The Mating Rules

I take a deep breath, my hand gripping tightly to Hadley’s as we wait for Caden to finish finalizing our security with the head of our detail.

Staring up, I take in the overwhelming expanse of the somber building in front of us. Up the dozen or so stairs lies our fate and I cant even think to pretend that my stomach isn’t in knots with no knowing what will happen today.

‘OK, none of our guys are allowed in the hearing’ Caden growls as he stops beside me. ‘So four will be out here on the steps, two just inside and two on either side of the trial room door.’ He rubs his chin in exasperation, ‘I’m not happy about this Carrington, she’s too exposed.’

Hadley gives me a nudge, silently telling me to go to the Alpha and I comply, wrapping my arms around his neck as he tugs me into him, holding me tightly as he uses my scent to calm his nerves.

‘I’ll be fine Cadey’ I murmur, a teasing smile pulling at my lips that he grudgingly returns. ‘I’ve got the two strongest warriors in our pack standing either side of me, I know you will keep me safe.’

The Alpha sighs but nods, placing his hands on either side of my face and crashing his lips into mine. ‘I’d die for you Leeway’ he mumbles, ‘I’d give my soul to protect you.’

I nod, pecking his lips, ‘I’d prefer you to live for me’ I whisper back, ‘I’d be heartbroken without you.’

Caden chokes out a laugh, leaning his forehead on mine, ‘I’ll do anything you ask me to’ he admits solemnly. ‘If you want me to live for you, then there is nothing that will tear me from your side.’

Hadley clears his throat, ‘we’re going to be late’ he mutters, his eyes on the large ornate front door that is held open so people can enter.

Nodding, I step back, sliding one hand into each of my mates’ and starting up the steps toward the council members and our hearing.

Walking through security, we reach a desk where a stern woman looks up at us over her glasses.

‘Name?’ she demands sourly, as she taps her polished nails on the veneered desktop.

‘Carrington Star’ Caden replies, his Alpha tone coming out at the woman’s disrespectful aura.

The receptionist rolls her eyes, turning to her computer and tapping away for a few minutes before reaching under the desk, pulling out three passes and handing them to the Alpha. ‘You are in court room seven’ she huffs, ‘you will be called when they are ready, I’d take a seat if I were you, they are already three hours behind.’

Caden’s eyes widen, ‘what do you mean they are behind?’ he huffs, ‘it’s eight forty in the morning!’

The woman shrugs already tuning us out, ‘they are running behind, what can I say? Now move along and take a seat, other people are waiting behind you.’

I grab Caden’s arm, dragging him away as he glares back at the woman angrily. ‘Three hours?’ he growls loudly, his voice echoing off the walls around us and drawing the curious gazes of the other people around us. ‘Why the f*ck did they insist we be here at nine o’clock if they weren’t going to need us till twelve?’

‘I don’t know, but lower your voice’ I whisper back, giving small smiles to everyone around us that clearly tells them to go back to minding their own business.

Walking down the hall, we find court room seven at the very end, next to a large ornate staircase, the huge wooden doors leading into the room are shut, and a sign on the handle orders for no interruptions. Beside the entrance, there are some long hard benches and I make a bee line for them, taking a seat and pulling the Alpha down next to me. Hadley lowers himself down on my other side and seems content to people watch everyone walking past us.

‘I can’t believe this’ the Alpha beside me fumes, ‘we could have stayed at the hotel, actually got a decent breakfast instead of that grab and go crap they had out.’

I hold his hand, trying to soothe him as he seethes beside me, turning toward Hadley to find him staring at a young man across from us who also seems to be waiting to enter a court room. Glancing at the sign, I see he’s waiting for court eight and the nervousness in which he keeps looking at his watch makes me think he’s also been told his council appearance is running late.

‘Do you know him?’ I whisper to the warrior, who can’t seem to stop staring.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

Hadley shakes his head slowly, ‘no, I don’t think so, it’s just . .’ his voice trails off and he shrugs off whatever was bothering him, turning to me with a smile. ‘Are you OK?’ he asks in concern, most likely feeling my nerves.

I nod, lacing the fingers of my free hand with his, ‘I’m OK’ I reply, ‘I just wish we could get this over with.’

Hadley sighs, ‘most likely this is just a tactic to put us on edge’ he mutters as he absentmindedly plays with the cuff that still circles my wrist. ‘If they can make us feel nervous we are more likely to slip up if we had something to hide.’

I nod, my eyes trailing a witch who hurries toward the stairs beside us, her arms laden with files as she mutters under her breath angrily.

Three and a half hours have passed, the man across from us got called in over an hour ago and hasn’t come back out again. Caden jumps to his feet, storming back the way we came before I can stop him. I perch on the edge of my seat trying to keep him in view as he marches back up to the receptionist and from his gesticulations, he’s complaining about the wait.

He stomps back ten minutes later and I can feel the fury radiating off of him as he growls angrily, ‘they’ve gone to lunch’ he grinds out, ‘we’ve sat here all morning and the f*ckers have gone to lunch! I said that we’d go and get food as well then, and that . . . . woman! Said if we are not here when we are called that we’ll all be held in breach and placed in jail!’

I g***n, leaning back, my head thumping onto the wall behind me. My stomach is already churning with nerves, now the fact I’m getting hungry is making me nauseous and the stuffy air around us isn’t helping.

A hand rubs my back as Hadley looks over at me worriedly, ‘are you OK sweetheart?’ he asks.

I give him a weak smile, trying to fight through the heat that’s washing over my skin, breathing through my nose. ‘Fine’ I manage to force out, giving him a thumbs up to reiterate how great I’m pretending to feel.

‘The Council vs Carrington Star’ comes a loud voice beside us and I jump with a shriek as we all turn to the portly gentleman who is looking down on us, bored.

Scrambling to my feet, I grip Hadley’s hand as Caden leads the way into the room, marching down to the table that sits in front of a wide white painted podium that is elevated above us. There are already three chairs placed behind our desk, and Hadley guides me to the middle seat before sitting down to my left, Caden on my right.

Following us down, the older man indicates to my wrist silently, waiting for me to hold out my arm before taking off the cuff that’s been attached to me like a lead weight. Rubbing my wrist to soothe the chafing, I give the man a small nod of thanks before leaning back in my seat.

Moving to the front of the room, he straightens up, his hands behind his back as he raises his voice. ‘All rise for the Council’ he bellows loudly, and we all climb to our feet again just as a door opens to the right and five stern looking men and women file into the courtroom one by one, taking a seat behind the podium.

‘You may be seated’ the woman in the middle croaks, waving her hand at us in a motion to sit down.

I look over each member as we sit, waiting for the woman who I assume is running this meeting to shuffle her papers and speak. To the far right is a tall sallow faced man who has long spindly fingers that are pressed together in front of him as his dark red eyes survey me. His long greying hair falls over his black tailored suit, and I shiver as a small smile crosses his face to reveal the very tips of what I assume are fangs. I would guess that he’s a Vampire but it’s the middle of the day, so he should be hidden away at this moment so I’m flummoxed as to what he actually is.

Beside him is the woman, Allegra, who came to our pack, she hasn’t lost any of the disdain from our previous meeting by the looks of it and I quickly avert my gaze from her, moving to the woman in the centre.

The woman who ordered us to sit is a sharp contrast to those before her, she has an elegant stature to her and her finely tailored clothes scream money. She has the aura of someone who is used to getting what she wants and the marble like features of her face have an ethereal quality to them that no doubt draws the attention of both men and women alike.

Next is a hook nosed man of no more than five foot tall, his beady eyes sweep over me and my mates though he looks more curious than angry at the moment. His fingers have sharp nails that he taps on the surface of the desk he’s seated behind, his bushy white hair is cropped short to his head and makes me think of cotton candy the more I look at it.

Finally, on the far end, is the other council member who visited us, Isaiah who gives us all a warm wave, completely oblivious or possibly uncaring about the propriety of such a familiar reaction to this somber event.

I nervously lift my hand and give him a tentative wave back, forcing a small smile as he positively beams at the three of us before lounging back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest.

The young, powerful woman in the middle rises to her feet, holding out a hand toward us as she intones, ‘is everyone ready to begin?’ Without waiting for a reply, she nods to the man who showed us in, who immediately hurries up the gap between the rows of chairs and steps outside, shutting the door behind him, effectively closing us in with the five people in front of us.