"So you are saying that I should wear the blue dress?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," I said.

Her mom came into her room and was helping with her hair. Sweeping it to the side and using a curling iron to make her straight hair look like it had natural waves.

School was really busy, but according to Mindy it is always busy. Today there was just a lot more commotion in the hallway. People that seemed like the shy type, the type that wouldn't say a word around other people, were talking. Everyone was talking about the same thing: Alpha Mathew's return.

It took me a while to know who Mathew was, but when students kept talking about the party he was holding tonight and how he was returning after being gone for a couple of years, I knew it was the Alpha.

There was some kids at school that had parents that were high ranking and were already talking about how the Alpha came home late last night and did not look happy. They also discussed how he didn't have anyone with him except for two men that went on the trip with him. His Beta apparently stayed at the pack to take over if anything happened to the Alpha's dad. Mathew's dad was taking care of the pack while he was gone.

This news only made me more excited.

Mindy was confused with why I kept asking is she was also excited to see him, but she didn't seem as jumpy as I was. She said she had seen him before, and he was nice and everything, but this event was just a party she had to go to and didn't see the point. Eventually he would walk around the pack anyways to say hello to everyone.

Apparently it was a tradition in the pack to walk the streets when they had been gone for a month or more to make their presence known and to see if everything was in order. I appreciate the tradition, it shows that the Alpha cares.

All the talk of the Alpha being back made no one pay attention to Mindy and I at school. No bad names were called, we didn't get shoved around. The only time we did was a light push on the shoulder, but it was given an apology directly after. That has never happened before. I can't say that it never has, because I have only been here for 4 days, including today, but when I asked Mindy about the nice behavior, she was as shocked as I was.

Her mom was working on putting black on her eyelashes. It really made her eyes look so much brighter. I loved the effect that it gave when I saw Mindy's reflection in the vanity mirror. She looked absolutely beautiful. From the hair, to the eyes, the glossy lips, and the one shoulder dress. The whole outfit was put together with a pair of silver heels that were about an inch of the ground.

"You look amazing, Mindy"

"Thank you" Her voice was a little shaky.

"Are you nervous?"

"A little bit."

"And it's okay to be. It's your first party. Heck, it is my first party." My first party, I had only ever heard about what a part was from the moon goddess, but the just of it was a celebration of some sorts. And I didn't see how a celebration could make Mindy nervous. I tried to calm her nerves by telling her that we truly were in this together, since I didn't want her to feel like she was alone, even though she already knew that from the countless other times I told her.

"We are. The both of us and my parents. Remember, it's a pack party." I guess, I didn't need to tell her after all, maybe the shaky voice was just my imagination. she seems calm.

"How is everyone going to fit in the pack house?" I asked.

"Well, everyone is invited, but not everyone shows up. Some people have little kids at home that they don't want to bring to a party. Also, the party isn't all indoors, they have a nice garden and a lot of land surrounding the building."

"That's a good thing."

"Mindy, are you ready to go?" Her mom asked as she sticks her head in through the crack between the door and the wall.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

Her dad was waiting down the steps fanning himself off with his bow tie that was around his neck. I don't think it was working well. "Tell me again why the collar of this shirt is so high?"

"Because it makes you look handsome." I could tell he didn't care much for what he looked. He had this expression that read I-can-look-equally-as-handsome-in-my-footie-pajamas, but he closed his mouth and smiled. "As long as you think I do, it is worth it."

"Mom's right, dad, you look great."

He looked over at Mindy and gave her a smile before looking down at his watch and quickly holding the door open. "We are going to be late if we leave any later. Don't forget that we have a longer drive than everyone else."

The family rushed out the door and got in the car, before the sound of buckles being clicked in, the car took off and the unbearable wait to the packhouse happened.

The sights out the window were probably gorgeous as we got closer, but all I could see was Mindy's hands. She seemed fairly interested in how her fingers moved up and down. Maybe she was nervous.

The car stopped and her dad was the first one out, and then it was her mom. Mindy didn't move.

"You know you can get out of the car now."

"I know."

"So are you going to?"

"Yes." She had no indication of getting up out of her seat.

"I have an idea. Just take a deep breath and open the door. Kimberly is probably waiting for us. Don't make her think that we didn't come." Kimberly told us at school that her parents wanted to go to the party as a family so she would meet us there. And we are here now.

She got up just as her parents turned around at the front door. They must have realized that we were not right behind them. We walked fast enough to stand by their side as we entered the pack house.

The music wasn't as loud as I thought it would be when we walked in, but the amount of people here was exactly what I expected. The variety of dresses and tuxedos was so interesting, and I could tell Mindy thought so too as the screen didn't look too long at one area of the room before they moved to another part.

"Mindy, we are going to go meet up with some people we haven't talked to in a while. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be good." Both her parents smiled as they waved and went to the left of the room, while Mindy stayed where she was.

"Mindy! There you are! I have been looking for you!" Kimberly's red hair was the first thing I saw as it was in a headband braid with the rest cascading down her back. I took a second to look at her dress too, she picked a sea green color that looked amazing with her hair. She almost looked unrecognizable. "The Alpha already walked down the steps and already confirmed that he has not found his mate. He doesn't look like he is in a great mood about it, but that doesn't stop the she wolves from flocking him like pelicans."

"Pelican's?"

"Yep, here I'll show you."

She grabbed Mindy's hand and directed her to where a lot more people were crowded around. The guy standing in the middle wore a black tux and was giving off a powerful essence. He was clearly an Alpha, but I couldn't get a good look. Mind wasn't short, but some girls were definitely wearing higher heels.

I needed to look him in the eyes to see if he was my mate, or at least make contact.

"Can we get closer?" I asked.

"Why?"

"I want to get a better look at what the Alpha looks like. Maybe you could talk to him so I could have a better idea of who he is?"

She didn't question me, but she was hesitant. "Okay." Like every other girl we started to push our way through the crowd.

Kimberly grabbed her hand and gave her a questioning look as if asking her what she was doing, but a quick shake of the screen and then Kimberly just let her go. We were almost in arms distance until he started walking away. Mindy stopped walking too. I wanted to beg her to follow him, but as the flock of girls followed I understood why she didn't.

"What was that all about?" Kimberly stood next to Mindy as she watched the Alpha get farther away.

"I just wanted to say hi since I have not seen him in a while."

"I'm sure you will have tons of opportunities, but for right now let's dance. Mindy was getting pulled back and forth and swaying as music continued to be played.

After a while of dancing Mindy said she needed to sit down since her feet were killing her, and instead of sitting at a table that was closer to the dance floor she decided to go outside where more people were, but again passed another table and decided for a bench.

The screen was no longer filled with people, but covered with red roses. She had decided to sit near the garden. Although it was starting to get dark outside I could still see the way the petals folded over each other and couldn't help myself from thinking that they were beautiful.

"Mind if I sit down?" That voice was not familiar.

"No problem at all."

The man sat down and Mindy turned away from the flowers to look him in the eyes. His eyes were the color of cocoa butter and his black suit was crisp all the way to the gold colored tie. I could feel the same strong aura as before, but as I continued to stare at his eyes I felt no spark.

He sat down. "Thanks." He looked to have dark circles under his eyes, but were poorly covered up.

"Are you tired?" Mindy blurted out, I did ask her if she would talk to him, and it was an obvious statement, but at least she was putting in an effort to start a conversation.

"Yep, running from girls all evening and being bombarded with pack work is exhausting. My father can't sign papers, so I need to. On top of that two years searching for a mate and still nothing. Absolutely nothing. If I don't find her that my father is going to make me pick a mate since this pack needs an heir. I have tried so hard to find her, but I think I have given up hope." His voice started to rise and then quieted down near the end and sounded almost heartbroken. He started looking at the petals of the roses that I was previously looking at and back at Mindy. "I'm sorry that I'm complaining to you, I doubt you came to a party to hear me talk about my stress."

"No, but I'm okay that I did. At least you have it off of your chest now," Mindy said. probably thinking the same thing that I was, that it was a lot more information than we were expecting.

"Will you tell anyone?" He asked.

"Are you asking if I would I tell someone your problems?"

"Would you?"

"No, there your problems. You tell who you want to tell."

"And yet I still don't know why I told you."

"You had to get it off of your chest anyway, I'm just glad I could help." She said the right thing as I saw his shoulders relax.

He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it and his eyes glazed over then went back to normal. Must have been someone using the mind link with him. "I have to go now since I have to get ready for a meeting tomorrow. It is with the neighboring pack to talk about treaties."

"That's fine, pack duties call."

He nodded his head."Hey, before I go, what is your name?"

"Mindy," She said.

"Well Mindy I hope we can talk again some other time."

She nodded. "And I hope that you find your mate," she said back. He lifted up the side of his lip and then walked in the direction of the pack house.

I watched as the chance of him being my mate vanished. Our mate wasn't Mathew. Our mate was still out there waiting for us.

So she hasn't met her mate yet...who is surprised?

Who is disappointed?

I basically have chapters 1-10 planned. I have had them planned since chapter one, so I don't know what's going to happen after chapter 10, but I hope things will get exciting!

Posted on Friday as always (PS. Sorry for the mistakes)

Thank you so much for reading!!