Chapter 6 Nightmare Mates

Alpha Angus was home when I woke up. I felt a little better. Things were always calmer when my adoptive father was home. My brothers were always on their best behavior when the Alpha was around to watch. But it didn’t stop Luna Simona from treating me like a servant and reminding me that I was not and would never be her child.

I dragged myself out of bed and headed toward the shower. I tried to wash off all the negative feelings from the days before. I would start fresh and focus only on graduation so I could leave.

The day went by quickly. I tried to be quiet and ignore everyone but Emma. She was concerned but I tried to brush her off. I couldn’t explain all that had happened with the brothers.

When I got home and it was time for dinner, Alpha Angus insisted I eat with them. Part of me wanted to see him and spend time with him. But I didn’t really want to endure more torture or conversation with the brothers or Luna Simona. I could only imagine the little whispers she would put into the Alpha’s ears. But I couldn’t deny Alpha Angus’s request.

I dressed as plainly as I could while still covering every inch of myself so no one could make any unnecessary comments.

“Good evening, Rhea, my sweet,” my adoptive father greeted, running his knuckles down my cheek. “How have you been?”

I smiled at him and leaned my head into his touch. I was happy he took that as enough of an answer. I sat down at the table and soon everyone joined us. Myra and Jane gave me sympathetic glances. I smiled at them wearily.

They served dinner and we all sat together in silence for a while. Finally, when we were finishing up, Alpha Angus cleared his throat and called everyone to attention.

“So boys, the time has come for you all to find your mates. After all, you can’t ascend to Alpha without first finding your Lunas. So we are going to have a ball. We are going to have a mating ball next Saturday,” Alpha commanded.

I perked up when he said next Saturday and I wondered if anyone remembered that it was my birthday that day. It wouldn’t be the first time no one remembered and we did nothing to celebrate but still. I was turning 18. It’d be the last birthday I spent with them if I had it my way.

The brothers started asking questions and they all engaged in the ball. It was clear none of them wanted this ball or cared a lot about finding their Lunas. But Alpha Angus wasn’t having it. He certainly wasn’t going to give them a choice about it. This was happening whether they wanted it or not.

All I could think about was turning 18 and moving on to find my own mate. I knew especially now with the ball, no one would celebrate my birthday but I didn’t care. I didn’t care about the ball either. I was certain no one at the ball would even pay attention to me. If I could just make it through the ball then I would be that much closer to graduation and leaving for a better life.

I kept my head up and smiled as best as I could. As soon as dinner was over I left quickly to the kitchen and helped Myra and Jane start to clean up.

“Are you okay?” Jane asked in almost a whisper.

I forced myself to smile and nodded. I wasn’t really okay but I didn’t want to talk about it. I wasn’t sure that would help or make me feel better. I was glad that she didn’t continue to push me.

The week moved on quickly. Luna Simona was never short of chores for me to do. There was so much to do in preparation for the mating ball and she was determined that everything would go perfectly.

I was exhausted when Saturday finally came but that didn’t stop the Luna from spewing out orders. Alpha Angus was also doing his best to order me to clean and prepare. He seemed determined that I would also be beautiful and presentable as one of his ‘children’. This seemed to only make Luna Simona want to give me even more chores and work to do.

“Do the laundry and help Myra set up the tables for the party. Also, I didn’t like the samples of escargot that Jane had prepared. So you’re going to need to rewrite the entire appetizer page. Have it presented to me in the next hour or so. Absolutely no later than that! I need to make sure that I can approve it before the party tonight.”

She continued to ramble out orders as I followed behind her through the house. She kept checking on different things and straightening pillows. She seemed much like a rat just puttering around the house. There was no way she was actually going to do anything useful for the party tonight. Nothing but make orders that me, Jane, and Myra. I kept my snide comments and eyebrows to myself and just nodded along with her orders.

When she finally finished, I nodded and walked back toward the kitchen. Myra and Jane were already there, creating different dishes and preparing for the party. They finally let out all the irritation that I had felt toward the Luna.

I explained to them everything that she had said. I could see that they felt equally annoyed at all of her changes.

“Do you think it’s like a fun game for her? Trying to see how many changes she can make for us as close to the party time as possible. Like she gets off on our anxiety to try to get it all done.” Jane rolled her eyes. She had a harder time keeping in her frustrations. I didn’t blame her.

“I don’t know. I think she definitely gets off on our misery,” I answered. “Anyway, it doesn’t really matter. We just have to get started.”

The three of us went over the list again and started dividing up all the chores among ourselves. Even with the three of us, it would take us right up until the time of the party to finish it all. Part of that would not be enough. I stayed in the kitchen and worked while the other girls ran off to do other things.

I started cooking and looking at different appetizer samples. I let my mind wander. Today was my 18th birthday. I was finally an adult. I can make my own mind up about which pack I want to be a part of. I just needed to graduate from high school. Then I would be truly free to live my life as I saw it. Thinking about a different life made it easier to carry on.

As soon as I was finished with different samples, I brought them back to Luna Simone. She seemed almost irritated that she didn’t have anything to say about the food that I made. It looked like it almost pained her to not give me a negative response. I held back my smug expression.

It was almost 5 pm by the time I finished re-creating all the appetizers and prepping for the first meal. There wasn’t much more I was going to be able to do there. I had to get ready for the party. Angus still expected me to come as his darling princess.

I rolled my eyes in despair at being a beautiful decoration on his side. But I couldn’t object. I also didn’t mind as much doing things to make him happy. At least for a few brief moments, I could pretend like it really was a party from my own birthday birthday celebration.

When I made it back to my room, there was already a dress on the bed. It came with a note from Alpha Angus.

“My dear, I saw this on my travels and thought of you instantly. Please wear it tonight for me. Love Angus.”

I could hardly refuse such a request. He was the only father I had ever known, and he truly lived up to what I had always imagined the father should be. He was loving and kind and truly cared about me.

I put on the dress instantly. I moved to my vanity and started to figure out what to do with my hair and makeup. it was 6 o’clock when I finished. Guests arriving.

I could only imagine the sort of girls that they would have ready to see if they could be a Luna for any of the Horace brothers. I rolled my eyes to myself. No doubt it would be a room full of girls like Anastasia. But on the bright side, I would likely be forgotten and ignored. And that would be a relief from the torture and abuse that I got on a daily basis.

I stared at myself in the mirror and hardly recognized myself. It was a strange look to pretend that I belonged in some sort of royal setting. I’ve been told all of my life there would never be a place for me. I couldn’t help but believe them.

I walked into the party and Alpha Angus quickly called me to his side. He seemed delighted to see me and pleased that I was wearing the dress he had given me. I smiled, delighted to make him happy.

He introduced me to quite a lot of different people. But I forgot them instantly. From the looks on their expressions, as we moved away, they seemed to do the same. No one except for Alpha Angus seemed to have any expectations that I would become anything of importance.

When I was able to get away from him, I moved about the crowd, practically invisible. I headed to the food and drink station and grabbed something to eat and drink. I watched the crowd like a wallflower. There were beautiful women here, flirting with tall blonde men.

Ezekiel was also talking to two different women who seemed completely enamored with him. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I knew if any of the boys had their choice, they would never settle down with one Luna. They would simply continue to have their fun playing with any woman that they desired at the moment.

I cursed myself silently again, forever believing I wanted to be one of them. But I wanted to be any woman that any of them would’ve admired.

Anastasia was there and she made a quick disgusted look at me before slipping into a room with the twins. I pretended not to notice, sipping on the champagne in my hand. I was almost unaware that Anastasia moved close to me. She knocked me almost to the ground. I stumbled and spilled my champagne. She snarled at me.

“Oh whoops,” she said sarcastically. She giggled, as did a few others around her.

I shook it off and looked around at some of the handsome young men who were also there. None of them seemed particularly interesting. None of them were that interested in me. I couldn’t imagine finding my mate here. These were not the sort of people that I wanted to regularly get involved with. I found myself again fantasizing about escaping and meeting a man who was more like me.

As the evening dragged on, I found myself wishing that I could just be working in the kitchen with Myra and Jane. It was too much to uphold all of the pretenses of being the daughter of an Alpha, especially since I had no experience doing so. I felt like it took a lot of energy out of me pretending to be something I knew that I was not.

I did my best to make an effort to talk to all the people that Alpha Angus had invited. I even tried to talk to some of the boys who were there to see if any of them could be interesting. All of them seemed tall and boring. They seemed only interested in the luxury that being connected to the family could provide.

I finally had enough. I slipped away down the hall. I imagined I could easily hide in my room and no one would notice. I heard giggling as I moved down the hall. I tried to move faster, but right as I walked past the door of the twin's room, it opened, revealing Anastasia and the twins.

She narrowed her eyes at me instantly and looked at me like I was scum. I ignored her and started to move past. The twins carried a haunted expression on their faces, and both of them mattered one word that stopped me in my tracks.

“Mate.”