WHEN DUTY AND CONSCIENCE COLLIDE

Lucian's pov

"I thought you were not interested in attending the mating ceremony," Kai, my best friend and the Beta's son, said with a playful nudge at my ribs as we joined the other guests in the woods where a clearing was made for the entire ceremony.

This would be the third mating ceremony that the family was arranging for my distant uncle. I had rolled my eyes at the second which I had been forced to attend when I was 10.

"Well I didn't want to come, honestly it seems like we're just throwing cash away for someone that's hardly related,"

This one was even more extravagant, he pulled out all the stops aggravating me because I think at this age he would have enough common sense not to waste more of the family's money on something that everyone knew was not going to last.

"What made you change your mind?"

Just then music began to play, and the bride was being escorted towards my uncle while he had a smile that looked like a cat licking cream.

Was somebody so old supposed to look so punchable?

"What do you know about the bride?" I said without looking at Kai my eyes were still fixed on her.

Kai was the more approachable one between us as a pair, theory said something about me needing to smile more, I have heartedly tried and realized that my face always somehow manages to find itself resting in a frown even when I didn't mean to.

And in a way he was also allowed more freedom than I to interact with other kids our age, being a social butterfly that he was I had a doubt that he knew it then or two about her.

He seemed suspicious for a moment but answered my question anyway.

"She's the granddaughter of one of the pack's gamma family…"

"I already know that," I said rather impatiently, "... That's the only piece of information I cared to learn, tell me more,"

The hesitation was there again but he pushed past it and continued.

"She's kind of weird, you know? Never really got along with anyone and the vibe from her is just really off-putting?"

That was the first time I looked away from her and over to my friend, he wasn't the judgmental type and could get along with practically everyone for him to say that someone was basically unlikable there how to be some kind of truth in it.

There were many things I noticed about her when she stepped into my room, but off-putting was not one of them, even when she was staring at me.

"Also, nobody knows who her father is There were even rumors that…" he leaned over to whisper the rest in my ears, "... That he might be a witch,"

My blood ran cold.

"Was there proof?" I said, trying to catch my breath.

Kai just shrugged.

"Not exactly, everyone just built it was really weird that she hadn't awakened her wolf yet after everyone else did but I guess the rumor was wrong because she ended up awakening a while back after her mom's accident. Her mother is currently being treated at the pack hospital but she's in a coma."

She was now halfway up to my distant uncle, and something in my chest was getting tighter by the second.

"Do you think her mother's accidents might have anything to do with why she agreed to this marriage?"

I mean it made sense, hospital bills were high, and a chance to connect with the alpha family no matter how slim was snatched up by a simple basic gamma family.

While she was just collateral damage.

"Why are you interested in your uncle's bride?" Kai asked, still trying to be playful about the whole thing. "It's not like her family would force her to marry someone she didn't want if she said no, right?"

I gave Kai a long hard look.

"Kai you do know that one day you will have to support me as my beta right?"

"Of course!" He said, beaming from ear to ear.

I placed a patronizing palm on his shoulder.

"Currently I'm really worried about that position for you and I think you should be worried too,"

I couldn't blame Kai completely, unlike me whose father was cold and hardened by life. Kai was pretty easy-going.

My father gave me a front row seat on all the gritty details of my future position, he never sugar-coated anything for me. At twelve I already had blood in my hands, he patted me on my head and said.

"An alpha does what is necessary to protect his pack,"

Compared to me Kai still thought that everything was all sunshine and rainbows, while it was sometimes endearing most times it was annoying.

She had almost reached my distant uncle, I stood up a voice inside me telling me to stop everything then my father came to me through a mind link.

"Lucian, thornblade, what are you doing?" The disapproval in his voice was deep.

"Father…this doesn't feel right she is too young and Harold is–"

"He is family," my father gave the same line he always did whenever he spoke of that archaic fool.

I ground my teeth against each other.

Father was not the type to be moved, but I wanted to try before I could speak. He had already silenced me.

"Sit down boy, in our pack, 16 years is already at the age of consent and with the approval of her family she can be married off. We have that approval. There is nothing wrong with this. I thought I had taught you better than this,"

Frustration bulged up in my chest, I was seated but brimming with unease. My distant uncle said his vows first and then she said robotically and detached.

Then the Elder who was presiding over it all had gotten the I do from Harold and then he moved over to get it from her.

Her lips wobbled, her eyes swept around the crowd until they met mine.

There was a plea in those eyes.

One that would haunt my dreams for a long time.

Because I looked away.

Then the unexpected happened