Walking through into the clearing where everyone is waiting is intimidating. The only thing keeping me from running is Rowan's hand holding tightly on to mine. The heat of our palms pressed together is intense, sweat starting to form. But even that can't make me let him go.

"Ready?" Rowan says, words surprisingly stead. He looks over at me as we stop just at the tree line. His eyes look startlingly green, the wideness of them giving away his fear. We are about to face the wolves, literally.

"Not really," I whisper, biting my lip. My entire body is trembling, heart pounding so loud I can feel it in my ears. All I want is for this to be over, for everyone to be happy with us, and for us to have a happily ever after. But, those don't happen in real life. "Are you sure about this?"

"No," he says, pulling me closer so that he can rest his other hand on my cheek, thumb caressing. "But I'm sure about us. I love you."

"Love you too," I whisper. Leaning forward, I disentangle my hand from his so that I can wrap my arms around him, burying my head in his neck. His arms wind around me, pulling me as close as possible. We stay there for not nearly as long as I like, before I hear a loud exclamation come from the clearing.

Rowan pulls away just enough to give me a soft kiss, wrapping one arm around my waist before we step out from the trees.

My eyes dart around the field, watching as families embrace their loved ones, loud exclamations over people finding their mates. Noah and Becket are standing together, talking to their parents while holding hands. That isn't too surprising that they are mates. Everyone could see that from a mile away.

Rowan's arm tightens around my waist, catching my attention. His eyes are fixed on something, and following his gaze, I realize what has him so stiff. Rosalie and Henry are huddled together, Taylor trying to comfort his daughter as she cries. The sight has my heart beating even harder, eyes tingling as I try to fight off tears.

Ever since I can remember, Rosalie and I have been friends. We grew up together, only nine months apart. Plus, our parents are best friends, meaning we have spent most of our lives together in some capacity.

It hurts to know that I am part of the reason why she is in tears. Someone clears their throat, catching both of our attention. Avery is standing in front of us, arms crossed and blond eyebrow raised.

"Rowan, what have you gotten yourself into?"

Rowan pulls me tighter against him, brows furrowing as he looks like he is about to start fighting with his Mom.

But Avery just sighs, letting his arms drop to his sides. "Monkey..." He doesn't say anything else, just opens his arm. Rowan lets out a long, hitching breath, letting go of my waist in order to fall into Avery's arms. The omega holds his son close, brushing kisses on Rowan's hair and whispering soothing words in his ear.

While they comfort each other, I slip away, moving over to where Noah is standing net to Beckett. "Um, Noah, can I talk to you?" He startles slightly, looking over at me.

My face must give everything away because he pulls away from Beckett, eyes scrunched in concern. "Yeah, of course." He grabs my hand, pulling me over to a secluded area, where the bonfire was last night. "Is this about Rowan?" he asks, once we are away from everyone else.

"Yeah." Swallowing, I force myself to meet my best friend's eyes. "We don't know what to do."

He pulls me close into a tight hug, pressing a kiss against my hair. "It's going to be alright." He gives me a reassuring squeeze. "He wouldn't have made this choice if he didn't love you too." Pulling away, he bends down to catch my eyes. "Like our parents always say, fate likes to play tricks. We don't always think we are going to get what fate hands us, but we manage it." His hands reach up to brush away a few strands of hair that had fallen on my face. "Everything will work out, Matty. Just allow yourself to be happy, alright?"

It's difficult, but I somehow manage a small smile. "Okay."

Noah looks over my shoulder, a grimace on his face. "Brace yourself, your Mom is coming over and looks in full Mama bear mode."

Letting out a small groan, I turn around. But as soon as my mom reaches me, I crumble into his arms, taking comfort in his familiar arms.

"It's going to be alright, love. We'll figure everything out."

Even Mom's reassurances can't stop me from tensing up as we get closer to where everyone else is standing. Henry and Rowan are arguing, Avery trying to interject, but it is just getting more heated. Rosalie is no longer, crying but looking like she could start all over again at a drop of a hat. Taylor and Tate are standing on either side of her, both looking nearly as upset as their daughter.

"We're mates, Rowan! If you don't finish the ceremony with us, then you'll make all of us sick. Don't you remember the stories Micah told us?"

"That won't happen," Rowan says, hands fisted at his side.

"How far did you go last night?" Papa says, him and Dad joining the rest of us.

Rowan's lips clench, refusing to answer. But Henry just huffs, looking over at Papa. "Hand jobs."

My eyes widen significantly, shooting over to where Rowan is standing, seeming seconds away from exploding. His eyes meet mine, and he deflates, looking like the biggest kicked puppy.

"I tried to be normal," he whispered. "But that's not who I am."

His words make my tears spill over. I can't say that hearing he did some things with Rosalie and Henry doesn't hurt, but I can tell that he is hurting even more so. Not being attracted to your own mates is unheard of. And, everything that is going on right now can't be helping at all.

"We love you, Rowan," Rosalie says. "Just let us show you."

For the first time in a long time, I am actually mad at Rosalie. She already has one mate, does she have to have Rowan, too?

"Maybe you guys can test out the waters outside the Mating Ceremony. That's a stressful time. You can try to take it slow and make it work," Taylor says.

"You can't force him to be in a relationship he doesn't want!" I say, words coming out a little choked. The tears are full on flowing now. "That isn't right."

"Matty..." Mom tries to wrap his arms around me, but I shrug his arms away, too angry and hurt to be comforted right now.

"Maybe it would be for the best, love," Dad says, looking over at me with sad eyes. "They already started the mating process."

"We don't want another Jesse and Micah situation on our hands," Taylor says, frowning as he looks over at me. "That would just hurt all of them.

Having Taylor's animosity directed towards me makes me feel like a horrible person. Turning away from him, I meet Rowan's eyes, the anger clear as day in them.

"I agree with Matty," Avery says, stepping over to stand next to me. "You can't force Rowan to be in a relationship where he doesn't feel comfortable. That will just be bad for all of them in the long run."

"I am not going to let my daughter's wolf go crazy because your son fell in love with someone else. He can get over Matty, who has a mate somewhere else waiting for him. How do you think they will fell when they find out he is with someone else?"

"Pot calling the kettle black, isn't it, Taylor?" Mom says, glaring daggers at his best friend. They are both standing up for their children, and it is tearing them apart. "You and Tate aren't mates, but you love each other. You chose him over Zalo!"

"Zalo was a psychopath! Something that my daughter and Henry are not. If Rowan would give them a chance, then he could actually fall in love with them."

"No!" I say, darting forward to grab Rowan's hand and pulling him over to me. "You are going to make us miserable just to appease two others? How is that fair?"

Rowan wraps his arms around me, allowing me to bury my head in his chest. The arguments continue for what seems like hours, but all I can concentrate on is Rowan holding me, the comfort of his warm arms.

But the moment comes crashing down way too soon. Someone is pulling me away, and Rowan is trying to hold onto me. But the other person is too strong, taking me away from the man I love.

"Come on, Matty, leave him be." Papa and Dad are both holding onto me, Mom still standing and arguing with Taylor and Tate, Avery standing in between to throw in his own opinion of the matter.

"What- no!" I say, struggling to get away from them. "This isn't fair, Papa. I love him!"

"I know, love," Papa says, looking thoroughly exhausted, his face one of torment as him and Dad pull me away from the clearing. "But we all need some time to cool down. In a week, we'll hold a pack meeting to discuss everything, alright?" He pulls me against his side when I finally stop struggling, giving me a tight hug. "But until then, I think it would be best if you stayed away from all of them."

I can't find the energy to argue anymore since my opinion on the matter is clearly being ignored. So, I allow them to drag me back to the house, where all of my siblings- except Theo, the recluse- are waiting.

"Matty, what's wrong?" Gwen says, eyes wide as her eyes flicker across my face, clearly making out my puffy eyes and the tear tracts down my cheeks. "What the hell happened after I left?"

Darcy looks too stunned to say anything, too knowledgeable for being so young.

I just shake my head, pushing away from Papa and walking into my room. Gwen calls after me, but I just ignore her. Soon enough, I hear her turn on our parents, demanding them to explain what the hell happened back there.

After I make sure my door is locked, I kick off my shoes and collapse on my bed. There is nothing I can do but to curl up into a tight ball, wrapping my blankets around me as I cry. Everything went opposite of what I was hoping. The only people who supported me and Rowan being together were our moms. Everyone else didn't agree.

That doesn't give me hope at all for the next pack meeting. We all know that while my dad and papa may be the alphas, all final decisions are made by the pack. Especially if it is something as big and complicated as this. Despite moving past a lot of our old=fashioned values, our pack can still be pretty traditional sometimes, especially since most of the pack members were alive before the zombies ever existed.

That's the reason we have the council in the first place. Everyone votes on these big decisions so that all the pack members feel like the final verdict is fair. It is supposed to keep us together, but all I can think about is them telling me that I can't be with the man I have been in love with my entire life.

Ignoring the knocking on my door, I pull my blankets tighter, reminiscing on last night before everything went to hell.

*****

It's finally here! Warning to everyone, there is going to be a lot of angst in this story, more than ever before.

Updates are Fridays. Thanks everyone for reading!