Chapter 3
801 Words
Louisa's POV:
When the car stopped at the entrance of the Silverfir Wolf Pack's ancestral estate, Elizabeth Percy was already waiting on the steps.
As soon as Alice got out of the car, she ran over and linked arms with Elizabeth. "Elizabeth, it's so cold outside. Why did you come out in person?" Alice asked.
Elizabeth smiled fondly. "Who else would I be waiting for?" she replied. "I arranged for you to work under Sebastian. I don't know if it's been too hard on you."
Alice glanced at Sebastian, the tips of her ears turning red. "Mr. Percy treats me very well," she said.
"Not in the slightest," Sebastian said, standing behind her with a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips.
The three of them walked inside, chatting as they went.
After several meters, Elizabeth seemed to suddenly remember me. She turned back, her gaze distant and aloof. "Louisa is here too," she said. "Hurry inside before you catch a chill." That was all she said.
Sebastian walked over to my side and looked down at me, studying my face. "In a bad mood?" he asked.
I shook my head. "No," I said. I had finally made my peace.
But he frowned. "If it's work‑related, I hope you won't bring your emotions into our home," he said. "You'll be my Luna soon. I don't want to come home to a cold face every time."
My hand at my side clenched into a fist. For a moment there, I had actually thought he had finally sensed my mood. It turned out he was only worried that I was making him uncomfortable.
I stopped walking and looked at him. "When I'm unhappy, I show it," I said. "If you can't stand it, look away. I am your fated mate, not a subordinate here to cater to your every whim."
Sebastian's face darkened. The oppressive aura of a pack leader instantly radiated outward. The air seemed to suddenly grow heavy. An ordinary werewolf would have long since bowed their head under such pressure.
But I was his fated mate. Even without completing the marking, my white wolf could still resist his power. This was the first time in five years that I had not backed down.
Sebastian stared at me, his voice a few degrees colder. "Louisa, you are an adult," he said. "We are about to complete the marking. I don't want the Luna of the Silverfir Wolf Pack to be ruled by her emotions."
A laugh escaped me. "Then who do you think is suitable?" I asked.
He seemed to be thinking seriously. After a moment, he said, "My Luna will only ever be you. But you could learn from Alice. She experienced losing control during her first shift, yet she never took her bad moods out on others. She's very considerate."
I stared at him for two long seconds. "Fine," I said. Either way, I wouldn't be the Luna of the Silverfir Wolf Pack for much longer.
Inside the dining room, Elizabeth guided Alice to the seat on her right. Sebastian sat on the left. I chose the farthest seat.
Only after sitting down did I realize that there wasn't a single dish on the table that I liked.
Elizabeth kept loading up Alice's plate. "You're too thin. You've got to take care of yourself, research or no research." She nodded at the table. "Sebastian asked me to make all of this. Said you like things sweet and sour."
Alice smiled shyly. "Thank you, Elizabeth," she said.
Elizabeth finally looked at me, her expression dismissive. "Louisa, I don't even know what you like to eat," she said. "Just make do."
Sebastian put a piece of the honey-glazed roast on my plate. "Next time, tell the kitchen ahead of time if there's something you want. You never let on what you like. Nobody can read you." He said it easily. "Not like Alice. Everything's right there on her face."
I looked down at what he'd put on my plate. I'm allergic to honey.
It wouldn't kill me. It would put me in bed with a fever and lock me out of my wolf for a few days, that's all.
Five years. We'd known each other five years, and he didn't know what I couldn't eat. He could recite every dish Alice liked.
I set my fork down. My phone buzzed. My supervisor, sending the details for the eight o'clock flight in the morning.
Something in me went quiet after that.
I didn't eat anything that entire meal. Sebastian never noticed. I sat there and watched the three of them, how easy it was between them, how nobody had to work at it.
There was no room in it for me. And I'd stopped wanting there to be.
- Writer
