Sunday afternoon her plane landed on schedule. It had been a relaxing flight, as she traveled first class this time, courtesy of the Academy. She was only becoming a watcher because of her dream, but was only now learning of the benefits and perks that came with the job.

She was considered a new student, but she had already received a card on which, each month, a substantial scholarship would be deposited. Hers was even larger than the rest of her pack's members as she was their leader, it was almost double.

It baffled her, as she checked the card the week before, when she went to the city with Jake and the other guys, to buy some souvenirs for her family. Checking the scholarship at an ATM machine, to see how much her budget for the presents could be, she could not believe the amount that was displayed. Even if she splurged the money, there would still remain more than half of the scholarship to save up, and it would renew each month.

Another advantage of a watcher student's status would be traveling first class each time, as the airline company was actually owned by the current king.

She was also supposed to be greeted with respect each time she visited her original pack, and the Alpha and Luna would have to welcome her personally, though she did not want that. The pack was an extended family so she could never demand that from them.

She did not even want to inform them yet that she was in fact a watcher student. The tattoo that showed her alpha status, when she was made the Alpha of her newly formed pack, appeared on her left palm, but if she wore a glove no one would see it. She only wanted her family to know, to share the joy only with them. So as soon as she landed, she immediately put on her glove to hide the mark.

Inside the airplane during the flight she had removed her glove, so when the stewardess that served her a drink saw the alpha's mark, she immediately changed her form of addressing. Not only that, she also became more respectful and did not even raise her head from that moment on, each time she passed by her seat. This treatment she received from the other stewardesses as well.

They even helped her with the bags until the exit of the airport and called a private car to drive her to her pack, even though she said it was not necessary. They had insisted to do so.

She did not know if her pack would react the same way if they found out, but she did not wish to verify it.

Arriving home, she thanked the driver that carried her bags until the doorway, before she knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer it.

She waited for several minutes, but nobody answered. It was strange... on Sundays everybody should be home, by this time even her father would have returned.

Having no other choice, she searched her bag to find her house keys. As an organized person the keys were found quickly, then she immediately opened the door, and saw that inside the house indeed no one was there.

She frowned wondering where everyone went, as she carried her bags up to her room. She also tried calling them, but even to her call no one answered. Well, they should be arriving soon enough she thought, so it was probably better to take a shower and wait for them.

Opening her bedroom's door, the atmosphere felt strange. Usually, her scent would be the most predominant smell in this room, and other people's scent should only vaguely be felt. Now that she had been gone for a month, even less others' scents should be sensed, if not totally lacking. Why would anyone come in her room with her away?

But her keen nose clearly smelt her sister's scent all around the room, even more than her own. Thinking of this, it warmed her heart. Could it be her sister was missing her so much that she spent time in her room? Brianna had been angry at her all this time, but it looked like she was not honest with herself, she was still a little girl throwing a tantrum.

A small smile adorned her face, as she placed her bags down on the floor, and opened her closet to take a change of clothes. Directing her eyes at the usually perfectly aligned items on the shelves, she stopped for a moment when she saw that her clothes were actually disorganized, and not only that, on the shelves between her clothes there were also some belonging to her sister.

Turning around and taking another better look inside her room, she realized she could see a lot of her sister's personal items all around.

Rather than only occasionally staying in her room, it felt like her sister had actually moved in her room altogether.

She shrugged her head clearing her thoughts away, she was tired and she just wanted to sleep, she would talk with them later and find out why Brianna had moved into her room. Especially, since the latter had a better bigger bedroom than hers.

Sighing a bit shutting out the unusual situation she could not make tail or head from, she took off her uniform that she had come dressed in, preparing to take a shower. The formal clothes that consisted of a black shirt, black tight pants, black army like boots, a long ankle length overcoat with a tunic collar and a small broach embedded on its chest indicating her status as a watcher course student, were folded by her neatly, before placing them inside her bag.

She was afraid to ruin them as the uniform warmed her heart. Assured no wrinkles would be formed on the clothes, she took a towel that had barely been left unscathed by the general mess inside of her wardrobe, before going to the bathroom. Mirroring the bedroom's state, the normal spotless bathroom was also in a poor state, and was also full of Brianna's skin care products.

Finishing a quick shower to remove the travel's dust away, she dried herself, before putting on a maxi dress quite similar to the one she wore to the ball and thought to go check the fridge for something to eat, before going to bed for a rest. But just as she was exiting her room, her phone suddenly rang.

"Hi sister. You called me!" Daniel greeted happily, then waited for Celia to say what she had wanted to talk to him about.

"Ohhh. Yes I called. Where is everyone? I am on a break from the Academy, and wanted to surprise you all, but nobody is home." Celia replied as she was checking her surroundings, it was as though she searched for their presence.

"What do you mean where is everybody? Don't you know? Mom said she called you some days ago to inform you of Brianna's Luna Ceremony, but you told her you could not come because of the exams." Daniel replied confused.

"What Luna Ceremony? I did not know that Brianna met her mate, even less about a ceremony taking place." Celia stated confused, a frown slightly evident on her face, while she had stopped moving her gaze about. All her attention was concentrated on Daniel's answer.

"You don't know? Brianna found her mate at the Ball, last time. It is Rayan, the future Alpha of our pack. They couldn't wait longer, you know the mate pull and whatnot, so tonight she is having the Luna Ceremony. From tomorrow onward she will be our official Luna." Daniel informed her happily, although he could not understand why she did not know of it.

"Where is the ceremony?" His answer was not one she expected to hear, if Brianna had met her mate at the ball... it was just before she left. Why didn't they also tell her about it? Why had they hidden from her? Why was she kept in the dark... why had they tried to get her away from the pack? Speaking on the phone was confusing, she would talk with them in person.

"It is at the Ballroom from last time. They wanted the party to be quite big. Do you want me to come pick you up? The ceremony will be later in the night, there is still time." Daniel offered immediately, he also wanted to see her sooner.

"No, it is alright I will walk." She simply said, railing any emotions she might unwittingly let out. Now it truly felt that everything was strange and mysterious.

First her mother did something for her that she would never do, she let her take the exam for the watcher course, then Brianna found her mate before she left, but she never told her about it. She never even mentioned it on the phone, not that anyone called her, as Daniel said they did. And now Brianna was living in her room, and she was also having the Luna Ceremony without a notice to her at all.

"What do you mean walk? It will take longer this way. Wait for me, I will come pick you up right now." Daniel asked confused, while he was already checking his pocket for the keys of his car.

"Trust me. It will be faster than by car." She replied with an iciness she never showed to her family, no matter how expressionless she was.

Not waiting for him to say anything more, she abruptly closed her phone and threw it on the bed. Usually, on her poker face barely any emotions could be seen, but now you could clearly see she was upset.

Indeed she was faster than a car. After putting on her uniform's boots that could withstand her inhuman speed and force, she went out of the house swiftly.

A ride that normally took a quarter of an hour by car, was made by her in 7 – 8 minutes. She did not even breathe heavily when she arrived.

Looking at the building for a second, as she cleared her mind overrun with thoughts, she walked slowly this time, not stopping her feet until she reached the ballroom where people had already begun to gather.

Generally, she was a presence that went unnoticed in her pack, but now her long wavy hair that rested loosely on her back, her rosy pink healthy face that had become even more glowing, even the choice of the maxi dress with the boots which was an unusual combination, and her body which exuded authority, all of it combined made most of the people there turn their head towards her. Her iciness and cold demeanor adding to an already alluring charm.

"Is that Brianna's sister? Wow she managed to show up? Such a snob, she did not even want to come to her sister's Luna ceremony." Snorted one of Brianna's girl friends.

"I know! Brianna was quite upset about it. Apparently she had some exams and could not come. Please, she has jealousy written all over her face." Said another mockingly.

They talked with small voices, but her keen hearing picked up on it. Was that what her sister said about her? Why did she lie? It was unlikely they made it up, they were her best friends.

She did not move away from the front door and just checked inside. Today she would get to the bottom of things. Not seeing anyone from her family from where she was standing or even smelling them, she thought to check inside the ballroom, perhaps they were a little further ahead.

But just as she placed a small step in front of her, the smell of citrus and vanilla enveloped her. It smelled wonderful, making her wolf, Crescent, who was usually very quiet, unexpectedly active. The latter kept howling in her head happily.

She turned around slowly, already suspicious of what this meant, just as a handsome tall man appeared in front of her.

"Mate." He whispered. His face was quite confused, but a longing look could clearly be seen on it.

She locked eyes with him and indeed he was.

"Mate." She whispered back.

"Celia, what are you doing home? You were supposed to come back 5 months later!" Her mother angered and panicked even more, asked quickly with a high pitched voice, interrupting the gazes the two had directed to one another, intentionally or not.

"Yes, why are you back? Are you not taking the exams anymore? Isn't it your dream to become a watcher?" Her sister Brianna also questioned her, her voice higher than usual, but with the same panicked tone. She was still trying to maintain her innocent façade.

In the past, Celia had permitted her childish and willful behavior, but it seemed she was taken for a fool. She could hear the mocking laughs from the girls that were Brianna's friends.

It seemed her younger sister was informing everyone what exam she was about to take to redirect the thoughts of the people from the current problem. No girl had dared to take the exam, even though there were no gender restrictions, because no girl would be strong enough. Only a fool would try to compare herself with the most powerful of alphas.

She looked at both her mother and sister who were near her mate, without answering their questions. If she still did not understand what everything that happened meant, she would really not be qualified to occupy the alpha's position. The puzzle finally fitted together. Their actions and the fact that her mate was actually holding her sister's hand were the answers she was searching for.

She had never wanted a mate before, but seeing him before her, she felt the mate pull. She was still having a poker face, but it did not mean that she was not hurt. In fact, the phantom pain she felt more than a month ago reappeared as she was looking at the both of them.

So indeed it had been the phantom pain a mate would feel when his mate cheated on him/her. It was exactly the same.

She had been a fool. They played her how they wanted, so much for being family, she thought. Even though she felt the pain because of her mate cheating on her... still it was not the reason for her anger. No, the main motive for her rage was her mother who constantly overlooked her and always prioritized her sister over her, and her sister whom she dearly loved.

Even though most of the times, she only felt used by Brianna, she had thought it was only childish jealousy from her younger sister's part and never bothered to correct her. Her love for her sister should have been enough. The care she showed towards her, Celia thought mattered to Brianna. But the result was that she wanted to steal even her mate.

She was always used by them, she always had to give up things she wanted to do because of them, and now even her mate should become her sister's?

The only time they actually let her do what she wanted was to get rid of her presence, to get her away from the pack to ensure she did not interfere.

"Hahaha!" She giggled amused at her own foolishness, the iciness seemingly melting away, though in reality her state was actually becoming even colder. All feeling of family love were rapidly cooling down.

Seeing her smile, most of the guys there felt as though they saw her for the first time ever, even though she grew up with most of them. Such a beautiful girl, even if her giggle was fake, even if it felt like she was giggling to mock herself, it still sounded like small bells ringing in their ears, like a small hummingbird's song. They had never heard or seen her laugh before.

"So much for family!" She stated more for herself than for the people around and, seeing there was no more point in sorting things out, wanted to walk around them to exit the room. No other words were necessary. What could she possibly talk more with these people?

What could she discuss with her mate that reeked of other females, her sister that reeked of her mate or her mother that reeked of hate towards her? All of it was disgusting, they were disgusting.

She took a few steps and was about to pass by her mate, as she was walking towards the door, when suddenly he was pulled to the side by her sister. Brianna clung to him possessively, staring hatefully at her.

"Pathetic! All of you." Her voice had lost all its warmth by this point. Looking to each of them as she said those words, her first rank seemed to ever so slightly shine through. She hadn't released her aura even unwittingly, she had not made them submit to her at all, but her expressionless look and stern gaze still made them feel like doing exactly this... submitting themselves to her.

Brianna actually thought she wanted to throw herself into his arms... such a mate, only Brianna would want, Celia thought, never her.