The Unfortunates | COMPLETED

Part 70

The room is silent as Avery gapes at the Mating Panel in shock.

"You have to be kidding," Roman interjects after neither of them speaks for a few minutes.

"No, we wouldn't kid about this sort of thing," one of the men on the panel interrupts, his face a picture of horror.

"Having a mate is a good thing," the panel's head declares, scowling at Avery and Roman.

Avery is pale in the face, and her eyes seem wider than usual as she stares around the room.

"What the fuck," she whispers to herself.

Sonya is yipping, confused between being thrilled over the concept that she does have a mate, and also being miserable that it's Roman.

"I don't want a mate," Avery clears her throat, looking at the woman in charge sternly.

"You don't get to refuse what the Goddess has given you, please don't be so disrespectful of her divine wishes and decisions," the woman snaps, clearly on the verge of losing her temper at the two Alpha's unusual reactions.

"She is the one who had us declared mateless," Avery grits out, rising from her seat.

Roman rests a hand on her lower back, and she slaps it away, trying to control her temper.

Why is she telling us what we should be happy about?, Sonya snarls, and Avery can't answer her wolf.

"She is the one who made me lose my wolf for two years, and she is the reason I lost my position in the first place," Avery hisses, and the table shifts uncomfortably.

Nobody seems sure about what to do, and nobody is able to predict what Avery plans on doing.

These are usually joyous occasions, filled with happiness and excitement.

This panel instead has a tense atmosphere, and nobody is sure where to look.

Roman's face is entirely neutral, but Sonya can feel his wolf is a little upset at her declaration of not wanting him.

"Well, our research suggests you were never actually mateless," the woman sniffs, her previously good mood gone entirely.

"What research are you talking about?" Roman asks gruffly, scowling around the room.

"Well, it's private," the woman coughs, looking around at her coworkers nervously.

"Not if it involves us and countless other Unfortunates," Avery scoffs, taking a step back until she's standing beside Roman.

A united front means they have a higher chance of getting answers to what they want, she supposes.

"Well, I don't think I can explain it to you right now," the woman nervously shrugs, her confidence vanishing as the pungent scent of anger fills the room, exuding from the two Alphas in the centre of it.

"Then find somebody who can," Avery snarls, and the woman pales, nodding hurriedly.

She leans over to the man beside her and begins to murmur to him.

"Get the scientists in here right now," she hisses, and Avery raises an eyebrow.

Avery glances at Roman briefly while they wait on answers, and she realises that he's staring at her too.

She raises an eyebrow at him, and he raises one back, releasing a sigh as he runs his hand through his hair.

"This isn't how I saw this day going," he mutters, laughing weakly as he gazes down at her.