“I’ve never thought of boys as anything other than friends, Beta Adam.” Quickening my pace to catch back up to him. Rachel was playing with his long hair as she sat there in his arms.
Beta Adam chuckled, glancing down at me and switching Rachel to the other arm, which then erupted into full-on laughter. “Amora, you don’t have to pretend that he doesn’t spark some attraction, because I can tell he does. The other unmated she-wolves notice him, and I know you do too.”
I blushed again, but this time it seeped through, making my cheeks bright red. “I’m his friend, Beta. He is my brother’s best friend, and I’m sad that he will be leaving in a few short weeks. Besides, there is no reason to become emotionally attached to someone when you each have a mate out there.”
Beta Adam cocked his head to the side as I peeked up at him through my lashes. “Young lady, you are wise beyond your years, but the Goddess brings people into our lives not for shits and giggles but for reasons we do not understand. She will reveal those reasons throughout our lives, but we have to trust her.”
I nodded and walked away. I didn’t feel like going through the conversation that he was headed to. I would keep my firsts for my mate; this was a fact. Running up the stairs, I made my way to my bedroom to get ready. Today was Sawyer and Danika’s eighteenth birthday, and curiosity was killing me.
I passed Nolen’s room and peeked in—he always kept his door open unless he was sleeping. He was sitting on his bed speaking into his phone, a towel hung around his bare shoulders, and he had on grey sweatpants. The huskiness of his voice carried to my ears, and I stopped to listen.
“Mother, please don’t do the party. You realize the pack won’t come; I’m not Archer. Mom... Okay, fine, I will be home in a few weeks. Sawyer and Danika are turning eighteen tonight, so I’ll call you afterward... Yes, mother.... I’ll call you later. I love you.”
I stifled a giggle, trying to sneak off before he caught me listening to his conversation.
“Are you eavesdropping?”
I stopped in my tracks and turned. Nolen stood there freshly showered in his sweatpants, his eyes roamed over my body, and at that moment, I wanted to step up to him, but instead I bit my bottom lip and smirked. “Damn, you caught me. You getting ready for the party?”
Nolen’s head tilted and he cocked an eyebrow. “Yes, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Shouldn’t you be getting ready?”
“Yep, on my way to my room,” I answered, crossing my arms across my chest. Nolen’s eyes glowed, and I realized I hadn’t imagined it. They had done the same thing when he’d locked eyes with me at the challenge. “How did you do that?”
Nolen blinked and shook his head, stepping back further into his room, keeping his distance from me. “Do what?”
“You know... Never mind. I’ll meet you at the party.” I let it go and walked away before I said something I shouldn’t, but I glanced back at him over my shoulder, his arms crossed over his muscular chest, and he gave me a wink when he caught me.
Mother refused to let me wear anything but a dress. I mean, it’s not like Sawyer would become Alpha tonight. So, now here I was wearing this stupid dress for his birthday party. Walking down the hall, Sawyer’s door opened, and he came out with just a wifebeater and basketball shorts on. He peered down at me and then smirked. “Aw, my little sister is getting all dressed up for my birthday! One of these days, you’re going to call me Alpha.”
“Ha, when that day comes, hopefully I’ll be mated and out of this pack.” And I walked past him to the stairs. The heels killed my feet; I wasn’t made for these types of shoes.
“Come on, sis, why would you want to leave the pack? You realize most mates are in the same pack. Besides, our pack is huge, and you never know if one of the warrior males will be your mate,” he teased, nudging me in the arm with a grin. I ignored him, noticing Nolen in a navy-blue collared shirt and grey dress pants at the bottom of the steps. A she-wolf was rubbing up against him. My heart sank when she placed a kiss on his cheek; his hand went to the she-wolf’s hand that traveled over his chest.
“Looks like someone has the green sickness.” Sawyer slapped me on the back, and I glanced over at him as I tried to hold back the tears in my eyes. He wasn’t mine, as much as I wanted him to be. Other she-wolves had every right to try to get his attention.
Nolen’s head swung to face me; his eyes ran over the teal dress I wore, which made my heart start racing. His head cocked to the side as if he overheard my racing heart, and dismissing the she-wolf, he walked up the stairs to me. I couldn’t take my eyes off him, and I thought I would faint when he gave me that gorgeous smile. He motioned over to Sawyer and held out his hand for me to take. “Ready to go? We have to be on the stage before shithead here.”
Not trusting myself to speak, I nodded. I couldn’t understand why I felt like this around him, but I would miss it when he left.
Taking his hand, we descended the stairs to the backyard where Sawyer and Danika would turn eighteen and shift. I sighed. I would be turning eighteen after Nolen left to go back home. Peeking up through my lashes, I tried to steal as many memories as I could before he was gone forever.
“You keep looking at me like you’ll never see me again.”
Removing my gaze from him, I glanced around our surroundings. I didn’t want anyone to overthink our conversation. “Well, you’ll be going back to your pack in a few weeks. Possibly taking over soon.”
Nolen pulled me in closer to his side; there was no way he didn’t feel the shiver that ran down my body as his closeness. “Yeah, I doubt I’ll be taking over at all. I’ve told you before—my pack doesn’t like me, and they will never want me to be Alpha.”
We went up the stairs; I couldn’t figure out why he continued to say things like this. I mean, when he came to the pack, he’d been scrawny, but it should not have been a reason he wouldn’t be accepted to be Alpha. This tall, gorgeous guy beside me was everything they needed. He would lay down his life to keep his pack safe, yet the pack didn’t feel the same for him. According to him.
We stopped just to the left side of my mother and father. Danika’s parents stood on the other side of my parents, waiting with excited expressions on their faces. See, what was crazy was Sawyer and Danika were born minutes apart from each other. The two of them walked up the steps of the stage, and Danika went over to her parents while Sawyer stood before ours.
My father walked up to the front, and everyone in the pack became quiet; he beamed at them, all his excitement being felt within the whole pack. “Quartzite pack! Here, in just a few short minutes, these two young wolves will turn eighteen! Where they will shift for the first time and, with any luck, find their mates amongst us!”
The roar from the crowd made me smile. My pack loved one another. We all might squabble, but at the end of the day, we all made sure everyone was safe. I gazed up at the moon that slid out of the clouds. It would be a memorable night as the two wolves that were turning eighteen had been blessed with a full moon tonight.
Sawyer and Danika walked up next to my dad, and everyone became quiet when the first snap happened. Sawyer’s face contorted in pain, but he made no sound. The next minute, where my brother had been standing, a massive grey and white wolf now stood. His head raised to the moon, and a long howl erupted from it.
Other howls followed him; Sawyer’s cut short when his wolf’s head turned suddenly to Danika. She had yet to shift, but the grey wolf never took his eyes off her. Another snap sounded, and Danika screamed before a golden-brown wolf took her place.