The Alpha's princess mate

20-mate..

-Anya-

She had lost all track of time all of a sudden. It seemed as if all the clocks had somehow stopped, as if she had stepped in a parallel universe that nothing other than this new purpose existed. The purpose to find the source of this intoxicating smell, a combination of citrus and the earth after a heavy rainfall.

His smell.

She had been wondering about getting a mate for the past two years, ever since she had turned eighteen. She knew how rare, almost unlikely it was, Seth was almost twenty nine and he hadn't found his mate yet, how could she? She had almost given up on this whole damn thing, publicly at least. She would hang out with all these guys, flirt with them, enjoy herself. But no one knew that she hadn't go all the way with no one of them. No one needed to know that late at night, before falling asleep, she would dream of the day that she would find her mate. Her happilly ever after.

And for him to be at her birthday party, from all times and places? Everything seemed too perfect. She was dolled up, wearing the dress of her dreams, the timming was ideal for this. She had felt a little bad to leave Naysha all alone, especially tonight that she seemed to not be on her highest spirits. She was probably still shaken up from the attack, she had been acting weird ever since. Not that she could blame her, she would also act like that if she had experienced something similar. Plus, she had no idea about what was really going on.

And that was another reason why she had left her alone to go search for her mate. The poor girl had no idea that she was surrounded by werewolves, how could she even begin to explain to her the whole mate-thing without sounding insane? If it was up to her, she would have told her everything right after the attack, not only because it was wrong to lie to a person she considered a friend, but also because she wanted Naysha to accept her for who she trully was. She might not know her for a long time, but she felt very close to her. And deep in her heart she knew she would understand. She hoped at least.

She was moving through the crowd in a trance, people were wishing her happy birthday, but she would just smile at them and move on, trying to find him. His smell was getting stronger by the minute, so he had to be there, somewhere in the party. She couldn't help but wonder about who he was? Any friend of her friends? Perhaps a friend of Seth, that had been gone for a long time? Her heart was beating almost outside of her chest in anticipation.

What should she say to him once they were face to face? How did people greet their mates afterall? She was way too nervous, her palms were feeling sweaty. She took a deep breath. She shouldn't worry that much. No matter who this guy was, he was her mate. He would like her no matter what, right?

She had reached one of the balconies of the ballroom. The smell was too strong there, she was almost dizzy because of it. But no one seemed to be there. Just a few people close to it. But none of them was her mate. She stepped closer to the balcony doors, that were left wide open. The sea breeze was cooling her skin. The moonlight made everything glow. This amazing smell had her almost drunk. Yet no one seemed to be out there.

She took a step further in the balcony. And another one, until she reached the railing. She peeked under it, not really sure why. And then she froze in place. Someone had sneaked up on her from behind and was now pressing a blade against her neck while holding her still with his strong hands.

There was no way she was mistaken about this. His smell was now so strong, she was feeling weak in the knees.

"Mate.." she whispered in a shock.