Fuck.

Not right now, Mom.

I quickly moved away from the beast and tamed my wild hair down before reaching for the door and stepping outside to see what my Mom wanted.

Closing the door behind, I asked, "Yeah?"

My Mom looked like she just woke up—which she did. She let out a loud yawn before stopping in front of me. "Oh, you're home. When did you come back?"

"Just a few hours ago,"

"And, you aren't asleep yet?"

"Yeah, I was just about to sleep. Just took a shower," I said, looking down at my bathrobe, that was just a quick way to dress up.

"Oh, all right!" She nodded her head and yawned again before patting my shoulder. "Goodnight,"

"Goodnight!"

My heart stopped racing with panic as she went back downstairs and into her room. I released the doorknob that I had been holding way too tight. Going back inside, I noticed that the beast was gone and the curtains were whipping around with the strong wind outside.

A small cheerful smile tugged on my lips as I shook my head and shut my window close tightly. That was one way to come in and leave without announcing.

I peeked outside to see where he had gone but the streets in front of me were clear, and there was no one around, nothing at all as it was the middle of the night.

Either the beast had shifted or he had disappeared into the thin air with magic.

Shrugging, I shut the curtains and turned around to find my clothes so I could put them in the washer.

I kneeled down on gathered the clothes only to notice that my panties were missing.

Great.

First, my body and then my panties. What else was he going to take? My bra? My heart?

I wasn't surprised.

After cleaning up the mess on my bed, I went back into the bathroom and removed my bathrobe. I stepped inside the bathtub that was filled with water. Sinking down, I let all my worries free.

For now.

I could deal with this, it wasn't that difficult, nothing out of the world. The beast was just a normal werewolf, like all of us, just with a bad past.

————

"It's a shame to be his mate," Mom said, bringing in the waffles to the table.

"Mom," I warned her. "You both lied to me and he was your Alpha at once," Rather than shaming me, my parents should've been more truthful about the whole situation.

I spoke to them early in the morning and they told me everything that Mrs. Pitts told me. The beast was an Alpha once and my parents belonged to the Scarlet Pride long ago.

"Your Mom isn't wrong, Lily. Lorenzo was a great Alpha but his actions and everything he did was wrong. People hated him, and they still do." Dad interrupted us both and said his point of view.

"But he's still my mate and I rather not hear negative things about him—not from my parents at least," I said, my lips turning into a frown.

"Sorry," Mom placed her hand over my shoulder and kissed my forehead before sitting beside me. "It's just that we never thought about him for years, and suddenly, this all came up and we are a little shaken."

"I am too,"

"I know which is why we are here for you. Whatever your decision is, we will support you regardless of how bad it will be." She began again.

I groaned, dropping my fork. I slept in peace last night, knowing that it was fine to be mated to the beast but I was wrong after hearing everything my parents had told me.

My Dad's eyes were settled on me. "Let's hope he doesn't kill you," he joked.

I kicked my legs underneath the table and stopped eating. The negativity inside this room was getting to my mind. I wanted to be positive about my mate but the jokes my parents were making weren't helping at all.

"Dad, please, he won't kill me. If he wanted too, he would've." I snapped at him.

"True." He nodded and started eating the waffles my Mom had made for breakfast.

Nothing could go down my throat—except for his cock.

"In serious words, Lily, Lorenzo isn't a good man, he was known as a monster while he was an Alpha. He used to feed on the vulnerable and used to kill a lot of people back then." Mom said, in a stern tone.

"But they must've been bad people, right?" I asked, my eyes wide and filled with confusion. Why was I justifying his actions?

"No, they were innocent ones and it wasn't just before the battle of Krath. To date, he kills every female and male that crosses his territory." She continued, plunging her fork into the waffles. I flinched.

God.

"Okay, you both are just scaring me right now," I said, pushing my plate aside.

"We are not scaring you, honey, it's the reality!"

"Well—" I curled my fingers into a fist, "Things could change. He doesn't have to stay the same and I'm sure he had his own reasons for killing people." There we go again, still justifying his actions.

"Honey, they don't call him the beast for no reason." Mom started.

I jerked off the seat, "All right, I'm out, probably going to see Ann and Cora as they are more supportive and they might actually tell me what to do rather than just feeding me with negative thoughts!" I exclaimed.

Mom grabbed my wrist before I could leave. "You can always reject him,"

"And mate with someone else," Dad added.

"No one needs to know!"

"Mom, please, stop!" My wolf felt hurt at their words and I felt like crying with everything I have heard over the past hour. "I will think and we will see."

"Your decision! Just choose wisely. You don't want to end up dead,"

"Mom!" I whined.

"All right, I'll stop!" She raised her hands and stopped the negativity all together.

I huffed out a breath and yanked my bag off the table before walking outside. The warm sun of Far Waters struck me right in my eyes and I walked back in to grab my Dad's car keys.

"Don't crash it!" I heard him yell through the kitchen where my parents were still eating. They weren't worried about anything and it made me mad.

They should be paranoid as I was.

Did they really believe that I was going to reject the beast? And then move on and mate with someone else? I couldn't think about rejection after whatever I occurred last night. It would hurt a lot for me and him, especially since he had marked me.

He might just die.