Chapter 3 - Her mate

Mina POV - 7 days to go

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If mingling in the crowd had Mina feeling like a deer facing down a pack of hungry wolves, being on stage made her feel like she was being dressed for their feast. 

They all watch every move she makes. Some critical, some admiring but all judging in some way or another. They all expect her to find her fated mate tonight, but with Owen in the crowd, she can't help by hope she doesn't. It can't be him. It just can't be. Even if he is, she could reject the bond, but that'd mean giving up her future as Luna too. Could she bare to live with the man hoping he'd change for the rest of her life if it meant serving her pack in the way she's always dreamed of? Her stomach churns, tensing more as she hears the sharp clips of her mother's stilettos across the stage.

“Stand straight.” She hisses as the Luna walks past her to the centre of the stage. “Hello, dear allies, neighbouring packs and honoured packmates. Thank you for attending my daughter’s presentation.” She smiles at their applause, arms out wide as if hugging them all. Mina sends a silent apology to her brother beside her, but he just shrugs at being omitted. “25 years ago, my lovely twins were born, and my precious daughter became the next in line to rule our mighty pack.” She turns to Mina, “I wish your fathers were here to see the woman you’ve become. They’d be so proud.”

Mina holds back a scoff and feels the soft bump of Sam’s shoulder against hers. She chances a glance at him and spots the turn of a smile fighting at the corner of his mouth. Before a laugh can spread between the siblings, she looks away and decides to tune the rest of the speech out and look across the packed crowd of wolves. With the majority being single, male, high-ranking warriors, she can see her mother had pulled out all the stops to ensure she would find her fated mate that night. Maybe it was a good thing after what happened today.

A nudge to her arm brings her back to her mother’s speech which is wrapping up. Disgust wells up when she sees the woman has tears in her eyes. Damn, she is good. Not a good person, but a good Luna.

“And now, it is time to see if the Moon Goddess has blessed my Williamina with her first mate.” Her mother holds out a hand which Mina takes as she strides to the centre of the stage. "As in Clear Blue tradition, from the stroke of midnight she has 7 days to find her first fated mate to prove her worthiness to be the next Luna. Good luck, Williamina."

Her mother gives her arm a squeeze, an encouraging gesture to the audience, but she curls her nails in to leave a sharp bite to remind Mina to succeed. 

As the Luna retreats to Sam's side, a hush falls over the hall. Mina feels the unease of standing before that many wolves alone, and wishing at least one person was at her side, but she can’t be seen as weak, so she stands tall before them all, praying they can’t see the tremor of her hands.

She takes a breath and echoes her mother’s greeting and thanks. A formality when most of them are there to steal the chance of being the next Clear Blue Luna’s mate. Her eyes glide across the crowd, finding Owen standing near the front with his father, Beta Oliver. He’s staring at her with an intensity that makes her trip over her words, before she quickly looks away and continues.

His words echo in her mind 'You won't have any other choice but to accept me.'. Is he right? She hopes not. But it's time to find out.

A silence wraps her as Mina takes a breath and steadies herself. Every wolf has pheromones, usually released in times of heightened emotions, but this is the first time she is releasing hers knowing she could find her mate.

When she hears the clock chime for midnight, the first seconds of her 25th birthday passing over her skin, she frees her pheromones to the room, letting every wolf inside smell her unique scent. Many wolves dip their heads in deference to the power it contains, the power of a leader, a sight that clutches her chest as much as it makes her stand taller with pride.

Then, as one, the unmated wolves of the room add their own pheromones to the hall. It’s a test of compatibility, to find their mate either in her or the allies around them. A few calls suddenly ring out from the back of the room, then a squeal of happiness, and a thud as another new couple collide near the front and fall to the floor. 

She hears a low grumble behind her too, and turns to see Sam’s arm outstretched, his eyes locked to someone in the crowd. He holds out his hand and sends out a powerful burst of his pheromones. Chloe pushes through the crowd, her eyes teary and grin wider than Mina has ever seen it. The friends lock eyes as she passes and takes Sam’s hand, an appropriate response for someone about to join the pack’s head family, but Mina knows her friend and can see the excitement bubbling beneath the surface.

She covers her giggle with her hand and focuses on the room again, knowing there would be time to celebrate with Chloe later.

Immediately, her happiness dwindles. Her mum had said she’d know instantly if her mate was in the room, but there were so many scents clogging the air, how would she? Should she have felt him by now? She takes in breath after breath, waiting for the moment of connection so many wolves talk about. That moment of certainty and peace, knowing they’d found their perfect match.

It doesn’t come.

Oddly it is peace that settles in her chest rather than panic. If her mate isn't in the room, it means it isn't Owen. That gives her 7 days to find a better suitor. With an edge of confidence that brings a smile to her lips, she searches for Owen again. When she spots him, his face is a light pink, his eyes intent on her. There's nothing there. He's not her mate.

Her lips curl into a small grin she knows he sees as he turns a darker shade of red, but it falters when the faintest thread of a scent reaches her through the haze.

It’s deep, musky, cedar.

It snags her attention like she’s bound with a rope, and pulls.

Her gaze travels across the crowd of wolves, desperately searching. She doesn’t care when she sees the moment Owen recognises what happens, nor does she stop herself from taking a step forward, to the very edge of the stage, as if those last inches were blocking her connection.

Then she finds him.

Hazel eyes wide, trying to hide beneath the brown waves of his hair, his usually cocky smile strained. Alastor freezes under her gaze, confirming what he must’ve known the moment she released her pheromones. 

It is only the substantial training from her mother that stops Mina from jumping off the stage and running to him. First, the instinct of the demure Luna her mother had beaten into her, and second, the knowledge that the woman standing at his side is his mate-to be, a bond promised to secure an alliance deal with Red Spire.

If a heart can break two times in one day, hers did. 

“It seems the Moon Goddess’s plan is yet for me to find out. Thank you all for participating, and congratulations to the new fated mates among you, especially my brother Sam, and best friend, Chloe. I couldn’t be happier for you both.” She gives them a genuine smile even as she struggles to keep herself together. Her smile wobbles, so she spread it into a wide grin and raises her arms wide. “Please, everyone, enjoy the party.”