Betrayed from Birth – Alpha’s Unvalued Daughter
Betrayed from Birth – Alpha’s Unvalued Daughter Chapter 41

Raven's

POV

I am so happy about my second chance mate. We have been sitting together at a table, just me and him, getting to know each other. Dad told me how Brandon knew I was his mate over 2 weeks ago, and about how tough it is to be away from your mate for so long. Dad made sure that I knew how tough it was on him, and I appreciated Brandon even more for it. That was amazing and thoughtful of him to wait for me. He tried to give me some time with my family, allowed me to train, and get some counseling. It makes so much sense now why I was so busy. Dad and Olivia knew and were trying to get me as prepared as they could in the two weeks they had. I will be forever thankful to them all for it. Brandon had shared his troubling story of thinking he had a mate when she already had one. His heart was broken because she was just trying to trick him to get money from him, to run away with her true mate. That had to have been terrible, and he has trust issues from what she did to him too. It really seems like he understands me, and wants to be there for me. He knows the sting, and the pain of betrayal too, I know that he will take care of me well, as we have been through similar traumatic experiences.

Brandon is stroking the back of my hand as he speaks to me and he doesn't even realize how calming that is for me. He is thoughtful and caring, and I swear the Goddess is trying to outdo herself from the original mate she gave me. I will take it. I am looking forward to tonight, I am more than willing to be mated and marked tonight. Brandon teased me by asking when I wanted to leave the party, I knew what he meant. He will be staying with me tonight, in my room, and then helping me pack. Stella's mate Truett will be staying with her as well, and I am so thankful that she was coming to Black Adder with me.

We will not be alone though, Brandon's younger brother Krew met his mate tonight at the ball. Our friend and trainer Lanie is his mate, and I have to say that going to Black Adder will be much easier now that I know that I won't be alone. It is weird how the Goddess works it out like that for us. Stella and I definitely wanted to stay together but having Lanie able to go with us is an added gift. Brandon's parents, Jackson, and Angie could not be happier. Angie swears she has never heard of this happening before but is so thankful that all three of her children met their true mates here at my party. She said it was the Goddesses blessing to their family. She was amazed at how it had all turned out, especially for Brandon who had been looking for his mate for so long.

I can feel someone looking at me, turning around to see Justin staring at me before he goes to where my dad is. I don't trust him, at all. He has shown me no behavior in his whole life, which suggested that I was able to trust him. He has spent his whole life being adored because of his being the next Beta, and because of his looks. But looks aren't everything. His cockiness and attitude are a complete turn-off. It suddenly hit me, he IS perfect for Reagan. They were two halves of a whole, and they did indeed deserve each other. I can see that my dad, Justin, Beta Timothy, and the council member were all having a serious discussion, and I see them occasionally glancing over at me and Brandon several times.

I couldn't hear what was being said and got up to get closer. Brandon came with me and never let my hand go. I think he was using me to keep himself calm, which was fine with me. He was keeping me calm too. I had spoken with dad, he said that Justin had warned him, about Reagan's plan to drug Brandon. When I found out what she and Cheryl had done, I wanted to go down to the cells and beat the hell out of them. She doesn't train, because she would sweat and ruin her makeup and hair. It wouldn't be a fair fight, but she needs to learn that when you do things like that, you take a chance at getting beaten up, or punished for it. What if she had succeeded? She was so petty, she would even take my second chance mate away from me too. Why would she be like that? She got her man, who was my mate, and I let him go for her. I didn't want him after I saw them in action together anyway. She is the vilest person that I have ever known. I know for a fact that one of these days she will pay for everything she has done. I don't even have to be there to see it, I have complete faith in the Goddess. I know that she will get it done, I just hope the Goddess knows that she can use me as the vessel to do it if she wants me to.

We are behind Justin now, and I feel Brandon's grip tighten on my hand. Him hearing Justin ask for time to talk to me. For him to try to work his magic on what happened to try to twist it around, try to make it sound better, that will not be happening. My stomach turns at his confidence that what he wants to ask is very little. That wasn't little, and I don't need to hear any more of his crap about it. There was nothing to discuss, and I knew from the look on my dad's face that he was about to shoot Justin down, I just beat him to it. Watching dad tell him to get the hell out of here, and off his land, made me happy.

My dad and Beta Timothy also exited the room with about 8 warriors to make sure that they got out of there, and quickly. I am not going to go outside, I don't need to see Reagan or Cheryl. They were both terrible people and I hoped to never see them again in my life. I didn't want to see the Alpha couple either, all four of them can go rot together for all I care. If the party weren't for me I would have already excused myself. I see a few tables have been pushed together and I head over to it, as that is where my friends and family are. Brandon's family is there as well and the last table had seats available for us, as well as dad and Timothy when they came back.

"Raven, you should take Brandon to go grab a plate, you two have not eaten yet. You both really need to" Olivia tells me and I blush. I knew what she meant, that we will need to keep our energy up. Olivia had given me the talk yesterday, and it was embarrassing but helpful. She was right, I had not been told by my birth mother, but I knew about it. I like to read and knew pretty much all there was to know about it. Plus, don't forget the free show that I got from Reagan and Justin. I was wondering what had brought it on, but since she and dad knew my mate would be here to pick me up, everything was understood now. Including the hugs that have been getting longer and longer at night before bed. They have been trying to get in extra training and memories this whole time, and I teared up because I was not ready to go. I am going to miss them so much.

As we eat, I glance around at all the new couples tonight. Everyone is very happy, except Joshua. He seems upset, and I feel bad for him. It is probably hard to see all your friends, and sibling getting their mates, and not getting yours. I hear him speaking to Carter, and I suddenly realized that he had, and I feel terrible for him. That girl that was so obsessed with Brandon, was his mate. I try to not eavesdrop but he is two chairs down from me speaking, and my hearing is excellent. She was mad at me and Brandon for marking each other and was making plans to hurt me the second she was free. Joshua was going to give her a chance, but after hearing her threaten me, he changed his mind. He was still upset about it, but he was glad that he had rejected her. She could not be trusted, and that was why Beta Timothy had told him to reject her when he scented her. She was so focused on Brandon and trying to get him back, she never scented Joshua when he escorted Luna Cassandra down. I see Joshua sit up in his chair and scent the air. Three girls had just come in from outside and were heading to the buffet to get some food. Joshua got up and followed them to the buffet, stopping behind the one with brown hair.

Her head snaps up as soon as he steps behind her and she turns around with the biggest grin before saying, "Mate." Joshua is as enamored of her as she is of him and nods quickly to her, repeating, "Mate." Good, I would have been so upset that he missed his chance all because his original mate is a creepy stalker. Carter gets up with a grin and adds another table to the ones that were already together making room for the three girls. Stella has a big smile on her face, as does Amanda. I am quite sure that Beta Timothy will be happy with this new addition as well. She will be much better for Joshua than his original mate was for him.

I see dad coming back in with Beta Timothy and they head straight to grab a plate too. We have all been pretty busy for the first few hours of the party, and no one had really taken the time to grab food until now. Most people are dancing, or in groups talking. I see Beta Timothy grin over at Joshua and nod his head. I can tell that he likes this girl way more than he did Cheryl. We all sit around talking and laughing together as so much has happened tonight. I know the night is ending, and I am suddenly shy. I know that it is almost time for Brandon to make me his, and I want him to. But it is suddenly very real to me. Brandon takes my hand back in his and gives me a squeeze. He knew I was getting upset, I can tell from the way he is looking down at me with his love for me clearly shining in his eyes. I can tell he knows why too. The comfort that he brings me just from a simple touch makes me happy.

We are all looking around at each other. Waiting to see who is going to excuse themselves and head off to bed. I am nervous, so it won't be me. Lanie was smart and she and Krew took off over an hour ago. But it isn't her party either. I feel like I am supposed to stay until the end of the night and see the Guests off. I can see Carter is thinking the same thing. Austin just sat there watching us all like he had a bet on who was going to c***k first. If I had to bet I was putting my money on Carter. He is clearly ready to go, right now, and just out of respect for his parents, and hers just trying to hold on. I know that Austin feels it too, as he is looking at Carter, and I know that it will just be a matter of minutes before someone excuses themselves, and then there will be a mass exodus from the

venue.

Brandon clears his throat and says, "I am sorry, I tried to make it to the end of the night. But as you all pretty much know, I have been waiting patiently on my mate for over the last two weeks. I need to be with her, even if all we do is sleep. She is very calming to me, and honestly, I haven't been sleeping well with all the crap Cheryl and her family were doing at Black Adder. So please excuse us as we head to the packhouse. I know that Raven will have to pack some up tonight, and I will help her get it done." Brandon gets up from his seat and pulls gently on my hand to get me to stand up with him. I can feel the heat on my face from my blush, and I wish I could turn it off, but I can't.

Truett and Stella then stand up and make their excuse to head off to bed as well. Followed by Carter and Simone, and then Joshua and his new mate Amy. It seemed like everyone was just waiting for one person to excuse themselves. The grins on the parent's faces let them know that they had been waiting for it, and I see Beta Timothy hand $20 to my dad. I frowned at seeing it and said, "What was that for?"

"I told your dad that you newly mated couples were going to make it to about 1030 to 11 pm, before making your excuses. He said that you all would be out of here before 10 pm, and it is 0955, I don't know why Brandon couldn't wait a few more minutes to get past Cole's bet, so I could win. But I am glad to lose this one. Brandon has waited long enough to claim his mate. I'm just glad you all received good mates. It is a blessing, and not one to be taken lightly" Beta Timothy replied back.

We all exit the venue arm in arm with our mate and head for the packhouse. I was not talking but Stella, Simone, and Amy were all very excited and thrilled with their mates. I was too, but I was feeling a little uncomfortable that my dad knew what I was about to do. He was upset at my leaving, Carter will still be there with him, but I will be leaving in the morning, and I was getting choked up with emotions. This has been the only place that I have wanted to call home. Where I was treated with respect and kindness. Everything is about to change for me, and the unknown, especially after what I had to deal with at Silver Blade is causing me to feel overwhelmed. I can feel the tears coming, and I don't know how to stop them. I feel like instead of giving my dad the last little bit of time that I could be with him, I am just ditching him, to go have some fun with my mate. My throat is burning as I try to hold the tears back. My guilt at leaving is taking over.

Brandon stops walking and the rest of the group stops as well thinking that something is wrong, It is, but it doesn't really affect them. It is my problem, but I can't speak to tell them that they can go ahead on without us. Brandon can tell what the problem is, and said, "Raven is just realizing that tomorrow she is leaving and she is going to miss her new family. She is very upset, and I don't think she wants you all to see her cry. I will stay with her, and get her to her room when she is ready. You can go on ahead of us. I have got her." I nodded my head when Stella, Carter, and Joshua look at me to see if that was what I was feeling. It was, the pain in my heart was because I was going to be missing my new family, and friends. I know that Brandon's pack was close, but I still feel bad for leaving my dad and Olivia when I just got them.

I knew I would see Carter, he and Simone would be coming there quite often. It was Simone's pack, and family. Before Carter takes over he is free to travel around while our dad was still in charge. I feel a hug and open my tear-filled eyes to see Stella, who smiled at me and said, "I will be with you in the new pack. Lanie and I will have your back." Carter and Simone each took a turn hugging me and Carter gave me a kiss on the top of my head. He always acts like he is my big brother, even though I am technically 2 months older than him. But when he does the "big" brother things for me, it makes me happy. He cares enough to want to take care of me, and I feel my mouth trembling now, as I am going to full-blown ugly cry.

Everyone is speaking to me, to try to calm me, but I wasn't really listening as I see my dad and Olivia coming toward me, followed by Austin. My dad pulls me into a big hug as I let my tears go, and I sob into his strong chest. My dad is crying too, as he doesn't want me to go either. I am glad that he wants me to stay here, so I knew that I always have a place where I am welcome. With everything that happened in my past, this had been the only place where I have found true comfort and happiness. This is hard and Olivia wraps her arms around both of us as she tried to comfort us. Brandon has his hand on my back and is speaking soothing words. I am glad that he knows that I love and care for him and that I do want to go with him, but I am going to miss my family. When dad and Olivia let go Austin gives me a hug too, and I am going to miss him so much. He accepted me instantly, and he has always had my back, even when Carter didn't. Carter is better now, but my trust in Austin is complete and is different from my trust in Carter. It will get better between us, but I still remember how Carter treated me when I first got here. Trust is earned, and we are both working on it.

Josh went to hug me, but Brandon's low growl stopped him. "You know you are my bonus, little sis. I have got your back too, Raven. There is nothing to worry about. You will be the Luna at Black Adder, and your new pack will love you because you are awesome. How could they not?" Joshua told me, and I nodded and smiled weakly through my tears.

Beta Timothy and Amanda hugged me as well, and my tears came back. Beta Timothy has had my back literally from the moment I got here. He protected me and would have fought Alpha Sullivan for me. He was the first person to make me feel safe, and I could not thank him enough for it.

"It is hard to leave your family and go with your mate, but that is what you have to do honey. Your mate was created specifically for a reason and he is the other half of you. She has blessed you with Brandon, and he is very happy to have you as his mate. Everything will work out how it is supposed to honey. Trust me, plus you will get to see us a lot. We can meet for lunch, shopping, and hair appointments, you will see us so much that you will be sick of seeing us. This is not goodbye, this is just another chapter in your life. You need to turn the page to see what wonderful and exciting things are about to happen for you. Because you were meant for great things, Raven" Olivia told me as she strokes my hair and then gave me a kiss on the cheek. Her love for me, her confidence in me, she is much more of a mother than my own has been. Starting tomorrow, I will test the waters out by calling her mom for the first time, because I don't think I can speak right now. I am still overcome with my emotions.