dash announced, and he gestured Raya before him. She stood with her head bowed and held the box out to him.

Bile turned to outright nausea as Lottie watched Dash dip his hand into the box and mix around the paper slips before pulling one from the container.

Lottie continued to stare at Braxton even though he was failing to look at her. All she could bring herself to do was look at him, to anchor herself to him as she braced for what was to come. Hearing the name of the she-wolf chosen was going to tear her heart out. She knew it even before she heard it.

Dash yelled at the top of his lungs, "Charlotte Silverdale!"

At first, Lottie didn't recognize the name. It was foreign to her ears and sent a cold shiver running down her spine. It was only when all eyes started to turn to her that she actually realized that it was her own.

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