Her secret mate

Party

Hand in hand we walked across the campus, but everything felt a bit strange.

Darcy was still not talking to me, but that was his usual tactic when he was pissed with me for one reason or another, which started to happen more often after he turned eighteen.

For the last two months, the usual light and assurance I felt radiating from him was not as strong as before. He felt a bit more distant than before, but I was sure that he was just nervous about returning home and starting his real training.

I am sure his father won't hand him over his alpha place the moment Dacy leaves school, but everything will change. He will have more responsibility than ever before and he will, for sure, be more involved in the pack business.

Quietly, we walked across the front yard and stepped into the party house. The moment we stepped in everyone turned to us.

I call it the Darcy effect.

Where ever we were, he drew everyone to us and it still amazes me.

Everyone wanted to talk to him, everyone wanted to be his friend and all I wanted to do was go home.

Unlike him, I was not into interacting with people. Each conversation felt fake and draining, but Darcy wanted me here and so I complied. He always dragged me around with him. He always assured me that he enjoyed my company and, with his busy schedule, there was not so much time for us to spend together, so even if we were in public it was better than nothing.

I know that part of this was his public image.

Policks were a big part of the alpha's life and even from early on he was determined to create an image of himself and I know that I am part of it.

I am the perfect eye candy for every power-crazy alpha.

The sole air to the biggest and oldest packs in the werewolf world.

Everyone knew who my father was and that whoever I was with would be the next powerhouse of werewolf society.

If it was anyone else other than Darcy dragging me around like this, I would be sure that they were using me for politics, but Darcy was already born into one of the strongest families and him being with me was a great plus, but he could do it well enough on his own.

I looked up at him and saw the same distant look on his face that became more and more frequent.

"Is everything alright?"

My voice shook him awake and he turned to me as I leaned into him and gave a light kiss to his shoulder.

"Yeah..."

I could feel that he is not saying something, but I did not know how to push him to talk. This was never a problem before, he always shared everything without me even asking him.

Feeling a bit desperate, I did something I had never done before.

I apologized.

"Look sorry about before... I know that you don't like it when I say things like that, especially in public."

His facial expression changed as he stared down into my eyes, forcing us both to stop for a moment.

After a moment of staring at me like that, he spoke with a sad, annoyed look on his face.

"We both know that you are not sorry."

"You are right, I am not sorry about what I said. I was telling the truth and I stand by it... But I am sorry that you dislike it so much."

He never really noticed how much him, pushing me away, hurt me, but I knew that he wanted to wait for our first time to be together when we mate.

He released a deep sigh and turned to me fully.

"It's not that I don't like it... it is quite the opposite of that. I love how expressive you are with your affection. It's just that the timing you choose is very inappropriate. We were in public and we both have an image to uphold and me dragging you out of the ceremony, so I could f**k you would hurt both of our packs."

Politics again, sometimes I feel that pack politics come first... and it breaks my heart.

Will it always be like this?

Is that what life will be like after we mate?

Pack comes first, right?

I could feel hurt mixed with other emotions rising up and I could feel my eyes watering.

There was more that he was not saying, but someone from the party noticed us standing and shouted Darcy's name and I knew the moment was gone. His face changed as his mask slipped back on.

He wrapped a hand around me and we started walking in the direction where one of his friends stood talking to us.

My mind was too busy processing what he said or more like what he did not say, so I did not pay any attention to what they were talking about.

For some reason, his hand did not feel warm around my waist as we stepped into the house and everyone's eyes turned to us.

Sure they may have been looking in my direction, but no one saw me, everyone was looking at him. I never felt more invisible than I do when we are in public together. Most of the time I am thankful for it, but today it made me feel sad and lonely.

Who could have thought that you could feel so lonely while being surrounded by hundreds of people?

A bunch of people came around to greet him and shake hands, while I stood there frozen and completely invisible. For the first time in years, I felt completely invisible, just like I used to feel at home.

My father always drew everyone's attention to himself, even my mothers. So, even if they took me everywhere with them, they were more concerned with each other and the pack than me. I was always on the side lines or feeling more like an accessory than a human being.

SHIT, I want to go home.