Kona growled at the mention of Benjamin’s mother, Martha. These past six years with Benjamin were wonderful until about six months ago when his parents returned from their extended vacation. They had been gone since Benjamin and I had our Alpha and Luna ceremony. I only got to spend two weeks with his mother before they left. She seemed okay then, but it didn’t matter because a nurturing mom and strong dad raised me. I didn’t need Martha’s wisdom because my parents instilled me with enough.
Things have been going downhill since she returned to the packhouse. She was not happy that Benjamin and I agreed to wait to have kids. She thought she would come back to a pack full of grandkids. I don’t understand her thinking. If that had happened, the kids wouldn’t have known her because she had been gone for almost six years. She would have been a stranger to them.
Now she’s parading single females around saying they would make a good Luna and birth an heir for the pack. Benjamin was upset. He assured me he would never cheat or leave me. I believe him, but I’m just tired of his mom. What makes it worse is that he used to have a close relationship with his parents, but now he doesn’t. They blame me even though it was his mom who ruined their relationship.
“Good morning,” Benjamin kisses me.
His tongue flicked out licking my lips, asking for entrance. I slowly opened my mouth, and his tongue dominated mine. His sweaty body hovers over mine as our kiss intensifies. He’s just come from training; sometimes after training, we enjoy releasing our extra energy. His kisses spread down my neck. A moan escapes my mouth.
Bang, bang, bang. “Benjamin, we are about to have guests. Open your door,” his mom shouted.
We ignored her and continued kissing. Benjamin picked me up and wrapped my legs around his waist. He was carrying me to the bathroom so we could continue in the shower. His mom’s next words made my body go stiff.
“Benjamin, it’s not like you are making me a grandbaby. Come out of there,” she said through the locked door.
I tried to remove myself from his arms. He held me tighter, refusing to let me go. I could hear the snicker from whoever was out there with her.
“Baby,” Benjamin says.
“Please put me down,” my voice cracks.
Benjamin places his forehead on mine. “Baby,” he pleads.
Tears form in my eyes as I close them trying to not let them fall. At first, I was able to ignore his mom’s words, but she has finally broken me down. Six months of being told you’re not a good enough mate because you haven’t produced an heir weighs on your psyche.
“Asher.” Tears flow down my cheeks.
When this all started, Asher let Benjamin and me know he no longer saw Martha as his mother. He wanted to kill her, but Benjamin begged him not to. For the first time in Benjamin’s life, he and his wolf did not agree on something. I understood Benjamin. That was his mom; no one wants to kill their mom. But Asher was all about me, his mate, and if anyone hurts his mate, Asher wants them dead.
“What did you just say about my daughter?” my mom’s unmistakable voice was loud.
“What’s so funny?” I heard Daniella.
I jumped down from Benjamin’s arms and ran to open the front door. I smiled at the sight before me. My mom had Martha cornered while glaring at her. Daniella had one of Martha’s lackeys by the neck. I watched my brother and dad appear in the hallway. Dad’s aura was strong. The women with Martha had their heads bowed, cowering in fear.
“Mom, Dad,” I cried.
“Let’s take this inside,” my dad said as he hugged me.
Mom grabbed Martha, dragging her into the living room. Daniella still held the girl by the neck as she threw her into the living room. Jaxon blocked the steps so the other three girls couldn’t run. They had no choice but to walk into my house. Martha wasn’t as bold in front of my family. She knew she was wrong, especially bringing those girls with her to the Alpha’s floor.
“Benjamin, call your father,” my dad instructed him.
Mom had taken me out of Dad’s arms and wrapped me in her embrace. My tears flowed freely as she whispered into my ear.
“Mom is here now, sweetie. Everything will be fine.”
I felt like a little girl instead of the twenty-five-year-old woman I was. Daniella, Mom, and Felicity followed me to the bathroom to make sure I was okay as I cleaned my face.
“What is going on?” Daniella asked.
Before I could respond, my dad was calling us back into the living room. Benjamin led his father into the room with the Elders following behind them.
“I should have known you were here when I felt the need to bow earlier,” Elder John said.
“What is all of this?” my dad asked.
Benjamin’s dad looked at his wife, who went from frowning to smiling. She stood up and shook hands with the Elders.
“I’m so glad you came. I called you here because you are needed to oversee the rejection of their mate bond,” she happily said.
“What!” Everyone in the room stared as she pointed toward Benjamin and me.
“Like hell will I reject Dakota,” Benjamin growled. He wrapped his arms around me.
“Benjamin, she can’t produce you an heir,” Martha cooed. “The pack needs an heir and it’s been six years.”
“What is going on?” Elder Scott interrupted Martha.
“I believe Benjamin has been tricked into thinking this girl is his mate,” she spits out.
My family and Benjamin growled at her. She jumped closer to the Elders. Fear was pouring out of her in waves. She cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure.
“I feel my son was tricked. It’s been six years, and they have no kids. As wolves, it’s in our nature to mate, but she doesn’t want to mate with him.”
I was about to speak up, but Elder Scott put his hand up for me to be silent. I hated that they were giving her the floor to spew her lies about me.
“What makes you think your son was tricked?” Elder Williams asked.
“I think her pack needed an alliance with a strong pack, and they chose ours.” She believed her delusions.
Elder John laughed while Elder Scott and Elder Williams looked perplexed at her. She was taken aback by their attitudes. She looked from them to me.
“You think The Moon Stone Pack needs an alliance with you. It’s the most powerful pack under the kingdom. Packs lie just to get an alliance with them. Their pack is affiliated with the King and the Elders,” Elder Scott said.
“What? How?” she asked.
“That is not your concern. Now tell me why you called us here, because that accusation you just said can land you in our prison,” Elder Scott was no longer being nice.
“Under the werewolf law, if a fated mate hasn’t given an heir to an Alpha in the first five years, then he can take a chosen mate,” Benjamin’s dad, Jim, piped in.
The Elders looked at each other and nodded their heads. I didn’t know this. From the looks on everyone else’s faces, they didn’t know this either. Uneasiness crept up in me. I waited to see what the Elders would say.
“That is one of our ancient laws,” Elder Williams confirmed.
“No,” Benjamin growled. “I’m not rejecting my mate. Dakota and I agreed to wait to have kids. It is what we both want. Just because you have come back from your retirement thinking I should have children by now doesn’t mean you are right.”
“It’s law,” his mom gave a wicked smile.
“But only for the betterment of the pack. This pack is thriving and nothing seems to be going wrong here. It seems your pack may have benefited from the alliance with The Moon Stone Pack,” Elder John said.
“She cannot have kids, so it is for the betterment of the pack,” the girl Daniella, who was choking, got in the conversation.
The Elders turned toward me. They finally wanted my input after telling me to be quiet so Martha could lie.
“I can have kids. I chose to wait,” I answered their unspoken question.
“Who are you and where did you get that information?”
“She’s one of the women who can give me a grandbaby,” Martha answered Elder Scott’s question.
Daniella growled, making everyone bow their heads to her. “You brought women here to interfere with my sister’s mate bond,” she turned toward Martha.
“You agreed to interfere with a mate bond and on top of that you spread misinformation.” Her aura was weighing down Martha’s lackeys.
Daniella was even angrier than I was when I first had to deal with Martha and the girls. Her aura was directed toward them as she took menacing steps in their direction.
“You will be sentenced to death,” Daniella said while staring at the four girls.
“Luna Martha,” they looked at Benjamin’s mom.
“Martha is no longer Luna. Your Luna is the woman you have been disrespecting. It’s against the law to interfere with the mate bond. Since you were too pigheaded to listen to your Luna, you now have to listen to your Queen. I’m surprised your Alpha hasn’t put a stop to this,” she let her displeasure be known to Benjamin.
“They have been in the dungeon since they propositioned me, Queen. I didn’t clear them to leave the dungeon,” Benjamin glared at his parents.
“It seems you have a pack that still listens to your parents and not you and your Luna. You need to clean house,” Jaxon said.
Before my siblings could take over, the Elders stepped in. “To get back on track, we have to investigate the claims of former Luna Martha. It’s part of our job,” Elder Williams said.
“Those are nothing but lies,” my mom was getting agitated.
“That may be, but we have to do our job,” Elder John said before leaving.
Martha and her husband followed behind them. They didn’t even react to the punishment of the girls Martha brought up to my room. They were huddled together begging Daniella to spare them. She paid them no mind as she pulled me into her embrace. My family gathered around me and hugged me.
“Benjamin, we need to talk,” my dad said.
He nodded but pulled me from my family and kissed me hard.
Guards were at the door soon after, escorting the girls back to the dungeon. Benjamin left with my dad and Jaxon. My mom, Daniella, and Felicity waited for me to tell them what had been going on in my pack.
