She looked at her sister, like one would gaze at a small ant. After her initial giggle, she had resumed her poker face, even her tears had dried.

Deep within her mind, perhaps she always knew how they truly were, but never wanted to admit it. Her family had never cared for her. Only her brother was the one she would still consider family, the rest of the members from today onwards would become nothing but strangers.

With these thoughts in mind, she started walking once more, not giving them a second glance, and exited the venue. There was nothing else she wanted in this moment other than being as far away as possible from all of them.

She felt suffocated the longer she was to stay in the pack's territory, her feelings of escaping, reflecting on her steps. This was her intention, but hurrying down the hallway, she was stopped in her tracks when she met face to face with her brother.

"Big sister!" Daniel called happily, and immediately went up to her, hugging his big sister. Unaware of the happenings that occurred earlier in the ballroom.

The young man had always felt alienated from Brianna, so was not particularly excited for her Luna ceremony. For this reason he was thinking of only walking inside the venue just when the ceremony was about to begin.

"I am so glad to see you. I missed you!" He exclaimed joyfully.

Although disappointed and angry, Celia was still a logical person, she would never take out her spite on other people, so she said nothing, only gently hugged him back. In the time she was away, he seemed to have grown a little taller, he was steadily becoming an adult.

Wondering how exactly she arrived so quickly to the ballroom just by walking on her feet, Daniel was curious and wanted to ask her how she did it, but as he released her from his embrace, he noticed something was off. His sister felt even more aloof than normal, even more closed off from the world, and he knew it meant she was upset.

"Did something happen at the Academy? What's wrong? Did they bully you for being a girl?" He concernedly asked her. His big sister was the quiet type and most likely wouldn't retaliate if someone was to bully her.

"No, quite opposite. Everyone has treated me better than I would ever expect them to." Celia calmly replied. They had treated her better than her own family, she mentally added.

"Then why are you upset? Come to think of it, you are going in the opposite direction of the ballroom." He noted, looking around in confusion, checking for the problem.

"I saw everyone, and now I am going back to the Academy." She stated simply, not wanting to dive more into the subject. There was no point in doing so. Moreover, by talking she would delay leaving the pack territory, inviting more trouble and anguish. She had enough for today, she had enough for her whole life actually.

"Ehhh, but you said you were on your break. How can you leave when you just got here?" The reason his sister gave him was clearly a dismissive one, it was a reason covering up a bigger problem, and for Celia to become upset it took quite a serious matter to make it happen.

"Celia?" A stern voice interrupted their conversation before she managed to reply, it was a voice that did not held the smallest affection for a child a parent had not seen in more than a month. It was her father, Robert, arriving for the Ceremony. He was accompanying the old alpha of the pack, Richard, and his Luna Abigail.

Seeing them, Celia railed in any emotions she had, she did not know the exact participants of the deceiving act that was happening inside the ballroom, or alternatively named the Luna ceremony of her sister. But even if she knew it made no difference, her only goal was leaving.

Showing the bear maximum respect she could conjure at this moment, she slightly nodded in the direction of the newcomers, acknowledging their presence, but did not exchange a word of greeting. When she had become a watcher student, she and the other students had received a small guideline book with regulations they needed to follow in the future, rules other packs needed to follow in contact with them, and other such things.

In the book, it was stated that by becoming a watcher, one was no longer part of their original pack, but he/she was part of the pack that was formed together with the other watchers and, extended, they were part of the royal pack.

As such, they were required to maintain their distance from the members with authority from their original pack, and to only conduct themselves in a formal way, not in the humble manner they were previously accustomed to. This applied from the moment their tattoo appeared on their bodies. As students, they were already considered half a watcher.

Explaining further, it meant that submission to their home pack's alpha, not only was no longer required of them, it was even prohibited.

"What are you doing not bowing to your alpha? Your mother told me what a stupid thing you were doing. Honestly, begging her just to become a laughing stock?

Are you getting cocky now, when you have not even taken the test at the Academy?" He boomed furious. Her father always had a strict demeanor and would scold her for the smallest of supposed mistakes. He was also one, as much as her mother, who showed a difference in treatment, believing the Luna fate that belonged to her sister.

"It is alright Robert. Don't get angry. The girl did not mean any disrespect." Richard said smiling, but Abigail slightly frowned at her actions.

Celia did not respond to her father, ignoring him, still looking at her brother. Her father's imposing voice no longer held any importance to her. She had never felt fear towards her father, as one would fear a higher ranked alpha, only treated him with respect.

It had given the latter the impression that she feared him, but now with the veil not covering her eyes anymore, the previous respect was nonexistent. For some reason she had the feeling her father also knew and participated in the lie. If not at the very beginning, as he was away, later he was most likely informed of what her sister and mother did.

"I am leaving now. I will text you later with my new number, the Academy issued another number for me that I am obligated to have. You can contact me using that number whenever you want.

If you ever have any problems or just wish to see me, give me a call and I will arrange a plane ticket for you immediately. Don't think about the costs, alright? Just give me a call and it will be done." She slightly smiled at her brother and kissed his forehead.

"Wait, why does it sound like you are never coming back?" Daniel asked worried, something was really wrong.

She only smiled lightly and was about to leave, she did not want to be in this place even for a minute longer. The pain of the bond was still making her sick. She wanted to be far away. At the Academy she was never like this at all, the phantom pain did not appear even once.

"Celia, wait!" Shouted Rayan, as he came running after her. Brianna had tried to stop him, but he shrugged her off and came for her, with Brianna and her mother following behind. How could he let his true mate leave? She must have misunderstood the situation, she must have thought he did not want her. As long as he explained she would understand him and return, she was his... she was the only one in this world who would understand and love him truly.

"Alpha Rayan and Luna Brianna, congratulations for your appointment!" She said simply with only her head turned towards them. Her expressionless face did not show any emotion in particular, but her words were meant to separate the relationships between them to those of merely acquaintances, or even less.

"Wait, but you are my rightful Luna!" He replied panicked, she was thinking about rejecting him.

Hearing him, everyone in the hallway gasped. The only ones who were not surprised, were Brianna and her mother.

"What do you mean rightful Luna?" Asked his father confused.

"Father she is my mate!" He hurriedly replied, feeling wronged.

"What? You said Brianna was your mate. How come it is Celia now?" Richard shouted with a harsh tone.

"I thought so because Brianna smelt like Celia, but I did not feel the mate pull. Brianna said she had not shifted until now, so I thought it was because of this reason that I could not feel the mate pull towards her yet. But just now when I met Celia, I realized she is my true mate." Rayan immediately explained, trying to excuse himself.

"You, you! Why did you not ask me? How can you believe such a reason? Even if Brianna would not have shifted yet, you should have seen it in her eyes, you should have felt the mate pull regardless." Richard replied, annoyed with his stupid son.

"And what do you mean Brianna did not shift yet? She shifted at the beginning of this year." Stated Daniel confused. His big sister should have been the Luna, not Brianna?! Well, he always knew that girl had not even one Luna bone in her body.

It finally clicked, only now Rayan understood her panicked expression at the ball, the reason he did not feel the mate pull, everything fitted, he had been deceived.

Celia sighed. She was not even upset anymore. It seemed her sister actually did her a favor, if she had seen Rayan before, it would have been impossible to become a watcher.

The only problem that remained was the fact that her heart ached involuntarily, and Crescent kept howling in pain since she saw her mate. But she knew her wolf, she would have never accepted someone that had fooled around with other women, and definitely not someone that impregnated her sister.

Since he arrived in the pack's territory, she kept having phantom pains almost every night, even before he met her sister at the ball. Who would ever want such a mate?

The three of them would be alright together, just as always one person two wolves. Waning had surfaced from deep within her mind for some time already, and had protectively wrapped around Crescent with her body, which was quite easy as the white wolf was much bigger than Crescent. In her warm embrace, the latter settled down.

Rayan looked angry at Brianna, he could have shredded her to pieces if he could. She was the cause of all these problems.

His look devoid of any love made the latter cower behind her mother. Since she had met Rayan until now, this was the first time she had felt such a killing intent from him. The first time he had showed such a disgusted face towards her. She was already carrying his pup, why would Celia still matter to him now?

"Alpha Rayan, please quell your anger. Brianna is frail right now." Immediately intervened her mother, trying to defuse his rage. All their plans had gone awry, but they still had an unexpected advantage. The pup that was growing in Brianna's womb was the rightful heir to this pack. He had to accept the reality either way. But still, an alpha's rage was dangerous, in a moment of anger he could hurt Brianna.

"She is frail? She was the one who kept me from my true mate!" He shouted erratic. His anger kept rising, and his aura leaked uncontrollably making them submit to him. Even the people who were inside the ballroom across the hallway felt his changed mood, though they did not dare exit, as he had ordered everyone to stay inside.

The only ones who were not showing their neck in submission were his father and Celia. Her aloof stance had not changed from the beginning until now. His aura was not even on par with the lowest ranked member of her pack, and that was putting it lightly.

"Sister, please tell him, you did not want a mate. Your dream has always been to be a watcher. That is why you went away immediately after the ball." Her sister pleaded, the tone of her voice was small and humble, totally different from before.

She had thought that since they had already mated and she was carrying his pup, Rayan would ignore and reject her sister, even if she was his rightful mate. Since their childhood until now, her aloof sister was always ignored by everyone, she could never compare to her. That was why she had dared deceive Rayan at the ball. When he saw her and came towards her, her heart pounded and she felt proud of herself, of course she was his Luna.

She had no idea exactly what the mate pull implied, she only knew that his looks and position only fitted someone like her. But her confidence waned when he asked her at that time why she smelt like his mate, though only subtly.

She did not understand what he meant, until he said the scent got stronger, and that was when she saw her sister standing at the entrance. She had taken her dress and there was not enough time to wash it, even though her sister had tried it on before, so Celia's scent was all over the dress.

Realizing this, she acted quickly pulling his attention on herself, and luckily her sister had a mishap and did not move away from the entrance. A waiter had spilled some wine on her light colored dress, resulting in the latter having no other choice but to leave the venue to clean the wine stain.

Once Celia left, she was still worried, she could return any second now to the ballroom. So as soon as Brianna could, she called her mother and told her what happened.

At first, her mother was happy and said that it was alright if Celia was Rayan's mate, frankly she did not care who it was specifically, as long as one of her daughters was the Luna. Moreover, Brianna surely would also have an Alpha mate as well, it worked even better.

But she could not stand it, she saw Rayan first and only she could be his mate. Moreover, until she could find her true mate if she ever did, her sister would rise above her in the pack. She could never permit such a thing happening, she feared the mocking gazes from those around. She was always the best, and should be the best still.

So she convinced her mother that there was still a probability to not find him, her true mate. Then what would happen if the aloof Celia was not to Rayan's taste, and he rejected her.

In the end her mother agreed for fear of not having at least one of her girls become a Luna, and helped her sent Celia away. She was supposed to be gone for six months. She would have already been marked by then.

Of course, a girl could never take part even during the exams for the watchers, they must have sent Celia away. She thought, as her jaws clenched in anger.

Now she was in this situation, but it was still alright, Celia had always been like a mother to her. She would surely help her out. Ever since she was young until now, whatever she asked from her sister, the latter had never refused.

As such she was now implying for Celia to take responsibility, and make it seem like she was the one who asked Brianna to impersonate his mate.

She thought Celia would still help her, but she had been the naïve one. Her sister helped her before because she knew Brianna's personality and thought of her only as a childish and innocent girl. But she was not foolish to help her, regardless of the situation she was in. Especially now, when the wrongs she did escalated.

This was not a childish prank, this was not a project that she would do in her stead, and these were not clothes and cupcakes that she, Brianna, would claim as her own. No, this was life. This was her worth in Brianna's eyes, a helper nothing more.

Still, in recognition for Brianna's assistance in her enrolment, even if it was not a pure intention from her younger sister's part, she did not deny or affirm her words, she did not try to add fire to the fuel.

It would have meant that she truly wished to be Rayan's mate.