A Secret Alpha Mate
Chapter 40

(Isla)

I breathe shakily but stand my ground with Jackson beside me.

"Now, I am going to say my goodbyes and collect the rest of my belongings, I won't interrupt their work," I say to her and brush past her, she doesn't say anything just stands in silence.

"Do you want me to come with you, baby?" Jackson asks,

"I'm okay, I'll join you for a cocktail hour, your mom is waiting for me in the dining room. Thanks though." I smile at him and continue down to the kitchen. Taking a breath before opening the double doors not knowing what to expect. Silence falls over everyone as I walk in. No one says anything for a minute straight.

"Uh, hi everyone, I just wanted to say goodbye." My friends come rushing towards me pulling me into a tight hug.

"We thought you were gone forever." Kara says,

"You're really going to be a Luna?"

"What is your mate like?" Tressa bounces up and down,

"Who is your mate?"

I laugh and hug them back, "It's a really really long story."

I summed it up as fast as I could in five minutes, everyone circled around me and hung on my every word. I left out the part of why I left, but no one questioned it. I just told them I wanted to join another pack and that I had a slight run-in with rogues and when I was running away from them I fell and was found by one of his pack members.

"Wow."

"So, you're really going to be a Luna?"

"That's a fairytale."

I nod, it really was my own fairytale, "I'm so sorry, I don't have more time now, I want to come back to see you all again. Do you mind showing me where Abigail is? I haven't seen her all day."

"I think she's in her room." Someone says.

"It was great seeing you all, really. I have missed you guys." I smile at them and head towards the stairs. Hushed whispers follow me and as soon as I close the door behind me I hear them erupt into loud conversation. I knew this would be a topic of speculation and gossip for the near future. As much as I didn't want to be the center of attention, I wanted them to know the truth not whatever Meghan would have no doubt said.

I knock on our door, er my old door, and open the door, Abigail is sitting on her bed going over her few belongings, she looks up and her eyes are shining.

"Oh my gosh, Isla" She pulls me into a tight hug and I wrap my arms around her feeling like I was home.

"I missed you so much." I cried into her chest.

"Oh my sweet girl, I was so worried, so so worried." She pulls back and looks me over, "You are glowing," She smiles widely, "You look fantastic, being mated suits you." I giggle.

"I really like him," I say. She laughs and pulls me into another hug, "What did Meghan say about you leaving?"

"Oh, well, you know."

"You haven't told her, have you?" I raise an eyebrow.

"I haven't told her." She smiles sheepishly, "I didn't think she would react well and I thought it would be better to spring it on her." I nod, I knew she was right.

"Okay, well pack whatever you want, I want to bring the rest of my things too. I didn't leave much but I had my books."

"Already packed." Abigail pats the bag next to her. She is the best.

"I have so much I want to tell you, I can't wait. You're going to love it and Jackson has a room set up for you on the second floor where all the ranked members' families live." Abigail studied my face, tears welling in her eyes.

"He said he would give you a cottage or even an entire townhouse, but while you made up your mind you can stay there, or you can stay in the packhouse forever, it's up to you." I keep talking, hoping it's okay with her. Tears spill out now. "Is everything okay?"

"The ranked families floor?"

"You're my family," I whisper, she pulls me into a hug again and a wave of emotion washes over me, gratitude, relief, and love, I can't help but start crying myself.

Abigail pulls away after a minute and rubs the tears from my cheeks, "You better get back to your fancy ranked parties." I laugh through the last of the tears, "I don't want Meghan getting suspicious."

"Good luck telling her, mindlink me if you need anything. I can't wait to hear all about her reaction when we're leaving this place behind."

"A few hours."

"A few hours." I agree.

I head back to the dining room not wanting to keep Gianna waiting too long. She looks comfortable enough finishing up a cup of tea.

"How do you feel, dear?" She studies my face that is probably still a bit red from crying.

"I'm feeling a lot honestly. It's a lot of emotions to sort through but I think I'm starting to feel relieved." She smiles at me and stands up to take my arm.

"Good, darling. That's a good start then. Let's go replace our mates."

(Isla)

As much as I hated to admit it, the backyard looked really nice, there were string lights in a circle and jazz music playing from a hidden stereo. There was a large bar cart with sparkling colored bottles and omega from my room, Anna, was standing behind the cart making cocktails.

She gave me a wink and a smile that I returned before she got back to work. An omega I didn't recognize walked around with glasses of champagne on a silver tray. Gianna grabbed us both a glass.

This honestly didn't look like the few parties they threw before, this seemed classier, and I never saw them host anything like this for people that were just visiting for pack business.

"I'm assuming you haven't really drank before?" Gianna looks at me as I study the long flute in my hand.

"Never."

"Well, just take it slow, a few sips here and there, it gives you something to do if you're in an uncomfortable situation." She gives me a knowing look and I nod and take my first sip of champagne.

It was cold and sweeter than I thought it would be and the bubbles almost hurt my nose. I didn't hate it though. Gianna smiles at me and clinks her glass to mine. I see Jackson ahead of us beaming at us and next to him Hailey, glaring. "What is their problem?" Gianna whispers to me, I shrug as we walk towards them. Jackson takes a step towards me and gives me a quick kiss.

"I missed you," He whispers in my ear,

"Me too." I take his hand in mine, I see William come up to Gianna and do the same, proof that the mate bond never went away, I couldn't wait to spend my life with him especially knowing that this feeling wouldn't fade.

"If you'll excuse me for a minute," I say to them, "I see an old friend I want to talk to."

"Hurry back," Jackson says releasing my hand. I walk up to the bar cart as soon as I see no one else was around. Anna beams at me. I missed her, even though we weren't as close as Abigail and I were I got used to her being around every day. "You look happy," Anna says,

"I am."

"Then I'm happy for you, I'm glad you came back, we were all so worried."

"I wanted to say goodbye, I felt bad leaving so suddenly, I- I just knew that I had to get out of there." She nods knowingly.

"I wish I could get out of here too," She sighs, "I've been thinking about it for a while, but I don't know how." I wonder if it would be okay with Jackson if some of the omegas came with us later. I wasn't sure how pack politics worked but I sure it would be fine if a few moved to Moonstone, I would have to ask him tonight.

I see Julianna start walking up to me, swaying a little and Anna gives me a look, "She's drunkkkk," She says under her breath and quickly replaces something to do. Julianna stops in front of me her eyes glazed over but doesn't say anything. "Hello, Luna." I say, "This is a lovely cocktail party, thank you for hosting us." I say, trying to remember some of the things Gianna had said over lunch.

"Well, we didn't invite you. You weren't supposed to be here." I sigh, I guess she wasn't going to be civil after all. "So, I bet there is a story behind you ending up with an Alpha," Julianna says, motioning to Anna to refill her glass. "Do tell, sweets." She glares at me and hiccups, "How did you pull that off?" She starts slurring her words.

"Um, well, I found my mate there isn't much else to say about it. Or should I say he found me." I nervously take a tip of my champagne to replace something to do like Gianna suggested.

"Should we join the others?" I offer, looking around for someone to save me from this conversation. Everyone else is deep in their own conversations. Great.

"How dare you think that you can take an Alpha from my daughter." She poked my chest, what is she talking about?

"Luna, I don't understand. I didn't take Jackson from anyone, he is fated to me by the Moon Goddess herself-"

"That is a load of bullshit and you know it. You did something, he was going to take Hailey what did you do to him, you little b***h?" She starts to raise her voice and I look behind her and see that people have started to notice. "Jackson is my mate. I will not defend the mate bond." I'm sick of these people thinking that they knew more than the Moon Goddess, "Why you think Hailey had any claim over him is beyond me. He told me that she thought they were mates, but he explained the situation to her. You are just holding onto delusion at this point."

Jackson is by my side, Julianna scoffs, "And you guys said yourself at lunch, she has her pick of Alphas to choose from." I smile sweetly knowing that can't be true, "So she can choose one of her other many suitors, but this Alpha is off the market." I grab Jackson's arms and walk him away from her towards Gianna and William.

"What was that all about?" William asks.

"I'm not exactly sure, but I think Hailey still wants Jackson as her mate." They roll their eyes.

"You made it clear to her that wasn't the case, right dear?" Gianna looks at her son with worry across her face, "I really hope you didn't lead her on." Lucas and Cameron come up and enter our circle.

"With all due respect, and I don't want to cut in, but both Cam and I were there." Lucas cuts in, "He made it very clear that she wasn't his mate and he was mated to someone else." Cam nods.

"I don't understand," Gianna continues.

"Absolutely delusional, this whole family is," Lucas says and Jackson sighs.

"I wouldn't have agreed to bring everyone if I knew it would be like this, I honestly thought it would be a productive meeting and then dinner, but of course it can't be that simple." Jackson says, "Do you want to leave?" He turns to me.

"I'm honestly okay if you guys are. I think that you need to clear the air with all of them before we leave. I don't want to leave on a sour note, as they are the closest pack and we need their support for dealing with the rogues. I think it's important that we work through this before leaving." I state they all look at me, "Unless you want to leave?" Jackson pulls me into a huge hug.

"Spoken like a true Luna," Gianna says beaming.

"You are absolutely right, baby. Thanks for putting it into perspective and not having me do anything rash that could affect us down the line." Jackson says.

"I'm glad you're here to help balance my son out." William says, "Hell, I'm glad you're around in general. I bet we're going to see a different side of Jackson." "A better side," Jackson says.

Lucas and Cameron fake gag behind them earning a smack on the back of their heads from Gianna.

We all started laughing and I could see Hailey, Julianna, and Alpha Benjamin glaring at us, mainly me. I wondered where Seth was actually, but I was glad he wasn't here.

"I guess it's time to clear the air." Jackson downs his drink and walks over to them.

(Benjamin)

Julianna was making a f*****g scene with Isla, at least she made it through lunch before she started. I went up and grabbed her arm pulling her towards Hailey.

"What the f**k is your problem?" I spit at her, "This is the exact opposite of helping, you are making a damn fool out of yourself and making us look stupid." Hailey rolls her eyes at Julianna.

"Daddy this is stupid. Why are we still letting an omega hang out with us?" She sneers, "Can we just kick them out?"

"Unfortunately, no. She seems to be under their protection for whatever reason, but there is something that might change his mind." I smile at them, one last hope for civility until things have to get messy. They all start laughing together, I can't help but glare at them, the "perfect family" had to all be an act. Thankfully, I see Alpha Jackson walking up to us by himself, this will be a good moment to let him know.

"Alpha Benjamin, Luna Julianna, Hailey." He states cooly, "It's come to my attention that there have been a few people at this pack that doesn't respect my mate or her future position at Moonstone. The only reason we are staying here after that display," he looks at Julianna but she doesn't meet his eyes, "Is because my Luna thinks it's best to talk this over and not leave on bad terms. I must agree with her advice." I nod, taking advice from a f*****g omega.

"Let's discuss this as gentlemen, there must have been some miscommunication." I say, "Can I pull you aside for a moment?" Alpha Jackson nods and I lead him back to the bar and motion to the omega to make us another round. When we're sipping on our drinks I walk towards the edge of the lights and he follows.

"So, you must already know that your mate is an omega, right?" Jackson nods. Damn, I was hoping she lied to him.

"Her rank is of no importance to me." He says, he's an i***t, no one is going to respect his Luna when they replace out she's an omega.

"How will you pack feel about that?" I say nonchalantly taking a sip of my drink.

"The pack members that know I found my mate also know a bit of her story. In the end, it is her story to tell though.

Everyone that she has met has accepted her wholeheartedly. I hope no one in my pack would have a problem with my mate based on something as trivial as rank." I couldn't speak for a minute, rank is everything, it's what keeps packs together. A powerful Alpha with an Omega mate, that wasn't heard of.

"Of course, of course. But some of our pack members have a problem with her because she is a rogue, not because she's an omega." I study his face but whatever he is thinking I can't read it.

"A rogue?" He repeats, finally he gets it.

"Yes, it seems your mate is not just an omega but a rogue. She was found after her rogue parents attacked my pack and unfortunately lost their lives. It wasn't her fault so I gave her refuge, but she still is a rogue and not even part of this pack." "No, she is not part of this pack. She is part of Moonstone." He states. I wonder if this was just a front so he wasn't completely embarrassed by his rogue "mate".

"I need to understand where this hostility comes from. Apart from her being an omega, I don't understand the anger with her being mated to me. I know Hailey thought I was her mate but I assure you I told her that I was mated to someone else, I knew it the first night I was here and explained it to her."

"Yes, but when we found out your mate was an omega I don't think anyone expected you to accept her." I scoffed, anger flashes across his face.

"I have accepted her, she is my Luna." His eyes darkened, "I'm sorry if Hailey still thought there was a chance because of some backward idea of me rejecting my mate over her rank. Whoever placed that idea in her head is to be blamed." He's glaring at me now, "This matter is settled. You will accept Isla as my Luna, or I'm afraid we can't accept your alliance anymore."

Well f**k.

We needed this alliance more than anything, this alliance has been going on for hundreds of years and it could not, it would not end with me.

"There is no need for that, Alpha Jackson. I will set everything straight. Please join us for dinner and accept my apologies on behalf of my family." Even if Hailey wouldn't ever be Luna of Moonstone, I would have to get rid of Isla, an omega from my pack rising to Luna over my own daughter.

I would not be embarrassed like that, that's how talk starts. Talk is the beginning of people questioning their leaders. I know better than anyone that we couldn't have a seed of doubt about how powerful we were as the highest ranked family, Sooner the better before word got out and more packs knew of this embarrassment. So it would have to happen before her Luna Ceremony, neither of them was marked, so there was still time.

I wonder if I could maybe have some fun with her before I killed her, I had to admit that she did look ravishing tonight.

(Isla)

Dinner went by in a blur, I mostly talked with Lucas and Gianna who were seated next to me. Conveniently Jackson was placed next to Hailey and Seth who finally made his appearance and wouldn't stop staring at me. As uncomfortable as it made me I tried to ignore it but Adrastea was pissed at him and wouldn't stop making rude remarks in my head.

I tried to join in polite conversation with Alpha Benjamin and Julianna, they barely acknowledged me but at least they weren't being outwardly mean anymore. At least I couldn't say that I didn't try with them.

When the omegas were clearing our plates I decided to mindlink Abigail to see if she was ready. I concentrated for a while until I could feel it go through.

Abigail

Isla! I just told Meghan she is freaking out.

On cue, the kitchen door swung open and I heard muffled shouting down in the kitchen, I sighed.

I'll be right there.

"Were you mindlinking someone?" Jackson mouths across the table looking confused, I nod. I turn to Lucas.

"I'm going to get Abigail, I think she needs help Meghan is throwing a fit."

"I'm coming with you then, no one yells at my Abigail." He helps me up and we head down the omegas steps without a word, I feel confused stares following our movement.

"You are not leaving this pack. I forbid it. You think after everything that we've done for you here that you can just get up and leave because you feel like it?" Meghan is standing over Abigail yelling. She doesn't notice either of us walk in as her back is turned towards the door.

"There is nothing keeping me here, Meghan. I was born here, yes, but I have no loyalty to that pathetic excuse for an Alpha." I smile, I like this side of Abigail, usually, she was so bent on protecting me and keeping me out of trouble she rarely stood up for herself. Some of the omegas in the kitchen laugh a bit unable to contain themselves.

There was a loud smack that echoed through the room pulling me out of my thoughts. Abigail's hand went to her cheek.

'Don't you dare talk about your Alpha like that again." Megan's hand pulls back and I run up to grab it. She wheels around facing me, when she recognizes me she pulls her hand away. "You little filthy bitch-"

"I'm going to have to stop you right there, Megs. Her Alpha is now Alpha Jackson, someone with integrity that is respected by his pack members. Something that this, how did you say it, Abigail? Pathetic excuse for an Alpha?" Abigail nods and fights back a laugh. The omegas are silent at my sudden appearance.

"That this pathetic excuse for an Alpha will never understand. She is coming to live with me at my pack." Loud cheers fill the room. There is a sense of energy down here that I haven't felt before, usually, the air feels fearful. Is this was rebellion feels like? I liked it. Waves of anger roll off of Meghan, she has never lost control of a room like this before.

"Your pack? You really think that a little rogue b***h like you could eve-"

"You will never speak to my Luna like that ever again" Lucas commands as he cuts in to stand in front of me, anger flashing in his eyes. Meghan can't help but submit to his authority. "Who are you to speak to anyone, let alone the Luna of your neighboring pack with such insubordination?" Meghan is shocked into silence.

"I asked you a question." He pauses, "Who are you to speak to The Luna of Moonstone pack like that?"

"I, uh, I."

"That's what I thought. Now Miss Abigail, would you do me the great honor of accompanying you to your new pack." He extends his arm and she takes it and they head towards the stairs, "We made sure that you had the best room on the ranked families floor, you should see the walk-in closet and the bathtub, I think you'll love it." He says loudly, I know for Meghan's benefit.

She is fuming as I turn around to address her, hopefully for the last time.

"I hope you will learn something about treating those you believe are beneath you. You will get much further with compassion than you ever will trying to gain power through fear."

She scoffs, "Now I really must be going, being a Luna is such a responsibility, and my Alpha is waiting for me, you understand don't you?" I give her a wide smile which she obviously doesn't return, "Oh well I guess you don't, but look at it like this, you can "pretend" you're Luna of the kitchen, that might be nice." I turn on my heel and follow Lucas out the door without a backward glance.

Cheers erupt behind me, I did the right thing, mostly, for eighteen years, but boy did that feel good.

******g b***h.