1 Dream Come True?

"Amaris, your little lover boy is here to see you!" Was it dinnertime already?

I looked at the clock and frowned. It was only 4PM, what was he doing here so early?

Austin and I had plans to catch dinner and a movie together. It was my birthday after all, and Austin always knew how to make me feel special.

Things hadn't gone as planned earlier.. While I was expecting to feel the mate pull as soon as he stepped through my front door.. there was nothing. No pull, no spark, just regular ol' Austin.

But that was okay! We had talked about it, and after some tears, we decided we didn't need to be mates. Our love was stronger than some silly primal urge. The Goddess could give her input, but I was the one making the final decisions on who I'd be spending the rest of my life with.

Well, I was pretty much ready to go, anyways. I wanted to wear my hair down today, but it didn't look like I was going to get the chance to style it, so.. ponytail it is.

I reveled in the clickity-clack of my heels as I scurried down the steps, giggling like a mad woman. Seeing Austin was the best part of my day, however busy he may usually be. He was the Beta's son and training to take over soon, so I rarely got to see him. He promised me he'd beg the Alpha himself for a chance to spend my birthday with me instead of the usual schedule set out for him, so we had agreed on 7PM as our meeting time. The Alpha was busy, and this definitely wasn't going to be seen as top priority.. so how did he gain an audience with that man so quickly?

"How do I look?" I beamed and gave my lover a twirl, my white sundress picking up in the wind a bit. My smile dropped as I realized the state Austin was in.

"Y-You look good. Let's go," He barely managed to choke out, though didn't make a move to take my hand as he usually would.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me Alpha Angelo said no..! It's my birthday!" I blurted out as I began to panic. The day had already gotten off to a bad start, now this?

"No, it's not that.." He seemed to be at a loss for words, which made me suspicious. But, if it wasn't that..

"Can you tell me what's wrong then? You're never this nervous!"

"I'll tell you when we get there. We should go, uh, now."

He still wasn't making a move to hold me, and I wasn't going to beg him to act the way I wanted him to. All he was doing was making me nervous, and I can only assume he had a bad meeting with the Alpha.

He didn't say a word to me the entire car ride. Hell, he didn't even look at me! The Alpha must've shaken him up bad for him to act like this, but I wasn't surprised. That bastard had ordered the death of dozens, just for more power! Our pack was already one of the most powerful in this region, but he couldn't just stop there. I can't imagine ever coming face to face with a monster like that.

"Why is the car stopping?" I looked out the window. The packhouse? What the hell were we doing here?

"This'll be quick, Amaris."

That's all he had to say?

I didn't say another word to him. He was acting weird, and I didn't want to fight on my birthday. I followed him into the packhouse, my arms crossed over my chest since he didn't want to hold my hand. Honestly, it seemed like he was purposely trying to avoid any physical touch. Which was weird for the guy who could never keep his hands off of me.

"I brought her,"

"Good, Alpha Angelo is waiting in his study."

"What are you guys talking about?" I threw my hands up in the air, flopping them to my sides. No one was telling me what was going on and as this point I was wondering if any of this was even real.

"You need to talk to me! Austin, you've never treated me like this! You won't touch me, you won't look at me, dammit you can't even talk to me the way you usually do!" Now I was throwing a fit, but Austin didn't even spare me a glance. He continued to lead me into the packhouse and stopped at a door, which I presumed was the Alpha's study.

That's when it hit me. Something I couldn't resist. A scent that made me want to break the door down and trace its source.

The mate pull.