The Alpha's Obsession

Avery’s P.O.V. “Avery…. We will be late for Nathan’s birthday party,” William shouted from downstairs, making me roll my eyes. “Give me five more minutes,” I yelled back from my room upstairs, as I was still thinking about what to wear. It was Nathan’s eighteenth birthday today. He was the future alpha of our pack and my longtime crush. I smiled while taking up a royal blue knee-length off –shoulder dress from the bed, where I had spread my whole wardrobe. I don’t like dressing up but this was a special occasion. I immediately put on the dress and looked at myself in a full-length mirror that I had in my room while zipping up. The good thing about this dress was that it had a side zip instead of one on the back. With a high bun and a few loose strands on the sides of my face, I was actually looking pretty. I applied nude lipstick to my lips in the name of makeup. I usually liked to wear comfortable dresses that included loose pants, leggings, with a comfortable T-shirt, and sometimes, comfortable loose tops. I chose a black heel that was comfortable to walk in. William brought these heels for me last month when I had to attend a meeting with him in The Light Moon Pack. I was not comfortable wearing heels, but these were comfortable. “You are looking stunning, girl.” Marie, my wolf, purred at the back of my mind. “Thanks, Marie,” I beamed, showing her the whole set of my teeth. She laughed and I took my clutch from the dresser and put my phone inside the clutch before walking out of the room. “What took you so long?” William complained once again in an irritating tone. He had his back towards me as I descended the stairs. “Girls need time to prepare themselves,” I answered him in a teasing tone. He glanced at me and moved his head back in the other direction but snapped his head towards me the next second while widening his eyes in shock. I smiled shyly while tucking a loose strand behind my ear, walking towards him. “You… you are looking …… different?” he said in a shocked tone, but frowned in the end, making me huff. “Yes …. I am looking different today,” I hit my clutch on his arm playfully while walking towards the door of our house. “It’s just his birthday. Why do you have to dress up like this?” he grumbled behind me, and I rolled my eyes. Of course, I had to dress up today. Although Nathan had Martha as his girlfriend for three years, I still wanted to look good tonight. He threw his birthday party one day prior so that he could recognize Martha as his mate tonight after 12. “Just put on a jacket or something, Avery,” William grumbled again like an overprotective brother. “You know that I can handle all the boys, right?” I asked him in a flat tone while opening the passenger door of his car. “Yeah, right,” he spat in a flat tone, making me smile again. I shook my head gently and entered the car. “Where are you, guys?” My father, Edward Smith, the present beta of the Blood Moon Pack, mind-linked me when I was buckling myself. We didn’t live in the pack house because of some reasons. Our villa was far from the pack house and that was why we used cars to get there. “On our way, Dad,” I answered him in a light tone. “I will meet you at the entrance,” he told me and I took a deep breath. “Dad will meet us at the entrance,” I informed William, who just gave me a curt nod. “What is it?” I asked him in a concerned tone when I saw a troubled expression on his face. “I am not having a good feeling about tonight, Avery,” he told me truthfully and I raised my brows questioningly. His eyes were on the road but he could see me through his peripheral vision. “This is so wrong,” he muttered under his breath, making me confused by his behaviour. “What is wrong?” I asked him in a confused tone. “Nathan wants to recognize Martha as his mate tonight, and he is also planning to propose to Martha right after recognizing her as his mate. She… she is still underage as her birthday is two months later. It is against our law to reveal your mate bond to your underage mate. He must wait till her birthday if she is really his mate.” He told me what was troubling him. I didn’t know why but I felt a pang of pain in my chest. Marie also whimpered as if someone had stabbed us. “Did he talk with Alpha Adrian about this?” I asked him in a low tone and he shook his head. “That’s why I am more worried for him. You know Alpha Adrian obeys the laws strictly. I don’t know how will he react tonight?” he answered me and sighed helplessly in the end. “Everything will be okay, brother. Don’t worry. We can’t be sure that Martha is his mate. I am sure that Nathan will not do anything against the law,” I tried to comfort my brother but worry didn’t leave his face. Nathan and William were like brothers, and William was the future beta of our pack. William had attained his age a month ago, but he didn’t find his mate in this pack, and he didn’t tell us if he had found it already. I guess his mate is still underage and that’s why he didn’t want us to know about her. “What if Nathan is our mate?” Marie asked me in whispers, making my heart skip a beat. “Hush, Marie. Don’t talk absurd… you know that we can’t recognize our mate until our birthday,” I scolded her while opening the door of the car on my side when William stopped the car in front of the pack house. “Go inside, I will be back after parking the car,” he instructed me at the same time. I nodded and walked towards the door. “Still…. wouldn’t be great that our crush is our mate, huh?” she still persisted in the same tone, and I rolled my eyes at her this time. To be honest, I didn’t want to have any hope about this. My birthday was still four months later. I got my wolf, Marie, on my sixteenth birthday like other teenagers, but there is something special about my wolf that made me keep our abilities hidden from everyone except my brother. Not even my parents knew about it. “Hi, dad.” I waved my hand cheerfully when I spotted my father talking with a few warriors at the entrance. He immediately looked at me and his eyes also widened in shock, making me laugh while shaking my head. “Do you want me or your brother to stay with you tonight?” he asked me possessively as soon as I reached him and wrapped his hand around my waist. “Seriously, Dad!” I exclaimed in disbelief and put my hand on his broad chest. “No…. I mean it, love…. I am still having a hard time believing that it’s you… my tomboy daughter. When did you turn into a beautiful woman, huh?” he asked me while walking with me inside the pack house. The party was in the backyard where we had a big lawn to conduct big parties. I was the little princess of my family and that was why everyone in my family of four pampered me so much. Still, I was not a spoiled child because both my father and my brother were strict about some things, including my relationship with the opposite gender. It’s not like I had so many friends here. I was a bit of an introvert type. “Let’s go inside. The party is already a headache for us,” he muttered under his breath. I giggled this time but didn’t say anything. “Where is Mom?” I asked when I didn’t find my mother in the living room with other elders. I gave a curt nod showing my respect to the elders who looked at me. They also nodded to me with a small smile on their lips, acknowledging my respect for them. “She is with Luna Bethany, taking care of refreshments and dinner,” he told me while heading towards the backyard. I didn’t know, but I was now having uneasiness in my chest. “What’s wrong, Marie?” I asked Marie in a worried tone. This is one of our abilities that we can predict a future incident on short notice. It may help us sometimes. “I don’t know but I am also having the same feeling. Something is going to happen tonight but I can’t tell what,” she answered me in a troubled tone. “Are you okay, kiddo?” I looked at my father in a daze when he asked me in a concerned tone. “Yeah.... dad… why did you ask?” I answered him, trying to stay calm. “You went pale suddenly,” he said in the same tone. I leaned in his embrace while smiling lightly this time. “I am really okay, Dad,” I comforted him while giving him an assuring smile. He pursed his lips into a thin line in concern but nodded to me. “I will leave you here as I have to go to Alpha Adrian. We spotted a few rogues around our territory a few hours ago,” he told me through mind-link. I nodded to him and he kissed my forehead before removing his hand from my waist. “Stay away from boys until William comes to you,” he instructed me in a stern tone, making me huff in response this time. He smiled and then went away. I shook my head and looked around. There were so many people in the backyard as the whole pack was presented here today. I smiled when I spotted my friends. “Hey, Avery…. You are looking stunning.” Someone commented on me when I was going towards my friends. “Thanks, I guess,” I thanked him while blushing lightly. All my friends looked in my direction and their eyes also widened in shock. I laughed while wrapping my hand around Helena’s waist. “You are looking more beautiful than Martha,” Helena blurted out and I just c****d my brow. “Yeah… you are right,” Thomas exclaimed right after him, and I rolled my eyes at them. “O come on, guys… don’t embarrass me,” I whined while looking around. My breath hitched when I spotted Nathan standing in the other corner of the room with a few boys. He was looking breathtakingly handsome in his black tuxedo combined with a pure white shirt. Suddenly he looked in my direction, and our eyes met. His eyes went one shade darker than their usual black colour immediately. Nathan had the most beautiful black eyes. I passed a smile while giving him a slight nod. He didn’t react to me, making my smile falter in the process. I averted my gaze from him to back to my friend while suppressing the pain that I was having in my chest right now. “I really hate, Martha. There is still an hour before midnight, and Martha has already started acting like his Luna,” Helena whined, making me purse my lips into a thin line. I tightened my grip on her waist. “You should keep your mouth shut, Helena. You know that Martha holds grudges,” Victor, our other friend warned Helena, and she scoffed. “Who cares about her, huh? I wish that I will have my mate out of this pack so that I can go away from here. I don’t want to be ruled by Martha,” Helena answered him in a voice filled with disdain. Martha was an ambitious she-wolf. She was our gamma’s daughter, but she was always an ambitious girl. She always had this belief that she would be the next Luna of this pack. “Let’s forget about her and enjoy our night, guys. You know that I have to go to my aunt’s pack tomorrow,” I asked all my friends in a cheerful tone, trying to divert their attention from Martha. “Why do you have to go to your aunt’s pack so frequently? You just came back a month ago,” Helena whined again, and I smiled this time but didn’t answer her. I glanced at Nathan once again while sipping my drink. I felt a pang of pain in my chest once again when I saw Martha clinging to him like a leech. She was wearing a modest red wine dress, highlighting her red hair. She had thick makeup on her face, making me realize that I couldn’t be even near her in this department. I still felt a burning gaze on me, but I didn’t have the courage to look in his direction. “It’s about time,” Victor whispered after some time, making my heart skip a beat. It meant that soon Nathan would declare Martha his mate. I regretted not telling him about my crush on him before. I should have told him no matter what his answer to me. “Where are you?” Suddenly, I got a mind link from William, using our family bond. “What happened?” I asked him while glancing at Nathan this time. His hand was wrapped around Martha, but his gaze was still on me. I immediately lowered my eyes. “Come to the living room,” William instructed me, and I pouted at him, but he couldn’t see my pout. “Okay,” I answered him and looked at Helena. “William is calling. I will be back in a few,” I informed her while giving my glass of drink to her. She nodded and I walked towards the exit. I stopped in my tracks as soon as I exited when I heard him growling aloud the word which made me feel an unbearable pain in my chest. He recognized her………