Chapter 9

Turning casually towards my parents, I passed my Mum my empty champagne glass and proceeded to follow the burly men out of the crowd and back towards the house. Glancing back over my shoulder, I noticed that most of the party had now separated into one long line, while their friends and family casually stood at the edge of the garden, watching intently. Some of the girls in the line was staring up at me angrily while others looked nervously around them. All round me, I could hear anguished whispers from the girls, who had been secretly hoping that they would have been the chosen Luna while others murmured gently.
Ignoring the nasty comments that I could hear from the crowd behind me, I began walking up the steps. I paused briefly and looked at the line of Alpha’s who were all staring at me curiously. Alpha Julian looked at me and smiled briefly before extending his hand out towards me.
“Nice to meet you, young Miss. And who may you be?” he asked gently.
“Ros, Sir. Rosalie, I mean,” I quickly stuttered while shaking his hand nervously, aware that hundreds of pairs of eyes were now on me.
“Ahh, I see. The Fated Mate, according to the prophecy. Well, a beautiful young lady you are too,” Julian chuckled. “Don’t be nervous around me. We don’t bite around here!”
“Speak for yourself!” one of the Alpha’s laughed loudly, while checking me out intently. “If your Son doesn’t want her, I’ll gladly take her off your hands. I’d love to tap that ass!”
Glaring at this strange young Alpha, I folded my arms crossly. “Excuse me? Who do you think you are talking to me like that?”
The young Alpha chuckled enthusiastically before folding his arms. “Ahh, a feisty one. I’m Alpha Grey, from the Crescent Moon pack. Rickorn Grey at your service. But you can call me rick.”
“Well, Rick, no one is tapping my ass! If anyone touches me, I’ll tap you all out,” I replied defiantly, making Julian chuckle loudly. “And don’t think your Mate would appreciate comments like that!”
“I don’t have a Mate at the moment,” Rick laughed softly. “My old man is showing no signs of stepping down in the near future, so I don’t need to find my Luna yet. Just means I have more time to play the field!”
“Well, I’m not going to be another notch on your bedpost!” I hissed in annoyance before glancing back at Alpha Julian.
“Well, the girl can definitely stick up for herself!” he laughed while clapping loudly. “My Son is expecting you and I have the selection process to carry on with, but it was lovely to meet you. I’m sure we will meet again.”

Julian patted me on the back gently before walking towards the crowd effectively dismissing me. Silently, I began walking again and made my way back into the house, faintly hearing clapping echoing out from behind me. We made our way out through the kitchen and back towards the grand staircase before quickly making our way up to the next level.
“Down that corridor and it’s the brown wooden door right at the end. You can’t miss it! Oh, and knock before you go in!” one of the guards said pointing, before walking back off down the staircase and out of sight.
Sighing, I turned around and waked down the correct corridor until a large brown wooden door faced me. Taking in a deep breath, I knocked on the door loudly three times and waited until a loud voice yelled out.
“Come in!”

Pushing the door open, I sauntered into the room, only to be hit with the scent of a strong Alpha and the sweeter scent of some girl that was now on her knees in the middle of the room, with Jace standing in front of her, with his trousers around his ankles. The sight of the pair of them made my heart feel like it was being crushed and a loud growl escaped my lips.* How dare they! Who even is this dirty little whore pleasuring Jace! Hell no! Get away from him! *

Realising that my wolf was now screaming with rage inside of my head, I fought the urge to let my wolf release herself and carried on walking to the centre of the room, to where the pair of them was. The blonde-haired girl made no movement or acknowledgement to me and carried on with her task, which evidently, was working its magic on Jace. Not showing one ounce of embarrassment, I crossed my arms disapprovingly across my chest and stared at Jace until his eyes also found mine. Suddenly, I was hit with an instant pain in my chest. Dropping to my knees, I fell to the floor gasping for breath and trembling in shock. All over my body I could feel a burning sensation, radiating through my fingers to my toes. I could hear distant fireworks along with songbirds chirping. All I wanted was to touch Jace, but he clearly didn’t feel the same and I could feel my heart shattering into a million pieces. A loud voice in front of me echoed around the room in desperation.
“Abigail! Get the fuck out and don’t come back! I only used you to see if my wolf was right! Get out! Go!”

Not bothering to look up, I lay on the floor curled up in a ball. I was vaguely aware of the girl walking hurriedly past me, muttering under her breath before the office door slammed shut with a loud bang. Two shiny polished shoes suddenly appeared beside me, while two warm hands gently helped pick me into a sitting position. Feeling long thin fingers connecting with my chin, I lifted my head slowly see two chocolate brown eyes gazing lovingly back at me. The more I looked into those eyes, the deeper of a connection I felt. My heart felt like it was healing, and I could suddenly breathe again. From somewhere inside of me, I could hear my wolf howling and fighting me to come out, but I ignored her pleas. Jace looked at me up and down once more before bringing himself close and planting a kiss gently on my head, leaving a small burning mark on my skin, before pulling away and staring at me once more.
“MATE!”.