Her Brother's Mate

It was a normal training day, and she was pushing herself to the max. She overheard some tribe members talking about her father. As far as she knew, he was taking a break from the pack and giving an opening to his sons to take over. When she heard that her father was coming back to attend Solomon and Jasmine's mating ritual. He never made it to any of her birthday parties, but he was coming back for their mating ritual. She couldn’t breathe and was during a panic attack when Jasmine found her. Esther's eyes began turning black as she lost control of everything. She was unaware of how much longer she could hold on to when she heard Jasmine's voice. It was Jasmine who pulled her from the darkness. It was Jasmine who held her as she cried. She was inconsolable, but that did not matter because Jasmine was the first person to show her love. For the last few years, she had been pushing herself to forget that her father left, pushing herself to be the person the tribe needed her to be. At that moment, she let her guard down and welcomed Jasmine. Since then, she and Jasmine have become the best of friends. Solomon was at ease knowing that his sister and mate were finally getting along. A few years later, it was Abrahams's turn to attend the annual mating ritual. The first time her brother returned, he was heartbroken and locked himself in his room for weeks. Esther had to fake an illness to get him to come out, and even after that, he wasn’t the same. Abraham saw his older brother and mate's love and wanted it for himself. He was happy when Jasmine became pregnant and looked forward to the mating ritual. His hopes were lower for the next year, and the only thing was looking forward to returning to his new nephew. What he did not expect was finding his mate. Abraham had his mate wait outside as he ran into the house. He knew his brother's nervousness when he introduced his mate to Esther. He knew his grandmother would love her, but Esther was hard to please. He had made the same vow his brother made all those years ago. The first thing he did was to announce to everyone that he had found his mate. The tribe was happy and was looking over his shoulders to meet this new woman. He told them she was waiting for him outside and went to find Esther. He found her in her brother’s room playing with her nephew and pulled her outside. Esther was shocked and curious to know why and where her brother was pulling her. She hoped it wasn’t because he did not find his mate again. They reached an empty corridor before he stopped pulling. He turned around to face his sister. His face filled with turmoil as Esther became even more confused. “Hey, what’s wrong? Everything okay,” Esther said softly. Abraham took a few deep breaths before explaining the situation. “Sister, I don’t ask you for much, but please don’t give her the cold shoulder like you gave Jasmine in the beginning. I know how hard it is for you, but please, for me, can you.” Abraham was almost begging at this point. Esther heard the pleading in her brother’s voice and saw the turmoil in his face. She knew that she was the cause of this. Her brother’s mate was outside the packhouse waiting for the okay from her mate’s younger sister on whether she would accept her or not. Esther drew a deep breath and nodded her head a yes, as her brother at once took off to get his mate. His face lightened as the worry that he once had gone. Esther thought for a second about how Solomon was when he saw that his sister and mate were not getting along. She laughed that Abraham learned from his brother and chose to get my buy-in before introducing her. Esther made her way downstairs to meet her brother’s mate. She took her position behind her grandmother, Solomon, and Jasmine. She did not want to be the first reaction her brother's mate saw. Abraham and his mate Desiree walked through the door; she was much shorter than him but adorable. She had short black hair and a button nose. Everyone went and embraced the new couple except for her grandmother. Esther noticed that her grandmother did not budge, but most importantly, she noticed her grandmother's face. Soon everyone noticed that Luna Samantha hadn’t moved, but most importantly, they all began to disperse when they saw her face. A few minutes later, it was only Abraham, Desiree, Solomon, Jasmine, Samantha, and Esther. The tension in the room grew as it seemed that Abraham should have been worried about his grandmother accepting Desiree and not just Desiree. Samantha motioned for the family to sit down as she pulled Esther to sit next to her on the couch. Abraham looked extremely nervous as he tried to decide his grandmother's thinking. He saw her brothers looking at each other and knew their minds were linking. Esther tried to communicate with her grandmother but realized that her grandmother was blocking everybody. “Desiree, it’s nice to meet you. Tell me where you are from” Samantha was using her Luna’s voice, which scared everyone. Desiree Shifted in her seat before responding. Her voice cracked as she formally introduced herself, “My name is Desiree of the Sequential tribe, and my family worked in the packhouse cleaning and cooking.” Samantha kept quiet as Desiree continued her introduction. Esther stared at her grandmother, wondering what she was thinking. She then broke the tension “nice to meet you, Desiree; you know my brother has a very hefty appetite, and he is way pickier than me regarding his food. He terrorizes the kitchen staff with his food moods. So, it is great that you can cook; you can take over on that part,” Esther chirped. Desiree smiled at the comment,” I would be glad to.” They both smiled at each other, and her brother whispered thank you. Samantha cleared her throat, and the room became silent again. “What do you want from us Desiree?” Esther nearly choked at what her grandmother had just said. She started tucking her grandmother’s shirt, ignoring her granddaughter. Solomon looked at his grandmother and Abraham, and the pain in Abrahams's eyes spoke wonders as he tightened his grip on Desiree's hands. Abraham was shocked and in pain that his grandmother questioned the intent of his mate. She welcomed Jasmine with open arms and questioned his mate. Desiree took a deep breath before responding, “Luna, with all due respect, I have no bad intentions toward your tribe or Abraham. I was shocked to learn that mate was an Alpha, let alone one of the Alphas of the Diamond Cloak Tribe, one of the most powerful tribes in the country. I am honored and will do anything to earn your trust and to prove my worth to you” Samantha looked at her quizzically before nodding an okay. “If this is true, I look forward to getting to know you better; however, until that moment we will hold off on the Luna ceremony. You can have the mating ritual, but we will hold off on the Luna part of it until then,” Samantha said before walking out. Solomon and Jasmine apologized to Desiree before leaving. Esther looked at her brother before standing up. She was conflicted, she had not accepted Desiree, and after hearing about her grandmother, she was even wearier. She walked over to her brother and his mate, gave them a hug, and left. It took Desiree a whole year before her Luna ceremony, and Samantha only gave in due to the nagging and pressure. She had not fully accepted Desiree, but she decided to put it aside as it was causing a strain on her grandkids. She focused more on Esther as her granddaughter would soon be eligible for the mating ritual. Once Esther finds her mate, there is a chance she will be leaving for good, and when that happens, Samantha will be officially retiring from all Luna duties. She hadn’t had the conversation with her grandsons yet, but she was determined to get Esther and Jasmine ready to become great Luna.