My Verboten Mate

2. An enemy within our pack

ANGELA POV

There is another very important reason we are all so close to the Alpha family. My father, Gamma Jerry, is Luna Becky’s cousin. Making her children our second cousins… I think. Anyway, we all grew up together along with the Beta’s kids. We are all between the ages of fourteen and eighteen.

Ten children in total. Alpha Luke and Luna Becky have five children. The youngest are Luke Jr and Leia, who are closest to me in age at fourteen. You would think we would be close, but they have this twin thing going on and, although we are friends, we are not as close as they are with each other. They look like former Alpha Liam, with light brown hair and eyes. Their skin is fair like his too.

Then there is Alex, who is turning sixteen in a few months. He is one of the most popular boys in school, especially with the shewolfs. He looks more like our alpha with a darker complexion and darker brown hair. He is undoubtedly attractive, as to be expected from an Alpha. Too bad he’s a puto (man w***e). I guess that’s his future mate’s problem.

My last cousin on my father’s side is Winona, who is eighteen and will be graduating in a few weeks. She is the future heir of the Golden moon pack. She looks just like Luna Becky with the exception that her skin is lighter, and her nose is refined like Alpha Luke’s. She is also way taller than Luna Becky. All my cousins tower over her comically.

Lastly, there is Adam. He is their adoptive son and Alpha Luke’s nephew. I am one of the youngest, he is the eldest at eighteen. He is the most handsome wolf I have ever seen. Rich brown hair and dark piercing eyes. A strong jaw and refined nose. He is best friends with my brother and the Beta’s eldest son, Devon, who is also graduating this year.

The Beta’s three children complete our little crew. Devon, the future Beta, is the spitting image of Beta Jordan except for his hazel eyes. Melanie, their middle child, is sixteen, with caramel skin and brown curly hair. Chris, their youngest, is fifteen and has caramel skin and brown curly hair and hazel eyes. Chris and I are in the same grade but have very different interests.

Adam is the quiet one out of all of us. He comes out of his shell when he’s around either of us ten, but even then, you can tell he’s guarded. Considering my grandfather has made it a point to tag him as an enemy and outcast, it’s understandable. Although this is also a big reason, people tend to give my grandad’s word validity. People often fear what they don’t understand.

I fear that one day Alpha Luke will become upset with my grandad and kick him out of the pack. His words caused other pack members to shy away from Adam. To look at him differently and some have even believed my grandad’s words.

While most of the graduating wolves this year are staying within the pack and taking their positions within it. Adam is leaving and I’m sure it has a lot to do with how indifferent most pack members are to him and the whispers and looks. Even though Alpha Luke and Luna Becky treat him as their son, and we treat him no differently. We are only a few compared to the other pack members.

Our pack members are good people, but they are fearful. Before I was born, there was a battle fought here and even before that there were attacks on the pack. What makes things worse is that the attacks came from our former Alpha’s son. One he had before he met his fated mate. Adam’s father.

Combine that fear with my grandad’s constant accusations and assumptions and you get grown wolves that fear a five-year-old. That’s how old Adam was when he came here. I always wondered how my sweet old grandad could fear and hate a child? He hates that Robbie is best friends with him and tries to separate them.

My dad put a stop to that, but it caused a rift between my parents and him. Since then, he’s hidden most of his “suggestions” to Robbie and me from my parents. Telling us to keep our distance from him. We don’t tell our parents but pay him no mind none the less. We don’t like being in the middle and don’t want any more fights.

I’m not sure what to think of Adam. He may be a part of our group, but he is much older than I am, and I don’t hang out with him one on one. He is attractive and, because I am a teenage girl, he has the ability to make my thoughts run wild. He’s never done anything in front of me to question his loyalty to the pack in any way.

I can’t help but wonder if there is something my grandad knows that he’s not telling us? Why is he so sure that Adam will betray this pack and his parents? The Alpha and Luna took him in and treated him like their own flesh and blood. I just can't wrap my head around it.

He has no reason to make things up, none that I can think of anyway. When he critiques Luna Becky it’s because he doesn’t want the pack to change. He likes things the way they are, even if they are changes that are for the better. When he argues with my dad, it’s because my dad is a big part of the change he’s fighting to stop.

I don’t want to believe that Adam could be everything the pack fears. An enemy within our pack that’s biding his time while earning Alpha and Luna’s trust. Gathering information to bring the pack down. Poisoning the high-ranking members' children against their own pack.

I also don’t want to believe that my grandad would falsely accuse someone innocent just because of something they can’t control. No one gets to choose who their father is. For as long as I can remember, these thoughts have plagued my mind.

Even now as I roll out the crust for the apple pie, I’m making, I’m lost in thought. “Is that pie ever going to be done?” Robbie says and tries to take one of the apple slices I have in the bowl. “Más ayuda el que no estorba! (The one who doesn't get in the way helps more!).” I slap his h and he retract it while scowling at me.

I grin at him and continue my work. “I’m getting that pie.” He grumbles and walks out of the kitchen. I swear the Moon Goddess made a mistake with him. He should have been a werepig. He eats EVERYTHING! Then again, the way my father trains him day in and day out, he surely does need the nutrition. I guess I could sacrifice another pie for the werepig. I’ll just have to make another one for tomorrow’s barbeque.