***Zara's POV***
"I hope the food is good. Not that it matters much I could eat a whole head of cabbage!" My aunt commented on the way down the stairs. She was following right behind me as we walked down into the foyer. The diner was located opposite of the staircase across the entrance on the first floor. I glanced around looking for a staff member, but it looked more like a cafeteria sort of situation. We found an empty spot near the center of the table on the far right. Theo caught my eye. He smiled warmly at me and I returned the gesture. His head turned to the person next him and whispered something into the man's ear. James's head popped up from his phone and smiled at me as well. Unable to help myself I smiled and waved. They took it as a form of encouragement and got up and walked across the hall to sit with us.
"Hello boys. Fancy seeing you here." Auntie jokes. "Hungry?"
"Starving!" Theo said dramatically as he threw his head back for extra effects.
"May we sit with you guys?" James asked politely.
"Yeah." I said.
We all sat silently listening to the murmur in the hall. Three long tables were set up with empty glasses, cutlery, and napkins. As I scanned the hall looking for Conlan I saw that many pack members were looking at me and whispering among themselves. It was a bit uncomfortable, but it's not like the situation was unfamiliar. This often happened to me growing up and I've learned to deal.
"Alpha Luna."
I turned to see Gamma Rolland look down at me. He knelt down beside me so we were more on an even eye level. His dark brown eyes looked me over with a worried expression.
"Are you not feeling well?"
"She has a fever." The hall went completely silent. It's not normal for a wolf to have a fever unless they were doing really bad. "Something hot to drink and something light to eat should fix her right up after a good night's rest." Auntie said with confidence. Her eyes brimmed with wisdom.
"We'll if you say so." Rolland gave an anxious smile. "You were always the best healer."
"Thanks dear." A sad smile graced her lips. "How's your father doing?"
"Fine. He's already recovered."
"That's good. I'm sorry I'm not much help anymore." She sighed. I reached to hold her hand.
"Don't say that Miss Hazel. If it wasn't for you my family would have died." The woman's voice was warm and kind. "It was you that healed their injuries that would have killed them. And it was so encouraging to see the Alpha Luna's fight. I remember being so scared and huddled around my brothers." A few young men that looked just like her stepped closer and nodded. "But when I saw your mom fight I felt my fright melt away. When I saw you fight, a wolf younger than me, I couldn't help but be rallied by your bravery. Especially since, our pack probably didn't deserve our Alpha's protection."
I just stared at her and then at all the faces staring back at me. No words formed. Not a sound.
"All we ask is for a way to set things right. We just want the opportunity to prove it to you. Of course we will respect any decision you make, but please let us fight for you until the Rogue King is dead." Rolland interjected.
James's sigh drew my attention. His expression was far away and somewhat sad. In the far corner wait staff came out with the meals. Apparently they have been pre arranged and prepared before hand to expedite the dining experience.
"Well we can't kill anyone on an empty stomach." I said. The comment earned me a few smiles. At that moment I felt the guilt weighing on my shoulders lighten. 'Or maybe it's my fever.' Everyone then filled in the empty chairs as close to me as possible until it spilled over onto the other tables. I didn't even protest when Auntie asked for a special meal and a cup of hot herbal tea for me.
During the meal everyone talked merrily amongst themselves. The mood has changed for the better especially after much needed naps and showers. A hot meal was exactly what everyone needed. There was a part of me that was happy along with them, but I felt like I was missing something. It hadn't escaped me that Conlan wasn't present in the dining hall, and it worried me. I almost felt guilty for asking him such a heavy question earlier, but deep down I knew I'd rather know the truth.
"He's patrolling." James's statement pulled me out of my thoughts. He peered at me over a sip of water. "Don't worry about him. He's not mad at you or anything," and he set his glass down to look at me seriously. "Conlan is just a very loyal and committed man. I've never met anyone more determined than him. His head is only filled with his Beta and witch hunting duties."
"That doesn't really tell me anything though."
"He's had it hard." James paused contemplating his next words. "He joined The Sacred Moon Pack for revenge. He's an Alpha that accepted a Beta title just to get it."
"He was from a different pack? Do people switch packs? I thought it was either you stay with your pack, or be a rogue." Then I thought of something that made me grimace. "Or if you join your mate's pack."
"Well that would be correct, except it wasn't for any of those reasons. He was accepted in our pack due to his extenuating circumstances. Not because he found his mate." He added the last bit at the end with some humor in his voice. "He has yet to call someone mate."
Relief flowed through me. I shouldn't be feeling that but I couldn't help it. More than anything I wished that we had discovered that we were mates back at Tilly's. I've never been so drawn to a person as I've been drawn to Conlan, and I know he feels it too.
"I guess we're both still looking." I say feeling sorry for myself. "What about you? Have you found your mate?"
"Not yet. But I'm still young," and he flashed his teeth in a toothy grin. His good naturedness was contagious.
"According to my grandma, the only way I can find my mate is if I can feel if they are or not." I played in fake annoyance.
"Like feel feel?"
"Apparently."
A few others started to study our conversation as they have turned their attention back to me. Gamma Rolland got up from his chair a few seats down and held out his hand to me palm perpendicular to the floor.
"Feel me." The Gamma said.
"Just wait a second." James looked from him to me and then back to him in disbelief. "That's awfully bold of you."
They were staring each other down. The last thing I wanted was this to cause friction between the packs, not when everything was finally vibing well.
His hand felt cool against my palm. "Finding my mate on the first try couldn't ever be in the hand I've been dealt. I'm simply not lucky enough." I emphasized the word lucky and winked at him playfully. 'It must be the fever talking.' This completely diffused the situation and other unmated males joined in. Male after male I bantered with and teased. At some point I started calling out to the ladies, which really got everyone going. As fun as everyone was having, my thoughts kept creeping back to Conlan. With each hand I touched I was reminded of the same moment where Conlan told me that I wasn't his mate. It stung like hell. Then I started to feel guilty for touching them all, even if it was innocent.
"Sweetheart your tea and soup are here." Auntie called me back to my seat. I waved good-bye to the rest of the pack.
"I promise I'll eat some, but I really don't have much of an appetite."
"That's fine just finish what you can and we'll head to bed." She cooed motherly at me.
"Looks like you're the only one left." I say to James. It looked like he was mindlinking someone. Most likely Conlan.
"Huh?"
"Well?" I hold up my palm to him over the table and took a small bite of my chicken soup. "I've touched everyone here but you."
He studied me nervously.
"Oh come on man, it's not as dirty as it sounds. Just do this." Theo laced his dark fingers with my lighter ones. "I promise my angel doesn't bite." He teased his fellow witch hunter.
"Well not hard anyway." I wink at him. Theo barks out a deep laugh and I smile bigger.
Even Auntie joined in. "You're such a nice boy. I'm sure you'd never complain about all the tasks I'd give you at the flower shop, being that you'd be family and all. And you'd be able to help with all the fancy computer stuff. Zara is hopeless at it."
Our laughter drowned out the rest of the noise in the dining hall.
"Alright." He says drawn in by our lightheartedness. "Let's do it."
"Kinky." I say back. More howls of laughter ring through the dining hall.
"That's not what I meant. But I totally walked into that one." He smiled. "I'm going to have to get you back." He ended up quickly high five-ing my hand.
"Hey. That was too fast!"
"That's what she said." Theo chimed in playfully.
The entire dining room was roaring in laughter.
James just rolled his eyes dramatically.
"Is this better?" He asked as he did the same thing Theo did and laced his fingers in mine. Then he shook our laced hands back and forth as we waved like we had just won a trophy or something.
"What the fuck is happening here?" Conlan said in a deadly calm. All the color drained from James's and Theo's faces from his cool tone. I felt the other pack members make their way out of the room like all of a sudden they had somewhere else to be. The air was charged with such an ominous and dominating aura I could see that James and Theo were fighting the act to submit.
I stood up and challenged him. "Why don't you ask me and leave them out of this."
He bored into me. His wolf eyes peering into my soul. "Tell me then, Rogue."
There's that hurtful word again. 'Rogue.' "First of all, lose the attitude." He growled at me in response. For some reason, his childish behavior made me want to act out. "Second, I owe you nothing, Drama Queen." The wolves left gasped in shock. Conlan's face contorted. 'Oh Goddess. What have I done?'
"JAMES. TELL ME NOW!" He snarled with his Alpha voice. The impact of command even made me flinch.
"I was checking to see if Zara was my," he gulped back his nervousness. "Mate."
"No." I stepped forward to block Conlan's view of James before he could get a chance to do anything else. "It was me. I have to find my mate and I was just verifying that he wasn't here." My face fell. The last thing I wanted was for him to see my face. "Just like what I did with you. I had to make sure." Cold shivers took over me as I could feel my fever rise.
"YOU WENT AROUND TO ALL THE MALES AND HELD THEIR HANDS? WHAT THE HELL. DON'T YOU THINK THAT YOUR MATE WOULD HATE THAT?"
"He would hate that or you hate that?" I look up at him. The fury in his eyes told me he was dangerously close to shifting out of anger.