Page 84 of Truth or Pack

There was a familiar fake laugh to our left and my blood ran cold as I turned to see Sadie pawing at some older gentleman and woman standing there.

"Shit," Ash whispered under his breath.

"Do you know them?" I asked.

"You could say that, let me introduce you to my parents," he said with absolute defeat.

"That’s our cue to hit up the bar," Mathias said as he let go of my hand. He and Holt left me to the wolves… traitors.

"Don't worry, I got you," Ash promised, giving my hand another squeeze.

"Ah, it's about time you got here. The meeting is starting in less than twenty minutes," his father said, side-eyeing me.

"Diane, this is the girl that I told you about. She stole your son from me, can you believe this bitch?" Sadie asked, looking from me to Ash's mother with a sneer on her face.

His mother looked at me like she was gauging my worth. Of course, no shock to anyone, she seemed to find me lacking.

"Really? She looks like a downgrade to me," she commented with a pinch of her lips, glancing at me up and down.

"That's enough. No one speaks to my mate that way and Sadie just did. We haven't been together for almost a decade. How is it that she stole me from you? You never even had me, Sadie," Ash said in a cold voice that had her immediately pouting. "This isn't how I wanted to introduce you, so I won't."

Ash fake smiled at them and gently pulled me away from them, not looking back.

"Let's go find the others, shall we?" he said as we went off in search of our pack.

Too bad Sadie and his parents weren’t the worst thing we encountered here. The moment we found the guys we had to go to the meeting they’d called. I wasn’t entirely sure why we were keeping up pretenses, but I let it go for now.

Seeing my parents was so much worse. They stood out among the others, their clothes not quite the same caliber as the rest. Still, Mom was dressed to the nines and her makeup caked on as usual.

“Thank you for joining us,” Mom called out. “We have been working diligently to turn this year’s gala into a night to remember. In order to raise even more for charity, we would like to start the night with a fundraiser auction. An evening with our most eligible bachelors and bachelorettes.”

This sounded more like prom than a high-class gala, but the rest of the room was buzzing with conversation and most seemed to be in her favor.

“Do you have a list of those willing to participate?” a woman called out. The cougar was more than eager and I swear I was ready to drag my men out of here before I had to fight someone for casting a hopeful look their way.

“Of course, though, the highlight of the evening would definitely be Holt, Mathias, and Ash,” she beamed, gesturing back to me.

The room fell silent, all eyes drifting back to where she gestured and landing right on me in the center of my men.

My eyes narrowed at her and I started to stand, but Holt beat me to it.

“There seems to be a very big mistake and a whole lot of lack in communication. We have a pack and are not participating, nor were we asked to,” he said bluntly.

“Oh, don’t act likesheis going to stop you,” Sadie snorted as she joined my mom in front, Ash’s mother joining a second later. Apparently, they were quite the trio.

“I’m your daughter,” I said to my mother. “If I’m not worthy enough, why are you here?”

The words slipped out without a single remnant of a filter but I certainly didn't take them back. I’d had enough of them and their awful behavior.

Now everyone was watching her, and us, bouncing back and forth between us.

“She’s welcome here,” Sadie said through a clenched jaw. “You aren’t.”

“The last time I checked, I’m the one with the packyouwant. If you find you're having a hard time hanging onto a man, maybe work on that awful personality of yours. You attract more flies with honey than vinegar and all that,” I said as I waved a dismissive hand her way.

She didnotlike that.

“Ash! Are you serious right now? After everything we had?”

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