Alpha Diana's POV

'Tell me about yourself, Beta Troy', I requested that evening after he had eaten and was just sitting there staring into space. I didn't want him falling into any melancholic mood.

His eyes flickered and focused on me, he must have been taken by surprise. 'What did you say?' he asked.

'I will understand if you don't feel comfortable talking about yourself to a stranger', I said. It wasn't as though I didn't know anything about him. I knew much more than he realized but I was hoping he would open up to me a little bit so I could help him. And there were still things about him that remained a mystery.

'It is not that', he said. 'It is just that there is nothing to say. I am just as you see me. An orphan and Beta of the Blood Moon Pack'.

Liar! I thought. But said instead with an easy smile. 'So the great Beta Troy of the Blood Moon Pack has nothing to hide?' He smiled as I had intended.

'What could I possibly have to hide?' he answered.

'The fact that a hot virile male wolf like you is still single and unmated?' I answered, in jest.

His countenance changed instantly. 'I am going to bed. Sleep tight', he said and I bit my tongue in dismay.

'Did I say something wrong?' I asked standing with him. 'I am sorry if it is a sore topic for you'.

'That's okay', he replied. 'Don't stay up too long. Remember you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow'.

And he was gone.

I stood gaping after him. How had I messed it up this way? I thought. 'Of course it was a sore topic for him and I just reminded him of it tactlessly'. I was supposed to leave tomorrow for my pack but I didn't feel inclined to do that and there was no plausible excuse for me to remain here. How was I going to get him to open up to me now? I had really failed woefully in this mission. I had thought that with the knowledge at my disposal I could make a difference within the couple of days of being with him. Maybe not work a miracle but at least get somewhere with him such that he would start feeling a lot less bitter towards life. But I had only succeeded in making it worse', I thought to myself, in misery.

I was sure he was going to go to bed and brood all through the night. He was supposed to feel lighter and have a peaceful sleep tonight of all nights. What was I going to do? I went into my room, the room he said I could use while I was a guest there, and lay on the bed. I was restless. I felt there was something I could do to remedy the situation. I couldn't start cooking now, not when he had had a great amount of food to eat tonight and definitely not now that he was in a foul mood. He wouldn't have any appetite. She stood and started pacing. I was at a loss of what to do.

'Sabrina, how do you rectify a situation you have tactkessly caused to go wrong?' I asked her Beta through mind link.

'Don't tell me you have unwittingly revealed your true identity?' Sabrina exclaimed in alarm.

'Nothing as dramatic as that', I replied impatiently. 'But I have just fucked up my chance to pierce through his guard. I would have sworn he was lowering his guard but now it was back up with a vengeance and I can't get through to him!' I said in a cool voice that bellied the distress I was feeling.

'Alpha Diana, do not forget you are supposed to get back to the pack tomorrow!' Sabrina reminded me.

'I did not forget and why are you hedging the issue?' I snapped, not liking her tone. 'You have not answered my question yet'.

'Maybe you should just leave him alone to solve his problems himself. He is a full grown man and does not need you to babysit him. He might not forgive you if he knew the reason you got close to him!' she replied.

'I wish now that I wasn't leaving tomorrow so I could stay at least one more day with him before returning', I thought out loud. 'Maybe I could cook up an excuse to stay longer?'

'Diana.. er.. Alpha Diana, are you falling for him?' Sabrina asked and the question took me by surprise.

'Falling? Oh no!' I replied laughing heartily. 'I am not. I just feel sorry for him and all he has gone through. I just want to help him return back to his former self. I am just doing a good deed for someone in need'.

'Yeah. Right. But he might get suspicious if you insist on staying one more day. You could help him from a distance you know', Sabrina suggested. She was right, I thought. I have a duty to my pack and though I wanted to help him desperately, I have to take it easy. I have to find another way to help him which would be more effective and which would not involve too much involvement on my part, she further thought, nodding.

'Prince Daniel Richardson sent word he would be visiting at noon tomorrow', Sabrina intimated me. Sabrina's tone was like one scolding a child. 'We need this liaison with his Pack'.

'I do not need any alliance with his pack to achieve whatever I need to achieve', I replied. 'He and his father, Alpha Jack Richardson are the ones who need my alliance to grow and secure their pack'.

'Yes, but it will also straighten our security and you will have a man in your life and be able to produce an heir for our pack'.

Now I know how Troy must have felt when I asked him why he was not mated yet. Sabrina's words reminded me of the betrayal I had suffered and that reminder was something I would rather do without. Seth Wolfe was a scumbag!

'There are different ways to produce an heir for the Twilight Pack without me having to get married!' I retorted. 'I can decide to remain unmarried and still have the number of pups I wanted.

'Your parents must know better for them to have arranged this match for you', she insisted. 'You don't want to go against them now they are gone, especially since Seth is no longer in the picture'.

I was in no mood for any argument. So I made a noncommittal sound and ended the mind link. I always prefers speaking to Sabrina through mind link to using a phone in our comminications, especially those very classified ones. I am eventually going to get married to Daniel, so there was no use postponing the inevitable. Love was not involved here, just a beneficial arrangement, and it served me just fine. Love has disappointed me in the past and I was not about to risk my heart again. Since my marriage to Daniel is inevitable, I thought, the earlier I conclude this mission with Troy, the sooner I can get the marriage over with and the easier my heart will rest, knowing I have helped someone who was in dire need of it.

Having reached that conclusion, I stood up with determination and walked towards Troy's room, and when I got there, before I could have second thoughts, or lose my resolve, then sighing, I knocked on the door. Now, there was no turing back!