3

“They embarrassed you, didn’t they?” Gaytor asked as Kristen walked in with a sullen look on his face, “I warned you that they were going to treat you like trash simply because you are beneath them”

Kristen plopped on the seat beside his father and sighed. “You know that’s not the case, dad. I went against the pack rules and now it has come back to bite me in the ass. It’s not a thing of class.”

Gaytor tutted and sprang to his feet, visibly annoyed at his son for being daft and oblivious to what he regards as the truth. “You are just choosing to live in denial, Kristen. Do you think anyone would have cared about any of this if I were the alpha or you were the alpha?”

“Dad, what are you trying to say? I am not…”

Before he could complete his sentence, the door was pushed open and Tanya stormed in, her eyes all puffy with tear streaks all over her face. She mumbled an incoherent greeting to Gator, then went straight to Kristen, whose face contorted into a frown at the sight of her. He didn’t hate her, but the mate bond made it almost impossible for him to love her either.

“What do you think you are doing here? I told you this was over.”

“And you also said that you loved me, but here we are. So I guessed you don’t mean the things you say.”

He released a breath and palmed his face. “Listen, Tanya, I…”

“You can’t marry or mate with Kiara.” She said defiantly, and Kristen raised his brows

“And why is that?”

“I am pregnant.”

To Kristen, the announcement felt like a bombshell was dropped on him, but Gaytor’s lips tugged up in a cunning smile. He finally got the opportunity he needed to sway his son over to his side.

“That can’t be, Tanya. We were always careful, I was always careful.”

Crossing her arms across her chest, she rolled her eyes at him, “Obviously not careful enough because I am pregnant with your child and you have to take responsibility.”

“But I can’t!” He rose to his feet. “I have a mate that I can’t abandon.”

“And a child that you absolutely cannot abandon as well. I am your responsibility and I will be damned if you think you can push me to the back.”

“You know,” Gaytor said, interrupting their conversation and all eyes turned to him, “there is always a way for everything to work out.” A hopeful glimmer instantly lit up in Kristen’s desperate eyes, but Tanya’s heart dropped to her stomach at the thought of anything going wrong with her well curated plans.

“You absolutely cannot marry him, Kiara. He has marked another woman, your friend.” Alpha Reid, trying to keep his voice calm, but the annoyance and fury he felt kept seeping into his voice. He wanted to go after Kristen and tear him apart limb by limb for deceiving his daughter.

Kiara who had been keeping up a cold front faltered when tears clouded her eyes at the thought of having to call off her mating with Kristen. This was one of her biggest fears. To the werewolf community, the mating bond was extremely important, but to her it was heavenly, it was beyond sacred and the thought of calling it off seemed sacrilegious, and what was worse? she was already in love with the asshole. Flicking away the teardrops that somehow escaped, she stood to her feet and forced a smile.

“I’m sorry, but I think I need to excuse myself. Let’s talk about this later, okay?”

Reid and Camilia exchanged glances and then turned to her, and Camilia nodded softly. “Try to not give it much thought and do not blame yourself, okay? It is not your fault, and you did nothing to deserve it.”

Her mother’s words caused a tear to roll down Kiara’s face and she smiled, this time, genuinely before she stood up and gave them both kisses on the cheeks in quick successions before she practically ran up to her room.

Once she was within the safety and privacy of her room, she flung herself to the bed and started crying. She cried so much a large part of her pillow was thoroughly soaked, and eventually, she drifted off to sleep.

Her parents who had been lingering at her door to make sure she didn’t do anything stupid sighed in relief once they heard her snoring. 

“I am going to invite Gaytor over for some talk, it seems he has gone wrong somewhere in raising his son.” Reid said and marched down the stairs, taking it three at a time while Camilia hastily went after him.

“He is the pack's gamma, I’m sure he did his best with his son. Maybe Kristen just strayed like every other child is likely to. Let’s not blame Gaytor, and we should invite Kristen as well so all this can be settled as amicably as possible.”

“If I see that boy around, I make no promises for his safety.” No sooner had the words left his mouth when Gaytor and Kristen walked into the house, and a house trembling growl left Reid’s lips, forcing the guests to their knees, scared for their lives.

“How dare you show your face here, knowing quite well what you have done?!” 

Kristen flinched and scooted closer to his father, who glared at him before he cleared his throat and slightly raised his head to meet Reid’s angry gaze.

“My son has greatly offended you and your family, Alpha, but we are here to talk and offer a way to settle this as peacefully as possible.”

Camilia placed her hand gently on Reid's and he snapped his eyes shut as he took a deep breath. “Stand up and let us talk."

Kiara who was sleeping peacefully was suddenly jarred awake by the horrible dream she just had, Kristen had violently rejected her while Tanya stood by his side smiling, and no sooner had she woken up from her dream, she heard a loud scream downstairs.