THE MEETING

The leaders of the Red Moon pack and Night Shadow pack sat across from each other, their children by their sides. The air in the office was thick because of the news they were about to break.

Lisa looked around the office, surprised at how big it was. She was oblivious to what was going on around her. Her parents, the Alpha and Luna of the Red Moon pack, had taken her and gone all the way to the Night Shadow pack for a meeting. She didn't see why her presence was needed, but she went anyway.

"Welcome, Alpha and Luna of the Red Moon pack." The Alpha of the Night Shadow pack greeted her parents. Collin, their son, stared at her intensely, but she ignored him.

"Thank you, we're happy to be here." Her father replied to him.

"We're here to break the news to both of you officially, mostly Lisa, and finalize every detail of the agreement." The Alpha said.

"According to what your father told me, you've been searching for your mate for years now, but you've yet to find him." He continued, talking directly to Lisa, whose eyebrows furrowed.

Why had her parents told him about that, and what did that have to do with them being here?

"So he suggested that to avoid wasting more time, you and my son, Collin, should become mates and get married." He finally broke the news.

Lisa sat up immediately, the news hitting her like a wave. She looked at her parents, her father’s head bowed down, and her mother the same. Her eyes widened as she cleared her throat, facing the alpha that delivered the news.

"What?" She said as she laughed dryly, not believing her ears. "I'm sorry, can you repeat what you said?"

"I said that you and Collin are arranged to get married."

Lisa looked at her parents, a look of betrayal appearing on her face. Her father was now staring straight at her, while her mother was still looking away.

"What he said isn't true right, dad? I have to be hearing things, right?" She moved closer to her dad, the shock spreading through every part of her.

"You are not hearing things, Lisa. You're getting married to Collin." The horrified look that took over Lisa's face was one to behold.  

Thinking back to their journey here, she had thought that her mother had been acting weirdly, but she brushed it off. When she had asked them for details of the meeting, they, especially her father, just shrugged her off.

'What then happens to our mate?' Liv asked.

"You can't do this to me. I've only been looking for my mate for two years, it hasn't even been a long time. You can't do this to me!” She yelled out.

"Lisa, this is for your own good and the good of the pack."  Her father tried to reason with her.

"So you're willing to put my happiness on the line for the good of the pack? How is this for my own good?" She cried out, standing up from the chair.

"Lisa dear, you should listen to your dad." The Luna of the Night Shadow pack said.

"I wasn't talking to you." Lisa raised her eyebrow at her. She was already finding it difficult to breathe. The alpha was about to say something but her father interrupted.

"Lisa, you will not speak to them in that manner." Her father's stern voice rang out, but she wasn't going down without a fight.

"I can speak to them however I want. This is a great injustice. My whole life is being put on the line here, and you're asking me to be respectful." She frowned as she stood over them.

She looked at Collin, expecting that he would also act the way she had, but he was calm and quiet. He knew about this. It seemed they were all ready to oppose her.

"I would like to politely decline this offer. I am in no way interested in getting married to your bratty foolish son. I, Lisa is rejecting your son, Collins.” SHe spat out, eyeing them in disdain.

"You do not have a choice, Lisa. The decision has already been made. There is absolutely nothing you can do about it."

"Mom!" She exclaimed, feeling cornered. She looked to her mother for support, but she kept mute.

She looked around at everyone in the room as they all stared right back at her. There was no look of remorse or pity on anyone of their faces. Her heart sank immediately, glancing again at their faces. Her heart clenched at the thought of her parent seating there without doing anything as tears welled up in her eyes as she shook her head slowly.

“Never.. Never in my life will i get mated to him!” She snapped out, rushing out of the room instantly.

Her mother was about to follow her when her father stopped her.

"Let Collin go. I think it's best they have a talk." He looked at Collin as he gestured towards the door. Collin stood up and followed behind her.

Lisa just started wondering around the house, going anywhere her feet took her. She had to go somewhere where they couldn't find her, so she could think.

She looked down a balcony and saw that they had a garden behind their house, so she decided to go there. The garden looked really big, so she walked towards a tree and rested her back on it, sliding down to a sitting position.

'What are we going to do, Lisa?' Liv asked, her voice shaking.

'I really don't know, Liv. I'm as confused as you are.' She replied, the tears about to drop from her eyes.

She drew her knees up and wrapped her hands around her legs. Her face was buried in her knees when she heard the sound of someone moving around her.

She looked up to see who it was and she saw Collin.

"Why did you run away?" He asked standing in front of her.

"Isn't it obvious, I don't want to marry someone that isn't my mate." She said standing up to face him. "How could you be in support of this, what will happen to your mate."

"I don't care about that. I only care about the growth of my pack, nothing more." He said putting his hands behind his back. "You should listen to your poor parents. They were the ones that came here begging my parents to make me marry you, so you shouldn't be too prideful, when you have nothing." He said with a smug look on his face which irritated her.

"What do you mean? How dare you talk about my parents like that?" She sneered.

"I can talk about them anyway I deem fit. You should be grateful we even agreed to take in a low life like you, and here you are causing a commotion." He stepped closer to her with a smirk at the corners of his lips.  "Whiny bitches like you have to be put in their place because it seems your parents didn't teach you to respect those above you."

His words struck Lisa the wrong way, and she made to hit him, but he caught her hand and held it tight enough to bruise. Lisa moaned in pain as he grabbed her hair tightly and pulled her face closer to his.

"You're nothing but a tool to me. You should learn your place, so we won't have problems in the future." He whispered into her ear, his tongue swiping across her face.