The Alpha Twins Can't Have Me

Chapter 2: Warned

Juniper POV

I came downstairs in pyjamas and sat myself down at the dining table as my mother clenched her jaw and my father sighed in resignation.

They acted as though I was creating some sort of fashion faux pas.

My brother Caelen smirked at me and nodded at my pajamas.

“Loving the Ursula pyjamas, sis,” he mocked, “really brings out the adult side of you.”

I glared at him. Nobody got to say anything bad about my pajamas, not even my brother.

“What can I say, Ursula is badass and a business genius,” I shot back, “not her fault nobody abided by her contracts or read the fine print."

I defended one of my favourite Disney villains.

He snorted. My mother eyed the ceiling, and I saw her mouth moving silently. Was she praying?

I'd never pegged her for the Christian type, but then again, she did a lot of praying when I was around.

Probably a coincidence.

Dinner was put down in front of us, and I eyed the food, stabbing my fork into the broccoli and wrinkling my nose. I hated broccoli. Everybody knew it, but my plate, for some unknown reason, had the largest quantity of it.

Was this a conspiracy?

I flicked it off my fork and under the table while nobody was looking and then cut into the steak, eating it as though it was my last meal. I adored food. It didn’t judge you; it didn’t talk incessantly. It simply lay there, waiting to be devoured.

We could learn a lot from food.

“Juniper,” my father’s voice cut across the dining table, “if you aren’t aware- and, to be honest, you probably have no idea- the summit is this weekend, and we will be hosting. Amongst the guests will be the Blackthorn twins, Malakai and Draven. They have a reputation as being quite ruthless, and they must be made to feel like honoured guests. We can’t afford to offend them. This means you will need to act accordingly," he warned.

I saw where this was going.

I could read between the lines.

I was almost psychic when it came to my parents. They always spoke from the same script and used the same demands.

“You will not embarrass us. You will dress appropriately,” my father began, eyeing me heatedly and screwing up his face at my pajamas.

“You will wear a dress, a formal one,” my mother jumped in. “You will wear shoes, not go barefoot. You will brush that unruly mane of hair,” she shot me a glower, “and you will put on makeup.”

“You act as though I’m some sort of wild animal,” I muttered, shoving a bite of potato into my mouth and violently chewing it in protest.

“Because that’s exactly how you act,” my mother snarled, “instead of the polite, high society girl you should be.”

Ouch. She didn't have to be so blunt.

“Mother, you don’t have to be so harsh to Juniper. She’s doing her best, and she has her own unique personality,” Calen interrupted, looking angry as I glanced at him. “There’s nothing wrong with her. So, what if she doesn’t look like all the other Barbie girls who attend these events? I think she’s far more interesting than any shifter women looking to hook their greedy hands into the next wealthy alpha they find.”

Thank you, I mouthed at him, feeling genuinely moved.

Calen always had my back. I could count on him to play mediator when it came to me and my parents. I knew he loved me, but as the heir of the pack and soon-to-be Alpha, he didn’t have much time to spend with me.

None of them did.

Sometimes it was like I was invisible unless they wanted something from me.

“This event is important to us. I don’t want it ruined,” my father commented. “And for one night, Juniper, it will not hurt you to play the part of being the daughter of the Alpha," he almost snarled at me.

I had never cared for labels. I had never cared to be judged simply because I was the daughter of the man in charge of the pack.

I had always considered everybody to be equal, ignoring the hierarchy in the pack, much to my parents' chagrin.

They had always insisted our family was inferior and that omegas needed to remember their place.

Stupid. Omegas were the ones who cooked the food. They were the most vital of the pack as far as I was concerned. Nobody liked to starve. Especially me.

“You’ll do it, or so help me, I’ll throw you outside for two days straight,” my mother threatened.

Did she even know me? Two days in the wild, surrounded by the forest and animals, was like heaven to me.

Besides, I often disappeared for days at a time without them noticing.

I almost laughed out loud but reined it in and nodded with a heavy sigh, feigning the obedience they so clearly expected from me.

“Fine, I’ll behave so long as nobody tries to touch me like last time,” I warned, remembering the stupid boy who’d gotten handsy only to have me break his arm, “but only if you get me a green dress. If I have to wear one, then I’m wearing a colour I like,” I grumbled.

It was a compromise. A reluctant one. I would still rather go pat a bear than attend this event. At least bears were interesting. People not so much.

“Excellent. See darling,” my mother smiled warmly at my father, “everything is going to go swimmingly, you’ll see.”

Why did she sound like she was trying to convince herself instead of my father?

Unfortunately, her prediction did not come true, and the night of the summit turned out to be more interesting than anybody could have imagined, including me.