Chapter 28

We enter the pack house all sweaty and worn out. It’s only 10 in the morning and I am ready to take a nap. We all head to the kitchen and as usual, we find food all laid out and ready for us. I grab a water, yogurt, and an apple then make way to take a seat by my friends and mate. I sit down and Celeste once again greets me with a sly smile.
“Did you really think I didn’t notice you two disappear? You better give me details right now Athena Goldstein!” She yells at me through a mind link. I roll my eyes and try my best to ignore her. “Was it just as steamy and hot as last night?”
She says this right as I am taking a gulp of water. This causes me to choke on it and everyone turns their eyes towards us.
“Oh goddess, they are doing it again.” Atlas shakes his head and sighs.
“Doing what?” Silas cocks his head in curiosity.
“It’s guy talk through a mind link. You should have saw the faces Athena was making this morning when they were talking.” Aiden informs him.
My eyes slowly move towards Silas and an amused grin grows on his face. “Oh really? I know exactly what they are talking about.”
Everyone looks at him in curiosity, and Celeste starts to holler in laughter.
“So, are you going to answer my question?” Celeste begins to taunt out loud. I glare at her but this only causes her smile to widen. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
I give up. I let my head hit the table in defeat. I swear, she doesn’t know how to keep anything a secret. Both Celeste and Silas start to laugh at my defeat.
“Lets just say she had a moment with her mate last night and this morning.” My head shoots up and my eyes become furious. She giggles hysterically and everyone looks at me with wide eyes.
“Shut up!” I yell out with a red face. I get up from my seat to go after her and she does the same thing. I start to circle the table to go after her but she goes the opposite direction.
“You know hair up would be nice for the mating ceremony!” She exclaims and continues to circle the table. I feel my face get hotter and pick up my speed.
“Goddess! I hate you!” I yell in embarrassment.
“No you don’t!” She yells back and breaks out into a run leading out of the pack house. I speed after her and I hear everyone laughing hysterically at us.
“Geez, Autumn is more mature than them combined.” I hear Aiden sigh before going out the door of the pack house. I turn and shoot him a death glare which earns me more mocking laughter. I shake my head and continue going after my so called best friend.
I run after Celeste for a good ten minutes. She continuously runs around the pack house. I finally catch up to her and tackle her down to the ground.
“Silas and Athena sitting in a tree!” She manages to sing in between fits of laughter.
“Shut up! Did you have to do that in front of everyone?” We claw at each other and she is struggling to get out of my grip.
“I couldn’t help myself! You know me girl! I cant keep my mouth shut!” She manages to get out of my clutches and stumbles to get up. She gets to her feet and breaks into a light run.
What I didn’t notice until now is everyone came out of the pack house and watched our quarrel with amusement.
I get to my feet and she begins to run for our audience. She goes to hide behind Alaric as defense. I approach them and she slightly sticks her head out from the side and looks at me with a daring look.
“Protect me sweetheart! Shes trying to kill me!” She says hysterically and goes back to hiding. Alaric lets out a light laugh and looks back at me.
“Don’t hide her from me blondie.” I try to go around him but he blocks my way to get to her. I narrow my eyes at him which causes everyone to snicker. “Ill go through you to get to that traitor.”
“I can’t deny my mate when she’s desperate for protection. Even from her best friend.” He smiles playfully. I continue to try to get around him but he blocks my every move. This begins to irritate me and my movements become more hostile.
“Silas, don’t hold it against me if I have to hurt her.” His eyes move to my mate who has a smirk on his face.
“Buddy, she’ll kick your ass. Your on your own when it comes to that.” He chuckles and Alaric realizes his mistake. “It’s your choice to protect your mate and I’ll happily allow mine to take her vengeance. Judging by her growing irritation, it wont be long now.”
With that in mind, Celeste makes a break for the house. Alaric steps out of my way and I run for her. However, before I can go into the house to continue my pursuit. Someone grabs my arm and pulls me back. Silas pulls me close to him and smiles down at me.
“I can understand your embarrassment. She is just excited that things are going well between us.” He says and my eyes widen. He’s not wrong. “She is trying to get a rise out of you so you’ll finally reveal everything that’s been going on.”
I stare at him for a few moments. He’s not wrong. I basically revealed everything myself with my behavior.
“You’re right.” I look down at my feet. I acted like a child. She is just happy that I’m happy.
Finally this spectacle is over and we head back into the pack house where Mom is waiting for us.
“I need to talk with you all again. Please follow me and the Gamma to my office.” She says. My brows widen in suspicion. Why does she need to talk with us again? We just had a meeting with her yesterday.
We all follow her up the stairs and into her office. She takes a seat on her desk and we file in. She looks to the Gamma and she gives her an encouraging nod. She takes a deep breath and strongly looks toward Aiden and I.
“Tensions are becoming too high with the Alphas and the pack. We can’t leave this pack without an Alpha for much longer.” She wants us to go with the Gemini ritual soon. It makes sense if there is an Alpha in place then any talk of uprising will be shot down. “There is already warning signs within the Hale family. There is talk going around that they are trying to recruit wolves to join their rebellion.” That is Loki’s family. His father is always looking for a reason to rebel. His family used to hold the Beta title in the pack many years ago. Due to a severe incident, the title was stripped from the Hale family and given to the Burns family. Which is Celeste’s family obviously. Loki is a good person and never had any desire to rebel for the title. However its his fathers life mission to restore the Hale family name. “We need to hold the Gemini ceremony in the next couple of days. I know this is quite soon for you two, but we don’t have any other choice.”
Each of us look at each other with uncertainness. Then my eyes travel to Aiden. He is seething with anger. His eyes are darker than ever and he scoffs at the notion.
“We all know who the rightful heir is here. She has no business becoming Alpha.” He snarls in my direction. What in the world? I knew something was off. The spell took hold of him again. “She is a disgrace to this family. She is mated to that Lunar bastard.”
Silas growls in fury and takes a step towards me. He takes a protective stance in front of me and eyes my brother.
“Aiden, what are you saying. She is your twin sister. It doesn’t matter who her mate is , she has every right to contest for the title.” Mom narrows her eyes at him which earns a growl. “I may be your mother but don’t forget I am your Luna young man. You are not the Alpha yet, know your place.”
“Yea, we’ll see about that.” He continues to glare at her then turns it to me. His glare is intense and somewhat sinister. He leaves the room and slams the door behind him. Out the window we see him run into the forest. Where is he going? If he leaves the pack what will become of us? What If the rogues get a hold of him?
“Let him have time to cool off, if he is not back by morning I will send a search party.” She declares but this doesn’t alleviate our worries.