Chapter 3 3

I stared at myself in the mirror. Jade approved, but I couldn't bring myself to like it. How would I fight in something like this?

"Calm down, Chloe. It looks fine. If there was a fight, don't you think the entire pack gathered together would be able to handle it?"

I tried to ignore the little wolf voice in my head. No, this wasn't me. I tugged at the pink skirt in a vain attempt to cover my long legs, but the fabric had absolutely no give.

I would kill for a pair of shorts and a tank top. It might not be the fanciest, but it was perfect for my needs.

"Chloe," Jade lectured me again. "If you don't want to wear the blouse and a skirt, at least wear a nice dress. We might find our mate tonight."

The mate talk again. I groaned. Maybe the skirt would do. I wasn't completely comfortable in it, but it was way better than trying to wear one of those slinky monstrosities of a dress. Those damn things always were trying to force all the air out of my body.

"Chloe!" My mother's cheerful voice called from downstairs. "Your friend Kale is here!"

"We should probably not be around him tonight," Jade offered. "If our mate thinks that we're taken by another, maybe he will get upset."

I couldn't handle this mate-obsessed wolf for too much longer. We'd only been nineteen for a few hours at this point, not even a full twenty-four, and all she could think about was finding a mate to tie us down to and lock us away forever.

Seriously, who wanted that? I didn't. "Jade, drop it. We're not going to this party to find our mate. We're going to support our Alpha and Beta and to welcome them home. That's it. We just turned nineteen. I'm positive we'll have plenty of time to find a mate and settle down and be bored to death for the rest of our lives."

"Chloe, that's not what having a mate means. It's not the end of your life." Jade sighed heavily and I could feel her frowning at me. "It's the beginning of our story together. Besides, it'll be nice to have someone care about us."

"I've got Kale," I snapped back. "My best friend will always be there for me. What more could I need?"

"You'll understand eventually, Jewel." Jade huffed, then plopped down.

Maybe I'd won that one.

"Chloe!" Kale opened the door and grinned at me. He paused and scrunched his nose. "You look... pink?" he offered with a shudder.

I glared back at him. "This wasn't my idea. But Jade was throwing a damned fit if I didn't wear something with at least a skirt." I adjusted the black blouse. It clung far more than I liked, but still better than a stupid dress. At least I hadn't had to wear that frilly nightmare my dad had wanted me to.

"Yeah, I'm on your side about this one, Chloe. You look awful. But don't worry, I'm sure we'll be ignored, anyway. Well, you probably won't. You're always the life of the party."

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes at him but couldn't help but smile. "Come on, let's hurry up and get going. Jade will die if I'm late for this thing."

"What's crawled up her butt today? She's usually pretty chill." Kale offered me his arm, and I took it. "We can talk while we walk. Come on."

I couldn't argue against his logic and grabbing my stuff off the table, I dashed after him. "It's just since this morning, honestly. She thinks we're going to find our mate and be whisked away to some fairytale ending or something. It's gag-worthy."

Kale laughed. "I'm lucky Spina isn't like that. He hasn't cared about our mate yet. We'll find them when the time is right."

"You're not nineteen yet," I pointed out while sticking my tongue out at him. I frowned. The pathways were crowded. I wished we could have just taken a shortcut through the woods. None of these people would have bothered going through there. "This really is the entire damned pack."

"Yeah, they are going to be our Alpha and our Beta." Kale shrugged. "Don't know why you're so shocked.

I pushed forward and we finally squeezed into the house. I took a deep breath but the air was polluted with at least a dozen different heavy perfumes that the other women had spritzed themselves with in an attempt to get attention. Quinn was probably in one of those packs. I choked on the air and dragging Kale behind me I searched through the rooms until I found a small room with some workout equipment scattered around.

But at least there was no giggling moronic women in here. How could anyone be attracted to someone like Quinn? I sniffed the surrounding air. Something was off. I couldn't really explain it. "Hey Kale, do you smell that?"

Kale glanced around the cramped space. "The smell of sweaty males? Sure, I wouldn't really expect anything different in here."

I rolled my eyes and sniffed again. I smelled that too, but beneath it was the strangest combinations of scents. The sweet summery scent of watermelon and the spice of cinnamon.

"Mate!" Jade jerked to attention and pressed forward. If I hadn't been on my guard against her, she would have wrenched control away from me.

Instead of the joy she felt as my wolf bounded in my head, the only thing I could focus on was dread. No! I couldn't meet my mate like this! I should have worn that dress. I was going to be rejected at first sight. I wasn't mate material!

"Chloe? What's wrong?" Kale reached for me, but I slipped out of his grip.

"I'm sorry, Kale, I can't stay here. Something came up. Good luck!" I blurted before turning and pushing my way through the group still streaming into the big house. It was hard to work against the crowd, but I kept pushing and squeezing until I got through and into the fresh air.

But I didn't stop there. I ran with every drop of strength in my body for the woods and didn't stop until I was surrounded by the trees, and then only long enough for me to shift. I took control of Jade who only wanted to go back and search for our mate but I would never allow that.

With full control I ran. I didn't know where I'd end up, but I'd at least not have to face him and be rejected.

Not yet.