Chapter 5: 5. A Man In The Garden

A specially composed fanfare announced the arrival of leaders of all the seven packs. The royal castle of Wicrelf looked even more grand than before with all the decorations. Not only the castle, every nook and corner of the capital was polished.

Alpha Edward and Luna Barbara were greeted at the entrance by Duke Lorenzo and Duchess Lily. They had a small talk before Anwar, Persephone and Ariana were introduced. As soon as they entered the hall, they started mingling with delegates of other packs.

"... and this is my eldest child, Anwar Ronan Bennet." Alpha Edward introduced to Alpha of another pack.

Alpha Edward's face showed irritation as Anwar was still facing the other way even after the mention of his name. Persephone elbowed him.

"Huh? Beg your pardon."

"Alpha Marshall of pack Yuloni." Alpha forwarded his hand and introduced himself. Anwar shook his hand and was about to speak when he got interrupted. "I already got your name."

"Oh." Anwar smiled sheepishly. Alpha Edward facepalmed mentally.

"And I am Persephone Luna Bennet." spoke a proud voice.

"Luna? Is it really your middle name?" Luna Victoria of Yuloni chuckled.

"Yes. Mother, here, had given something else. But when I reached the age of five, I insisted on changing it to Luna. After all, I am going to be one someday."

Luna Victoria gave her a polite smile and turned to Ariana.

"And what is the name of such a beauty?"

Persephone rolled her eyes.

"Ariana." She gave a shy smile.

"Your last name holds power, child. Use it." Alpha Marshall gave her a stern look.

"Marshall." His wife scolded.

"Difficulty of being a girl, Alpha. A particular last name does not stick with us. Might as well use the name given to us, which is not shared with others, which is mine to build and mine to destroy."

"Careful, child. Whether you agree or not, you have name and responsibilities attached to you by being born in the Bennet family."

Ariana pondered for a while before nodding. "I shall definitely take your advice into consideration, Alpha."

Alpha Marshall suppressed the smile trying to form on his lips. Instead he gently put his hand on her head as if giving a blessing and walked away to catch up with others.

"Well that went well." said Alpha Edward, hesitantly.

Ariana pulled Anwar to the side. "What is wrong with you?"

Anwar checked left and right before answering. "I don't know. Ronan is being restless. My mind is not functioning properly."

Ariana widened at his words. "Do you think you are about to find her?"

"Find who?"

"What who? Your mate, of course."

"I- I don't know." He stuttered.

"This is so exciting!" Ariana clasped her hands together.

"Everyone! Please have a seat." voice of Duke Lorenzo boomed inside the hall, gaining everyone's attention.

"Firstly, I would like to thank all the Alphas and Nobles for taking out time to join us here. Now, you all must have been expecting the Crown Prince's presence. But the Prince has gone to receive blessings of our King and Queen, to pay tribute to them. So we, Duke and Duchess of Wicrelf welcome each and everyone of you to the coronation ceremony of our future Alpha, our future King."

"I hope you all have a comfortable stay at our palace." Duchess added, dismissing everyone.

Anwar was still feeling restless. To divert his mind, he started chatting with other guests.

"Alpha Tywin." He bowed.

"Yes?"

"I don't see Nathaniel. Where is he?" he inquired about his childhood friend.

"Oh! He decided not to come. He said that he had exams to give."

Alpha Edward scoffed. "What is with this obsession of young generation?"

"I know. Waste of time, I tell you." Alpha Tywin nodded.

Ariana tried hard not to show the irritation building. She couldn't cut the words of two Alphas.

"Exactly! What is the point of learning something which is not necessary whatsoever." said Persephone, eyeing her younger sister.

Ariana had tried many time before to explain the importance of formal education to her family. She had given an hour long speech to convince them. Seems like it went over their head. So, she didn't try to fight this time.

"He could have been training now." Alpha Tywin added.

"Being a leader is not only about physical strength, Alpha Tywin. In the human world too, he will see and learn many things." Duke and Duchess joined.

Finally someone understands. Ariana thought inside her head.

"Even our prince was sent to the human world for his education." She added excitedly.

Duke and Duchess gave her a smile.

"It was important to show the Prince that there is a world outside. He needs to maintain a good relationship with human leaders in order to sustain the secret of existence of our kind-"

His words came to a halt when he noticed a change in Anwar's demeanor. He seemed to appear more restless than before.

"Anwar?" Alpha Edward called.

But Anwar was long gone. Ronan, his wolf, had taken over. He held his nose high and sniffed the air. After roaming here and there, his eyes transfixed on a girl. A very pretty girl.

They slowly started advancing towards each other, gathering everyone's attention.

"Hi." came out as a breath from Anwar.

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"Hi." She nodded, shyly.

"Hi." He repeated.

"Hi." She chuckled. Everyone chuckled.

"What is your name?"

"Um- Naomi. Naomi Jeane Watson."

"Of pack Celik." shouted Naomi's younger sister, Emma.

"Naomi Jeane Watson of Pack Celik, do you take me, Anwar Ronan Bennet of Pack Ravernia, as your mate?" Anwar kneeled before her.

Everyone gasped.

"Yes! Yes." She replied with teary eyes.

Anwar got up and took her in his arms. "Do you want me to take you away from here?" He whispered into her ear.

"Everyone's watching." She scolded.

"Fine." Anwar muttered under his breath, defeated.

"Finally!" Ariana laughed. "Help me take revenge from him, will you?"

Naomi gave her a smile. Luna Barbara engulfed her into a hug while Naomi's parents, Betas of Celik, started conversing with Alpha Edward and Anwar. Soon congratulations came in order.

After that, everyone took a seat when dinner was announced.

"I cannot believe that a Beta's daughter will be above than me from now on wards. " Persephone scoffed and headed towards the table.

Seeing Mary hurt by that comment, Ariana put her hand on her shoulder. But desperate to be on Persephone's good side, Mary ignored her and ran after her so called best friend.

At the table, conversation revolved around the recent event only.

"A future Alpha kneeling before a girl. A sight to watch!" Lunas laughed.

"Son! You drowned our name." Alphas shook their head in disbelief.

"Yes!" Persephone chimed in.

This whole taunting ordeal prolonged when Christopher, future Alpha of Pack Celik too joined with some snarky remarks. Most of the people agreed with him.

Anwar and Naomi looked mortified.

"Well my brother was brought up to treat a lady with utmost respect. By kneeling, he showed his devotion and sincerity towards his mate." Ariana defended.

"Now, Now. No need to get offended, pup." Christopher teased her.

This went for a while until

"Alpha Edward, Luna Barbara." Duchess Lily gathered everyone's attention. "It is commendable how you have taught your son to revere his mate and your daughter to have opinions of her own."

This made everyone shut up.

Maids came and cleaned the table after completion of dinner. Then all of them were shown towards their respective chamber.

**~~~**

It was middle of the night. Clouds had covered the stars, but not the crescent moon. It shone the brightest. Ariana was staring at the luminous moon. She couldn't sleep. Her long white silk nightgown shone as well. Feeling restless, she decided to take a walk.

With the help of direction given by guards, she reached her destination. The garden. And it exceeded her expectations.

The garden was filled with lush green grass and trees whose leaves were of other colors than green. To her dismay, some of the flowers glowed in the dark. Fireflies illuminated the whole surrounding, competing with the moon itself. She had never seen a more spectacular view before.

As she was watching the magnificent waterfall filling up a nearby lake, she felt a strong presence.

From behind a tree, a man emerged. A man so gorgeous, that it made her heart stop. From afar, she could see that the man was wearing a white cotton pirate shirt over black breeches.

Travelling across everything, their eyes met.

It was like the world has stopped spinning and the time had taken a pause. They were lost in each other's eyes for like an eternity. The man started moving towards her without breaking the eye contact and stood in front of her.

That is when she took time to notice his features. His chiselled jaw made a twitch. Although his eyes were sharp, they held a soft emotion for her.

He opened his mouth to say something. She felt her heart constrict when it wasn't something that she has wished to hear.

"What are you doing here?"

His velvety voice was low, but it held an authority. Now that she was out of the trance, she felt power radiating off the man's body. She automatically broke the eye contact and lowered her eyes.

"I couldn't sleep. So I decided to catch some fresh air." She answered, nervously fiddling with the skirt of her gown.

There was a silence between them before Ariana decided to introduce herself. "I am-

"-I know who you are."

"Oh."

After a pause, she continued. "And who are you?"

There was a pained expression on his face. But he quickly masked it.

"Good night, Ariana." He whispered before leaving.

Ariana started to breathe heavily. She covered her chest with her hands to stop her heart from beating so wildly. After twirling once in delight, the smile on her face gradually faded.

Due to the absence of her wolf, she couldn't tell yet whether the man actually was what she was thinking he was. But he must have sensed it? Is he not the one? She thought.

With all these thoughts on her mind, she headed towards her assigned chamber and fell asleep.

There was a week left for her birthday.. It would be known then, whether or not the man was her mate.

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