SCOTT

I felt irritated at the question asked by my sister. She always took pride in getting on my nerves most of the days. Why did she have to bring it up at that moment? I wondered aloud as I sat in the swiveling chair in my office.

I was glad and took a deep breath, glad that I was finally about to breathe. I would get the relief that I wanted. No longer would my mother yell at me to get her a child and no longer would the people ask for a Luna.

I can finally sleep in peace. My eyes glinted in the dark and I was about to rise to my feet. I needed to sleep after a long and stressful day. I was about to turn the doorknob when I heard a loud knock from the outside and then the door flung open.

My mother stood in front of me with her hands clasped to her sides. I took a deep breath and then returned to my chair.

"What is it, mom? What brings you here?"

A sigh of frustration escaped from my lips. I knew exactly what she was going to talk about and that was the last thing that I wanted. All I wanted was to lay my head down to rest.

"What do you mean? Can't I come to see my son without a reason?"

Another sigh did I heave as my hands ran through my hair.

"That's not what I mean, Mom. It's just strange that you came into my room. You don't usually do this."

She pouted her lips and sank her ass into the bed. "Who's that lady you brought and what do you mean by she's your Luna?"

I raised my head to her with a thick frown laced to my brows.

"She's my Luna, my mate. Is there a problem with that?"

She scoffed, rolling her eyes in sarcasm. "I don't like her and I don't seem to have a reason for it. She doesn't look like someone good enough to be the Luna of his pack.”

It dawned on me where my mother was aiming, and I wasn't ready for that line of discussion. That was the very last thing I wanted to do.

"Can we just drop this, Mom? She is my mate and that's final. I'm the one to live and be with her, so I feel I should be the one to worry about that," I managed to say in a bid to get her to believe my words and not because I meant any part of them.

She shrugged her shoulders and then rose to her feet.

She sauntered towards the door and was about to leave when she stopped abruptly.

What does she want? I thought as I fixed my gaze on her.

"I heard you say something to your sister about the rites but I didn't get it entirely. What is it you said?"

I was damn sure she heard what I said the other time and was only trying to get me to repeat myself. Well, I was going to do just that.

I cleared my throat rather dramatically and then began, "I said she wasn't going to participate in those ancient traditions or customs that you guys refuse to plunge away."

She was flabbergasted and was mute for a few seconds. Her eyes bulged and without warning, she walked up to where I was and hit me across the head.

"Ouch! That hurts," I screeched, my lips pouting awkwardly.

"You must be joking. What do you think the elders and everyone in the pack would say when they find out that the lady my son brought home wasn't a Lycan and neither was from here and to crown it, she wasn't going to carry out the Luna's rites?"

"Well, they can think all they want. It's not like I care or something." I paused to catch my breath and then pressed on. "I really need to sleep, mom."We can discuss this when I wake up, right?"

"Alright then. I believe you'll have something more sensible to say by the time you're fully awake. I'll take it that you didn't say anything all this while," she said with a wide grunt and then dashed out of the room.

The moment I saw the door slam, I took a deep breath, glad to be finally rid of her.

EMMA'S POV

My heart tore into a thousand pieces and it felt like the entire world had been shattered right in front of me. I couldn't believe what was happening. It felt like an illusion but I knew it wasn't. It was something worse, filled with thorns that continued to pierce my skin.

What kind of mate is this? What kind of mate would treat his mate in this manner? I couldn't help but reminisce on the cold and lackadaisical treatment that Alpha Scott had given me all these years. If he wanted me to play my part well, then he should at least do his.

His sister stared at me with a bright smile that she was forced to make. She didn't want me feeling sad and left out, so I had to come up with that.

"Why do you look so cheap and poor?" One of her brothers asked abruptly. Her head turned at once and the next thing I heard was a knock on his head.

He cried in pain, placing his hand on the middle of his head where the knock had landed. "Why did you have to hit me?" He protested, his lips pouting.

She frowned, pointing her index finger at him. "You should learn to keep your sassy mouth shut. This goes for you as well."

She turned to me with a pleading look. "I'm sorry you had to hear that.

"It's not a problem. You don't need to apologize," I managed to say, even though my heart had crunched when I heard those words from him. I felt like the ground should open up and swallow me or something terrible should happen.

On one hand, the humiliation and cold treatment melted to me by Alpha Scott and on the other hand, his brothers wouldn't stop blabbing like they were some morons.

"It's almost time for dinner. Would you like to join me in the kitchen, you know, to take a look at what the chefs are making?" She asked with a wide grin. I was exhausted, physically and emotionally, and wanted nothing but to relax, but I didn't want to turn her down. She was the only one being nice to me and the least I could do was tag along.

"Alright. That's not a problem." She giggled and pulled me to my feet, after which we dashed towards the kitchen.

The chefs who were chit-chatting just before we got in suddenly went mute. Ella, for that was the name of Scott's sister, stared at them with ogling eyes.

"What's going on here? Why did you suddenly go mute?"

They stared at each other, their eyes flickering incessantly while they remained still.

One of them cleared his throat rather dramatically while stealing glances at me. "It's nothing, ma. We just ran out of words."

Ella rolled her eyes and then gave a shrug. "Okay. So how's it going here?"

"Dinner is almost ready," the one who had spoken announced, stealing another glance at me. He had this disapproving look on his face that I couldn't make any sense of.

I knew at once that I was the reason they had suddenly gone mute when we walked in. My face fell and sadness enveloped me as I realized it wasn't going to be easy surviving in this new place I found myself.

Ella muttered some words to the chef but I didn't seem to hear her as I was drowning in my own thoughts and world. She placed her hand on me and then pulled me off. She looked so energetic and I couldn't help but admire that.

She was radiant, beautiful, and had this expression on her face that endeared her to people at once—or I'd rather speak for myself. We returned to the dining room to put the table in order when her mother popped out of the blues. She had a fierce look at the corner of her face and looked so unfriendly.

"What are you both doing?" She thundered, sending chills down my spine. I began fiddling with my hands, since that was the best I could do. Staring her in the face would require a greater level of boldness and courage, which I didn't have and wouldn't have.

"What do you mean, Mom? We are cleaning the table for dinner. Do you have any problems with that?" I marveled and couldn't believe Ella was speaking to her mother in that manner. Not in this lifetime or in the next would I have pictured myself speaking to my mother in this manner. She would have landed a resounding slap on my face before I got a chance to speak another word.

"Why should you be cleaning the table when we have maids that can do that? What impression do you want this young lady to have of us? That we are going to do nothing but make her life miserable?"

Ella was struck by her mother's words and so was I. Her jaw fell and she was going to speak when her mother raised her hand in the air. "I'm sorry but I don't want to hear any explanation from you," she snapped.

"Get the maids to do that at once." Ella went off with her lips pouting awkwardly, muttering some incoherent words as she went.

"And you? I want to speak with you at once."She thundered. I was frightened and my heart began to race against my chest. I had not the slightest idea what she was going to talk about but from the look on her face, I was sure it wasn't going to be good. I took a deep breath and then...