Mother Knows Best

Samantha.

It is pushing one in the morning. I sit in a large living area staring at a huge rose gold clock on the wall of this massive house. The floors are pink marble and the walls, the color of champagne. The room is furnished with multiple brown leather sofas, love seats, and arm chairs that are grouped up around oval glass coffee tables. It looked more like a lounge to a rich office buliding rather than a cozy living room. At the very back of the room was a grand staircase, the same marble as the floors with dark cherry wood rails. Adjacent to that were a pair of double doors in which I sat in the seats closest, too.

After Eli introduced me to his mother as his mate, she seemed to have gone into a state of shock. She rushed into the house, and Eli motioned me to follow him.

When we entered the house, the sound of glass breaking could be heard over and over again, like someone smashing dishes on the floor. Eli told me to take a seat and wait for him. Then he disappeared behind the double doors.

"How can a human replace me?!" I hear his mother screaming.She has a point there.

"That little slut won't be able to handle any of the responsibilites that comes with being a Luna, let alone your mate. Ugh! Something is wrong here, is it my genetics? Look at your brother, that was my fault too wasn't it? I MEAN SHES A INCOMPATENT HUMAN!"

Her words spray out her mouth in a hurry as she fights the need to inhale. I roll my eyes at the hundreth insult, I've heard her spew about me since Eli went to speak with her. They were at it for about half an hour now. Most of the time, it is his mother shouting about it being inappropriate for an Alpha to be mated to a human, that he is confused or joking. Jeez lady, I was hoping the same thing, but she doesn't have to be rude about it. I did agree with her points, though. I don't even know what a Luna is.

"A son?!" She suddenly booms. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up as she barges through the doors, her hands fisted.

I jump up as Eli sprints past his mother and to my side.

"You SLUT!" His mother shoves her finger about an inch from my face. "You have a child?! How dare you humiliate my son in such a way?!"

"Humiliate?" It is my turn to get angry. Being a single mother is hard enough as it is without someone judging me for it. "Listen I don't know what a 'Luna' is but if it means being a raging b-" Eli's hand slaps over my mouth and my rampage is muffled into loud grunts and groans.

When I am done, he removes his hand, and I huff out in annoyance.

"You will not disrespect me little girl. If you weren't human, I'd have your head!" She roars at me.

Eli tenses up next to me, a small growl escaping his lips.

"Relax, we don't need trouble with human authorities." She put on a calmer tone and smoothes out her dress. "So, you have a child, a boy at that." she seems amused.

She walks over to the armchair and sits down, her arms drapping over the armrests as she relaxes into the chair. Eli sits on the loveseat and pulls me down with him.

"How old is your child?" She asks.

"Two." Eli confesses since I am reluctant to answer. I glare over at the traitor.

"Are you prepared to no longer be in his life?"

I shoot up from the seat. Eli grabs my wrist tightly and for some reason his touch calms me down.

"Why would I?" I ask sitting down again.

"Well darling, he can't live here.. he's human."

"Well, I never said I was living here either." I scoff.

"Perfect." She chuckles. "So its decided, you'll have to reject her." She smirks at Eli who tenses.

"Reject me, what does that mean?"

"I forget you are human," she rolls her eyes, "To put it simply, he has to cut all ties with you and never see you again. Break the mate bond." She smiles.

I don't know why that causes my heart to ache. Even though I barely know this man 12 hours my body seems to hate the idea of not being near him ever again. Is this the mate bond they speak of? If so how can I as a human be effected this way? If he rejects me, would I no longer have this attachment towards him? If so it might actually be a good idea.

If my son doesn't belong here, niether do I. I am not going to abandon him for a guy I just met. Shit, I won't abandon him for a guy I knew my whole life, or anyone else.

The best thing for both of us would clearly be for him to "reject" me.

Eli.

When my mother told me to reject my mate my wolf almost came forward. My body tensed up as I fought the rage inside of me. I inhaled deeply, Samantha's scent acting as a tranquilizer for the beast within. How could she suggest such a thing?

"With all due respect, mother, how can you ask me to do this?"

"Because son," she sits up, "the boy is a child and a human. The council will not allow him to stay within our pack. It's either she leaves him behind, you reject her, or you abandon your pack and role as Alpha. Two of those options are clearly out of the question, and that leaves only one."

Though she obviously doesn't like Samantha, my mother is always known for putting me first. She, too, was a single mother, my father, our packs Alpha, along with his beta, was killed in battle by rogues shortly after I was born. So the pack wouldn't be obsorbed by another, my mother begged the council to let her choose a chosen mate to take over. They reluctantly agreed. After 6 years of stalling and the council growing impatient with her, she mated the head warrior of our pack. She didn't love him. She always said to me she chose him just because he was strongest and smartest on the battlefield. With his help, I wouldn't end up like my father. Her bond with him only lasted until I was 13. He found his true mate and decided she was more precious to him than being Alpha. She was a warrior from a neighboring pack, so instead of bringing her here, he renounced his title and joined their pack. He and my mother shared a child together. So when he left, he took my brother Ethan with him. We still saw him regularly since the pack was only an hour or so away.

I knew it hurt my mother for Jonathan to leave, even though she claimed not to love him. I remembered her crying in pain when he finally mated and marked his new mate, the bond between him and my mom finally breaking. She said it was nothing compared to the pain she felt when my father died, her true mate. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like then. Seeing her like that made me want to kill Jonathan. So the next time my mother went before the council, I demanded I be granted Alpha-in-waiting until I turned 18 and could take over. I wasn't gonna let my mother suffer again by taking yet another chosen mate. Surprisingly, they agreed. We now had a Beta and a stronger Gamma who could supervise me, and plus those years my mother successfully led the pack alone, I didn't go unnoticed. I was also strong from training with Jonathan every day, twice a day.

My mother is the reason why I have a pack to lead now. She is the reason I am able to live this grand life that is my birthright. She sacrificed her happiness and freedom, laid with a man she didn't even love, all so I could take my rightful place as Alpha one day.

On my 18th birthday, I did just that. I didn't find my mate right away, but at the time, I had a girlfriend named Madeline, who was 17. Maddy and my mother were best friends. When she turned 18 and wasn't my mate, my mother was more devastated than I was. She suggested we be chosen mates. At first, Maddy agreed. However, the night we were supposed to mark each other, she bailed. She avoided me for weeks, and when I finally spoke to her, she had left for college out of state, saying she wasn't ready to be a Luna.

I was broken, and that broke my mother too. Ever since, she never liked any girl I brought home. So Samantha being human isn't the reason, but it doesn't help.

My mother has filled the role of Luna for me all these years so that I wouldn't have to take a chosen mate and risk them running off like Jonathan or Madeline. She and I became a great team, bringing our pack population to nearly 13,000 wolves and counting, a huge chunk being warriors. We became one of, if not the strongest, packs in the States. She also helped grow dad's businesses over the years. Brought us lots of wealth. Both things only achieved because of her.

My mother always knows best and will always do what's best for me. So, though it pains me, rejecting Samantha is something I have to consider.