Lily POV
The way this girl used my title had my back up. Aya snarled in my head, angry at being disrespected. I didn't think I would have this type of reaction, after all, I wasn't technically Luna yet; Dimitri hadn't marked me, and I hadn't been officially made a member of Blood Moon. Even though Dimitri had accepted me at our wedding, we had to exchange blood and oaths, which would be done at my Luna ceremony. Then I would officially be a member, able to mind-link within the pack.
"Who is this bitch to talk to us like that?" Growled Aya.
I fixed Blondie with a glare of my own.
"Well, that's too bad because you got it." I snapped at her.
Her blue eyes turned black before fading to blue again.
"Do you know who I am?" She sneered.
"Do I care?"
"You should." A smug smile appeared on her face. "I'm Dimitris girlfriend."
My heart stopped along with my breath. He had a girlfriend? Is that why he wanted nothing to do with me? Aya whimpered in pain at the thought of our mate being intimate with another. However, I wasn't going to let her know her words had upset me.
"Really?" I asked. "That's funny."
"Funny?" She looked confused.
"Yes, funny. You say your Dimitris girlfriend, but I'm his wife. As well as his mate." Leaning back in my seat, I crossed my arms. "It's funny that you would call Hazel a whore when you claim to be sleeping with a man who is taken. I think that makes you the whore, not to mention a hypocrit."
"Ooooh's" and "Damn!" arose from the crowd. I hadn't realized until now that most of the crowd were listening in to our interaction. Hazel laughed, trying to cover it with a cough. Blondie glared at the people around us before turning back to me.
"I never said we were sleeping together."
"So then you're saying that you're his girlfriend, but he won't touch you? That's just sad."
This time Hazel laughed out loud, along with most of the breakfast crowd.
"No, what's sad is having you for our Luna. Look at you! You're a toothpick. And how disgraceful to Blood Moon and our Alpha that we are stuck with a slave to lead us. Pathetic!" She spit. Literally, saliva spewed from her mouth. Gross.
"More pathetic than a grown ass woman bullying pack members and disrespecting the ranked members?" I shot back.
Everyone looked to her, waiting for a response. Her mouth opened. Closed.
"That's what I thought." I stood up, gesturing for Hazel to do the same. Together we walked away, leaving Blondie standing behind us. People nodded their heads as a sign of respect to me as we passed them. I nodded back. I saw Clint walking towards us, grinning.
"That was awesome!" He enthused as he fell into step with Hazel and I.
"Thanks."
His scent hit me before I saw him. I locked eyes with Dimitri as we reached the door. His expression was a mix of surprise and amusement. Clint and Hazel bowed their heads in respect to him, but I just glared. Without saying a word, I walked around him, pushing open the doors and leaving. Clint and Hazel followed me.
"Who the hell was that bitch anyways?" I asked them.
"Jennine Parker. She's the diva around here. Also the pack bicycle."
I gave him a question mark look.
"Bicycle. You know, because everyone's had a ride?" He said.
Hazel laughed. I didn't.
"Does that include Dimitri?"
"That's what I've heard. But that doesn't mean she means anything to him."
"She seems to think otherwise."
"Jennine thinks very highly of herself. She had this idea that our Alpha would make her Luna because he didn't have a mate." Hazel rolled her eyes.
Clint shuddered. "Goddess, Blood Moon would crash and burn with her as Luna."
"She's just jealous that Alpha Dimitri finally found you, and she could never hope to live up to the Luna you're going to be." Hazel smiled.
"And if what happened back there is any indication of the type of Luna you're going to be, I can safely say we're in good hands. You're going to be a badass Luna!" Clint added.
"Don't let her get to you. She's nothing but a bully." Hazel said.
I sighed. "Thanks guys." I smiled at them and they beamed back.
Clint looked at his watch. "Oh shit! I have to go. The warrior exams start in fifteen minutes!" He waved at us and ran down the hall.
"Good luck!" We called after him.
"Did you have any plans today?" Hazel asked me.
"Not really. I'm supposed to be taking it easy, but I feel great today."
"Want to hang out? We could have a movie marathon or something?"
Excitement bubbled inside me. "Sure!"
"Do you like Disney movies?"
"Uhm... Maybe? I've never really watched any."
"Any?" She looked shocked.
"Well... I didn't have much time to watch t.v. or movies at my old pack."
A white lie, kind of. It wasn't that I hadn't had time, I simply wasn't allowed. A few times I'd been caught trying when I was a kid and I'd been punished for it.
Hazel grabbed my hand and started pulling me with her. "Well, that changes today. Get ready, because you are in for a long experience."
I groaned inwardly when we reached the stairs, but thankfully she let me rest for a few minutes in between flights. When we got to my room, I remembered.
"Shit. I don't have a t.v. in here."
Hazel walked to the fireplace. A little switch I hadn't noticed before was on the side of the mantle. When she flicked it up, the wall above the fireplace rotated out and turned, revealing a flat screen t.v.
"I wish I'd known that earlier. I've been bored out of my mind up here!" I said.
She laughed. "The remote should be in the nightstand."
When everything was set up, we settled in at the end of my bed to begin our marathon. I had questions burning on the end of my tongue, but I didn't want to voice them. Hazel seemed really nice, and I wasn't used to having anyone I could call a friend. I really wanted to be able to call her that.
A few hours and two movies later, which I thoroughly enjoyed and would be watching again, a knock sounded on my door.
"Lunch!" said as voice as my door opened.
"Greta!"
"Hello dear! How are you?"
"I'm great, thanks. What's on the menu today?"
"One of my specialties. Potato leek soup, homemade rolls, and a healthy portion of beef stew."
"Ohhhh yum!" I practically drooled.
"I brought enough for you and your friend." She smiled at us.
"Thank you so much." Said Hazel.
"Eat up girls, while it's still hot."
Greta placed the trays on the bed, waving as she left. We dug in and my Goddess... this was even better than breakfast. I stirred my soup around, biting my lip.
"Hazel..."
She looked up at me. "Yeah?"
"I was just... just wondering... I mean, I'm not trying to be rude, or offend you or anything-"
"You're wondering why Jennine likes to pick on me?" She interrupted.
"Kind of, yeah."
Setting her bowl aside, she sighed.
"Nevermind. You don't have to tell me."
"No, it's okay. You'll eventually hear the story, and I'd rather you hear it from me."
"Okay."
She looked down, playing with her fingers. "My dad works in the pack hospital. Sometimes I help out there, I'm hoping to get a job there too when I'm older."
"How old are you?" She looked to be around my age.
"Seventeen. Eighteen in a couple weeks. Anyways, last year we had a really bad attack on the northern border. Rogues. A lot of people were injured, and I was helping my dad in the emergency ward, mostly just cleaning wounds and taking vitals. There was this guy, James. He talked to me the entire time I was cleaning him up, flirting with me. Afterwards, he stayed in touch, coming to the hospital when I was there to bring me flowers and stuff. We started dating."
She took a breath, letting it out slowly.
"I... I thought he was my mate. I didn't know, obviously, I don't have my wolf yet. But I really hoped he was. He was sweet and funny and kind. I wanted to wait and see if we were mates before... you know...."
"Yeah."
"He told me he loved me. That if we slept together, it would only make him love me more. Still, I hesitated, and he grew...distant. He started flirting with other girls in front of me. I confronted him, but he said he needed a woman, not a girl. He was so sure we were mates, but if I was going to hold off, he "had to take care of his urges somehow."
I rolled my eyes heavily. What a dick move.
"I... I finally gave in. He actually brought me to this very room. Told me that I was his princess and deserved the very best. That my first time should be special. It wasn't." She whispered. Taking another deep breath, she continued. "It... didn't last very long. Maybe a couple minutes. And it hurt. A lot. I asked James to be gentle but... he wasn't. When he was done, he congratulated me on 'becoming a woman.' And then he left."
There were tears in Hazels eyes which she desperately tried to blink away. My anger was boiling at the son of a bitch who used her like that.
"The next day.... the next day...."
"Hazel-"
"No, I'm okay. The next day, I went to the training yard to see him. He literally laughed in my face and told me there was no way we could be mates. Rumors started going around about me, that I gave myself to him without a second thought....that I flung myself at any and every guy in the pack too. James never disputed any of it, he even helped spread some of the stories to his friends. My friends stopped talking to me. It was only after everything that I found out exactly who James was; the packs lead warrior."