TXUNAMY'S POV
We were to go to the Moon Howlers pack, to the royal household where we would meet the alpha, Lucas and his wife, Maureen as regards the mixup with his meeting with his mate. Dad came to give me small prep talk while we were yet to get into the car.
"The pack is Proud of you and how much you have done for the pack, daughter."
He said. I nodded.
"Your skilled swordsmanship is one thing that has inspired a lot of Young girls In the pack, they now understand now that there is no limitation for them in whatever they set their mind on."
Dad said. I nodded. On that, he was right. When I had first started the sword fight, many had frowned upon it, saying it was unladylike and too far away from what the daughters of alphas were to learn. The beta and the gamma had come to my father severally to state that I was not setting a good example for the other girls from noble homes, but my resilience and courage had kept me going until I had become skilled in the art, so much that I caught the attention of all the noblemen who visited the pack, and on different occasions, I had defended weak members of the pack in the woods upon stumbling on them almost being taken advantage of by rogue wolves who occasionally came to the Blood Venom territories.
"I do not want you to let all that is happening right now to bother you, Txuna."
He said. I felt my eyes start to well up and I blinked back the tears.
Dad took my hand.
"Don't be sad, Txuna. If the moon goddess does not want you to have this man, then I'm sure there are better plans for you. The moon goddess knows best and would definitely give you what you deserve in due time."
He said. I wanted to throw his words away and tell him that he was saying nonsense, but I could not, his words touched me and I felt better than I had been days since the incidence with Riele and Oliver.
He patted my head
"Don't be sad, daughter. The moon goddess definitely has better plans for you, of that I'm sure."
He said. I nodded.
Mom called from outside. She and Riele were already in the car and they were ready to leave now.
Dad held my hand and led me out.
When dad and I got into the car, mom smiled. She was looking at me and she said,
"Txuna dear, don't have a face like that, smile."
I nodded and forced a smile even though I had not exactly been frowning.
"Txuna, you don't have to go there and embarrass this family. Just wear a smile and be happy."
She said. She sounded like happiness was something I could just turn off and on at will, and it did not come from inside.
"Mom, I'm fine."
I said. Riele was looking at mom and I was sure I was the only one who saw the small mischievous smile on her face. Or maybe callous was the word. It was a callous smile.
"You should support your sister and help her stay happy with this new man. I'm sure it is the will of the moon goddess and that is why everything is playing out the way it is now."
I wanted to disagree with her, to tell her that it was not so, it had happened because my sister had made it happen.
Riele was sitting next to me in the backseat and mom and dad took the next row in front, the guards were to come in another car, following behind us. Dad had insisted on driving his family, dismissing the chauffer because of the many personal things we were going to be talking about.
"I've heard you, mom."
I said instead.
"You know, it is better that it is your sister that is ending up with Oliver rather than someone else. Would it not be considered even worse if it was someone else who had ended up in bed with Oliver?"
Mom asked. With each word she spoke, she sounded even dumber to me.
"Think about it, Txuna, what if some maid had seen him first and had claimed to be the betrothed he had come to look for? Would that not be worse off?"
She asked. I had already adjusted to this new life and I wanted mom to just stop talking already.
What she was asking was for me to be happy and be in my best behavior, whatever happened had no right to infuriate me or make me change tones. She was asking me to be impassive to whatever happened and I was going to do just that so I didn't appear envious of my own sister.
"The marriage is still happening in our family, we'll remain affiliated with the royal family of the Moon Howlers pack and we should be grateful nothing has changed that."
Riele Shrugged as if to to say,
"Yeah, she should understand that."
And of course, it was directed at me.
I sighed and my eyes caught dad's in the rearview mirror.
He looked away and instead said,
"She's gotten it, Gloria, let us leave now, alpha Lucas is even now expecting us and we can not afford to run late, can we?"
Mom nodded.
"Be in your best behaviors, girls, no faux pas, be coy, and act the exact way the royal girls are to act."
Mom said. We nodded in unison.
The moment we got into the Moon Howlers pack's territory, Riele started to cry, loud choking sobs that came out too suddenly to be real to me.
"My head throbs badly!"
She cried. There was instant panic and I reached for her and patted her back. Mom was even more worried.
She turned to me and said in a slow commanding voice,
"Txuna, sweetie, get off the car and get your sister Pain relief drugs now."
CHASE LUCAS POVI slowed down my walking pace when I began to hear their voices from the largest living room where all family meetings usually took place.They were talking about Oliver's mating with the Blood Venom royal girls and the conversation was one that interested me. I heard my step mother, Maureen's voice first. "It is not so muc harm as your father makes it seem. Both are the royal girls and it means nothing to me."She was saying. I turned and asked Pedro to leave me alone. I was going to stand there and listen. They would have the conversation with me in the room anyway.But maybe they would not talk as freely while I was there. But my father, the alpha of the Moon Howlers pack had asked me to come home and join this very important conversation and he had given me no choice in the matter at all. "But mother," Oliver Started to say in response to Maureen, "She is even more beautiful than the oldest, even though I'd rather be with the oldest. I don't know how cursed I
CHASE LUCAS POVI had left Maureen and Oliver because there was a chance that I would say something I'd end up hating myself for.And it did not help that when I was furious, it was a fight I wanted. Oliver was never a match for me. He'd bleed so badly until Lucas would have to interfere himself.Everytime I fought him, I proved to him who was older and he never wanted to fight. This was the one thing that I could throw jibes at him over and he'd lose his calm. But I didn't like being the one to throw taunts. That was easily something he enjoyed doing, not me. I didn't have to think of it. By default, I was heading to the coffee shop that had been my favorite since I was a child. Each time I had been angered enough to leave home, it was the same place that I headed to. There was a calming potency that the coffee carried and over the years, it had not changed.There was one large door for accessing the inside of the coffee shop which now had another department, a drug store.I had o
TXUNAMY POV Tears welled up in my eyes as I forcefully brushed past him. Not only had he carelessly spilled coffee on me, but he had also managed to momentarily distract me from the errand I had been sent on, and from my silent musings.He had also given me an avenue to vent my frustrations. I despised having to speak to anyone in the manner I had just spoken to him, but that had been my one chance to let off some of the pent-up steam that had been building within me.I reached the drug store and grabbed the drugs that I needed to get for Riele.While I was there, I got a text from mom, She said they had left because they could not wait any further while the alpha was expecting them, so I was to find my way to the pack house.I had no words to reply with, I stared into the phone for a couple of minutes and when I felt the tears start to prick the sides of my eyes, I lifted my head from the phone and started off towards the exit door.I had left the car to go and get the drug for Rie
TXUNAMY’S POVIt happened a bit too fast that I had a hard time keeping my feelings down.I had taken one step away from him and he had held me, his hand shooting out to grab one of mine as he held me firmly and pulled me back."You can't just leave, chestnut. I don't want you to go looking that way. Take the dress and go change in the bathroom," He spoke, his tone carrying a hint of insistence. His voice had transformed, now commanding, yet oddly infused with a tender touch that resonated within me.His rough palms grazed my hand as he started to loosen his grip on me, and his mouth was set in a mean small line. He had lips that didn't suffer in size, but the emotions he was trying to suppress got him pressing his lips together.I sighed. It was pointless saying no again when he was insisting. And why exactly was I rejecting his offer when it was for my own good?Well, it had to be because of the look in his eyes. He was threatening and he was tender, he was caring and he was rough
CHASE LUCAS POVI felt a stab of pain and jealousy when she said something about going to the pack house because her sister was to officially meet with her mate. Of course it was Oliver they were going to see. And had I not heard Maureen try to convince Oliver that he'd be able to get both girls on his side?What other girl could there be if not for her and her sister?Why did it always have to be him?Now it was clear that he had some sort of affiliation with chestnut and that automatically meant I'd put every thing I had imagined about her on hold. It wasn't how things were supposed to go. I could have just met her, fallen in love with her like I was already heading towards, and then just never have any reason to be confronted with anything that had to do with Oliver.How did he even think he'd have both girls?Chestnut looked to me like a strong-willed she_wolf who was calm when she was not pushed, yet extremely venomous when she had reasons to.She was reserved, and that made
TXUNAMY POVThe awkwardness eventually came to an end when Pedro, the man behind the steering wheel, pulled into the entrance of the royal pack house and announced, "We have finally arrived."I sighed, feeling relieved.But it made me wonder if indeed my parents had left me to find my way to the pack house on my own when they knew the distance was still very far, or had they been truly ignorant about the fact that the place was far from where they had left me. "Thank you so much, gentlemen, for the ride," I expressed my gratitude.As I looked around, I spotted the car that my parents and Riele had arrived in. It was parked at the far end of the spacious compound, nestled beneath a lavishly constructed awning, serving as the designated parking area.I stayed in the car for a bit and tried to catch my breath and gain total composure before I stepped out of the car. They stayed in too.The man who had driven us was in such fly mood, but the man, Chase, who had spilled coffee on me loo
TXUNAMY POVI saw Riele at the same moment her gaze landed on me. She furrowed her brows and approached me. She'd been in the company of a few servants and she had seemed to be asking something.With a nonchalant demeanor, she walked up to our vicinity and halted right in front of me.I handed the drugs over to mom now, remembering why I had just arrived.She took the drugs from me, took one look at Riele and stretched out her hand, handing it over.However, Riele shook her head, showing a repulsiveness at being handed the drugs."What, don't you need the drugs again?"She inquired."Oh, I'll take it later when I feel like it. I think I got over the discomfort since the medicine didn't come early enough," she replied, maintaining her fixed gaze on me throughout her response.I ignored her like she knew I would.She had expected me to come back with the drugs indeed. There was never anything wrong when she spoke and acted uncouthly, but it was never same for me.I looked at mom and s
CHASE LUCAS’S POVShe met my gaze and held it for a moment.I had witnessed her humiliation, and now she knew. I had seen her being mistreated by the same folks whom I had expected to be her immediate family. It was an actual cause for worry that one's own family could be treated that way, but it wasn't supposed to be my business.She stood there, her head looking upward and her eyes looking up at me.I could have sworn that I saw tears start to form in her eyes.She was hurt.From the moment I had seen her, I had known she had pains that she concealed under her bright exterior. She looked like a girl who was easily happy, but I could also swear that she also had a difficult time trying to retain her happiness when she had folks like that as family members.It was enough to make anyone lose their minds.When she looked down, her eyes disconnecting from mine, I felt she was mortified at the fact that I had experienced her humiliation.I wanted to reach out a hand and pat her head an