Chapter 5

The smell just got stronger and stronger, oh dear goddess, she 

  must be quite close. 

  For heaven’s sake, why was fate playing this cruel game with me? 

  Luca was chanting “Mate! Mate! Mate!” like a holy mantra, and I 

  could feel his excitement just by smelling her. For the first time, I 

  really wished he would just shut up. We agreed on almost 

  everything, except that I didn’t want her. 

  “Beta!” We all took our seats as the waiter took our orders. 

  Lance, my beta, stood up and bowed politely, followed by Gabe, 

  my delta, who did the same but had a corny, broad smile on his 

  face. I nodded in acknowledgment. 

  Since the blood moon was due to rise in ninety-three days, and I 

  was running out of time, Lance presented me with some 

  paperwork and contracts that were in dire need of my signature. 

  I had been spending a lot of time these past few days trying to 

  find a way out of the curse placed upon our pack, but I kept 

  coming up empty-handed. Then, the door chimed open, and I 

  saw her enter, her footsteps resounding throughout the room. 

  Don’t even get me started on her eyes; she had the most stunning 

  electric blue eyes I had ever seen, paired with the most flawless 

  lips I had ever seen. Her long, dirty blond hair reached her waist,which she instantly brushed back from her face as soon as she 

  walked in. 

  “Hey, Mate! I didn’t tell them about her appearance yesterday, 

  but I couldn’t stop Luca from saying the phrase, which caused 

  Lance and Gabe to freeze in complete amazement and shock. 

  “What the fuck Luca?” was the first thing I said, and the moment 

  it left my mouth, I hated it. 

  “Alpha-” Lance turned back to face my friend, who was decked 

  up in a white off-the-shoulder crop top and blue trousers that 

  hugged all of her curves. 

  As I rolled my eyes at the monster, I heard Luca say, “Our mate is 

  really hot.” I had to admit, he was right; she was truly beautiful in 

  the eyes, unlike many others I had seen. Her beauty was genuine 

  and unforced. 

  “Is that Luna? With a narrowed glance, as though attempting to 

  read my mind, Lance questioned. 

  Laughing like a fool, Gabe added, “Judging by the bad scowl 

  brother has on his face it has got to be my sister in law, Cease talking!” Sister in law? What a joke,” I scream low to get 

  rid of that foolish smile from his face. 

  Lance says, “You should go and talk to her Alpha, Celeste claims 

  that she is the pack’s last hope.” They both understand how much 

  I loathed the thought of meeting my mate for the first time; I 

  didn’t need or want her. 

  Luca whispered to me, “But your pack does.” It was so mocking 

  that I wished there was a small off button to stop him from 

  talking so loudly. The fuck, he was slowly pushing me over the 

  brink into madness. 

  I mentally snapped, ‘Shut the hell up,’ but he was right. According 

  to Celeste, the pack’s witch,’she would be the pack’s salvation 

  from the curse that plagued us for centuries, or she would be our 

  destruction splattered with our own blood.’ It was a real dicey 

  prophecy, and I didn’t want to take a chance on finding out, as 

  the pack had just begun to move on from the tragedy that had 

  occurred previously. I can’t put them through another one, so it’s 

  my responsibility. 

  I heard Luca hiss, “What are you going to do now? What are you 

  going to do? Stupid wolf. I had a plan—” He was clearly enjoying 

  watching me suffer.

 My plan was a temporary fix, or a way to buy time, but it still 

 involved avoiding my mate wherever she was. However, now 

 that she was in front of me, unavoidable, that plan was quickly 

 crumbling under Luca’s sardonic interruption, “More like a 

 dumb temporary fix. Really Alpha? Was that the best plan you 

 could come up with?” 

 “I’ll speak with her. In due course. But for now, I just need some 

 time to think,” I said as I watched her purchase a simple cup of 

 black coffee to go. Our eyes briefly crossed before she swiftly 

 glanced away, and I did the same. I got up and headed to my car 

 since I wanted some time to gather my thoughts before deciding 

 what to do next. 

 Luca said indignantly, “Sounds like you are just running away, 

 again.” 

 I silently shot back at him, “I don’t run away from anyone or 

 anything,” as I made my way to my car. 

 “Luca insisted that destiny would always bring our mate closer to 

 us—it’s inevitable! It’s Fate!” I chose to ignore him, telling myself 

 that fate would take care of itself.

 The delightfully unexpected came just as I was getting into my 

 car and remembered I had left my iPhone at the café. This mate 

 thing was really starting to get on my nerves. Guess I’m heading 

 right back in.