“Gabby…” Ava wanted to go after her but Adrian refused to release his grip on her. She looked at her parents, her eyes pleading for understanding, her mother turned her back on her and went after Gabrielle. Her father hesitated for a moment before following her. Alexander came forward and gave her a hug before going away with the rest of her family.
Ava looked on longingly after them. Was this the way she would lose her family?
The rest of the pack watched on murmuring.
Adrian took Ava’s hand and led her away from the clearing. The moment they were a considerable distance away from the rest of the pack, Ava pulled away from him. “Why did you drag me away? I wanted to go after them. I have to explain to them, to Gabby.”
“Ava, the entire pack was having a front-row seat to your family drama, I merely wanted to–”
“My family drama? And whose fault is that? You were supposed to get mated yesterday. You told me that when I came back everything would be sorted out. Instead, my family thinks I betrayed them and I don’t think Ganby will ever forgive me and it’s all your fault.”
Adrian gave a sardonic laugh. “Well, it is sorted out now and I never asked you to come back home today Ava. But as usual, you will blame me because it is more easier to blame me than to face the fact that you fucked up royally and hurt your family all on your own. Two years have passed but you are exactly the same brat you were before.”
Ava hit him across the face, her eyes sparkling with tears. “Fuck you, Adrian Gavin. You haven’t changed one bit either.”
With that, she turned her back on her mate and ran home hoping she wasn’t too late to salvage the situation.
Adrian touched his cheek where Ava had hit him. He had marked Ava. She was his mate now. His engagement with Gabrielle had fallen through in the most dramatic way possible. His mate had hit him and run off.
He threw back his head, looked up at the full moon above and laughed.
When Ava reached their home, the door was locked. They never locked their doors. A feeling of sickness washed over her. She ignored it and knocked on the door.
“Mom, Dad, Gabby, please open the door. We need to talk.”
Breanna knocked harder and raised her voice all to no avail. No one answered.
Ava slid to the ground in front of the house and sat on the floor. Tears flowed from her eyes freely. She couldn’t help but feel like she had alienated her entire family.
Goddess, what had she gone and done? She imagined it from her family’s point of view. How it must have felt for them to see her kiss and mark Adrian at his mating ceremony with her sister. How could she tell them she had tried to resist it? That she had fought it every step of the way when they saw that.
The painful thing about life was that if there were no results to prove it, no one believed that you put in effort. That you tried.
What could she have done differently if she had known this would be the outcome? Maybe if she had missed her flight she could have avoided this.
Or if she had just taken her phone and given Jonny a phone call to confirm if the mating ceremony had taken place already instead of foolishly assuming that she could surprise them. Or maybe if she had accepted Javier and had stayed in Spain with him instead of coming here and… Goddess, it was all a mess.
Maybe her mistakes had begun as far back as her 18th birthday when she had decided to not tell anyone about her and Adrian being mates. She had been avoiding hurting Gabby then but in hindsight, she realized that it would have been better if she had simply told them all the truth back then.
It would have been a surprise and hurtful for Gabby but they would have congratulated her and supported her. Gabby would have healed back then. Instead, it had entered into this cancerous situation.
She had been selfish, she realized that now. She’d wanted to remain independent for as long as she could so she had been all too happy to pretend so that she wouldn’t have to mate with Adrian then.
As though things couldn’t get any worse, rain began to fall suddenly drenching her in seconds.
Lightning brightened the sky in bursts and thunder crackled. She had to find cover from the rain or else wolf or not she would catch a cold but she couldn’t move. To move would mean to admit defeat, to accept the fact that her parents were so angry at her that they would let her sit in the rain rather than open their doors to her and she couldn’t admit that so she let the rain fall on her.
As she sat there she realized something, Adrian was right. She was at fault or at least had equal culpability but it was easier to blame him for her wrong decisions and their aftermath.
The door creaked open and Ava heard the unmistakable sound of her mother’s voice.
“What are you doing here?”
Ava hurriedly stood up as soon as she heard her. “Mom. I need to talk to you and dad…”
Her mother stood with the door between them as the rain fell on Ava.
She didn’t invite her in.
“You shouldn’t have bothered, you are just getting drenched for nothing. You should go back to your mate Luna, the night is cold.” Her mother began to close the door.
Ava placed her hand between the door and its post holding the door open.
“Please Mom listen to me. I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you everything–”
“Then why didn’t you?” Ava heard the anger in her voice. The layers of pain. “When you wanted to leave two years ago, I asked you for the real reason, you could have shared it with me then.”
Unbidden, Ava recalled that exact moment when she had almost let the beans spill. Maybe she should have.
“Instead you made a decision to keep this a secret for years and went off gallivanting and pursuing your dreams while your sister suffered, toiled, and even got herself demoted to omega status all to do her best to keep this pack together. Now everything is done. You are marked and mated now so we have nothing to speak about.”
Ava’s shoulders shook as she cried.
“I’m sorry. I was wrong, Mom. Please let me in. I can’t lose you, Dad, Gabby and Alex. I don’t want to live with Adrian like this.”
“Then you should have thought of the repercussions of your actions before you carried them out.” Her father said. He came behind her mother and placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded. Her mother left without a single word or backward glance at Ava.
“Dad…” Ava choked back a sob.
Once her father would never hear anyone speak harshly to her even her mother included. Once if her father saw her crying he would wipe her tears and tell her. “Which dragon should I slay for you today, my princess?”
Now he didn’t even blink at her crying under the rain.
“Ava you have brought shame and disappointment to this family. You have hurt my daughter and I cannot forgive that.”
“But I am also your daughter.” Ava sobbed inconsolably.
“Pull yourself together. You are now the Luna of this pack. You have a responsibility to the people of this pack as a pillar of strength in times of uncertainty even during your own crisis. You cannot be seen in such a state. If you have any respect for this family and the upbringing we gave you, you would leave here with your head raised high and face the music of the decisions you have made.”
“Dad.” Her voice was lower than a whimper.
Then her mom returned with two bags that she threw outside to join Ava outside. “Take your things and leave, Luna.” Her mother said and left.
Her father gave her one last inscrutable look and shut the door quietly.
It was official. Not only had she lost Gabby, but she had also lost her parents as well. She would have to go back to Adrian. Live with him. Become his mate.