Dancing with the Shadows // #wattys2019

Chapter 3

A/N: 
Copious backstory alert. 
Also travelling this week, and writing this on the plane was so amusing. 

Votes/comments are lovely little things.

<3 <3 
Z

Cedric frowned at the door, a curious metal and glass frame with stickered numbers attached to the top.

He wanted to say this was where he'd followed the scent of lavender and gin, but no. This was where his Delta, an excellent hacker, Thom, had told him where Caia lived, and now he could pick up the faint scent as he stood in the doorway.

Here? Here? This was where she'd gone?

To say he was confused was an understatement, to say the least.

~*~

He was standing in a blazer and dark blue jeans, a step down from his usual suit, but not by much. He was shaking hands, smiling at familiar faces. It was an event he didn't normally attend but had been badgered by Roman into going. Roman's sister, Corinne, was one of the honorees, and therefore, it made sense for Cedric to show his face.

It was a joint party between Silver Claw and Sacred Shadows, honoring the soon to be high school graduates. Some would be leaving to attend college, some would stay close to home, or not leave at all. In whatever case, it was an achievement celebrated every year by the families of those children, and usually, a few high-ranking pack members would come to offer their congratulations.

An enticing scent caught his attention, and he excused himself from the conversation, wanting to find the source of it.

"Piss off, Roman," he didn't recognize the voice, but his primal instincts urged him towards it, especially if he got to see Roman getting his ass handed to him.

"Oh, don't give me that innocent look, baby, everyone knows what you are." Roman's smirk came into view, and Cedric frowned. Who was he talking to?

And then the smell of lavender overtook him, and he was transported, flying in a cloud of bliss, and he did not need his wolf to tell him what it meant.

Mate.

His eyes landed on her, on her hair, a deep, dark red that fell in waves around her head, her pointed nose, the blue-gray eyes, the muscled shoulders, the eyebrows creased into an expression of the utmost fury.

She either hadn't sensed him or was too angry to care.

"What am I, Roman?"

"Don't worry baby, I'm a Beta," his mouth was still curled into that smirk. "No one would dare say a word if it's me." His hand reached for her, and Cedric wanted to intervene, but before he could, there was a crack, a shriek, and a snarl, and Roman was holding his hand as the broken bones healed.

"And you've forgotten who I am," her voice was so low, Cedric could barely hear it.

The girl finally turned firmly away from Roman, and her eyes landed on Cedric.

Her eyes flashed to black for the briefest of moments while her skin simultaneously paled.

He didn't know what to say. He extended his arm, but she didn't take it, instead tilting her head to the side, away from the crowd.

He followed her, watching her hair move from side to side, like watching the embers of a dying fire. He picked up more than the lavender now, traces of juniper berries came through too. She was like an intoxicating drink, and he wanted to drown in it.

"What's your name?" he asked, his voice almost a growl as he fought to control his wolf. The urge to take her and mark her then and there was so strong.