Aleksander smiled to himself as he walked downstairs to the living room. It had been two weeks since he started, well he guessed he could call it a relationship, with Belle. He was sure his father suspected but he did not think anyone else had noticed anything amiss in his normal behaviour. Except he had been smiling more and he needed to stop doing that as they were used to his normal glower. He pushed the doors open and saw his mother talking to his sisters and they stopped once they saw him. Hmm, what were they cooking up now? He thought.
'Okay, what is going on? What are you cooking up? Again?' He tried but could not help smiling as he asked, sprawling on the blood red sofa next to them.
His sisters did not return his smile only his mother and hers was bright. Too bright. He did not like what he was seeing and his own smile slowly faded.
'What's going on mother?' He asked quietly.
Esmeralda, his mother smiled back, 'Well it seems the elders have decided that it is time you chose a wife.'
'What!' He exclaimed. She had got to be joking and he said as much.
'As a matter of fact dear, I'm not. I just got a letter from the elders. All male pure breds are to start courting female ones and if they could not find mates in six weeks then the elders will, ahem, assist.'
'But...why the rush?' He spluttered, 'I mean, I thought they did not care what we did as long as we did not mate non-pure breds? Why are they so anxious to pair us up now?'
'Well,' his mother started, 'It seems there is a rumour going round that one of the male pure breds is in a very serious relationship with a non-pure. Of course no one knows for sure if that is true. But the elders want to, shall we say, nip it in the bud by pairing all the pure breds as soon as possible.'
'This is preposterous. It's the twenty first century. We can't be forced against our will to mate with someone we do not like.' He grimly said.
His mother shook her head sadly. She had dropped all pretences of being happy about the news. 'I know my dear, your father is at the elders' council now trying to sway them but I don't think he will succeed. Especially with Damien being so adamant about it occurring. And you know Damien holds sway over the other elders as he is one of the oldest, if not the oldest.'
'Well I am not going to agree to this and I don't care what the elders do. They can't force me to. They sure as hell can't kill me. I'm one of their few beloved pure breds.' He stated agitatedly. He could not believe his night had been destroyed so terribly. And he was to see Belle in fifteen minutes. What could he tell her? Where would he start, for he surely had to stop spouting the same old 'it's complicated' line? He could sense that Belle had become a tad irritated and it was time to come clean. But now this.
As if his mother could read his expressions which he felt he had so carefully hidden, she quietly instructed his sisters, 'Katrina, Elena. Please leave your brother and I alone. I would like to have a few words with him.'
They stood up slowly as Elena said sadly, 'Don't worry Aleks. It's not too bad, at least the female pure breds are stunning. The male ones are the ones we should worry about. And you guys have a choice, we are stuck with whoever picks us.'
He managed a smile at that and watched them walk out, shutting the heavy oak doors quietly behind them. He looked up at his mother who in turn stared at him carefully, a little too intensely.
'My son, you are indeed my son and I know you. More than you know yourself. You cannot hide your thoughts from me and I know you are troubled. It is more than this new problem, is it not? Please tell me. I am your mother. I can help, I am fairly certain.'
'That's just it, mother.' he sighed, 'you cannot help. Except...' Oh to hell with it, He thought and blurted out, 'Except if you are prepared to tell the elders to change the rules about mating with pure breds because I have found my mate.'
His mother looked at him stunned. 'You have...but I have not seen you with anyone in the clan. Is it someone from another clan? Italy? Russia?'
'No mother it is not. She is not from another clan. She is not even...Mother she is human.'
She gasped loudly and put a trembling hand over her left breast, 'Human! Mon Dieu, Aleksander, you cannot be serious. Please tell me you are joking.'
'No mother, I am not. I am in love with a human. Her name is Belle and she is from England. She is beautiful mother and I think...no. I know that I am in love with her.' He stated simply. There was no way he could sweeten this and from the look on his mother's deathly pale face, he knew that he had made a mistake.
'Oh Aleksander Romano. A human. But you are pure bred. No one has mated with a human in the past seven centuries. It's an unwritten rule. Oh my son. What shall we do?' She moaned.
