MATE

ASHLEY'S POV

“Ashle…Asher. My name is Prince Asher Smichtt of Crystal pack,” I held my breath, hoping that he wasn't going to read any meaning to my slip up. I fought the urge to look away from him, so I didn’t come off any more suspicious than I already did. 

“Alright Asher,” he said, throwing his shirt on the bed and heading for the bathroom. “As long as you stay out of my way, we should be fine.” He closed the bathroom door. I anticipated that this was going to be hard, but then it just got even harder than I would have anticipated.  

I took a deep breath and fell freely on the bed. “What in the world…” I immediately jumped out of bed, after the sweaty smell of his shirt hit me. I was extremely frustrated, tears welled in my eyes. I had never had to live in these conditions my whole life. I never shared a room and my room was always kept, I couldn't not imagine why anyone would carelessly put their things everywhere. 

A hundred deep breaths did not calm me down. I got out of bed and stormed out of the room. I headed straight for the cafeteria to get breakfast. If I couldn't get some rest before the activities began, at least I could eat.  

The cafeteria was filled with young men, from the age of eighteen to twenty and the sight of this number of men overwhelmed me. I held my tray in my hands and didn't dare to go to the line. Every single one of them was bigger in size than I was. They were also in groups of two's and three’s, it was impossible to talk to anyone. 

“Maybe you should return to where you’ve been my whole life.” I got out of bed, stormed out of the room and headed to the cafeteria to get something to eat. It was only the first day and I did not like it very much. 

I waited for the line to clear out, and watched as all the good meals cleared out with the line. 

“White rice, plain,” I ordered, as I could see that it was all that was left. While waiting for the woman to plate my food, I picked up on something that really interested me. 

“What is that?” I asked myself, as I turned around, searching for the source of the loveliest scent I ever perceived. 

I looked around the cafeteria and did not find any of the meals emitting that fragrance. It seemed like it was coming from the back door, so I followed it. For reasons I could not understand, I got more and more excited as the scent grew stronger. 

“Would you watch it!” I heard a very loud voice literally roar in my ears. 

“I'm sorry. I just…” I froze, as I raised my head and realized it was Prince Xavier of the Red Moon pack. “I apologize,” I said calmly, bowing my head, so I wasn't looking at his eyes. 

“Would you look at that,” he said, flipping his tray and pouring his food all over my shirt. 

“Why would you do that?” My voice pitched very high. 

“You ran into me and spilled my meal all over yourself. What has that got to do with me?” Xavier replied very coldly. He threw the tray on the floor right in front of me and then walked away, chuckling and feeling very proud. I wondered if he had figured me out or if he was just a jerk. Tears welled in my eyes, but I didn't want to give him the luxury of being the reason I broke down. People like him were the reason I was here. 

“It's time for the first activity,” one of the princes announced to both of us, standing at the door post. “What happened to you? You look like a vampire barfed all over you, or a vampire's barf,” he laughed loudly and then hurried back. 

I groaned in frustration and tried to clean up, but I was wearing a white shirt and Xavier's choice meal was far from salad. There was no redeeming my shirt. 

“There he is!” I heard from the door and swiftly lifted my head, only to find the entire camp at the door laughing and pointing fingers at me. The jerk who said I looked like a vampire's barf had assembled the entire camp to come take a look. I was overly embarrassed and no matter how hard I fought, a drop of tear trickled down my cheeks. 

I bowed my head, feeling my feet glued to the floor as I listened to their comments about how I was too small by size to be an Alpha Prince and what made me think I fit in here. “Crystal pack has always been the outcast, they should have kept it that way.” One of them said, I felt anger rising fast inside me.

“All of you, leave now!” I didn't lift my head, but by the way they all scurried away, I could tell it was one of the men in authority. “And Asher, get some change of clothes, will you? You can only be five minutes late.” He said and then walked away. I waited until there was absolute silence before lifting my head. I should have known that silence didn't mean I was alone. 

Across from me on the right was a glass door and just behind it was Prince Vance. He had a cold gaze and his face was non-expressive, but somehow it filled me with so much shame. I worried how much of all of that he had seen and what he was going to think of me now. 

I looked away from him as fast as I could, not able to bear the weight of the judgement I saw in his heart through his eyes, but as soon as my head turned, I met Xavier's look. He was standing at the exit door and he had a smirk on his face, showing how unremorseful he was. 

I took the only other alternative path, and only two steps into my journey, I heard her…

“Mate! Mate!!” my wolf cried. 

“Who?”