Ciara was only half-awake when Vanessa came into her room to wake her up.

"Ciara! Wake up." She said pinching Ciara's arms with her overgrown painted nails.

"Can't you just let me sleep a little more?" Ciara murmured already used to Vanessa's manner of waking her up.

"No I can't, we're going to be late to the mating ceremony if I do." Vanessa said as she pulled the blanket away from Ciara's body.

"What? We're going out?" Ciara said as she sat up and all signs of sleepiness disappeared because she was very excited to leave her room/prison.

"Yes we are. The Alpha said I should let you get a little fresh air at the party since it's a private pack meeting. I'm sure you won't be allowed to go if it was a mating ceremony. " Vanessa said as she sat on Ciara's bed sighing dreamily as she folded Ciara's blanket.

"Vanessa?"

"Hmmm?"

"What's a mating ceremony?" Ciara asked as she scratched her itching scalp.

"A mating ceremony is...it's like a ceremony for people to choose their mates I guess." Vanessa replied.

"What are mates?" Ciara asked curiously because she didn't know what it meant.

Vanessa snorted loudly. "You know, just because you're blind, it doesn't give you any real reason to be so dumb."

Ciara was quiet and she didn't get offended at Vanessa's thoughtless statement because she was quite familiar with Vanessa putting her down almost all the time.

"Anyway, mates are supposed to be soul mates...they are like a person's other half." Vanessa continued.

"What other half?"

Vanessa released a long exasperated sigh. "Alright let me break it down for you dummy. When the gods created everyone including the weres, that's us, he made two people from one particular lump of clay in a way that even though they were made as separate people, without each other's heart, they were just halves. But soon enough werewolf blood got so diluted with human blood that it was hard to find ones true mate so now a mate is just the most compatible person to a were."

Though Ciara didn't really understand what Vanessa had just explained, she knew that if she asked again, Vanessa would get angry so she just let it go.

"So that means that you have a mate too?" Ciara asked.

"Yes of course..." Vanessa replied with a happy sigh that surprised Ciara because she was always moody whenever she came to take care of her or give her food. At times, she would even haul insults at Ciara when she was in really foul moods.

"So...you're happy because you've found your mate?" Ciara asked, happy to socialize even it meant talking to Vanessa.

"Yes, I have and he's going to claim me soon enough. You may meet him today but don't you dare say anything, okay?" Vanessa ordered.

Ciara nodded rapidly like a little child before asking. "Vanessa? Why shouldn't I say anything?"

"Because my mate is the alpha's son and he'll soon be the alpha of this pack, he is way too important to talk to a low life like you." Vanessa replied with another happy sigh. "I'll be the luna of this pack."

"Vanessa? What's a luna?" Ciara asked tentatively unable to keep her curiosity at bay.

"Don't you dare ask, idiot!" Vanessa said and even though Ciara couldn't see her glare, she could hear her annoyance in her voice and she was smart enough to keep her mouth shut.

"I wonder if I have a mate." Ciara murmured as Vanessa helped her to undress.

Even though her voice had been really low, Vanessa's advanced werewolf hearing caught it and she snorted in an unlady-like manner. "I really doubt that the fates would be so cruel as to give a-good-for-nothing person like you, an able-bodied man. Your mate will probably be blind, deaf or dumb." Vanessa chuckled at her own joke.

Ciara was sure that Vanessa had said what she said, just to make her feel bad so she didn't bother feeling bad. After all, that was the norm of things with Vanessa, she gained pleasure from hurting Ciara. At times, Ciara thought that Vanessa hated her but then Vanessa would do something considerate to her and she'd dismiss the notion.

*

"Good evening, Mason." Vanessa smiled when she saw Mason, a pack member and her friend who she was sure wanted to be more than just friends.

"Good evening Vanessa. You and your friend sure look really good." Mason replied with a friendly wink.

"You don't look so bad yourself." Vanessa flirted a little.

"Who is she?" Mason asked.

"Oh she is Ciara."

"Ciara...as in Ciara, the blind girl? She is really beautiful."

"Yeah but its beauty wasted on a blind girl." Vanessa said and with a fake chuckle that hid her annoyance at Mason admiring anyone other than herself even as she led Ciara away from him.

She helped Ciara sit down on a couch and grabbed two sodas from a passing waiter. Then She folded Ciara's hand around the soda can and after helping her to pop it open, she helped her lead the straw to her mouth.

As they were sitting together, Vanessa saw Jake come in dressed in a nice suit looking as classy as he usually did but what offended her was the way he stared at the girl holding unto his arm like it was her life force.

She tried to catch his eyes but the cheerful smile on her face became very stiff when he caught her gaze then looked away without a second glance at her or any sign of acknowledgement. Could it be that Jake had deceived her?

After deciding to find out for herself, Vanessa held Ciara's arms roughly and pulled the blind girl to her feet before stalking over to where Jake stood while dragging Ciara along.

*

Jake was walking to the hall used for the pack meetings when he saw Serena, a girl he recognized as the daughter of the alpha of the Red Circle pack, a pack known to have fifty more members than the Thurman pack with very powerful and well trained guards. She must have been invited as a special guest to the pack meeting but regardless, he didn't hesitate to turn on the full force of his charm on her and soon he was walking into the hall flirting heavily with her.

That was when he saw Vanessa smiling at him. He ignored her and asked Serena - who loved talking about herself so much - about her duties in her pack. Serena was happily listing them off when he saw Vanessa matching towards he and Serena with an angry expression. He pushed his hands into his pocket as he got himself ready to calmly deny any claims Vanessa might make.

That was when he saw the girl Vanessa was dragging along with her. She had beautiful honey-colored hair with lots of curls, beautiful light blue eyes and very kissable lips. She also had a lost look about her as if nothing in the world was familiar to her. Her scent was the most mouth-watering scent he had ever smelt and it brought his wolf very close to the surface.

Before he could get his wolf under control, Vanessa was in front of him and his wolf had already forced him to whisper, "True Mate". Vanessa looked taken aback as she followed his gaze to Ciara.

Jake quickly recovered from his momentary trance as his gaze slid from Ciara's face to Vanessa since Ciara wasn't looking at him. He gave Vanessa, a sheepish smile.

"Vanessa, who is your friend?" He asked as he combed his hands into his short blonde hair.

"She's the blind Ciara." Vanessa spat out bitterly, obviously taking delight in his unhidden shock.

Though Jake was shocked, he was not entirely convinced till Ciara turned to look in his direction. Their eyes connected but hers were empty eyes without life and the knowledge that the light blue eyes, he'd thought were beautiful, belonged to a blind person made those eyes so creepy that Jake had to take a step back.

He pried his arm away from Serena's hold and excused himself before stumbling out of the hall. "Ex...excuse me."

*

Vanessa was too busy watching and enjoying the sight of a distraught and totally-not-confident Jake that she didn't see Serena shove her till she was sitting on her butt on the floor.

"Now see what you have done! You this...little bitch," Serena hissed at Vanessa.

Vanessa was so angry that she reacted immediately, forgetting that Serena was an alpha's daughter and she was just a common pack member. She held and squeezed her can of soda over Serena's head, releasing a rain of soda on Serena's well-coiffed hair before dragging Ciara away.

When Vanessa got to Ciara's room, she started pacing restlessly, stomping her feet on the ground with all her energy, while trying to come to terms with the fact that Jake's true mate was Ciara.

"I can't believe that stupid Serena, pushing me to the floor like that and almost embarrassing me. And you! You're much more despicable than Serena is. You stole Jake from me. You, some blind dumb and stupid idiot are his true mate. After all I suffered, taking care of you as a way to gain his mother's favor, it turns out the blind bat I was bathing and feeding was his mate...ugh! I need to go talk to that worthless Jake." She stomped out of the room leaving Ciara in her room.

When she got to Jake's room, she didn't knock, rather she just slammed the door open and entered. She was shocked to see that the same guy who had left the hall looking so distraught was already making out with a girl who she recognized as one of the pack omegas who served as maids.

"Jake?" She said.

Jake took some time to answer since his tongue was tied in a french kiss with his favorite booty call. And during that time, Vanessa had time to come to terms with the fact that since Jake had slept with her, he was no longer as cautious as he used to be when they hadn't done anything together. And that could only mean that all the maids whom she caught leaving his room with trays of food, whenever she came to see him had all been his bed partners.

"What?" Jake asked looking at her without a care in the world. The girl in Jake's arm didn't even care that there was someone else in the room instead she purred clinging closer to Jake and Vanessa felt disgusted because she knew that she had probably behaved exactly like this the night before.

"What are you doing? You told me I was your mate and you're here sleeping with this tramp." Vanessa growled.

"You don't understand, do you? Let me spell it out to you then...I was trying to get into your pants. Everything I said was sweet talk. Besides I wasn't even missing anything anyway. You behaved as if you were so innocent and hid the fact that you've been with other guys from me, I've got what I wanted from you and I don't need you, now get out, I'm busy!"

Tears blurred Vanessa's vision as she started to walk out of the room, she paused mid step to look back at him as she said, "You'll regret this Jake."

"Yeah, keep thinking that way if it helps you sleep at night." Jake called out in a mocking tone.

Edited: April 3, 2021