Luna Raine

XXXVII. This is Normal

Raine's POV:

Silence all around.

The utensils click against one another. I pick up a piece of steak and place it inside my mouth. It's good. I heard that Alphas are wealthy and rumors are not proven to be false. Good steaks mean wealth. That does not make any sense at all.

"I heard you're still in school." I look up from the juicy steak only to be punched in the face. Not physically. More emotionally. "You're seventeen?"

I swallow the piece of meat. "Yes." Mom. I have to stop thinking of her as my mom because she isn't. Maybe, if I focused on her eye colors enough, it would distract me from the other features.

She smiles and places a piece of asparagus on my plate. This woman is definitely not my mom. Mom wouldn't put vegetables in my place because she hates it. Mom rarely wants to eat anything green so she avoids making it.

There it is. I can find subtle differences to keep myself from insanity.

"Do you have a twin?" I ask her. The men at the table stop eating and look at me.

She smiles, a very uncomfortable one. "Not that I know of."

"Why did you call her mom?" Leon asks.

"Why can't she call her mom?" Preston question before I could respond. There it is. The father-son harmony. "She's going to be your wife, our daughter-in-law. It's only right for her to call your mother...mom."

I don't know whether I should thank Preston for getting me out of that sticky question or punch him in the face for being so forceful. I'm leaning on the second part, but I don't want to be beaten to death. His hands look rough like he strangled a lot of necks in his life.

Leon frowned, but he didn't respond.

It's odd how Leon responds to his father.

From what I know, when an Alpha takes over his parent seats; he is the head. The previous Alpha or anyone else shouldn't overpower him or else he will lose all respect in the pack.

"I heard you applied for some sort of company in Europe," Preston said.

Leon sucks in his cheeks.

"Don't worry. I pulled your application." I didn't dare look up from my plate, instead, I continued to cut the steak. Very slowly. I made sure not to cut all the way to the plate. I need to be invisible. "If you wanted to work. You can work at Interstellar."

"No."

I glanced up and saw that the steak was halfway towards Preston's mouth. "What?"

"I do not want to work at Interstellar. I want to go to-"

Preston threw the utensil and steak down. "What are you doing with your life?" he roars. I look back towards the steak.

Not my family.

Not my business.

"You're an Alpha for goddamn sake! When will you grow up and throw away this ignorant idea of making games? You're not a boy anymore! There are families out there who are depending on you! Do you know how lucky you are to be born into this position?"

"I never asked for this!" Leon yelled. I leaned away from him and held my breath. I never seen him angry. "How many times do I have to tell you? I don't want to be Alpha! I don't want to take over Crescent Moon! I want to chase my dreams and-"

Preston punched Leon's face.

I stood up and without control, I screamed as Leon's body crashed on the floor. His head pounds against the wall. Steadily, he got up from the fall and groaned slightly. Leon held his head, while the paint drifted into the air.