The Young Luna novel Chapter 12

Chapter 12

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I awkwardly pushed the food around my plate as suffocating silence sat heavily in the room. I sat at the dinner table, in the Zev household, praying that the ground would open up and swallow me. I wanted to be anywhere but sat right there.

Seth was sat to my left, his younger brother and his mate sat opposite us, with his parents at each end of the table. Seth's younger brother, Dale, looked scarily similar to him but his face wasn't as chiselled and his shoulders not as broad – but despite the two year age gap, they looked like twins. Dale's mate, Sofia, was a beautiful woman with flowing blonde hair and bright blue eyes, despite her large pregnant stomach she sat with grace and sophistication that I envied.

"So May I hear you're good at sports" Dale said, trying to push through the tension.

"Yeah. Where did you hear that from?" I asked, knowing that Seth wouldn't be bragging about my sporting abilities.

"I was putting your Pack file together today and I was looking at the information your old Pack emailed over" he explained. "It said you're rated the top archer in the country, under the age of eighteen. You were chosen to compete for the Olympics this year".

Seth blinked in shock, "I didn't know that".

"Under eighteen" Angie muttered in annoyance, instantly turning the conversation silent again. I bit my cheek, looking away as I tried not to let how much she hated me hurt. But it really hurt to know both my mate, and my mate's mother, didn't like me because of my age – something I couldn't control or change.

"That's amazing" Sofia carried on, giving me a sympathetic smile as she tried to ease my nervousness. "Why didn't you compete in the Olympics?"

"My Alpha didn't want me to compete. He thought that I would be in the public eye too much for a Werewolf, which wasn't good since I am due my first Shift. So I was removed from the training system" I shrugged, but I could feel the sickness circling in my stomach.

Thinking about that time last year, when everything I had worked my entire life was ripped away, made me want to cry. Pulling me from the Olympic training was one of the reasons my relationship with my family had fallen apart – they'd taken away the only thing I truly loved.

"Oh that doesn't seem very fair" Sofia pouted.

"It's fine" I dismissed easily, "archery in the Olympics is only with the use of recurve bows anyway, and I am a fan of the traditional longbow". The normal lie I told – it wasn't fine.

"I didn't even realise there were different types of bows" Dale commented. I could feel Seth's eyes on my profile, but I didn't turn to look at him. I was just glad that the conversation had turned away from my age and onto a subject I could talk about.

"Are you two going to mate?" Neil, Seth's father, suddenly demanded. I stayed silent, as did my mate. "Well?" Neil pushed when we stayed silent.

"I don't know" Seth finally replied. "I don't think I will be able to not mate her, but at the same time it is also wrong to mate her".

"It is not wrong, Seth, she is your mate" Sofia insisted. "The age does not matter, you are meant for each other". She gave me another smile. I was beginning to like her more and more with each thing she said.

"Yes it is wrong" Angie yelled, "I will not allow my son to go to jail for statutory rape".

"Mother, they're mates" Dale sighed heavily.

"They're right Angie" Neil told his wife. "They can't help the age gap. Seth will only get one mate, and that is May, it would not be right for us to wish for him to be without a mate".

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Angie frowned deeply, "then he should send her away until she is of age".

"You expect me to send my mate away from two years just because you think it's wrong?" Seth challenged angrily.

"I don't just think it is wrong. It is wrong".

"Look we will be going around and around in circles about this" I snapped angrily, making silence fall all around us. "You will never agree with either answer Seth would have given. You don't want us to mate but at the same time you don't want Seth unmated. It's ridiculous. So why are we still having this conversation?"

It was silent for a moment, before Neil spoke up again. "She's right. Plus, it is their decision about this relationship. If, and when, they decide to consummate this union we should support them. They'll get enough scrutiny from other Packs about this, they don't need us fighting amongst our ranks".

"Are you crazy?" Angie yelled, throwing her napkin onto the table and standing up. Her chair screeched across the ground as she flew to her feet. "I do not support this, nor will I ever support this. This girl will ruin Seth's life. I will never, never, support this". She turned on her heels and stormed out the room.

"We should go" Seth muttered, throwing his own napkin down and standing up. I quickly followed him as she stormed towards the front door.

"I'm sure she'll come around" Sofia said, offering me a small smile, before I disappeared after my mate.

"Seth" I called out to my mate, jogging after him. "Seth, wait for me".

I shrugged carelessly, "I don't pay attention to things that don't concern me. And before you walked into my life, it didn't concern me what so ever".

"Fair enough" he considered, "this war is about respect".

"You're kidding".

"No at all". His words had me shaking my head at him – men were too prideful for their own good. "Ten years ago, when I'd only been an Alpha for a few years, I set up a treaty with the Black Bloods Pack. Back in the nineties some Wolves from our Pack, as well as the Black Blood Pack, were captured by a group of humans. They were taken to Yellowstone for reintroduction of Wolves".

"Hold on a second" I interrupted. "Are you telling me that the Wolves at Yellowstone are Werewolves?"

"Not all of them. Only four of them originally" he explained. "But they were tagged and observed, so they couldn't really up and leave without exposing Werewolves. So I made the decision that they would have to stay. Which would mean living life completely in Wolf form, mating real female Wolves, and helping repopulate Yellowstone. My decision, although hard, was challenged by the Black Bloods".

"This is very complicated".

"Not really, just pay attention" he snapped. "So, the Black Bloods were furious with my decision to not save those Yellowstone Wolves. They raged war. We won but I was merciful. I didn't kill the Alpha, or even the Beta, but simply set up a treaty. I took half of their Wolves into my Pack – making my Pack the largest in the country – and set rules and sanctions on them".

"So you're pretty much in charge of the Black Blood Pack as well. They have to do what you say" I realised.

"Exactly" he nodded. "However, they betrayed the treaties. Last year they took a trip to Yellowstone and pulled one of their previous members out. They were able to cut his tracker out and hide his removal from the biologists...for now. When the biologist realises they are missing one of their main dominant males, they'll begin questioning things. In breaking the treaty, it was said that I was supposed to take over the Pack completely. But they refused to join the Equinox Pack and have fought me. So I will need to go and take the Pack by force".

"That seems like a violent way to sort this all out" I pouted.

"I didn't want a war, but I had no choice. In disrespecting not only me, but also the treaty, is a direct declaration of war. All I could do was honour that and assemble allies just as the Black Bloods are".

"I don't want to complicate this all for you" I admitted truthfully.

Seth smiled gently at me, "I'm pretty sure you're going to complicate everything in my life Mabel".

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