Klaus
“You’re not my Alpha,” Scarlett screeched out in an outrageous voice, not turning to face me. She halted her feet for a second before heading to the outside of the hall.
My mum hastened her steps toward me. “You should go and persuade Amber to attend the ceremony. I’ll give her the ring and she’ll be Luna. At least, she won’t embarrass you in front of your pack by defying your order.”
The woman whom I didn’t want in my life but she somehow ended up being my wife and the woman whom I wanted in my life but I couldn’t have, both of them left me alone and my mother wanted me to follow my wife while my heart wanted me to follow my mate.
I knew that I made a mistake by using my Alpha voice and ordering her to stay but I couldn’t find any other way to make her stop. Being my Luna could end the struggle she was having with the pack members.
For a while, I was confused. What should I do? To whom should I seek advice? I tried my best to give Scarlett what I could and was under my control. She didn’t want it and I didn’t want to give it to someone else.
I found myself being stuck between two women. Being an Alpha, I indeed felt humiliated when she defied my order. The urge to tame my disobedient mate was on the surface. Scarlett shouldn’t have crossed her line, I was providing her respect by making this move.
If she would have stayed and accepted the position of my Luna, everything would have fallen back in its place eventually. My people would have accepted her but she had to be that rude and straightforward.
“I won’t chase her. She left by her own choice,” retorting to my mother, I sat back on my throne.
“She is talking about Amber, not Scarlett,” Todd rolled his eyes and reminded me because I had said that for Scarlett.
“She left because you left no choice for her,” mom bitterly enunciated. “You’re no different than your father. You’ll ruin a girl’s life by going to another woman.”
Did she really have to say that? Scarlett wasn't some other woman, she was my mate.
“I’m the Alpha, now. So it would be better if everyone would respect my choice and decisions rather than make comments about them and I’m not competing with my father.” I expressed through gritted teeth. I didn’t want to be compared with my father. I knew that he didn’t treat my mom better but I wasn’t going to do anything with Amber.
I’ll simply tell her everything and she’ll understand that we’re free from all the obligations since we had kept our elders’ words. Now, it should be us to make decisions in our life and set each other free from this forced marriage and live a happy life with our respective mates.
“I thought I raised you better. Perhaps it’s the throne of the Alpha that makes you guys forget that despite being an Alpha, you’re a husband, father, son, brother, and much more. I’ll never want an Alpha mate for Jenny. The Alphas have nothing to offer rather than just ego and pain. You should never love an Alpha, they’re all the same in the end, thinking that they’re the best decision-maker in the world,” my mom spat at me in a cold voice before turning her heels on.
Hurt was distinct in her green emerald eyes and it hurt me more being the reason behind it. She was right, I had behaved rudely with her and my mate, too.
“You finally realized,” Todd smirked in the back of my mind, resting peacefully.
“You could stop me from doing so,” I complained, snapping at him.
“As if you have the habit of listening to me,” my wolf countered, which made sense. “Well, you should take action, now.”
Standing up from my throne, I scooted to my mom and before she could leave, I tugged her wrist. “I’m sorry, mom. I shouldn’t have talked to you that way, I'm really sorry,” looking into her eyes, I apologized.
“Don’t apologize to me. It doesn’t matter to me anymore,” she shrugged as if it didn’t matter to her.
“I know that I have hurt you but I’ll do anything to make it up to you,” I reassured her by taking her hand between my hands.
Her eyebrows shot up, she retracted her hands back from me before crossing them across her chest. “Anything?”
Nodding my head slightly with a small smile on my face, I joked, “anything unless you ask me to go to the Moon Goddess and fix our unrepentant fates.”
She giggled after hearing my dramatic joke. “You should get Amber back and make her your Luna. She deserves that. I know that I wasn’t the rightful Luna of this pack but everyone respected me because I was married to the Alpha. No one will treat Scarlett that way ever. They will hate her more for snatching the position of Amber and it’ll make them sympathize more with Amber,” she elucidated, her eyes filled with tenderness as she genuinely spoke.
Mom added, “You’ll make Scarlett's life more pathetic by making her Luna. As you can see the pack members hate her for even attending your ceremony so just imagine how much they’ll hate her when she’ll be the Luna despite you having a wife.”
“But mom, that’s wrong,” I whined, not agreeing with her at all. “They’ll be obligated to respect her once she becomes Luna.”
“Society doesn’t think that way, my son. They’ll see only the pain of a wife who has to suffer because of her husband sleeping with someone else. They’ll call Scarlett a mistress because she isn’t your wife. You can’t make anyone respect Scarlett forcefully. Respect should come spontaneously from the heart,” she explained the depth of the subject.
I didn’t want to agree with her but whatever she said was indeed true. I couldn’t force them to respect Scarlett but that didn’t mean she deserved that. I shall find a way to solve this issue, to make them understand that Scarlett wasn’t at fault here.
“For them, I sacrificed my happiness and chose their safety but look at them! How ungrateful they are! My pack is judging my mate, calling her names, disrespecting her. Don’t they think that it’ll hurt me, too? As I’m her true mate, a single word against her will hurt me more,” swallowing a lump in my throat, I helplessly mumbled.
Could they be crueler than they were already behaving?
“It’s not their fault either. Society has always accepted only marital relationships, they don’t understand the value of love or mates,” she confessed while staring at my father who was busy in his own thoughts.
“Can I request you something?” Her gaze returned to me.
“Of course, mom.” I pressed my lips hard to swallow the embarrassment, my mother had to request me now because of my previous jerk behavior.
“Never ever hurt Amber. She is alone here without her family. You’re her only hope, it’s not her mistake either,” mother said softly. “Let me find her for you and restart the ceremony.”
I hated admitting that but she was again right. I behaved rudely with Amber, too. I shouldn’t have been a dick to her. Nobody deserved that but what about me?
Everyone was too busy judging two women that they forgot about me.
What about my heart?
Men do feel the pain, too. I was as helpless as Amber and Scarlett but nobody had sympathy for me.
Everyone had expectations from me. Just motives.
I wanted my mate and the pack members didn’t help either. How could they be that rude to my mate?
When I didn’t respond to my mother, she flashed a smile at me before walking ahead. “Wait, mom,” I interrupted her.
Taking two steps closer to her, I acknowledged my conclusion. “I won’t accept Amber as my wife or Luna but that doesn’t mean I’ll behave rudely with her. I’ll make all the pack members understand that I sacrificed my happiness for them. The least they can do for me is to respect my mate who saved me while putting her life in danger.”
I continued, “it’s not my or Scarlett’s fault either. We didn’t choose each other as mates, it was the Moon Goddess’s choice and we should respect at least the Goddess. I’m the Alpha, I won’t let injustice happen to anyone. Not to me, too.”
My mother’s lips parted to say something but before she could open her mouth, I turned my heels on and walked to the throne.
Facing the crowd, I cleared my throat to make an announcement. “Don’t be late for the training tomorrow. I won’t let the hangover be an excuse for skipping training. I believe that my pack can do more good than just gossiping.”
“I must admit that I’m impressed, it’s perhaps your first right decision,” Todd remarked, already knowing my plan.
"Now, help me with tracing her scent," I smirked and walked out of the hall, leaving everyone appalled.