CHAPTER 38

Family?
Shana definitely had none.
She had no friends, not to talk of a family. Now, the pack wants to meet her family but she had no idea how she was going to admit to them that she had no family, considering she had lied to Asher a couple of times about running errands for a nonexistent grandmother.
She had been quiet throughout the exchange, not knowing what to say to diffuse the tension and she was not going to shackle herself with her own mouth by denying who she was like Asher probably expected but she was glad his grandmother had come to her rescue. Besides, she had kept mute like she was not in the room because she did not want the extra attention.
But now, every eye was on her as they expected her to say something concerning the question that had shaken up her system.
Asher seemed at that very moment to be watching her closely, like he wanted her to say something but she had nothing to say. Then he returned his gaze to the elders saying the everything she least expected.
"That won't be necessary. I have done that myself. All I need is the rites put in motion," he commanded.
"But the meeting is one of the....," the sentence stopped as Asher sent the one who dared counter him one of his looks like laser beams.
"I know how important is but my wife has no families you'll be meeting," he said in an undertone. "So can we get this started?"
Shana was staring hard at her mate. How on heart did Asher know she had no family? Does that mean he did not not buy her lies the times she had told him about an errand?
The realization made her feel like a fool but that still did not answer her question about how he knew.
Then it clicked.
A man in his station; wealthy, good looking and well sort after would not leave anything about her to change. She could bet she had not just been hired after she popped out of nowhere, she had been well researched. He had the means to run every damn background check he needed on her. She felt angry, then betrayed all in the space of minute.
Then she started feeling guilty for even feeling betrayed. She was the one with the greater betrayal there and she had no right questioning Asher's move to check her out. It was well deserved but his investigation had obviously failed to uncover what she truly was. It explained the only reason she was seated there right then and he was still fighting to be joined to her. It would have been the other way round if he knew.
His grandmother had been helping her, lying in her stead and Asher had just done the same despite her lies to him and she knew not their reasons for doing that. It was like the fates were in favour of Adam's plan to destroy Asher.
When he realized he had played a part in making his own doom easier...
She could not finish the thought.
But she was certain it would break him, just like it did the former Alpha.
"Then the rites would proceed as soon as you want," Thomas said quietly.
"It starts as of now," he announced irrevocably and they all nodded in agreement.
That settled, Asher relaxed visibly and smiled in her direction. She returned the smile with a tight, forceful one.
Shana knew very little about the mating rites of the shifters and that little had been from her grandmother. It was a union ceremony that formally installs her as the Luna and she was dreading it instead of anticipating it. It meant one step closer in her betrayal of Asher.
Asher had watched her go paler when the talks of relatives came up and the question had been unexpected for him too.
In a normal courtship as he would like to call their encounters in the past couple weeks, it was imperative that he had asked to meet her people but he had done none of that because he knew she had no one but she had no idea he knew and he wanted it to remain that way because he was certain she was not going to like that he had ran a background check on her.
So he had not hesitated countering the need for a meeting between her relative and the Council of elders. It was better that way. He wanted just her and he did not give a care in the world about where she was coming from.
★★★★★★★★★★
Mila watched as the two Thomases argued. She was listening in and she felt bad but she had to. One of her latest plans to protect her clan and Alpha was to watch Thomas movements and follow him wherever he goes. No one knew what the man was going to do any day and she was not any closer to finding someone to confide in.
Days like this one and yesterday, she felt so useless and her existence meant nothing.
She had seen Adele leave Walker's room last night and she had been sad, but not heartbroken as she had first thought.
He was the only one that ever smiled in her direction, noticed she was there even if they never spoke to each other. And she had fancied herself in love with him but she realized what she felt was just gratitude for being noticed, nothing more. He was nice and courteous but now, he was with the witch Adele. Mila disliked her for what she had done to every man before Walker. She left them broken and she could confidently say the at because she knew them and watched those men change in the months she spent with them.
It was not something she was proud of, but she had watched some of the things that went on inside the rooms, just like she had seen a bit of what happened in Walker's room last night. It was none of hr business but she had a feeling Adele was up to something so she was going to try watching her as she had been watching her father but it was going to be a bit difficult.
Unlike her father who rarely ever left the territory, Adele was the exact opposite. She was rarely ever there and Mila was always there. So, she was still trying to come up with a plan on how to track Adele.
But the unusual was happening before her eyes as Thomas argued with his daughter. The man never left the territory by it looked like he was taking a trip.
"Where are you going Dad?," Adele asked her father.
"Do you even have the right to ask me that question? I'm just saying, since I never get to know where you sneak off to at night," he shot back at her acidly.
Adele went pale. "You knew?," she asked quietly.
"I know every slutty detail of everything you do Adele. My silence about it all does not mean I'm fooled," he said with a shrug.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because you are a disgrace and there's no redemption for you. You know you could have been the Luna by now. You should be mated to that boy already but no, you had to mess everything up because you could not keep your legs close long enough to snag him," he lashed out angrily.
"And whose fault is that?," she asked coldly.
"What's that supposed to mean?," Thomas asked turning towards her.
"You know what I mean," she answered defiantly.
"You can be clearer young lady," he said moving towards her and she stepped back fearfully.
"You were the one who taught me that all I've got going for me in this world was my face and what I had between my legs. You taught me that was all I've to get what I want and you've pretty much said that to me everyday of my life. Can't you see?," Adele said in a small voice that croaked badly but she continued. "Becoming a Luna was your dream, then I was raised and bred for it to become mine and it is now. I want nothing more than to be Luna but it was a dream I had no choice but to choose. So if anyone is to blame for the my slutty ways, it is definitely you," she finished.
Thomas raised his hand like he was going to slap her but his hand froze in the air. "How dare you?," he asked quietly.
"I dare because I grew up and watched you do the same thing you blame me of. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree Dad." At that point, she did not care if he decided to hit her.
Thomas laughed harshly. "You blame me for your true nature? I've only raised you to know the truth. I never told you to go sleeping around with every Tom, Dick and Harry. Just grow up already and own up to your mistakes. Who knows, it might not be too late to make things right and you could still become the Luna. Like we've always wanted," he said coldly.
"But it's too late. Asher is mated and you know the rites are anytime soon," she answered quietly.
"I said you could still be Luna but I never said anything about being Asher's Luna. It's one of the reasons I'm taking this trip," he said coldly, his eyes darkening somewhat.
From where she stood, Mila's heart began to race and her palms became sweaty as she continued to listen to both father and daughter's plotting. Her visions were happening. The Alpha was mated and if her vision was anything to go by, his mate was no ordinary human but she was going to be good for him. The good was happening and she knew the bad was bound to follow but she was as powerless as ever to stop the bad.