Chapter 79 - Damned if I do, and damned if I don't!

Samantha

It was clear that our shopping trip was for one reason only. The queen wanted to tell me not to hurt her son. She still didn’t accept me. She didn’t trust that our bond was one destined by the moon goddess. It made me wonder how much the queen believed in the moon goddess. I had heard rumours over the years that the queen had some mystical experience, but none of the rumours were even proven as fact.

She never admitted to them, but the castle staff always talked. It was how the entire pack found out about my family’s disgrace! The queen wanted the matter to be handled discreetly. That much I knew, but one of the castle staff members just had to spread the rumour, and we were shunned instantly. Nobody ever admitted anything straight to our faces, but I heard them talking.

When your family is shunned, people seemed to not even notice you most of the time. I heard them talking whenever they thought I wasn’t listening. I heard the rumours all through school! Hell, I’d heard them all my life. There was no way I could be queen! I had been fooling myself into thinking that this could actually work! I had to break it off! I looked around my room that was covered in shopping bags and sighed deeply as tears started to stream down my cheeks.

How did I say no to something so special? How did I go against the will of the moon goddess?!

Adam

“How was your day?” My mother sauntered into my office and I had been waiting for what felt like forever for her to return.

“It was good. Listen, son.” She frowned and I knew what was coming. I just couldn’t believe it.

“Mother, stop!” I held up one hand and sighed deeply. “Don’t say what you are about to say. I can’t believe that you, of all people, would go there! You broke the rules with grandfather so that you could be with your destined mate. Why would you want me to reject mine? Wasn’t this what you were fighting for?” She had already mentioned that she didn’t think our union would work! My mother actually wanted me to reject my destined mate!

She pursed her lips tightly like she always did whenever she had a lot to say but couldn’t say any of it. When I didn’t say anything else, my mother whipped around and walked out. I hated that this was causing so much friction between us, but she had her perfect bond. Why couldn’t she just let me have mine?! My mother always told me how much it hurt that her father treated her the way he did.

Why was she doing that to me now? I got up and walked over to the window. The gardens were in full bloom. Spring was in the air and if I tried hard enough, I could probably remember all the songs she taught me about falling in love in the springtime. My mother had always been a romantic … Until now. So, she felt betrayed by Samantha’s family, but that didn’t mean that Samantha was anything like them. She wouldn’t betray me.

Would she? I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I couldn’t allow my mother’s fears to influence how I felt about Samantha. I was going to make this work no matter how she felt about my mate. I was going to make things work between me and Samantha.

Samantha

The omega that had been newly appointed to work for me appeared in the doorway and seconds later my mother rushed into the room. She was speechless. I loved my mother dearly, but she was never really the motherly type. She never knew what to do when I cried. I wiped my tears and was on the verge of saying I had to reject Adam when my mother’s face turned red with anger.

“No, no, no! You are not going to do it!” She shook her head and I frowned. “Samantha, you are not going to ruin this for your father and me. If you reject the king, we will lose everything! Again! I don’t think I will survive it a second time!” I gaped at her. I couldn’t believe that my mother would put her comfort over my happiness!

I was just about to say something when my father rushed in and soon, they were pacing back and forth while trying to convince me that I had to mate the king as soon as possible. Nothing I said made any difference. They didn’t even hear me. They just kept telling me how bad their lives would be and not once did they mention or even seem to think of how bad my life was going to be.

I had heard over the years of how great the queen was, but right now I was wondering about that. People clearly hadn’t been on my side of this picture. Nobody knew how it felt when she disapproved of you! My mother shouted something I didn’t even hear and stormed out of my room, followed by my father. I sighed as the sight of the shopping in front of me hit me right in the gut.

Were these gifts to help me or a bribe to get me to reject the king? Why couldn’t the moon goddess just leave me alone? I would have happily lived out my life alone! I didn’t need a damn mate! My omega appeared in the doorway and I told her to pack away the shopping. I can’t send it all back now. No matter what intention they were given with. If I sent back the gifts the queen gave me, I would probably be exiled from the pack!

I spent all night tossing and turning, and by the time morning came, I had dark circles under my eyes. I tried to hide them with some make-up before going to see Adam, but it just seemed to make it look worse. I wished I could just run away!