For the first time that day William became aware of the simple elegance that Ansuya wore like a fine pair of clothes. Her skirt and blouse were of a very fine material, he didn’t know which but he felt like she could be wearing jeans and t-shirt and she would command the same amount of respect as any queen in her throne room.
The Elder looked at him quietly, serenely. “I have heard that you may have already chosen a mate.” It was not a question.
William’s face exploded with embarrassment and shock and disbelief. That’s one way to start a conversation. How had the Elders heard about what had happened between himself and Keva? Had Aceso reported it? That would make sense. But that didn’t help ease any of the discomfort he felt at this moment. He felt a little betrayed by his alpha if that was the case. Was there nothing in this place that he could hold as private?
“I see from your face that this is that case.” Ansuya replied. Her voice was melodic and soft but backed with real power, not steel or iron, just raw unmitigated power. That combination produced a quality to her voice that he had never heard before. Even if he lived a hundred years he knew he would never hear that quality in anyone else voice.
Ansuya continued, “I must admit that I am a little surprised. It usually takes people much longer just to be comfortable with our way of life, and even longer after that to choose a mate.” She straightened her skirt in front of her, all the while maintaining eye contact with William. “The laws of our City are strict, mirroring the very laws of nature. I’m sure that your alpha has told you of these things.” William nodded slowly.
“I am unique, William, sixty two years old, unique.” Ansuya stated.
There was a truth and gravity to what she had said that made him want to believe her. How could she be sixty two? She looked younger than he was. He wasn’t just flattering her either. He looked closely at her face. She wore no makeup. There wasn’t the slightest hint of smile lines around her mouth and full lips. Her eyes were vibrant and alive with no sign of dulling or even the smallest beginning to crow’s feet around them. Her skin was well toned around the muscles they encased, no hint of flab or sagging anywhere. She could not be sixty two, she just couldn’t be.
“I assure you that I am, William,” she replied reading his face as easily as one could read a book. “How do you think that I am an Elder? Or do you simply believe that ability level alone dictates our hierarchy?” Ansuya smiled at him ruefully. “It is because of who I am and what I represent to our kind that I have been under immense pressure from the Elders, and not just the Elders from this City, to find a mate.”
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William suddenly felt very warm. Could she be any more forward? He looked at her again. She was very beautiful. Her brown skin was sheer perfection and her form filled out her blouse and clothes elegantly. He knew that she was in shape, but that knowledge couldn’t stop his eyes from wandering down to trace over the supple lines of her calf and thigh muscles.
William forced his eyes back up to meet the Elder’s. “Why is it so important that you find a mate?” Even to his own ears it was redundant but he needed to ask something.
Ansuya smiled at him again. “My longevity isn’t reason enough?” She asked playfully. She took a deep breath and sighed heavily, “They want me to mate because as of right now I am the only shape shifter they have found that can trace her blood line back to our origins, back to the time of Alexander and our people’s birth.”
William let that sink in. Our origins? The time of Alexander? He looked at Ansuya and for the first time he wondered just who she was, that of course led him the next logical question, who was he? He went through so much to find out who and what he is, just to find out that he hadn’t known a tenth of the true story and therefore he might as well be back living with his parents for all he thought he knew about this city and the inhabitants in it.
Ansuya reached out a hand and placed it on his arm. “William, our people first appeared thousands of years ago, that history does not adversely affect you. You are not some demon from stories and nightmares. You are William Setford, just as you always have been. As for myself, I just have a direct line back to something that the Elders feel will give us a fighting edge over the enemies we now face. I am still who I am. But I fear that my duty to them and my home will soon force me to heed their wishes.”
William had read stories about betrothals and arranged marriages, who hadn’t? Now he felt he might actually understood what this meeting was really about, and why she had sent Nicolas away. She was going to ask him to marry her. He would refuse, of course. He didn’t want to get married or mate or do anything like that right now. Even if the woman he was going to marry was as beautiful as the woman sitting in front of him… No, it was completely out of the question. He was not going to get married to Keva or Ansuya or anybody else for that matter and that was that.
Ansuya smiled again, that beautiful face shining with real joy, “William, I’m not here asking you to marry me.” She let out a small laugh that reverberated off the stone walls. It was a good sound that lifted much of William’s worry and seemed to visibly lighten the room. She looked at him, the smile still in her eyes, “I only tell you these things to allow you to fully understand our sense of duty to our home. The discipline of our home must be absolute and who we choose to spend the rest of our lives with is also governed by that same sense of duty and discipline, as illustrated by our cousins and family members, the wolves.”
She stood up and gracefully left the building just as abruptly as she had appeared to his pack that morning. The abruptness was not expected nor was it totally surprising either. Ansuya walked around a corner and disappeared. William got up and walked out to the street. As he did so he met Ansuya and Nicolas as they reemerged from the alley and started back down the street toward the exit of the City and most probably the White Plain on their way to wherever Ansuya was taking them.