The Forbidden Mate
Chapter Eight – Finding a Luna

Alex

The night of the party has finally arrived, and I am dressed up in my tux, standing next to my father at the door to the packhouse, ready to great all the guests. I have plastered a fake smile on my face, in welcome. I cannot afford to let me mask slip

I must make everyone believe that I am desperately looking for my mate, my perfect Luna. At the same time, I need to avoid looking at Katy because if I see her, I won’t be able to go through with this charade.

The first to arrive is Beta Carl, with his daughter Lily. He smiles at me smugly and shakes my hand before turning to his daughter.

I give her a small smile and take her hand. She looks as uncomfortable as I feel. It looks like her father’s plan for us to be mates is as objectionable to her as it is to me. I know that Katy adores her, that they are best friends, so I try to be as kind at I can to her.

“Hello, Lily it is nice to see you again” I say.

“Erhm, yes nice to see you too Alex” she tells me, her eyes wandering over my shoulder, then to her feet, anywhere so long as she doesn’t look me directly in the eyes.

“I am sure we will talk at some point later in the night” I say to her kindly.

Carl’s grin widens as he moves the pair of them away so that we can greet the next guests in line. How am I going to get through this? I need to make sure that they believe I am looking for my Luna, without them thinking that I am interested in any of the women they are going to parade in front of me.

Katy

The party is in full swing, and I have been kept busy rushing around providing drinks and canapes to the guests. I have only seen Alex in passing which suits me. The little I have seen of him has been enough to make my blood boil. He has been surrounded by the shewolves of the pack all night, they have been standing as close as they can, leaning in to touch him, and he doesn’t stop them. I want to rip their hands away and slap him for letting them get so close to him, my mate.

I am torn. I know that he has to keep our relationship a secret, that he must continue with the pretence that he is looking for his Luna, while at the same time making sure that no one suspects us. The problem is that part of me still doubts that this is a pretence, and that what he is really doing is looking for someone to replace me.

I notice that one of the shewolves has managed to get him to herself. She has her hands around his neck, and he isn’t trying to remove them. She moves her body closer so that her breasts are touching his chest, and all he does is laugh.

Rage and pain overwhelm me. I don’t think I can cope with this anymore. I need to get away.

I rush through the door, ignoring the guests trying to catch my eye to request a refill for their drinks. I run into the kitchen and slam the tray down. I turn to Mrs Welsh who is supervising the staff preparing the next batch of food to be sent upstairs.

“I am sorry, I have to go, I….I, really don’t feel well.”

She can see that I am distressed and says “you do not look good, of course you should go home. We will manage without you.”

“Thank you” I manage to mumble before running out the door.

I head for the forest. There is only one thing that will make me feel better, I need to be at one with my wolf, I need to shift. My wolf has been desperate to get out all night, she has hated watching our mate be pawed over by other women.

My claws begin to extend, my bones break and reform, and silver fur covers my body.

As soon as the transformation is complete, I howl, overcome by the pleasure of being able to run free again. I start to run deep into the forest.

Alex

I have spent the last two hours trying to charm all the shewolves that my father introduces me to. I am bored, their desperation nauseates me, but I need to keep the act up for just a couple of hours more.

I see Katy rushing around serving the guests, she doesn’t look at me, but I can’t help watching her. When she is in the room, when I can smell her delicious scent, I can’t help but look her way.

Sarah, our accountant Manders’, daughter corners me, she manages to replace the one moment that I am not surrounded by other women.

We were at school together. I never liked her; she was always following me around, desperately trying to get close to me but not because she had any real feeling for me. She is ambitious, she wants to be my mate, because that would make her the Luna of this pack. She gravitates to any wolves who have power and status. She ignores or abuses anyone that she thinks is lower than her.

I try to move away, but she stops me by pressing her hand to my chest.

“Alex, please I have been longing to catch up with you. We used to be so close.”

I laugh “We were never close Sarah. I can’t think of anything that we have in common.”

“Of course, we do” she protests. Our fathers are close, and work to make the pack the best that it can be.”

“That is what you think makes a close bond between people?” I ask incredulously.

“Yes” she replies, “although perhaps eligible shewolves are not the type of people you like to feel close to?”

“Really” I say.

“Yes, you seem much more at home with Omegas, just look at all the work you have been doing for them since the rogue attack.”

“It is my duty to look after all of our pack members” I tell her acidly.

“Yes, but some more than others. There was one Omega who you especially looked after” she says looking knowingly over at Katy who is serving glasses of champagne to the guest. “Someone who you protected personally from the rogues. And that someone you have spent tonight watching obsessively” she says as she moves closer and closer to me.

I laugh. And lean into her. “What a fertile imagination you have. I think you read too much into the most innocent of situations.”

“Of course, you won’t openly admit it. No Alpha would willingly confess to having feelings for an Omega” she says disdainfully, “but I know that I am right.” There is a smug smile on her face.

I can’t help myself I turn to look at Katy, only to see a look of hurt on her face as she rushes out the door.

I count to ten as I make myself wait. I am desperate to go after her, to explain, to comfort her but I can’t. It would be too obvious. If people have started to put two and two together and realised that there is something between us, my running after her openly in the middle of the party would only make things worse.

“Ridiculous” I say to her as I turn away and catch Euan’s eye.

I need his help to pull this off if I am going to get away without anyone noticing. As ever he takes the hint and makes his way slowly and unobtrusively towards me.

“I need to go to Katy, but I need to make sure no one realises what I am doing. Despite our attempts to keep our relationship secret we have aroused suspicions”

He nods, not surprised “your protection of her and her sister was pretty open and blatant during the attack. If it hadn’t been for the chaos of the day a lot of people would have questioned it.

I sigh “How could I have done anything different?”

“No of course not she is your mate, but you made it obvious. There is no way of getting away from that.

I can say that I have been told by one of the patrols that there has been a suspected rogue spotted near the pack borders which is so significant that we both need to leave to investigate?” he offers.

I look ayt him with gratitude “It is a weak excuse but it will need to do. Come with me and we will let my father know.”