Once in the bathroom, I do my business and come out of the stall. I see Alexia standing in front of the mirror touching up her makeup with a glow in her aura that has me curious.
āHey girl...howās the party going for you?ā I ask her.
āOH ARIANNA! GUESS WHAT?ā She is beaming as she blurts out, āI MET MY MATE!ā She squeals, jumping up and down.
āReally?! Oh my gosh! Iām so happy for you!ā
āI know! Heās SOOOO HOT too!ā
āWell...are you going to keep me in suspense or are you going to tell me who it is?ā I implore.
āOh! Sorry...youāre not going to like itā¦ā She gives me a toothy half-smile.
āI will love him no matter who he is because he is your mate, Alexia!ā
āItās Lane. Fenās beta.ā She states like she is ripping off a band-aid.
I stare at her blankly. This means she will have to move to Slick Paw Pack. I wonāt get to see her much. It also means she will probably get treated like shit once she gets there because Fe
I just finished getting ready for the Mateās Ball when a guard let me know my uncle would like to speak with me. On my way to find him, I stopped at the open bar that was already set up in the ballroom for the party and picked up a glass of scotch. I have no intention of finding my mate this season. Iām 26 and for a she-wolf that is old to be finding a mate, but for an alpha male, that was par for the course. Most of us found our mates between the ages of 22-28. I enjoyed my single life. I had plenty of ladies' beds to warm and was never in short supply when I wanted it. My father urged me to find my mate, but Iām just not interested. I know one day that will change, but not today. As I approach my uncle, I realize he is going to ask me to do something I donāt want to do. āGood afternoon King Harmon, how can I help you?ā I state sauntering over with my glass of scotch. āAhh, Fen! So good to see you! I have the noblest of duties for you tonight!ā My uncle bell
Fen's POV Ari stayed out on the dance floor most of the night, dancing, meeting, and mingling with men that constantly approached her. She was really sluttin' it up tonight. It looked like she was practically throwing herself at every dude she danced with. Desperate much? Gross. I needed MANY more drinks to watch this more. As time passes, I am getting more and more bored and impatient, but I see her finally heading off the dance floor so I start moving towards her. āFINALLY...I was wondering how long it would take you to tire of dancing.ā I blurt out to her, grabbing her by the waist. āCāmon! Letās go sit by Lane. Heās been saving us seats.ā āOkay, Iāll be there in a second. I just need to grab a bottle of water first.ā She says to me heading to the bar. I smirk at her and wait for her to get her water before heading to the table I had Lane reserve for us. āHey Lane! Any hotties I need to make myself comfortable with?ā I blurted out n
āI expect you to make a good impression.ā Alpha Lucian, my father, glared at me as we arrived at the Black Claw packhouse in our limo with two black SUV escort vehicles in front of us and behind us. āYes, father,ā I respond rather blandly. I know he expects me to be on my best behavior, and he expects me to find my mate. I roll my eyes in my mind since I know my father would beat me for actually rolling my eyes at him. We spent the last twenty-four hours traveling to the Black Claw pack from our pack to attend the annual Mates Ball and week-long festivities associated with the ball and claiming. Father committed to attending for the first time since I turned 18 because he is ready to officially retire and wants to try to make some alliances on my behalf before he passes the Alpha title to me, not that I need his help with alliances. More than likely, Iāll end up ending those alliances once I take over since father and I have never seen eye-to-eye on how to run the pa
Aresās POV A rapping noise comes from my bedroom door. I sit up and look at the clock, 6:30 A.M. Who the hell is bothering me so early in the morning? āMaster Martin, breakfast will be served at 7 AM sharp,ā Sergio stated, waking me from my sleep. I donāt sleep very much or for very long at a time. Sleep is a luxury when you are used to your father bursting through the door stark raving drunk thinking youāve done something to undermine him ready to beat you into a bloody pulp. I got up rubbing my face going to the bathroom to take a quick shower before going downstairs for breakfast. As I saunter down the stairs, I run into Alec and Alessandro apparently heading to breakfast themselves. āHey man! How was your sleep last night?ā Alec sees me and asks, smiling. āHey....it was fine as usual. Nothing to write home about, but the bed is pretty comfortable.ā I smirk. āYeah...Alessandro snored like a damn freight train last night. App
Aresās POV By the afternoon, I was ready to explore some more of the packhouse and attempt to mingle with some guests. Just as I was getting ready to leave my room, I heard a knock on my door. āAres! Dude! What are you doing? You can beat off tonight! Cāmon dude! There are some seriously smokinā hot she-wolves out by the pool!ā I open my door knowing all too well who is on the other side. āHey Alec...dude - youāre such a dick. I wasnāt beating off! I was just laying down resting. I donāt sleep much, you know that.ā āI know dude but seriously! Throw some swim trunks on and letās go!ā āOkay, okay. Iāll be right behind you. Is Alessandro going with you?ā āYeah - heās already down there. He texted me and said the hot tub has nothing but she-wolves in it, and him...fuckin pimp.ā Alec laughs. āOkay, well, you know I donāt care about the other shit. My father wants me strictly to search for her.ā āYeah yeah...there wil
Aresās POV I was jolted awake by the pounding on my door, āDUDE! Itās ten oāclock! You are going to miss the ball if you donāt come down NOW!ā Alec shouts from the other side. āWhat are you doing in there?ā āHuh?ā I shake my head and rub my eyes, realizing Iāve done it again, only no release. This was going to be a rough night with me all hot and bothered. I begin stretching and rolling out of the bed to go open the door. āI was sleeping!ā Thatās when I realized I actually slept quite well. I guess all my muscles relaxing allowed me to sleep more than normal. I rushed to the bathroom to put a wet, cold wash cloth around my standing soldier to make it stop throbbing. I also didnāt want Alec to think I was beating off again. Goddess he can be so annoying at times. Alec was standing in the doorway when I opened it, but I quickly rushed to the bathroom before he could see my current situation. When I came back out of the bathroom he gave me a once over and said,
Aresās POV The ball was pretty energetic and it is clear that Alpha King Harmon spared no expense this year. As you walk into the ballroom you immediately see the dance floor with all the strobe lights and multi-colored lights flashing all around. The music is loud and helps to create an energizing atmosphere. The bar was expansive and stretched across the entire back of the giant room. People were dancing all around but mostly in the center of the room, some were standing around the sides of the ballroom socializing, and others were hanging out towards the back by the bar. I figured I could walk around the ballroom to scope the place out and see if I could pick up that scent again. It was dark in the ballroom and the fog machine on the dance floor made the air smell musty, but it was at least worth a shot. I started at the bar, picking up a crown and coke. Just as I left the bar to begin my lap around the song, āSearch Partyā by Sam Bruno came on and that se
Aresās POV When I get to my room, I change into some comfortable sweats and go lay in bed. I was in such a daze, so excited about the fact that I met my mate that I donāt think anything could bring me down from my personal high. As I thought about who my mate could be, I started thinking about the ranked wolves and their of-age children, trying to jog my memory to possibly figure out who she was. I remembered that Alpha King Harmon had a daughter - obviously, I couldnāt forget that, my father only reminded me of that fact every day since I was about ten years old; though I have never seen her since I donāt follow the gossip magazines or human television networks that like to blast our personal lives for goddess and everyone to know about. His beta Harold didnāt have any daughters, just sons, but his gamma did have a daughter that would be about 20 years old. I think her name was Anika if I remembered correctly. Was this my mate? Thatās when I realized
Ariās POV - After my first doctorās appointment to check on the baby, I was so emotional. Ares was emotional too. We spent the evening alone together, bonding. We needed time to ourselves to feel close and decompress after everything that had happened recently. With this trip to Hawaii nipping at our heels, we felt it important to spend what precious time we had alone together as much as possible before the baby comes and more things get in the way. The next morning, Ani came bursting through our bedroom doors to wake us up. She was overly excited about this trip. We both may be about 2 months pregnant, but that wasnāt slowing her down from attempting to get to the beach and show off that gorgeous figure of hers. She ended up convincing Ares that Alexia needed to come with us to āhealā herself from her rejection. He couldnāt say no when he knew everything Alexia had gone through. She had been moping around the pack house since she rejected Lane and knowing Fen was now dead helped
Aresās POV The match was challenging, but not too difficult. After Councilmen Horis declared Ari and I the clear winners, the entire council as well as the other alphaās bowed in submission and swore their fealty and loyalty to us both. It didnāt take long for the media to get word, and thus, the circus monkeyās are at it again, only they are starting to get worse. It was a relief finally ridding the world of that disgrace of an alpha. The fact that he openly admitted to murdering my father was icing on the cake - an added touch to the reasons for his death. His pack will end the horrid practice he was fully taking advantage of and I will send my fatherās former beta to go and run the pack up there for the time being until we can find a better solution to managing our new pack territories. Ari has been scared to death of everything that has happened, and I donāt blame her, but I did reassure her multiple times that I would be fine and everything would be okay. I think she can fina
Ari's POV“Baby there’s no rush, we have all the time in the world,” Ares moans as I continue to rock myself up and down on his thick and engorged glorious member inside me.“I don’t care! I need you and I need this NOW!” I moan out as I slam myself down on him harder and harder, feeling myself growing closer and closer. As I get closer to my peak, I feel my emotions are quickly getting away from me and for some reason, as I reach that magical peaking moment, I burst into tears as I cum all over his throbbing shaft inside of me.“OH ARES!!” I cry out, “I can’t lose you! I can’t!”He lifts me up and flips us so he's on top of me now. I feel his nee
We left the diner to go back to the council headquarters where our room for the night is waiting for us. Iām exhausted all the time now, and I canāt wait to put my face into a pillow. We said goodnight to my dad and settled in our room for the rest of the night. As I laid my head on a pillow on the bed, my phone went off. Someone text me, so I rolled over and grabbed my phone from the bedside table. Alexia: Iām going to reject Lane. Me: Really? Are you 100% sure about this? You know I will support you either way. Alexia: Iām sure. I canāt even think about that place. I just canāt. Me
Ariās POV In the council chambers, I see my dad currently in the middle of some big speech to all the alphas and elders. Ares and I stood quietly in a corner until he found his seat at the panel. He led me to his seat, and sat me in his lap, placing a gentle kiss on my temple before smiling and nuzzling his nose into my neck and inhaling my scent. He apparently needed a moment to calm down and relax because as he was inhaling my scent, I felt his whole body instantly relax. That made me feel good - knowing that I had the ability to calm my mate just by him inhaling my scent. As my dad finished his big long speech that I had paid no attention to, I hear the voice of the prick I loath more than anyone else in this world, āAhhā¦so glad you could join us Alpha Ares, LUNA Ari! We thought you were too busy playing house to grace u
After a while, the witches settled down a bit and actually welcomed us in. We sat down in their main greeting room and one of the mistresses brought tea for everyone. āItās not much Alpha, but we do pride our coven in our generosity towards those in your territory and pack. We are loyalists after all.ā One mistress stated while sipping her tea. Something was bothering me and I knew what it was but I didnāt want to raise any alarms with Ari so I tried to be cautious in how I approached the subject. āWhatās wrong?ā Ari whispers to me from behind me. āNothing. I was summoned to the council. I told Trace I couldnāt go right now, obviously.ā I whisper back to her as she nods and relaxes back into her seat.
Aresās POV āTo what do we owe this pleasure, Alpha?ā the coven mother asked in a very husky and labored voice. āWe come seeking your wisdom and talents,ā I state in a flattering manner in an attempt to make nice with the witches. We may be still in our own pack territory, but we were definitely out of our depth in the middle of a coven of witches, even if they were white witches and friendly with our kind. āWhat is it that you seek?ā āWe are in search of answers to help one of our own.ā I responded just as vaguely as she was with me. āWe are here trying to find answers for a half-breed madam,ā Ari interjected. I glared at her
Aresās POV After a few more hours of driving into the mountains we finally arrived at the location I knew to be the Sisters of the Moonās coven headquarters. We had to dip down a side street in the small mountainside town due to the paparazzi that seemed to be accumulating in every area we went. āWhat are we going to do? They are swarming around that place!ā Illyana says in a very concerned voice. āRelax! Throw these on.ā I toss back trench coats, sun glasses, and hats to everyone to put on. Sometimes covering up as much of your identity as possible is the only defense. As we hop out of the SUV and begin walking towards the crowd and coven entrance, a photographer notices us. I immediate
As I hop out of my Range Rover, I see that a council elder is standing at the door waiting to greet me. Itās not a very far drive from Slick Paw to the council headquarters. Even though they have a chamber in Black Clawās palace, their central offices are located about 2 hours away from our pack. Itās located on the edge of 4 pack territories and looks more like a four-story office building than anything else. From the outside and those not a part of the supernatural world, you would never know this is the seat of Wolf Nation, outside of our capital in Black Claw. āAlpha Fen, to what do we owe the pleasure?ā Elder Peter smiles, holding his arms out in a greeting. āIāve come to speak to the council. It wonāt take long.ā I declare. āThey are in session. I will let