Replacement Bride for the Alpha of the North

"I know you are not on good terms with your sister, but it doesn't mean you can hurt her like that, right?" Blake stared at her with disappointment and Dawn couldn't stand the sight of him.

She was too tired to deal with him. Moreover, she couldn't comprehend why he was siding with her stepsister lately.

Blake was her mate, her destined mate, someone that she wished would be her rock during this period of time, someone that would console her, but this was what she got from him. Damn. Life sucked.

Dawn stared at her mate with a blank expression, as she watched him scratch his head in frustration. She came here because she couldn't stand staying in the pack house a second more. She knew her father and those two vile women would return soon and she would be scolded to no end for what she had done, but now she couldn't help wondering if coming here was the right decision.

"I just told you that Emily ripped my mother's picture and talked ill about her…" Dawn repeated what she said earlier, while trying to justify Blake's reaction. He was her father's beta's son and they had found out they were mates as soon as she turned sixteen, which meant they had been together for five years and during that time, he was the person who listened to her grievances about how her father changed and comforted her.

But now, not only had her father changed, but her own mate no longer seemed a safe place for her either.

"I know, but your mother died a long time ago, you need to move on, the way you reacted so violently toward your sister is not justifiable."

"She is not my sister and no matter how long it has passed, her actions badmouthing my mother are justifiable?" Dawn's voice sounded even colder and distant than she intended to.

The look on her face must be telling how much his words hurt her, which made Blake double down.

"That's not what I meant," Blake said, this time, his words were gentle, he tried to hug her, but she swatted his hands away. The thought that he sided with her sister made her want to puke.

"You said it very clearly, Blake. You don't think it's a big deal that Emily talked ill about my mother. You think I have overreacted," Dawn spoke through her gritted teeth, her eyes fixed on Blake.

"You are being dramatic now," Blake sighed. "You are misunderstanding me, Dawn. There is no way I will belittle that." He wiped his face harshly, seemingly feeling awkward and guilty.

"You have changed."

"I did not. I am still your mate."

"You have been siding with my sister way too often."

"I have not."

"You just did it earlier."

And before their argument could escalate and Dawn could notice the look of discomfort in Blake's eyes, someone knocked on the door.

And Beta Jason's voice traveled through the closed door, piercing the tension between the two of them.

"Blake, come out. Alpha Tony wanted to see you," Jason called his son.

"My father?" Dawn mumbled. Trying to run away to Blake's place was not a good idea, since her father must be able to tell where she went, but why was he looking for Blake, instead of her? "Why is my father looking for you?"

Blake looked uncomfortable again. "I don't know."

"Blake?" There was another knock on the door.

"Coming!" Blake replied. "Maybe your father wanted me to talk with you. Stay here and I will talk to him, I will make him understand why you attacked your sister, okay?"

Dawn didn't say anything, she lowered her head.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, but I really didn't mean to belittle this issue. I am in the wrong here." Blake leaned over and kissed her forehead. This time, Dawn didn't push him away and he breathed a sigh of relief. "I will be back soon, take a rest."

Dawn nodded, she sat down on Blake's bed, while he went out of the room. She heard him ask his father why Alpha Tony was looking for him, but his father said he didn't know either. He only said the Alpha looked livid.

Of course, he was livid, his favorite daughter was hurt. Dawn thought bitterly. She stared at the ceiling, as she laid down on the bed, thinking what she should do now. She didn't want to stay in the pack house with those two vicious women around. Should she ask for the ceremony, so she could stay with Blake? She had already come of age now and deserved a ceremony, since she had found her destined mate.

Dawn was thinking how to bring the topic about the ceremony up in front of father when she heard a loud commotion from the outside. A lot of curse words echoed through the walls.

"What's going on?" Dawn immediately sat down and stared at the closed door, as she realized it was her father's voice. He was enraged. This was the first time she heard her father being so mad.

Quickly hauling herself up, Dawn rushed out of the room and found her father pummeling down Blake's face. Blood splattered everywhere, but Beta Jason didn't do anything to stop the Alpha from almost killing his son. Instead, he averted his gaze, his expression pinched in pain.

"Father! Stop it! What is going on here?!" Dawn immediately ran toward her father before his sharp- razor claws could rip apart Blake's chest and kill him right there and then. "Father, if you want to be mad you have to vent it out on me! What are you doing to my mate?!"

Dawn tried her best to stop her father while asking for Beta Jason's help, after all, it was his son, but the Beta didn't budge.

"Your mate?!" Tony roared, he shook his daughter easily off of him. "Do you know that your mate has impregnated your sister?!"

Dawn's body went cold when she heard that.