CEO's Runaway Mate and Her Cubs

When the brat moved for the second time, Samantha didn't dodge. The first punch she was getting ready to throw had been ignored for the sake of peace. Still, giving her a chance to atone before making a hassle turned out useless.

The brat, Lu, ran towards Samantha with both her hand and her leg tense. It was evident how she was getting ready to throw a kick while faking a punch.

Samantha had time to chuckle before grabbing her wrist and pulling her closer, pushing her out of balance and without any hope of attacking. Before the girl could fall down, Samantha pulled her wrist again, in the other direction, and forced her to stand right next to her.

«You better calm down, Lu,» she said.

«Don't call me that!»

«Oh, sure... But you shouldn't fight with people... Especially when you don't know who's in front of you. It's dangerous.»

«Don't treat me like a pup, for the Moon Goddess!

«You are the one acting childish, Lu. What have I done to you?»

Since Samantha couldn't know about Lucretia's crush on her mate, she couldn't understand what could push a teenager to act like that. But teens were hard to understand, always...

«Oh, I still remember when I was your age,» she moaned. «I was untreatable.»

«Yes?» Amanda inquired, calmly observing how Lucretia was being pushed around without interfering. After all, that girl needed to be taught a lesson.

«I was a mess! Well, I didn't grow up with my parents, so I did have some restraint. But my friends didn't like me, and the teachers would scold me all the time because of my character. If not for my brother understanding me, I would still be like this.»

She even pointed at Lucretia while explaining.

«You challenged authority?» Amanda asked.

Lucretia pricked up her ears, moving her dark brown irises from one woman to the other. What were they talking about? And why was that damned bell ringing in her mind so insistent?

«Sometimes, yes... But every teen is difficult, isn't that right? Hopefully, it will pass. You will soon understand your pack's dynamics and find a place for yourself in it. How old are you two?»

«We're seventeen,» Amanda replied.

«I see... It'll last two more years, and then you won't feel the need to cause trouble to everyone.»

«I don't cause trouble!»

«No, Lu, you don't,» Amanda snorted. «Now, can you calm down a little?»

She even crossed her arms, and, for the first time, Lucretia saw Amanda's angry face. She had always been cold, detached, and annoyingly sarcastic. As if everyone wasn't up to her standards. However, she wouldn't take anything she did to heart.

Again, because Lucretia and the others were too childish for her for any concern. Yet, in front of the blonde woman, things were different.

Amanda was angry, seriously, and she wanted to talk with her more than she wanted to hang out with Lucretia. It was unfair: that woman was just a random stranger!

«Is it because of your brother?» Lucretia asked. «You like her more because she sleeps with your brother while I don't?»

Amanda's fury disappeared, and its place was taken by a new level of... disappointment? Embarrassment? She couldn't know.

How could someone be so stupid? They were supposed to keep their identities secret and return home sooner than later. Not attack Samantha Murphy, make her realise who they were, and then... What? Having dinner with her?

Amanda pretty much wanted that dinner.

«I know a place where they roast good meat,» Samantha said, in fact. «You two should eat something edible. And I am starving as well. Shall we go? It's not too far from here.»

«Don't tell my brother about this, please,» Amanda sighed. «That we met and all. He'll get furious.»

«Your brother? I don't know who your brother is.»

«He didn't tell you his name; no surprise you don't know him.»

«But he told you about me.»

«Because... Well, we found out already that you are his secret girlfriend. He didn't have any choice, and Lu recognised your scent. You marked him, didn't you?»

«Lu recognised it?» Samantha murmured, tilting her head. «How close do you get to him, usually?»

«None of your business,» the other replied, crossing her arms and raising her chin.

«Oh, but right... You people sniff each other by habit. No wonder you found me this easily.»

«It wasn't our intention... I mean, it wasn't my intention. But Lu is stubborn, so...»

«Oh, Mandy, stop telling her things! Don't you see? She doesn't know your brother's name! She's not that relevant, is she? There must be a reason if he didn't tell you!»

«In fact, there is.»

«Don't think you're anything meaningful. He'll forget you sooner or later, but I will stay. Because I am part of his pack, and you are not.»

«Will you stay? He'll come back to you, and so on and so forth?»

«Yes, precisely?»

«Mandy... Does your brother like underage teens? Seriously?»

«No, he doesn't. He likes... Uhm, women his age?»

«I see.»

«Don't tell her everything! It should be a secret of our pack!» Lucretia shouted, her eyes filling with tears. Why was the whole world against her all of a sudden?

«I'm hungry,» Samantha replied. «Let's have dinner, and then you two can go home.»

«I'm not going!»

«To dinner or home?»

After a few seconds of consideration, during which Samantha and Amanda started their walk, Lucretia followed them to the restaurant. After all, it was late, and she was hungry. Also, nothing would have stopped her from pretending to go home once her stomach was full.

She didn't have any obligation of doing what that blonde, annoying woman told her to. She was no one to Lucretia!

«What do you like more, beef or chicken?» Samantha asked. «Or pork? They cook everything perfectly in the place we're going, by the way.»

«I like everything,» Amanda replied, ignoring the sulking, oddly silent Lucretia.

«That's good! You need energy to transform into an adult. What better than beef for that?»