Her Fate, His Mate

Chapter 4

Gabby sat me down and covered the mirror, she never let me see her work until the very end. She talked about the events of tonight and how excited everyone seemed to be.

"Are you not excited?" Her brow arched slightly as she was pinning back a strand of hair out of my face.

"No, I am. Just the weirdness of everything at the graduation party has me thrown off a bit." I sighed and shrugged my shoulders a little "I don't know why Grant was acting that way towards his cousin. I mean yeah Ryker is the Alpha of another pack and they've had issues supposedly. You would think with family being well, family you could just let it go and be allies?"

"Who knows, men, especially our kind, have all kinds of weird hormones going all over the place. Makes them want to let others know this is their territory and no disrespect will come onto it, especially under their watch." She made a serious face

I laughed a bit "I guess its just our wolf side."

Gabby turned on another light that was brighter and pulled out everything she needed for doing my make up. I sat there, not so patiently, as she applied it. As she finished she walked around me, pinning or smoothing out pieces of hair she didn't like. "Okay, now I have a special lipstick that matches the deep red of your dress perfectly. It's a 24 hour no smudge, no worry, no reapply. So don't worry about messing it up okay?" She pulled the lipstick out and handed it to me to look at.

I opened the tube and pulled the applicator out and smiled "Gabby it's perfect!" I handed it back to her.

"I know! Okay, now let's slap this puppy on!" She placed the lipstick on my lips carefully, not smearing it anywhere it didn't need to be. She gave me an overly excited smile and walked to where my dress hung up. "Here I can help you into this so you don't ruin my masterpiece." She laughed.

I laughed and stood up and walked to her, happy I already changed into my undergarments. "Okay I appreciate the help. Truly I do." I stepped into the dress and held it up to my bust. The back had a sparkled strap that went across from shoulder to shoulder and clasped in the middle. A zipper that went from my bottom to the sparkled strap tucked right under it almost seamlessly hidden. She grabbed the jewelry and placed it around my neck and I turned to her. I hadn't even looked at myself in the mirror and already felt beautiful. Gabby's smile said it all.

"Oh let me go get your mother. Absolutely gorgeous!" She took off from the room. I walked over to my floor length mirror uncovering it and looked at the woman starring back at me.

"Oh my baby! Gabby outdone herself." My mom smiled over to me. "You're going to cause some heads to turn and some jealous she-wolfs tonight." She placed a small light kiss to my cheek. "Enjoy tonight sweetie. Your father and I are going across the border and into human territory for a night out. Make good choices." She gave me a tight hug and was out the door.

I walked over to my bed and sat on the edge of it. I had a little time to kill and I needed to calm my thoughts. I noticed that the dress was tight but not uncomfortably tight when sitting down. There would definitely be zero slouching in it. I ran my hand along one of the designed bead work and took a deep breath. "I can do this." I hated being around a bunch of crowded people, I was still recovering from yesterday's events.

I stood up and walked to my door stepping out of my room. I paused and could hear the faint sound of voices coming from where the stairs were located. I slowly began walking in that direction when a hand grabbed my arm, pulling me to the side where another hall was located. A hand quickly covered my mouth "Shhhh. It's going to be fine beautiful."

I recognized the voice and my eyes went wide. "Grant..?"

"Happy birthday to me, my beautiful future Luna." he whispered into my ear. He placed a soft kiss against the lobe of my ear before biting it gently.

"What are you talking about? I am not the future Luna of this pack." I protested and pushed him back.

"Oh I know. I rejected my mate just a few hours ago. She isn't happy, naturally, and my wolf is absolutely furious with me, but he will get over it." His eyes darkened as a sick grin went across his face. "Because now I can have you, all to myself. Walk with me down the stairs so we can make the entire pack jealous, my wolf."

I didn't know what to do. I knew I couldn't fight him off, the consequences could result in my own injury or being casted out to be a rouge. I wasn't about to end up as a cast away, torn away from the only home that I've ever known, so I just agreed with him. "Okay, Grant, let's go then." I put on a brave face, even though I was terrified. I felt my wolf get anxious as he pushed a loosened curl away from my face and offer his arm. I reluctantly placed my hand on his arm and he tucked it close to him.

"That's a good girl." He whispered down into my ear and my stomach turned. This was going to be a long evening. I just nodded at him as we walked to the stairs.

Be calm, stay calm, put on a brave face. Be calm, stay calm, put on a brave face. I kept repeating to myself inside my head. Just then my excellent hearing picked up the soft sounds of whimpering as we approached the stairs. I looked to the hallway and it was Gracie, sitting on the floor crying.

"Pathetic, can't even take a simple rejection." He laughed.

A frown came upon my face "Gracie was your mate and you rejected her?!" I was nearly shouting.

He yanked me aside before anyone could hear or see "You say NOTHING and I mean absolutely NOTHING about finding my Mate and rejecting her. If you do, you will not like the consequencestm that will follow."

I just nodded up to him. I always knew he was a stubborn, spoiled ass but not this extreme. I was really going to have to watch myself around him.

We walked down the stairs and all eyes were on us. I frantically searched the room seeing the smiles and adoration everyone had for the birthday soon to be Alpha. "Ladies and gentlemen as you know, the Alpha ceremony is in a few weeks. Luckily the Moon Goddess has blessed me early today with finding my Mate and your future Luna! Enjoy the party!" Cheers erupted and filled the room as he leaned down and kissed me possessively. I froze against him and he pulled back and placed his forehead against my own and he sighed "My perfect beautiful Luna, you will learn to love me." He smiled and grabed my hand leading me out to the dance floor.

I was stuck by his side pretty much all night. He wouldn't let me go far from sight and every time Ryker started coming towards us, Grant drug us away.

His hands roamed freely over the top backside of my dress as we danced. He smiled down at me "You look so sad. I wish you could see the opportunity I have just given you. My love, the pack who already adores you, unlimited funds and tremendous opportunities to do whatever your heart desires."

I gave him a faint smile "What if I meet my Mate?"

His eyes darkened and he leaned into my ear "I will kill him or mark you first. Which ever comes first." He nipped at my earlobe and pulled back, smiling down at me. "Now go enjoy yourself my sweet. Just remember no one knows a thing." He turned and walked off to his buddies and they all started hollering in celebration.

I walked off as quickly as I could to a table and sat down. An older lady approached me and took my drink order and came back with it. "How happy you must be. Enjoy your evening."

"Thank you." I offered her a smile and took a drink of my beverage. I sighed and tried to relax. Just then a tap came upon my shoulder. I nearly jumped out of my skin and stood up quickly turning around "Sorry I was going to come back I just-" I looked up and seen a warm and welcoming smile from Ryker.

"Hello gorgeous." He was smiling at me but also looked concerned. "I didn't mean to startle you. I know you've been preoccupied with my cousin. I suppose a congratulations are in order."

I smiled up at him, I could gaze into those eyes forever "Oh. For what?"

"For finding your mate..?" He tilted his head to the side "Are you not excited? You don't seem to be too happy over it." He smirked then.

"Oh no. I just don't feel the connection because I'm not of age yet. He said I was his mate and I believe him. Just overwhelmed I guess." I smiled and stepped back from him.

"Ahh. Of course that explains a lot then. You promised me a walk, remember?" He stepped closer towards me.

I felt my breath catch and forgot how to breathe momentarily. Being this close felt so natural, easy, exciting. "Oh yes. I don't know if that would still be appropriate seeing how I have a mate now." Sadness hinted in my voice and I looked down at my hands.

He lifted my chin to look up at him "He is not your mate. I can tell in the way you look, act, and feel among, well, other things." He glanced up and was looking past me. "Cousin! Congratulations on finding your mate! I was just telling her how happy it is to see you truly happy." He lied through his teeth. I could feel that he was tensed up, weird.

"Ah yes, thank you. I guess we can both agree on this one thing." He laughed and Ryker stood rigid.

"Absolutely. I was wondering if you told her about our family history? I would be more happy telling it since I am older and can remember more." he shrugged a bit, his hands going into his pockets.

"Nah I don't want to overwhelm her just yet. Excuse us." Grant said wrapping his arms around me. He pulled me away and I felt like screaming in the middle of the guest filled room at the top of my lungs.

"Grant I'm a bit tired." I pulled away slightly, "I would love to go to bed."

He stared at me, for what seem to be five minutes before speaking. "We will be having your things moved to my room soon. People would expect it. Mates can't keep their hands off one another." He leaned down and nuzzled his nose into my neck where I would be marked.

My stomach flipped and my inner wolf growled and tried pushing through. A soft growl escaped my lips and I felt him smile as his tongue licked along my neck. "This is inappropriate. We may not be around anyone, but-" He cut me off.

"Shhh. No one will say anything." He kissed me hard, pulling me into him. My body stayed rigid against his and I tried pushing him back. He stood and cupped my face in his hands, "Don't fight me, now off to bed."

I turned around and walked for the stairs, hurrying and moving through the crowd of people. Reaching the stairs, I was at a near run and my eyes were threatening to spill all the secrets. I reached my door and opened it and slammed it shut, locking it behind me. I closed my eyes and slid down the door, tears now streaming down my cheeks, soon falling asleep.