"You've got to be joking." Emily scoffed at Greyson's words. It was impossible that her mate was in the pack house at this very moment. Emily began to get a little angry, believing that Greyson was just messing with her.

"I'm not, Emily. You're a future Luna, but of whose pack – I don't know. Do you want to go look for him?" Greyson asked calmly as Emily's eyes averted to the cement below her feet. She had to take a moment to register everything.

Her mate, the person she would be spending the rest of her life with was here. Emily wasn't sure that she wanted to meet him just yet. She was only sixteen years old, and most wolves don't meet their mate until they're in their early twenties. Emily wanted more experience. She wasn't sure if she wanted to settle down just yet, and she still had one more year of high school left. She wasn't ready. Not yet.

"No, I don't want to go look for him. If anything, I want you to help me hide from him." Emily's words shocked Greyson. He had never imagined Emily as someone who didn't want to meet their mate yet. He figured that she'd be jumping for joy and running around looking for him, but she wasn't. That just intrigued Greyson more.

"I need to go and start getting ready for the Ball." Emily said, standing up. Greyson stood with her with his eyebrows raised.

"The dance isn't until eight, it's only ten in the morning." Greyson got the sense that Emily just wanted to get away and have some time alone, but he wanted her to admit it.

Emily pursed her lips, "Well, beauty takes time, Grey." Her face didn't show much emotion because of how hard she was thinking at the moment. Greyson just chuckled a little before nodding.

"Save me a dance?" Greyson asked as Emily turned and began walking away. Emily turned back around to face him but kept walking backwards, a smile on her face. "Sure, why not?"

She turned back around and kept walking until she got back to her room, leaving Greyson to stand and sulk about how he had only met Emily yesterday and his feelings were already slightly growing for her.

Too bad he'd have to end her life later that night, at the Masquerade Ball.

+

It was now seven-fifty, and Emily was completely ready. She had put her dress on over thirty minutes ago, after she finished putting her makeup and her mom did her hair which was just simply curled since she never curled her hair. Emily's hair was always straight, she just thought it was easier to deal with, although she did like it when her hair was curled.

There was a sudden knock on Emily's door, bringing her out of her thoughts. Emily turned around from the boy length mirror to see her mother standing there in the beautiful indigo dress which she helped pick out. The masks that they both were to wear were in both of Eliza's hands.

"Awe, honey, you look beautiful! Even better than you did when you first tried the dress on." Eliza gushed at her daughter. Emily just smiled back.

"Not as beautiful as you, mother." Emily joked, but she really did mean it. Her mother looked stunning and quite young for her actual age.

Eliza handed Emily her mask, "Come now, we must be on our way. It is already five until eight." Emily laughed at her mother's fake British accent, pulling on her mask as her mother did also. They both looped their arms together before walking out of Emily's room where George was waiting, his green and black mask already on his face.

"Well aren't you lucky," George laughed, confusing Emily with his words. She flashed him a clueless stare, causing him to explain as they all made their way to the ballroom. "You got the good genes from your mom and I." That made Emily smile.

Her dad always joked about how Emily had gotten her looks from him just to piss of Eliza, but they were just jokes. This was one of the first jokes that he made about how she looked where he said Emily got good looks from Eliza. Eliza lightly slapped George's arm.

Before Emily had realized, they had arrived at the Ball doors. They all stopped in front of the closed doors, Emily taking a few deep breaths. Maybe he was here – her mate. She really wished that he had already left the territory or decided not to attend the ball. She, for some reason, really didn't want to meet him tonight. It was obvious why, though.

Emily entered the ballroom with her parents a few steps ahead of her. Classical music immediately sounded her ears, making her cringe. Emily absolutely hated classical music. She thought it was too boring and depressing. Her mother, on the other hand, loved it.

Eliza turned her head back a little to look at Emily, "Your dad and I are going to go dance. Think you can survive on your own?" She joked. But, Emily didn't laugh. She was too busy scanning the crowd for her mate, even though she told herself that she didn't want to meet him.

Maybe she was just lying to herself. Maybe she actually did want to meet him.

"Yeah, whatever," Emily replied, mindlessly waving off her parents who shared a look before walking to the dance floor.

There were all sorts of dresses that girls were wearing. Some were wearing short dresses that were tight fitting and slutty – Emily was not surprised by this – and then there were some girls who dressed like they had just came from a nunnery.

Emily was brought out of her observations by a familiar voice. It was Greyson. "Is that Emily Clayson that I see? My, my, my, I could've sworn that I had died and gone to Heaven." He teased, looking Emily up and down with a satisfied smile on his lips. Emily just blushed and smirked slightly.

"Is that Greyson whatever that I see? My, my, my, I could've sworn that I had died and went to Hell." Emily contorted, not knowing Greyson's last name and feeling a little embarrassed about it. She was kidding, of course. Greyson did look quite dashing, she had to admit.

Greyson rolled his eyes playfully. Emily winced when she heard the song change to a slow song. Greyson smirked while hold out his hand for Emily to take, "I know I said to save me a dance, but I see no one in a rush to dance with you, so, may I have this dance, Miss Emily?"

Emily reluctantly placed her hand inside his, pursing her lips, "Why, of course you may." She curtsied for dramatic effect and giggled after when Greyson practically dragged her to the dance floor where other wolves – who probably had just met their mates – were already slow dancing together.

When they both stopped, Greyson snaked his hand around Emily's lower back while she placed hers behind his neck, resting her forearms on his broad shoulders.

They didn't speak at first, just settling with a comfortable silence. Emily noticed how Greyson was sweating a little, a sign of nervousness. She furrowed her eyebrows but kept her mouth shut, not wanting to ruin the moment if he was upset or something.

The slow song seemed to last forever to Emily, but once it finally ended, she was happy. A faster beat of a song played, and Emily was about to start dancing to it, but Greyson stopped her by tightly grabbing her wrist.

Emily gasped in pain mixed with surprise, "Ah, that kind of hurts, Grey." She laughed nervously, not liking Greyson's sudden change of mood. He looked around cautiously before yanking Emily towards the exit doors of the ballroom. Emily squirmed and thrashed, attracting the attention of a few curious wolves.

Greyson suddenly spun around, a nasty look on his face that had Emily taken aback. "Stop resisting, you'll only make it worse. And I don't want to hurt you, Emily, but I will if I have to." Emily's eyes widened. Why was he doing this?

Emily obliged to Greyson's rough hands as he slung her out of the exit doors, making her groan in pain. "Why are you doing this?" Emily asked, fear prominent in her voice.

Greyson kept dragging her down the empty hallway as he spoke, "Revenge, I'm doing this for revenge... on your jackass of a mate." Emily frowned at his explanation.

Her mate? Did that mean that Greyson knew who her mate was the entire time? That he'd been lying and keeping secrets from her for the past day and a half? Emily felt hurt that the only reason that she made a new friend was for some sick, twisted game of revenge.

"My mate? Does that mean you know who he is?"

"Yeah, it does. But, too bad you'll

never know who he is because you'll be dead within the next five minutes." Greyson sneered, turning a corner and yanking Emily by her fragile wrists once again.

She couldn't die, not now. And certainly not for a reason as stupid as Greyson's. Emily would fight for her life, even if that meant ending Greyson's. Emily looked to her right to see a fire extinguisher, making a light bulb light up in her head.

Emily suddenly dropped, collapsing her body weight onto the ground, taking Greyson down with her. It took him by surprise. Emily didn't waste any time getting up, busting the glass in front of the fire extinguisher with her elbow, and grabbing it. When Greyson tried to stand and grab her again, she sprayed his eyes with the fire extinguisher, forcing him to shout out in pain.

There was now blood dripping from Emily's elbow with small shards of glass sticking out of it. Emily winced, but she knew that all of the cuts would be completely healed by the next night. She then lifted the fire extinguisher, aiming it at Greyson who was rubbing his eyes with his hands. Emily swung as hard as she could, hitting Greyson over the head with the fire extinguisher, knocking him out cold.

Emily dropped the fire extinguisher and let out a tired breath, suddenly feeling drained of energy. She never really did much of the pack training since she was still considered a child, and she never really was an athletic person, so she had a hard time catching her breath for a few seconds.

Grace suddenly emerged from Emily's mind without warning. She was excited and anxious, confusing Emily. She felt a presence behind her, hitting her with powerful waves of authority. Emily gulped before tediously turning around to face the presence.

Grace said robotically, making Emily freeze. It was finally happening, and Emily wasn't completely sure that the wanted it to.

It was a man, an Alpha, Emily could tell. He had large muscles, of course. She couldn't see much of his face seeing as he was wearing a mask. He was staring down at Greyson, a cold glare on his face. He was breathing heavily, more than likely trying to calm his wolf down.

Slowly, the man's eyes drifted from Greyson's unconscious body to Emily's frozen one. His stone eyes connected with hers, making her suck in a breath of air. Emily's eyes never blinked, even when her mate stepped over Greyson's body and closer to her.

They were no more than two feet away from each other, far too close for Emily's liking. The Alpha lifted his hand, it aimed for his mask. He was about to reveal himself, and Emily was not sure if she wanted him to do that.

As the mask left his face, Emily felt her whole world stop spinning out of complete and utter shock. The man standing before her with a devious – yet somehow charming – smile on his seemingly perfect face was the man Emily recognized from her dreams, her nightmares.

The man standing before her, Carlos fucking Bennett, was her mate.

Oh, fuck me, Emily thought to herself, believing that her life was forever ruined. And the sad thing was, she was right.