Chapter 2: An Invitation

ROSE

What could be said about this powerful being standing before Deamian and I? Well firstly she was powerful- of course. She was also in charge of the whole "mates" thing. So, she decided who each person would spend their entire lives with. Miserable, I know. She chose the titles each wolf was born into and was basically in control of everything to do with werewolf magic. Her most important job, however, was keeping balance by making sure that werewolf magic was being used properly and wisely. The only thing she seemed to have difficulty controlling was her arrogant son, Deamian. Nowadays, however, nobody could control him, not at all. Ever since my parents died when I was 18 and he decided to disappear-

My thoughts about the Moon Goddess were, however, brought back to the present when the loud shouting began. My office was beginning to seem less like an office an more like the set of a long-winded family drama TV show.

"What is it mom!?" He asked irritably. He then turned away, not wanting to see her, and gave a childish huff.

I saw how she saddened at that. If I had the emotional capability to feel sympathy, I would. The only thing I seemed to be feeling was disbelief- that and anger.

She sighed, "Look son, I need you back in your place-"

"Back!?Back!?For what!?" He yelled, not even allowing her to complete what she wanted to say.

"To fulfil your duties! I need you to take over from me!" She said.

"Ruler? Why don't you just ask Rose over here. She looks like she can sit, stand, stay, roll over and fetch like a good dog. She's perfect!" He said, smirking at me.

I growled and my claws elongated as I bared my teeth at him. I had to tell myself over and over to stay calm and not to let him get to me. I wouldn't want to kill the son of a Goddess.

"What are you going to do Alpha? Oh wait, you can't do anything. All you can do is listen to my mother like the good dog-"

SLAP

And it was then that my hand "accidentally" made contact with his cheek.

He placed his hand on his red cheek and smiled like the creep he was.

"Great hit. See, perfect ruler. Rose, the Moon Goddess, famous for slapping people." He mocked as he tried to rub the glowing red hand mark on his face.

Honestly, was he five? It seemed as though, instead of growing up, Deamian had a serious case of growing down.

His mother shook her head at him. But despite the boiling anger in me and the images of Deamian decapitated in my head, I couldn't help but finally realise why she had left her mythical spiritual realm to come here. She wanted her son to take over her position. Clearly, he didn't want to. Was that why he disappeared? And if so, what had he been doing all this time?

While I thought this, I accidentally knocked a sharpener from my desk as I leaned back to rest my hands on my desk. This seemed to draw the quarrelling pair's attention to me. The Moon Goddess looked at me intently, and then back at her son.

"Rose, would you please give us some privacy?" She asked.

Obliged to obey the woman who had a huge influence on me being able to run this pack, and use werewolf magic, I nodded and left. It was only afterwards, that I realised I had been kicked out of my own office. Wonderful. Most powerful female alpha, kicked out of her own office. I really was behaving like a little dog today.

I attempted to eavesdrop, but then realised that the rooms were soundproof. I didn't want my pack members spying on me and now, I was suffering from my own paranoia. Eventually I just gave up trying to find out what the mother and son were discussing and resorted to checking up on the pack.

My journey began at the front of my headquarters in the small offices littering the outside of the building. These were the general maintenance, pack maintenance and home affairs offices. My pack was designed in such a way that there was no need for help from external packs or the human world. As I continued my way throughout the pack grounds, I could not help but sense the fear each pack member had as I crossed paths with them. I couldn’t be that bad, right? I just sighed, realising that there was no point in dwelling on whether my pack liked me or not. I then went to discuss a few pack precautions with my Beta and decided to head back to my office, fearing that the pair could have torn my office apart with their rage. I had weapons in there and they had recently been cleaned and polished to perfection.

When I got there, I was about to barge in, but froze when I heard voices as I opened the door. Luckily, I hadn’t opened it wide or been too loud and so, the bickering pair did not notice my intrusion.

"You know what mom, just leave!" Deamian yelled.

"Fine, you know what... I expected more from you." She then looked up, making eye contact with me, and said, "Come in Rose. I was just leaving."

And with that, she literally vanished into thin air.

Deamian then sunk into my chair and placed his feet on my desk as he let out a frustrated sigh.

I scrunched up my nose in disgust and moved his feet off my desk with a ruler. His manners had seriously gone down the drain

"I see your manners have become as trashy as you," I said placing the ruler down, trying hard not to throw it at him.

"I see you're more uptight nowadays. And scarier. Tell me, is it because you haven't found your mate yet? You don’t even at least have a boyfriend, right?" He asked. He had a sly smile on his face. He knew that he was pushing my buttons.

"Look, I don't believe or find interest in the "mates" nonsense, nor do I have time or patience for a boyfriend." I said crossing my arms.

He began laughing, as though I told him the funniest joke ever. Clearly, he did not take me seriously. "You? Okay then, keep telling yourself that. You and I both know that, that isn't how you used to feel about mates and love." He said getting up and getting ready to leave.

He then froze, stopping midway and looked at me.

"Oh, I almost forgot... here's an invite to a party of mine. I have some things I'd like to talk to you about. Please make sure you come. For old time's sake." He then looked me up and down and said, "Try to wear clothes that don't scream single and don't want to try. You look like... never mind."

He handed me the invitation and then left.

How dare he though? He hasn't seen me for years, and now he wants to insult me.

When did he become so infuriating?

But then again, people change. I know I did.