Too Beautiful for the Alpha novel Chapter 31

His father sits at the head of the table, James and I on either side of him. James constantly gives me reassuring looks, but I don't know if he's trying to reassure me or himself. It's clear that he's uncomfortable with this, me meeting his father. It only makes me nervous. It only makes the weird feelings grow.

"So, Rae," his father begins, taking lead, "what pack do you come from?"

"The Waters Pack," I answer timidly, not wanting to talk at all even though I agreed to this. I feel as I did when I first met James, hardly saying a word.

His father nods. "And you're not of an Alpha bloodline?"

"No," I say carefully, "I'm not."

He nods again. "Of a Beta bloodline?"

I shake my head and throw in an amused smile to show that I'm not hurt, even though I am. I wonder if he's comparing me to Julianna, if so, he's probably thinking that I'm worse at this point. At least she was of Alpha blood.

James takes over and starts to talk about the rogue problem at the East Border and how they're trying to solve it, giving me a moment to breathe. But it's not long until he comes back to me. "And what have you been up to as Luna?"

James cuts in, trying to hold him back, "She hasn't been announced as Luna yet."

"Well surely she can announce herself as Luna," he says and looks to me, "right, Rae?"

"I suppose," I mumble, not wanting to bring up the fact that I have told a few people.

"No, it's not her fault. I should be the one to do it."

"I'm sure Rae can handle it. You're busy, James, let her work some," he says, continuously pointing the finger at me. "I'm sure she needs things to do other than hanging around the house. Both the Alpha and the Luna need to work together, you see, that's where I went wrong."

I lift small forks of potato into my mouth, wanting to leave. I didn't think he was going to bring up Julianna, let alone blatantly compare us to them. "Rae is still getting used to the Pack," James explains, "I'm sure she'd love to help out when she's ready."

I nod. "Of course."

"Good. The Pack comes first. I don't want to see you two rushing towards having children when there is so much more to deal with. Family matters can wait until everything is near perfection, right Rae?"

This is all one giant lesson on what not to do. Part of me wants to disagree and say that I want a child right now just to see what James will say, if he'd agree with his father. Maybe that's why he doesn't want to touch me, because he doesn't want children. I don't see how that's a problem, though, with means of protection. "Right," I say, not knowing how I really feel, "the Pack comes first."

When dinner comes to an end, I help Gail and Theresa clean up while James says goodbye to his father. As I bring in the stack of plates, Gail asks, "How did it go?"

"He doesn't like me," I say.

"Oh, I doubt that," Theresa joins in. "I'm sure you're just taking what he said the wrong way, dear."

"The entire time he was telling me what to do and how to be better. It's clear that he's disappointed in me as his son's mate. He thought I was going to at least be of Alpha blood."

Gail takes the plates from me, and I sit down at the counter. "Well, he's leaving now, so don't worry too much about it, alright? What matters is what you think, not him. James is your mate, not his father, so don't try to impress him, alright?"

"Okay. You're right. At least he's leaving."

I head upstairs to change, wanting out of these clothes and back into my comfortable ones. Assuming James would come to see me, I'm not surprised when he comes through my bedroom door. I quickly pull on my shirt when I hear him, leaving the bathroom to find him sitting on the bed. I have to know his thoughts on the dinner before I rant about his father's words, so I'm relieved when he says, "I'm sorry about him. I didn't think he'd go so far."

I drift towards him, not feeling fiery anymore. "I didn't think he would, either. I didn't think the entire dinner was going to be a lesson in everything I'm doing wrong."

"We both know he's just comparing you to my mother, trying to make you the anti-her."

James glances up at me as I sit down. "Well, I don't want to worry about it. He's gone anyway."