#Chapter5

-Crowned-02

Sapphire Nightborne

I was in shock, I never expected Xander to observe me so closely and what really moved me was the fact that he sounded proud, not ashamed. He sounded as though he was proud to call me his mate, proud that I made the decision to continue to train.

He smiled softly at me before walking to the circle of peonies that surrounded us, he bent low to pluck an especially large peony, some of its petals lazily floated to the ground as he removed the flower from its stalk.

“My father planted these for my mother, peonies were her favourite.”

He lifted a hand to brush my hair behind my ear before placing the flower behind my ear. He playfully rolled his eyes as he saw me bite my lips to try and prevent myself from laughing out loud.

“My father, of course, knew they were meant to be as they were mates, but my mother refused to accept him and be with him as she believed that he was just as shallow as most Alphas’ sons. He tried to court my mother like all the other males at that time, with expensive jewellery and gifts, but my mother refused each and every one he gave her no matter how expensive they were. After he finally decided to pause and listen, he planted these flowers after finding out about her love of nature and safe to say, this was where my mother finally accepted my father. So Sapphire?”

My eyes widened as he took out a velvet box from his bag, my mouth instantly went dry at the sight of that box. I might have begun to open up to Xander but this was way too fast, I was not ready for this, not at all.

“Xander, I…”

He did not let me finish before speaking.

“This is not what you are thinking Sapphire, I am not going to ask you to marry me or anything like that. I know you still need time and you can be assured that I will wait, no matter how long you need.”

He opened the velvet box to reveal, not a diamond or rare jewel, but rather a clear wolf charm with preserved peony encased in it, a simple thin gold chain was threaded through to formed a loop for the wearer.

“This was what my father gave my mother when she accepted him and I am not asking you to accept me as your mate and give me undying love just yet, but I am asking you to be my Alpha Female. I want you to lead the Shadow Mountain Pack alongside me, moreover, my Head Warrior Commander has told me that he wishes for you to work with him in implementing your fighting techniques as well as starting the training of the women in the pack. So... I am asking you, Sapphire, will you be the Alpha Female of the Shadow Mountain Pack?”

I was in utter shock, this was as unexpected as things could get, this was a big decision that I would be making. To become the Alpha Female of a pack at such a time like this, when everyone was on the edge expecting an attack, was undertaking a huge responsibility... I would be responsible for not just the safety of everyone, but their morale and emotional well-being.

“Sapphire, the pack needs you, I need you.”

Xander looked at me with such hopeful eyes, he was giving me a chance to say no, but yet he hoped that I would say yes. I bit my lip as I contemplated my choice. I was an adequate Head Warrior Commander, protecting my pack from danger when it came knocking...usually, but I was rather distant when it came to their emotions and mental well-being. On the other hand, I owed the people of Shadow Mountain everything I could offer, they were putting themselves in danger for me. I took a deep breath as I made my final decision.

“Yes. I will be the Alpha Female of the Shadow Mountain Pack.”

Not a second later I was hoisted in the air and spun in circles by Xander, our laughter rang through the rather quite forest as we enjoyed the moment. I continued to laugh as Xander finally placed me on the ground but that laughter soon quietened down as we stared into each other’s eyes, slowly drawing nearer to each other. Xander’s hand brushed away the hair that had fallen on my face and they rested against my cheek as his face moved closer to mine, his thumb ran across my bottom lip as he leaned closer, my eyes began to close when a snap caused them to open.

I let out a growl as I turned around to the source of the sound, but I regained my composure quickly when I realised it was just Jared and Brendon, who were currently very interested with the ground.

“What is it?”

Xander did not sound angry, just mildly annoyed. I watched in amusement as the two grown men in front of me stuttered and stumbled with their words.

“What happened?”

My tone of voice caused them to quickly remind themselves of their position as they stood straighter, faces void of any amusement.

“Alpha, Sapphire, I think you should go back to the Main Hall now.”

My spine straightened as I stood taller, this sounded serious, I looked over to Xander who had adopted the same position as me. Did the pack fall under attack while we were away? Did something happen to Chloe? Jared and Brendon both exchanged a look before turning to us, eyes filled with barely contained rage.

“Damien has just crossed our pack borders.”

Just the mention of his name made my blood boil, but made me excited at the same time. I could not wait to sink my claws into him.

“Then what are you doing here! Get our warriors assemble and start the evacuation! Do something!”

How could they just leave the pack undefended when that monster had just walked into their home? They shoould have just mindlinked Xander and we would have come running.

“We can’t do anything to him, Sapphire. He came under the flag of diplomacy, in other words, we can’t touch him.”