Important Note to new readers:
Mate of the female Alpha is called "Aleph" in this book! :) Termed coined by myself ;)

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Nyah Pineda's PoV:

This . . . is supposed to be a house party?

Wow.

"I know, right?" Alessia breathes beside me, and I don't even wonder how she replied to a thought I didn't say out loud. Must've been plastered all over my face, my awe for this level of grandeur.

I wonder how much more amazing the balls and other black-tie events thrown by the Mordecai pack are.

Now, I regret the fact that I didn't attend the Annual Lunar Mating Ceremony held in their pack last year. I was too busy with my search and we'd almost thought we'd gotten ahold of Estevan that time, and it was crucial. There was no way I was going to attend some party when there was even a minuscule chance of me finding my brother.

Sorry, off topic, but this party is just . . . way too extravagant than I'd expected. I mean, first the valet, then the freaking bouncer who'd been manning the door to make sure that humans weren't slipping in. And they'd even hired a bartender and set up an actual bar with an array of expensive liquor, instead of just calling it a day with a keg like I'd pictured.

And let's not forget to mention the very famous DJ who's rocking the music department.

Whoo. Must've cost a fortune.

So it is true then, the reputation of the Mordecais to throw the most kick-ass parties in the Werewolf community in the whole country.

I'd thought it must've been some exaggeration, 'cause, c'mon! Have you met Ezra Harland? He's as dramatic as they come.

Nothing wrong with being a bit dramatic, but he takes it to a whole new level.

Like the word itself gets a new meaning when associated with him.

"Hello, pretty women."

Speak of the devil—or better yet, think of the devil, and he shall appear.

I pry my eyes off the wonderfully decorated room, turning to finally take in the appearance of said devil. And indeed, true to his new nickname in my head, he's sin personified. The simple white V-neck hugging his abs and the black sleeveless vest thrown over to complete the ensemble along with those thigh-hugging black jeans, must be the single-most sexiest outfit I've ever had the pleasure of seeing in a real, breathing person—a person who's less than two feet away.

And those biceps stretching the sleeve of his tee?

Ugh, yum.

I quickly tear my eyes off his body to put an end to my lascivious perusal, ordering my brain to keep my gaze fixed to the area above his neck. No further down.

Uh oh, unfortunately for me, the fucker is mouthwateringly handsome even above. His dark eyebrows are slightly arched with amusement and his baby blues are literally the bluest eyes on the planet.

Fuck you, Ezra Harland. It's a crime to look that good.

In fact, this sexy as fuck outfit is just making you look better. So, just take if off. Yep, that's what you should do. Would you want me to peel it off with my teeth? Oh, yeah—

SHUT UP!

I slam a door shut on my dirty thoughts, realizing only then that my horny Alpha Wolf has slowly been contaminating my conscience.

Fuck my life.

"Yeah, we just came in. We met your Aleph on the way, actually." Alessia's voice finally pulls me out of my tongue-tied state, and after a second I realize she'd replied for both of us and has been holding a conversation during the quick mental vacay I'd taken.

Goddess bless her and her ability to read my mind.

"He was very polite and a great host." I comment, speaking up for the first time. Alessia nods her head in agreement, "I know. He didn't have an ounce of the 'I'm-the-Aleph-so-Imma-look-down-on-you' attitude, despite recognizing that I hold no rank."

"Oh, yes. Micajah is just about the sweetest person you'll ever meet. He's also my older brother." Ezra says with a happy grin, and one can tell how much pride he holds in the fact that they're brothers. Clearly, they love each other a lot.

But what baffles me is why I've never seen him before, because from my extensive research on the guy, I'd known for sure that Ezra was the heir to his father's title. His aversion for 'second-borns' as he so eloquently put it back then, wasn't an act from what I'd seen. And neither could a person be so hypocritical.

"Oh, so he was supposed to be the Beta? You only took over 'cause he ended up being the Mate of the Alpha?" I challenge, crossing my arms across my chest as my face automatically twists into a glare. Because if that's the truth, I'd have to forget any chance at a future with him right now.

Don't look at me with those judge-y little eyes, you wouldn't be able to put up with with such a big hypocrite either.

"Ah, no. He's my half-brother. We share a biological mother. His father is an Alpha. He wanted to do nothing with his old pack, but if you want to get technical, he's supposed to be their Alpha." Ezra explains, and I feel my shoulders deflate in silent relief.

Relief that the Moon Goddess hadn't paired me with someone who'd inevitably have to be rejected.

"Oh, alright." I nod.

Although considering prior bitter experiences, I'm not sure we'll ever be able to make it as a couple. Maybe we could come to some sort of arrangement in the future, so that we can be civil with each other.

"Cool. Glad that you guys found each other after all these years." Alessia adds, grinning cheerfully, "I'm gonna go and take full advantage of the open bar. See you two lovebirds, later!" With that, the traitor quickly spins around and vanishes into the thick of the crowd.

'You're gonna pay for that later, Alessia.' I warn her over the tele-link, completely flabbergasted that she would ditch me like this in the most obvious manner. All I get is a witchy cackle in reply.

And what's with her stupid 'lovebirds' comment? We can barely stand each other, as it is.

"Uh . . ." Ezra shifts his drink — a Budweiser, to the other hand almost nervously, "So . . . how have you been?"

"Yeah, good." I reply, my tone just as awkward as his, "You would've been hella busy with all the party preparations, huh?"

"Not really, we throw parties often so we have a standard protocol. It's also become pretty easy now, 'cause Seneca and Micajah help out a lot." He shrugs, taking a small sip of his probably warm beer.

"Oh, that's cool." I uncross my arms just to do something with my hands and realize they're literally empty, so I fidget with the golden chain of a strap of my sling bag, running my finger over the little black bag suspended to the end of it that hangs by my hip, trying to look as casual as possible.

Ugh, why does the human body even have hands? We should've just been given something else, like tentacles or wings or better yet, paws.

"Yeah," Ezra nods, a long nod where he keeps on shaking his head like he doesn't know what else to do, and realizing the fact that he's just as befuddled as I am as to what to say, does a little something to calm my nerves.

Just a little.

"Whoa," He exclaims just as some drunk person slams into his back, making him stumble forward at the sudden impact. I watch in horror as the bottle in his hand tilts forward, and just as my super fast instincts reach forward to straighten it before it spills, it tilts even more anyway, spilling all across my hand and a little on the front of my peep-toes.

And on my hella expensive Rolex.

"Fuck!" We curse in unison, as he straightens himself and regains his balance. We look up and meet each other's eyes, and just like that we burst out laughing.

I know, I know. You're thinking we must be completely out of it because there's nothing funny about getting beer on an almost $30k watch. Or ruining a perfect pair of Alexander McQueens by permanently staining them.

But if you know our history, you'd agree with me that the fact that he'd just stumbled and almost fallen is definitely too funny.

You'd also be mumbling that it would've been better if he'd planted his face on the carpet like previous conduct dictates. Although, something is better than nothing, right?

Our laughter dies down slowly, our lips still pulled up in gigantic smiles from the lingering humor, and only now, I realize that he hadn't stepped back after he'd stumbled forward from that push.

We're standing too close. So close, that there's less than a couple of inches of space separating us.

All I'd have to do is breathe in deeply, and my breasts would brush against his chest.

The raw energy crackling in the air? It's real.

I gulp, my tongue darting out to wet my extremely dry lips. His gaze falls to said lips as his electric blue eyes catch fire, darkening as he exhales in what sounds like a tiny moan.

My teeth sink into my bottom lip at that wanton sound, and the Alpha in me wants to take him right there, right now.

Where's my self-control, you ask?

It's so far gone that I don't think it ever was there in the first place.

His hand comes up slowly and my breath hitches, waiting to see what he'd do. The tip of his index finger brushes across my forehead in the slightest of touches, and he slowly tucks a loose curl of hair behind my ear and trails his hand down, cupping my cheek fully.

I'm a puddle at his feet by now, my heart completely melted at literally how sweet that gesture is. He could've claimed my lips in a lusty kiss, or he could've dragged me to a dark corner and tried to get me to give in and mark each other.

But he had to go ahead and do something that directly touches my heart.

"You're the most beautiful girl I've laid eyes on. Ever." He whispers, his eyes holding me captive in their oceanic depths. I sigh at the honesty in his words and the way he says them like he can't mean each of one those syllables more if he tried.

Ezra Harland is one smooth-talking motherfucker, and I'm in a world of new trouble now that I've had a glimpse of this side of him.

I'm definitely, one-hundred percent screwed.

"Thank you. You're not half-bad, either." I reply, my grin somewhere in between 'dreamily in a daze' and 'let's go fuck, right now'.

Ezra chuckles in response, and the way his eyes crinkle and those dimples pop when he does, is definitely the most adorable expression I've ever seen. The guy is setting new records for the best lots of things left and right and if I'm not careful, he might start setting records for other stuff, too.

"I'm—" He starts, but just then—because the universe is cruel, some random person yells, "Get a room!" ending the sentence with a wolf-whistle. And just like that, the moment is broken.

We jump apart like we're on fire—not that fire, I mean literal fire—and only after a second, the fog on my brain clears and I realize with dawning embarrassment what I'd just been doing.

Did I just . . . was I almost about to . . . Oh. My. Goddess!

What the heck is happening to me!?

My cheeks burn as I clear my throat and smooth my dress down with my left hand, looking away as I attempt to say something to fill the most awkward silence in the history of awkward silences.

"I should go find Aless—"

"You should come with me—"

We both start at the same time, and I finally swallow and muster up what's left of my courage to meet his eyes.

"You go first." We chorus, then chuckle, because it's way too awkward and chuckling is better than silence.

"You go—" We start together again, and I sigh, chuckling a bit more genuinely this time as I put up my finger to stop him.

"You go first." I say finally, and he nods, still awkward.

"I just thought that since the Rolex is waterproof it can't be that damaged by the beer. If you wash it quickly, I'm sure it'll be alright." Ezra elaborates, shrugging as he tilts his head in what's probably the direction of the bathroom. "And you were about to say?"

"Yeah, I was gonna say that I should go find Alessia and drag her away since she must be in the middle of a man-sandwich somewhere, but your idea sounds better. I'll wash up and rescue her."

"Cool, follow me, please." With that Ezra spins around on his heel, leading the way.

I follow quietly, my mind finally having an opportunity to contemplate what I'd just done. And it takes everything in me to control my raging emotions and stop myself from freaking out.

Dang it, if something like this happens every time we're in close proximity, then by the end of the week, he'd be marked and mine.

My Wolf likes that idea way too much and she even lets out a gleeful howl to show her support.

I take deep breaths, fighting against that mental image, resolving to retain better self-control.

'Well, you ain't gonna get any help from me.' My Wolf supplies happily, and I control the sigh before it slips out.

I'm never getting that close to him again.

One experience is enough to burn a permanent memory in my head.

~ * ~

Who else is jumping up and down in excitement like this right now?

I SO AM! I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF WRITING THIS! YIPEE!

Question: Thoughts on future run-ins between the Alpha and the Beta? Next chapter will continue with these two and after that with the party scene that has already happened in Tatum's Tears. Who else read it already?

NEXT UPDATE: JUNE 23

Thank you so much for reading! xx

Dedicated to @Eesha_Sagdeo , @ParadoxicalNotion and @PurplexStar ! All of you mentioned the tripping but I couldn't do full on tripping cause that would ruin the moment and can't lead up to some touching. So i had to tweak it up a bit! Thank you for the idea!

If this cute scene deserves some appreciation, please do,

VOTE, COMMENT & FAN!