"Aspen, wake up." I can hear my best friends voice float across my dream like a breeze.

"wakey - wakey, eggs and bakey" I feel her poke and shake me. But I refuse to get up yet, the dream was just getting good.

I was on a Hawaiian Island with Alex Pettyfer. It turned out he was my mate and we had gone on a honeymoon, before we took our rightful place as Alpha's.

"I swear I will get the bucket, Aspen!"

"Jenna, Please! five more minutes - he was about to take his shirt off!" I pull the covers over my head, pushing away the light.

"Alex Pettyfer again?" I hum in response, my best friend knows me so well.

No matter how hard I try, I can't get the dream to come back. Dammit.

"Ugh. I guess I will never know what he is like as a mate." I sit up in my bed, giving Jenna the evil eyes.

She laughs in response. Her brown curls bounce with the movement and her green eyes flutter close as tears stream down her face. She is probably laughing at my appearance rather than my dream, but I don't care.

"Lucky you're my best friend or I would have to kill you for interrupting my honeymoon" I brush past her on my way to the bathroom.

Jenna and I were born friends. She is two months older than I am, and she is the Beta's daughter, where I am the Alpha's.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your 'honeymoon'" a giggle escapes her lips, but she continues "but I thought you might like to get up and get ready for your birthday party. and maybe meet your Actual mate" She emphasizes the word actual and I roll my eyes in response.

To be honest though, I am really excited and kind of nervous. The entire pack is invited as well as the pack that is closest to us, The Red Moon pack. My parents are making a big deal out of this because my mate will be the next Alpha.

Our pack, the MoonStone pack, is the largest of all North America.

I walk into the bathroom and look in the mirror. Now I know why Jenna was laughing. My auburn hair that was in a high bun last night, is now low and stray hairs hang in every direction like some sort of weird nest. To make it worse, I have lines on my face from where I was lying on the pillow seam.

Great, so being eighteen is off to a great start I think with a sarcastic laugh.

I strip off my clothes and jump into the shower, letting the warm water run over me for a minute, before washing my body and hair with my strawberry soap and shampoo.

I reach for my fluffy pink towel, drying quickly and wrapping it around my body. I then take another towel and wrap my hair before going back into the bedroom.

Jenna is scowling at her phone but looks up when I walk out.

"Ian is upset, because I wasn't there when he woke up" She laughs a little before typing something in her phone.

"You left your mate in bed to come wake me up?"

"Well ya, I am not going to let you get ready for your party, on your own!" She said in a 'duh' tone.

I roll my eyes and my wolf, Rose, huffs in my head.

If we had our mate, I would never let him wake up alone, Rose said.

I agreed while I picked out some black lace underwear from the drawer. Jenna already had my silver dress laid out on the bed for me. She really is the best friend anyone can ask for.

I fell in love with the dress as soon as I saw it. It has a corset top and flows out to at the waist, stopping just above my knees. In the right light, it shimmers like diamonds.

Jenna lays out all the makeup and hair products on my vanity, looking to her wrist dramatically trying to hurry me up. I roll my eyes and walk over to the chair, sitting down with a sigh.

"You know, my mate should like me without makeup, so maybe just the hair" Jenna looks at me with a mortified expression as soon as the words leave my mouth.

"First Impressions are key. Eventually, he can see you without makeup, but not for years!" She exclaims, starting to put the concealer on my face.

"Years?! Try maybe days." I start to shake my head but Jenna grabs my chin holding it still while she continues with my makeup.

"Nope, years. Ian hasn't even seen me without makeup yet." She says matter-of-factly and my eyes about bug out of my head.

"You have been mated for like six months. You moved into his room like the day after you met! How has he never seen you without makeup?!"

"I wake up early." She makes it sound like it is the most obvious thing in the world.

I roll my eyes and close my eyes as she fixes my eye shadow. When she is done, I hardly recognize myself in the mirror. My auburn hair is pulled back into a side bun that sits just above my shoulder, with a few loose strands framing my face. My eye lids have a grey smokey effect that really makes my blue eyes pop and my lips are tinted red with just a touch of gloss.

Somehow, Jenna managed to look just as amazing even though she did mine and her hair and makeup. Her long brown hair has been tousled into flowing waves that cascade down her back and shoulders. He makeup similar to mine, except for her lips which were pink. I can't help but giggle to myself.

"What? you don't like it?" Jenna face displays a little hurt, but I am quick to shake my head.

"No. no. I was just thinking how Ian won't be able to keep his hands off you tonight."

"Neither will your mate, if he is here." Jenna says before she gets the far off look in her eye.

"Ian needs help with his tie. I will see you downstairs." she gives me a quick hug before walking out leaving me alone with my thoughts.

To say that I haven't thought about my mate would be a lie. Of course, I have wondered about him, he is the next Alpha of this pack. What if he isn't Alpha material? I mean he was chosen specifically for me, so he would have to be good for the pack to right? Aren't we kind of a package deal?

A knock on my bedroom door pulls me from my thoughts. It's probably Jenna, but usually she comes right in. I open the door only to see an empty hallway. That's weird. I go to close the door to finish getting ready, when a blue, rectangular box catches my eye on the ground my my feet.

I bend down to pick it up, admiring the clean white ribbon tied in a neat bow.

I blink rapidly in front of my mirror trying to get my bearings.

What just happened? I asked my Rose. Sometimes if she gets to angry or something she takes over and in the rush, my human consciousness blacks out for a minute.

I-I don't know. She responds.

Well that is concerning, usually if I don't know, she does. I look down to my vanity and see the blue box open and empty. My head tilts to the side in confusion and I look back to my reflection. I gasp when I notice the necklace around my neck.

It is a silver like chain, with a circular locket on the end. The locket has a cobalt blue paw print in the center. It is beautiful.

But I have never seen it before now.

"Aspen! It's time!" Jenna rushes into my room, effectively breaking me from my thoughts.

"oh, right. Let's go." She loops her arm through mine and pulls me towards the door.

I can hear the music blaring from the ballroom on the bottom floor. My heart beats in excitement as we cascade down the stairs.

Here we go.