The Rejected Male Luna

Chapter 8

RUBY'S POV

My mother was knocking at my door again, her previous calls having been ignored. This was the second week since I presented and I barely felt like eating a deep saddeness having settled within me. If being sick with sadness was a diagnosable condition, then that was exactly what I was suffering from.

I had kept appearances for the past week, smiling at everyone, ignoring the pitiful looks they sent my way especially my pack members.

My father had spent most of his time entertaining the numerous Alphas,betas and omegas alike who had come to court me, barely having spoken a word to me since that fateful night.My mother spent her every waking moment dotting on me and getting me prepared for all the visiting potential mates ensuring I looked presentable enough for anyone who sort me out.

"The Black Dew Pack has arrived,the pack leader and his son with a few of their elders. You need to wake up Ruby,we can't have them getting a bad impression of us," my mother spoke this time leaving urgent knocks in her wake.She loved keeping appearances,everything could be falling apart, but she never gave anyone the opportunity of being a witness to it.

That definitely perked up my interest as it was Gerald's pack having not heard from him since I broke the news of finding and rejecting my mate to him. My energy levels had dwindled and my reserves completely depleted. If I had to entertain another omega who tried to entice me with their pheromens, I was going to throw up. It was a miracle I had not completely dislocated my jaw from all the fake laughing I had done throughout the week. I sluggishly got out of bed, alerting my maids through the pack link I was up so that they could come help me prepare myself. The maids a recent development from my mother,who insisted I needed extra help.

As I lowered myself in the bath, the two maids who were older widowed omegas came to help each carrying a brush, setting themselves on either side of my head. A "knowledgeable" thought from my mother, who didn't want any young unmated female wolves near me or the mated ones whose mates would be aggravated by my scent on their mates.

"How are you feeling today?" Kira asked.

" Like death!" I groaned. Bath times had become therapeutic. Both Kira and Dani always listened to me as I rambled about how my day had been. They were slowly becoming the mother figures I had desperately needed from my birth mother.

"Today, could be better. The young man you told us about is here in the packlands. He is pretty handsome,yeah," Dani said while wiggling her eyebrows at me.

"I have definitely seen better. The bar for good looks has to be very low when you are old if Gerald is what she calls handsome," Mary snickered in response. I couldn't help but let out a small laugh, give it to Mary to give commentary at the most random times. Of late, she just spent most of her time distancing herself from me. At times I would get paranoid she would completely go dormant forever. Her comments were more than welcome even if they were less than cordial. At least she was still there and had not abandoned me.

"Look at that smile Dani,we have finally cracked through that mask of sadness that she has been wearing since we met her," a beaming Kira stated. Only if she knew that wasn't the case at all,the only reason I afforded a smile was because of my wolf.

Leaving the bath once my hair was clean I debated on what to wear. I had free reign on my dressing choices. Today the sun was full show and I decided to pick one of my sundresses.

"The purple one,pick the purple one," Mary murmured quietly. I didn't argue or show any reluctance to pick out the purple dress like she requested, knowing the main reason behind her sudden request. We missed our mate. We had spent less than ten minutes together but that was enough for our bond to take. Thinking about Max just plummeted me back to the sea of worry that I had spent most of my nights in. Was he still alive? Had he died? If so, how? I spent most of my time eavesdropping on peoples conversations hoping to pick up any news about him.

Pairing the purple dress with gold ornaments, I left my room for the main room where our guests were being hosted by my parents for brunch. A huge bald man was the first person who I made eye contact with before I spotted Gerald next to him . There was some resemblance there, probably his father or uncle, but looking at the rest of the ensemble, he definitely had to be the leader, the blackened boar tooth hanging from his neck a sign of seniority.

"Don't you dare bow to them! You are no Omega!" Mary was as chatty as she could get. She had spoken more words to me this morning than she had for the previous week. It was customary for lower ranking wolves to bow to the higher ones during greetings.Growing up I was so used to it, it was a force of habit that needed to stop.

"Morning, everyone," I greeted everyone backed up with a bit of Alpha posturing.That had felt nice,I now understood why Alphas loved doing it so much. I sat on the chair opposite to my parents as the Black Dew pack were seated to the sides of the dining table Gerald's father to the right of my father at the very front. Gerald's father was staring me down in a way that made me really self-conscious. I realized he was trying to intimidate me. Leave it to a male alpha to try to intimidate another Apha in their home. Male Alphas were notoriously known for trying to intimidate their female alpha counterparts especially.

I was in a room with three other alphas. This was no time to be meek. I was as much an Alpha like the rest of them. I held his gaze releasing as much pheromens as he was. If we were going to stink the whole room up and suffocate everyone, let be it but I was not going to back down.

"Enough Ruby!" My father growled at me suddenly causing me to break eye contact with Gerald's father. That's when I realised how tense all the other wolves on the table were.

" Forgive her, she is still getting used to her wolf." My mother mumbled apologies to the Alpha. I had not been sorry but I would piggy back on her apology.

This was the dawn of something different within me. Standing up for myself for those few seconds felt empowering. The first nice feeling I had felt about myself in a long while.

"Go girl!" Mary cheered at the back of my mind.