His Spitfire Mate

Luncheon

"Your father will meet us at the luncheon with your brothers," she explains as we walk to the outdoor area where the luncheon is being held. My mother speaks to me in the softer tone she uses in public. "They are excited to see you but let me make this clear, you are not to burden them with news of your irresponsible behaviour of yesterday or the terms of you staying here. Your brothers are going to be leaders one day and they need this time to make connections and good impressions with the right people. You will be the perfect daughter and a perfect sister. Do you understand?"

She pauses our walk to look at me and I nod, "I will be perfect, I promise."

She grabs my hand and pulls my arm around hers, so we walk into the luncheon looking like an adoring mother and daughter duo and I know from this point on I need to bring the best performance of my life.

My mother sees a lady I recognize from my index and the schmoozing begins, "Luna Kelly," my mother cries out with warmth, "It's so good to finally see you. We heard you got held up coming in yesterday and missed dinner."

"Yes, an unfortunate flat tire, but of course Luna Celeste, ever the great host she is, saved us some food," she says with a fake smile, bringing wrinkles to the corner of her eyes, "And this must be your beautiful daughter."

She turns her attention to me and reaches out to shake my hand, "I am so excited to meet you after all these years. We were worried that maybe you had an illness or something that kept you from attending public events. My daughter has been attending since she turned 14. She should be here later. She is a student at the Academy."

I know Luna Kelly is insinuating that she thought I was mentally delayed or maybe wasn't able to shift into a wolf. While her voice may be sweet, I know she is insulting me, but I also know there is a good chance my mother deserves this treatment, so I try to keep it neutral while playing the role I need to stay at these celebrations.

"This is my first time attending the celebrations because my mother allowed me to spend my summers at ballet camp. She understood that once I reached a certain age, I would be expected to take part in my mate's pack and I wouldn't be able to continue." I respond and look up at my mother with the adoring look of a spoiled youngest daughter. My mother, for her part, tucks a stray hair behind my ear and says, "Anything for my only daughter."

Luna Kelly looks annoyed but politely says, "Well I don't want to take all your time, I'm sure we will see enough of each other in the coming weeks."

Once she is far enough away, my mom whispers to me while pretending to look at a flower arrangement. "What pack?"

"Half Crescent Pack."

"Alpha and heir?" is the next question.

"Alpha Oliver and Trent."

"Good," she responds as my brothers approach. At least the twins do since Aaron and my father get pulled into a conversation on their way.

"Mom, it's so good to see you," Jared says, giving her a kiss on the cheek, "and we're so excited to have Josie here this year!"

My mother tsks, "Jared, you know how much I hate when you call her that, at least call her by her full name when we are here."

"Sorry mom," he replies with a grin she can never resist and all is forgiven.

"You look beautiful Josephine," Daron says, giving me a small hug. He is always the sweetest, but the moment is interrupted when a mother and her son approach. I can feel Daron tense a bit but my mother is all smiles as she takes my hand to pull me towards the duo.

I recognize Luna Ivory from the index and her son. My mother reaches out her hands and grasps the Luna's and they kiss on either cheek. A much warmer greeting than the last.

"Honey, come meet Luna Ivory North, she was my best friend back at the Academy," she says with warmth in her eyes, "Her son here is graduating from the Academy this year."

I step forward and give a small bow to the Luna and her son and introduce myself.

"I'm Josephine." I say, keeping a gentle smile on my face as my mother would want.

Her son reaches a hand forward to shake and says, "I'm Stone."

I accept the shake but his hand is cold and squeezes mine a bit too tight. I look down hoping no one sees the wince but when the handshake is over and I look up, I know Stone noticed by the slightly malicious gleam in his eyes.

My brothers step up on either side of me protectively and I wish I could ask a million questions. They obviously don't like him either, but my mother and Luna Ivory are oblivious.

"Well isn't this exciting seeing our kids all grown up," Luna Ivory trills, then she strokes my cheek "and no wonder you kept this beauty close to home, she will make an Alpha a very lucky male one day."

At the end of her sentence, she takes a look back at mother and gives her a small nod before leaving. I let out my breath and relax my muscles that I now realize were tense.

"That guy is a psycho," Jared says as soon as they are gone.

"Jared!" my mother gasps, "you do not speak of our friends that way!"

"It's true mom," Darron jumps in, "He tortures younger and weaker students just because he's bored. He just gets away with it because he is the sole heir of the Northern Star pack"

"I'm sure those are just rumours," my mother replies, "I don't want to hear you speaking ill of others, especially not in public."

My brothers look at her in slight disbelief but don't fight the point.

"Let's go find our seats children."

I follow my family to our table with my head full of theories on why Stone wouldn't get punished for bullying just because he is from Northern Star Pack. Geographically they are the largest pack but they have a very small population because of their location. They are the Northern most pack in North America where no one wants to live and there are few resources.

I take my seat and look up to find Stone sitting one table over facing me with a cold look in his eyes and a half smile that says he knows something I don't.

This is going to be a long lunch.