Chosen by Fate, Rejected by the Alpha

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Trinity

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  I had to remind myself for the millionth time that Reece was doing what he thought was best. Even though he was a misogynistic overgrown cave dog that thought I couldn't help protect myself. I knew deep down that he was right though. That who ever attacked us before could come back. That next time I might not get away or someone I care about might get hurt. I knew it all, but that didn't make it any easier.

  Once the shock and heartache of having no life finally settled, I had to figure out what I was going to do now. And Reece had said he would try to work out a way for me to still sit my exams, he'd worked some miracles already so he might just pull it off.

  A thought struck me. I had told Noah I only had two jobs going for me right now, student and Luna. Well, I couldn't do one of them right now, so I guess I better do the other. Some of my jobs as a Luna included managing disputes between the females in the pack, handling social gatherings, and making sure the women and children were provided for in any way.

  So, going off those duties, I thought it was best to try and get some of the pack to trust me as the Luna more, and build my rapport. I couldn't go to class, fine, then I was going to work on being the Luna. But I just don't know how to go about doing that.

  I wish I had someone to help me learn to be the Luna. Someone I could ask questions of. I'm sure Katie had it easier because Riley's mom was still alive and could help her transition into the role. I guess Reece's mom was still technically alive as well, but I couldn't ask her anything.

  The thought of her sitting up there, alone most of the time made my heart hurt. I knew that Reece talked to her, but no one else did. I'm not even sure if her maid or doctor did.

  Just then I had a sudden idea. Reece was gone for the day on another one of his meetings, the last of which I was supposed to go on but was now banned from. So, I knew what I was going to do. I'm going to visit his mom. I thought to myself. I knew she wouldn't be able to talk back to me, but if I was her, I would want someone to talk to me as often as they could.

  I didn't want to let anyone know I was there, but Reece would probably smell my scent and figure it out anyway, so it really didn't matter. I crept slowly down the hall while no one was around. I knew that Abigail and Peter were downstairs, but I never knew exactly who would be in the house at any given time.

  I made it down the hall and to her room with no incident and slipped in as quietly as I could, shutting the door silently behind me. I thought the room would be dark and dreary, but it was actually bright and open. The curtains open and let in lots of natural lights.

  I saw her then, sitting in a rocking chair next to the window. She was wearing a loose-fitting white nightgown. With the light shining on her golden-brown hair and reflecting off her pale nearly translucent skin she almost looked like an angel, or a ghost, sitting there. She definitely didn't look real.

  I walked closer to her, nervous and afraid that she would choose now to wake up and catch me. But she didn't move or make a sound at all. I pulled a chair in front of her and sat, looking her in the face. She was beautiful. Even withered away as she was. I could see how beautiful she was and how much Reece loved his mother.

  It was clear that she had been a beautiful woman when she was younger. But having spent seven years in this catatonic state she had wasted away. She looked thin and frail. Weakened by the years of mental imprisonment.

  I just wanted to help her, to make her better. Not just for her sake, but for Reece's too. Seeing her like this for so long had to be hard on him. It broke my heart thinking about it. Even with how angry he could make me sometimes I couldn't bring myself to hate him outright. He was a great alpha after all, and only seemed to be a jerk to me.

  I didn't know what to do or say, so I just started talking at random.

  "Hello Luna, or former Luna, you don't know me but I'm Reece's mate. I'm the new Luna of the pack. And boy, do I wish you were here to help me." I sighed looking at her beautiful face full of soft features.

  "You have an amazing son." I continued, I didn't want to lie to her, but I wasn't going to tell her the truly terrible things either. Just in case she could hear me. "He's been doing a great job running the pack. Everyone loves him. He's strong, and fair, and smart when it comes to keeping the pack safe and running properly." All these things were true. He was excellent at his job.

  "And he's handsome too. So very handsome. Probably more handsome than one man has the right to be. And believe me, he knows how good he looks. He's probably used that to his advantage far too many times." I laughed to myself, thinking about how he must have acted in the past.

  "But I know he is hurting too. I know he misses you. Your absence has hurt him so much, but he would never admit it. He's too proud and stubborn for that. Instead, he holds it all in, bottling up everything until it gets to be too much." I could feel my heart aching. I knew how he must feel, bottling up the emotions. I had done that for years too.

  "I wish you could get better." I implored as I grabbed her hand gently, rubbing my thumb along her knuckles. "I wish you could be there for him. To see the man that he has become. To help support him where I'm failing him. To give him whatever it is he needs that I lack." I poured my heart and soul into those words, I truly wished she would wake up for Reece's sake. Not my own selfish need for a Luna tutor, but for Reece's.

  I sat there with her for a little while longer. I told her about all the worries I had about being the Luna. About what I wanted to do. How I wished that people would trust me more so it would be easier. After a couple hours I figured I should leave before anyone found me in the room.

  I snuck back out of the room and made it down the hall to my own once again. I was amazed that I had not been caught at all. I knew Reece would come ask me later what I had been doing there, but I would deal with that when the time came.

  The most important thing was, I knew what I wanted to do with all my free time now. I wanted to start bringing groups of women and children here to spend time with them. To have some sort of events on a weekly basis, or even a few times a week. I needed to build my rapport with them. I needed to get them to trust me as their new Luna. Most still didn't know anything about me except that I didn't have a wolf.

  It was almost Thanksgiving, just five days away now. I could have a big feast for everyone, but that would take too much time to prepare and it was too last minute. But I could just have women and children come in small groups for different activities. That would help to get everyone to know me and trust me somewhat.

  I could run arts and crafts for different groups of kids. We could do hikes in the woods for others. There was an endless list of things we could do to get the kids involved. And eventually I would need to do something to get just the women involved. There were a lot of women who didn't have young children after all.

  Reece never came and asked me why I had been in to see his mother, though I know he noticed. The only reaction he gave was an intense glare on Sunday morning at breakfast, but he never said a word. What was more exciting that happened on Sunday was Vincent calling to tell me that Heather had gone into labor, they were going to have the baby that day.

  Reece refused to let me go see Heather in the hospital, so I had to wait until she was recovered, and the baby was able to come visit me instead. But I was so excited for them that I went online and ordered a big bouquet of flowers to be sent to her. And then I went and ordered a few things for the baby. I couldn't help myself.

  Vincent called later that day to let me know that they had another little girl, and they were naming her Faith. I was touched because that was my middle name. I didn't know if they chose it because of me or not, but I was still happy. Now they had Conner, Renea, and Faith.