"What is this?" I gawked.

Smoothing my hands down the dress Piper had given me, I didn't realise the style she had chosen. In all of the rush, I only just managed to pull it on before she was dragging me from the room. It was a tight, body-con style dress with a sharp neckline and spaghetti straps. I now realise why she forced me into a strapless push up bra.

"We're already out of your room, you cannot back out now." Piper sang, leading me by the hand.

"It's pink!" I shouted in protest as we waited for the elevator. "I have never worn pink. I am too ginger for pink!"

"Nonsense!" She chirped, pushing me inside. "Look at yourself and tell me that you don't see a banging body."

Glaring at her, I begrudgingly looked at myself in the mirrored wall. The doors shut behind me and the lurch of my stomach had me scowling but... Okay, maybe it wasn't so bad. It was dark pink and soft, apparently something called velvet. It was tight at my hips and waist, but soft and supple at my chest. I ran my hand over the soft material, adjusting the straps.

"I let you wear flats with it too!" Piper pouted, batting her eyelashes.

"Okay, okay. Fine, it's not... terrible." I murmured.

My hair was naturally wild. Not having enough time to tame the loose curls, it flowed round my ears and down my shoulders. She somehow managed to get mascara on my eyes without poking my eyeball out of its socket, so that was also a plus.

The elevator doors chimed open, and with barely a minute to spare, Piper and I rushed to the dining room. We luckily arrived just as some other wolves did, a guard by the door giving us a once-over scowl.

Walking inside, the dining room was packed full of the entire pack. All of the tables had been pushed into three long lines, black runners and placemats for every seat. A harsh sweat broke out on my underarms, and I was grateful for the feminine perfume Piper had shared with me. Clearing my throat softly to try avoid my anxiety, I followed her to one of two remaining pairs of seats.

She gave me a reassuring smile as we approached them and I returned the gesture. Unbeknownst to me, the seats that she chose were near the head of the table. Forcing me to sit to her left, my eyebrows narrowed at the figure opposing me. It was one of Blake's henchman, the other one on his right, my left, and two empty seats where I assumed Blake would sit.

The head seat was empty too, the single chair looking lonely against the width of the table. On my left sat Everett, Caleb and Eliza. Upon seeing me, she urged Caleb and Everett to swap seats so I could sit next to her. It took a moment of arguing, however, apparently the hierarchy would be backwards but Eliza gave her best puppy eyes and won them over.

Sitting next to me, her hair brushed a soft floral scent over my nose.

"Hey." She huffed, pulling her chair in. "You look amazing."

I smiled softly, appraising her satin red dress. "So do you."

Piper nudged me just as I was about to continue talking and I turned to shoot her a look of questioning but I soon realised the cause. Everyone at the tables hushed before standing as Asra and Blake entered, Rio trailing behind them. I awkwardly stood at the formal gesture, pulling the dress down to try and hide some thigh.

Asra stood at the foot of the table, Rio to his left before Blake.

"Evening everyone." Asra spoke. "Thank you all for coming tonight. As you know we have a guest, so please welcome Alpha Blake and his men from the Medea Pack."

Everyone awkwardly bowed and Blake's lips curled into a smirk as he politely said hello. I couldn't help but look away, the dreaded fear settling in my stomach again. Piper must've noticed because her hand clasped mine under the table and I gave her a small smile of thanks. She was sat to my right, and I would just have to use her as a distraction so I didn't have to look to my left.

Asra cleared his throat and I automatically looked his way. His eyes caught mine as he lowered himself into a seat. My heart constricted as the blazing blue locked sight on me, his jaw tensing as his eyes ran along my body. I shifted awkwardly under his scrutiny, and damn downright attractiveness.

He was dressed in black slacks and a long sleeve blue shirt, the top few buttons undone to reveal the harshness of his chest. As he sat, he slouched slightly in his chair, his hair styled evenly and smooth. His left elbow fell upon the arm of his chair, fingers moving to run across his lips and jaw. I followed the movement, every breath I took felt loud and harsh as his eyes never left me.

"You may be seated." He announced, dropping my gaze.

I exhaled in relief as everyone began to sit, eagerly pushing my body into the chair. I need a damn drink before my throat turns to sandpaper.

I grabbed my designated glass, looking around for something to top it up with. I had never been to a formal party before, so where the fuck was the damn drink!

As if by magic, the back doors opened and a dozen maids came rushing into the room with a trolley each. Three came to our end of the table, one permanently stood behind Asra with her eyes to the floor. Two stood by the other higher ranks and another two at the end. For the other two tables, they had four maids circling.

Asra raised his glass and the maid behind him was quick to be by his side. I didn't catch what he mumbled to her, but when she pulled a glass of wine from her trolley to show him, I realised why. His eyes latched onto mine as she poured him a drop of wine. He raised the glass to his lips, sipping softly and running his tongue over his lips. A moment pause, a drop in eye contact, he nodded for more. The maid obliged, filling his glass before stepping away with her head bowed and hands interlaced.

It was like a domino effect, the other maids began to top up glasses with wine and being the fourth one along, they were quick to reach me. The maid that served me was funnily enough the girl who helped me with cleaning my sheets two weeks ago.

"Hi." I whispered.

Her eyes remained down as she waited for me to hand my glass over. "Hello, Miss. Wine?"

"Serenity, right?" I asked.

I knew I was right. I was good with names.

Her eyes darted up in surprise before recognising me. "Ailia, nice to see you again. Care for some wine? If not, I also have sparkling water."

I smiled up at her, nodding. "I'll try some, thank you."

She grinned, filling my glass halfway before taking a step back and moving to Piper's right hand side. Piper wasted no time in holding up her glass and Serenity filled it quietly before moving on. I watched her for a moment longer, took in the appearance of her hair and soft features as she gracefully filled glasses. Only one person asked for water, being pregnant, and Serenity was quick to fulfil her promise.

One everyone in the room was served, I focused on the gentle chatter of my surroundings. Serenity was a welcome distraction, but once she disappeared behind me, the reality came rushing back to me. I shook my head and reached for my glass, my eyes locking on Blake before me. His dark eyes smiled at me but I kept my face void of emotion as I took a gentle sip.

Mother enjoyed wine. The rare occasion she would get it was when in the presence of Darius's parents for a dinner. Those evenings were fortnightly, and she made the most of it. She and Darius' mother taught me the proper wine tasting etiquette and even though I could not be arsed, I was grateful for the information.

Staring at the glass as I tasted the wine, I tried to ignore the increasing pressure of eye contact. Being a dry burgundy wine, I assumed that dinner would be something extravagant or beef related. Which was exciting. Steak was hard to get in Evermore.

Oh my god, I sound just like my mother.

Swallowing the wine, I grimaced at the thought. Looking around the room, I found quite a few wolves would actively avoid my eye contact, too involved in their own drink or conversation. Some however, did not hide their curiosity as their nostrils flared. It was that moment, I drastically realised what had happened barely an hour ago.

My cheeks flushed, remembering the way the guard at the door scowled when he caught my scent. God, I must smell just like him. I should've showered again, perhaps used some bleach.

Groaning internally, I raised my glass to my mouth before taking another large sip. It didn't take me long to finish my first glass and Serenity was quick to fill it. I thanked her politely, eager to drown out my thoughts in the wine before dinner started.

It settled my mind almost instantly, and the tiny starter meal barely touched the sides of my stomach before I had another glass in my hand.

"What's that now, your thirtieth glass?" Piper teased.

"Yeah, yeah." I rolled my eyes. "Only my third."

She giggled, nudging me playfully as the main course came out. A small smirk of victory erupted on my lips as a beef stew type dish was served. The cook announced it was beef bourguignon before exiting and leaving us to it. I noticed that no-one ate until Asra took the first mouthful, which was peculiar but I assumed it was a wolf thing. I just followed, eager to not stand out anymore than my apparent odour.

"Enjoying it?" Eliza wondered, hallway through.

I hummed, nodding as I finished chewing a vegetable. "It's lovely."

"It's a favourite in the pack house." She chirped. "Nice to have something so fancy, right?"

I agreed. "We hardly ate meat in my village, so it sometimes makes me a little nauseous. But this is worth it."

"I think it'll be more than the stew making you sick tonight." Piper snorted as Serenity filled my fourth glass.

Rolling my eyes, I mimicked her laughter before taking a dramatically large sip of wine. She tutted at me, raising her glass to clink against mine before taking an equally large gulp.

Two more glasses down, and my vision began to get fuzzy. I was quietly giggling to Piper and Eliza when the servers took away our dessert dishes. I barely even realised that I had eaten the entire cheesecake on my plate and pouted when it disappeared.

I had managed to make the whole meal run smoothly, never once looking up at either of the alphas.

Smirking with satisfaction, I raised my eyes to gloat at the obvious power I held. Asra was already watching, leaning back in his chair, angled my direction. His blue eyes crinkled in the corners when we made eye contact, a faint smirk erupting on his lips. He raised his glass to me, gesturing for me to toast to him. Scoffing, I did so anyway, taking a mouthful of the soothing drink almost mockingly.

Placing the glass back down, I noticed Blake was also watching me with a smile on his face. Spurred on my potentially false-confidence, I grimaced at him as though he was a bad taste in my mouth. It only seemed to encourage him, because his grin widened with humour.

Was I just a tourist attraction for people to laugh at today, or what?

Turning to Eliza, I found her giggling at something her mate said. We had made a pact two drinks in, that we had to match each other's drinking game. I could only hope that her head was as spinning as mine, and her bladder was also desperately bursting. I tried to convince Piper to drink as much, but she claimed being a wolf it didn't affect her as much.

Huffing, I swivelled back to Piper. I was glad I had a friend like Piper. But oh, Eliza was great too.

It was nice to have nice friends.

"What you smiling at?" Eliza snorted.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder. "I'm glad I met you. It's been nice talking to you tonight."

She giggled, pulling me close. "You too. We should do this more often."

"Oh I don't know about that." Caleb grumbled.

I scowled at him. "Party pooper."

"Yeah, poopey pants!" Eliza glared. "Ailia is my friend and if we are going to hang out with wine, then we are going to hang out with-oh, wait, what if we call it Winesdays. Like Wednesday, but wine?"

My eyes widened. "That's a great idea!"

We fell into bursts of laughter, her head falling upon my chest. I patted her hair lovingly, finishing off my ninth-wait, what was it? I dunno, it was a glass and it was empty.

Looking around for Serenity, I couldn't find her anywhere.

"Where did everybody go?" I pouted.

"Dinner has finished now, so a lot of them are leaving." Piper chirped. "Wanna stay or go?"

I pouted. "Aw, I like Serenity."

"Because she gives you wine?" Piper snorted.

Scoffing, I wrapped my arm around Eliza. "No..."

"Okay, sure." Piper giggled. "Come on, let's go."

"Yeah, it's time to go babe." Caleb agreed, taking Eliza's arm.

"No!" She groaned.

"Stay!" I whined.

"It's eight o'clock, we have to prepare for the full moon tonight." Piper explained.

"Full Moon?" I wondered.

"Yeah, it's tonight. Sun goes down in an hour or so, some of us like to go out and run." Caleb continued.

I looked up at him, frowning. "Oh, I forgot that was tonight... Are you going to the lake?"

He shook his head, gently pulling a half asleep Eliza from my arms. "I won't. But some members do."

"I love the lake." I murmured as a hand wrapped around my bicep.

"I know." Piper laughed, pulling me to stand.

A cool breeze rushed across my bare thighs, and I shivered, lazily tugging the fabric down more. It was warm tonight, where did that stupid breeze come from?

Grumbling, I was about to turn around into Piper's arms when a large form stood in my way.

"Ailia, is it?" A new voice interrupted. "You look wonderful tonight."

*********

Thank you for your kind words the past day or so, he's not improving much, seems to have gotten worse but we shall see how the weekend goes!

Don't forget to follow me for any updates/interruptions in the future- not just today related lol - I always post on my wall :)

Wc:2357