Braiden
“What’s going on?” Ava asks me, her hand finding mine under the table.
Her worried green eyes are the only pair that meet mine as my anger suffocates the air around us, forcing others
into submission. Everyone but my Ava. My mate. The woman I explained to my parents was gifted to me by the
Moon Goddess, who they would have to acc ept as the pack's future Luna, future Queen. My mother voiced her
objection, telling me that a rogue waitress, mate or not, was no match for me. My father, her lapdog to the end,
agreed, though somewhat reluctantly.
It was the only times in my life that my father disappointed me. The times he let his own free will be overridden
and influenced by my mothers. I warned them that my choice remained mine alone as King and their son and that
they better treat their future Queen respectfully. I informed them I would be bringing Ava tonight and expected
them to sit with us so that introductions could be made. While I thought they understood, clearly, my stance on the
matter was not heeded. Aside from them being my parents, the order was given by the King, one they chose to
disobey. Like a slap in the face. Not just to me but to the woman beside me.
I hated them at this moment. How do I tell Ava that my parents have slighted her by sitting at the table with my ex?
How do I tell her that the very scenario she laid out to me earlier is happening, just in such an underhanded way
that it makes it even worse?
“Samuel, take Ava home.” Samuel gets up, moving around the table to stand behind us as he waits for Ava to rise.
“Why? Did I do something wrong?” Ava asks me, releasing my hand under the table as her eyes flash with hurt. I
grasp it, pulling it from under the table and kissing her knuckles.
“No. Not you. You’re perfect. I need to sort something out.” I try to ke ep my voice even, but the rage within makes
the words gruff and strained.
“If it’s about your parents sitting with Selene, I don’t care. I can meet them some other time.” She doesn’t realize
the seriousness of what has happened, brushing it off like it is nothing. Though from how her heart misses a beat
and her eyes only hold mine briefly, I can tell she is lying.
This does bother her.
This wasn’t just nothing. It wasn’t just that my parents had slighted Ava.
What would the rest of the pack think? My parents were royalty. Snubbing her like this sent a message to the pack.
One that put Ava at a disadvantage as an outsider. I didn’t want a r epeat of what she experienced in her old pack
happening here.
“We will talk later. Please go with Samuel.” Desperation se eps into my voice. I don’t want her here for what is
about to happen.
“Come. We can go together and see if there is any dessert somewhere,” Nick coaches, getting up and rounding the
table.
Finally, Ava releases my hand and stands, giving me one last glance before following Samuel to my house a few
minutes away in the woods.
Her belongings had already been moved there during dinner—maybe that would be a distraction. Nick has his arm
looped through hers, her head shaking as she says something to him. She doesn’t look back. As soon as she is out
of sight, I get up, my hands fisting and unclenching at my sides, only to be r epeated.
“Calm down, brother. Remember that they are old-school with old-school thoughts and values. They just want
what's best for you. Though even I wonder how they ever thought Selene was what was best for you. I’ve seen you
smile more in the short time with Ava than in all the years with Selene.
That aside, they really do want what is best for you,” Briana says quietly as I stride towards the table my parents
and Selene are sitting at, their laughter fuelling the rage inside me.
I stop behind them, Selene's eyes drifting up to mine, my parents’ presence perhaps giving her misguided
confidence.
“Ahh, Braiden, son. Have you come to join us?” my mother asks, oblivious or obtuse to the anger seething from me
as she turns to look at me with one of those regal smiles plastered on her face. “Selene was just telling me a funny
story about when you and she visited Spain. Do you remember?
The photos you guys took there were so gorgeous. You make a beautiful couple. Perhaps you two should plan
another trip together. I’m thinking Greece. Or Morocco?” she chirps, turning to face Selene again.
My father at least has the decency to look afraid as he sits beside her.
“Leave. Everyone. Now.” My voice booms out, conveying the order through my tone and the bond linking the pack
to me.
Briana sits at the table next to my dad, grabbing a piece of pizza from his plate.
I slowly move to the head of the table, allowing me to see everyone clearly. The lack of fear in my mother's eyes
further riles me up. I lean forward, my hands gripping the edge of the wooden table.
“You know what you have done.” My mother's serene face stares back at me, unaffected and regal—rage-inducing.
“I told you that I would be bringing Ava tonight and that I expected you to sit with us so that introductions could be
made. Instead, you disobey your King's order, slighting your future Queen before the pack.” My voice is low, even,
laced with authority, and coated with anger.
“Please, Braiden. Stop with this nonsense. You know she isn’t fit to stand beside you. Selene has been with you for
years. She knows what is expected. She is the true Queen,” my mother says, brushing my earlier statement off with
such ease that even my wolf bristles.
I have never before felt this way towards her. My own flesh and blood.
Yes, she is difficult, but she has never overst epped like she is now. Or perhaps she has, and I have just allowed it all
these years. Become how my father is now. I think back over my life. Think about all the times she has convinced
me to take a specific path in my life. When she suggested I marry, I said yes. When she suggested it be Selene, I
said yes. I despised my father for being a walkover, yet here I was, no different. That would change.
I stand up, committed to the course of action I have to take.
“You have disobeyed a direct order from your King. Do you know what the sentence for that is?” Those words do
the trick, and my mother's deadpan expression falls, her eyes going wide.
“Are you mad?!” My father finally finds his voice, his face as pale as Briana’s. Her attack on the slice of pizza in
her hand halts as she looks from me to our parents.
“I won’t ask again.” I grind out, looking from my father to my mother, her eyes still like saucers.
“Banished from the pack,” my mother answers quietly, her lip quivering slightly.
“As you are royalty and my parents, I will consider your years of service to the pack. You will be allocated a house
outside of the main pack lands.
You will no longer attend royal functions or pack functions. Food and supplies will be delivered to you. All
privileges will be stripped. Perhaps some time off your high horse will remind you that I am still the King, and
what I say goes. No matter who you are. You would do well to remember that, Selene.” The blood drains from
Selene's face while my mother gasps, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. My dad cradles her in his arms as she
starts sobbing, Briana’s shocked voice calling me as I walk away. I issue the instructions to my guards as they
approach me before they move past me to escort my parents to their new home.
As I walk away from my parents and towards Ava, my anger fades to sadness. I wish so much that this would have
turned out differently. That they would have acc epted her.