The Son’s Mate They Wanted to Control, But She Bowed to No One

Zevran always stood between me and any harm, which was the only reason I had not lost all control of my temper. I had no wish to shame Eirene, who carried new life, so I looked coldly at Arion and said, " Zevran is right. Stop acting as though you're the only one who matters. Today is supposed to be a happy occasion under the Moon Goddess, after all." I paused and let my eyes pass over the ruin of my bedchamber. Swallowing my rage, I added, "As for this mess, we will speak of it later." Zevran turned with me and drew in a sharp breath when he saw the damage. "Lyssa, I am sorry. I didn't realize they had made such a mess." I gave him a look and turned to the cubs. "Out, all of you. Whose cubs are you, anyway?" Eirene waved a lazy hand. "Come here, Ronan. You're always getting yourself into trouble." A small cub trotted over, his face streaked with berry paint and ash. Not long after, Rielle and Rhoswen's sister, Isanna Vilecrest, called their grandchildren to them as well. Eirene stroked Ronan's head and smiled sweetly. "Cubs are born mischievous. They're still too young to understand pack rules. You will not hold this against him, will you, Lyssa?" Before I could answer, Zevran spoke up, "Of course we will not!" I frowned at him. Just as Arion and Eirene began to smile in relief, Zevran went on. "The lip balm in Ronan's hand was a Midwinter gift I bought for my mate. It cost no more than two thousand gold coins. Arion, you can repay me later." He then pointed at the face powder and scent vials in the hands of Rielle and Isanna's grandchildren. "Aunt Rielle, your grandson holds a jar of Celestique Luxe moon powder worth more than a thousand gold coins. Aunt Isanna, your granddaughter has a vial of Lunaris moon perfume." He paused and looked at her with an odd, pitying expression. "That one costs a little more. It is worth over six thousand gold coins." His words stunned every wolf in the room. "Zevran, would you extort your own blood? All these things come to nearly ten thousand gold coins!" Eirene was the first to lose her temper. Her voice rose sharply, and her wolf began to stir beneath her skin. Rielle and Isanna looked just as horrified. "Zevran, we watched you grow up among the Wolfhart Pack. We treated you as our own. How can you treat your elders this way?" Rielle pressed her lips together and glared at him, as if his words had shamed the whole pack. Zevran lowered his head and tugged at the hem of my robe. "Then stop tormenting my mate. She is the Lady of this den, and she is owed respect." "You! Evander, look at him! After all we have done, this is how he repays his own blood!" Rielle shouted in anger, while the other aunts began to whisper among themselves. Evander's face darkened. The weight of his authority filled the den as he raised his voice. "Enough! End this useless quarreling!" He turned to me and looked at me as if I were a disobedient young cub in need of a lesson. "Spending so much gold on face paints and scents is wasteful and shameful! As elder of the Wolfhart Pack, I will settle this myself. No one owes you anything. Lyssa, learn to control your spending. I will overlook your extravagance this once, so do not make trouble for everyone." Rielle, Isanna, Arion, and Eirene all looked relieved at once. They even seemed pleased, as if Evander had just granted them a great boon. I was so furious that I almost laughed. These wolves were shameless and utterly unreasonable. What did my spending have to do with them? I had earned that gold with my own paws, and I could spend it as I pleased. Being his son’s mate did not mean I had to hand my own wealth over to my mate's kin. Evander claimed he would overlook the matter, as if he was the ruler of the whole kingdom, with the right to decide who was guilty and who should be punished. Had he forgotten that he had no right to rule this den? At that moment, my daughter, Lyra, and my son, Zevian, ran over and clung to Zevran's legs. "Father, we are hungry..." I stroked their heads gently and drew a deep breath. Before the others could go on praising Evander for his supposed generosity, I cut in. "I buy costly things because I can afford them, not because I have gold to waste. We all know how you treated Zevran while he was growing up in this pack. Do not try to use duty to blood and loyalty to the pack to make me feel guilty. I will send you the merchant records later. If you refuse to pay for what your grandchildren destroyed, I will bring the matter before the High Alpha's wardens and let them judge." Without waiting for their reply, I looked at Zevran and said, "Come. Let us prepare the evening meal."

Zevran followed me gladly to the hearth kitchen. "I am sorry, Lyssa. The cubs and I found them here when we came home." When I stepped into the kitchen, I found Amarise Wolfhart, Zevran's sister, already at work preparing food. Zevran's words reminded me that I had forgotten to reset the entry runes and renew the ward stones around our den. Any wolf who knew the old wards could still walk in without trouble, and I had never dreamed that our own kin would exploit that weakness. Zevran had been a lonely cub. Unlike Arion, who had always been favored by the family and the pack, Zevran had never been skilled at pleasing others. His kin often ordered him about and bullied him, treating him as a weak wolf who would never win their respect. Later, I had been drawn to his handsome face and had pursued him until we became mates. Only after we began to court did I learn how timid he could be, especially around his own blood. Still, I had already given him my heart, and in time I mated with him. Fortunately, I was strong enough to protect us both. After our mating ceremony, we left the Wolfcliff Territory and built a happy life of our own, far from their endless meddling. I rarely spoke with Rhoswen and the others, so their sudden arrival at my den on the Midwinter Moon seemed strange. Among werewolf kin, the feast night was usually spent with close blood or one's own household. Yet these wolves had come without warning, turned my den upside down, and behaved as if I were their personal servant. I could not fathom what they truly wanted. I hurried to Amarise. "Amarise, let me take over. You are a guest here. How can I let you do all the cooking?" Amarise was one of the few sensible wolves in the Wolfhart Clan. Unlike the rest, she had always treated Zevran and me with kindness, and she had never used her name or her rank in the pack to look down on us. "I am sorry, Lyssa. I don’t know why my parents suddenly decided to come here today. I tried to talk them out of it, but they would not listen. I could not stop them, so I thought I could at least help you with the cooking." I shook my head. "It is well. I don’t blame you." Worried that my two cubs would stay hungry, Zevran and I quickly prepared a few more dishes and carried them to the feast hall. Together with what Amarise and Zevran had already cooked, we had more than enough for a fine Midwinter feast. The scent of roasted venison, warm bread, and moon herbs filled the den, but the tension among the pack made the air anything but festive. When I saw the main feast table was nearly full, I asked Zevran to bring out a small table so the cubs could sit there. "There is no need," Evander said coldly. "You and Amarise can find somewhere else to eat." I paused while untying my apron, then laughed in disbelief. "You eat in my den, yet you tell me to eat somewhere else?" I raised my brows and stared at him. My wolf stirred at the insult, and I had to remind myself that I stood in my own home, not before the old Alpha on his own ground. I set both hands on the edge of the table and gripped the cloth, my fingers tightening as I fought to hold my anger in. Eirene suddenly spoke up, "Why not listen to Lyssa and let the cubs eat at the small table? There is no reason to quarrel over something so small." I was a little surprised that she had spoken for me, but I did not think much of it. After Zevran brought out the small table, I chose several dishes my cubs liked and carried them over. Zevran sat beside them and helped feed them, while I returned to the main table and began to eat. "You eat before your elders? Have you forgotten the respect owed to us as Wolfhart Pack?" Evander said as he slowly sat down. "Stop looking for a fight. If you want to eat, then eat," I replied impatiently. "You came into my den without leave, made a ruin of my things, and now you would lecture me on pack manners?" They had already turned my den upside down, but I had endured it because I wanted to learn what they were truly after. My wolf paced inside me, scenting the hostility in the air, but I forced myself to stay calm. "Zevran has grown wealthy, yet this is all he sets before his blood?" Briona Wolfhart, Evander's other sister, glanced at the dishes and whispered to the wolves beside her. Yet she spoke loudly enough for me to catch every word. "With the gold he has now, he could surely afford a proper feast for the elders of his pack." Perhaps Rielle was still frightened by my earlier reaction, because she didn't dare provoke me again. I went on eating and paid no mind to their complaints. I had no wish to waste my strength quarreling with wolves who had already decided to find fault with all I did. "Zevran, how can you sit at such a little table?" Arion asked as he ate with obvious enjoyment. Even with his mouth full, he could not stop finding fault with his older brother. I smiled at him. "Then why not take his place? If you will not do that, hold your sarcastic tongue." Arion fell silent at once. "Lyssa, I don’t mean to lecture you, but a female wolf should know how to care for her mate and stand at his side," Isanna said in a disapproving tone. "You are Lady of this household, so you should know your duties. Zevran is a grown male of the Alpha bloodline. How can you let him eat at a small table like a cub?" I looked at her with pity. "I will say the same to you, Aunt Isanna. Why not take his place? If the main table matters so much to you, you are welcome to trade seats with him." Isanna looked helpless. "It is disrespectful to make our elders eat at a small table. Every pack has its traditions, and the young are expected to honor them." "Then it is just as disrespectful to make the master of this den eat at a small table," I replied. "Or do pack traditions only apply when they suit you?" Evander set down his fork, his rough voice cutting through the talk. "Enough! Stop making trouble!"

"How can a grown male be expected to sit at a cubs' table?" Isanna asked him. "Evander, you are the elder of this clan. Tell her whether I am right." Evander turned to me at once, his eyes hardening as his elder aura rolled through the room. "Lyssa, go sit at the small table! You are Lady of this household, but you have grown far too disrespectful toward your elders!" Every wolf at the table had their own aims, and the moment Evander spoke they all smiled at once. Some lowered their heads to hide their amusement, while others exchanged satisfied looks, clearly pleased that Evander had at last put me in my place. They were truly enjoying themselves. I set down my fork and stood. I could not bear another bite. My wolf had reached the end of her patience, and I no longer had any reason to pretend that all was well. Gripping the cloth, I pulled hard and overturned the whole feast table. The food, plates, and forks crashed to the floor and scattered everywhere. Several wolves sitting near were splashed with food, their fine robes stained at once. A few dishes shattered against the stone floor, and the sharp sound rang through the den like a challenge hurled at the whole Wolfhart pack. The room fell silent. Even the ticking of the hearth clock could be heard clearly. "Evander, your son's mate certainly knows how to make a scene!" A male wolf narrowed his eyes at the mess on the floor and laughed rather than grew angry. "I never thought Zevran’s mate would lose her temper like this before her own blood." His open mockery turned Evander's face red. He glared at me with naked fury, his elder aura pressing down on the room as if he meant to force me to bow my head. Yet I stood my ground and refused to submit to his authority. Rhoswen looked furious, while Arion and Eirene were still too stunned to move. Amarise's eyes went wide as she stared at the overturned table, clearly unable to believe what I had done. Keep glaring at me, and I will tear your eyes out myself, I thought, returning Evander's hostile stare without flinching. If they had treated Zevran well when he was a cub, I would have shown them the respect they were owed as his elders. I would have been willing to keep peace with them for the sake of blood and pack unity. But they had spent years looking down on Zevran, and now they had come into our den expecting me to wait on them. The shamelessness of these wolves was more than I could bear. I looked at the food stains on their robes and their bewildered faces. Instead of growing angrier, I smiled coldly. "If you don’t like the food, then don’t eat it! What sort of blood kin behave like this? You come onto my den without permision, disrespect the Lady of this household, and then expect me to bow my head to you. You are nothing but a pack of shameless parasites!" I walked toward the bedchamber, but when I remembered the ruin inside, I stopped at the door and turned back toward the hall. The moment they saw me return, every wolf fell silent. Perhaps they thought I had at last calmed down and meant to apologize, but they were badly mistaken. I took up my communication crystal and summoned the cleaners' guild. I would still have to pay for their service, but at least I felt far better now. That alone made the gold worth spending. If these wolves wanted to behave like wild rogues on another's territory, they could at least leave me enough peace to clean up after them. After all the uproar, the guests had lost their appetite and began to ready themselves to leave. Their earlier confidence was gone, and no one seemed eager to challenge me again. That was exactly what I had been waiting for. I leaned against the doorframe, took up my ledger, and opened the purchase records. "Aunt Rielle, Aunt Isanna, here are the records for the things your grandchildren destroyed. Please repay me." Isanna's face darkened. "Are you serious, Lyssa? We are all of the same pack. Must you make such a scene over a few ruined things? What of loyalty to blood?" "You are the ones who began this." I pointed toward the bedchamber and the feast hall, sneering at them. "You invaded my private den, ruined my things, and treated me like a servant in my own den. Do not lecture me about loyalty to blood when you have shown me none. Besides, you are not my blood. Stop flattering yourselves." Isanna was so furious she could barely speak. With a rigid face, she took up her communication crystal and sent the gold to me. Then she cast Rhoswen an angry look before taking her granddaughter and leaving the den. Rhoswen stayed where she was and let out a long, helpless sigh. Rielle, however, was not as honest as Isanna. She hesitated for a long while before at last turning to Evander. "Evander..." Evander glared at me, his elder aura pressing down on the den like an unseen weight. If a look could kill, I would have been turned to dust beneath his furious stare. "Lyssa, must you truly make such a scene? Rielle's pack has fallen on hard times of late. I already told her she need not repay you." I stared at him in disbelief. "Evander, who gave you the right to command me? Even if Aunt Rielle's pack is struggling, she can still afford a thousand gold coins. If she cannot, then she should not let her grandson run wild and ruin the belongings of others." I folded my arms and looked him straight in the eye. "Since Aunt Rielle refuses to repay me, then you can pay in her place." Arion grew anxious at once. "Lyssa, how can you ask Father to repay you? He is growing old!"