Madeline’s POV
“We have guests, Mads,” Seth said as he opened the kitchen door.
I nodded and gave him a small smile.
“I will be right out,” I said. “Give me a second to finish washing this.”
Seth nodded and closed the door. I had only one plate left to wash so I was walking through the kitchen door in a few minutes.
My stomach twisted painfully when I saw Janet sitting in one of the booths. A gorgeous woman was sitting opposite her and both of them had huge smiles on their faces.
“Can you go serve them, Mads?” Seth asked. “I’m swamped.”
He really was. There were a lot of people here tonight.
I gave him a small nod and approached the booth Janet and her friend were sitting in.
“Hello,” I said, giving them a small smile. “Welcome to Macy’s Diner. May I take your order, please?”
Janet looked up at me and the smile disappeared from her face. It was replaced by anger. She looked me up and down and then a small smirk appeared on her face.
“You should really congratulate us before taking our order, Madeline,” she said, making me furrow my eyebrows.
I glanced at the woman sitting opposite her. She was looking me up and down with disgust written all over her face.
“I would love to, Janet, but I don’t know what to congratulate you for,” I said calmly as I looked back at Janet.
She smiled and looked at the woman opposite her.
“We just came back from the exam,” Janet said, reaching over the table and taking the woman’s hand in hers. “Savannah is pregnant with my son’s pup.”
It felt like a knife was plunged into my chest.
Why? Why did I even care?
She was pregnant? She was really pregnant?
I looked at the woman and smiled.
“Congratulations, Miss,” I said, forcing a small smile on my face.
She looked at me and narrowed her eyes. “I am not a Miss. I am your Luna and you should get used to calling me that.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and bowed my head a little.
“My apologies, Luna,” I said quietly. “Can I take your order, please?”
Calling her Luna sounded wrong. It burned my tongue and left an uneasy feeling in my stomach. She didn’t belong with Alpha Dimitri. He was such a kind man and I could already tell that this woman in front of me was a bitch. She was going to destroy this pack.
I tightened my jaw and forced a small smile on my face.
I didn’t care. This wasn’t my pack and I would be leaving the day I turned 18. Alpha Dimitri was nothing but a nice man who tried to make me feel welcome. I shouldn’t care about his pregnant mate or his pack. They wouldn’t even remember my name once I left.
“I will have a salad and a glass of water,” Janet said and I could feel her eyes shooting daggers at me.
What did I do to make her hate me so much? Was it just because I was Mike’s daughter? Did I remind her of the fact that Mike had a fated mate?
“I will have the same,” Alpha Dimitri’s mate said.
“Anything else?” I asked, forcing another small smile on my face.
Janet looked me up and down and narrowed her eyes at me.
“Make sure that someone else brings us our order,” Janet said coldly. “I don’t want my grandchild to get some kind of disease from you.”
I felt anger boiling in my blood.
Janet looked at Alpha Dimitri’s mate and sighed. “You never know what kind of diseases these stray wolves are carrying.”
The woman looked me up and down and frowned in disgust. I wanted to smack that ugly expression off her face.
“Leave, orphan,” the woman said. “And make sure you don’t bring us our food.”
I clenched my fists, gave them a small nod, and rushed to the kitchen.
I was holding back angry tears. I hated that about myself. I would often cry when I was angry and it only made me look weak. I wasn’t weak.
I walked back into the kitchen and took a deep breath.
“What’s wrong?” Seth asked, making me look at him.
I gave him a small smile and shook my head.
“Nothing,” I said. “Can you please serve Janet and the woman who is with her? They both want a salad and a glass of water. I will take some of your tables.”
Seth was silent for a few moments. He furrowed his eyebrows and gave me a small nod.
“Of course, Mads,” he said as he pointed at the plates on one of the counters. “Table three ordered burgers.”
I nodded, walked up to the counter, picked the plates up, and walked out to bring them to our guests at table three.
“Enjoy your meal,” I said as I put the plates down.
These guests were so much nicer than Janet and Alpha Dimitri’s mate. They smiled at me and engaged in a small conversation. I could feel Janet’s eyes on my back the entire time.
I was so ready to leave this pack. I wished that I didn’t have to wait more than 8 months to do so.
I needed to spend as much time away from that house as possible.
I walked back into the kitchen and saw Seth preparing their salads.
“Will there be another party anytime soon?” I asked, making him look up at me.
He smiled and raised an eyebrow at me.
“I am not really getting along with Janet,” I sighed as I leaned on the counter. “I need to get out of that house.”
Seth chuckled and looked back down at the salads he was preparing.
“There will be another party next weekend,” he said. “But if you want to get out of there, you and I could go on a trip together. There is a wonderful lake not far from here. The hike is a bit long, but the lake is worth it.”
“Yes!” I answered as soon as he stopped talking.
He looked up at me and smiled.
“Deal,” he said. “I will tell my mom that we won’t be working tomorrow.”
Guilt washed over me. I should have thought it through before agreeing.
“Will she be okay with it?” I asked, biting my lower lip. “We can go some other time.”
“Don’t worry, Mads,” Seth said, giving me a small smile. “My mom will be thrilled that we decided to do something other than working.”
I gave him a small nod and smiled.
He finished making the salads and walked out of the kitchen.
I took a deep breath and released it slowly, trying to get rid of the sharp pain in my chest.
I couldn’t wait to leave the pack.
