The atmosphere immediately became thick with tension after Xerxes's mother spoke.
I refused to look away from her and the sly smirk plastered on her face widened.
Low warning growls were emitting from Xerxes who was still surrounded by his pack members, who watched on anxiously.
Xerxes's mother walked further into the room until she was standing a few inches away from me.
"I thought for sure the war would have carried on longer. And would have ended differently." She murmured, an eyebrow hitching challengingly as I narrowed my eyes.
"Why are you here?" I demanded. She blinked, glancing towards her son who was watching us with a snarl.
"What do you mean, why am I here?" She smoothed down her red short dress and gave me a tight smile. "I'm part of the pack and Xerxes's mother. And I'll be watching to see what changes he's planning to bring about. I'll probably give him some much needed advice..."
Xerxes broke away from the crowd abruptly. "I don't need your advice, mother. I know what I'm doing." He growled, marching over to us and coming to stand beside me. I saw the fear that filled her eyes for a few seconds, before being replaced with a cold stare.
Her lips pressed together in displeasure. She looked back towards me and sent a cool smile in my direction. "We'll see." She chirped, no humour in her voice. She turned and grabbed the handle of a suitcase and walked away, towards an elevator.
"I don't trust her." Charlotte said, softly. I nodded, glancing at Xerxes. He looked pissed, but was trying to reassure the nervous looking pack members by attempting to smile. It looked more like a painful grimace.
I tugged on the sleeve of his jacket and he looked down at me, confused. I grabbed the paper and showed it to him, tapping my finger on the assigned bedroom that I would be staying in.
"Why am I sleeping in the same room as you?" I asked. By now the other pack members were slowly engaging in conversation.
"You're my mate. It's only right that you stay in the same room as me," Xerxes took the paper which I began to grip and smoothed out the crinkled edges. "And I wouldn't have it any other way."
I scoffed, dropping my bags unto the floor. I folded my arms, scowling. "Oh really?" I sneered.
Xerxes's lips twitched at my reaction. He stepped closer to me and reached out a hand to coil my hair around his finger, never breaking eye contact. "Yes, really." He said, smoothly.
I pulled my head back, which only resulted in my hair being tugged painfully and Xerxes stepping even closer to me so that my hair which was still wrapped around his finger wouldn't be torn off my scalp. My breath caught in my throat at his close proximity.
His silver eyes began to darken as they landed on my lips, which were no doubt turned downwards because I was frowning. His fingers released my hair and danced across my cheek lightly, tingles shooting through me.
The feeling immediately made me snap back to reality and I sucked in a deep breath, stooping down to grab my bags which were on the floor. I grabbed them and walked away, uncomfortable by the stares I could feel watching Xerxes and I.
I walked, or rather, jogged, over to my mom, who was scolding George for eating one of Alyssa's sweets.
"How about we find your room?" I said, not waiting for their response. I glanced over my shoulder, to see Penelope still holding my bag from earlier. I took it back and my family and I decided to take the stairs, since Xerxes's mother was still waiting impatiently for the elevator doors to open.
When we finally reached their suite, George and Alyssa eagerly began running into various large rooms, whilst I helped my mother unpack.
I stayed in the suite for the next hour, admiring the large suite with the plush sofas, marble tables and intricate paintings on the walls.
Mom had made herself comfortable and had searched in the well stocked fridge, until she pulled out a bottle of champagne.
I left afterwards, and stood awkwardly in the hallway. I still wasn't comfortable about the fact that I had to stay in the suite with Xerxes, but I really had no choice. All of the other rooms were occupied and assigned to others. And if I was lucky enough to find an empty room, Xerxes would undoubtedly find me and take me to the suite.
I sighed and slowly began walking towards the end of the hallway where the suite would be.
The suite held the some of the same furniture as my mother's, just that the suite was larger and more spacious.
A fireplace warmed the entire living room as soon as I stepped inside and I zipped off my coat, throwing it onto one of the crème colored sofas.
I walked further into the room and realized that Xerxes's suitcases were already placed in the corner of the room.
Frowning, I walked out the living room and searched the different rooms in the suite until I reached a bedroom.
With a huff, I threw my bags onto the floor and sank down on the bed. I stared at the white ceiling above me for a few seconds.
But then my stomach gurgled in hunger and I scrambled up off the bed and into the kitchen. I threw open the fridge door eagerly and took two eggs and went to the cupboards for a frying pan.
Ten minutes later, my plate was filled with nice, hot scrambled eggs. I sprinkled it with hot pepper, poured myself a glass of water and began eating.
Xerxes came inside as I was midway through my food. I watched as he inhaled and his eyes searched the room unto they landed on my eggs. I raised my fork at him warningly as his eyes lit up, before scarfing down the rest.
He scowled in disappointment but sauntered over to the fridge to take out a bottle of orange juice. "We're having dinner with the pack in an hour or so. I don't need your eggs." He muttered.
I ignored his comment and wiped my mouth with a napkin. The room was silent as I grabbed my plate and washed it. When I glanced over my shoulder, I was surprised to see Xerxes's eyes glazed over, frowning.
"It's my mother," He finally told me, blinking as the glaze from his eyes left. "She's causing a scene because she disapproves of her room."
I scoffed, turning off the water. Xerxes groaned, wincing in annoyance. "I've got to go." He told me, only hesitating for a few seconds, before walking briskly out the suite, slamming the door loudly behind him.
I left the kitchen and returned back to the bedroom. I pushed open a door, which revealed a balcony, with two chairs and a small table in between them.
I could see most of the houses in town, including the large wall which separated this town from the forests and other towns.
I could also see a large group of people heading towards the apartment complex near this one. Confusion was written all over their faces as people who I assumed were werewolves because of the clean, neat clothes that they were wearing, went over to talk to my fellow humans.
I watched the different emotions that flickered across their faces as the werewolves talked to them, before warily going inside of the complex.
I went back inside and to the living room, basking in the heat that came from the fireplace.
I easily became bored and was thankful when Charlotte visited. We watched a short movie together until Xerxes returned to tell us that we were going to have dinner in half of an hour.
I decided to just change my shirt and leave my black jeans on.
Downstairs was buzzing with people talking amongst themselves by various tables. Soft jazz music played from a radio in the room.
I sat down beside my mother by the table. George and Alyssa were by another table a few feet away, with some werewolf pups.
Charlotte came inside the room a few minutes later, followed by Flynn and Penelope who sat by our table.
We fell into conversation easily for the next fifteen minutes and then dinner was served. I was chewing some of my steak when loud noises of high-heels tapping against the tiles of the floor sounded near behind me.
I didn't need to turn around to know who it was. I just wished silently that the person would break her leg or something so that I wouldn't have to endure her presence.
I watched from the corner of my eyes as she surveyed the room, before walking over to my table. I lifted my head as she sat down in an empty chair beside me, sending us a tight-lipped smile.
I dug my fork harder into the steaming meat, wishing that it was her eyes that I was stabbing instead.
No one spoke. Instead, Flynn and Penelope exchanged uneasy glances, whilst mom just stared down Xerxes's mother.
"So," my mother finally broke the silence, her hard gaze still fixated on the woman. "I never got to know your name."
"It's Idina." Xerxes's mother said, lacing her fingers together and eyeing my mother's plain grey shirt. Whilst most of the werewolves opted for something a bit more formal for dinner, mother, the twins and I chose to wear jeans and shirts. But I wouldn't let that make me uncomfortable.
Mother noticed Idina's glare towards her shirt and picked up a knife. Idina's eyes shot to the knife instead and a knowing smile crossed my mom's lips.
"My name's Angela." My mom said, the knife still gripped in her hand. Idina nodded, her eyes reluctantly leaving the knife and going to another one near an empty plate resting before her.
"You must be very proud of your son." My mother continued. My mother took in the dark expression that was crossing Idina's face. "It's about time he realized what he was doing wasn't right."
Idina's lip curled. "I preferred the way it was in the past, if I am to be honest."
Flynn and I exchanged a look. This conversation wasn't going to turn out well.
Mother stared at her silently for a few moments. "You believed that werewolves who treat others badly were in the right?"
"I try not to think of humans having any sort of feelings, so I didn't and will never pity them. They deserved the treatment they were given. They aren't smart enough to know what is right or wrong."
I whipped my head to the side, my fork clattering unto my plate loudly. "Excuse me?" I spat. "Are you stupid?"
Idina ignored me, facing mom still. "Infact, I intend to convince my son that this is true." She spoke cooly, but her eyes wavered to the knife my mother still held.
"You should have died alongside Gary." My statement caught her attention. Shock transformed her cold face before she snarled in outrage and before I could stop her, she raised a hand and slapped me across my cheek.
My ears immediately began to ring and I blinked rapidly to clear the dark spots that appeared in my vision. I would not have expected her to hit me so hard. It felt like a large plank of wood had hit the side of my face. She had obviously put all of her strength into the slap. And with her being a werewolf, the slap was much stronger and painful than if a human was to slap me.
Before I could breathe, hell, move, I managed to see Idina grip a knife resting on a table, the rage in her eyes indicating she every intention of using it on me and wouldn't stop until I was injured. I staggered out of my chair as she swiped it, the blade swinging inches from my face.
I heard the noises of silverware breaking and I managed to see my mother being held back by a werewolf whom I didn't recognize.
Penelope's eyes were glowering in fury and she stood, followed by Charlotte.
I was the first to attack Idina and swung a fist to her face. The swift action startled her and she dropped the knife to the floor. Her head jerked backwards and the next punch I threw grazed the side of her cheek instead.
She leapt forward, shoving me onto the table and holding me there as I struggled. Being a werewolf, she was stronger than me and it was becoming difficult to shove her off of myself and her nails lengthened into claws as she scratched wildly at my arms.
I didn't have to deal with her much longer, because Flynn grabbed her by the hair and yanked her away from me.
"You fool!" He bit out at Idina, who was still trying to get to me. "Xerxes is going to kill you."
Idina's struggles ceased and her face began to pale. Her lips trembled and her eyes darted around the room.
I was still angry, but the throbbing pain from my cheeks was distracting me. A few seconds later, I felt the warm presence of Xerxes behind me. A growl was rumbling from his chest, until it echoed in the room, his wrath and anger being poured out.
I could feel his eyes on my cheek before he pushed me behind him. He walked forward, grabbing his mother by her throat, hauling her away from Flynn.
He looked over his shoulder at us, ignoring the whispers and cries of disbelief being thrown around the room. His eyes were completely dark as they locked with mine. "Tell the children to leave. They won't want to see what I'm about to do to her."
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