Shannon ran over and grabbed his hand. “Amy, how can you say that?”
“Because he is supposed to be my mate, and even though we are friends, he chose you over me.” I looked her dead in the eyes. “That seems to happen more and more frequently, don’t you think?” A tiny threat entered my voice.
Morgan caught it. I saw him twitch. “Fine, we are leaving.” Then he stormed out the door, pushing the others. I slammed the door and locked it with magic.
I turned to my mother. “They won’t be coming back here.” My mom sighed.
The next morning, my mom came with me to the pack house. We walked in and everyone froze. A few whispers could be heard in the back, but my mom kept her head raised high and headed straight upstairs. When she reached the second floor, I grabbed her before she could head to Vince’s office and anything happened.
“What are you doing?” She hissed back at me.
I smiled. “Did you think I would make you face them alone?” I shook my head and nodded toward the hallway. “Come to my office, so I can drop off my stuff. I’ll let Rick know where I’ll be and then come with you.”
My mom shook her head. “I can do this alone.”
I snorted. “Of course you can, but I won’t let you.” I pulled her to my office and walked in to find Brandon pacing the floor. I felt my face stiffen for a minute and I looked away quickly, like I was fighting tears. “Brandon, I told you I needed space.”
“Babe.” He came towards me but stopped short when he saw my mom.
“Brandon.” Her voice was cool. “I’m surprised you managed to get away from Shannon.” Her words were like knives and I saw them hit their mark. Good. I want him to be on shaky ground. I need him to be unsure, but not clingy. It was a balancing act, and I hadn’t found the sweet spot yet.
“Ainsley, I didn’t realize you were coming in today with Amy.” Brandon was trying to recover.
My mom scoffed. “I said I was coming in for my divorce. The earlier, the better.”
Brandon raised his hands in surrender. “I’m not your enemy.” He looked to me for help but I just looked away and wiped at my dry face. “Amy, I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”
“Yet again, you chose your ex girlfriend instead of your supposed mate.” My mother glared at him. “You keep acting like you are the victim here, Brandon. But I was cheated on, I was betrayed. And then you sided with your ex girlfriend. Amy did nothing to deserve what you did. AND YOU HAVE DONE IT OVER AND OVER.” She shook herself and dropped her voice back down. Her arm came around my shoulder. “I have been Morgan’s victim, but Amy has been your and Shannon’s victim.”
Brandon came over to us and tried to grab my hands. But I pulled away. “Amy…please.”
I finally looked at him, and I made sure I had tears filling my eyes. “I’ve been thinking…maybe we should cancel the mating ceremony.” He stumbled back a step. “I love you but it’s obvious you still have feelings for Shannon. And I don’t want to come between you two.”
“But we are supposed to be mated in less than a month.” He looked a little lost.
“I know, but since Shannon spent most of the time creating the mating ceremony, maybe she will be okay stepping in as your mate. It’s obvious you want to be together.” I looked away. “Please excuse us. My mom needs to speak to your dad.” I smiled sadly. “I’ll let him know so that everything will be handled today.” I turned away and walked into Rick’s office.
“Amy?” He looked up and saw my face. “What’s wrong?” He stood and walked over to the door, and saw my mother glaring at Brandon. I watched his face cool. “Alpha Brandon, I know I don’t have the right to ask, but I think it’s better if you leave. Could you head to your father’s office? I’m sure you will be present in the meeting Amy was just talking about.”
Brandon looked like he wanted to argue, but my mom growled. His eyes cut to her and I heard him swallow. I had to cover my mouth like I was holding in a sob, when in reality I needed to keep my smile hidden. “Yeah. I’ll go. Amy…we will talk later.” Then his steps faded away.
I made it a show to wipe more of my face and sniffled for the camera wherever it was. And then I walked over to Rick. “Thank you for that.” I gave him a watery smile. “I came in here to tell you I was going with my mother to handle her divorce, but hopefully I will be back to finish the day.”
Rick shook his head. “No. I think after the meeting, you and your mom should head home.” He gave me a look. There was something I needed to see, and he was giving me an excuse to disappear for the day.
“Are you sure? I can still work.” I let my smile waver. But Rick shook his head.
“Go for a run, reconnect with your wolf. Your entire world is about to shift. Take the day, take the night, and then come back tomorrow and work. I was able to do my work before you gothere. I can manage a day.” He patted my shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
Something was happening in the forest today and I was going to find out what it was.
Chapter Forty-Four
We walked into Vince’s office a few minutes later, and everyone was already waiting. Morgan and Shannon were on the left. One chair was empty to the right, and Brandon was standing next to Vince, who was already seated behind the desk, looking stern.
“Alpha Vince.” I nodded once and stood behind my mother who took the chair.
“Vince.” My mom looked to the left. “I assume you know why we are here.”
