One Fateful Night
Chapter 2

I walked from my house to the backyard at the pack house and looked around at all the members enjoying the time together. A smile creeps across my face, and I can’t help but think these people are my family, and I wouldn’t know what to do without them. Once I get closer, I look around, in awe at how the backyard is decorated.

Multiple tents were set up with different varieties of food and drinks, including a 5 tier birthday cake decorated with the pack colors of black and red. There was a DJ booth on the porch in front of a makeshift dance floor. I couldn’t help but smile a corny smile at all the couples dancing to God Gave Me You by Blake Shelton. After passing under the vast Happy Birthday banner, I looked up to see that the sky was filled with blue and white lights strung between poles, giving the illusion of stars to those who stood underneath them. This was a truly romantic scene that was complimented by the captivating smell. The smell of vanilla and cherry lingers through the air, and I can’t get enough of it. I made a mental note to ask my mother what they used to create the smell later.

I looked around a bit more, and eventually, I noticed Josh sitting near the bonfire. His cheeks are filled like a squirrel’s as he continues to stuff food from an oversized plate into his mouth. With a smirk, I wave to him, then point to the nearby food tent and hurriedly enter it to look at the massive varieties of food. I fix a plate, ensuring that I try everything I can, grab a water bottle then head to an empty seat next to Josh.

“Fancy meeting you here,” I joke as I sit down and set my water bottle on the ground.

I began to sample the food on the plate and blushed at some of the sound effects that came from my mouth with every bite I took. The food was good, though, and I am not ashamed to admit that I completely ate everything on my plate and went back for a second too. Once my stomach was finally full, Josh and I enjoyed the evening as we joked amongst ourselves at some of the outlandish things that our pack members were doing through the evening the more intoxicated they got. There will be plenty of things to discuss in the pack house tomorrow with everything we have seen. I looked around a bit more and couldn’t help but notice that the wonderful scent was getting stronger. Finally, I gave in to my curiosity and decided to replace the source.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes, Josh; I have to see something.”

After excusing myself from Josh, I threw away my trash and went on the hunt. Chuckling to myself, I knew that I had to look utterly foolish as I was walking around the party with my nose in the air, sniffing like a Bloodhound. But I didn’t care. By this point, the scent was so strong it was intoxicating as I rounded the corner of the pack house. With my eyes still in the air as I looked for the source, embarrassingly, I was not paying attention to where I was going. As a result, I ended up running face-first into something, which sent tingles across my face and body, and to the ground, I fell.

“What the hell?” I asked, embarrassed at my incompetence. I then got to my feet and attempted to salvage my dignity as I forced out an “excuse me.” I look up from my feet and stare into a pair of deep blue eyes staring at me just as confused. Then suddenly, I heard the one word I really didn’t want to hear in my head. “Mate.”

The source of the dreaded word was the sexiest man I had ever seen. His jet-black hair was styled with spikes in the front and short on the sides and the back. His lips were full, and I was seriously fighting the urge not to kiss him right then and there. His blue eyes were almost hypnotic as they looked at me with... regret??? I looked at him more clearly. I knew I recognized him from a few years ago, and I finally managed to choke out a coherent sentence.

“You’re Matthew?? Ummm, Happy Birthday?” Not knowing what else to say, I just looked down at my hands and waited for him to speak.

“Emily?! It’s great to see you! I hope you are doing well?” I nodded at him with a slight smile on my lips, wondering if he was going to acknowledge the mate bond. He finally grabs my hands and looks me straight in the eye. “Uhh, I am here with someone else. I never thought I would replace my mate here, so I brought my girlfriend from college.” He said, embarrassed. Before he could say anything else, I held my hand up and stopped all future words from his mouth.

Tears were beginning to form in my eyes since I knew he was not accepting or rejecting me but pretending the bond wasn’t even there. Crushed at the thought that my mate would rather pretend I was nonexistent, I decided not to give him the satisfaction of crying in front of him.

“Whatever have a fun party,” I mumbled as I pushed past him and walked away. I could barely hear him call my name over Garnet whimpering.

I make my way into the woods and sprint as fast as possible. Eventually, I ended up at a small river clearing I have always used as my thinking spot. Once I arrived there, I could finally allow the tears in my eyes to flow. I grimaced at the pain I felt in my chest, which was caused by the other half of my soul pretending I didn’t exist. It was an unbearable amount of paint that brought me to the ground. Eventually, I curled into a ball and cried with the darkness and nature surrounding me until I fell asleep.