Moon Born

Chapter 3

My face felt like it was on fire. People's gazes shifted between the newly marked pair and myself.

"Alex! What did you do?" Alpha Anwar bellowed, storming toward his son.

"Oh, shit!" Ashley whispered loudly. "There is some serious drama lama going on here tonight."

"Ash!" I looked at her, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Girl, you dodged a freaking bullet here. I'm sorry, but had that been you, you deserve better than this hot mess."

King Orsand murmured rather loudly and Queen Amelia looked completely disgusted.I locked eyes with Rich momentarily. He looked shocked and mad.

"Harmony!" he finally screamed.

"You're not watching this anymore. I refuse to allow it!" Ashley grabbed my hand and dragged me across the ballroom toward the stairs.

As we stormed past Alex and Harmony she glowered at them. "You two are shit for doing that like that."

I looked back as they stood, nuzzling one another. Nobody else, besides Alpha Anwar had even dared to move. Not even our completely mortified parents.

Ashley held my hand tight as she pulled me up the stairs and all the way to my bedroom. "Okay. You stay. I'll be right back."

I nodded as she shut the door behind her. I sat on the floor, sobbing and hugging my knees.

There was a soft knock on the door and a voice called out, "Can I come in?"

"Ashley?" I sniffled, recognizing my friend's voice.

"Yeah, it's me. Can I come in?"

I stood up and opened the door a crack, allowing Ashley to poke her head in.

"Hey there." she asked.

I looked at her and sniffled.

Ashley nodded sympathetically. "I know this is really tough, but I brought something that might help. I bribed the bartender and got us this bottle of champagne and some glasses. Want to try to drown your sorrows a little?"

She held up the bottle and glasses, and I reached out my hand to take one.

"Maybe not everyone saw what happened," Ashley said, trying to comfort me.

"Everyone saw!" I wailed, collapsing back onto the bed. "I can't believe this. Why would he do something like this in public? I loved him, Ashley. I can't understand why he would humiliate me like this."

"I know it's hard to understand, but the whole concept of a mate bond can be really confusing. Maybe he just couldn't control himself," Ashley said.

"But what about Harmony? She's my sister. She could have at least told him to wait until the marking ceremony. I was so sure he was my mate," I said, feeling hopeless.

"I know," Ashley said, handing me a glass of champagne. "It sucks that this happened, but if he couldn't even wait to mark his mate privately, maybe you dodged a bullet by not being with him. You deserve someone who will treat you with respect and love."

"I know, but it still hurts. Why couldn't he wait like a normal wolf? How am I supposed to go back to school and face everyone after this?" I asked, feeling overwhelmed.

"It's not that bad."

I rolled my eyes while chugging the bubbly in my glass. "It's worse than bad. It's completely humiliating."

"Yeah, that is pretty bad. I doubt anyone's going to care."

"Ashley, they're going to care. They're going to talk about it. The future alpha marked his girlfriend's sister. In public. At their birthday party. This is the biggest news to hit the pack in years."