Chapter 7

• I am on my way to give Theo his birthday present. I am a little nervous about giving him. I am worried he might not like it or, worse, not accept it from me. I knock on his office door and enter once he says come in. I can’t believe even on his birthday he is working.
• “What do you want, Anastasia,” He says, not lifting his eyes away from the papers in front of him.
• “Happy birthday,” I say and place the wristwatch in front of him. I got him a chronograph black leather wristwatch. I hope he likes it.
• “Is that all?” He asks, stunning me with his words. No, thank you, nothing. Just ‘is that all’ really, you have got to be kidding me, Theo. This is what I wish I could say to him but don’t; instead, I say.
• “Yes, that’s why I came.”
• “If that’s all, you can leave,” He says, with his eyes still glued to the paper in front of him.
• “Alright,” I say and walk out of his office.
• I know I was expecting him not to accept my gift but to say is that all was not something I could have guessed him saying. He truly leaves me dumbfounded every time.
• Later at night, when I am done with my makeup, hair, and dressing up. I wait in the living room so we can go for his birthday dinner together. I am not sure if we are going together, but I decided to wait for a little, and I will go by myself if he does not come.
• I should have known better, Theo does not see me as his mate, and I can’t believe I waited 30 minutes for him to pick me up for his birthday party.
• I am about to walk into the ballroom when someone pulls me into a dark corner. I am about to scream, but once my mate’s scent settles in my nose, I don’t.
• “Why are you just coming now” Theo whisper, yells at me. I wonder why we are talking in such a dark corner.
• “I was waiting for you.”
• “Reduce your voice; I don’t want anyone to hear us, and why would you wait for me,” He says, and I can’t see his face correctly, but I can imagine him arcing his brows at me. I wonder why he does not want anyone to hear us. It’s not like we are talking about anything secretive.
• “We are mates, so I assumed we might go together but came when I realized you had already left.”
• “You should know better than anyone that I would never come to my birthday dinner with you.”
• “And why is that,” I ask, wondering why it’s wrong for me to assume that since we are mates.
• “You have forgotten that even though you are my mate, I will never accept you as one. And that is what I want to talk to you about. Make sure no one finds out tonight that you are my mate.”
• I am sure he refers to the Alphas from around the country who came for his birthday dinner because the pack already knows I am his mate.
• “Why,”
• “Because I said so, and I mean it, not even a single soul,” He warns.
• “Ok,” I say, feeling sad that he wants no one to know about my existence. It also explains why he is talking to me in a dark corner and why he wants no one to hear us talking. I think he is ashamed of me.
• I know he does not accept me as his mate, but I never guessed it’s because he is ashamed of me.
• “Good, now wait by the entrance. Liam will come and get you and walk inside with you. Everyone knows he is a playboy, so it will make no one suspect you are my mate.”
• “Ok,” I say, feeling sadder with how much trouble he is going through to make sure no one knows we are, mate.
• “Walk out a few minutes after I do,” He says and walks away from me.
• I don’t even feel like going to the party now, but since I am already here, I might as well enjoy the excellent food and wine. I shake my head to push the tears that are threatening to fall out and walk out of the dark corridor a few minutes after he leaves.
• I don’t wait long before Liam arrives.
• “Would my Luna Queen do me the honors of walking inside with me?” Liam says once he arrives with a soft smile on his face. He puts out his arm for me to wrap mine around it. I want to correct him and tell him not to call me Luna Queen, but just let it go because I have told him before not to, but he still insists on calling me that.
• “Hi, Liam” I return the smile and link my arms with his.
• “How are you doing today, Luna,” He says as he starts walking us inside the ballroom. As we walk inside, I suddenly start feeling nervous, and I don’t know why.
• “I am doing fine,” I say, a little rushed. I don’t want my voice to sound shaky in front of Liam. I am worried about what people will say when they see me. I know I am very young to be the King’s mate, so I won’t be surprised if some people from the pack don’t see me fit to be Queen like he does.
• “Don’t worry, it’s not everyone that knows you are his mate, so a lot of people won’t be looking at you,” Liam says and uses his other hand to pat my arm that is linked with his while giving me an assuring smile.
• “Is it that obvious that I am nervous about what people will say about me?”
• “We are werewolves, so it’s hard not to smell the fear of you.”
• “Yeah, you are right, and thank you for trying to cheer me up.”
• “Anything to help my Luna feel better, and would you like to dance.”
• “Thank you, and I would love to.”
• We walk to the dance floor, and Liam releases my arm. He wraps his hand around my back. He makes sure his hand is far away from my ass. I am sure if I was not mated to his brother, his hand would be very close to my ass. I place my hand on his shoulder, intertwine my other hands with his, and start moving to the classical music playing.
• “So why are you late, Luna?”
• “I was waiting for your brother?”
• “Oh,” He says, drawing out the ‘oh.’ I must look foolish in front of him that I waited for my mate who does not want anything to do with me.
• “Yeah, and I know it was foolish of me to think we would go together given the state of our relationship.”
• “No, it was not. I understand why you did.”
• “You do,” I ask, surprised he does
• “Yes, I do, and it was not foolish of you. Also, did I tell you, you look beautiful because you do?”
• “Thank you,” I say, blushing at his compliment.
• “You’re always welcome, and my brother is a fool that he does not see that.”
• “How did you know he did not compliment me on how I look today?”
• “I am his brother; I know him more than anyone else.”
• “Yeah, that’s true.”
• The music suddenly stops, and an omega announces it’s time for dinner. I thought I was very late, but apparently, I am not since they have not eaten yet. I am walking towards a table with Liam when someone roughly grabs my hands.
• “Come with me,” Theo says, pulling me with him. He looks angry, and I wonder what I did wrong now.
• We arrive at his table; he sits down and gestures for me to sit by his right. I thought he didn’t want anyone to know I am his mate. So why is he making me sit beside him? I take my seat, and once I am seated, he pulls me again closer to him, and this time he whispers into my ears.
• “After dinner, don’t dance with my brother again,” He says through gritted teeth.
• Is he angry I danced with his brother? Why would he be mad about such a thing? It’s not like I did anything wrong by dancing with his brother, or is he jealous that I danced with him, but why would he. He is the one who asked me to behave like we are not mates, and he is the one who asked his brother to walk me in.
• “Ok,” I say and start eating the food that was placed in front of me while I was thinking.
• I am not able to eat well because of what I see happening in front of me. A beautiful lady with blonde hair, who I am guessing is an Alpha because of her aura, can’t seem to keep her hands to herself.
• “So, my king, how are things going in court,” She says, placing her hand on his free arm that he is not using to eat. I expect him to remove her hand since he has a mate, but he does not.
• “Everything is going well, Scarlett, and how is your pack?” He asks, with his full attention on her.
• “Everyone is fine; you should come sometime and see for yourself how I handle my pack,” She says, smiling and seductively looking at him.
• “Hopefully, one day,” He says, returning the smile.
• I can’t believe he is openly flirting with her while I am sitting here. I can’t believe he would do this to me. And things get worse when I listen in on a few people sitting at our table. We are about ten sitting at our table, and most of the people here are Alphas with their mates. The women whisper to each other, but they should know better. It’s almost impossible for someone not to hear your conversations, given the fact that we are werewolves and our hearing is good.
• “Oh, my, they look so cute together. I can’t wait for when the King agrees to take her as his Queen. They make such a good couple,” A lady about two seats away from me whispers to her friend.
• “I know, right; they make such a lovely couple. They deserve each other given the fact that they both lost their mates” The woman beside the one who spoke first says,
• What does she mean by lost their mates? Did Theo tell everyone I am dead, or did he have a mate before me? Regardless of which it is, I can’t help but feel a lot of emotions right now. I am angry because my mate is flirting with Scarlett, making them look like the perfect couple. I am sad that no one knows he has a mate and wishes him to be with Scarlett. I am sure everyone thinks they’re a perfect match because she is an Alpha. Maybe even if people knew I was his mate tonight, they might not have accepted me since I am still very young and inexperienced compared to Scarlett. I feel like the whole world is against me right now.
• “Yeah, they both deserve to be happy,” The first woman speaks as she looks at my mate, who is laughing at something Scarlett said. I have never seen him laugh before, and I can’t believe he is smiling and laughing so much because of another woman. It would have been fine if she was not the woman people think is fit to be his Queen.
• I come back from my thoughts when an omega speaks to me.
• “Would you like more wine, Luna?” She asks. I look at my mate and Scarlett, and I can’t help the plunge I feel in my heart. So I tell her the following words after I realize that’s the only way I will survive this horrible night.
• “Make sure my glass is never empty tonight,” I say, with the plan to get drunk tonight, and I will try to forget what a horrible mate I have.