Reluctant Luna

Ella

I should have fucking known it wouldn’t be this easy!

Jace stared at me like I was the biggest disappointment. I could see it all the way from across the room. Neither of us uttered a word to one another, and I suppose that was for the best. The man was sitting at the head of the pack table, with my very own sister, arm wrapped around her shoulders like a meaty scarf. Why would he suddenly announce to the whole pack that he’d suddenly found his fated mate, when his chosen mate was already tucked next to him, wearing his mark? His honey brown eyes glared at me and I felt scrutinized in every sense of the word, and by the look on his perfectly angled, ruggedly handsome face, the existence of me left a lot to be desired.

I sighed, a little huff escaping as I turned my gaze to the area around me. I had been gone for 4 years, away at school and doing some traveling. This was the first time I’d been back to the pack since I’d come to the age of being able to find my mate. Who knew it was the Alpha? Not that anyone would care, Jace was 3 years older than me, and was required to take a mate before he could take over the pack. He and my sister had been together off and on for awhile in high school. Not really exclusive, but you know, “seeing” each other.

She was a sweet woman, so it’s not like I wanted to ruin her life or anything. We didn’t have a close relationship as sisters, but she never went out of her way to make me feel like shit. I was kind of the “spare” daughter. My parents were proud of my accomplishments, but Circe was definitely the golden child. I could find the cure for cancer and receive a tepid “good job, Ella”, while Circe would plant a garden and receive accolades of praise for how perfect and beautiful it was, and it absolutely would be, it would yield the most vibrant and hearty crops and the harvest would fill the cellars and storerooms with enough to spare surrounding packs.

I found a seat as far from the happy couple as I could, trying to ignore the pull that was being elicited from my wolf. She seemed to bounce anxiously, but I knew better than to make a scene. Maybe he would talk to me later and at least give me the decency of a proper rejection. How sad was it that I was looking forward to a rejection?

Why did I bother to come back here? I was doing fine in Wyoming. Coming back to Missouri was literally the worst idea ever. He was staring at me. Jace finally looked back to my perfect sister and smiled. I gave a sigh of relief that his gaze wasn’t on me anymore, for now at least. Oh gods this was going to suck. I already knew he was going to reject me, expected it completely. I could never compete with Circe.

Mom came back from the kitchen and brought me a plate of food, setting it down, not saying anything before going back to her conversation. I don’t think she even managed a “Welcome home” or anything for me, just a silent acknowledgment of my existence by putting food in front of my round face.

Makes sense, I guess, I was the fat sister, there was no reason to assume I’d do anything other than eat. I picked at my food absently. I wasn’t really hungry, even though I’d just gotten in from the long drive from the airport, since no one drove up to pick me up. I’d told Mom and Dad when I would be in town a couple of months ago, but by the looks of things, they’d completely forgotten. I wasn’t surprised. I called them once a week to check in and it was always the same conversation about how amazing everything was going, how well Circe was doing as Luna, how energetic the last pack run was.

I never even got an invitation or an order of attendance for the Luna Mating Ceremony. In fact, my sister and parents never told me when it was announced. It almost felt intentional.

Almost, but then they’d have to actually think about you long enough to intentionally leave you out.

I’d waited for my Mom to even come by and say something, but she was just too wrapped up in her conversation with Judith, her long-time friend. I was already over this dinner, but knew it would be better to stick around and get the rejection over with, figuring Jace would do it after dinner since he hadn’t already done it publicly. Thank the gods for small miracles.

The only thing I knew for sure, was that this was the first time in 4 years that I’d stepped foot in the Deer Moon pack, and it also happened to be the first birthday I’d spent here, and it was shaping up to be the actual worst. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. My parents never called me on my birthday, I always called them, and more often than not they completely forgot. On the rare occasion they did remember it was my birthday, it would be at the very end of our all too short phone call, as an afterthought right before hanging up. It hadn’t bothered me the last couple of years. I’d made some friends in the local pack where I was living, so we’d go hang out at the local bar and get a little tipsy before they’d force me into some socially damaging karaoke.

Oh well, I wasn’t planning on staying here. I never felt wanted, so I’d planned on asking for a permanent leave when I showed up. The local pack in Wyoming had offered me a permanent place with them and I’d fully intending on taking it, even more so now after all of this insanity smacked me in the face.

Jace

Seriously? Four years, Ella.

She leaves for 4 fucking years, then shows up on the night that Circe and I are about to announce our pup to the pack, and it turns out Ella, my chosen mate’s sister, is my fated mate? I looked down into the beautiful cornflower blue eyes of my Luna and gave a watery smile. She was about 13 weeks along now and still had a fair amount of morning sickness.

I snuck a look over to Ella, sitting as far away from me as possible. Thank the gods she didn’t try to lay claim in front of everyone. I didn’t want to have to reject her publicly.

Sigh. If she’d shown up on her 21st birthday, for her Lunar Acceptance, I wouldn’t have to reject her dumbass at all. At least that’s what I was telling myself in the heat of this moment. I honestly wasn’t 100% sure if I would have chosen her over Circe. I know that made me sound like a shit of a mate, but Circe and I had history, and I didn’t really know much about Ella.

She was always there in the back, making herself small. Every time I would go to pick Circe up for a date, she’d be by the back window, sitting with her latest library book, probably reading something nerdy. The two sisters couldn’t be more different. Circe was outgoing, but soft spoken. She had cascading honey colored wavy hair, and soft cornflower blue eyes. She was tall, athletic and spunky with soft sun-kissed skin. Ella had pale, moon-kissed skin, was short and squat, and was a wallflower, with damn-near black hair that curled into big ringlets, and I honestly couldn’t tell you what color her eyes were because she never got close enough to me to let me see, and when she did, she kept her eyes averted from mine. She was timid, but smart as hell. I was pretty sure she was the head of her class, but refused to walk, so, valedictorian went to the next person in line by default. Where Circe was athletically built, Ella was huskier. She always wore shapeless clothes and held herself, almost like she was trying to hide.

I watched her pick at the plate that her mom came by and plopped down in front of her and saw her take a quick glance my way again, giving me a sad smile.

I wasn’t really sure what choice I had. My Luna was beside me, angelic. I couldn’t tell Circe that her sister was my fated mate, it would destroy her. I’d wait until dinner was over, and Circe was off to bed. “Ella, good of you to finally make your way back home after all these years.” I nearly shouted.”I’m going to need you to stop by my office after dinner.”

Everyone stopped eating and starred at her. I could see her shrink into her chair, and a barely audible “okay” whispered across the hall. Yeah, no, she was definitely not Luna material. I could never have had a timid Luna. My wolf was whining in my head and my chest felt heavy. He didn’t share my sentiments, I wasn’t surprised by this, fated mates would make one stronger than a chosen, but the deed had been done for over 2 years and an Alpha needed a mate, fated or otherwise.