Fighting For Her Love

Chapter 16 - Melody

Everything about Ace’s home town looked perfect and beautiful but I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that there was something not quite right about it. It was probably just the fact that we hadn’t seen a single person since we arrived at the outskirts of the town. I kept trying to tell myself that it was only because this town was small although deep down I knew that was a lie.

“Please tell me that this town isn’t entirely made up of werewolves and all of them are going to be at this party we are going to,” I said once the anxiety became too much for me to deal with.

“Would that make you feel better?”

Fuck! I guess I really was about to walk into a party where everyone in the whole town was going to be looking at me. Having that much attention on me wasn’t something I was used to, especially when I looked as though I had gotten dressed in a hurry and wasn’t even wearing any makeup.

I suppose I might have felt better about this if I hadn’t seen first-hand how perfect other werewolves looked and I could trick myself into thinking that Ace was an exception. However, all of Ace’s friends and previous conquests looked so stunning that it was hard to believe they were real. They were going to take one look at me and realise that there was some kind of mistake and I didn’t belong with them. Then they would kick me out of their equally perfect town and tell Ace to leave me.

Maybe it would be better for everyone if I left now before I could embarrass everyone. The only problem with that plan was that I was stuck in a car with Ace and I was pretty sure he wouldn’t understand why I was concerned. I glanced over in his direction and he was happily driving straight towards the centre of town with a huge grin on his face. He was clearly blissfully unaware of my inner turmoil.

“Maybe you were right, maybe we should go somewhere else tonight and come back tomorrow when it is less busy.” At least that way I would only be humiliated in front of a handful of people rather than a few thousand.

“How many times do I need to tell you how perfect you are before you start believing me?” He replied while smirking at me in the rear-view mirror.

“Wait, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

Ace laughed then reached out to take my hand without turning to look at me. “You didn’t need to, I can read your anxiety through our bond. I hate knowing how insecure I made you feel, I just hope I can do enough to make you stop feeling that way about yourself,” he said before lifting my hand up to his lips and kissing it.

A warm and comforting feeling spread through my chest and I somehow knew it was coming through the bond that Ace so often spoke of. That comforting feeling filled me with the desire to make Ace feel better, so much so that I wanted to tell him that my insecurity wasn’t all his fault.

This was something that I didn’t usually talk about to anyone. But before I had time to think too much about that feeling I saw my name painted on a huge banner that was hanging between two trees at the end of the street we were driving down. The sign was wishing me a warm welcome and as we drove closer it became clear that it marked the beginning of a long sweeping driveway. The house at the end of the driveway was barely visible from the road due to the trees that were all around the edge of the property. If the grounds weren’t so well kept then I might have thought that it was some abandoned mansion that was in the process of being swallowed up by the forest.

Ace drove his car down to the end of the driveway and parked it directly outside of the front door. I could already hear the noises of laughter and music coming from inside the building and it was reigniting all of my earlier feelings of anxiety. Ace picked up on this and wrapped his arms securely around my waist as he helped me step out of his car. He then kissed the top of my head and led me towards the house while telling me how wonderful I was.

“Oh my goddess, you didn’t tell me that your mate was so damn cute.” A woman who only looked to be a few years older than me shouted in a very excited tone. She looked enough like Ace to make me think that she could be his mom but she certainly didn’t look old enough.

As soon as the words had left her mouth, everyone around us stopped what they were doing and looked in our direction. The music was still playing but now it was being completely overpowered by the sound of people talking about me and Ace, some of them were even pointing in our direction or shuffling forward to get a closer look.

“Mom, I told you that Melody doesn’t want this kind of attention. Why did you have to invite the whole pack?” Ace asked.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it. I got so excited about meeting your mate that I just couldn’t keep the news to myself. I thought it wouldn’t hurt to have a few people here but things ended up getting a little out of hand,” his mom explained, looking a little sheepish. I could tell that Ace was still a little frustrated with her but I was starting to feel sorry for her.

“It’s fine, I’m sure most of the people here will just ignore me anyway.” It wasn’t as though I was that interesting, and I was sure they would all work that out soon enough and leave me alone.

“That’s not true Luna, everyone will want to spend time with you. I will probably have to spend most of the night growling at the men in this pack so they don’t try to steal you from me.” Ace was already glancing around and scowling at some of the men who were tentatively looking over in our direction. It was already becoming clear that today was going to be exhausting.

I leaned in closer, letting him breathe in my scent while I whispered in his ear. “I don’t think anyone is interested in trying to take me away from you but if you can stop yourself from losing your temper tonight then I will give you a reward tonight.”

I thought I had been speaking quietly enough not to be overheard by those around us, but when Ace’s mom started giggling I realised how wrong I had been. Heat started rushing to my face and I desperately wanted the earth to swallow me up. This really wasn’t the kind of impression I wanted to make on Ace’s parents, I hated to think what they would think of me after that although I was sure it couldn’t be anything good. A small whimper left my mouth and I tried to turn away from both of them to hide the worst of my embarrassment.

“It seems as though she knows how to keep you in line already, she is going to make a great Luna.” Ace’s mom explained. She then wrapped her arms around me and Ace and squeezed us together in a hug so tight that I thought I might end up losing consciousness. After a few seconds, she let go of us and took a couple of steps back to give us some room to breathe again.

“Now, let me show you around your new home.”

“Home? I thought we were only staying here for a few days or weeks?” I asked, turning my attention towards Ace.

“Don’t be silly. Now that you have found each other you can take over running the pack. My mate has been looking forward to taking some time off and I can’t wait to meet my grandchildren.” Ace’s mom told us as she took hold of my arm and started pulling us through the huge crowd of people. I was glad that Ace was still by my side, holding on to my waist tightly because this was all too much for me to deal with.

A few days ago I was just a normal woman trying to make her way through college, and now I had people trying to kill me and my new mate’s mother trying to get me pregnant.

“I know that you are excited but nothing has changed. I am still taking over the pack once I have finished college and as for children, we haven’t even discussed that yet.” Ace then squeezed my waist and little tighter and pressed his lips against my cheek.

“I am sure you will change your mind once her heat hits and she is begging you to impregnate her.” We had passed through the hallway and were now walking across a large formal dining room which was just as packed with people as everywhere else in the mansion appeared to be.

At the other end of the room, there was a man who looked a lot like Ace seated at a large table. Seated beside him was a man who looked vaguely familiar and a young girl who couldn’t be much older than five or six. Upon noticing us the man who looked like Ace stopped speaking and smiled at us.

“Sweetheart, what have I told you about giving the poor woman some space? She is new to our ways and she is going to need some time to adjust.”

“I know but I can’t help it. Have you seen how adorable she is, their kids will be the cutest.” Ace’s mom placed herself on the man’s knee and leaned into his chest.

Now I was starting to see where Ace got his love of public displays of affection from. His parents along with everyone else at this party seemed to have no problem with showing their affection in front of others.

“I know my love but you need to be patient. Now, finish showing them around before I take you away from the party and teach you a lesson.” I could feel my eyes going wide in shock but there wasn’t much I could do to hide it. This was so different to anything I was used to when I was growing up and I was starting to wonder what I had gotten myself into by agreeing to stay with Ace and be his Luna.

“That’s OK dad, I can show my mate around,” Ace said before quickly spinning me around on the spot and taking me away from the rest of his family.