Episode 4

"Luna, a pleasure to see you again," Dad says, baring his neck in a sign of submission. Mom does the same, while I draw the gazes of the two men, and Luna's as well. Mom notices and elbows me, signaling me to do what they did.

"It's been a long time, Luna Stela," I say, baring my neck reluctantly. These people don't deserve my respect, but what can we do? She's the Luna; we must show her respect.

"You've grown so much since the last time we saw each other, Emma," Luna says, looking me up and down with a smile.

"Yes, well, the last time you saw me wasn't the last time I saw you. You know, I was unwell and barely remember anything from that day," I say with sarcasm that obviously didn't go unnoticed.

"I'm very sorry about what..."

"I'm not sorry, because there's nothing to be sorry about. The truth is, being kicked out was the best thing that could have happened to me—for my mother and me, of course. The only thing I regret is that my father couldn't see his family again, but other than that, I'm glad it happened."

“Emma, you promised you'd behave, young lady,” Mom scolds me through the mental link.

”I'm sorry, Mom, I couldn't help it.”

Luna Stela looks at me, surprised, and so do the other two men, but they have a mix of surprise and anger. It's obvious they didn't like me speaking to their Luna that way.

"Forgive her, Luna. She's a little nervous, and the journey wasn't to her liking." Luna looks at Dad, gives him a smile, and nods.

"Allow me to introduce Beta Mike," she says, pointing to the blond, brown-eyed man, "and this is Gamma Angel," she points to the dark-haired, brown-eyed man.

They extend their hands in greeting. They hesitate for a moment before offering it to me, and I also hesitated to take it, but in the end, I did because Mom shot me a look that scared me.

"And the Alpha triplets?" Mom asks, making my stomach churn.

"They're on their way; they'll be here soon," Luna says as she guides us inside the pack house. My stomach churns once I'm inside; being here doesn't bring back good memories.

"How have you all been these past years?" Luna Stela asks. Mom answers all her questions politely, and I try not to get involved in the conversation because I don't want to cause trouble.

"And you, Emma, how have you been? I hope you've been well."

And there it is, the question I so wanted to avoid.

"I've been fine, thank you," I answer curtly.

"I hope you haven't gotten sick again like last time."

What was the need to mention that? Do I not look well or something?

"No, thanks to human doctors, I haven't gotten sick again, and well, I'm eternally grateful to them for saving my life."

"Well, it's not like they did much. You're a wolf; I don't think there's any need to thank them so much when they only did a few things."

And that was my limit.

"Well\, no\, actually\, I *should* be eternally grateful to them. They did everything to save me and gave me the support that my own kind denied me"—she makes a disgusted face; obviously\, she doesn't like me defending humans\, but they brought it on themselves—"besides\, at that time\, I was just a ten-year-old girl. My wolf couldn't help me\, so they did a lot—too much\, I'd say. And they don't deserve to have all their effort belittled just because werewolves don't like humans. I've lived in the human world for eight years now\, and well\, they've treated me better than my own kind. There\, I was never judged or mistreated just because I didn't have a wolf. They never made fun of me just because I was 'weak.' So yes\, I have a lot to thank the human world for."

Luna is speechless. Although I said everything as calmly as possible, it's clear how much it affects me to know that the support my own kind should have given me came from humans instead.

"Emma! Enough!" Dad scolds me.

"What did I say, Dad? Is it wrong to tell the truth?"

Dad and Mom know how much I suffered, and I know they're not scolding me for telling the truth, but because it's disrespectful to speak to the pack's Luna that way.

"Calm down, both of you. She must be a little upset. It's understandable that she doesn't have a good image of us, and I understand why."

Luna says after snapping out of her trance. The Gamma and Beta want to kill me with their eyes, but I couldn't care less.

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