The Mates of Monsters

Chapter 2

Then it hits me.

There's only one thing that this could possibly be.

"Mom," I say carefully, "I can't go in there. I-I have to go home."

"Would you tell me what's bothering you? Is it your head? Stomach? The shoes? What?"

I stare at her. I don't know what to say; I can't think. Maybe a different version of me would conjure up a smart lie, but whatever he's doing to me has wiped me of all scheming, devious thoughts.

"If you can't tell me, then we're going inside. Come on, before they start to wonder," she says and takes my hand.

I trip up the steps. My throat swells closed. My heart vibrates in my chest. She pushes the door open and a warm light shines out. My mother takes me in with a bright smile on her face as she sees the many people gathered in the front room. I'm sure they are chatting; snacking on hors d'oeuvres. And he's here. Somewhere in the room. Standing or sitting. Existing.

"There they are," my father's voice cuts through the noise.

I can't breathe. The air has never felt so thick. She leads me in the direction of Dad's voice. I'm too much of a coward to look up. What if I see him? What if he sees me? What if he's looking at me right now?

"You know Cristina and my daughter Brigette," my father says.

My mother nudges me. I obediently look up. Our Alpha smiles and says, "Of course. It's about time you two came for a visit. Amabell is around here somewhere, Brigette. I'm sure you'll be able to find her. She was very excited when I told her you'd be coming tonight."

"Yes," I breathe, "I should go find her. Could she be upstairs? In her room?"

"Last time I saw her she was with the Luna." He turns to face the crowd, scanning for his daughter's blonde head.

I can't help myself. My eyes steal glances at every face they detect. I'll know him when I see him.

"Maybe she's in the kitchen," our Alpha ponders. He turns back to us and says, "But Dale, Cristina, I must introduce you to our guests."

The guests—he must be one of them. "I-I'll go find Amabell," I say and break away from my parents, desperate to escape this room. I need a plan. I need to collect myself.

On my way to the kitchen, a tall, thin figure steps in front of me. I halt and quickly replace my annoyance with sweetness. It's the Luna. "Brigette," she says, "it's good to see you again, darling. I was just looking for your mother, and I'm sure you're looking for Amabell, aren't you?"

"Oh, uh, yes. I am. My mother is meeting the—the guests."

"The guests, of course. Well, Amabell ran off to the restroom. She should be back any second."

This feels like a game of cat and mouse. I'm trying to find a hole in the wall, but there's nowhere to hide when I'm as sneaky as a flashing red light.

Then I feel it. Behind me.

My body goes stiff.

The Luna peers past me and says, "Alpha Amin, I hope you're finding everything alright. Oh, Brigette, I must introduce you to our guest of honor. It's not every day you get to be in a room with two Alphas, now is it?"

As every known curse word bounces around in my head, I hesitantly turn. And I see Alpha Amin. But what strikes me like a bolt of lightning is the lack of anyone else standing with him. In a single second my face falls, my eyes widen, and I realize that it's him. The Alpha. And the only thing that leaves my lips is, "Oh no."

I look over him. There's no doubt he's of Alpha blood.

"Brigette," he says, riling me as his grey eyes are aimed into mine, "it's nice to meet you."

The sound of his voice calls forth my emotions like a tidal wave. I must be dreaming; this can't be real. It can't be him.

"Brigette is our Beta's daughter," the Luna says, oblivious. "Have you been introduced to the Beta and his mate?"

My eyes gloss over. This is bad. This is the worst-case scenario. He can't look away from me, but I'm under the same spell. "I've been looking for you," he says.

I hate the thoughts that are sprouting in my mind like weeds. No matter how hard I try to yank them out, more and more keep coming through like naughty little whispers, taunting me for thinking such things.

What if he's mean? He looks controlling, intimidating. He looks like one of those Alphas who run their packs like a branch of the military. But it doesn't really matter who he is or how he is because nothing will change the fact that he is my mate. He could be the cruelest man in the universe, and there is nothing I can do.

My cheeks flush and my neck grows hot. Please look away. Just take your eyes off of me.

"Well, I'm sure Amabell is on her way back. Why don't you go find her, Brigette?" The Luna suggests. Can she really not tell? Maybe we aren't as obvious as we should be. What are we supposed to do?

I press my lips together and clasp my hands just to control the shaking. "O-Okay."

Like ripping off a bandaid, I suddenly turn to her then to the hall. Maybe if I pretend none of that happened, I can still make my escape, still be a mate-less girl. For a moment I think that it worked. He must have been pulled away by his men or my Alpha, but footsteps begin to follow from behind me.

I'll need to face this head-on then.

I push through a door left slightly open to my right. I step into the room before realizing it's my Alpha's private office. This is definitely not allowed, but before I can exit, he comes through the door, closing it behind him without hesitation. I would say that my heart is beating relentlessly again, but it never eased up.

His eyes wash over me. Maybe he sees my discomfort. Something about these feelings swirling around in my gut is making me need to vomit. They bump and twist and I clench my jaw just to keep myself from moaning in unease. My eyes fixate on the closed door. Now that we're alone, the terrible hurricane inside of me only worsens.

A\N: I hope you guys enjoyed these first two parts, and I hope you all got a better feel for the story. Please leave your thoughts in the comments!