CHAPTER 27 – THE PAINFUL TRUTH

PATRICIA’S POV

“I asked Mama Ruth to take care of everything and I am sure there are all going to be well taken care of” I replied to my husband, beta Tim’s interrogation.

He called for a family meeting to discuss how the plans for the event for the next two days are going. And we are all gathered in his chambers, me, Dawn, Sam, Carl, and Hedrick except, of course, Scarlet.

There was no need to have her in this meeting as there would be nothing meaningful from her. In fact, we don’t involve her in our family discussions. We have never considered her as one of us and getting her far away from us would be all that we have ever prayed for.

“I already made it clear that it is going to be a simple event. I will have my friend, Luggard over for the occasion, and we should be done before noon. I don’t want that to take the whole of our day” my husband said.

“Father” Hedrick called.

“Hedrick” my husband replied.

“I think the whole thing should not take more than thirty minutes. I will send a message to alpha Jake to be here with the minister very early for the marriage. If he should arrive early, we should have forgotten about it before nine” Hedrick said.

“I would not want to spend my time on such things. I am only going to be there because of you, father” Carl said.

“Alpha Jake of Black Moon Pack would be here and it is only cautious that we all should be present to welcome him” my husband replied.

“I just cannot wait for the day to arrive” I exhaled.

“And even me too. At least now we would have her away from us” Sam said.

“We are all happy about this. Getting her married to a respectable man had always been my greatest fear. At a point, I had thought that would be impossible as no one, not even the least among men would want a weakling as a mate let alone as his luna” my husband said.

“Father” Dawn called.

“I am listening, Dawn,” my husband responded.

“Have we gotten gifts for her? Since she would be leaving the day after tomorrow, we should have her gifts ready by now” Dawn asked.

“Gifts?” my husband murmured and turned to me. “Any gifts for her?” he asked me.

“I have mama Ruth make the necessary arrangements” I replied.

“But you said nothing about getting her some gifts. It is the practice, right? When a girl is sent off to marriage, gifts are being given to her” Dawn said.

I don’t know what had come over Dawn. When did she start caring about what becomes of Scarlet? We have done the best that we could for Scarlet and that should be enough for her.

“See, Dawn, we have what we can for Scarlet, we have done the best we could for her and she should be grateful that we allowed her to stay with us till now. And what more does she require? We are giving her off to an alpha. Alpha Jake of Black Moon which is one of the strongest Pack around here” I replied.

“Dawn, you shouldn’t worry about Scarlet not getting a gift. Moreover, she is not one of us and if she is desirous of receiving any gifts, then she should direct her request to her husband from now on” my husband said.

“But we all know life with alpha Jake would be nothing compared to life with us. She would be far worse over there. No woman would want to remain with alpha Jake” Dawn protested.

“And what do you have us do, darling?” my husband asked Dawn.

“No one asked her if getting married to alpha Jake was what she wanted. We never cared to know her feelings about this” Dawn grumbled.

My husband threw her a sharp look. I could see the terror in his eyes. Dawn had gotten to him and he was not going to spare her if she dares to push him any further.

I quickly went to sit with her and held my hands around her to stop her from saying any more words but she was stubborn and refused to stop talking.

“She will be in hell all her life…” Dawn started to speak and Carl got angry and flared up.

“No more word about this or I will rip off your throat. Is that understood?”

Dawn held on tightly to me and hid her face in my bosom.

Carl stood up and walked to the front of me. He leaned forward and held Dawn tightly by her arms and she winked in pain.

“Please Carl, stop it you are going to injure her” I pleaded with him to release her arm from his grip.

“Don’t you ever be this soft, am I understood?” he growled.

“I am sorry, Carl. I will never try this again” she cried.

He let go of her and went back to his seat. She grabbed me tightly still hiding her face in mine.

“Raise your head this minute, Dawn” my husband yelled.

She quickly let go of me and held up her head.

“And what do you say?” he asked her.

“I am sorry, father. I should not have tried to annoy you” she replied.

There was a knock at the door.

“And who is that?” I asked.

“It’s me, Mama Ruth” Mama Ruth responded.

I looked at my husband in order to get his permission before inviting Mama Ruth in and he nods his head in affirmation.

“You can come in” I ordered.

Mama Ruth opened the door and entered. “You sent for me,” she said.

“Yes, I did. We need a report on the preparations so far” I replied.

MAMA RUTH’S POV

I knocked and waited outside to be asked in.

Ma Patricia had sent for me, and I know that it must be in connection with the preparations for Scarlet’s marriage in two days.

I wonder why the marriage has to be this sudden. I have never planned for anything within a short period like this, not even any of their family day together let alone a marriage ceremony.

Anyways, she made it clear that it was going to be a small event with very few guests so I have to plan for as little as twenty persons.

“You can come in” I heard ma Patricia say from inside.

I opened the door and entered but was surprised to see the whole family member in beta Tim’s chamber. I had actually thought I would only be meeting ma Patricia and beta Tim.

“You sent for me,” I said.

“Yes, I did. We need a report on the preparations so far” she replied.

“About the marriage” I murmured.

“Yes about the marriage. We don’t want you playing dumb here, Mama Ruth. We’ve got better things to do and you should not waste our time here for something as significant as Scarlet’s marriage” Carl yelled and drew closer to me.

I am used to him this way. To me, he is still that little boy that I taught to walk just yesterday. Every other person in the mansion is afraid of him and his brother, Hedrick but not me, Mama Ruth. He can only yell and roar and that is the least that he can do.

I ignored him and looked at the faces in the room. There was beta Tim, standing gallantly and avoiding my gaze, there was Hedrick and Sam, sitting down, both crossing their hands and just like their father, avoiding my eyes. There was ma Patricia holding on to her daughter, Dawn. She was looking at me and eagerly waiting for my response.

I took another look at Dawn and I wondered why she appeared so frightened even now that she was in the midst of her own family.

But there was one person that was missing from this meeting, and that was Scarlet. This meeting was because of her and so she should have as much right to be here just like everyone else.

I gave ma Patricia a questioning look but she slowly removed her face and looked the other way. She knew what I had in mind.

I turned to beta Tim, and just like his wife, he quickly turned away.

“Speak now, Mama Ruth. Or do you think I am like the others, that I am afraid of you…?” Carl yelled furiously.

“Shut up, Carl” beta Tim yelled at him. “And who do you refer to as the others that are afraid? Watch your mouth here or I will watch it for you”

“I am sorry, father” he replied and went back to his seat.

“We are waiting to hear from you, mama Ruth” beta Tim said. “And please go straight to the point”

As they say, it is a lot easier to wake someone asleep than someone that pretends to be asleep. They already know the truth but resolve to look away. So it would be useless trying to draw their attention to the truth at this point. I would leave them to their conscience that is if they still have any.

“Okay, beta Tim. The seamstress had brought her clothes and plans are in place for that day. So far no difficulty had been encountered” I replied.

“That is okay. You can leave us now” beta Tim ordered.

I gave a low bow and walked out leaving them to their mind.