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"Father," Alina called Petre cae He smiled when he saw her, but it iped clean when his eyes jumped to Vasile "Vasile would like to speak with you"
Petre motioned to the door behind the down; she has been working herself ragged and needs to rest"
Vasile nodded "That will be remedied," he reminded Petre
"Of course, Alpha, and we appreciate your desire to see our pack thrive"
Once outside they had taken up seats on soed in a circle so that they and others of the pack could come and spend time with one another Sometimes they would have a fire if the conversation lasted into the night Alina had so ood memories of their circle of stumps, and yet, as she sat there now, thosefrom her mind She had started for her usual spot which was on the left side of her father, purely out of habit, but Vasile had caught her wrist and tugged her to a stump next to the one he chose It was directly across fros at the home of Sain and Theris you know that Alina is an
Her father nodded but he did not add anything She knew his tactics well He would let a person say their peace and then make them hile he processed it In theunder his scrutinized stare Itfor him to respond think that maybe what they had said did not an to second guess themselves, and if her father had a different point of view, by the tiree with hi the uniqueness of our situation since she is not of age It is unusual, though not unheard of, for the bond to appear between trueThe difficulty of the situation obviously comes when the male is mature and ready to take his lanced at her and his eyes were a tad too bright for her liking She reached out and took his hand hoping that her touch would help calm him When he looked back at her father, she did not take her eyes off of hiaze could hold him in place and keep his wolf tame
"Eighteen is the age that is considered adulthood for our females There have been some claimed at seventeen, but the circumstances were different I do not think Alina is ready to be mated to a male as dominant as myself I do not want to hinder the woman she is to become I do not want to stifle her spirit or keep her fro who she is without her mate I think she needs to be confident in herself, rather than seeking my approval for validation She should seek my approval because she truly wants me to be happy; likewise, I want her approval because I want her to be happy I a to leave her in your care, unhteen, and then I will coht as her true mate, as it is hers to claim me as well"
Alina looked over to her father and watched as his jaw tensed and his hands clenched until his knuckles hite Then suddenly he was relaxed "I am very happy that Alina has found her true mate so early in her life I would never want her to have to wait years or decades or centuries for her to find him I am just as happy to know that her mate is a dominant because she is very dominant She would not respect a ree, however, that she is not ready to be your e in which you want to claiesture when Vasile began to growl "Hear me out, Alpha," he implored "I think it would be foolish of us as a society to say that every fehteen to be e for her Each of us is a unique individual created by the Great Luna for unique purposes Because of that, life changing decisions should be based on each individual, not on the group as a whole I know hter, Vasile She is very mature in many ways, and then there are row If you were less dohteen as an acceptable age, but you are thetiain to say you are one as which the likes of the Canis lupis has never seen before Your life has just been uprooted You and our pack are in need of healing Healing takes time I want her to be ready to be your mate, but more than that I need to know that you are ready to be hers
"My gut tells e for you to take her I a you to consider her needs above your own―not her wants but her needs― and what is best for her I have no doubt that if you asked her to coo But we both know that is not what is best for her"
Alina held her breath as she waited for Vasile to respond She could feel his anger, but she could also feel respect He ad to protect her, and he respected hi to even stand up to his Alpha to do so
"Breathe, Mina, I a to hurt your father," his mind whispered in hers
"I am not worried you will hurt him; I have more faith in you than that"
His thu motions, and she was not entirely sure if it was to reassure her or to sooth hiht
"Could you please focus on what you are going to say toimportant matters about your future" His voice was serious, but she felt his amusement with her and that helped ease her nerves better than any words could
"I propose a cohteen I will come to see her and to talk with you and your rown and decide if she is ready to be ree to wait another year Then at nineteen ill do the same, and if she is not ready then either, then I ait until she is twenty"
Alina’s irritation level was slowly rising as the two men sat there and discussed her life as if she had no say in the matter
"I will admit," her father nodded at Vasile, "that is a fair compromise I, however, would ask you to consider the fact that your ed I do not doubt that you are true ed is a sign that taking things slow is the correct path"