CHAPTER 1 The Agreement

Lily Bray stood in front of the mirror admiring herself. Her skin glowed from her previous run with the pups of the pack. Even though she was the daughter of the Alpha, she enjoyed helping out with the pups.

'You should wear the red dress,' Dina, her wolf, suggested.

'You're just being petty,' Lily replied as she looked at the dresses on her bed. The festive red would be the best choice since all her other dresses were too bright for the winter. She picked it up and looked at herself in the mirror.

'No, I'm not. Matthew said we look nice in red. We should wear it! It's also one of the colors in his pack,' Dina added.

Lily smiled at the thought of wearing the colors of the Grey Blood Pack. She, of course, was going to be their Luna after the mating ceremony. The very thought of it made her blush. Who would've thought that she would be mated to a future Alpha?

'We deserve it, no matter our rank! Matthew doesn't care that we are an Omega, so we shouldn't care anymore either,' Dina said confidently, 'Put on the red dress.'

Lily didn't need to be convinced as she quickly began to get dressed. She could hear the clicking of heels and immediately knew who it was before she heard the voice.

"Lily, what's taking you so long?" Her sister, Brandy, yelled from outside her bedroom door.

"Coming!" Lily quickly put on lip gloss and smoothed out the wrinkles in her festive red dress before rushing to the door. She opened it to see Brandy standing there looking uninterested as always.

"Took you long enough," Brandy said. She looked her up and down and her eye twitched slightly before saying, "Cute dress." Anyone that didn't know Brandy would have thought she was complimenting Lily, but Lily knew better. Brandy disapproved of everything she wore and did.

"You're just upset that you couldn't find the dress in your size," Lily retorted. She knew that Brandy was looking at the dress. It wasn't her finest moment to be so petty, but she found some satisfaction from it as Brandy always got what she wanted.

Brandy replied with a scowl, "That dress is old news. I found one that was much better and more fitting for me." She walked past Lily, making sure to bump her with her shoulder. Lily resisted the urge to snarl. She would not let her ruin the evening.

Brandy wore a low-cut black form-fitting dress with black heels. Her hair was pulled up high in a ponytail. She had blush on her cheek, and she wore bright red lipstick.

'She looks like a street walker and ugly at that,' Dina commented.

'That's not nice,' Lily responded.

'It's the truth. You should hear what Mable says about you. Brandy can't even dress decently at home. Who is she flaunting for?' Dina countered.

Dina never liked Brandy as she tormented Lily growing up. Everything had to be her way and if Lily resisted, Brandy made sure to hurt her in some way. As soon as Lily could shift, Dina made it her business to take a swipe at Brandy.

Lily and Brandy entered the dining hall where her parents were. They were sipping wine and talking but stopped as soon as they entered.

"Oh, you look so lovely!" her mother said to Brandy.

Lily had to refrain from rolling her eyes as Brandy practically glowed from her mother's compliment. Brandy gave Lily a smug look before sitting next to their mother.

Her mother gave Lily a momentary glance before saying, "Oh, Lily. You know, red isn't a good color for you, but at least you've been eating well at school. How are your studies going?"

"I passed all my exams. Straight As again," Lily said happily.

Lily sat down in front of Brandy, her mother, and her father. She thought it was odd that they were sitting across from her but pushed the thought out of her mind.

Her mother casually remarked, "That's lovely, honey," before changing the subject as if concluding a formality. "Do you have that dress I mentioned, Brandy? The one in white?"

"Yes, I did. I got it at a discount too. We had a credit once we returned the other dress," Brandy explained.

Lily lost her enthusiasm when she understood that, yet again, no one was interested in what she had accomplished. She poured herself a glass of wine and downed it. Lily looked at her father, who seemed too busy to greet her while he was looking at his phone.

'Do not worry about them. We have mates now. They will be our family,' Dina said to cheer Lily up. Lily only had to look forward to returning to her dorm and the upcoming mating ceremony. She would be where she was wanted, with Matthew.

Her mother and Brandy had been conversing when her father cleared his throat, drawing their attention to him. Her father said, "I am happy that you are doing well in your studies, Lily, but there won't be a need to go back in the Spring."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked.

"Now that you are mated, it is not a productive use of your time. You must get ready to be a devoted mate," Her father responded.

"Well, I can do both. I have already worked it out. I will be able to attend Luna lessons during the day and school at night," Lily explained. She spent a lot of time and effort with the academic advisor to make that arrangement.

"That money could be used for something else, like your sister's mating ceremony," her father proposed.

"Brandy! You have a mate?! That's exciting! Why didn't you tell me? We can go dress shopping together!" Lily exclaimed happily.

Brandy scoffed and said, "You won't need a dress. Daddy, just tell her already. This is just sad."

"Tell me what?" Lily said, looking confused as she turned to look back at her father. "Tell me what, Dad?"

"I had a discussion with Alpha Jack of the Grey Blood Pack. His son, Matthew, will become the new Alpha in a few months. His father and I have agreed that Matthew needs to have a strong mate by his side to lead the pack successfully," Lily's father explained, "And that is not you."

Lily felt as if her whole world had been turned upside down. She didn't know if she wanted to scream or cry. How could they make this decision for her?

"In three days, you will attend the rejection ceremony, and then in a week, you will have a mating ceremony with someone more on your level, his brother, Garrett Hunter."