Celia's phone suddenly rang in the deafening silence. The situation had become stalemate for some moments already. Celia had not reacted at all to Brianna's plea, so the latter did not know how to continue speaking. If she were to say anything else, she could possibly make the situation worse. And Diane, the protective mother, did not know how to guard Brianna, if Rayan were to suddenly attack her daughter.

As for the other people... well, other than Celia who just wanted to leave, each of them was more shocked than the other. No one knew how they could rectify the matter. Inside the ballroom the pack members were waiting for the Luna Ceremony of a fake mate, moreover a pregnant one.

How could they set things right? Did the possibility to correct the matter even exist?

Daniel on his part was the only one who looked worriedly towards Celia, but his words were stuck in his throat. What could he say to his sister? Brianna had always taken advantage of Celia, but this time she had crossed any possible limit, she had taken it way too far.

Everyone kept quiet, resulting in the awkward atmosphere that was perturbed by the ringtone.

She calmly checked her phone, only to see Jake's name on the caller ID. Honestly, a friend she met a month ago called her after only a day of absence, but her family did not manage to call her even though a month had passed since her departure.

"Hello!" She picked up the phone in their presence, unconcerned about the current mood. She had said she would call him after arriving home, but she had omitted to. It was unfair towards him, to not answer because of the lovely people around her.

"Hi Alpha!" His greeting boomed in her ear, he was clearly excited to hear her voice. His clear happy tone contrasting with the current funeral like mood.

The high ranking werewolves of her pack of course could hear it also, even if he was not on speaker. Was it a joke between them? Their faces seemed to say, otherwise who would call a girl alpha.

"Hi Jake. I am sorry, I said I would call you, but I did not." She frankly admitted, without any excuses.

Her warm tone unlike until now, even though she had not said many words during this whole time, made Rayan's heart ache and fill with jealousy.

"No problem, no problem. Who would dare to question their leader? I just wanted to check if you arrived home without any problems." He said reassuringly.

"Also, the secretary informed me and the guys that, although the courses start on the 15th of September for the normal classes, for the Watcher students they will start on the first of September, so you should come back some days before the first. As your Beta, I told her I will inform you myself, so she will not call you personally to let you know." He informed her enthusiastically, happy she would come back earlier than she intended.

"Thank you for letting me know. Can you also do me a favor?" Celia asked, her tone still calm and mellow. The information about the watcher classes had quelled even more the lingering feelings of sadness and resentment she subconsciously still retained towards her family.

"Sure! Anything for my watcher pack's Alpha!" He hurriedly replied.

"I do not have the secretary's number on my old phone, and the Academy issued phone is not with me. Please ask her to book me a plane ticket on the next flight to the Academy. I only need about an hour to get to the airport, so any flight that is two hours or more away would be perfect." Her voice did not change as she told him, but he did notice something was off.

She had said she would stay home for the entire period of the vacation, and now she wished to come back immediately? Something must have been wrong with her family to make her leave. Celia was not an unruly and irrational person... if anything she was very attentive, and would likely suffer grievances by herself than cause others harm. Even before when they went to the city, the care and happiness she displayed while choosing presents for her loved ones showed just how much she valued them.

But from her family's part, although he could not tell whether they felt the same towards her, the one thing he knew for certain was that the only person she had any contact with was her brother. The rest of her family had not called her at all. But he did not question her, they would talk soon anyway in person.

"Alright. The secretary already said that whenever you want to come back to just inform her, and she would book a first class ticket on the following flight. You can already go to the airport, they should have VIP waiting areas for watchers and alphas prepared, so you can wait there comfortably.

Also, I will call a private driver from my family's company to come pick you up. We have a branch in the city next to your pack's border, it should take half an hour for him to arrive. Take care and call me when you meet with the driver." Jake quickly stated.

"Quite an efficient Beta you are. Thank you. I will do so." She replied gratefully, she was warmed by his care. He had already considered everything for her, but did not intrude further in her privacy.

Sighing a bit, as she had still been a bit unnatural and stiff as she talked, she closed the phone and headed for the exit. She should go and take her bags and head to the pack's border, luckily she did not unpack anything yet. Well, she did take out something from the luggage, the souvenirs for her family. But those were things that she wouldn't want to take back, even though she no longer wished to give them to her family, considering those objects represented her love for them. Forget it, she would just consider it as giving alms, or farewell presents.

The rest of the people there only now reacted, seeing she was about to leave. They had been stunned... she was actually a watcher student, and not just any watcher student which was already impossible for a girl, she was an alpha of a whole pack of them.

Her brother felt proud, deep down he knew what she was capable of. He was not sure about her strength, as he had never even witnessed her wolf form, but in regards to intelligence and fairness she was more than qualified.

Her father did not know what to make of the situation, he never did talk much with his daughter, he only knew her as someone who loved to do the chores around the house, but he never knew her passions, her wishes, and her capability. A watcher child would make any parent proud. He considered her the least capable of his children, and yet she was actually the best of the three.

Her mother's eyes flashed. The authority, the respect she would get from everyone... even the Alpha of the pack would have to personally receive a watcher. And as long as a watcher would be inside the pack's border, the alpha could only do whatever a watcher asked, otherwise he could be punished, or even exiled if a watcher snapped his fingers. She had heard that watchers were only below the Council, and the Council was only below the king. What could she do to change her daughter's mind? If Celia left now without making peace with her, perhaps she would never come back again.

The old Alpha couple were also terrified. Their son was about to make another his Luna, other than his rightful mate. And the true mate could possibly banish them or punish them if she held resentment towards them, when she became a full watcher two years later. Or even earlier if she took her grievances to the Council.

In her position it was quite easy to meet them, and they... as a lesser pack they would certainly have problems getting hold of the assistants of the councilmembers, even less hope of directly contacting their superiors. Whatever Celia informed them, would become the truth. She could even exaggerate their acts and they would have no way to defend themselves.

"Celia please wait! You are my mate how can you leave me and go?" Rayan asked desperately, he was just as surprised as the rest of them, but for him what mattered most was the mate pull he felt towards her at the moment.

"Alpha, please conduct yourself respectfully. You are already about to conduct your Luna ceremony with your chosen one." She replied, no sarcasm and no pain in her voice. She was already calming down. She heard that mates could barely live without one another once they found each other. But for her, it seemed the pain was already subsiding slowly, for which she was grateful.

"But you are my mate. Rest assured I will only conduct the ceremony for you."

Hearing his words, her sister started to weep, she had been feeling jealous and angry, hearing that Celia had managed to pass the exams, and now she was also robbing her of Rayan.

"Alpha, I will never accept a mate who has been with countless women since he came to our pack territory. And I will certainly not be the Luna of a man who has impregnated my sister. You have already made your choice, when you could not respect the mating bond." He had no idea how she knew of his flings, and even less how she knew about her sister, but it was the truth, making him unable to refute her words... still he could not give up.

"This was before I knew of your existence, and as for Brianna I thought she was my mate. Please do not deny us. A werewolf only has one mate for life. If you will not have me, you will never have a mate again. Can you deny your wolf her rightful mate?" He reasoned with the only thing he thought would move her.

Indeed the human side could find other werewolves or humans, they could mate with others, but the rightful mate was only one, so when the human side chose another, his or her wolf could suffer.

She wavered a bit, not that she was thinking about finding someone else, but she did not want her wolf to suffer.

"I do not want you as well. A pathetic mate who could not identify his own mate because of constant mingling with other women, and a wolf who was not strong enough to hold him from debauchery... who would want the both of you!" This time Crescent took over angrily spouting her words. Really her mate could only reason with them by making Celia feel guilty, he did not feel it instead? He did not even apologize for his actions.

Rayan realized who spoke, but it made the situation worse for him, he could not accept that both were trying to reject him. In a fit of anger his wolf took over, with the human side easily letting him take control of their body. What his wolf wanted was his wish as well. His eyes darkened as his canines and claws elongated, while he had already started to run towards Celia with his fastest possible speed.

With her keen higher ranked werewolf vision, the fastest movements of Rayan seemed only a childish attempt at harming her. But seeing his eyes that were following her neck, her expression darkened and her gaze turned icier than when he had started his steps towards her. If he had only wanted to attack her she would still understand. He was an alpha and his pride had suffered because of the rejection. But the gaze that had not left her neck and his wide opened mouth were clear indication of his actions... he wanted to bite her. He was trying to forcefully make her his.

Rayan's fast attack should have ended when his fangs were buried deep inside her flesh, then she would have had no choice but to accept him, no choice but to remain by his side. These were the man's thoughts, wishes that remained unfulfilled, as his head stopped inches away from her neck. Stunned and confused, he was not understanding why he was seeing the part where his mark should be, but struggling to the best of his abilities, he was still not able to move closer.

With one hand on his neck she had immobilized him completely. It was the first time she had used her strength in human form at full capacity and without the aid of her two wolves, still it felt like she had easily overpowered him. If she clenched a little bit more her hand, his spine would fracture and his life would end. But by doing so what would the difference be between him and her? He had tried to use low means to subdue her, but she still abided by the rules, and she still had her consciousness.

"Article 7 point 2b of the Watcher Code, violence against watchers or watcher students is considered treason, so they are free to pass judgment as they see fit without prior notifying the Council... This is only a warning, Alpha. In consideration to the pack that raised me, I will let you be. Try it one more time and you will lose the title you barely received." Finishing her words, she flung his neck, making his body crash into the wall. She would not kill him, but it did not mean she was a saint.

Retracting her left hand that was used to throw him, everyone could see the tattoo that only appeared on a watcher on her left palm, making the realization of what just happened more frightening. An offense to a watcher was not something to joke about.

They finally realized she truly was a watcher student... the strength to stop a raging alpha with one hand, how many were capable of such a feat? It was the first time they saw her for who she truly was. So the only reason they could treat her how they wished in the past was because she allowed them to. Had she intended otherwise, she could have even challenged the old Alpha for his position in the pack.

With his aching body Rayan stood up. He still wanted to say something, but she did not let him.

"Alpha do not try to reason with me any longer. The mate pull, every werewolf knows what it is. Deep within your mind you realized my sister was not your mate, even your wolf knew she was not, but you wished her to be. Her personality, her beauty, it was everything you wished for in a mate. Now own up to it. Complete your Luna ceremony, because you will certainly not have me as your Luna, no matter how long you wait." She said then looked at everyone and only concluded.

"Everyone, please deal with your problems on your own. I am sorry, I have a plane to catch."

She turned around and already decided she would not talk anymore. She had tried to leave several times already, but they kept trying to stop her.

Snapping out of her dazedness seeing her daughter leave, Diane trailed behind her quickly as she was walking towards the exit. 

With her keen hearing Celia noticed her footsteps, but did not turn around to look at her. No matter what... this time she was truly leaving.

"Honey, wait! Celia, please let me explain!" The older woman hurriedly spoke, her expression one of desperation.

Diane had even stumbled on her feet trying to catch up to her, but it was futile. She did not let her mother utter a word more. Picking up her speed, the first ranked werewolf vanished in front of her mother's eyes.

What remained was the slightly perturbed ground, and dusty air caused by her fast steps.