Chapter three

Davina

At his words, everyone in the hall gave a loud and collective gasp of shock including the elders and even me too. What was he saying? As far as I knew, my late fiance didn't have an heir. So who was this man who was claiming to be his heir? Was he serious at all? He couldn't be. I knew that.

The most senior elder rose from his seat and came over to where the man was. When he was there, he said, "Let's have this discussion in a moment, Keith. The rest of the pack cannot be around to hear it all."

I almost gasped in surprise. So the elders knew him. That meant may be he was telling the truth? But then, just because the elders knew him didn't mean that what he said was true. He could be lying for all I knew. 

He nodded and the elder stepped up to the podium and then took the microphone, making me give way for him. He spoke in a tone that brooked no arguments or objections from the people of the pack. 

"People of Antarti pack, this meeting has come to a close. Make sure you follow the messages we have given you this night. You can all depart now."

As he said that, the people of the pack began to depart just as he asked them to. They all filed out in an orderly manner and within minutes, the place was empty except for the four elders, the strange but handsome man called Keith and myself. 

The senior elder spoke again. "Let us all move to the meeting room," he said and began to lead the way.

 We all followed behind him and he walked to the end of the large auditorium, stopped at a door that was hidden behind a thick and heavy curtain and he unlocked a door. Without him telling us to, we followed him inside and settled down in chairs around a table. 

The elder started without preamble. "Keith, why have you come back to the Antarti pack?"

Keith answered him almost immediately. "My twenty years exile ended today and I have come to take back what is rightfully mine; the seat of the Alpha of Antarti pack," he said confidently.

"Are you aware that your father was poisoned today?" the senior elder asked.

This time too, Keith answered without missing a beat or hesitating for a fraction of a second. "I didn't know before my arrival in the pack. I arrived just as the bell was being rung for the emergency meeting. And I overheard it on the way here from the conversations of the pack members."

After Keith's statement, the elders didn't say anything again. The air was filed with tension which was almost thick enough to choke. After a while, the senior elder spoke again, this time, directing his attention to me. 

"Davina, I know you must be feeling quite in the dark about all of this but I will explain everything to you. You see, your late fiance had a son with his late wife and that was Keith," the elder said and I gave a gasp of shock. So the man had been saying the truth all along.

He went on. "Twenty years ago, Alpha Callum's wife was murdered and Keith was accused of doing it; of killing his mother. After a lot of evidence against him, he refused to prove himself innocent so he was sent on exile for a period of twenty years which is now over."

Now Keith spoke without mincing words. "I think you are ignoring the elephant in the room, elder, and that is my birthright. My father did not have any other child apart from me and even if he did, this position will still be mine because I am his first child. Now he is dead and there is nothing for you to do except crown me as Alpha. I came just at the right time."

Without speaking, the elders moved to another part of the meeting room, and they conferred silently among themselves for a while. When they were done, they came back to the meeting table.

The senior elder spoke again this time. In fact, it seemed as if he was the one who had been doing all the speaking throughout today. The others were just there for advice and suggestions. 

"We, the elders of this pack, have all conferred among ourselves and we have come to a conclusion. Since it is your birthright and it is only right that the position of Alpha be given to you despite the bad name you have with the people of this pack, we have decided to crown you as Alpha."

"Well, you are certainly going along the same lane as me now, elder. I knew you would come to my side in no time," Keith bragged.

The elder paid no mind to Keith's words. It was as if Keith didn't even speak for all the reaction he gave. Instead, he went on with his speech. 

"But there is a condition attached to your being the Alpha of this pack," he concluded.

"What is it? I am eager to hear it," Keith spoke with urgency in his tone. 

"Since it was your father's wish that this pack and the Juno Pack be united and that was why he decided to marry Davina, you must fulfill his wish if you don't want your reign to have bad luck and that means taking Davina as your mate and making her your Luna."

I gasped in shock and before I could begin to say what was on my mind, Keith spoke up. "So that is it? Well, I accept then. I will take her as my mate and Luna if that makes me become the Alpha of this pack," he pronounced. 

"What? I do not accept to this! I will not marry this arrogant man whom I do not know from anywhere!" I said, already close to anger. 

The senior elder spoke in soothing tones. "I know this must be hard on you but you have to understand where I am coming from. Your father and your late fiance wanted this treaty to be fulfilled and you have to honor them. And again, the pack members won't really take kindly to Keith becoming the Alpha since there is still a murder allegation on him so that is why you have to be his Luna so that the minds of the people will be at rest. They already know you; you are a familiar face to them. And they also know that you are a good person since you were going to marry the late Alpha.  Please, Davina, just accept to do this. For your father and your late fiance."

This time, I was the one who stood up from my seat. I walked to the end of the room. I needed to think. I started pacing as I went through my thoughts. 

The senior elder had a point. My father really wanted this treaty and I didn't want to let him down. And what he said about the people of the pack and me was true. The people of the pack liked me and since my speech this evening, their respect for me had soared. In fact, all what the senior elder had said was true. He was right. 

And in truth, I didn't trust Keith. He had a funny and dubious look about him. He was also arrogant. I couldn't leave the people of this pack in his hands; I had to rule alongside him and that couldn't be achieved except I agreed to be his Luna. 

And I had also promised the people of the pack that I would protect them. I couldn't let them down after my vow.

So I walked back to the table of men and spoke. "I will agree to be his mate and Luna but I have conditions too. We will have separate rooms and we will never have sex."

"I agree," Keith said.

And that was it. I had agreed to be his mate and he has agreed to be mine. So now I was to be stuck in a marriage where I hated my husband.