Sera's POV

I grinned at Liam when he fixed up my makeup in the mirror. He had hatched the perfect plan, and I was excited to get on with it.

"Stop smiling like the joker," Liam snapped open the lipstick and expertly put it on my lips.

"Why are you better at this than I'll ever be?"

"I'm just the best at everything honey," Derek scoffed in the background and Liam glared in his direction. Derek was an important part of the plan, and Liam had convinced him to listen by promising that he would stop inappropriately giving out his number to other men.

"Is that it?" I was getting slightly impatient. "It's been like 3 hours."

"Almost, be patient," Liam scolded me and pushed me back down in the chair. After he finished his last touches, he directed me toward a gigantic floor length mirror that had lights on the side of it. "You look gorgeous, thanks to me of course."

"Woah," I was amazed at how much better he had made me look. He was preparing me for a werewolf ball that Nate had declined to tell me about, and Liam wanted me to go there with Derek on my arm to make Nate as jealous as possible.

"Sex appeal will work honey," Liam gestured at my dress. "This dress will make that mate of yours drool for your affection."

I loved the dress almost as much as Liam did. He had designed it himself, and had kept it in the back of his wardrobe because he didn't have anyone to give it to. He had declared it the perfect dress for me and had had to help me into it.

The dress was a beautiful black lace piece. (Look above) It was tastefully cut, and lace covered all of the sheer parts. The dress's back was gaping, and it showed a lot of my skin. Liam had nearly killed me when I had almost ripped it because the lace was so thinly stitched. The floor length skirt was now barely touching the floor because Liam had forced me into 5 inch black stilettos. But, even if my feet would probably go numb at the end of the night, I didn't care because I actually felt like a celebrity.

"Derek, what's taking you so long?" Liam yelled back to the bathroom where Derek was changing. He had ordered Derek to wear a black tuxedo, and they had argued over it for 30 minutes until Derek finally caved.

"I'm coming!" Derek opened the bathroom door and came out in a huff.

Just looking at him made me giggle like a little girl.

"What?" Derek barked out.

"You look sooooo," I trailed off.

"What?" Derek repeated.

"Handsome!" I smiled and walked over to him. "The suit really does wonders for you." I wiggled my eyebrows up and down. There was something about men in fitted black suits that just made them look so... yummy.

"Thank you, I guess," Derek scratched the back of his head, but when he did, Liam smacked his hand and fixed up his hair again.

"Don't mess it up," Liam frowned when he saw that Derek's hair was already disheveled. "You'll look unruly."

"Can we go?" Derek whined. "These shoes hurt."

"Baby," I huffed out. "Look at these." I pointed my toe and showed my heels to Derek. "I can't even feel my feet anymore."

"Then why'd you wear them?"

Liam and I gasped and took a step away from Derek in unison.

"You don't understand," I shook my head in shame and Liam waggled his finger in Derek's face.

"Let's go," Derek groaned.

"Okay," Liam clapped his hands. "I'll drive both of you there, and then when you make your big entrance, I'll mind link you to tell you if it succeeded."

******

Nate's POV

As I walked towards the table that was assigned to my pack and I, my eyes drooped with exhaustion and annoyance. I didn't want to go to this ball, but I had been coerced into it by Jason. He had said that this would be a good opportunity to socialize with other alphas, but I just thought it was stupid. We didn't need to talk about important pack problems with champagne and tiny crackers, it was ridiculous.

If only Sera was here, I thought. She would make this bearable, enjoyable even. But I knew that she was exhausted after all the trauma with Dylan's death, and she wasn't in the best mood with me. It would be better for her to stay home, protected, and relax.

"Is that Sera?" Jason asked. The room had gone silent, and everyone's attention was on a couple that was walking down from the long trail of stairs. I looked up, and my mouth gaped open at what I saw.

What in the hell was Sera wearing?

******