Chapter 2

Danica's POV

The hall boomed with a calm music that should make even the saddest person on earth a bit calmer but it only made me sadder if that was in any way possible.

Maybe I wouldn't feel so miserable if Bianca was here to listen to all the drama that ensued right after she left angrily. But she wasn't here and I felt so out of place.

Don't get me wrong, she was here at the party but not here beside me as my best friend.

After the forced apology my father got from me for Joey, they had left me to get changed and find my way to the party on my own, so I literally walked over thirty meters to the venue on foot, looking miserable in the plain dull colored dress I picked to avoid anymore flashy-dresses drama.

I had picked out the first dress today because it was a special one. My mom made it three years ago to make me wear it when I found my true mate but I didn't wear it when I felt the bond with Finn and Gamma Thorn because I still miss my mom so much and I always feel like if I don't wear the dress she made me when she wanted me to wear it, one day she'll come back and scold me for it. I don't regret not wearing it for them because obviously they were just two big idiots who had their asses in their brains.

The plan was to wear that dress tonight not because I wanted to get mated but because it would at least make me feel special even if there was no mate to make me feel like a complete woman which was obviously wistful thinking now thanks to my ‘darling’ sister.

My eyes went back to Bianca who was having a good time with a few girls who I knew nothing about. Our gazes met and she immediately looked away.

I mean, I can't even blame her because I would be angry too if my best friend suddenly compares her situation to mine when my only intention was to comfort her.

Mating night would commence at exactly midnight and currently it was just ten minutes till midnight. At exactly 12, everyone would feel the bond and probably find their mates but I hope I wouldn't. There was no way the ‘bitch’ up there would pair me with another bastard when I'd rather be left alone, untouched, unhurt, and unmated.

I would glance around the hall a few times and would even smile a few times when I saw an unmated couple hoping they feel the mate bond when it was time. ‘Only nine more minutes will tell’ I murmured inaudibly behind them as I took a sip from the cup served to me a few minutes ago.

I turned to take a stroll to the far end of the hall just in case I felt any stupid bond… then it'll be the fastest route to run without looking back, but fate seemed to have some grudges against me because as soon as I turned, I was facing Finn, my first mate and his new mate, Anabel.

I didn't want to look pathetic so I tried to mutter a Hi, but I couldn't. Emotions I thought I had long forgotten clogged my throat and left me staring blankly at them.

“You look so lonely and miserable, Danica” Anabel muttered sweetly but I could feel the mockery beneath the words.

“I'm doing very well being left alone, Anabel. Your concern is far from being needed” I told her calmly, though not in any way hiding the sarcasm I meant to showcase.

“I don't think so… you look like you're going to cry and wail when realization hit you in eight minutes that your mates now have better women next to them and you?… You will probably remain just as lonely as you are right now” she added with a mocking smile before walking away with her annoyingly silent mate.

*‘Don't cry, Dani. You'll only give them the satisfaction of seeing you break… again.’* I told myself as I folded my hands into fists beside me.

I took slow strides towards the end of the hall but a yell stopped me in my tracks abruptly. It wasn't the familiarity of the voice that yelled or the name it yelled that stopped me. It was how scared the voice sounded. So I turned to look and my eyes widened when I saw Finn on the ground with his convulsing mate in his arms.

“Please… please stay with me, Anabel” Finn muttered shakily as he shook his mate who'd suddenly stopped convulsing and remained totally unmoving.

At that moment, everyone stopped doing anything and just focused on Finn and his dying mate.

“What happened to her?” someone asked from the crowd as he went to check on her.

“She has a chronic allergy to apples. She'd taken from the cocktail before she realized that it had apple content” Finn explained with worry written all over his face.

*If only he'd cared this much about me…*

The man glanced around pointlessly and I immediately knew he wasn't doing anything because he'd only come prepared for a mating party not for medical attentions. He won't be able to save her unless they have her transfered to the Pack's Clinic and by then she would really die for sure if it really is a chronic allergy.

I took a step forward but suddenly stopped myself as my father's warning echoed at the back of my mind.

*‘...You will live in the streets for the rest of your life…’*

I definitely wasn't about to risk becoming homeless for a woman that mocked me to my face five minutes ago, was I?

“You have to get her to the Pack's Clinic fast. It's the only way to save her right now” I heard the man say again and I blinked in disbelief. I'm very sure he knows the consequences of having to go a long distance when her life was hanging on the thinnest thread but the annoying old man…

I took another step forwards, unable to bear watching someone die in front of me when I could help but I stopped myself again, this time when I recalled Finn's last words to me.

*‘You didn't expect me to spend the rest of my life with someone as empty as a barrel, did you? You're not worthy of being my mate, Danica.’*

His words echoed through the depth of my heart down to where my conscience lies and I wish I could actually watch her lose her life very painfully and then laugh at Finn's misfortune in the end but I couldn't. This was the reason I became a doctor in the first place. To save people who have little to no hope of living.

“I can help!” I blurted before I could stop myself.

I would definitely regret this decision later but what matters right now is saving Anabel’s life and I will do just that.