CH 10

Gregory. He had no choice, under the weight of that aura, to tell the full truth of what he’d done, he’d made sure it always happened away from his brother. He knew what Marcus thought on the matter, though he’d already told Jessica how it would be. She was too cowed to tell anyone about feeling any pains of betrayal. That girl had no backbone at all, just lay there and took it, she wasn’t strong enough to fight either one of them off. Had learned very quickly what her place was and to live with it. He’d not spoken to her until today in well over a year, had nothing to say to her that was of consequence to him or their mate bond anymore. Hector stood over him while even Marcus tried to strike out at him, for his words, “Oh, get over yourself, you don’t like her any more than I do. If you could get away with it, you would too. You’re out there flirting with all the she-wolves in the pack as much as I am.” Marcus snarled at him for those very words, and he realized they could have kept that very thing to themselves, it seems he didn’t have any self-control at all when thinking about things where his Mate was concerned. He couldn’t bloody keep his mouth shut and only answer questions he was asked, just had to spew out words that would see more auras rolling over him or them and more questions aimed at them. “She-wolves of this pack?” he heard his mother state angrily, and realized his mistake at that one moment. It now wasn’t just going to be them that was questioned, every she-wolf in their social circle was now going to be hauled in and ordered to tell them about anything that had even been said about how they spoke of Jessica. Alarm bells were suddenly going off inside his head as he thought about that very thing, something he’d once said that was more than disrespectful, but was outright cruel and disgusting as well. He was definitely going to get a lashing if those words were repeated. Marcus hadn’t stated them, but he’d laughed along with him about it. Thought it was amusing to hear, but hadn’t voiced anything himself, he wondered now if his twin had thought ahead to a moment just like this. Where they might one day have to be explainable to their parents, and be ordered things, so he’d never said such course words. Held his tongue whereas Gregory held nothing back. He didn’t want that fugly as his Mate and so hadn’t cared to show any kind of respect for her. Didn’t care for anyone inside their social circle too either. Though even as he thought about that very thing, he realized he couldn’t continue to think that: she wasn’t fat or ugly anymore. Though did he regret how he’d treated her? … No. She deserved it as far as he was concerned. That humiliation he’d suffered the day they’d scented her out before all the she-wolves that would love to be mated to him, and had snorted, fully amused about her not wanting him, and faking not knowing they were her Mates. Played up having no wolfen senses to avoid being their Mates, that had to be paid back a thousand-fold as far as he was concerned. He looked to his mother, and she was more than angry now. “How many in your social group should I bring in?” she bit out. He said nothing and neither did Marcus, only to have Hector’s aura roll over him once more and ask the same question. “All of them,” he gasped out. He got struck by his own mother before that Aura was even stopped. She was damned fast at times. “You are going to want to hope it was none of the she-wolves in your social group that you let touch you, or I’ll be taking their heads off in front of you, after telling them why. “For the utter disrespect they showed to not only the future Luna. But to the mate bond itself. And for each one of our own pack members you let do that, you’ll take a full lashing with the cat of five tails and be scarred for life.” She snarled at him. He’d fallen backwards on his ass when she’d struck him, and his eyes were now on her very wide as he heard those words. Even though he wasn’t ever stupid enough to let one of this pack’s she-wolves touch him like that, they’d mostly been humans because humans couldn’t see the filigree or pick up the mate scent to know he was attached to another. She-wolves from other packs where their own fathers or mothers, leadership, didn’t respect the mate bond, thought it was okay in their books to not do so either. There were many she-wolves from a pack out by the ocean, run by Alpha Jayden who didn’t care for a mate bond, attending the same university he did. They all understood he didn’t like nor want his Mate, he’d told them point blankly he didn’t, and they’d just nodded and been happy to be hands-on with him or let him get handsey with them. He had actually considered the fact that if he did let one of the she-wolves here in this pack, touch him or kiss him, get handsey with him, that, they might go and lord it over Jessica, that he wanted them and not her, and it would in fact become known knowledge to their social group. That it would get back to not only Marcus but maybe his own parents at some point and see him be in a world of pain so he’d never let anyone here inside this pack touch him. He also made sure it was when Jessica was always outside of the pack and not in it so she couldn’t go stumbling about for all to see and hear her being hit with the pains of betrayal. He wasn’t so stupid as to do that, her getting hit with them out in the human world, and having to explain it to humans was another thing altogether. She couldn’t well go and tell them she could feel her husband touching another, would have to grit her teeth and bare it. Say she didn’t know what it was that was wrong with her. His mother was glaring at him in a filthy rage from what he could tell, and when he looked at both his fathers, they were going to be of no help to him, and he knew it. He’d listened to everything that had been said inside this room by all three of them and a part of him now wondered if what he’d done had been the reason she’d lost all that weight, just like they all said it would. That now she’d hidden how she looked from her own Mates because of that very thing; it was entirely possible he now realized that everything his mother stated was about to come about. It was likely Jessica hated not only him but Marcus as well. She wouldn’t have known which one of them was causing her pains of betrayal and probably thought it was both of them. The way she’d smiled at him, at Marcus today, her aim was for them to not only see how she looked now, was a complete knock-out, but he realized what she’d done, was to see them come under the full fire of their own parents, with a full view to seeing herself be allowed to reject them. That b***h was playing a game of letting them see just what they could have been having all this time, what they could've had in the future, only to never be allowed to touch her ever again. With all that they’d done, she knew if she could prove it all, get them to be ordered the truth of everything from their marking and mating of her. The Luna in this pack would in fact be on her side and allow that rejection to be voiced and force them to accept it. She was aiming to leave them, but to show them exactly what they had and could no longer have. She was only coming back tonight after work to see a rejection go between them and nothing more. Neither he nor Marcus would ever be able to have her as she was now, because they had never noticed she’d looked like this for the past year, she’d stated. They’d been blind to the changes to herself because they didn’t love her or care about her. If they were going to keep their mate bond, they were going to have to accept all punishments dished out and actually apologize to Jessica, agree to have their mother monitor everything between them from now on. If his mother could talk her into staying mated to them, that was. Although he had a feeling it was what his mother had wanted and was why she’d brought up solidifying Jessica’s position to the pack, but now, he didn’t know if that was going to be the case, after what she’d just learned about him, that was. The problem now was, would she only have him accept a rejection if Marcus was willing to apologize and pledge his loyalty to Jessica? He’d never caused her pains of betrayal, not only kept his hands to himself but also told she-wolves he was mated and glared at the ones that tried to touch him. He now realized that Marcus could never be said to have said such harsh vulgar words as he had either, so there was a full possibility that only he would be forced out of the Mate Bond and be left on the outside of it. Have to know Marcus was getting to be with her in that bed up there. Because the moment that rejection was voiced, he’d be unseated and de-ranked, and he knew it. Kicked out of the packhouse, and if Marcus could turn himself around and treat Jessica with respect and care, allow that bond to grow and flourish, Gregory was going to also have to see them in time all over each other and always know she was once his Goddess-Gifted Mate; that he’d lost due to his own actions. He looked at his mother as he thought about all of that and didn’t want it to come about, he wouldn’t handle it and he knew it. Likely try and get her alone and take a piece of her for getting him de-ranked and unseated. It was her fault, not his, seeing as she was now telling his parents to order the truth from them. If she kept her mouth shut, none of this would be happening. “I’ll change my ways. Repent.” He stated, “Give us both the chance to change and redeem ourselves, we’re only 22, young and selfish, we can grow and learn from this.” “Oh, can you?” his own father, Graham, muttered, “Or are you just now realizing the full ramifications of your stupidity and are just trying to save your ass. I don’t think if you’ve treated her this badly for the past three years that you have suddenly seen the light. It doesn’t happen in the blink of an eye.” “She’s different now, not like before… overweight and, well… not pretty,” Gregory sighed. “I wasn’t at all attracted to her. Now I’ve seen just how beautiful she is, and I am willing to try and get to know her properly, treat her right. I’ll apologize and mean it.” “You will, but only after I get to the very truth of the matter, and we see what it is Jessica wants. If she doesn't forgive you, you’ll be accepting a rejection from her.” “Mother,” he implored, knowing full well Jessica wasn't about to forgive him. “Don’t mother me, pains of betrayal to your Luna, is unacceptable and shows you don’t care at all about her. Marcus might scrape through by the skin of his teeth, but again, it’s now not going to be up to either of you. You will both take lashes before she comes home and be on that shaming post when she does arrive. You’ll have to convince her yourself. It’s now out of my hands.” She turned away from him and looked at her mates. “Get the full truth from both of them.”