Amira

"Amira!" I scan the crowd for Jade, who is calling my name. I hear her but I can't see her.

The whole pack is required to go to the enthronement, but only the elite are invited to the ball. Since my father is a royal guard, my family made the list. We've been here for a few hours already and I have yet to find my best friend.

After a few more seconds of looking, Jade's red curls finally make themselves apparent as she pushes her way through multiple people in large dresses and fancy suits. She finally makes it to me and shows off her poofy, yellow dress.

All of the unmated she-wolves are wearing ballgowns, that way the unmated males know which girls could potentially be their mate. They also know which girls to stay away from, as if the unique marks on their necks aren't enough. Mates can be protective over one another.

Jade makes it over to me and grabs my hands. "Did you see him? He is so gorgeous now! I mean he always has been but wow! Oh, I hope I'm his mate!" I roll my eyes at her. Jade had turned nineteen a few months ago, and is anxious to find her mate.

Normally, mates are only found through touching, but since Caine is now an Alpha, he will know who his mate is with just a simple look. If powerful enough, he might even be able to smell his mate's presence. Just by seeing Caine tonight, I can tell he's powerful enough, but I guess I should be calling him Alpha now.

"Come on! Let's go dance," Jade pulls me towards the floor, with all the waiting bachelors. Immediately, someone asks her to dance and she leaves me standing alone. I glance at the grand clock tower by the church. Since we're outdoors, I can see it from here. 11:42, only five more minutes until I'm officially eighteen, until I'm officially able to find my mate.

"Excuse me, Miss. It seems you need a partner," I hear a voice behind me and turn to meet the beautiful faded blue eyes of none other than our Beta, the smile on his face trapping me in a trance.

"U-Umm," I stutter in front of my lifelong crush before nodding at him. He smiles again and his dimples make themselves evident. Brayden then sticks his hand out and I take it.

"It's Amelia, right?" he asks as we begin to dance. I blush before replying.

"Amira," I look at our feet and try to hide my face.

"Ah, so close," Brayden smiles at me again.

"I'm surprised you remember at all," I feel like I'm going to fall apart in front of him.

"I remember you. Junior year Biology, you were the freakishly smart freshman," he winks and I somehow blush further.

"I um, graduated this year, actually. I got bumped up," I don't want to sound like I'm bragging but, well I'm bragging. He looks at me with an impressed expression on his face.

"Pretty and smart," he spins me and I glance up at the clock. 11:46, one more minute. The song ends and Brayden smiles, "Thank you for the dance." His hand leaves my grasp as I look up and find myself filled with disappointment.

11:48.

******************************

Caine

I grab one of the shot glasses and raise it to my lips before slamming it back on the bar and reaching for the second. Maybe getting drunk isn't the best first thing to do as Alpha, but what the hell, I can do what I want. It will take a lot to get me drunk anyways. I reach for the third and fourth shots when Brayden walks up and grabs one of them. I look at him with a smirk before we both take our shots and set them back down. Suddenly, I catch a scent on Brayden that wipes the smirk off my face. I can feel my canines grow and my pupils dilate. Whatever it is, it is like a drug to me and I am addicted.

"You okay, man?" Brayden scrunches his eyebrows together, "Maybe you should take a break from the alcohol."

"What is that?" I growl at him.

"What?" he's confused. Frankly, so am I. A light breeze of wind sweeps past me and I catch the scent again. My head turns as I inhale the addicting drug-like smell.

"What the hell is that?" I ask angrily. I can't comprehend how it makes me feel. I'm hungry, ravenous even, craving a taste of whatever the alluring odor is coming from.

"What are you talking about? What's wrong with you? Caine!" I walk aimlessly, following the smell that has me intoxicated. I'm not sure I have regained 100% of my control since my changing, and right now I'm pretty sure I'm losing it again. "Caine!" Brayden follows me. He's worried I'm going to lose control, but I'm sure I'm stronger than that. I hastily push through people on the dance floor, trying to find the source of whatever has me going crazy. Then I see it, and I feel rage replace the craving that is inside me.

I have to admit, she is beautiful. The Moon Goddess really is trying to change all my plans. Normally my scale for women has two sides, hot and not, but this particular woman is angelic.

Her skin is radiant, flawless, and I resist the urge to stalk over and run my hands down her neck and arms.

Like the rest of the pack, her eyes are brown, but even with the distance between us, I can see blue flecks sparkling in her irises among the deep chocolate color, a small hint to her significance.

Her hair falls in perfect dark ringlets around her petite face. She looks delicate, but her destiny holds power. The crimson dress that hugs her frame before floating out shows her status: unmated. That's because she is supposed to be mine. Only mine, yet for some reason she is currently clinging to the broad shoulders of a male as he moves her to the slow paced song, his scent telling me he is unmated as well.

I feel my canines grow sharper as they poke at my lips. I don't have to see myself to know my eyes are one color: black, like the obsidian that represents our pack. I have every intention to mark her for the power and rule alone, but my wolf goes into a rage seeing her so close to another man. I may not want her, but my wolf doesn't want anyone touching her, doesn't want anyone near her, and I am losing control of him.

She is my mate.

Fighting hard with what I want and what my wolf wants, I find myself stalking over to her with every intention to pry the other male away. I borrow the dark gloves of a nearby guard and try to calm myself so my irises will return to their icy blue color.

The crowd parts as I walk onto the dance floor, my eyes piercing my mate's back. She can't sense me like I sense her, she won't know we are mates until she touches my skin, and I'm not going to let her, at least not right now. I just want more of the drug that she dispenses.

As I approach, the male makes eye contact with me and quickly bows his head before pulling away from her, confirmation that my eyes are their intimidating blue rather than black. She turns and the eye contact we make amplifies the affects of her scent. My wolf wants nothing more than to sink his teeth into her neck, claiming her, but I don't want her, not yet. I've always planned to overlook my mate. I just want to satisfy my wolf with the effect she has on me, or I'm afraid I might lose control. I'll give him just enough to calm him.

"Al-Alpha," her cheeks flush and her voice floats into my ears with the most celestial tone. My wolf is fighting to come out, scratching at his restraints. I just stare her down as she bows in front of me. My presence makes her nervous, good, that's what I want. I stick my hand out to her.

"I request a dance from you, ma'am," my deep voice echos back to me and I can tell she is intimidated.

After a few seconds of her staring, I realize she isn't going to grab my hand, so I persuade her a little. She then hesitantly grabs it, her delicate fingers forcing themselves to wrap around mine, and I feel my brow furrow, slightly disappointed that I had to make her do that.

When we reach the center of the dance floor, I move to place a hand on her hip and gently grasp her hand with the other. She is surprisingly small in my hold, and I'm almost afraid I'm going to break her. She struggles to place her hand on my shoulder, obviously nervous.

I knew she wouldn't be as bold as she let off, although it does slightly disappoint me. I may be her Alpha now, so she must respect me, but I was hoping for some type of resistance. I could tell she has a not-so-pleasant-opinion about me when she grabbed my hand before, and even though I know that opinion would change if I touched her, I kind of want to see her attempt to resist me. It makes the game so much more interesting; the game I am conjuring up in my head.

"I'm sure a dazzling name comes with such a magnificent creature," I feed her compliments and she ducks her face away from me, hiding the pink tinge in her cheeks. Point Caine.

"Amira," she mumbles. My wolf jumps at the name and it makes me feel nothing but excitement, but I hold back. The crude tone she used makes me smirk. That may be a point for Amira.

"Amira," I repeat the name, my voice huskier than I intend. I see her eyes darken when her name rolls out of my mouth. She feels the bond, too. She may not know why she feels this way, but she feels it. Point Caine. This is going to be fun.

I quickly spin her and pull her into me. Her back is up against my chest and my mouth is close to her ear. I am careful to not let my skin touch hers as I whisper, using a seductive tone.

"Your dress is quite alluring. May I tell you a secret?" I feel a sharp intake of breath, "Crimson is my favorite color. There's something quite... sanguinary of it, don't you think?" She tenses. Another point for me. It seems I am quite good at my own game. She pulls herself away from me and returns to our initial position.

"With all due respect, Alpha, I thought you'd use a word more along the lines of sensuous," she narrows her eyes into slits and emphasizes her choice of vocabulary. Ooo, point Amira. I was waiting for that impudent side I knew she has. I pull her body closer to mine and whisper gruffly into her ear.

"If you'd like, I can show you just how sensuous I can be," my voice contains a slight growl and, once again, her eyes grow dark before she glares at me and snidely remarks.

"How amiable and 'Alpha-like' of you to worry about my prosperity, but I'm, you could say... refraining myself. For the sake of my mate," with that the song ends and she pulls away with a frivolous bow. "Thank you, Alpha," she turns and disappears into the crowd.

A smirk spreads across my face as I inhale one more breath of her addicting scent. Points Amira, that deserves more than one. It is brave of her to talk to her Alpha like that and then just walk away. Nobody talks to an Alpha like that, yet somehow I'm not angry about the disrespect.

It appears I'm going to have fun with my feisty little mate.