Chapter 22

Dinner chaos

Knox's POV

The tension in the air was huge, and it only grew thicker as Susie draped herself over Melissa, faking concern and affection.

I knew Susie well enough to recognize her lies when I heard them, and tonight, she was laying them on thick.

I mean she practically thrashed our room a few hours ago and kept yelling that her sister was such a bitch, and now this?

"Oh, my darling Sister," Susie cooed after finally releasing Melissa from the tight hug and holding her at arm's length.

Her eyes were gleaming with fake ass warmth as she eyed her sister. "I've missed you so so much. Do you know I searched everywhere for you after you left? Do you know how worried I was?. I just couldn't rest until I knew you were safe."

Ok come on! This was clearly a show she was putting for our guests.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and Melissa wasn't buying it either; I could tell that just by the way her shoulders tensed and by how her lips pressed together into a thin line, though she kept her expression neutral.

"Oh really sister? That's really surprising and kind of you," Melissa replied while keeping her voice steady, though I could here more than a hint of sarcasm buried under the polite words. "But I don't remember you being too concerned when I was told to leave, in fact, if I remember clearly, you encouraged it."

Susie's smile faltered for a fraction of a second before she recovered, and her eyes narrowed slightly. "Well, you know how things were back then. So much was happening, and you…well, I didn't expect you'd go very far. We always thought you were more suited for… more slavery—sorry house maid tasks in neighboring packs, not running off into the world."

Susie let the insulting implication hang in the air, and I felt my jaw clench.

She was practically saying that Melissa was good for nothing except being a slave.

It was obvious that Susie was going to push this until Melissa snapped, but I was starting to wonder if Melissa even had it in her to snap at all. She'd always been so timid, so quiet, back when we were…involved. But then again, the woman standing here now was different.

Melissa's eyes flicked up to meet Susie's, an I could see a spark of irritation in them.

"It's very funny," Melissa suddenly said, keeping her tone just as sharp as Susie's. "I remember everyone saying you were more suited to be nothing more than a gold digging housewife to a middle class noble man, but look at you now—living the high life as the Alpha's wife. Clearly people were a little wrong about you."

Someone from the crowd suddenly laughed at that and Susie nearly exploded.

Susie's smile became so strained that I worried that her face might tear, her grip on Melissa's arms tightened ever so slightly before she let go and took a step back. "Well, I guess we've both exceeded expectations," Susie replied sweetly, though the bitter venom was clear in her voice.

"I suppose we have," Melissa agreed, a small, satisfied smile playing on her lips. She wasn't backing down, and I couldn't help but feel a boost of pride for her.

The old Melissa from years ago would have crumbled under Susie's jabs, but this Melissa was holding her ground, and with such grace and class that it was almost impressive.

But Susie wasn't done yet, no way. She took a casual sip from the wine glass she'd picked up from a passing server and looked at Melissa with feigned innocence. "Darling sister, I was so shocked to hear you're a doctor now. I mean, no one ever thought you were…you know, smart enough for anything other than housework, seeing as you were nothing but the pack's maid all your life."

The insult was more clear and directed this time, and I could feel the atmosphere in the room shift into something more dangerous.

I could see a even more people nearby glancing our way to over hear us. They could sense the brewing drama about to go down.

Melissa's jaw tightened at her sister's insult, but she didn't lose her cool. Instead, she let out a short, humorless laugh.

"Well it turns out that people can do a lot of great things when they are no longer forced to work for fools."

Susie almost choked on her drink now, but she quickly retorted. "Yea, but I also heard you have birth to two boys out of wedlock. That's a shame, because who will want you now that you're used goods?"

My breath hitched but Melissa just smirked. "Yes, it's funny how things turn out. But I guess it's even more surprising that I'm happily engaged to that same father of my twins. You know, the children you just mentioned."

Susie's eyes widened slightly at that, clearly not expecting Melissa to bring up her engagement, much less with such confidence. But Susie quickly recovered with a sly smile curving her lips.

"Oh, so engaged, are you?" Susie said, her voice dripping with mock curiosity. "And what does your mystery man do? Because only low class men settle for women who used to be maids."

Melissa didn't hesitate with her clap back. "Oh, he doesn't do much, He just owns several multi-million-dollar businesses all around the world. But he's desperate to marry me so we're planning the wedding as soon as I'm done here."

I saw the storm of jealousy flare in Susie's eyes, even though she immediately tried to hide it behind a polite but obviously fake smile.

But it wasn't only her this time.

Even I couldn't help the painful pang of jealousy that rose within me at the thought of Melissa being engaged to such a successful man.

The last thing I needed was for her fiancée to be a hot catch that she would never want to leave.

But I pushed it down, and tried hard to quiet the jealous shouts of my raging inner wolf, while keeping my expression neutral.