"Ahem. May I have a turn?" A male voice sounded from behind me, and one finger poked at my shoulder.

I spun around. I'd been so engrossed by my conversation with Nolan that I hadn't noticed Dylan approaching. He stood behind me, a prize-winning smile painted across his face. But there was something else in his gaze-- an underlying urgency that beckoned Nolan and I out of our all-encompassing conversation.

My eyes snapped away from Dylan and took in the rest of the colonial-style gathering hall. A number of onlookers had their eyes glued on Nolan and I, turning towards one another to whisper unintelligible gossip. Dylan-- Moon Goddess bless him-- had interrupted our dance in order to keep up the ruse.

Nolan seemed to realize this at the same moment, for he quickly offered Dylan a curt nod. "Of course," he replied in a voice of gravel. My mate quickly cleared the emotion from his throat before he leaned down to press a chaste kiss to the back of my hand, "Have a good evening, Charlotte."

I instinctively opened my mouth to protest, but no words formed. Instead, I focused entirely on the electric burn that lingered on my hand long after Nolan had walked away. Thankfully, Dylan noticed my distraction and took the lead in our waltz, allowing me to repeat the past five minutes in my head again and again.

Nolan went to the Broken Valley Pack in an effort to throw the hybrids off of my scent. He never intended to court Savannah-- or any other female for that matter. Oh, and a group of rabid hybrids will try to mutilate me as soon as they know I exist. Great.

The image of a dozen hybrids gnawing on my bones sent me spiraling back into reality.

"You know, you could at least pretend to be interested in me," Dylan teased, a fake pout adorning his plump lips. "You're hurting my ego, Charles."

"Good. Maybe it'll shrink the size of your big head," I pinched his shoulder, but made a conscious effort to pay more attention to my 'mate.'

"Oh, I love when you're feeling feisty." His dark brows wiggled in a suggestive manner, like little bushy caterpillars on crack, and I laughed. An invisible weight lifed from my shoulders. I allowed the Black Lupis Delta to twirl me around-- once, twice. On the third whirl, however, I slammed directly into a foreign body.

"Oof!" The breath was knocked from my chest.Before I could even identify the man whom I'd collided with, Dylan yanked me back a few feet to stand by his side.

"My apologies, Alpha Sehan," Dylan spoke first, bowing his head in the smallest display of respect toward the Alpha of the Golden Walkers Pack. My former pack.

I blinked up at the man that I'd known for my entire life. Alpha Sehan had been my father's best friend for the better part of twenty years, and I'd always pictured the man as an Uncle of sorts. When it first emerged that I would have difficulties shifting, he offered me kindness when I'd come to expect mockery.

"Please, don't apologize," Sehan's smile could warm even the coldest of hearts, "I only thought I'd ask Charlotte for a dance before another suitor jumps up from the crowd."

"I'd be happy to--" I began, but stopped when I recognized another opportunity to plant a seed of my misidentity in the minds of any eavesdroppers. "I mean, only if Dylan, my mate, agrees..."

I batted my eyelashes up at him, an obnoxious display of female-obedience. Dylan wouldn't let me hear the end of this, but, if it kept our ruse alive for even a day longer, my efforts were worth it.

I fought the urge to barf in my mouth when a prideful, male grin appeared on the Delta's perfect features, and he squeezed my side. "Well, of course! But only one dance, and then I'd like you to myself."

I wanted to slap him but, somehow, managed to keep my hands to myself and my teeth aligned in a sweet smile. I did tear myself out of Dylan's embrace with more force than necessary, but Alpha Sehan didn't seem to notice.

My old Alpha swept me into his arms and carried me across the dance floor. We did not speak at first, and the silence prickled at the back of my neck until I found myself squirming for the dance to end.

I began conjuring excuses to leave the dancefloor when Sehan finally spoke, "You look different, Charlotte."

"Thank you..." I decided to take his observation as a compliment, since I couldn't quite trace the underlying meaning in his words. Did he hate the sight of me? Was he pleased to see me? I wished that I didn't care...

"Your father and brother will be pleased to know that I saw you." He ventured again, his grip on my waist tightening in the slightest.

"How are they doing?" I inquired, eyes glued to the Golden Walker Alpha. Things had been so crazy since arriving in the Black Lupis Pack that I'd scarcely had the chance to mourn the loss of my remaining family.

"Well," Sehan's lips tightened into a hard line, "Given the fact that you absconded in the night with the Black Lupis Alpha after the Summer Solstice, I'd say they are doing okay..."

Guilt washed over me like a wave of tar, suffocating and sticky. "I know I should have called... I just didn't think they would want to hear from me! Jeremy hates the Black Lupis Pack, and my father--"

Alpha Sehan lifted a hand to silence me, and I instantly stopped talking. His forehead crinkled and his eyes hardened, a look that I recognized as disappointment, "All of the Golden Walkers Pack felt the sting of your betrayal."

Tears sprang to my eyes as the weight of his words hit me like an eighteen-wheeler. I hadn't once thought of the effects that my actions would have on my pack-- the people that I had known since birth... Shame crept up my neck, and I kept my eyes trained on a piece of lent that clung to the breast of Stahen's coat.

He continued, "I counseled your father and Jeremy through their grief... I told them that you belonged with your mate."

"T-thank you," I breathed, still unable to look him in the eye. We were still dancing, but I hardly noticed where my feet moved on the floor.

"Let me finish," Stehan growled, and I flinched at the ire in his voice. "So you can imagine my confusion when Alpha Nolan arrived this evening without you. And you waltzed in on the arm of the Black Lupis Delta?"

I blinked back tears and furiously shook my head, "Dylan is my mate."

"You're lying!" He hissed, and I opened my mouth to protest but he continued, "I was there on the night of the Winter Solstice. I saw every second of your pathetic display of servitude to him!"

Blood pounded in my ears, and I immediately yanked my hand out of his. Our dance was over. "I don't know what to tell you, Alpha." Poison dripped from my words, "Dylan is my mate. Alpha Nolan only helped me escape from the Winter Solstice so I could be with him."

He laughed, the sound frozen over with disdain. "And yet, you remain unmarked?" Sehan's dark eyes stripped me bare, lingering on my empty neck. "I suppose neither of your so-called 'mates' wants you?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat, hands clenched into tight fists. "Goodnight, Sehan."

I turned from my ex-Alpha and stormed away. Dylan and Sophia stood on the edge of the dancefloor, eyes widened with concern, but I didn't retreat to my friends. I needed space. I needed to collect my thoughts and breathe.

My feet carried me toward the nearest exit, a pair of double doors that would lead to a back-balcony. I felt the eyes of one hundred party-goers burn into my back, and the heat of their whispered rumors and judgment scorched me like a branding iron.

Why the hell did I even come here?! I cursed myself as I flung open the balcony doors.

The cool whisper of a night breeze whisked against my flaming skin, and I closed my eyes in relief. A single sob edged itself to my lips, but the sound of feet shuffling in the darkness had me instantly on guard.

"Charlie?" A familiar male voice, a beautiful voice, called from the edge of the balcony, and I gasped.

"Dominic?" My eyes widened. No, not just Dominic. Dominic and Nolan stood in the shadows, engaged in some heated conversation. And two unearthly beautiful women stood with them.

******