Chapter 10 - Sage
"Well," Richard's voice was weaker with age, but it still felt like needles running across my nerves. "I see it's true, then. My son dragged a witch home and made her Luna."
I hadn't wanted to go to the dinner. In fact, there was little else in the world that I wanted to do less.
But Noah had asked me to attend, and for the moment, it was in my best interest to stay close to Noah whenever possible.
My body was behaving itself so far, my heat only causing me a few pulses of pain here and there, but whenever Noah was gone, the pains increased in frequency.
I knew my heat would come on in full any day, but being close to my mate at least kept things comfortable.
Unfortunately, that meant when he wanted to go and have dinner with his asshole father, I was forced to tag along if I wanted to hide what was happening to me.
The house of Richard Aldrige, former Alpha and father of my mate, was familiar.
I'd seen it a few times as a kid, when I still called the Silvervine pack home, but I'd never been inside.
It was still in one piece, but peeling paint and a slightly sagging roof told me that house upkeep was low on the list of Richard's priorities.
The windows were dirty, too, and there were cracks in the cement walk that led up to the front door.
Noah's father wasn't hurting for money, not with the amount of land and resources he owned, but Noah had explained to me how his once-strong father had faded significantly.
He hadn't gone into detail about how it happened, but I understood that Noah had inherited the pack because his father had been permanently injured.
I wasn't the only one feeling awful. Noah was stiff when he entered the home, but I found it hard to feel sorry for him.
Everything that had happened since I returned had been against my will, and it was his fault, and I was still being forced to attend a dinner with an old man who considered me lower than the dirt on his shoe.
It was either that, or go into full-blown heat to the point Noah would be able to smell it on me.
The lack of choices had me on the verge of crying, but I kept a strong facade.
I just had to get through dinner, and then I could go back to miserably hiding in my room. It was a joke that my life had spiraled out of control to the point that locking myself in a bedroom was the only thing I had to look forward to, but there was no help for it.
Despite Noah's warning, I was still shocked to see how diminished the former Alpha was.
I had still expected him to be the way I remembered, tall and broad-shouldered, a sneer on his face and his power causing those around them to want to lower their eyes, but the man in the wheelchair was something else.
Richard Aldrige was thin, his hair greasy and gray, his legs obscured by a throw blanket. His beard was gone, and his face was gaunt, but hatred still burned brightly in his eyes.
But he didn't stand when Noah entered the room. He couldn't. That was the cost of his injuries.
When he insulted me, Noah stepped forward immediately, his shoulders pulled back and his eyes like two thunder clouds. "Watch it, Dad."
Richard laughed cruelly. "Don't tell me what to do, pup. This is still my house."
"And I'll happily leave your house right now. If you can't keep your mouth shut about her, we will leave."
The man looked over at me, and then back to Noah, his mouth thinning into a line.
"I was simply pointing out a fact. She is a witch, and she is your Luna, right?
" When neither of us had anything to say to that, he grunted and motioned towards the empty chairs.
"Sit down. We might as well enjoy the food your cousin made. "
Noah looked skeptical, but when he glanced at me, I simply shrugged.
I'd expected to be intimidated by Richard the way I was before, but seeing him in the state he was in, and how his bitterness had festered in him, I just felt.
..sad. Not sad for Richard, but sad about how things had played out for Noah and his family, and how different things could have been if Richard had adapted with the times.
How much time had Noah and I lost because of his father's hateful outlook on the world?
Noah pulled out a chair for me, and I sat down, trying to look more confident than I felt.
Noah's cousin, a pretty woman named Summer who was only a few years younger than Noah, brought in a steaming plate of roasted chicken and veggies, setting it in the center of the table.
Noah introduced me to his outgoing, overly positive relative, whom I took a quick liking to, but even Summer's presence couldn't distract from how tense things were between father and son.
We ate, but the food tasted like ash, at least to me.
In the beginning, silence stretched between the four of us, but eventually Noah made the attempt to speak to his father as if nothing was wrong.
It broke my heart a little to see how hard he tried, but Richard had already made up his mind how this dinner was going to go.
Noah spoke about the land, the troubles some of the farmers were having, and the recent bear attack that I was brought in to heal the victims of. It didn't surprise me that he tried to spark a
conversation...I knew he hoped there could be some semblance of peace between me and his father.
But what did surprise me was how the former Alpha didn't even acknowledge my existence, instead responding to Noah as if I wasn't even there.
"And what are you doing to deal with the bears?"
"They're wild animals, Dad. There's really nothing to be done."
"You could eradicate them. Letting animals in close enough to attack your wolves reeks of weakness."
"Everything is already off balance. Something tells me that messing with nature any more than necessary is a bad idea."
Richard just grunted and went back to eating.
And that was how most of the dinner would pass.
The former Alpha rarely lifted his gaze, and when he did, it was just to argue or chastise Noah.
Summer tried to help out, responding to her cousin when Richard wouldn't, but it never lasted. We seemed destined to eat in silence.
I was ridiculously relieved when the dinner finally wound to a close, and when Summer all but jumped to her feet to clear the table, I did the same, helping her carry dishes into the kitchen to escape the heavy animosity still flowing through the dining room.
Distantly, I could hear Summer speaking to me, but I gave her one-word answers, straining myself to try and hear when the two male wolves were talking about now that they had privacy. When I was finally able to make out words, my heart sank, and my suspicions proved correct.
Richard had wasted no time in voicing his displeasure about his son's choice of mate once I wasn't in the room.
"You fucked up, but we can still fix your stupid mistake if we act quickly." I heard Noah set down his glass and sigh. "And what mistake is that?"
"Don't play stupid. Mating with a witch. You're dumber than I thought if you think the pack will accept a Luna with bad blood."
Noah laughed, but the sound was hollow. "Actually, Sage has already attended to injured pack members, and they accepted her just fine."
"While you're around, sure, but I promise you that they're singing a different tune when you aren't around, son of mine," Richard coughed, and after the sound of his drinking, he continued, "They will excuse you having a passing fancy with the witch, but you need to set her aside and take a proper Luna if you want to keep their loyalty. "
"She's my mate, Dad. My bonded mate."
"That bond is not as important as keeping the pack strong!" There was vitriol in Richard's voice. "Nothing is!"
I heard Noah push his chair in and stand, and when he spoke again, his voice was tight with anger.
"I won't hear you insult her anymore. I've been patient because I know this is a big change for you, but Sage is my mate and my wife.
..and the Luna of the pack. YOUR Luna, just like she's everyone else's Luna.
I'm taking her home, and if I don't hear your respect for her next time I see you, I won't bother coming to visit again.
I don't care how old or feeble you become, Dad. It's no excuse."
With that, the Alpha swept into the kitchen, grabbing me by the hand.
"Dinner was great, Summer!" Noah called over his shoulder, "But we've got to head out."
"O-okay, thanks for coming!"
Noah's hand curled around my wrist tightly, and he basically dragged me out of the house. His touch was surprisingly hot; the warmth seeped into my skin and spread all the way to my core, leaving me breathless.
Then it hit me, right before we reached the car. A jolt of pain, just like the ones from before, was coming from deep inside me and making me double over. Gasping, I pulled away from him, breaking the contact.
"Sage?"
It pulsed through me once, and then twice. A warning of what was to come. I forced myself to stay calm and to stand up straight, smiling at Noah even though I really wanted to scream. "Just a cramp. I'm fine."
He didn't look convinced. "Are you sure?"
My heat was so close on the horizon, but after the disaster of a dinner, I simply couldn't face anything else. I just wanted to go to bed. "Fine. Let's go home. Please."