The Waning Moon Of Pain

Chapter Eleven: (Continued)

Once showered and dressed, she steps out of her room and smiles seeing Ulric leaning against the wall next to her room, showered and dressed himself, waiting for her. He gives her a charming smirk, making her heart skip a beat and takes his arm as they head down for breakfast together.

Stepping into the dinning area, they are greeted with curious smiling faces from her father, brother, and Amber. She smiles back at them,

"Good morning everyone!" She says cheerfully.

"Good morning Princess, you seem to be in a very good mood this morning." Jack says happily seeing his daughter in high spirits. He was worried about her going home last night, he sees now he had nothing to worry about.

Her brother eyes her curiously, while Ulric takes his seat and pulls her into his lap, hooking his arm around her, keeping her close,

"How did things go last night?" Freki asks them.

Diana looks at Ulric, her cheeks pink, not letting her go to sit in her own seat. He just gives her a smirk and starts filling the plate in front of them full of food. She huffs turning to her brother,

"As expected, I broke down crying, but I'm okay. Ulric helped me through it. We didn't stay long, I should have taken into account that the place would be covered in dust from not being touched in a year. I'm going to need help getting the place cleaned up if that's alright?" She asks her brother, knowing she still needs to have his permission to do things in his pack.

"Of course Diana. Amber, would you mind finding some help for Diana?" Freki asks his Luna beside him.

" I can do that. I have a few in mind that wouldn't mind helping. I should have a team together for you tomorrow Diana."

" Wonderful, Thank you Amber." She says sweetly to her. She then gets greeted with a fork full of eggs in front of her.

She looks at it confused, then over at Ulric holding the fork, a smirk on his lips wanting to feed her. This was different, she accepts the bite not wanting to be rude, then turns back to Amber.

"Umm I'll make a list of supplies as well that we will need and what I will need to pack all my things up."

Freki nods, taking a bite of his food, then looks at Ulric curiously as to why he keeps feeding Diana from his lap. Jack just smiles at the two new love birds in the room. He can smell Ulric's scent all over her, but he can't see if they completed the mating process or not with the sweater she's wearing.

After being greeted with a third bite from Ulric, she laughs looking at him, "What are you doing?"

"I'm feeding my Angel. You said you were starving earlier." He says happily.

" Well yes I see that, but I can feed myself Ulric, you don't have too." She says her cheeks flushing embarrassed by this strange type of affection from him.

"I know, but I want to. I enjoy it. I did it with Freya." He says remembering how Freya loved sitting in his lap, being fed by him.

Diana bites her lip, trying to think how to carefully go about this. Gently taking the fork out of his hand, she sets it down and turns in his lap to face him.

"Ulric...I'm not Freya. I appreciate you being very affectionate, this is cute, and loving, but it's not for me. I am happy to stay sitting in your lap though, I like that." She says sweetly to him, trying her best to not sound offensive to something he enjoys.

Ulric looks at her, then looks at the food a moment thinking over his thoughts. She's right, she's not Freya. This is the second time today with her showing herself, taking him by surprise because he's used to doing things that Freya likes. He smiles and nods, looking back her,

"I see. I understand. I'm sorry Angel. I guess I'm just realizing you and Freya wouldn't like the same things. You are two very different people. Both have kind hearts for a Luna, but different. Thank you for telling me." He says happily at her being forward and honest with him.

She smiles pleased she didn't upset him and that he understood. Cuddling more into his lap, she smirks wrapping an arm around his shoulders, picking up the fork full of food,

"Do you like being fed?" She asks curiously to try to learn what he likes.

Hugging his arm around her waist comfortably, he chuckles softly, shaking his head, "No Angel."

She smiles and nods, taking the bite off the fork. Ulric smiles watching her eat, then grabs another fork for himself and they share the plate eating off it. Even though it wasn't the same from what he is used to, he still enjoys this way just as much with her. Their way of eating together.

"After breakfast, we can start putting our teams together and get on searching for the rogue's location." Freki says looking over at Ulric.

Ulric nods okay with it. Diana sighs, setting her fork down, not being able to eat another bite. Picking up her glass of orange juice, she finishes it off. Ulric smiles, entertained with every simple thing she does. He gently rubs her lower back,

"You full Angel?"

Licking her lips clean of the juice, she smiles, setting her glass down, resting her arm back over his shoulders, relaxing in his lap. She smirks seeing his blue eyes turn a shade darker at her licking her lips,

"Yes, I'm stuffed." She says happily feeling warm and content.

"Hello!? Anyone home?" Someone calls stepping into the pack house, shutting the door behind them.

The four of them besides Ulric stiffens at the sound of the older woman's voice coming from the front door. Diana turns to Freki,

"What are they doing here?" Diana whispers in a hiss to her brother.

He shrugs his shoulders, " I don't know. I didn't invite them." He whispers hastily back.

She looks at her father and he raises his hands in defense, shaking his head, "Don't look at me, you know I can't tolerate that man as much as you."

Ulric looks at them curious at what is going on. Amber stands putting a reassuring hand on Freki's shoulder,

"I'll go greet them. See what they want." Amber says sweetly, Freki smiles at his Luna, kissing her hand.

"Thank you."

Ulric waits for Amber to leave and distracts who has come to visit.

"Who is it that has you all on edge?" Ulric asks them, looking at Diana in his lap, an annoyed look on her pretty face.

Diana sighs, pinching her nose, "Our grandparents on my mom's side. My grandma Mary is great, but my Grandpa Ben is a grumpy ass old man. Amber is like the only one he has taken a liking to. If they come in here, please take no offense to any attitude he might give you."

" Maybe it would be better if we just slip out the back and go do what we have planned for today. I'd rather avoid grandpa Ben as much as possible. Plus if he finds out about your situation sister, he'll give us all an earful." Freki grumbles.

Diana groans, not even thinking about that. She quickly moves off Ulric's lap, grabbing his arm. "I agree with my brother, you two should go."

Ulric furrows his brows at how these two are acting, " Why does it matter if he has a problem with it Diana? Are you ashamed to be seen with me?" He asks, annoyed by this.

Diana eyes widen looking at Ulric, her heart twists at him saying that. How could he think she would be ashamed of being with someone as amazing as him.

"No Ulric of course not. It's just that my grandpa is a pain and I don't wish to deal with his lectures. He's not going to believe this whole new mating bond we both have. He sticks to the old ways of things." She softly says, feeling bad for even making him think she would be ashamed of having him. He should be the one ashamed of her, he's perfect compared to her.

He didn't like the sad look in her eyes suddenly from him speaking before thinking. He cups her cheek, giving her a smile,

"I'm sorry, my emotions got the better of me Angel. Didn't mean to upset you. I can understand avoiding ones that are just in a bad mood all the time, I avoid my father as much as I can because of it. Still he is your family and he should be happy for you in recovering from such a loss and finding a new path given to you by the moon goddess."

She smiles loving this man's big heart and faith for the moon goddess, but sadly that's not going to be that way with her grandpa,

"I am sure he would, but sadly my grandpa hates anything to do with the moon goddess. He didn't always have such a bad mood, it started after my mother passed. My grandpa hasn't forgiven my father for what happened to my mother, even though we all know it wasn't my father's fault. We have tried reasoning with him, but it's no use." Diana explains gently taking his hand into hers and kisses his knuckles.

The room falls silent for a moment, Ulric fully understanding the whole picture here. This heavy weight has been on their whole family for a long while now, they have just learned to deal with it. The dining room door suddenly opens, an older woman with greying brown hair tucked up in a neat bun, green eyes, and bright smile, steps into the room.

"Oh Diana! You have returned my sweet girl!" The older woman cries going over to Diana and embraces her in a big hug.

Diana smiles hugging her grandma back, she is just as sweet as her mother used to be. Her grandma Mary was like a second mother to her, she helped her father take care of us when he had his ups and downs.

"I haven't been gone that long, grandma Mary. Enough with the tears." Diana says sweetly to her, wiping the few tears that moved down her sweet grandma's face.

"Look at you! You have so much more light in your eyes. Even filled out some more again, looking beautiful as ever my sweet girl. Then visiting The Twins Moon pack helped you? Did you find what you were looking for?" She asks excitedly, wanting to hear about everything.

"Umm well yes and no." Diana says, chuckling a little. Her grandma then takes her face into her hands, looking her over questionly.

"My goodness, did you find yourself a new man, you have a new smell all over you!?"

Diana's cheeks turn red as she glances at Ulric right next to them, seeing her grandma oblivious to her surroundings as usual, but Ulric didn't seem to mind, wearing an amused smirk on his handsome face.

"Good grief Mary, don't suffocate the girl. Last thing we need is for her to fall deep in her depression again. Why would she have another man, she lost her mate, no one could replace him, even if he was worthless." A grumpy old man's voice says by the door.

Mary scoffs at her mate and husband, "That's enough Ben, you're the one that's going to put her down again."

" What? He was worthless. What kind of man leaves their mate to get killed while leaving her bleeding out on the ground instead of taking her to get help. She's better without him."

" That is quiet enough!" Ulric stands growling, turning to the old man, his large frame towering over him even at a distance.

Mary gasps frightened, noticing Ulric for the first time, hiding behind Diana. Her grandpa glares up at Ulric, pointing a finger at him.

"Who are you!? What gives you the right to speak to an elder in such a way?" Ben snaps at him.

Diana gasps, quickly stepping in between her grandpa and Ulric, pushing his hand down.

"Grandpa stop it! You crazy old man! Think before you speak. This is Alpha Ulric from the Twin Moon pack. Don't be so disrespectful!" Diana growls at him, feeling her rage come to the surface from him being disrespectful to her new mate.

Ulric looks at Diana, defending him, seeing her stand against her grandpa. He gently puts his hands on her shoulders to calm her down, letting her know he's not upset, he just got mad at him for disrespecting her previous mate and making her upset. Feeling his touch, helping it calm her. She looks over her shoulder up at him, putting a hand on his.

"I'm sorry about him, I told you he has a bad attitude."

" Do not apologise for him Diana. Elder or not, he shouldn't speak in such a way to his family. He also shouldn't speak so ill of the dead, when they can't be here to defend themselves. This is not just an attitude, this is bullying and toxic behavior." Ulric tells her, speaking openly to them all.

" I can speak to my family any way I want, just cause you are a bigger Alpha, doesn't give you the right to bud into our family business." Her grandpa scoffs behind her, still being very rude to Ulric.

Diana has had enough of this man, Ulric is right. They have been put down and bullied long enough by him. Turning back to her Grandpa, she stands tall looking him right in the eyes,

"No grandpa, he has every right. He will be part of this family sooner than you will know and he has every right to stand up for his new family and mate when someone is being a bully and toxic with them. You are not the only one that lost mom that day. It wasn't dad's fault for what happened, just like it wasn't mine or Darius's for what happened between us. Darius loved me so damn much I can understand why he would have gone crazy with rage after seeing me, but you need to stop talking about him like that, he did his best and so did I. You have no idea what my father and I have been going through, but if you did I doubt you would even notice. You are not only hurting us with your toxic behavior, you have been hurting grandma too, for years. She loves us with all her heart because we are what is left of mother, but you being rude to us, putting us down has been breaking her heart, that she has become distant from you. Your own mate, you don't see the damage you're doing to your own mate because you're blinded by this grief you have yet to get over. Mom wouldn't have wanted this, she would have wanted us to be there for each other, not put each other down. It's time you start to grow up grandpa and face your grief, until you do so and apologise to all of us for your behavior, you are no longer welcome here as a member of this family."

Diana spoke her words clearly with such strength and authority that everyone in the room was surprised besides Ulric, he has never felt such pride then seeing her stand up like the Luna and Alpha she is going to be. He gently grips her shoulder, showing his support knowing that wasn't easy for her to say and for everyone to hear, but it needed to be said and it was said perfectly.

Her grandpa stood there looking at Diana with awe, he has never seen this side of her before. He looks over at his mate, seeing tears in her eyes, gripping her hands with hope that he hears Diana's words, feeling through their connection how she supports Diana with this even though it hurts her to have this happen to him.

His old brown eyes look back at Diana, then up at Ulric. He huffs at them and turns away, "Fine." He grumbles leaving the room.

Diana let out a breath that she didn't know that she was holding. She then turns to her grandma as she comes over to her, gently taking her hands into hers,

"I'm sorry grandma, I couldn't take it any more." Diana softly says to her, hating she might have hurt her grandma saying such things to her mate.

Grandma Mary smiles and kisses Diana's cheek, then gives her a big tight hug,

"Do not be sorry my dear. You finally got through to him, be proud. Just give him a little more time, he will be back with that apology he owes, I promise. Thank you for speaking up Diana."

Diana smiles hugging her tighter, then pulls back and chuckles feeling emotional with her as she wipes a tear from Diana's face. She gives her a bright smile, then glances up at Ulric behind her then back at Diana,

"So will I get the full story later about you two? I have many questions but I need to go after the old grump."

Diana nods and smiles. " Yes, Amber and I are looking for help to help me clean up mine and Darius's home for tomorrow. Will you join us? It would mean a lot to me having you there and I can spill everything to you about this new occurrence."

Her grandma smiles and pats her hands, " Good, I will be there."

She turns to Ulric taking his hand, giving him a warm smile,

"Thank you for standing up for our dear Diana. I am sorry for my husband's rudeness, he will come around I promise. I am happy you will be part of this family, take good care of our Diana. She can be a handful, but I am sure someone like you will not have any problem handling her."

Diana turns red from her grandma's words, " Grandma!" She groans.

Ulric chuckles and smiles, " I will take great care of her, but she stands strong on her own too. I see where she gets that big heart of hers and good looks. "

Her grandma giggles, blushing pating his hand, " What a charmer you are. It was lovely meeting you, Alpha Ulric." She says bowing her head in respect.

He gives her a warm smile and nods to her, then she moves quickly over to Freki,

"Come here boy, give your grandma a hug before I go."

Freki smiles and stands giving his grandma a tight hug and kisses her cheek, " If he gives you a hard time about this, send him my way and I will give him a talking to myself. I am sorry we didn't stand up to him sooner grandma."

She smiles resting a hand on his cheek, " Don't trouble yourself my dear. You had enough on your plate. You keep doing a great job taking care of our pack, I am proud of all of you."

He smiles, kisses his grandma on the cheek and let's her go. She gives a quick kiss goodbye to Jack on the cheek, giving him a kind smile and leaves the room. They then hear them leave the house.

"Well that was an eventful morning, shall we head out and get started on the search?" Freki asks Ulric looking over at him.

Ulric hugs Diana, giving her a smile and quick gentle kiss, showing how proud he is of her. Then turns to her brother and nods,

"Yes, let's."

"I am going to stay behind and work with Amber on finding people and getting the supplies I will need ordered. We can meet back up here at lunch?" Diana tells them.

She could tell Ulric still doesn't like leaving her side, but he nods, agreeing to it and gives her another kiss, before he walks out with Freki. Diana walks over to her father, gently putting a hand on his shoulder. He smiles putting a hand over hers,

"I am proud of you Princess. You sounded like a true Alpha and Luna just now. I can already feel the good this bond with Ulric is doing for you and I am just hoping you are okay and happy with this?"

Diana smiles proudly for being praised by everyone, " I am. More than I have in a long time. Thank you for everything you did for me. You're the best father anyone could ask for." She says giving him a hug from behind.

" I will always be here for you both." He says warmly, grateful for having such blessed children in his life.