Chapter 6

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. The alarm was going off, signaling it was 9:00 a.m. We didn’t have to be at the pack house until 3:00 p.m. The party was from 3:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m., then we went to dinner before prom, and the dance following. It would take us three hours to get ready to go. We had a few hours to kill. We ended up looking at our grades that were posted.

A gasp. “Oh my god. I passed everything,” Holly said. I looked over and she had tears in her eyes. The school was always harder for her, but she kept pushing herself. She wasn’t a straight-A student but never had a C.

“I passed, too!” I said proudly.

“Let me guess, with all A’s too probably,” she said, slightly annoyed but happy.

“Yes, but Susan got valedictorian and I am okay with that. No speech for me!” I laughed, slightly hurt but mainly relieved. Public speaking was not my thing.

“Let’s watch a movie until we need to get ready!” Holly said.

“Okay, I’ll go get snacks and you pick the movie out.”

Coming back with sausage, cheese, and crackers in one hand and chocolate, popcorn, and pop in the other, we managed to snack and laugh all morning. I felt so relieved from knowing we passed our classes! I didn’t even have any bad feelings.

Soon, Holly was pulling at my hair and assaulting my face with makeup. She tied half of my hair back with an elegant braid and left pieces framing my face, which she curled and curled back. She applied a smokey eye with only a slight blush since I seemed to blush enough to bring out the color on my cheeks. Slipping onto my gown, I looked into the mirror. I didn’t even recognize myself. I was stunning. My wolf necklace just brought everything together. Holly came out with her hair in a low side bun with pieces framing her face, and a dark blue smokey eye to match her dress. She was a vision to see.

“Damn, girl! I will be jealous of whoever is your mate!” I said, making a show of my heart hurting.

“Oh my god, Nina, you look better than I imagined you would! I’ll take partial credit, of course!”

“Of course, you—”

“Girls, it’s time to go!” my mom’s voice sang out, cutting me off. “I can’t wait to see your pretty dresses!”

“Oh great, she already sounds like she is crying,” I grimaced.

“I heard that. Now get out here!” Mom said sternly. Giving Holly a smirk, we made our way to the living room. Looking at my mom, she was wiping the tears from her face and my dad looked pained.

“What’s wrong, Dad?” I asked, slightly concerned.

“Well, I would prefer a turtleneck dress, but you girls look beautiful,” he whispered.

“I love you too, Dad!”

“Alright, enough of this lovey dovey stuff. Let’s get you girls to your birthday party!” Dad said. He had work to do regardless, so he was taking us to the pack house in his truck.

Suddenly, I felt it. A feeling of dread came over me. I tried to act normal and keep my heart rate the same, but it spiked a little. I caught Dad’s eye in the rearview mirror, and he looked at me questioningly.

“You okay, hun?” Dad asked via mind-link. Thankfully, Holly was too excited to notice.

“Yeah, just a bad feeling about the night. I am sure it will be nothing. You know how they can be.” I tried to sound reassuring.

“Hmm well, just mind-link me if you need me and I’ll be there any time you need, sweetie.”

“I know. Thank you, Dad. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Pulling up into the pack house, it was already busy with kids. They changed the game room into a party, removing all the games, and adding tables, snacks, and drinks. There was alcohol, because if you were of age, you could drink because it took so much to get a wolf drunk. However, those at seventeen and under were not allowed, but it was not enforced hard since we were staying on pack grounds. We made our way over and both poured ourselves a drink. Holly liked the sweet drinks and went for a Sex on the Beach, and I like my whiskey, so I poured a Crown Royale and coke.

“I have to go to the bathroom!” Holly said loudly, so I could hear her over the music.

“Okay, I am right behind you.”

We got about halfway and Holly suddenly stopped. She started smelling the air and moved away from the bathroom. What was going on with her? I tried to follow her, but she was moving too quickly because of how many people were here. I finally caught up to her and she had a deer-in-the-headlights look to her, and she was staring straight ahead. Turning my head, I looked to see what she was looking at. It was Damian. I got a sinking feeling in the pit in my stomach as I heard Holly whisper, “Mate.”

No, no, no, no. That couldn’t be right. He was supposed to be my mate, not Holly’s. I was in a trance looking at him. I could feel the tears start to well up in my eyes. I hadn’t taken a breath and Damian was looking between Holly and me, unsure of what to do. Trevor and Zach were on either side of him with shocked expressions on their faces. No one could believe it. I was supposed to be his mate. ME!

“Nina, I….” Holly stammered, unsure of what to say or do. Everyone was waiting to see how I would react. Snapping out of my trance, Raven was howling loudly in my ear. She could feel my heartbreak as if it was her own. My whole life was a lie. All of the make-out sessions, all the midnight talks. I knew they were gone. Damian took one step toward me and suddenly we all heard a growl that made him stop.

I looked over and Holly had her mouth covered and a shocked expression on her face. I had told her all my feelings about Damian, and she knew how much I loved him. Our friendship would not survive this. Of that, I was sure. She was already possessive of him. She was probably afraid he would reject her. My heart was breaking for her, too. She knew her mate was in love with another girl, and that other girl was her best friend.

I did the only thing I could think of, and that was to turn around and run away. And I ran fast. I could hear everyone yell at me from behind, and I could hear their paws hit the ground, so I shifted mid-stride and took off. I managed to outrun everyone. I let Raven take over and I just cried. Cried for my lost friend and lover. Raven found a cave and crawled into it. I built a wall around my mind. I cried myself to sleep while blocking out all the mind-links I was getting.