11. Crash

Tanya's POV

I twisted on the bed and groaned when I again felt the space. Getting conscious, I rubbed the sleep off my lids, my eyes taking in the surroundings as I glared at his side that was annoyingly well made.

"Dude needs to learn to stop disappearing in the mornings," I grumbled in irritation thus that had been a reoccurring event for the past week I'd been there.

It was always like that, he wasn't by me whenever I woke and I always ended up spending the day alone. We only meet at dinner and then go into bed for the night. I knew he was busy with alpha duties, especially with the new information that reached us three days ago that vampires were spotted close to the Moonville border by the patrol guards.

To make matters worse the elders which I found out Ralph and Arthur were among were still against the idea of me a human being their Luna, except for Ralph of course.

During my little stay, I'd gathered some knowledge of this world I had come to live in, and with time I was gradually understanding the ways of the people. Abigail and Dalia had been helpful and I hadn't seen Courtney the girl who I talked back at the week ago, around.

My normal days now consisted of getting up, having breakfast brought to me, eating, and getting washed up before going to spend my day in the library. My laptop was stationed there and with the fast and reliable wifi, the place had, attended to some work before talking to my friends and parents on the rickety telephone thus Dante hadn't reimbursed my cellphone yet.

Sighing at the start of another boring day, I threw my legs down from the bed and was a little surprised to see a tray that would undoubtedly contain my breakfast. I shifted my gaze to the clock and saw I roused later than usual which explained the tray hence I usually woke by 9 am.

I strolled barefooted to pick it up and returned to the bed. I had the bedspread changed to a one in the red shade after I had a trivial argument with Dante about it. Discarding the covers of the dishes, I was confronted with the sight of omelets and bread toast with a jar of orange juice.

My back on the headboard, I enjoyed my meal which was once again delicious as the cook never disappointed in her food. Two days ago I had to go meet with the hand behind the meal and was in shock to see a young lady of 23, though, after some questions it got revealed that she was 56 years with three pups and a handsome mate.

Done eating, I carried the tray and strolled to the door, and knocked. It got opened by Tony who was the guard always stationed outside and handed it to him before shutting it after.

Waltzing to my closet, I selected a pair of black jeans and a white loose t-shirt to wear and placed them on the mattress. After, I got rid of my robe and nightie which was the same design as the pink one but in a nude color.

I grabbed a towel and went to have a bath in the tub where I let the bubbles and water relax my bones as I scrubbed away the dizziness of the night.

Returning to the room, I got dressed and packed my hair in a ponytail, and exited the room. Fully dressed, I strode alone in the top floor passageway, Abigail not present to give me company.

I wasn't angry hence her absence was justified as she informed me the previous day she'd be visiting the pack hospital for a check-up. She claimed she'd been feeling weird this past week and so I advised her to get herself looked at soon to gauge the cause.

Proving I knew my way around now, I arrived at the library in one piece and proceeded into the space, locking the barrier behind me. My sandal-clad feet made no noise on the marble tiles as I strolled to the desk and took the comfy rolling seat that had become mine.

In a short while, the room had become my private space as no one dared to come to look for me aside from Abigail, Dalia, or the most frequent, Dante. Because of me, he had cleared out his papers and files, leaving only the books, telephone, and my laptop which he agreed to return after I nagged him for it for five days straight.

I got settled and plugged in the device, switching it on and watching the window screen dance around for moments. Once it was done booting, I connected it to the wifi and began to check my emails, replying to the important ones and ignoring the unnecessary adverts from sites I had no idea how I signed up to.

Spotting my editor's name as I scrolled down. I clicked on it and beamed when I read from the mail that she was ready to receive my most recent manuscript. Thankful I had written it in an organized format, I quickly sent it to her and breathed a sigh of relief as all that was left was for her to inform me again when she was finished with it.

I got out of the mail app thus there was nothing left to do there and logged into my Amazon account where I kept track of my books sales and income. Pleased with the statistics I then moved forward to my socials where I watched a few Instagram reels, replied to Facebook messages, and spent a long time laughing at funny Tiktok and YouTube videos.

^^^^^

I lost track of time only to be called to reality when a knock sounded on the door and I went to collect my lunch of lasagna, and a glass of water.

Presently done eating with the empty dishes returned, I was left bored out of my mind. The laptop was shut and having talked to Travis and my parents, with Eve not answering her phone, I had nothing else to do.

"I need to go find that son of a gun," I grunted and hauled my weight up. "I'm his mate and not some piece of furniture to be abandoned only to be remembered when needed."

My decision was made as I ambled to the entrance and unhinged it, banging it after with a sound that startled a few people close by. I paid no heed to their stares and continued on my mission as I navigated my way to where I knew his office was located.

I attained the spot and was about to throw the doors open in irritation when I heard murmurs from within. I stilled my movements and clung to the side of the door, appreciative for once that his office was in a secluded part of the top floor where people rarely crossed except those seeking him or exiting from within.

It happened that no one was seeking him, except those in there with him, so I was safe for the moment without the thought of a pack member passing by to see their soon-to-be Luna perched, at the entrance of her mate's office and eavesdropping on his conversation.

"Arthur I don't know why this is a problem," I heeded the voice of Ralph's say and I concluded Dante was having a meeting with the elders.

"But it is," Arthur insisted. "The fate of this pack is at risk."

"We should be glad that our pleas to the moon goddess have been granted by the Alpha finding a mate and not challenging her choice for him," a different voice spoke, one I had no inkling whom it belonged to.

"There have been occasions over the years when mates are rejected by their other halves, our Alpha can easily do that and choose a suitable female from the pack that is updated," another person pointed out and my mood soured.

What if Dante rejects me?

"No one is talking about rejection here," Ralph announced. "Alpha has finally gotten a mate after more than a century and there is no way he would reject her."

"Alpha Dante, we are indeed happy that you have found your other half," a new voice began speaking. "Without a doubt, her presence has made you stronger but we can't deny the fact that she has now become a target."

"An easy one that can be taken down without a fight," Arthur continued. "What do you think if the rogues hear of this, worse if the vampires get hold of this information."

"They would show up within a day and rip her heart out of her body," the man who happened to be on Arthur's side gruesomely explained. "And then you'll be rendered weak and hopeless because the pain of losing a mate is deadly unbearable."

"All I'm asking is that you make the right decision that'll benefit this pack," Arthur conveyed. "Don't be selfish by accepting a mate who would put the lives of everyone at risk."

There was a tense silence, after all that, and I couldn't help but feel my heart and resolve breaking at the strong opinions raised against me. If Dante already knew my presence would cause such havoc he shouldn't have brought me here, I should have been left to continue leaving my quiet and simple life.

"Arthur, I will appreciate it if you keep the issue of my mate out of your fucking mouth!" Dante started in a calm tone but ended in a rumble that had me jumping in my spot. "Any more objections from you, and your identity as an Elder will be stripped off!"

"There's no way you can do that," Arthur laughed. "My position as an Elder was granted because of my experience and age, not some silly appointment that can be ripped away."

"Utter one more silly displeasure and you'll be marveled at what I can do," Dante grunted and I gulped, sensing that he was in no way joking.

Despite my hatred for Arthur, I wouldn't want Dante to make such a rash decision on my account.

"I will repeat the statement I uttered a week ago," he rasped in a no-nonsense tone. "If anyone has any displeasures, he or she can take it out on me in the field!"

There wasn't a single murmur after that and so he went on to say, "With that, you are all dismissed."

I should have used that opportunity to make myself scarce at the door, instead, I didn't move till I heard it rattle from the other side. Without wasting another second or looking at where I was going, I took to my heels.

It was only justified in my stupid attempt at escape when I crashed into someone, their hands gripping my shoulders to prevent any of us from crashing to the ground.

Freshy