Some Mate You Are...
Happy Birthday

I had been dancing with Carl for quite some time and I was not really feeling it. I had come to the decision that at the end of the song, which had just started, I was going to break away. I wanted more to drink anyway, it had been far too long since my last shot. The point was to get wild tonight, not waste my buzz grinding against some wolf that I was not really interested in. I was distracting myself by deciding on which shot, or round of shots, I would like to have next.

Out of the nowhere, my thoughts were interrupted by a loud and powerful, territorial growl. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and turned towards the source of the sound. In the doorway of the Wolf’s Den stood our future Alpha, Enzo. He had a murderous glare in his eye and his chiseled jaw was firmly set. His muscular build bulged, and his nostrils flared with intensity. He was breathing heavily as he stared out towards the dance the floor. Everyone held their breath for a moment to see if he was about to lash out, but after he failed to move, we all went about our business.

“What in the hell is his problem now?” Kiara whispered.

“Who knows.” I answered, rolling my eyes, dramatically. “He is always pissed off about something.”

It truly was not out of the ordinary to see Enzo in such a state. It seemed that anger was his default emotion. Even when we were pups, he was always a little angrier and more possessive than everyone else. Alpha Griffith had said that this is common amongst Alpha and even Beta males. Though, I had to admit that Tyrus did not show any of these undesirable traits and he was the future Beta. Supposedly, Enzo’s wolf should calm down some once he replaces his mate, but he was already twenty-two and had not found her yet.

It did not help matters that he did not appear to be looking for her either. He refused to travel out of the pack to search for her amongst other packs. On top of that, he was the only unmated wolf that masked his scent. His poor mate could potentially be in the pack, waiting for him, and not even know that he was her mate because he was blocking her out. Her only chance to scent him out would be when he was in his wolf-form. He could not mask his scent then. But he was selective as to who he was in wolf-form with and did not spend time around others unless necessary.

I could not understand what was wrong with him. Why he would go to such lengths to avoid having a mate. I knew that once he found his mate and had completed the Marking with her, then he would be expected to take over as Alpha. But, otherwise, it did not make any sense to avoid replaceing her. Was he really so desperate to put off the responsibility of his title that he would dismiss his mate so easily? Sometimes I could not begin to fathom what it was that I saw in that wolf.

Since the mood had been ruined by Enzo’s entrance anyway. I turned to Carl and thanked him for the dances but excused myself. I then leaned into Kiara and Aida to ask them if they wanted to get more drinks. They were both eager for a drink as well, however Aida was even more eager to join Tyrus. He had been out with Enzo and had come with him to the party.

Enzo had led Tyrus and their other friend, Daray, towards a table in the corner. Aida rushed over to them and, giddily, threw herself into Tyrus’s waiting arms. He wrapped her, tightly, in a hug and pulled her into his chest. She immediately took in a deep breath, inhaling his scent, and sighed contentedly.

“Happy birthday, Marvel!” Tyrus exclaimed, his dark eyes shining.

“Thank you, Tyrus! I appreciate that you guys stopped by for my party.”

“Think nothing of it -“ Tyrus began before Enzo interrupted.

“Think nothing of it because we would have been coming here anyway. This craphole is the only bar in town.” Enzo grumbled.

I just rolled my eyes at him and took his comment with a grain of salt. Like I said, he is always in a bad mood.

“Well, I wanted to be here, specifically, for you, Marvel.” Daray stepped forward and offered me a wink.

I giggled at his statement, brushing him off.

“Thanks, Daray. I appreciate it.”

“I’m serious, Marvel.” Daray whined like a child. “Come closer. We need to smell each other. You never know, you might just be lucky enough to be my mate.” He wiggled his eyebrows, suggestively, at the thought.

“Daray.” Enzo, suddenly, snapped.

Everyone at the table stopped and stared at him, wondering what had set him off again.

“Go and get us some drinks.” He grumbled.

“Yes, Alpha.” Daray responded with a hint of sarcasm.

Enzo raised a warning eyebrow and Daray rushed off to get the drinks.

“I’m going to help him. Do you know what you want this time around, Marvel?” Kiara offered.

“Surprise me. You know what I like.” I shrugged.

I trusted Kiara to pick something strong, but not anything that will burn the hair in our nostrils.

“So, Marvel…” Tyrus began again, gaining my attention. “Any idea who your mate might be?”

“No. He hasn’t turned up yet.” I shrugged.

“So, not Carl then?” Tyrus teased.

“No definitely not.”

“She might have caught a whiff of him this morning, but we aren’t sure.” Aida chimed in.

“Oh yeah?” Tyrus pressed.

“Yeah. We were out for a run when she caught it in the air. We followed the scent to back near the pack house area, but we lost it after that.”

“Really? That’s strange.” Tyrus responded, throwing a sideways glance at Enzo who merely grunted. “So, what are you going to do then?” Tyrus continued.

“I don’t know. Just keep living life, I guess. Can’t very well stop everything for some faint scent trail on the wind.”

“Yeah, I guess that is true.”

“Shots, bitches!!!!” Kiara yelled as she got back to the table with a tray full of shot glasses.

We each grabbed a glass for each hand and threw them back one after another. Once we had gone halfway through the tray of shots, we paused for a breather.

“You know, Hala, grinding on another male is not really appropriate. You should be more respectful to your mate.” Enzo charged, out of nowhere.

I was taken aback. He barely ever speaks to me anymore and now he wants to give me a lecture on morals. He was one to talk.

“Excuse me, Alpha…” I sneered. “But I do not believe that what I do is any of your damn business. And if you are so worried about respect towards future mates then you should look in the mirror. Everyone knows that you’ve slept with half the she-wolves in the pack.”

“I am a male and the future Alpha of this pack. I can do what I please.” He lectured. “You are a female and have a reputation to uphold. How do you think that your mate would feel to walk in and replace you like that with another?”

“Seriously?!” I could not believe the audacity of this male. Alpha or not, he had no right to make such charges. “Last I checked, my mate is not here, so I was doing nothing wrong. Until I am mated, I am allowed to do what I want, just as much as you can.”

I stared him in the eye, refusing to submit to his will. I was surprised by how long I could hold his gaze. I knew I was a Beta’s daughter, which made me stronger than the average wolf in these kinds of circumstances. But it was still surprising to me that he could not force his authority on me. I continued our stare off as I picked up another shot and slammed it back, then another.

After a few moments, I had finished most of the shots that were left on the tray. Enzo just smirked at me, as if he were amused by my little show of defiance. Well, I’ll show him how defiant I can really be. I turned away from him and the table. I looked around quickly and found a male that I liked. His name was Luis, he was a warrior in the pack, we had been together before.

I walked up to Luis and grabbed his hand, leading him out onto the dance floor with me. I pressed myself against him and began to sway with the music. I rubbed my hands all over him and I allowed him to do the same to me. He leaned in for a kiss and I closed the gap, my lips connecting with his. I had kissed Luis before, but for some reason, this time it felt different. I was still attracted to Luis, there was no doubt about that. But there was a nagging feeling in my gut that was saying this was wrong. I tried my best to ignore it.

There was a loud crashing sound and glass was scattered everywhere. I jumped away from Luis out of sheer surprise. I looked in the direction of the chaos and found Enzo huffing, angrily, as he looked at the overturned table in front of him. Tyrus was holding onto Aida, having pulled her out of the way just in the nick of time. Kiara was back at the bar and looked just as stunned as everyone else.

“What the hell had happened now?” I wondered. “Was he really that angry about me ‘disrespecting’ my mate? Why the fuck does he care?”

Enzo made no attempts to explain himself or to clean up the mess that he had created. Instead, he turned and stormed out of the bar without a word to anyone. Daray ran after him but everyone else stayed put.

Well, that was one way to celebrate my birthday, I guess.