Chapter Four
I waited an hour for Lily to text me back and got no reply. I was starting to get worried. She usually had her phone everywhere. I then called her and she didn’t pick up. I decided to call Jason.
“Hey baby sis,” Jason says sounding unusually happy.
“Hi,” I say.
“What’s up?” Usually he would ask why I was calling.
“Can you tell Lily, who should be over there, if she can call me? I was wondering if you could tell me what she was doing.”
“Oh yeah I should probably say that she found her mate.”
“Really?” I exclaim, feeling happy for her. “Who is he?”
“Ryder’s best friend. I think he’s the next second in command to rule the kingdom,” He says. “Apparently Luke is pissed that his little sister found her mate before he did and is in all overprotective mode and shit right now.” He chuckles and I can’t help but smile. “Lily and Alex, I think that’s what his name is, are probably in the bedroom now. They’ve been busy ever since dinner ended.”
“When did it end?” I ask.
“About 30 minutes ago,” He says.
Suddenly, I felt a bit betrayed that she forgot to even text me. Well, she found the love of her life so of course she would be distracted. She was probably going to forget about me in the future. Dammit though I needed to stop overthinking things. She wouldn’t do that. I mean, we’ve been best friends ever since elementary school. Now that she found her mate, it would mean she would move in with her mate and leave me here. Well, I would probably go with her and keep our friendship if I weren’t such a coward to go to that dinner and tell Ryder that I’m his mate.
“Oh, well you should probably remind her to come to our house since she promised to,” I try to say normally.
“Okay, I’ll go right now. Look I gotta go do something for my sis, guys. I’ll be back,” I heard him say to some people. It’s probably Luke and some other guy.
“Alright man,” I heard Luke say in the background.
“Later,” Some other guy says. I shivered at the voice. Oh no, it couldn’t be him.
“Who is that?” I can’t help but ask.
“What are you talking about?” He says.
“The second guy in the background,” I explain, “The guy who’s not Luke.”
“Why are you so interested?” He had a teasing tone in his voice.
“I’m not,” I lied. “I’m just curious.”
“Well, if you must know, the guy who was talking was Ryder.”
“Oh okay.”
“So that’s the only reaction I’m getting? You’re not freaking out like normal girls and swooning that I actually met the next alpha king?”
“Why should I be?”
“I don’t know. But I like your reaction because I don’t want you to be like those other girls.”
“Why?”
“You’re my little sister,” He says sounding a bit annoyed now, “I need to protect you from guys. Now stop asking questions. Don’t talk to Ryder. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Okay, okay,” I say, “I get it. I won’t, don’t worry. I’m still waiting on my mate.” I felt bad for keeping a secret like this from him. It’s not like I usually tell my family anything though.
“Good, now hang up and I’ll go get Lily.”
I rolled my eyes and hung up without saying bye. Thirty minutes later, Lily calls me.
“I am so sorry!” Was what she said. “I found my mate and I got caught up! Please forgive me Grace!”
“It’s fine. I’m happy for you though.” I said sounding cheerful.
“I can’t wait for you to meet him! You’ll like him a lot, I swear. Is it okay if I bring him over right now?”
“Are you guys going to make out while we watch a movie right next to me?” I tease.
“Uh, I’m not too sure about that.” I could tell she was blushing over there. “But I will try to not make you the third wheel.”
“Uh huh,” I say. I know that would probably happen. “Well, we need to talk privately too.”
“About what?”
“Mates,” I reply and I knew she understood what I meant.
“Darn it, alright,” She curses under her breath. “We’re leaving right now, okay? Hang on Grace!” She then hung up without saying bye.
I sighed. I don’t want to be the third wheel but I guess I have to live with it from now on until I can get the guts to tell Ryder that I’m his mate. He needs me to be king though. I guess I have no choice but let him know on Monday.
A smile curved on my lips. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad. I get to keep my best friend and my mate and have a not so boring life.
I was going to meet Lily’s mate soon though. I needed to comb my hair and put on some decent clothes. It probably wouldn’t matter but I still had to look at least a little bit normal. I put some skinny jeans and a t shirt. Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang and I ran downstairs. I opened the door and find five people standing out there when I was only expecting two.
The first person I noticed was Ryder. My breath hitched when I looked at his white v neck that clung onto his body, almost showing his muscles. He was holding his black jacket over his shoulder and was wearing black skinny jeans. God, he was so hot.
I tore my eyes away from him and smiled at Lily and the guy I conclude as Alex. Lily was looking back at me and Ryder and smiled apologetically. Alex noticed this and looked confused.
Jason noticed me checking out Ryder and frowned. Luke didn’t notice me like usual.
Ryder was also paying no attention to me. I was glad that he didn’t notice my scent. I think a wolf’s scent and a human’s are different so that would be why Ryder didn’t recognize me. I sighed in relief and let everybody inside. Jason probably invited them over. I’m used to Luke being here. But I should probably ‘accidently’ bump into Ryder right now so that he knows I’m his mate.
Before I could say anything, Lily yanks my hand away from the group and we run inside the bathroom. Her scent was a little bit different now. I gasped and knew what she doing that was distracting her from calling me.
“You dirty girl,” I grinned at her, “He mated with you.”
She blushes and nods.
“I hope I don’t have to hold a baby in my arms soon though,” I say seriously.
Her eyes widened, “God no! We used protection so we’re fine!”
“You better have.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she smiles nervously, probably feeling awkward. “Let’s change the subject. So what are we going to do about the whole mate thing with you?”
“I was thinking about telling him. I don’t even care about college anymore. I just want my mate and my best friend by my side.”
“Well you should probably tell him on Monday and not right now.”
“Why not now?”
“He’s well, sort of drunk. The moment he meets his mate should be really special and not when he’s hammered.”
I nodded in understanding. Every inch of me disliked him drinking but I guess I’ll have to deal with it. Suddenly, my insecurities invaded my mind. What if he didn’t like me? What if I didn’t fulfill his needs? What if I’m not pretty enough? He deserves way better than me. He’ll probably be disappointed when he sees me.
“Well,” She says happily, “Let’s meet my mate now.”
“Alright,” I say. I also had to talk to this mate of hers. I feel the need to threaten him that if he ever hurts her, I will kill him. I doubt that would happen though. Alex looks at Lily so lovingly that I almost envy them. I can only hope that soon Ryder and I will be like that.
We walk out and I get introduced to him. I have to say, he is a pretty good looking guy but Ryder was better. Alex has the persona of a punkish guy while Ryder facades as the ‘bad boy’. At a single glance, I would expect them to be best friends. Alex was tall and had dark brown hair cut to a side fringe. He had a few piercing on his ear but that was it. Lily was on a more preppy side but they both looked good together otherwise.
I wondered if I would look good with Ryder. I was hideous though. I don’t think anybody finds me attractive because nobody tells me. My family never tells me and only Lily does, only because she’s the only one who could understand me and is my best friend. I was hoping of finding a mate that could understand me as well as Lily. I don’t know what Ryder thinks throughout the day so I couldn’t jump to conclusion that he wouldn’t understand me.
We went in the living room and find Ryder, Luke, and Jason playing games. It took everything to keep me from staring at him.
“Well, you girls look like you need some alone time,” Alex says, “I’ll go play some games with the guys. Go do whatever you girls do.”
Lily smiles, “Alright, thanks Alex.”
“Later Sugar,” He smiles back and pecks her lips. He then turns to me and smiles a goodbye. He was friendly enough so I smiled back. I actually approved of the guy. He wasn’t possessive as a lot of males were and also was understanding of certain situations.
I felt eyes on my back when I turned away from the living room and only hope that it wasn’t Ryder’s who was looking at me. We went upstairs to my bedroom and then talk about our mates and what life would be like soon. Let’s hope it would be good.