Chapter Nineteen

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I'm fiddling with my dry hands as I hear the front door open again. Muffled welcomes take place in the previous room, my curiosity peaking as I hear multiple sets of feet make their way closer.

I know it's going to be him and her, yet still, my stomach is in knots. They're stood in the same place I was 10 minutes ago, the two on the couch stopping to welcome them.

His rich scent invades the air, my lungs suddenly feeling suffocated.

"Mom, dad. . ." He guts out, almost painful to be around them. ". . . Monet." He addresses me gentler than his parents, his voice smooth and soft.

I direct my head towards where his voice came from, my eyes stoicly gazing straight ahead.

Another scent mixes with Alaric's, the same sweet tangerine from the day in the cafeteria. My cheeks warm at the confrontation of hearing my name

The sound of my name being returned to me in a way that isn't harmful is a new concept, one that I have gotten used to. Since I reached Alaric's pack, not once have I heard someone say my name in vain.

Hearing the alpha say it for the first time makes me grateful for having one. It makes me grateful being who I am and having the name I do, the way it sounds as it rolls off his tongue almost intoxicating.

"Hello, Alpha." I squeak out, my voice so tender it almost goes unheard. My face stays blank though, my lips resting in a thin line and my eyelids lazily open

My wolf rolls in the back of my head, thinking about the same thing I am. I've heard many things about the mate bond, but I never would have thought it would infatuat me with someone as quick as it has. It has only been a couple of weeks.

I hear someone push off of the couch and stand, then say "let's move to the table, shall we?"

Voices chime in to agree, everyone except me dragging themselves through the house. I stay seated until I presume everybody to be gone, then I rise to my feet in an instant.

I do the same as before, slide my feet against the floor in front of me, making sure I don't bump into anything. I follow the direction I believe them to have gone.

I take another step forward, then another and another. I've had loads of experiences out of my comfort zone, but this one definitely tops them all. Pretending to be completely independent as a blind woman in a foreign place, in front of two sets of powerful humans, pretty much beats anything.

Just as I begin to feel confident in knowing my way around, I walk head first into a hard surface. Toppling and shattering glass follows after, making me jump out of my skin.

My forehead stung for a few seconds but ultimately went away quickly. I stood in place, attempting to control my now rapid heartrate. If I didn't screw up already, I definitely have now.

"Mae will take care of that," a low voice appears next to me, making their way to my side without me even noticing. My forearm prickles in tiny explosive kisses as he pulls me forward.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, terrified that he will be angry with me. He doesn't, though, he only walks me to the dining room. As he pulls out the chair for me to sit, I realize how dumb it was to think that.

I sit, the normalcy of the meeting almost making me forget why I am here in the first place. This is indefinitely one of the most uncomfortable times I have ever felt, a tense air making it hard to breathe.

"Well, Alaric, would you like to begin?" It's silent for a few moments, Alaric clearing his throat, cutting through the safety blanket.

Nobody says anything and I take that as my que. I stand, pushing myself up in front of everyone's eyes. My heart has not yet slowed down, the feeling very much permanent in my chest for the rest of the event.

"I—I'm Monet, of the Silver Rock pack. . ." I speak quietly, feeling everyone's eyes on me. Knowing they're all staring at me with distaste makes it even harder to say what I have to say.

"I committed the shameful act of disobeying the A-Alpha," Alaric lets out a stiff breath as I complete my sentence. I have a feeling that even when I do apologize, they aren't going to accept it.

"And I am severely sorry for what I did." I managed to get it out sounding okay, though I'm convinced they heard me falter. I feel dumb, the way the air is left open and silent. I thought the reason I am here was to apologize for what I did. I've never been in a situation like this before.

I don't know what to say after that, so I just sit back down. Nobody says anything, nothing at all. It's an awkward silence that I know only exists because of my presence.

Mae arrives with trays of food, she places them one by one in front of each individual person. As she gets to me, I mutter a "thank you", and she leaves.

Still, nobody except for myself has said anything. I assumed everyone here had already knew why we were here, but that was proven wrong when Alpha Odon spoke up, "Alaric, what's the meaning of this pardon?"

Pardon? I'm being pardoned? For everything I've done, and I'm being let off? It all clicks in my brain, for I'm not here to apologize, I'm here at a meeting for a pardon.

It confuses me even more that Alaric's mother and father don't know why I'm here. It makes me wonder if anybody knows, especially Genevora.

I wish I could see her the way I could smell her right now, despite it being a Weaker scent compared to the alphas in the room, it still taunts me.

"That's a matter we don't need to discuss right now." I hear from the right side of the table, Alaric gritting through the conversation.

"I mean— I think Odon has a point, Alec," a fluttery voice of a woman almost pleads. Genevora sits on the opposite side of the table as myself, though a few chairs to the right. The table is large and there are a couple of empty chairs, but she still feels close to me.

I feel on the spot, being the topic of conversation. They talk about me as if I'm not in front of them, as if because I can't see them talk about me, it doesnt matter if I can hear them.

"I mean truly, Alaric. You've always been a sympathizer but I never taught you to allow rogue bitches to run your pack for you." I flinched as Alpha Odon gutted me with his words. My wolf was angry but all I could do is sit in place and accept it.

This will be over soon, I try and soothe my wolf, which hardly works, but she knows that we must let the scene play out.

"Enough."

A dramatic gasp comes from a woman on the left of the table, which would be Luna Hecate. The five of us sit around, speaking so civilly yet aggressively at the same time. I don't know why I have to be here.

My breath hitches and the responses keep getting more and more intense, and I figure that this is a typical dynamic between them. If it wasn't for my being the alphas mate, I would have been dead, and Alpha Odon confirmed that. He would've killed me with his own teeth.

"Excuse me, Alaric, but what is it with this woman? Why was it so necessary to keep her alive, she hardly deserves it thinking she can do whatever she pleases." Hecate follows after her unneeded dramatism. I don't want to hear the answer from him and I'm sure nobody else wants to either.

They've assumed so many things about me before even hearing me. I've apologized as I was told to, and now I'm apparently on trial. They don't know why I'm here and they don't know what I am, how could they so easily dismiss my life.

"I suggest you stop pushing, father and mother. You are not going to like the answer." I can tell one of them is going to explode, if nobody steps in.

"Enough with your games, son. Quit acting like a child and take charge. You're a goddamned Alpha. Act like one." The more they speak, the louder they get.

"You really want to know?" Alaric mutters calmly, yet with an underlying anger that means nothing good will come.

"She's my mate."
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Word Count: 1477

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