I was putting eyeliner on when I heard Montavius yelling from downstairs, "Girl, if you don't hurry up! I wanna see the eye candy!" 

I couldn't help but laugh and yell back, "I'm coming! You can't rush beauty!" I say as I put my makeup stuff away. I decided to put back on my black dress. Actually let it shine instead of sitting in a dark theater for the night. I couldn't pin point why, but I kind of wanted to go to this cookout. I don't know if it was free food, seeing new people, or because of Zannic. He didn't seem like a bad guy. Maybe I should give him a chance. 

"Honey, you can't rush what you never had!" 

I gasped. I knew he was just playing, but I went to the stairwell the threw one of my lipsticks at him, "You should speak for yourself." We both laughed. We've been joking like this for years, so I knew neither of us meant it. I've noticed ever since we're told each other about the whole werewolf thing. Nothing about our relationship has changed. I was grateful for that. It was one of my biggest fears. 

'Tavius saw me coming down the stairs and was almost taken back by how I looked. I didn't think it'd catch him that off guard. I mean I was trying a new eye shadow that matched more with the dress, but besides that, he's seen me wear it before. He was silent for a few more minutes, looking up and down at me kinda funny, "'Tavius? You good?" 

He shook his head out of his trance and looked at me once again, "Yea. You sure you wanna go out like that around a bunch of wolves? You know how they get." 

I actually didn't think about that, but hey. It's okay to have some fun around here anyway, "It'll be fun." I started heading to the door so we could starting walking towards the cookout at the end of the street.

Montavius stepped in my way, "I mean no disrespect, but I don't think you know how the pack runs anymore. It's been almost a decade for you and this is an entirely different pack." 

I looked at him and considered his position. This is true. I know nothing about this pack and I'm stepping into unknown territory. I also want to have some fun with Zannic and drive him insane. I smirked, "Well, I'm not actually his mate so.." I pushed past him and went out the door. 

Montavius was close behind, "I'm serious, Ty. Alpha Zannic is a bit of a hot head." 

I scoffed at him,  "Nothing I haven't handled." I could hear him roll his eyes he was so frustrated with me. But then again, I've never been one to not be difficult.

-Zannic's POV-

I stood on the deck of the pack house as people were mingling. Tavyra hadn't shown up yet and it had me irritated. What if she wouldn't show up the whole night? I crossed my arms and huffed. She'd show up eventually. She has to. She's my mate. "Go out there and have a good time." 

I turned back to see Rufus coming out of the house with a gentle smile towards me. I would usually find it comforting and fatherly. But right now, it was almost foreign to me. I simply stared at him. I didn't want to throw my anger out towards him, but he should show some compassion. He had his mate. He wouldn't know what it feels like. I had to calm down. This mate thing was getting out of hand. I leaned against the railing and watched everybody mingling. It was nice to see everybody having a good time, but I couldn't find that happiness in myself. 

Rufus put a hand on my back in comfort, "Don't worry. You said she's coming, didn't you?" 

I ran my hand through my hair. I was getting more and more impatient, "Yes. I did." I finally answered him. 

Rufus stood beside me and took in the view I had. He pointed towards the crowd, "Look, there's Tyson. I know he can always make you laugh." I followed his finger and saw my Beta. He was having a good time in a small group of his. I decided to take Rufus' offer and laugh for once, it should make me feel better, right? I started making my way down the steps of the deck, "Zan." I turned towards Rufus, his face and tone was more serious than two seconds ago, "Remember what I told you about your wolf. Don't it get out of hand." I nodded. That was my goal tonight. Keep my wolf in check. If he got out of hand, God knows what would happen. 

I stepped down the stairs and swung by the drink table for some punch. I took my pre-made drink of punch and headed over to Tyson and them. Tyson was the first to notice me and he smiled, putting his hand over  my shoulders, "Sup, Mr.Alpha. Decided you could join us, huh?" He joked. 

I chuckled, "Thought I'd be with the cool crowd tonight." I didn't really find anything funny. I just wanted to stop being in this dreary mood. I think the crowd laughed out of pity because I was Alpha and all that. 

"This is Megan." It was a brown-haired girl who gave me a wink. I tried my hardest to stop an eye roll and I did my best, but I had to take a sip from my drink. I hope she took the forced smile as something polite. "This is Randy." He looked like a stoner. "This is Ed." He looked like he had a GPA of 2. "And that's Molly." Great. Ed's sister. 

Wow. I was being really rude and judgmental right now. I need to relax, "Nice to meet you all." I said politely. Tyson and I were at the age where no one took us seriously because of everyone else that gives us a bad name. I was trying to hold my tongue by drinking my punch but I soon ran out of punch. Hopefully, they wouldn't notice. 

Megan kept staring at me with a look I didn't really like. Her eyes had a seductive look and, knowing her reputation, I knew what she had in mind, "Well, Mr.Alpha, you seem very tense." I lost sight of her as she stood behind me. Then I felt her hands going up and down my back, massaging my muscles. I had to admit, it felt amazing for the position I was in now, but it felt wrong. I felt bile at the bottom of my throat. "Maybe we should go inside and--" I felt her breath on my hear and her talking softly, "Unwind..." The word stretched in my head. 

Unwind? With her? It sounds nice, but...I couldn't. Tavyra would...she'd be outrageously angry. I couldn't do that to her. I felt her hands come around from my back to my hand and I felt utterly sick. I slipped my hand out of hers and tried to play it off, but it didn't go so well. She noticed my hesitation towards her and I could feel her eyes shooting darts at me. 

"Zan. You know you wanna go inside. It's kinda of chilly out here. Don't you think?" She retaliated. 

I cleared my throat, trying to make my voice with as much authority as possible, "I prefer you call me Alpha Zannic." 

Now I could tell she was getting frustrated and honestly, she was annoying me, "But Zan. I know you're cold." 

I glared at her, a growl rising from my throat. I could feel my wolf pushing through, but I had to be stronger. I swallowed the urge and took a deep breath, staring her down, "If you didn't hear me the first time. I told you to call me Alpha." Megan had fear in her eyes as she looked at me. 

The entire group was silent. I didn't really care what they thought of me right now. I was Alpha and that should never change. Tyson stepped up to me and forced a chuckle, "Ha. Well, Alpha Zannic. May I speak to you in private?" He pulled me to the side and I went with him. So socializing didn't make me any happier. Actually, it made things worse. Once we were out of earshot from the group, my Beta addressed me, "Zan. Are you okay?" 

I sighed and decided to be honest with him, "We're going to be official Alpha and Beta pretty soon. Don't you think we should clean up our act and stop hanging out with losers like them?" 

He furrowed his brow at me, "Zan. This isn't like you. What's gotten into you?" 

I rolled my eyes at him. I didn't feel like--I smelled that beautiful scent again. I could already think of her walking around in whatever she was wearing looking gorgeous as ever. I clenched my free hand into a fist and realized my claws were out. Was I in the middle of transforming? Just by the scent of the beautiful goddess? I took even more deep breaths. The words of advice Rufus gave me were only slightly helping. I had to control the wolf. I had to. 

"Zan?" Tyson looked quite concerned, but even though he was right in front of me, his voice was distant, like in a cave. Was I drugged or something? This wasn't right. I needed to see her. She was too close for me not to. "Wow..." I heard him mutter. I looked at him and noticed he was gawking at something. I turned to see what he and everybody else at the cookout was looking at. 

Her legs were stunning. And her black dress was teasingly short. The dress hugged her curves on her body and made her look even more irresistible. I felt my blood boil and the wave of different emotions hit me. Desire, lust, weakness, vulnerability, pride. But the most apparent emotion was anger. I growled under my breath and clenched my fists, my last resort before turning. I could only get one word through my thoughts and my lips. 

"Mate."