Betrayed by My Beta Mate

Chapter 75

9 Secrets

Larissa POV Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

I have on the purple dress I picked out when Clara and I went shopping with my mom. I head down the hallway and knock on Clara’s door. She opens it and ushers me inside. “You’re not dressed yet. Do you need help putting the dress on?” She smiles “no I just didn’t want to wrinkle it.” I chuckle “it will be fine and you will look beautiful. My brother is going to lose his mind when he sees you in that dress.” I help Clara into the sapphire ball gown she chose. She looks like a princess. I pull her hair into a French braid and put light make-up on her face. She really doesn’t need any, she is naturally pretty. I turn her so she is facing the full-length mirror. She gasps and I smile. “That can’t be me in the mirror” she says in disbelief. “Yes it most certainly is.” She takes a finger, running it down a scar she has on her neck and arm. I gently grab her hand. “Don’t do that. Those scars do not change how beautiful you are. They are about your past, not your future.” She turns wrapping me in a hug. “I can’t tell you how much you all mean to me.” “Well you’re stuck with us, so that’s a good thing.” She pulls back and a knock sounds on the door. “Come in,” she says. The door opens and my brother steps inside and stops moving. He is just staring at his mate. “Alright, I’ll meet the two of you downstairs.” Neither of them answer me but I didn’t really expect them to.

As I reach the top of the stairs, I see Susan and the other girls all whispering at the bottom. I pray they don’t do anything stupid tonight because Eli meant what he said. When I reach the bottom of the stairs, Susan walks over to me. “You look very pretty Larisa.” “Thank you, so do you.” I start to walk toward the ballroom but she stops me. “I hope we can be friends again, Larisa. I was angry and I let jealousy get the best of me. I’m happy for your brother and the Luna.” “As long as you don’t hurt my sister, then everything will be fine between us.” She nods and I head into the ballroom. My parents are already there greeting the guests as they arrive. Micah, Mason, Rose, Penny, and Jennifer are all sitting at a

table. I rush over and Penny wraps me in a hug. “I didn’t know you were going to make it back so soon.” “My training with the Fae is not complete, but when mom told me that Eli found his mate, I had to come back to meet her. You and Eli are like our sister and brother” she says, pointing at Jennifer. “When will you leave again,” I ask with sadness in my voice. Even though Penny is four years older than us, we are all best friends. I was glad when her grandparents found her, but sad that she had to go away to train to use her Fae gifts.

“Hey, it’s not forever. This is my home and I’ll be back to stay before you know it. Maybe you and Rose will have your wolves when I get back.” Jennifer crosses her arms over her chest. She still has another year before she gets her wolf. I go over and hug her before we take our seat at the table. Penny bends down and whispers something in her sister’s ear before she takes a seat next to her. “So what is Eli’s mate like”, Penny asks. “She is kind and beautiful. She is perfect for Eli. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. You’re going to love her.”

Eli POV

When I open the door, Clara is standing there in a beautiful blue dress. I feel like I can’t even move. The door closing brings me out of my trance. “Eli, say something.” “There are no words that will do justice to how beautiful you are.” Her cheeks turn pink and I walk forward, taking her hand in mine. I pull her hand to my lips, pressing a kiss to the back. “Are you ready to go to the party?” She nods and I keep her hand in mine, leading her down the hallway. When we reach the stairs, my Aunt Lily is waiting at the bottom. “Hello lovebirds” she says before she hugs us both. “Clara, you look lovely. I have something very special for you.” She opens her hand, showing Clara a necklace with a heart-shaped pendant. She hands it to me so I can put it on her. “This necklace is not only beautiful but enchanted by two powerful witches. It will protect you from evil.” “Thank you, Aunt Lily,” I say. Clara wraps her in a hug again. “Thank you Lily.”

We head inside and my parents are greeting our guests. The room is filled with pack members who all bare their necks at us. My mother waves us over and we join her and my father. “Clara, that dress is

perfect for you” my mother says. “I agree you look lovely”, my father says. I lead her over to the table where the rest of my family are seated. Penny hops up and rushes over, wrapping me in a hug. I hear a low growl and I smile. Penny pulls back and wraps Clara in a hug. “Sorry about that. I should have told you who I was first. Believe me, you have nothing to worry about” she says to Clara. “Clara, this is Penny. She is like a sister to me.” I point to everyone at the table. “That is Jennifer, Penny’s sister. That is Rose, Lily’s daughter. You remember Micah and Mason.” They nod and she smiles. I pull out her chair and she takes a seat. We all talk and I love how comfortable she is with everyone. I introduce her to Pheobe, Michael, John, and Maureen. As everyone talks she leans in so only I can hear her. “You have a wonderful family.” I kiss her cheek before I respond. “We have a wonderful family.” I thread my fingers in hers just enjoying being close to her.

Grant POV

“Grant, if you don’t hurry up we are going to be late.” “I’m coming although I don’t think it will be a big deal if we arrive late.” She rolls her eyes and I pull her into my arms, pressing a kiss to her lips. She pulls back “we definitely don’t have time for that.” I chuckle and lead her out to the car. We drive for a half an hour before we arrive at the Nightfire pack. I park and come around to open Evelyn’s door. I lead her toward the pack house and a guard stops us to check our invitation. We are led to a large room and the party is in full swing. “Evelyn, it’s so good to see you again”, I hear a familiar female voice. Evelyn pulls free of my hand and rushes toward Amelia. “Alpha Grant, how have you been”, Lincoln says as he steps toward me with his hand outstretched. I take it “good how about yourself.” “Very good. I’m glad you and Evelyn could make it tonight. We have a rather big announcement to make.” “I figured as much with you having this ball.” We talk about pack business for a few minutes before he says his goodbyes and walks past me to welcome other guests. I scan the room looking for Evelyn. When I finally find her, she is walking toward a table with Amelia.

I start toward her and something doesn’t feel right. I can feel her agitation through our bond. I increase my speed and wrap Evelyn in my arms. She looks up into my eyes and hers are as black as night.

“Excuse us”, I say, looking around the table and my heart sinks. “Evelyn come with me”, I say as I pull her out of the room. I walk until we are outside the pack house. Evelyn manages to break free and is breathing heavily. “Sadie, give control back to Evelyn now” I say. She takes some deep breaths and her beautiful green eyes are back. “Evelyn, what’s going on”, I ask, praying that I am wrong.

Evelyn POV

“So something big must have happened for you guys to have a ball” I say to Amelia. She smiles and her happiness is contagious. “Eli found his mate.” “Oh my goddess, that’s wonderful. I’m shocked you’re not having the Alpha and Luna ceremony.” “We will soon” she says, but she doesn’t elaborate and I don’t pry. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to her.” I walk side by side with Amelia toward a table full of people. As we get closer, Sadie seems agitated. “Sadie, what’s wrong with you?” “I can feel our pup” she starts to say, and I try to push her down. It doesn’t matter how long ago we lost our pups, we still hurt every day. Grant has been a wonderful mate but we weren’t able to have pups with him.” “Sadie our pups are”, I start to say, and she pushes forward. This time I can’t stop her. She starts to look around the room and I’m just an observer. Our eyes land on a young woman sitting next to Eli. “Pup” she growls before strong arms wrap around us and Grant is able to get her attention.

Once we are outside, thankfully, she gives me back control. When he asks me what’s wrong, my heart squeezes in my chest. The tears start to flow down my cheeks and the hurt is as fresh today as it was the day Grant told me that the twins died. He is the only reason I survived losing them. He wasn’t happy that I was pregnant when we found each other, but he accepted me as his fated mate and my pups as his own. “Grant, Sadie feels connected to that girl like she is our pup.” He walks over and pulls me into his arms. “Evelyn you and Sadie both know that isn’t possible. We buried the pups. Sadie is just confused.” Sadie growls and I step back. “I understand she may not be the daughter that I lost, but Sadie isn’t confused. I don’t know why we feel this way, but we do. So, please don’t act like we are crazy.” “Evelyn, you know I don’t think you’re crazy. I just want you to think logically. She is not your pup.” “Fine, she is not our pup.” Sadie whimpers in my mind. I start to walk past him toward the pack

house. “Where the hell are you going?” “I’m going back inside to celebrate with our friends.” “I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Evelyn.” I turn shooting daggers at him. “I will be fine, now let’s go and take our seats.” I stick out my hand and he takes it. When we reach the ballroom, he leads me to a table with our names on it. He never lets go of my hand. I watch as Amelia and Lincoln stand in the front of the room. They wave to Eli and the young lady from earlier to join them. Why do I feel like she is mine? “You feel that way because she is our pup. I don’t know how, but I’m telling you Evelyn, she is ours.”