Mating Ball

“What’s with the doom and gloom?” asked Leah upon seeing her towering friend leaning against the old warehouse.

Sweat covered her body as she folded her hands over her chest. Those eyes of hers showed her absent mind. The pack members trained in front of her, each engaging in a duel with other.

“I have to attend the mate ball,” she answered.

Leah licked the ice-cream in her hand, relishing the taste of the cold vanilla under the scorching sun.

“What’s new with that?”

Leah copied a similar posture to Ashlyn while her curious eyes probed her friend for further details.

“As a participant without the inhibitor.”

Caught off guard by that, Leah exclaimed, “Really!”

Her friend’s enthusiasm made Ashlyn scowl at her.

This got Leah to clear her throat and replace her expression with a comparatively solemn one.

As though it was a matter of great misery, she expressed, “How terrible! How could he do this to you? He is your brother; he is supposed to be on your side. Do you need me to talk to him? Actually, never mind about the last part.”

Ashlyn held herself back from rolling her eyes.

“But wouldn’t it be great? I don’t still understand why you are hiding. This is clearly torturing you. If I didn’t know you well enough, I might have classified you as a masochist.”

“I don’t want him.”

“Liar. I might not have experienced the bond, but it’s not one you can resist. Moreover, in your case, you had feelings for him long before that bond.”

“He betrayed me,” Ashlyn bitterly spat out.

“But that was years ago. Pretty sure he moved past it, and you can explain the truth to him. Have a good chat over a delicious meal, and problem solved.”

Ashlyn clenched her hand into a tight fist. That was idealistic, but reality stayed far away from it. She didn’t have any need for that scheming bastard.

“Shut up. Don’t make me throw you in the training field,” Ashlyn threatened.

“Yes, yes.” Leah dropped the matter before saying, “You are safe nonetheless. Beta Elijah would be off to Moonlight pack during mating ball.”

This made Ashlyn shoot her friend a wide-eyed gaze.

“How?”

“How did I know about it? Obviously, everyone is talking about it. Not everyone is clueless like you. And, yeah, this is reliable piece of information.”

Relief spread through Ashlyn’s chest at it.

°°°

Ashlyn was done with her morning run when she had Leah grab her hand and pull her aside. Skin to skin contact displeased Ashlyn, but due to her repeated actions, Ashlyn got used to Leah.

Her friend was beaming as those eyes of sparkled with excitement, staring up at Ashlyn. She then said, “Aren’t you going to need a dress for the mating ball?”

Ashlyn knew where Leah wanted to go from there, and this made her pull her hand away from her friend’s hold, taking a step back afterwards.

“I am busy,” she turned down Leah before she could even bring the matter up.

“I asked the Alpha, and he agreed. There aren’t any dangers currently.”

Ashlyn, in a grave tone, told, “We need to be more careful when it is silent. They would think it’s the best time to catch off guard.”

Unimpressed, Leah gave her a short laugh.

“Do you not trust your alpha’s judgement? He would be disappointed in you. Come on, let’s go. If you let me go on my own, I might select a dress for you of my own choice. Would you want that?”

Ashlyn looked away from Leah’s determined gaze and said, “After I am done showering.”

Leah clapped her hands together. Her smile widened.

“Good girl! Go off now!”

Leah patted on her friend’s back.