Chapter 31 Alarick's POV I am sitting in my office doing work. I keep looking at the time. It is 9:30, almost time for this stupid ceremony planning. I sigh and lean back in my chair. Markus walks in and sees me. "What's got you looking like that?" He asks, taking a seat in one of the chairs across from my desk. "Ceremony planning." I say back to him. He chuckles. "You know. It wouldn't be as bad if you actually got to know her." He says. Irritating me. "You know I don't want that. This is the best option for me and the pack." I say. "More like the best option for you. The pack would love to have a true queen, not just some jazzed up step in for when you need one." He said, which irritated me more. "Look man, all I am saying is, do you really want to be married and committed to somebody you barely know for a lifetime? I mean we live up to 200 years and you only have 25 of those down. At least make an effort to get to know her." He says. "You want me to mate with her?!" I ask in an accusatory tone. "Now, now, I said nothing about a mate. I meant it as friends. She is actually a great person once you get to know her." He says defending himself. "You should listen to him. Get to know her. That is what I have been telling you since the first time we met her." Onin chimed in. "You barely even spoke when we first met her." I countered. "But you felt it. My curiosity. That is basically me telling you to get to know her dumba*s." Onin says. I sigh and look down at the packets on my desk and LeeAca walks in. Here we go. I think to myself. LeeAca's POV "What colors are your pack?" Is the first question on the packet. That's easy enough, blue and purple, I write down and I hear a sigh from next to me. I look over to see Alarick shaking his head. What did I do wrong? Those are the colors of my pack. "What?" I ask. "You need to be specific about it. Midnight purple and Royal blue." He says. "What the hell is a midnight purple?" I ask "The name of your pack's shade of purple." He answers as if I am dumb. "You're acting as if I am the dumb one. Let's not forget you are the one telling me about different names for shades of colors. Blue is Blue." I say getting even more irritated than I already was. "How about I just fill it out and ask you some basic questions?" He asks. When I look up into his eyes it calms me. Stupid ass mate bond. "Anything to get this over with faster." I reply. "Who will be your bridesmaids?" He asks. "Um.. How many do I need?" I ask. "Well I will be having my Beta, Gamma, and Delta. So you will need at least three." He says. That is a lot, I don't have many of friends. "I guess Laura, Maleena, and Amara." I answer. "Laura? As in your pack's Luna?" He asks. I don't understand why. "Yes." I say while looking at him curiously. "It is just weird for an acting Luna and a Gamma's daughter to be friends." He says, still confusing me. "We were friends before she was my Luna. I don't understand what is weird about it." I say. "Nevermind, next question. Do you have anybody who is not of Alpha, Beta, and Gamma blood that you would like to invite?" He asks. Those families are probably already required to be invited. Like the ball, just without all of the unmated pack members. "No." I answer. "No?" He asks again. Why does he keep doing this with my answers? I don't even say anything, I just look at him. "You don't have any other friends or family that are not in those categories?" He asks as if I am lying. "No. I have my father, brother, sister, and Laura. That is it." I say trying to clear it up for him. "Hmm. Okay. What color do you want your bridesmaids to wear? It has to be one of your pack colors. You and I will be wearing white and gold for mine and the groomsmen and bridesmaids will be wearing your pack colors." He asks. "Then why would I need to choose if they will be wearing both?" I ask. I don't understand this sh*t. "Because yours will wear one color while mine will wear the other. It signifies the unity between us." He says. "Purple I guess." I say the first color that comes out. "You really aren't into planning this ceremony are you?" He asks. "Nope." I say and pop the "p". "Most women have every aspect thought about for their ceremony day." He says. "Well most women won't be planning their fake ceremony." I counter. "So if it was a real ceremony you would want to plan it?" He asks. He is reading into what I am saying. "No. I have no interest in planning any ceremony. Why would I have planned details on a ceremony that is never going to happen?" I ask. "Right... so the last question is answered for me then. I'm guessing you don't have any special requests on any of the wedding details." He says. I think about it and there is one. "Gardenias." I say. He looks up at me in surprise. "Gardenias?" He asks. "There he goes again." Fen grumbles in my head. "Yes." I say, really not wanting to hear him repeat me. "After that speech you just gave me about not planning a ceremony. You say you want gardenias. Why?" He asks. I sigh knowing that I can't avoid the question. "They were my mother's favorite flower." I answer, trying to avoid the emotion of her loss I still feel. "Okay. I will put them down. We can substitute the typical roses for gardenia's." He says taking his pen and writing down at the end of the paper. "What else?" I ask, hoping there isn't much more of this ceremony stuff. "Well, you will need to go dress shopping, and remember when you do, to get a robe for the pack run. Normally the queens wear a white robe. Some have gold details, but you will be able to choose what you want." He says. "Pack run?" I ask. "Yes. After the reception there is a pack run. This allows the pack to recognize your wolf and it is bonding time with them." He says. "Oh. I won't be doing that." I say. He looked baffled. "It is a tradition." He tries to argue. "I don't shift. Therefore I will not be doing it." I say which baffles him even more. "What do you mean you can't shift? You have a wolf." He says. I can feel his confusion. "I never said I can't shift. I said I don't shift." I answer. "Well if you can shift then you are doing the run. It will help the pack members know that if they see your wolf, you are not a threat. They won't attack." He says trying to defend the run. "Did it help when you did it with your fated mate?" I ask. I feel his aggression and I know I hit a nerve. "What do you mean? We did the run, as is tradition." He grits out. "I mean did it help when your mate attacked your pack? Did they know not to attack her because they knew her wolf? They knew she wasn't a threat, but she really was. Call it insurance. If I ever turn on you and the pack then they will know to attack me because they have never seen my wolf." I say. I feel his anger start to roll off of him. "It is a tradition." He says in a deadly tone. "You have already done your tradition once and it backfired." I retorted. He gets up and walks out of his office, slamming the door on his way out. "Oops." Fen smirks in my head. "Was I too harsh?" I ask her. "Hell no, you should have been harder on him. Trying to force us into this sh*t." Fen answers. "He isn't really forcing us into this, we agreed to it." I say. "He tried to force us into the run." Fen argues. "It's his tradition. We are taking that away from him. I would be upset too." I say. Fen gasps. "NO! Do not start defending the a*shole! You start defending people to me and then you all of a sudden get closer to them! It won't work this time! I will not allow it!" She starts yelling at me. "Fen calm down. I am not going to get closer with Alarick. I can't risk him knowing about us. Okay? And you know he is kind of an a*shole." I answer her, assuring her everything is alright. "Whatever." Fen grumbles and retreats. I get up to go to the room. It is 11:00, if I play my cards right I can grab Maleena, get lunch and go to the highschool to enroll her. Then go school shopping after. In Addicted to You movie, Audrey's biggest regret? A one-night stand with Floyd, her secret love for eight years. Despite his arranged marriage and his family's troubles, he kept rescuing her. She tho...