The Smallest Mate

Chapter 4: Party on.

POV: Lyra

I stood in front of this giant of a man, stunned. He didn’t care? How did he not care? Sure, the mate bond meant that the moon spirits had destined us to be together, but they also gave me a prey animal. Maybe this was another joke. I narrowed my eyes at the man in front of me. Something must be wrong with him. He shuffled me into the room despite my protests and set me gently down on my bed. He turned his back to me and entered my closet. “Hey! What do you think your doing? You don’t even know my name and now your rifling through my personal items?” My voice was sharp and angry. After the absolute joke the moon spirits played on me, I wasn’t so quick to trust they had my best interests in mind.

Once my words hit the giant in front of me, he stood up. “I’m sorry your right, I’m Alpha Aiden of the Crimson moon pack. We are a small pack just south of your borders. I’m not sure if you have heard of us.” I shook my head no at him. Though, if I was being honest, I had been terrible at retaining any sort of information my parents tried to teach me as they prepared for me, and my mate to take over the pack. It dawned on me that this man in front of me was said man. It only made my distrust of him stronger. While my body wanted to throw itself against him and kiss his perfectly stoic face, my mind was sure he was just in it for the pack title. Nevertheless, he did introduce himself. “My name is Lyra, and you have already figured out who I am”, I said with a tone of annoyance.

He smiled at me before saying “now that pleasantries are out of the way, let’s find you something to wear to your party” I frowned with my arms crossing my chest. “I am so not going down there.” I could only see his back but I saw him stiffen at my words before saying “Yes you are, and you want to know why? One, because it is your birthday party. You are literally obligated to go. Also, because you are my mate and I have to show you off to the world. The moon spirits blessed me with you and everyone needs to know that” I got that same pit in my stomach at these words. Did he want to show me off as his mate so he could take over the pack? I couldn’t help the feeling that maybe if the moon spirits were wrong in giving me my animal, perhaps they were wrong in this too.

“My my, presumptuous of you to assume I accept you as my mate.” I snapped at him. He turned his head and I thought I saw genuine sorrow flash in his eyes, but it was only a moment before he turned back to going through my clothes. “Look I’m not saying I reject you or anything but… I just don’t know if I can trust the moon spirits after today.” I didn’t want to add that I thought he may have anterior motives for being so excited to mate me. “Perfectly understandable.” He said before turning to me.

In one hand he held a baby pink spaghetti strap tank top, and in the other a pair of acid-washed high-rise jeans. I raised my eyebrows at his fashion sense. “It’s too cold for that” I said. It was early spring in Michigan, and while the weather earlier was nice and comfortable once the sun went down, it was cold. Being a shifter, our body heat ran higher than most, so the outfit he picked out would probably be fine, but I was small and always felt cold. He nodded, reaching behind him and pulling out a black cardigan. I took the clothes from him and he looked at me expectantly. “Do you mind?” I asked. Just because he was my mate didn’t mean I was going to just get naked in front of him. He chuckled as if I was being silly, but obliged me and turned around. I got dressed quickly, keeping my eyes peeled on his back. “No peeking” I screeched the one time I saw him start to move.

After I was done getting dressed, I took a hair band off of my vanity, quickly pulling my hair up into a messy bun on top of my head. “Okay”, I grunted at him to signify I was done. He turned around and his green eyes swept over my body. He looked back up to mine with lust. I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms tightly over my chest. He came over to my side and took my hand in his it completely encompassed mine and made me feel like a child a frowned deeper as he practically dragged me down the stairs and out of the house.

As if they could smell my fear, what seemed like the whole crowd turned to look at me as I exited the house. My instinct was to cower back behind my mate, but a voice in my head reminded me of who I was. I was the heir to this pack and with my mate by my side, whether or not I accepted him as such, this pack was mine to rule. I put my shoulders back and my head high, my chest puffed out slightly and my grip on Aiden's hand tightened. He squeezed mine reassuringly and pulled me toward the crowd.

My mother was the first one to say anything to us. Her face lit up as she saw me holding hands. “Oh, Alpha Aiden, we wondered where you went off to! So glad to see you were able to drag my sweet Lyra out of her room. I was afraid she was going to sulk all night and miss this beautiful party I planned for her.” My mother's voice was sweet but I knew her, there was an underlying insult there towards me. Aiden was too new to this pack or my mother, he didn’t seem to pick up on it. “I am so sorry to leave our conversation so abruptly, Luna, but I’m sure you understand”, he pulled me in front of him, his hands slipping around my waist. I glared and tried to push him away, but his touch calmed my anger and annoyance. I felt it soothing me so I decided to stay put. “Oh dearest!” My mother called to my father, flagging him down from the conversation he was in.

My father made his way over to us. He had a smile on his face but he didn’t look at me. This made me sad, but I expected as much. He had trained me himself to be strong enough to lead this pack and with the way the night went, all of that went out the window. Had I not been in Aiden's soothing arms surrounded by his warm scent, I would have cried on the spot. Maybe this mate bond was useful after all. My father turned his head to Aiden. “Alpha Aiden, I see now where you went off to. We will most definitely be having that meeting tomorrow first thing. This news… complicates things. But for now, try to enjoy the party tonight, we can deal with all this tomorrow.” He nodded and took my mother's hand to leave. He never even looked at me, he must be so ashamed. I shuddered and Aiden pulled me closer. “are you cold?” He whispered in my ear. I shook my head no.

“There is someone else I have to introduce you to”, he put a lot of emphasis on the have to part. I nodded, following after him. I tried to ignore the snickers I heard as we walked through the crowd. I could hear whispers from the girls I had grown up with. “Freak” and “useless”. Apparently, Aiden heard them too, because his hand tightened around my waist and he gave a low warning growl. He may be the alpha of a small pack, but he was still an alpha and the girls shrunk back running off. Again I thought this might be useful. “Ahh there you are!” I heard Aiden call to the person in front of us. He put his hand on the other man’s shoulder, turning him on the spot.

I looked at this man's face. He was only about a half a foot taller than me, where Aiden was nearly two. He was lean but muscular. He had sandy blonde hair that was slicked back to show his androgynous features. His eyes were blue, not as icy as mine, but more like a clear sky. As we locked eyes, I felt butterflies in my stomach and my face turned red. This was nothing compared to the mate bond, but it was also something I had never experienced. I stood shocked hand in hand with Aiden staring at the man in front of us.