9.

"Couldn't you at least think about bringing some fucking pants or something?"

"Oh, or I don't know like, use a fucking car instead?"

My gaze widened a little bit as I listened to Carrie scolding the future king as if he were a bratty child.

"It's easier for us to track you down in wolf form,"

"And excuse us for being too worried for your wellbeing to even think about that," The Alpha retorted from the driver's seat with a pointed look through the rearview mirror, the sound of his words making me feel that small pang of guilt poking at my chest.

I made this. I was the one who created this mess.

"Yeah, and now you're dangling your freaking wieners in her car,"

Oh my Goddess. I couldn't stop that giggle that went past my lips, eyes wide as I couldn't help but feel so shocked by her boldness. Holy Goddess she was crazy.
And apparently she was about to become even crazier as she suddenly started singing out of nowhere,
"Wiener, wiener wiener, wiener party, wiener wiener..."

I almost gasped out loud at the same time as Nathan let out an annoyed moan, barely containing myself as I struggled not to laugh. Yep. She was definitely wasted as hell.

"Wiener, wiener wiener..."

A stifled laugh escaped me, slapping a hand over my mouth as she continued to sing from right next to me, not caring at all that she was annoying her mate.

"Kids. You're all kids!" The Alpha suddenly hollered with desperation, making both his Beta and I burst into a fit of hysterical laughter.

Gods this was so dumb. But hey, at least it made me forget about our current situation, if only for a few moments. At least it made me stop thinking about my mate's maddening scent of sandalwood and spices that was currently filling up every single inch of my car, his sexy laughter and imposing presence, and the fact that my wolf was still suffering within me, mourning for the love that she could never have. The love of our mate. Our destined one. The one that I was supposed to form a bond with.

My gaze stealthily trailed to him for the millionth time as we drove in silence now, tracing the outline of his broad shoulder, the finely-carved lines of his neck and the side of his jaw as he sat in the front passenger seat and right next to his Alpha, keeping his attention trained on the road.

Goddess, he was beautiful. Perfect, even.

There wasn't a single inch of him that I didn't find attractive. From the way his messy dark brown hair sat atop his head, those chocolate eyes that made him look so innocent and boyish and those soft and pink lips, and all the way down to his muscled body, that bronzed skin and-

Nope. Let's just stop right there. I did not want to go down that road again.

I did not want to think about it anymore. It was useless anyway.

So I tore my gaze away and averted my attention back to Carrie, not surprised at all to notice that she had actually passed out right next to me, her breaths coming out in soft puffs as her head was tilted back over the backrest, her lips slightly parted open.

She looked so cute and funny in that position, almost like a kid after a full day of non-stop playing.

Expressing a tiny smile, I pushed away that rebel strand of hair that had stuck against her forehead, careful not to bother her or even wake her up when a burst of artificial light suddenly greeted my eyes, making me look outside and notice that we'd actually entered a large underground parking lot.

Where were we going? Didn't Nathan say that he was taking us home?

My features contorted with a small frown as I watched him park the car and then get out with fast moves, not wasting a single second as he went straight for the door on Carrie's side, carefully placing his big arms underneath her slender body before getting her out.

I immediately followed suit and got out too, cluelessly looking between them as David took the car keys and closed the doors before locking it, all the while Nathan stood with a soundlessly sleeping Carrie in his arms, attentively scanning the area with his gaze.

I watched him go to the nearest elevator so I quickly followed, acutely aware of those heavy footsteps trailing right behind me.
Hell, I could practically feel that scorching heat radiating from his powerful body but I forced myself to ignore it and chose to huddle myself closer to the Alpha instead as we entered the spacious cube, keeping my gaze trained on Carrie's peacefully sleeping form.

She looked so comfortable and carefree, resting against her mate's chest like it was her favorite place in the world.

She didn't appear to be scared of him like, at all.

Huh. Maybe I've read it wrong. Maybe she didn't hate him as much as I thought she did. And maybe he wasn't so bad either. After all, it was him the one who helped me get through my first shift. I didn't know if he'd remembered me or not but-

I mildly startled as that soft ding abruptly dragged me back to reality, quickly turning around to look at the slowly parting elevator doors.

Shit.

The second I saw that small elderly lady patiently waiting to get inside my eyes widened with panic, and before I could even stop to ponder about what I was about to do I had already grabbed the Beta's bulky arm, ignoring those magical sparks with all I had as I pulled him closer to his Alpha and placed myself in front of them, shielding them as best as I could as I didn't want them to have to face such an embarrassment.

My eyelids screwed shut as I froze like that, struggling not to breathe, look or touch anything.

"You...you vile perverts!" We heard the old lady yell with outrage, mere moments before the doors closed back again, providing us with that much needed privacy.

I shot away from there faster than the freaking Flash, plastering myself against the furthest wall as I took a deep inhale, still reeling from the shock of having touched my mate for the first time.

Fuck...

I nervously ran a hand through my hair, struggling to calm down when I heard the Alpha lowly growl at his Beta,
"Get your naked ass away from my mate,"

I didn't need to look at him to know that he was equally as stunned, the faint scent of his desire for me being enough for me to want to rip my own hair off.

Gods! Could this day get any worse?

The elevator doors suddenly pulled themselves open again, this time revealing the vastness of a luxurious apartment, my brows furrowing for the briefest moment before noticing the Alpha hurriedly step inside, going straight for the couch.

Oh. So this was his place, actually.

I watched as he gently placed his sleeping mate on that couch and offered her a small kiss on the forehead, the sight of it so endearing that I almost sighed out loud before he straightened back up and sauntered towards the staircase, closely followed by his Beta.

Finding myself alone with her for the moment, I sat down next to her and started caressing the side of her head as I casually looked around.
Everything looked so clean and neatly arranged. And equally lonely. Not a single object seemed to be out of place but at the same time, it made it look so cold and uninviting. Like a fancy hotel suite, instead of the home of a pack wolf. Where were his parents? The rest of his pack?
I knew that pack wolves usually preffered to be close to their pack mates, so they lived in large and fancy pack houses. But this didn't look like a pack house at all. It looked rather like a bachelor pad.

Why are we here though? Why not drive us straight to our homes? It certainly would've been way easier. And better for me, at least. I was tired and drunk and tired. Way too tired to keep up with whatever this was. I just wanted to go home, curl up underneath my covers with Leia and forget about all this, if only for a few hours.

The sounds of heavy footsteps suddenly drew my attention so I quickly got up and turned around, feeling a little jumpy and nervous as I risked a glance in their direction, noticing that they were thankfully dressed now. I knew that most wolves didn't care about nudity -because of the shifting and all that- but I really wouldn't have felt very comfortable if they remained naked even here, in his apartment.

"Hey, I'll talk to Andrea and let her know that she's safe, here with me," The Alpha said as he approached me, receiving a simple nod from me.

"You can go home if you want to. He'll drive you,"

*What? No!!*

I almost felt like crying at the sound of that. Alone in my car? With David?!?

*B-but why?*

Why did he do this to me? Why didn't he just leave me at my place first, if he had plans to keep Carrie here with him?

Why torture me like this?

I looked up into his green eyes, hopeless and dejected as that bottomless panic started to make its presence known within me.

Please don't do this to me, please don't do this to me!

"I only have this small couch available at the moment and you'll have to share it with him if you stay. He can't exactly run back home in wolf form through the town," He explained with a hint of uneasiness, apologetically looking between my eyes.

Fuck. Goddess, no. Oh Goddess, no. Why must you torture me like this?

I didn't bother saying anything though as I knew that it would've been completely futile and I didn't want to try and argue with an Alpha nonetheless, so I simply turned around and dragged my legs straight towards those elevator doors, mentally preparing myself for what was about to come.

Pure Hell.

*Awesome.*

Oh. I almost forgot. I quickly turned around and faced the Alpha, offering him a kind smile as I quietly said,
"Thank you,"

But those elevator doors had already closed before he could even say anything in reply, trapping me in that way too small and suffocating space with none other than my own mate.

*Oh my god oh my god oh my god...*

The elevator had barely started going down yet I could already hear my own violent heart-beat drumming in my ears, barely allowing myself to breathe in that alluring scent of his as I leaned against the furthest wall and stood there as stiff as a board, forcefully holding my gaze trained on my dirty canvas shoes.

I was feeling like a trapped mouse. A trapped mouse waiting to be eaten.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

"You'll faint if you keep doing that and then I'll have to carry you like Nathan did with Care,"

I startled as if being burned at the unexpected sound of his warm voice filling up that way too crammy and uncomfortable space, feeling myself starting to get way too claustrophobic as I struggled not to inhale too much of his maddening scent or take notice of that alluring tone of his voice.

Oh my Goddess, I was slowly going crazy in here. That was for sure. I was going to turn batshit crazy by the time we'd reached the parking lot.

*Don't look, don't look, don't look,* I mentally chanted, thickly swallowing as a tiny bead of perspiration licked at the side of my face, tickling my skin. I felt hot. Way too hot for my own good.

*Come on, come on, come on,* I changed my mantra, praying for the damn elevator to go faster or even crash into that freaking shaft at the very bottom for all I cared. I just couldn't stand it anymore. I was fucking desperate. Desperate to get as far as possible away from him and that as fast as possible. He was getting freaking impossible to resist. With each passing second spent in his close proximity. I didn't want to feel any more of his smell, I didn't want to feel his heat, I didn't want to be anywhere near him. Because he was just fucking intoxicating. That's what he was.

I heard him sigh after a moment of utter silence, that exhale of his sounding so tired and yielding, unintentionally managing to draw my attention. And before I could even realize what I was doing my gaze had already found his, crashing straight into those sad and mournful chocolate eyes of his.

*Fuck-no!*

My breath immediately caught up within my throat, suddenly feeling my wolf swiftly start clawing up from inside of me with a desire to be released, not failing to also notice the way his gaze alternated between pitch black and dark brown as if fighting an inner battle with his wolf as well.

*No! Oh Gods no! Stop! Please stop! Please! Stop provoking him!*

My wolf whined as I forcefully pushed her back down, invoking reason over instinct.

He'll take us away from ma and pa, CeeCee and Bryn included. We'd never see our family again, I cruelly reminded her, feeling her whine before she eventually settled again, allowing me to calm down and breathe a little. Well, as much as I could in that specific moment.

He thankfully didn't say or do anything more for the rest of our awkward and painfully long descend to the parking area, finding myself blowing out a long sigh of relief as soon as those elevator doors finally slid open.

I practically burst past them, hurrying straight for the car when I suddenly heard him say from right behind,

"Are you that desperate to get away from me?"

Shit. I instantly froze to my spot as I listened to the sounds of his heavy footsteps coming closer to me from behind, forcing myself not to break into a panicked dash as he lowly added,

"Am I that repulsive?"

*If only.*

My eyelids screwed themselves shut, lips sealed as well as I feared that if I tried to turn around or say anything those tears would immediately start falling. I listened to his equally heavy breaths, my body humming so pleasantly as I felt him so close behind my back yet not quite touching me when he softly whispered,

"Why? Why won't you give me a chance?"

*Why? I'll tell you why.*

"Because I don't want to give up my life for you!" I cried out with utter desperation and anguish before I could even stop myself as soon as I turned around to face him, my vision quickly blurring as my eyes filled with unshed tears. My throat started to hurt again. Everything hurt. Including my very soul.

"I'm sorry, but I don't want it," My voice trembled as I uttered those painful words, letting those tears fall down as I continued to speak,
"I don't want any of this. I don't want to be a Beta's mate, I don't want to be part of a pack! Much less the fucking royal pack! I am happy with my life the way it is, with my family and friends, small and unimportant as they are! I don't want to be a part of all that fancy and pompous shit, forcing me to bend over some stupid rules and having to swallow everything your pack may throw at me with a fucking grain of salt! I refuse to openly expose myself to every possible insult or mockery from your pack of hyenas just because I'm smaller or weaker than them! I'm sorry but I will not do this!" My breaths were coming out in long and harsh pants as I'd just finished screaming all those words at him, my eyes wide and still filled with tears as I kept staring up at him.

Holy shit that felt kinda liberating, actually.

Even my wolf felt a little better now.

"What makes you think that it will be like that?" He softly asked after a moment, swiftly disarming me as those chocolate eyes peered down at me with so much tenderness and warmth.

"You've never even met my family or my pack yet you're already here making assumptions about what they'd be like or how they'd behave towards you,"

"Who lied to you? Who fooled you like this, tricking you into believing that all pack wolves are heartless monsters who like to mock and torment pretty little wolves like you?"

My lips were already parted open with awe and bewilderment as I dumbly stared up at him, too enraptured by every single word tumbling out his sensuous lips to even notice that I'd unintentionally stepped closer to him, drawn by his alluring scent and that soothing lilt of his voice.

My hands had somehow found their resting place over his hard chest, feeling those delicious sparks and the powerful beat of his heart under the palm of my hand as I peered between those beautiful eyes, too stunned to even form a coherent thought, let alone words.

"You...you think I'm pretty?"

"The prettiest wolf I've ever seen," He swore with conviction, fondly gazing down at me.

My lips spread to form a pleased smile, mildly shivering at the feathery feel of his fingers barely touching my hip.

*Holy shit this feels incredible.*

I continued to stare up at him for a while longer, entranced by the magical moment until that horribly familiar sensation of nausea suddenly poked at me with a vengeance.

*Oh shit.*

And before I could even try to control myself I was already turning aside and hurling my guts out, right there next to us.