CHAPTER 2

ANNA

I WAS STUNNED for a second, and then I laughed maniacally.

"This was a joke, right?" My gaze flashed from Beth and to my husband. "Right?"

It was Beth that answered in her annoyingly grating voice. "I am afraid not, sis." She twirled her long black hair with a finger and continued. "I knew something was different when I crossed the borders into our pack," she sighed. "And I assure you, it was a big surprise when I caught the scent of freshly mowed lawns," She took in a deep breath and moaned in ecstasy.

Sometimes, the scent of your mate was often one you enjoyed very much. It could range from the smell of vanilla cupcakes, to dried-out earth or to even toothpaste.

"You know how much I enjoy the smell of cut grass," she said. "So I followed the scent, and bumped into your husband... and the scent was coming from him." She winked at him and he looked away, blushing profusely.

"What?" All these still sounded like a joke to my ears. "Rick, is this a joke? Like some kind of sick birthday joke?"

My husband could not look at me. He kept his gaze averted.

"If only I had known," Beth said. "I would have stayed behind all these years. Maybe Dad would have changed his mind about you, and allowed me to become Luna."

I shook my head, unable to hear any of this thrash any longer. I turned and stormed out of the office. I fought back tears, not wanting any of the pack members to see me cry, but as soon as I got to the toilet and made sure I was alone, I buried my face in my hands and let the tears loose.

Beth was here again, just to hurt me like she always did as a child. Except this time, she has the moon goddess by her side to make my husband of 3 years my sister's mate.

What sort of bad luck was this? I wondered amidst my tears.

"Take a deep breath," my wolf said to me. "Your physical and emotional state can affect our baby. You have to be strong."

She was right. I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart.

"Anna?" My husband's soft voice spoke from behind me. I immediately washed my face with water from the basin before he walked in.

"Oh, Anna," he said when he came into the room. "Hey, look at me." He turned me around gently. "Your sister coming here does not change anything between us. We are not going to divorce or cancel our bond, okay?"

I looked away, unsure but I wanted to believe him.

"Listen, I am going to reject her tomorrow, if that will make your mind at peace," he continued. "It will hurt, but nothing will hurt more than losing you, okay?"

I nodded slowly. He seemed like he really meant what he said. I opened my mouth to tell him about my pregnancy, but my wolf said, "Don't say anything yet. Not until he rejects the other mate." I obeyed and shut my mouth.

He hugged me tenderly. "You should not be crying, tomorrow is your day. Let's go to bed." He led me out of the bathroom and to our room before gently tucking me into bed.

What was I thinking? My husband loves and cherishes me so much. I should not have thought for a second that he was going to leave me. I smiled myself to sleep.

*************

The following morning, when I woke up, the bed was empty beside me. I touched the empty space, it was cold like nobody had slept in there. I wrapped my pajamas closely around my body and got out of bed. I walked to the verandah and saw Rick standing there, looking at the rising sun.

His eyes were bloodshot and red. It looked like he had not slept a wink. He smiled when he saw me. "Good morning, my princess, and happy birthday." He leaned to kiss my cheek.

I wanted to ask him how much he had slept last night, but I didn't. "Big day today," I said. "For the both of us." He grimaced and nodded. He knew what I was talking about, it was my 23rd birthday, and the day was going to reject his fated mate. And maybe tomorrow, he will get to know of my pregnancy.

He gave me a brief side hug before walking in. "You have to get ready, very soon, the pack members will start trooping in with their gifts to pay their homage." He picked up a towel and wrapped it around his neck. "You don't want them to meet a groggy Luna, do you?"

I chuckled and shook my head. A few minutes later, he came out of the bathroom. "I am going to reject your sister outside the party. I don't want it to ruin anything, okay?"

I nodded. "Make it quick," I muttered. "I don't want Beth to suffer the pain of prolonged rejection."

"You know I will, " he said. "I don't want to miss anything from what the pack has prepared for you." He dressed up and walked out after blowing me a kiss.

Was it my imagination or was my husband somewhat distant this morning? I wondered as I got into the shower. It was still warm and humid and filled with his scent. I washed up quickly, Reine was waiting in the middle of my room when I came out. She had arranged my dress on the bed.

"Happy birthday, Luna," she mumbled. She was a very shy girl, sometimes I wondered how she was going to find her mate. "I, um, got you this. It's not much, but..." she held out a handwoven bracelet made of Ashwood Fibre. It took a lot of skill and time to make one of these beauties.

"Oh my..." I gasped as I took it.

"I stayed up for 3 hours every night for the past two months to work on it," She said shyly.

"Come here," I drew her into a warm embrace. I am not sure she had received any form of affection like that from anybody. She was dropped at our border as a child. Her mother was nowhere to be found. "Thank you so much, it is very pretty," I whispered into her ear.

"I should get you dressed up, Luna" Reine said as I pulled away. "Some people are already in the hall waiting for you."

I nodded. She assisted me in dressing up, styling my hair, and adorning my neck with precious jewels. I wore the bracelet she had given me on my left wrist to show that I appreciated her gesture.

When I went down to the pack hall, it was getting filled up already. As soon as I got down, people greeted me fondly.

"Happy birthday, Luna," rang all across the hall from everyone. The hall was filled with smiling faces, except the one of my husband. He was probably comforting my sister from the pain of rejection. I heard it hurts very bad.

I took a sit at the head of the hall and was immediately surrounded by my pack, they were dropping off many gifts for me, but I was absent-minded. I stretched my neck to look all around. My wolf was pacing around in my head, she was also agitated at something.

Then I felt it. It was a deep sickening feeling in my stomach. It felt like menstrual cramps but a whole lot worse. I doubled over but steadied myself with the table. I flashed a fake smile at everyone around me but stood up. I nodded apologetically as I quickly made my exit.

Reine made to follow me, "Luna, your face is very pale. Can I get you something?"

I shook my head. "No. Stay with the party."

"But--"

"I said stay!" I used my Luna aura on her. It was not as strong as the alpha Aura but it still put some control over low ranking wolves and pups of the pack. Reine whimpered and bowed her head.

I turned and walked away. My legs picked through the thick shrubs of the woods, I did not know where I was going, but I marched on with purpose. There was a small cottage sitting in the middle of the woods. I and Beth used to play there when we were very little before she had gotten her sassy attitude.

I walked closer to the cottage and I heard the moans coming from within. Fearing and praying for it not to be true, I barged through the door and saw my husband pounding into my sister.

They had not even noticed I was there.

"Rick..." I groaned as my heart twisted in pain and agony.