I walked out of the kitchen with shaky legs up to my room. I had a nice hot shower. I scrubbed my body clean and washed my hair with my favorite shampoo which smelled like berries. I walked out to find that Mom had laid out a simple white halter dress that came up to my knees. I wasn't a big fan of dresses and I never wore them unless my I had to, which on this occasion I had to.
I found that mom had placed a pair of matching white heels that looked quite a bit scary. But I ditched them and opted for my converse, which to my surprise, matched the dress.
I blow dried my dark hair and ran a brush through it. It was naturally pin-straight and it was on the verge of touching my shoulders. Satisfied with the result, I walked out, only to be pushed back in by Layla.
She was wearing a deep purple dress with scary three inch stilettos.
"Nu-uh. You ain't going anywhere without even a little bit of make-up."
"Layla," I groaned. This was going to take a while.
After bickering for five minutes with a few slaps here and there, I agreed to put on only the slightest amount of make-up and was giving her only three minutes to do it. I was counting down the seconds while she rubbed some shit on my face. And then she did something that tickled my eyelids and she put some mascara on me.
"Time's up!" I yelled with glee.
"I wasn't even done!"
"I'm all good!"
I took one final glance in the mirror. My skin looked the same, but my gray eyes shone. I think it was because of the black line on my eyelid.
I looked the same, thank-goodness.
We both went downstairs. Layla was struggling with her heels while I happily skipped down, glad that I wore shoes.
"Girls! You look lovely!" Mom said to us, engulfing us in a hug. "Astoria, shoes." Mom gave me a look.
"I wore a dress for you," I said to her.
"Oh my god, you should have just been a boy," Mom said, shaking her head and Layla snickered. We all headed to the pack house backyard for the gathering. I could already smell the roasting meat and my mouth watered.
The boys were walking in front wearing button down shirts. Ethan slowed down a bit until the both of us were walking side-by-side. He slung his arm around my shoulder.
"Care to explain what happened in the dining room?" He asked lowly, so no one could hear us.
"What happened?" I asked, playing innocent.
"You and Caine looking at each other."
"We were just looking at each other. It's no crime." I said.
"I know, but ... he's our Alpha now." He said.
"So?" I asked.
"So, it's just – ugh!"
"It's just you being over-protective." I said, smirking.
He pulled me in a headlock and I burst out laughing. I tickled his midriff, trying to escape. He let go of me and ruffled my hair. I laughed again and smoothed it out, though it probably already looked like a rat's nest. I ran my hand through his hair.
"Hey! Don't ruin my masterpiece!"
"Ethan! Tori! Stop it!" Mom yelled from behind us. We stuck our tongues out at her and resumed messing with each other's hair.
By the time we reached the pack house, Ethan's hair was all over the place and I bet mine didn't look any better.
Layla came over to me and started fussing about my hair, combing it through with her fingers. "You have to be presentable when you go to a Pack gathering like this!" she hissed at me and went on fussing. I just stared at her impatiently.
We all sat down in a row. Ethan was on my left and Ryker on my right. Caine was standing on the make-shift stage, wearing a white button up cotton shirt with dark jeans. The teenage girls of our pack were looking up at him and giggling. Some were blushing and twirling their hair around their finger. His eyes skimmed over all of them. He nodded at some of the pack warriors.
He continued to search the crowd until his eyes found mine. I gave him a small smile and he grinned down at me. Ethan burst into a coughing fit and I thumped him on the back while frowning at him in disapproval. The girl who was sitting behind me thought he smiled at her and was gushing about it to her friends on either side.
I almost face-palmed and wanted to turn around and say that he smiled at me but left it.
"He definitely likes you," Ethan whispered to me.
"And he got turned on by you in the dining room." Ryker put in. I smacked his thigh.
"Keep it down will you?" I hissed at both of them. Dad was called on the stage to make Caine recite the vows and he had to pour a drop of his blood into the vial. It was something that all new Alphas did.
"So how many packs does he now officially own?" I heard Ryker ask Mom.
Mom slapped his shoulder. But I silently heard her whisper, "Twenty-seven, but they're all small packs that were merged together. He's making ours his headquarters. He'll be staying here."
Somehow I ended up feeling relieved that he would be staying with us. After the vows were done we gave him a standing ovation; the girl behind me clapping with a bit too much force.
He grinned down at the crowd and my heart skipped a beat.
Okay, there's seriously something wrong with me.
Mates.
The word popped into my head so suddenly that I almost fell off my chair. Layla was the only one among us siblings who had had found her mate. Zak had transferred from another pack and Layla and him had immediately clicked.
But how could they know if there were mates? The crowd had dispersed to the buffet area to get food. I found Layla and Zak walking hand-in-hand. I called out to her.
"What is it?" She questioned with concern.
"Okay, this is a bit important," I said. "I need you to answer a few questions for me."
She frowned. "Okay."
"How did you find out you and Zak were mates?"
"What? Tori..."
"Just answer me," I pressed.
"Oh shit," she said, her eyes going wide. "This is about Caine isn't it?"
"Layla," I said, through gritted teeth.
"Okay. When you find your mate and when the full moon compulsive shifting occurs and you see each other, it kind of just snaps in and you know that you are mates." She said. She looked up at the sky. "The full moon is in two weeks."
I shivered at the thought. "Which is this Sunday. It's Thursday today."
Layla gave me a warm hug which I gladly accepted. "Don't worry. Having a mate is a beautiful thing. It's something like finding the other half of yourself. It's lovely."
"Okay," I mumbled into her shoulder.
"Come on, let's go get dinner." Her gray eyes were gleaming in the semi-darkness.
I sat down next to one of the new transfers who had just come in yesterday. I discovered that her name was Tamara. And guess why we clicked? 'Cause she was wearing converse with her dress as well.
"So you have put salt in it!?" Tamara was laughing her butt off.
"Yes! And then Mac wouldn't eat a thing for the rest of the day!" I laughed.
"I have to meet your brothers!"
I gave her a short laugh.
"Looks like you're about to meet one," Someone voiced from behind me. It was Ryker. He had a glazed look in his eyes as if he'd been drinking. I sniffed the air.
"You're about to meet a half-drunk one. This is Ryker," I gestured to him. He plopped down next to me.
"By the way, Layla's been looking for you," Ryker told me.
"Okay, I'll be right back."
I was walking along the edge of the woods headed in the general direction of her. I heard a creaking next to me and a hand grabbed me and pulled me against someone. My back was pressed against someone's muscular chest. A hand was pressed against my mouth to keep me from screaming. My defenses kicked in and I kicked the person in the knees with the heel of my foot and elbowed him in the stomach. I heard a satisfying grunt.
I turned around to give the person a punch in the jaw when I realized that it was Caine.
"Relax, it's me, Tori," he said and my hands dropped to my side. He was clutching his gut in pain. "You have sharp elbows."
"I'm sorry," I muttered, a bit guilty. "But, did you have to grab me? I could have, like, knocked you out or something."
"You? Knocking me out? Please," He said arrogantly.
"Don't underestimate Tori Jenkins," I replied back in the same tone.
"Fair point,"
"Now why did you pull me in here?" I asked. The light from the huge bonfire was casting shadows on Caine's face making him look more handsome than ever.
"Well, I wanted to apologize for what happened, um, in the kitchen," His eyes darted kept darting here and there, never meeting mine. He looked adorable.
"Why?" I asked.
"Well, um, because – uh – you didn't want me to – you know – "
And then the mate-pull thing happened where I just wanted to pull him into a kiss. So that's what I did.
I grabbed his collar and pulled him down up to my height and kissed him full on the mouth. He kissed me back with the same heated passion. He grazed his teeth along my bottom lip, earning a moan from me. And then we kissed some more. When I ran my tongue along his bottom lip, I could say he lost it. He slammed me against the back of a tree and deepened the kiss.
I was a literal moaning mess.
He pressed himself against me and I ran my hand through his soft black hair. Oh, I could do this all day.
There was a crunching of twigs and we instantly pulled apart, though Caine kept his hands on my waist. I could feel my heart thumping in my chest and tingles were shooting through my finger-tips.
"Who's there?" Somebody questioned. There were a few more crunching twigs. I was trying to look past the tree, but Caine's hands kept me in place. He brought his head down to my neck and nuzzled his face against my throat. My heart felt like it would pump out of my chest.
"Tori?" Someone gasped.
Caine looked up from my neck. Layla was standing there with her jaw on the ground.
:::___:::