My Verboten Mate

ANGELA POV My name is Angela Cruz, I’m going to be fifteen next month and I am the daughter of the Gamma of the Golden Moon pack. Robbie, my brother, is going to be eighteen soon and will be gaining his wolf. He is graduating from high school this year. He looks just like my dad except he has my mom's blue eyes. I, on the other hand, look like my mother with blond hair, but I have my father’s brown eyes. Our father used to be human, until he met our mother, and he went through the change. Even though he had no rank, he proved he was worthy of the Gamma position. My grandfather always teases him, saying my mother would have made a better Gamma since she has Gamma blood in her on his side. I doubt he would actually accept a female Gamma, but I think he only said it to annoy my dad. Even though my grandfather and I have an amazing relationship, he doesn’t really get along with my dad. Which really upsets me because I love my dad and my grandad. I wish they could get along, but I can see how my grandad Brian tends to be over critical and judgmental. I can only hope that one day he sees the good in everyone instead of always focusing on the parts he doesn’t agree with. For a while, it seemed he was starting to accept my dad and our Luna, who used to be human. Then our pack began to grow and change. My grandad feared we were becoming too humanized. Whatever that means. That’s when he and my dad started to butt heads again and it only got worse. He is constantly criticizing our Luna because she used to be human and is very outspoken. Every change or improvement she makes, he is on the counter side of it. Which is also a shame because I admire our Luna as much as I admire my mother. She gives the best advice and is really funny. I don’t mind humans one bit. Not only because my father and our Luna used to be humans, but because my grandparents on my father’s side are humans. As well as my uncles, my dad’s brothers. I have A LOT of family that are not werewolves, and they are just like wolves. Not perfect, but great in their own way. My grandad says I’m still young and don’t know anything about the world yet. That’s how he excuses loving me but disliking a big part of my life. The human side. He might be right. I am young, but that won’t change my opinion. He forgets that although we are wolves, we have a human side. We can be very stubborn and narrow-minded. His mate, my Nana Vi, says the pups of our generation will open his eyes. I hope so because I hate the awkwardness between my dad and grandad. It’s upsetting to know that he never accepted my dad and if it was up to him, they would never have been mated. As if the Moon Goddess made mistakes. Even when mates don’t work out, it’s part of her plan. I hope her plan for me is less controversial. Even if it may not be what I want, it’s what would be best for our family. The dreams in my little heart are big and I doubt they will ever be fulfilled. That would be a blessing and a curse at the same time, but you can’t have it all. All I can hope is that I can fulfill my dream of having my own restaurant. I volunteer in the pack house kitchen on the weekends, much to my grandad’s displeasure. He says that’s the omega’s work. He only stopped hounding me about it when I explained how much I love it and that my dream was to someday have my own recipes that I cook in my own restaurant. My Nana Vero has taught me some recipes and I love cooking her chilaquiles for Luna Becky. Every time I make them, her eyes go wide, and she says “Son como el cielo y el infierno combinados (They are like heaven and hell combined). That’s because, although they are spicy, they are heavenly. Alpha Luke can’t eat them because he says he doesn’t want his taste buds to die, but he loves watching her eat them. She looks like a child on Christmas morning. That’s what I want to see for the rest of my life. Full bellies and happy faces. At school I’m not really that popular, not like my brother. I have one friend, Penelope, and she is my best friend for that reason. It has a lot to do with the fact that I don’t look like most of the shewolfs. I’m not short, but I am on the shorter side, at five-four and curvier than most. My grandad says I have my dad to thank for that. I will admit that my grandma is short and curvy. As Luna Becky would say, she is stacked and has a good amount of junk in her trunk. It didn’t help that I started developing early and, because of that, I wear loose-fitting shirts and sweaters to cover up. When my mother noticed, she told me I shouldn’t be ashamed of my body. She is curvy as well, but not as much as me. Her curviness looks good on her because she’s taller and leaner. If I were to wear fitted clothing, my boobs would be in everyone’s face and my butt would stick out. Even though with loose-fitting clothing I look a little chubby, I don’t mind. That doesn’t stop the male wolves from hitting on me, but they are horny teenagers. They would hit on a tree if it had a v****a. Since Penelope is also on the curvier side, we tend to stick to ourselves. She is much more confident than I am in her body and that could be because she knows how beautiful she is. I would be too if I had her green eyes and gorgeous red hair. Unlike me, she wears normal clothes that accentuate her curves. Then again, she is a little taller than me and a little less curvy. I’m about to start tenth grade and I’m tired of hiding. I can’t change who I am, and I shouldn’t be ashamed. I’m scared of what my grandad might say or think but Luna Becky is right. We are all growing up and need to be free to discover who we are and not be told who we are expected to be. At the time she said it, I thought she was trying to get under my granddad's skin since he was present. After a while, I realized that yes indeed, she was saying it so he would hear it, but also so that we would hear it too. Her children, the Beta’s children and Robbie and me. We are all very close and that is very common since we are children of high-ranking wolves. Normally, that alone would assure we would grow up with the Alpha and Beta children. Since my older brother Robbie will end up taking over the Gamma position, he needs to be close with the future Alpha and Beta. They all need to form a bond and trust each other. There will be times when they will depend on each other, and their lives will be in each other’s hands. It’s weird to say, but they need to have love for one another so that they look out for each other with everything they have. Just like they look out for the pack and all its members.