"Lisa? Are you done with food?"
Stephanie's voice pulled Lisa out of her stupor and Lisa realized that it was only the two of them at the table.
How long was she spacing out?
"The others left?", Lisa asked the obvious.
"Yes. They went to the study for evening debriefing, and the two of us should clean up the table."
Lisa's eyes widened like she just heard something outrageous.
"Why should we clean up? Where are Omegas?" Whenever Lisa was in the packhouse of the Lightclaw pack with Tony, Omegas served Lisa, and when she was in her aunt's house, her aunt did everything.
"Omegas left when dinner was ready, as always. They prefer to eat at their home. Normally, I clean up after dinner, but now that you are here, I expect you to help me.", Stephanie said. When she saw that Lisa frowned in disapproval, she urged her. "Come on. You need to do something and collecting plates and putting them in the dishwasher is not a big deal. We will be done in ten minutes."
Lisa was not willing. It was not about the time, but about the lost dignity. "What about Talia?"
"What about her?"
"Why is she not helping with cleanup?"
"She is in the study with Damon, Caden, and Maya."
Lisa's expression worsened. How can Talia mingle with the high-ranking members while Lisa was stuck to clean up the table? "Why is Talia with them?"
"Talia is working as Alpha's assistant."
Lisa blinked rapidly. Alpha's assistant is a big upgrade for an Omega. "Is she Damon's assistant, or is she working in the kitchen?"
Stephanie shook her head. "Everyone is contributing in any way they can. Talia is catching up on her studies, working as Damon's assistant, and she is helping in the kitchen when she can. Also, Doctor Travis is teaching her about medicine. She hopes to get a job in the pack hospital eventually."
The more Lisa listened, the more fantastic it sounded. How can one person do all that? And that was not just any person, that was a wolf-less she-wolf.
But even if Talia had two brains and six arms, Lisa didn't think that Talia was a big deal.
The story about Talia doing all those things must be exaggerated, or maybe Talia cast some spell on everyone in the packhouse. There was no other explanation why everyone would think highly of Talia.
'CLINK! CLANG! TING!'
Plates and utensils made cringing noise as Lisa was keeping them in the dishwasher with more force than necessary.
"Whatever you break, you will need to replace out of your pocket.", Stephanie said irritably. She knew that Lisa didn't want to help with cleanup but breaking dishes out of anger was too much.
"Does that rule apply to Omegas also?", Lisa asked stiffly.
"It applies only to ones who break things on purpose."
Lisa grumbled something unintelligibly and continued loading the dishwasher, this time with care.
Lisa remembered something. "Mom, is Talia going to take over your duties in the packhouse?"
Stephanie was not sure from where that came. "Why do you ask?"
"I heard you talk over dinner. Guests are coming and she will be the host. That's something you always did."
Stephanie wouldn't mind if Talia took over her duties in the packhouse. There were so many other things Stephanie wanted to do, but she didn't have enough time, and if Talia steps in, Stephanie will be grateful.
However, until that is confirmed, Stephanie could only respond with, "Talia will be the host because her friends are coming."
Lisa paused. "Talia has friends who are qualified to stay in the packhouse?"
"They are high-ranking members from several packs."
Disbelief was obvious on Lisa's face. "Really? From which packs?"
Stephanie was not sure how to respond to this, fearing that Lisa will be upset again. But Lisa was bound to find out about it one way or another, and it's probably for the best that Stephanie breaks this information to Lisa without any witnesses.
"The Blue River pack, the Midnight Guardians pack, and the Lightclaw pack."
"What?", Lisa asked breathily while her heart thundered against her chest. "Did I hear you right? Did you say… the Lightclaw pack? Who is coming?"
Stephanie started from the beginning. "Alpha Maddox and his sister Mindy from the Blue River pack, future Alpha Axel and his Beta and Gamma from the Midnight Guardians pack, and from the Lightclaw pack we will host six people… Future Alpha Anthony and Kalina included."
Lisa stared at her mother. She had so many questions.
"How is it possible that a lowly she-wolf like Talia knows them?"
In two quick steps, Stephanie was in front of Lisa, and she grabbed the latter's shoulders harshly.
"Mind your language, Lisa. If Alpha Damon finds out that you are badmouthing Talia, he will punish you." Actually, even Stephanie was fed up with Lisa's behavior. "Some of those people were here for the Summer Solstice festival, and Talia attended Kalina's Luna announcement ceremony. Why wouldn't Talia be familiar with them? She is a nice girl."
The more Stephanie reprimanded Lisa, the more indignant Lisa became.
"Why is Damon allowing Tony and Kalina to come? Didn't you bring me here to stay away from Tony and his mate? How is it fine for them to come here?"
It's not that Stephanie didn't understand Lisa's point of view, and in a way, she was right. However, there was nothing they could do about this.
"Tony is coming here as the future Alpha of the Lightclaw pack. It has nothing to do with you and it's normal that his mate will accompany him. Like it or not, Kalina will be the Luna of the Lightclaw pack. They will be here in three days, and no one is sure how long they will stay, but we are planning for at least one week. I don't expect you to smile and welcome them, but if you can't be civil, I suggest you plan to stay away. Either go back to your aunt until they leave, or we can plan for something else."
Lisa's sight blurred from angry tears. She left the Lightclaw pack because she couldn't stand the ridicule. Everyone knew that Tony dumped her, and they were either mocking her openly or offering fake pity. And after enduring all that, Tony and his mate, the sources of Lisa's misery were coming here.
"You are sending me away? Isn't this my house?"
Stephanie's heart cracked. "This is your home, and it always will be. But it's also the packhouse of the Dark Howlers pack. Delegations from other packs will be staying here as needed, and we can't allow our personal feelings to jeopardize relationships between packs."
Lisa narrowed her eyes irritably, shook Stephanie's hands away, and stomped out of the kitchen.
Stephanie wanted to remind Lisa that she didn't finish with the dishes, but considering Lisa's mood, Stephanie feared that all dishes will be broken. Stephanie gave up on calling Lisa and resumed loading the dishwasher, where Lisa left.
…
Lisa threw herself on her bed and the fluffy pillow muffled her scream.
She was hurt, helpless, and furious.
Ever since Tony found his mate, Lisa's life was spiraling downward.
Everyone knew that she was dating Tony, and they all treated her as the future Luna of the Lightclaw pack. As the news of Tony and Kalina spread, people started looking at Lisa in a different light.
Lisa is a prideful she-wolf but she couldn't hold her head high when everyone was ridiculing her.
She thought that coming home will give her a breather, but Talia's presence was unexpected.
Lisa didn't like that Talia was here, acting like she owns the place, but she hated the most that everyone seemed to like Talia for some unknown reason. How Lisa saw it, there was nothing special about Talia.
And how is it possible that Talia knows all those impressive people?
Lisa pushed herself into a seated position and reached for her tablet.
She avoided going online because she didn't want to see messages and emails from her friends, and she definitely didn't want to see news related to Tony and Kalina, but now she had to check something.
Lisa navigated to the web page of WW Magazine (the source of news and gossip for the werewolf community) and Lisa's stomach cramped into a hundred painful knots when she saw that trending topic was the newly mated couple, Tony and Kalina.
There was a photo of Tony and Kalina holding each other, locked in a gaze full of emotions, and on their left and right were Alpha Magnus and Luna Alicia.
Lisa wiped the tears with the back of her hand. That was her spot, damn it!
She looked at the next trending topic and she saw that it was related to Alpha Damon and Talia (aka Lia).
Lisa couldn't believe that there were several articles covering Damon and his date for Kalina's Luna announcement ceremony. There were photos of them in various intimate poses that showed how Talia is much more than just Damon's assistant. They were feeding each other, dancing, kissing…
What the hell?
Jealousy swelled inside Lisa.
Talia was on those photos smiling not only with Damon, but with Mindy and Kalina, and Lisa could clearly see that they were sitting at the same table and having a blast. The caption under the photo was: "New generation that will shape our society".
Lisa gritted her teeth while looking at the smiling faces that seemed to mock her misery.
That was supposed to be her!
She was supporting Tony for years! How can she be forgotten overnight?
Why was no one seeing Kalina as an impostor?
Lisa never liked Mindy. On a few occasions they met, Mindy always acted high and mighty, treating Lisa like air.
And Talia… Lisa's insides burned, and she thought that she might vomit from anger. How can a lowly Omega end up with so much glory?
To sprinkle salt on Lisa's wound, since Tony found out that Lisa was not his mate, Tony didn't bring Lisa to any of those high-profile events. Lisa became invisible, but she swallowed it all while convincing herself how Tony will realize that she is the best choice to be his Luna, and then all her suffering will be worth it.
Kalina showed up and ruined everything!
Lisa imagined her Luna party many times. The mood would be good, Tony would hover around her, and everyone would want to suck up to future Luna Lisa.
Unfortunately, those were just dreams because the reality was that when the day of that party came, Kalina took Lisa's place, and Tony celebrated with hundreds of people, while Lisa was drowning in her sorrow.
Where is justice?
