CHAPTER 5

Xander's POV:

The moonlight bathed the surroundings as I walked up to the dungeon to find my mother. The guards bowed and welcomed me upon my arrival.

When I arrived at the cage room where my father had locked my mother up, chains bound her wrists and ankles.

Her blue eyes fluttered awake. Her eyes narrowed with rage at me; she did not recognize me as her son.

"Mom…" I tried calling her, but she acted feral, pulling on the chains that bound her in place.

"Get lost!" She growled at me, not recognizing me as her son.

"Fine. I will go. But know that today marks my twenty-seventh birthday. I chose Quincy as my chosen mate," I told her as I stood in front of the cage.

Mom looked away. Her white dress appeared dirty, and no one had changed it for the past two years. If the guards neared her, she would strangle them to death. The sedatives did not work on calming her down either.

"I do not have any crazy son. I remain childless! I do not serve as the Luna! I am me!" She cried, and I knew she became worse whenever she saw me.

"Fine. You remain childless," I said, and her blue eyes calmed down.

"You do not serve as the Luna," I told her what she wanted to hear, and she nodded.

"Good. Now leave. I do not care about you. I want to be alone. You all act crazy, not me!" She violently pulled the chains; her wrists bled in the process, so I turned and left, knowing that the sight of me made her crazy.

"Alpha, what do we do? Your mother grows worse and attempts to kill herself. The food and medicine do not work on her," the head warder at the prison let me know.

"Hmm," I breathed heavily as my eyes landed on the emerald bracelet that Bailey had given me.

"I hope I find my real mate to stop Mom's madness, but how do I find her? Should I invite all the single maidens to the palace? Quincy will feel sad," I said, feeling troubled that Quincy would hurt.

"Alpha," the head warder lowered his head and said, "I fear that if we do not do something to help your mother, she could die."

Shutting my eyes as my fist clenched, I told him, "She will be fine. Continue with the food supplements. Ensure you add more psychiatrist medicine to her food. I will find a way."

I walked away, shifted to my wolf, and went for a run as the night fell.

*****

Quincy's POV:

"Wake up, you slut!" I rushed into my sister's room as soon as I arrived home.

I had a deep feeling that she could serve as Xander's mate. He sniffed my right hand, the same hand that I used to slap my sister.

Aurora rubbed her sleepy eyes as she sat up on the bed and glared at me. She never used to glare at me; where did she get the audacity to do that?

"Quincy, what is going on? It is late, and you should rest," my mother said as she entered my sister's room.

How could I rest when the memory of how Xander sniffed my right palm flashed in my head? I had a marigold scent, but Aurora had a jasmine scent.

How did I prevent Alpha Xander from meeting Aurora? She would turn eighteen next Saturday. How did I stop them?

"Quincy, I know you feel mad at Aurora for stealing your jade earrings, but you can punish her tomorrow. Just let her sleep tonight, and you need rest too," our mother said as she walked up to meet me and pulled my right arm.

"No, Mom. I want Aurora banished and sent away from this pack!" I growled, and my father and brother stepped into my sister's room and gasped.

"What?"

"Quincy, how dare you say that you want your sister banished?!" My father growled at me for the first time, and I looked at him sadly.

"Dad, Aurora must leave this house. She will bring more problems to us if we do not send her away!" I spat, unable to tell my father the truth. My body trembled. My lips quavered.

However, my father surprised all of us as he walked up to meet me and landed a powerful, brain-resetting slap on my left cheek, shocking us all.

"Dad!" We gasped because my father had never raised his hand to me before, let alone knowing that I served as Alpha Xander's girlfriend.

"Dad, you slapped me because of this bastard!" I growled, pointing at Aurora, and my father raised his hand to slap me again as we all stood in Aurora's room.

"Dad!" Kaleb swiftly rushed up to stop Dad from smacking me again, as he also felt shocked by Dad's behavior.

Aurora sat on the bed with wide-open eyes, watching us. I felt sure that she felt happy seeing me get disciplined by our dad.

"The next time that you order your sister banished or thrown out, I will disown you and throw you out. Aurora may serve as a useless she-wolf or a lowborn Omega, but she remains your sister and my daughter. Do not ever say that rubbish to me about throwing her out of this family!" My father growled at me, snatched his hand away from Kaleb's hand, and spat, "All of you get out of Aurora's room. I do not want any of you bullying her again. Tomorrow, I will investigate who stole your earrings."

"Get out!" Dad pointed at the door, and we all looked shocked that he defended Aurora.

Left with no other option, we exited Aurora's room. But I felt heartbroken that my dad slapped me.

"Quincy, you do not have to get angry at your dad. He just feels concerned for Aurora. If we banish her and throw her out like you suggested, that will bring shame to us. The pack members will look down on us. Just forgive your sister," Mom said, trying to comfort me. But I smacked her hand off from touching me.

"No way, Mom. You all have to choose between me and Aurora. If you will not send her away, then I will leave!" I declared and ran back upstairs to my room.

"Quincy! Quincy!" My brother came knocking on my door, but I did not want to see him.

"Leave me alone! All of you!" I cried in my room, sobbing on my bed.

"Calm down, Quincy. I think you should forgive Aurora. Dad and Mom remain right. As much as we do not like Aurora, she serves as their child. They never prayed for her to prove useless and without a wolf. Just calm down and try to understand that Aurora will always form part of us," Kaleb said, but that did not address my fear.

With a trembling voice, I asked Kaleb, "What if Aurora turns out to serve as Alpha Xander's real mate? She will turn eighteen soon. I fear she plans something."

Kaleb's laughter reverberated at my door. "Haha! Get a hold of your insane thought, Quincy. Aurora cannot serve as Xander's mate. He does not like her to begin with."

"But she has a jasmine scent. You saw Xander sniff my right hand at his party. It happened after I slapped Aurora; her scent lingered on my right hand, and he sniffed it deeply. She could serve as his real mate…" I sobbed on the bed.

Kaleb fell quiet; after a while, he said, "I did not know about that. You remain right. Aurora scents like jasmine. But she serves as a wolfless Omega. I do not think that Xander will choose her over you. Trust him; he will not dump you, and do not worry about Aurora."

"Alright. Thanks for your words," I said, and Kaleb said, "You are welcome, sister. Sleep well and good night."

The sound of my brother's footsteps leaving my door echoed in my ear. As I went to use the bathroom, I paused and looked at my cheek.

It had passed midnight. My left cheek appeared red, and I knew Xander would feel furious when he saw this. I sighed and went to relieve myself and take my night bath.

After that, I donned a long white nightdress and moved over to the bed to sleep. My heart throbbed faster as anxiety coursed through my veins. After a while of worrying over my sister and boyfriend, I succumbed to sleep.