Chapter 6

I stumbled over my footing, managing with some luck to remain upright. The door behind me swung shut with a thud of finality. As soon as the door was closed, my senses were overwhelmed. His scent was everywhere. Burnt firewood and fresh leather.

His presence was strong enough that I could sense him without looking up. My breathing was shaky and uneven, catching in my throat in anticipation. I went through the calming motion of clenching and unclenching my fists. It was a habit I picked up as a child to help deal with my trauma. After I lost both my parents, I felt like I was spiraling. But the motion, while small, helped ground me and bring me back to reality.

"Ah, hello, glad you could make it." A humored voice spoke up amongst the silence.

I swam through my memories to help put a face to the vaguely familiar voice. I remembered the voice from Cleaning Day. He had calmed down the Alpha and broke up the earlier altercation. He must be the Beta Belinda was referring to earlier. Beta Alaric.

I refrained from looking up at them, moving my head in a quick nod to let him know I had heard him. The silence that filled the room was eating at me, causing the anxiety to stay rooted in my lower stomach. I continued my routine of clenching and unclenching my fists. Anything to calm down the overwhelming urge to bolt from the room and risk my chances with the guards.

A rumble of a soft growl filled the room. "Look up, pup."

To my complete and utter horror, my cheeks flushed with embarrassment at his tone. It wasn't the Beta who growled, but instead the Alpha. My supposed mate. I could feel his heated stare on me as he spoke. His tone was belittling. Like he was talking to a child; or better yet, someone beneath him.

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and raised my chin to look up at them, trying my best not to quiver under their intense gazes. There was a big oak desk in front of me and perched on either side were both men.

I could have mistaken the Alpha for a statue based on how rigid his posture was. He was leaning against the desk, his arms crossed defiantly across his broad chest. His jaw was locked in annoyance as he stared, towering over my frame. His whole body makeup screamed dominance and it truly wasn't fair.

"Play nice, Benji." The Beta next to him jokingly taunted, nudging his shoulder into him. He was another beautifully – and unfairly – crafted man, but nothing compared to the Alpha. His white canines were on display, standing out starkly from his olive-skinned complexion. While the Alpha screamed dominance and aggression, he gave off a more playful aurora to himself.

Another warning growl filled the room. Initially, I thought it was aimed at the Beta for poking fun at his superior, but I soon realized that it was at me instead. "Are you done staring at him?" His tone was tense as he hissed the words at me.

I opened and closed my mouth like a fish out of water. Was this temperamental Alpha really trying to come for me right now for looking at the person talking?

"I um, – Excuse me?" I faltered, attempting to come up with an excuse for my actions before just completely giving up. I saw no fault in what I was doing, but there would be no reasoning with the Alpha. I had learned quickly, due to my time in the cells, that disagreeing never got you anywhere.

"You're staring at him." His tone was sharp and accusatory.

"Can you blame her?" Alaric jumped in, once again, his smile not breaking from his face.

This time the growl was directed at him and not me.

Alaric threw his hands up in false surrender, shaking his head slightly. "Calm down, I'm just poking fun. I thought you wanted to make her feel comfortable."

"I am."

I bit the inside of my cheek to hold back the surprise as I watched the two of them talk to each other. I'm shocked Alaric still had his head attached to his body based on the way he spoke to his superior. It was clear they had a unique dynamic with each other; one offset the other, creating some form of balance in their leadership.

"I'm assuming you know why you are here, right?" Alaric asked, completely disregarding the comment from the Alpha and steering his eyes back to me.

I nodded, inhaling the Alpha's mouthwatering scent once again as if to confirm what I already assumed. I wonder what I smelt like to him. If he had any pull towards me, he clearly wasn't showing it. He was barely talking, let alone expressing any type of satisfaction of finding his mate.

"Right, alright, not much of a talker. I get it." Alaric hummed, reaching behind himself to grab a document from the desk. "You're staying in one of the guest houses, currently. We need to alert the staff of your presence to avoid any..." He cleared his throat, thinking over his wording before continuing. "...altercations from happening. I'm sure you're tired but we just have a few questions to ask you."

The whole scene was eerily like when I had first arrived in the cells, though, a lot less civil. The documents mixed with the eventual questions reminded me of when we were catalogued in the cells. It was simple questions – our names, former packs, past ranking, and any skill.

The whole time Alaric spoke, I could feel my mates heated gaze burning a hole in my flesh. His glare was furious and trained on my face. It was unsettling to say the least. It felt as if every move I made was being evaluated by him.

"I'm Alaric, the Beta of this pack. What's your name?"

"Aria."

He scribbled down my name, talking as he wrote. "Last name? And former pack, as well."

"Tate. Aria Tate." My tongue darted out to wet my dry lips. I hadn't used my last name in so long. There was no need - I didn't have any surviving family that shared the surname with me, anymore. "I'm from...I mean, I was, from the Sandstone pack."

"The Sandstone pack was recent. How long have you been in the cells?" The Alpha spoke up, his dark eyebrows furrowing. His face held a look of concentration, as if he was trying to recall how long ago he had conquered my pack.

"I don't know. Maybe three weeks."

He held my gaze for a moment, before nodding seeming satisfied with my answer. "Good," He murmured, his eyebrows relaxing into a less irritated expression. "Not that long."

Alaric cleared his throat, "Alright, almost done. Ranking?"

I knew this question was coming. I tried to not let my irritation come through in my voice as I answered, "Omega."

I wasn't ashamed per see of my ranking, but others seemed to have a good laugh at it. I wasn't born to be a warrior, but my status never bothered me, that is until others started taking advantage of it. I doubt the Alpha will be that pleased to be mated to someone in such a low status. It's usually assumed the lower your ranking, the weaker your pups will be. Not that I have any plans of mating with the big bad Alpha any time soon, but it surely wouldn't be something he's pleased with.

If the Alpha was annoyed at my ranking, he didn't show it. They both remained rather stoic as the last answer was scrawled onto the paper. Alaric reached behind himself to put the paper down, before returning to face me with a lazy smile.

"Okay, that's all the information we need from you now. Is there anything you'd like to add, Alpha?" He asked, turning his head towards his superior. The Alpha shook his head, signaling he was done as well. Alaric continued, "Well, that is all sorted. Belinda will take you back to your room now."

I blinked for a moment, rooted in my spot. I was perplexed at the concise nature of the meeting. All the information they asked could have been easily retrieved from the cell records, but instead they insisted on this meeting. I had thought this would be less about formalities and more about the biggest issue at hand; my mate bond with their Alpha.

I don't know if it is the mate pull or all my built-up irritation at my current life predicament, but I am royally pissed off.

"That's it?" My tone was no longer laced with apprehension and anxiety, but instead clipped and irate.

My tone clearly caught the Alpha's attention. He quirked a dark eyebrow, taking a step forward away from the desk he was perched on. "Were you expecting something else, pup?"

I didn't like the way he called me pup. It was demeaning, like I was a little child. I wasn't going to tell the Alpha off for his annoying nickname, though. I didn't love the cells that much to be thrown back in them right away.

I crinkled my nose in slight irritation but was quick to smooth over my facial expression. "No, Alpha."

His body tensed as I addressed him by his title. It was formal and completely uncommon for a mate to refer to their partner by their ranking. I technically knew his name. I had heard it whispered by people in the dark of the cells plenty of times.

Alpha Benji – the merciless lone wolf. A borderline psychopathic tyrant who takes over any pack in his way.

What a heart-warming description of someone I'm supposedly mated for life to.

"You're dismissed." He growled after a few moments, turning his back towards me to shuffle some paperwork on his desk.

I stared at the mass of muscles that made up his back for a moment before turning on my heel. The carpet burned my bare feet as I dragged myself out of the room, practically running right into Belinda. I avoided eye contact with the guards and silently followed her back to my room.

I wasn't fooled. Just because there was a bed and blanket didn't disguise what it truly was. It was another cell for me to be trapped in.

I heard the click of the door as Belinda locked me in. Almost defiantly I ignored the bed, curling up into a ball on the floor with no blanket or pillow. I wrapped my arms around my body for comfort. They couldn't fool me. I was still a prisoner, just in a new cell.