The Alpha's Daughter (Un-Edited Version)

The Alpha's Daughter - Chapter 25

Annie:

"Are you sure that's your most respectable attire?" dad asked, looking me up and down. I scowled to myself and sat down at the table, pulling a bowl of cereal towards me. Radleigh grunted at what I was wearing and then went back to gnawing at his bacon. I looked down, trying to see what exactly was wrong with my clothes.

Okay, so my top was perhaps a bit low, and the skirt might not have needed to cling to my every movement, but I wasn't about to go back upstairs and change for that old bag. No, correction; that dead old bag.

"I didn't respect her when she was alive." I shrugged, taking a spoonful of cereal. "I sure as hell don't respect her now she's dead." Dad shook his head at me, but said nothing. He went back to staring out of the window, the coffee mug hanging loosely from his fingers. He was going to drop it if he wasn't careful.

I didn't know why he seemed to be so upset about mum; he hadn't even seen her in five years. She had changed a lot from the doting mother she had been back then. Well, she had definitely changed; she was no longer breathing or was the owner of a beating heart. Radleigh looked thoughtful, as he did a lot of the time these days. He always seemed to have things on his mind recently.

Jase was arguing with Sierra about whether to take Max to the funeral; she wanted to take him, while Jase wanted to leave him with Georgie. Sierra was having attachment problems. Cal was sitting in the chair next to mine, not taking his eyes off of me. He had been this way for the past couple of days; completely silent but fiercely protective. It was like he thought that this whole mum dying a tragic death thing was going to have some negative effect on me. Whatever.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come?" Zane asked, looking up from his breakfast. I shook my head; this was already becoming something of a spectacle. My mum would have been proud to know that so many of these people were interested in coming to grieve her death. Or celebrate; what ever floats your boat. Ade glanced up but quickly lowered his head. I rolled my eyes. Those two were the dictionary definition of awkward right now. Cal had tried talking to Ade about it but he had just been wasting his breath.

"We'd best get going," dad muttered, pouring the rest of his coffee down the sink. Radleigh muttered something about not wanting to go and dad shot him a furious look.

"We're burying your mother," he snarled, taking a step towards Radleigh, "and you'd rather just stay at home?" Radleigh just sneered, getting to his feet with the air of defiance hanging over him. He got right up into dad's face and looked as if he was about to punch him. But instead, he walked past, hitting dad's shoulder with his own and storming out of the room, leaving an uneasy silence in his wake. I drummed my fingers on the table, trying to block out everyone's thoughts.

"I'm going to my room," Ade growled, standing up and walking towards the door. I caught Zane staring at him regretfully, and I didn't need to know what he was thinking to get the general idea.

When Ade had told my dad, he was met with a stunned stillness. Then he told Ade that, even though it was rare, there were stories of it happening within other packs. Apparently, Zane could only claim Ade as his mate, seeing as they couldn't exactly conceive any offspring. Alright for some, wasn't it? Not that Ade had seen it that way. No, he was still very hung up on the fact that his mate was a bloke. What the hell was his baggage? Wasn't that what most werewolves waited for? Finding a soul mate? Okay, so they'd never have kids, but where was the harm in that? He still had Zane's mark on his chest, didn't he? Seriously, the way he was going on, it was like something terrible had happened. Alright, maybe I was being a bit of a hypocrite, considering how thrilled I was when I found out that Cal had claimed me.

I didn't want to go to the funeral either. I was probably looking forward to it as much, if not less than, Radleigh. The thought of being reunited with all the family members who had completely cut me out of their lives literally churned my stomach. And then there was the wankerish boyfriend that she had insisted on throwing into our lives. I was silently praying that Dennis had decided to boycott the funeral completely, because a run in with him was the last thing I needed right now.