“Aside from dealing with my parents' death and the mess my father left the pack in, I am as good as can be expected.”
Ion took a deep breath seeming to consider whether or not he should ask the next questions. “What of your mate? How are you handling the separation?”
“My mate?” Vasile’s eyes narrowed. “She is fine. Why, have you heard something?” He was suddenly a lot more alert as he considered the idea that something had happened to her. He was sure he would have felt her panic, and just as he started to open the bond, Ion answered.
“No, nothing has happened. But being separated from your mate is difficult, especially when you haven’t completed the bonding ceremony.”
Vasile let out a resigned sigh. He knew by the look in Ion’s eyes that he was not going to let it go. “I am having trouble concentrating.”
“Perhaps, you should go visit her,” he suggested.
Vasile shook his head. “I have things that need to be taken care of here and she is with her family. She is safe.”
“She may be safe, Alpha, but being safe and being well are not the same thing.”
Before Vasile could respond his office door flew open, the sound of the solid wood bouncing off of the stone wall reverberated across the room as Nicu and Alin rushed in. Both warriors’ eyes were wide, and slightly wild.
“What is going on?” Vasile asked. It was then that he heard the mounting rumble of a crowd and then yells beyond his window. He turned to go and look out but stopped at the sound of Nicu’s voice.
“Do not look, Alpha.”
The anguish in the warrior’s voice held Vasile’s attention.
“Why not?”
Alin was looking anywhere but at his face, and Nicu’s jaw was clenched so tight that Vasile was sure it would shatter at any moment.
“Answer me!” he snarled.
It was Ion who spoke through clenched teeth, his voice deep and rough. “They have your parent’s bodies.” Ion had made his way over to the window while Vasile had been questioning Nicu and was staring out at the described scene.
Vasile’s head snapped around and he moved using the speed of his wolf to the window. His heart stopped in his chest as his eyes took in the mob, and in the middle, lying in the caskets they had been buried in, were his parents.
The temperature of the room seem to drop several degrees as Vasile’s voice crooned out in the calm, contained fury he was known for. “Anyone who was the least bit involved with this is sentenced to death.”
Alina jumped as the door to the small cottage flew open and then slammed. Her father stormed in growling and muttering under his breath about stupid, high strung males.
“Is everything alright?” she asked him as she stood from the chair where she had been mending one of Serghei’s shirts.
Petre’s eyes snapped up to meet hers and widened slightly realizing that he had an audience. Alina took a step towards him and could smell the anger, fear, and worry flowing off of him.
“What has happened?” she asked and even as the question left her lips she felt a twinge of anxiety. But when she tried to reach for where it originated, it dissipated like fog rising as the cool morning air warmed.
“It is not anything you need to concern yourself with,” he told her in that infuriatingly placating tone that set her teeth on edge.
“I am not a child, Father; you do not have to protect me from all the bad things in this world,” she bit out.
“I know you are a child no longer, Alina, but I will always do everything in my power to protect you. That is what a parent does.” When he saw that she was not going to be swayed, he let out a deep breath. “There are some males from our village that are joining with other males from other villages in our pack to go listen to some lies regarding the former Alpha’s deaths. Emilian, the Beta of the Western Romanian pack, supposedly has proof that Stefan had been lying to our pack for centuries.”
Her thoughts immediately jumped to Vasile and the things he had shared with her about his parents. If what her father was saying was true, then there was definitely need to worry. Was he safe? Were they going to do something to him? She wanted to ask him, but she had given up reaching out to him. She had accepted that for now, at least, he wanted the space she had so foolishly requested. “What kind of proof? And why? Why would they accuse someone who is already dead and gone?”
“I do not know. Serghei would not say. As for why…well, ambition will make a man do many things. If Emilian is the one behind this, then it means he is looking to be Alpha. If they have proof that Vasile’s parents were not honest with the pack, then the pack will not trust him to lead.”
Alina’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Serghei is a part of these fools? Why on earth would he want Vasile overthrown?”
Petre watched his daughter closely for any reaction to Vasile’s name but she did not bat an eye. She had not talked about him for months now, and he could tell from the tired look in her eyes that he was still keeping the bond shut tight. It had been nine days since Georgeta petitioned the fae, and despite seeing his daughter in pain, he agreed with Perizada’s decision. It was not wise to interfere with fate, and Vasile and Alina were fated for one another. As much as he did not want his daughter to hurt, he wanted her more to grow and mature. Unfortunately, more often than not, pain was a part of that process.
He watched as her brow furrowed even lower, and he could tell that she knew something that she was not sharing. He hated seeing the weight of so much on her shoulders and missed the easy going smile that use to be so readily given. But Alina was going to have to learn to be tough if she was going to be mated to someone such as Vasile―a wolf who held so much dominance, power, and strength. Maybe this experience would prepare her for the many trials she was sure to face as an Alpha female.