No one knows that I have a mate.

Amaris

It’s been a week since Maxon and I had our moment out in that field and I still can’t wrap my head around it.
The draw between us is undeniable. It’s not as strong as the pull towards Kenton, but it’s definitely still there, and that fact alone confuses me.
I mean, I have a mate. So, *why* am I drawn to someone else?
The back of my neck prickles with the feeling of being watched, but I don’t have to turn and look to see who it is.
It’s him.
It’s always him.
He watches me just as much, if not even more, as I watch him.
Because I do watch him, even when I don’t mean to. I’ll be thinking about something, not even paying attention, and then the next thing I know, my eyes are locked on him and I’m tracking his every movement, analyzing everything about him.
When he watches me, it doesn’t appear to be out of curiosity, but because of the pull. The longing that I find in his eyes when I catch him looking is clear as day.
He doesn’t know that I have a mate.
No one knows that I have a mate.
And if I’m honest, I’m conflicted. Kenton is my mate, and the bond between us is strong. The fact that I just *knew* that he was in trouble when he, Asher, and Boone had their accident and that I, not only needed to get to him but also exactly *how* to get to there, is a testament to just how strong our bond is, isn’t it?
*Or is that just another one of my powers?* I can’t help but wonder. *What if it’s not about our bond at all?*
And now I’m questioning everything all over again and needing answers about who I am more than ever before.
But none of that explains why I didn’t tell Maxon that I had a mate when I had a chance to.
He practically gave me the perfect opportunity to do it.
*So why haven’t I told him?*
Blowing out a breath of frustration, I add *that* to the list of things that I don’t have any answers to.
A list that seems as though it grows longer and longer with every day that passes.
“Hey, Mer,” Zara says as she bounds off next to me, bouncing with excitement. “Did you hear the news?”
Scrunching my brows, I try to think of what she could be referring to, but shake my head *no* when I end up coming up blank.
Her excitement is contagious and, finding myself eager for whatever the news is, I ask, “I can’t think of anything. What is it?”
“The date for the annual mate ball was just announced!” She shrieks, jumping up and down again in excitement!
“Mate ball?“ I question as I try to picture myself dressed up in a ball gown and being all fancy. With that thought, the excitement that I had been feeling fades into a combination of dread but also nervous anxiety at the possibility of seeing Kenton again. *Will he be there?*
“Yes! I am *so* excited!” She gushes as she skips her arms through mine and begins leading us away from the pack house. “And you’re going to *love* it. Unmated members from packs all across the world gather together to see if they have been blessed with a fated mate. Although there hasn’t been a fated mate pair in recorded history in nearly three centuries.”
*It’s been three hundred years since there’s been a record of a fated mate pair? H-how is that possible?*
“What?” I ask because surely I heard her wrong.
“What, what?” She asks, smirking at me.
Stopping, I pull my arm away from her and bring my hands to my head, threading my fingers through my hair and fisting the strands as I try to process what she just said. Shaking my head, I mutter, “There’s really not been a fated mate pair in three hundred years?”
“Nope. But that hasn’t stopped us from hoping that maybe, one day, it will happen. Wouldn’t it be awesome to be one of the first wolves who is blessed by the moon goddess after our kind has suffered for so long without it?”
“Yeah, amazing,” I say, giving her what I hope is a convincing smile as the reality of just how special Kenton’s and my pairing truly is.
*We are the first of our kind in* centuries. *It’s a fact that is hard to wrap my head around.*
“Oh, I hope that I will be blessed enough to find my mate!” Zara giggles, slipping her arm back through mine and continuing towards what I now recognize as the area that I had gone to when I was practicing my magic—the place that I haven’t been able to bring myself to return to since Maxon kissed me.
“You and me both,” I find myself saying in response, my heart beating faster at just the thought of seeing Kenton again.
‘*Tell her that you’ve already found your mate,*’ my wolf urges me, wanting me to take the opportunity that has once again been given to me.
*I can’t. Not yet,* I whisper, not able to explain *why* it’s so important that no one knows just yet about me having a mate.
“You can’t? Can’t what?” Zara asks with a confused look on her face.
“Huh?” I ask, my eyes widening in shock as I realize that I said that out loud. “Oh, shit. Sorry, I was talking with my wolf.”
“Oh. Okay.”
An awkward silence hands in the air around us for several long moments, making me jittery and on the verge of blurting the truth out to her.
But before I get the chance to, Zara announces, “Oh my gosh! You *have* to go dress shopping with me! This is the first one that I’ve been old enough to be able to attend, and Oh. My. Gosh! I am *so* excited!”
“Yeah,” I say, glancing around the area and realizing just how beautiful it truly is.
“Anyway,” Zara says, biting her bottom lip. There’s a twinkle in her eye that I don’t think I’ve seen before and seeing it makes me uneasy…*What exactly is she thinking?* 
“I *do* know of a certain wolf who you seem to have caught the attention of… actually, I think that there’s a few that fall into that column.”
“*Really*?” I can’t help but gasp out the single word.
“Oh, yeah. The mysterious she-wolf, who one day just randomly showed up on Midnight packlands. Surely, you’ve had to have noticed.”
“I mean…I know that Maxon…”
“Maxon?” growls a deep male voice, a familiar deep male voice, and one that definitely sounds jealous.
 Turning around towards the treeline, where the voice came from, I come face to face with someone that I’ve come to consider a good friend. 
Only a friend.
Stunned, I mutter, “Zach?”