Happiness is Earned (Second Chances Book 3), page 7
I’m just not sure if Kennedy is putting on a show for my parents, my mates and I, or the staff.
Atticus pulls out my chair, and I sit down as he tucks me in. He claims the seat to my left, and Micah sits on my right. I’m a little upset it’s not Malachi or Devoss. They need to be in close range of me, so I can stop them from getting physical if there’s an insult. When there’s an insult.
From Micah it goes, Griffin, Orson, Malachi, and then Devoss. You know, the worst offender at the end, right next to my dad. Amazing.
My mum is next to my dad, with Neve in between her and Kennedy. Crystal is between Atty and David, which puts David and Kennedy sitting side by side. Based on how tightly David’s clenching his jaw, I think he’s unhappy about that.
Honestly, I don’t see a good way to arrange us all around this table without there being issues. It’s perfect that I’m not sitting next to my parents or Kennedy and Neve, but it’s terrible that they’re directly opposite me.
I adjust my chair, noting the wobble on the uneven legs, and straighten my back. It’s uncomfortable, sure, but I’m meant to be the Queen at Atty’s side and not a weakness he’s got to protect.
“So, Nora—” my mum starts, but Kennedy cuts her off, unintentionally, I think.
“I’m glad you’ve recovered well, Alpha Phoenix, from the attack last time you were here. I’m glad my people could help you,” Kennedy says, and my mum sits back in her seat, a brittle smile in place. She’s clearly not impressed she’s not the one running the show, but she’s smart enough to not make a big deal over it.
I wonder how being the mother to the Luna has affected her social status. My dad wasn’t the only one who wanted to have a better status within the pack.
“Thank you. I truly appreciate the help that your people provided me,” Atty says, and if I didn’t have the bond tying me to him, I’d have believed he was being genuine. But he’s actually amused and getting a dig in that it was Kennedy’s people who helped and not Kennedy himself. Rather than continuing to chat with the other Alpha though, he turns to my brother. “So, David, how’s the ceremony looking? Are you guys ready to officially tie the knot?”
Oh, the pun. Micah coughs to hide his laughter, but Fin doesn’t even try.
“Really well,” Kennedy replies before David can. “We’ve got everything ready to go for the rehearsal dinner this evening, and—”
“Are you going to let anyone else speak?” Atticus asks, not even caring about how rude his tone is. Kennedy frowns, and I guarantee he’s not used to being spoken to this way. “This isn’t a business meeting, Kennedy. It’s meant to be a brunch between family. I’m asking our brother-by-mating about his ceremony to our new sister-by-mating. It’s hard to get to know them when you talk for them.”
“Family?” Kennedy asks, glancing around the table as if surprised. But then, he nods. “Of course.”
“You get them all of the time,” Atticus continues, a flicker of something changes in his face, but it’s gone so briefly I couldn’t examine it. What’s he plotting? “I only have this long weekend to get to know them.”
Kennedy nods once more, holding his hands up as he gives David a don’t fuck this up look that sets my brother further on edge.
“How are you doing, sweetheart?” my mum asks quietly, patting Neve’s knee, whilst not looking away from me.
Who was that question directed to?
“Fine,” Neve says just as quietly. Oh, well that answers my question.
Kennedy wraps his arm around the back of my sister’s chair, and I notice her relax. It would’ve stung if this were something I saw at the gala, but now, it barely bothers me. I’m in a much better place, and I don’t need to continue feeling bad about not being good enough for Kennedy.
I was more than enough for Atticus, and there was even enough left over for six other mates.
I turn to smile at David and Crystal. “I’m so glad to be here. Thanks for helping make sure it was possible so we could come.”
David snorts, but thankfully the waiter comes to take our orders before Kennedy can reprimand him. I don’t order a lot, much to Orson’s frustration, but Griffin orders enough for three people—and I’m talking shifters here, not humans.
“So, Nora, why don’t you tell us about your life?” my mum says, clasping her hands together as she leans forward in her seat. “We’ve missed so much.”
“And whose fault is that?” Voss asks, raising an eyebrow. “Because I don’t like the insinuation that it’s Nora’s fault.”
“No, of course not,” my mum says, glancing at my silent dad nervously. “But let’s just move past that, shall we? We can figure out a future we can all be happy to be part of, without needing to go over mistakes made.”
The look she shoots my way, as if I’m the one who made mistakes, has David, Malachi, and Fin snorting. My dad seems to pale as he shoots a nervous look towards Voss, who has a fake calmness to him.
“That sounds like a good idea, mum,” Neve says, somehow falling into the role that used to be mine. I was always the peacekeeper, but it seems she’s taken that place from me, too. She too clasps her hands together and smiles at me, in a total carbon copy of our mother.
Would that have been my life? Is this how I’d be acting?
“How are you doing, Nora?” she asks sweetly.
“Good,” I say quietly.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Neve replies.
And then an awkward silence fills the air. My guys are willing to let me take the lead, but with no idea what to say, it’s making everything extremely uncomfortable.
In my head, I imagined this moment going differently. I thought maybe I’d tell them to go screw themselves. Or maybe they’d apologise, and I’d accept their efforts to try and move forward. They might have...
No, it doesn’t matter what I thought.
You can plan as many times as you want for something like this, but the only narrative you can ever control is your own.
This is my chance to heal, process what happened, and get whatever answers I want out of them.
I won’t take that for granted.
3
NORA
“This is a very busy table,” my mum says, glancing around with a polite look on her face. Well, as long as you ignore the slight tightening of her smile, and the affronted lilt to her words. “It would’ve been nice if we could’ve met on a more personal level, Nora, to get to know each other again.”
Isn’t she the same woman who not even ten minutes ago was insulted that all of my mates didn’t want to come and meet her?
“I’m not here because I’m interested in getting to know you again,” I say, glancing at my parents before looking at Neve so she knows she’s included in that. She doesn’t even bother to make eye contact. “I’m here to celebrate my brother and Crystal on their union. This entire trip is about them.”
And, you know, me. I just don’t want to admit that I’m here to try and fix my depression.
I just don’t want to admit how hard I’ve struggled without them.
“But—” my mum starts.
“Understandable,” my dad cuts in, his voice deeper than I remember when he’s not muttering snide remarks under his breath. My mum shoots him a dirty look, but he ignores her. “We can’t ever fix what we did in the past, and it’s too late to try.”
“That’s why you won’t ever be good enough to be part of my mate’s life,” Micah says, and I turn to him in shock. Out of all of my mates, he’s the last one I’d expect to pipe up right now. He’s got a serious look on his face, and he shakes his head in disgust. “You’re pathetic. You can’t move on from the past, holding onto something that was never her fault. You’re so unwilling to make amends for what you did that he’s the one to be ostracised, whilst you sit there on your high fucking horse. It’s embarrassing, and I don’t know how you can live with yourselves.”
“He?” my dad asks, confused.
“She,” Micah spits, the anger I can feel in my chest from his side of the bond taking me by surprise. He’s got some feelings here that don’t truly concern me, or my family, and I’m thrust back into the conversation Micah and I had before I reached out to David.
How Micah and Malachi don’t have a relationship with their own family.
And it seems it cuts deeper than just a small falling out.
Micah’s hands are clenched so tight under the table; his jaw clenched just as tight.
I glance at Mal, but he seems equally as surprised as me, and he seems at a bit of a loss as to how to help his brother. At least this isn’t something I missed.
“I, um, well—” my mum starts.
“I don’t think either of you care how badly you hurt me,” I say, cutting her off.
Her forehead wrinkles, her nose scrunching, as if my feelings are so irrelevant to her. I shake my head as I reach under the table to squeeze Micah’s hand.
I can feel the familiar burn in the back of my throat, but I refuse to let the tears fall. These people aren’t worth it.
They don’t deserve to see me suffer.
“What do you expect us to say, Nora?” my mum asks, and it’s hard to ignore her snooty tone of voice now that she’s regained her equilibrium. “We did what was needed for this pack, and look at it.” She gestures around with a smile on her face as if this is all thanks to her hard work. “It’s thriving thanks to Neve and Kennedy. They’re wonderful leaders.”
“So wonderful that they needed to beg my mate for help?” I ask, unable to hold in the dig.
Kennedy snarls, anger filling his face as he raises his hand. I’m not sure what he’s going to do, since he’s across the table from me, but it was a scary reaction.
Atticus snarls louder, glaring at my ex-mate as tension once again fills the table. The soothing aura he had only moments ago to help Crystal relax has fully disappeared as his eyes go from blue to amber.
This man is one I would not cross, and I’m very fortunate to have him on my side.
“Do not disrespect my mate,” Atticus hisses, and Kennedy gives one firm nod. He’s still furious, his jaw clenched tight, but he doesn’t argue with Atticus.
Not that he ever could.
“Atticus—” my mum starts.
“That’s Alpha Phoenix to you,” he says, not even looking her way.
She seems appalled. “You’re my daughter’s mate.”
“Considering you do not respect her as a person, and she doesn’t acknowledge your place in her life, I’d prefer you addressed me formally.”
My mum flinches here but nods slowly. She seems to change her mind on what she was going to say, and, instead, plasters a sweet smile on her face. “Alpha Phoenix, I was wondering how you and my daughter met.”
“I’d say ask her, but I’d prefer you didn’t talk to my mate any further if you’re going to continue to pretend you’ve done nothing wrong,” Atticus says, sitting back in his chair, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“I’ve got a fun meeting story,” Voss says, twirling his knife around.
“Me too,” Orson adds. “I met my beautiful mate on the night she was so terrified of them,” he says, gesturing to Neve and Kennedy. “But at least she wasn’t the one to end the night scared.”
“We had fun that night, didn’t we?” Mal asks, smirking at Kennedy as he cracks his knuckles. The sound makes Crystal flinch, but David reaches out to soothe her.
The Alpha wolf in question ignores Malachi, and takes a long swig of his water as if the games are beneath him.
“I moved cities,” I say when the table falls silent. My mum glares at me. I ignore her, though, not willing to let her make me feel like shit for the best thing I ever did. “And I started working at his company. We met randomly a few years later and just knew we were mates.”
“Oh, yes,” Atticus says teasingly. He places his arm over the back of my chair. “Some of us knew immediately when we met our mate and others…”
I growl, and he laughs, to the shock of my mother. I don’t understand why, though. She’s got a perfect relationship with my father, it’s one I’ve always idolised, and always wanted to replicate for myself.
They might be shitty people, but their mate bond is strong.
“You’re so threatening,” Atticus says smirking at me, causing Griffin to snort. Micah’s still super tense, and I’ve not yet removed my hand from his thigh, hoping that he’ll calm down a little with my touch. “So, how did you two meet?”
”We—” Neve starts, almost hesitantly.
“I think he meant us,” David interjects, and Atticus nods as Malachi snorts.
“I already know how you two met,” Atty drawls. “You decided to solidify your mating bond at… oh, wait, yes, it was my mate’s birthday, right?”
My mum pales a little as Neve awkwardly ducks her head to try and use her hair to hide her face.
“That story is just not interesting to me,” Atticus says before a dark smirk fills his face. It’s strange because it’s not often I see such obvious similarities between him and Cevon, but this look? It’s like he stole it from Cev’s face and painted it on himself. “Unless you’re upset your sister managed to trade up?”
Kennedy bites his tongue, his beady eyes narrowing, but, once again, he doesn’t argue. I’m quite impressed, to be honest, that my mate is powerful enough to silence an Alpha in his own lands.
And, no, I don’t feel even a little bit guilty for it.
“We met in school,” Crystal says, extremely quietly, as she tries to change the subject a little.
“Speak up, girl,” my mum snaps, and the tone causes my heart to stutter. Crystal closes in on herself a little more as David snarls.
“I’ve told you before, do not talk to her like that,” David hisses, and my mum immediately looks contrite.
Holy fuck, am I proud of my brother.
“I’m sorry,” she says, a touch of hurt in her tone. “I’m just trying to help your mate, Davie. We need to be strong, don’t we? For Neve and Kennedy. What would it look like if the Beta to our pack has such a weak mate?”
“I’ve heard—” Voss starts.
“Weakness is always your excuse to get rid of people, isn’t it?” I say, unintentionally cutting Devoss off. I glance at my fox mate, but he just gestures for me to continue speaking, so I do. “You stole my mate from me because I was too weak to be his Luna. You cursed me to six years without my wolf on the day I finally matured and became an adult. You removed me from my pack, my home, my life.” I give her a grim smile. “But at least your pack is now thriving, right?”
“Nora, I—” Kennedy starts.
“This is between my parents and me,” I say, shaking my head.
I want nothing from him. He stood by and let both our parents control him, and even if he hesitated at first, he switched the narrative so quickly.
I had no choice in the matter once he made his decision.
I know that now. Nothing I did differently would’ve changed the outcome. At the end of the day, I was nowhere near as pliable as Neve is. I wasn’t the right fit because I couldn’t be controlled.
It’s that simple.
“We made a decision that benefited both our children,” my mum says primly.
“Oh, yes,” Fin says, leaning forward in his seat to look at her properly. “One gets the mate, the pack, the babies, and the other spent six years terrified, depressed, and alone.”
My mum shrugs. “If she were stronger—”
“I don’t think anyone can argue Nora’s strength,” my brother says, surprising me by defending me.
“Oh, look, food is coming,” Voss says, sitting up straight. He mutters to my dad, “Let’s hope someone didn’t poison yours.”
I’m not sure how I’m the only one who seems to hear it.
As food is brought out, the conversation continues, although it’s a little tense.
Atticus is the primary leading force, chatting to David with soft familiarity, and even managing to draw a few sentences from Crystal. She’s still super shy, but Atty doesn’t seem to mind. He also refuses to let my mum try and dominate the conversation and shuts down two attempts from Kennedy to discuss business.
The rest of us are feeling the awkward tension, and it’s very obvious none of us want to be here.
“Why don’t we go out tomorrow morning for breakfast? Just us girls?” my mum asks, glancing around the table. “You’d come, right, Crystal?”
My brother’s mate pales but gives one nod before glancing back down at her mostly full plate.
“Yeah, no,” I say, shaking my head.
“Nora won’t be attending that,” Atticus adds, placing his hand on my knee. “In fact, we’re done here.”
“That’s perfect because neither will Crystal,” David says. “I’ve told you numerous times that you don’t get to drag my mate into your shit, mum.” He stands up, pushing his plate away, getting to his feet before Atticus does. “Let’s go, love.” Crystal rises and takes his hand, giving him a look of pure adoration. My brother gives me a small smile. “I’ll be over to the cabin soon. I just want to get Crys settled with her bridesmaids, first.”
“He’s going to your place?” my mum demands.
“He’s getting ready with us before the rehearsal dinner,” Atticus replies. “Not that it has anything to do with you.” Like David, he dismisses my mum and smiles at me. “Are you ready to go, little queen?”
I nod and stand, too. Crystal and David walk away from the table without a backward glance as the rest of my mates finish shovelling their food in their mouths.
Okay, fine, that was just Griffin.
I wait until they’ve all stood, too, before speaking.
“This was somehow even worse than I imagined,” I say, glancing between my parents, and Neve and Kennedy. None of them seem to care.
I sigh before turning and walking out. There’s nothing more that needs to be said.
Micah is hot on my tail, still reeling from his outburst earlier, but the others hang back. Atticus is there, so I’m hoping it won’t be too volatile, but, I don’t have it in me to care.
