Fated

Chapter Seven: Mate

Claire's P.O.V.

Ow... I take a seat in the patio by the entrance to soothe my now aching feet. Mingling with the other packs for the past twenty minutes alone has exhausted me, physically and mentally. Being an absolute introvert, I feel all of my social energy has officially drained... 

At least I've made a good impression on the other packs, I assure myself, bending over in my seat to rub my burning ankle. Wearing heels is something I will never get used to. Honestly, I should probably have just worn flats, my dress is so long and flowy, it mostly covers my feet anyway...

I laugh a little to myself, enjoying this momentary break from the hustle and bustle of the still-growing party. This place is a mansion, so at least, even in a party as large as this, there are some safe, quieter zones. Oddly, but thankfully, the patio at the entrance is one of these areas.

Moving my gaze, I stare up through the glass ceiling above me and gaze at the stars. It's a beautiful night... I've been gifted such a wonderful day. Finding out I'm carrying Isaac's cub, finding out I am Isaac's mate... It's all been so perfect.

Thank you, Moon Goddess, for these gifts. I pray, expecting my wolf to chime in, giving thanks with me, but she remains silent.

She has been pretty silent recently... I mean, she has always been a pretty quiet, reserved wolf, like me I suppose. We've both appreciated this, never really irritating each-other, always giving respectful space.

I presume that with the pregnancy, she has probably simply been exhausted. Along with this, she is probably preparing for us to become fully matured, our birthday is approaching in a few months, after all. It's probably normal for her to be so silent right now.

I hope you're okay, Cynthia.

Just as I hope Cynthia will respond, I am interrupted by the creak of the un-oiled entrance door opening. Jolting to a more 'professional' position, I sit up straight and present a smile for the tall, dark-haired man approaching me in worn out clothing.

"Hello sir, welcome to the party," I breathe out, my tone warm - but tired, honestly, I'm barely conscious at this point, my eyes drooping.

"Hi, umm," He looks blankly around the mansion for a few moments before finishing, "Could you tell me where Mr or Mrs Lyall are?" His voice monotone, showing no real care or concern for his current surroundings.

"They're probably somewhere near the centre stage..." I stop for a second, remembering the meetings they have planned to have with the other pack's leaders, "But they are extremely busy right now. Maybe you could talk to their son, Isaac?"

"Mm." He nods his head a fraction, barely looking at me.

"He should be somewhere near by, given it's his party, he's probably making rounds greeting people." I wait for a response.

A moment passes. "You know what he looks like, I presume?"

He yawns, letting out a stretch, before quickly changing his demeanour, standing up straight now. "Yes, of course. I'll be on my way, then." He gives me a forced, polite smile.

Just like that, he's gone.

I glance after him, my eyes still drooping.

He'd be attractive if he wasn't so boring... or out of it.

Whatever. I shake the thought of him off, forgetting entirely what he even looked like, deciding to focus on making more rounds to greet the other wolves. Knowing that I will be the future Luna of this pack, it is imperative for me to strengthen my connections.

I hope he can actually find Isaac, though, I haven't even seen or heard from him once since we parted.

I sigh, standing up and brushing my dress off, repressing the pain of my aching feet.

Maybe some coffee first, though. I'll need it to keep socialising... I decide, making my way to the drinks table.

Isaac's P.O.V.

Sophia. Sophia. We need to find her, Alex.

Alex lets out a large sigh in annoyance. How you will command this pack, with this level of intelligence in crisis, is beyond my understanding.

Alex, please. I urge him, desperation and annoyance abundant in my tone.

Isaac. She is your mate. We can track her scent.

Find her.

Now. He commands, angry at me for not having realised this sooner.

Of course! How could I have overlooked this?

I pause for a moment, hoping no one will interrupt me. Especially not Claire, not right now. I don't know how I can even face her now.

I force myself to relax and just breathe. After a moment, my senses are no longer clouded and overwhelmed, and I can finally smell her. Her fresh scent, stronger than anything else in this room.

I've never smelled such a wonderful smell before; like fresh citrus... clean laundry... and fresh air. The kind of air you breathe at the top of a mountain, or deep in the forest.

Losing focus on anything and everything else, I make a beeline towards that scent, following with ease.

She's still here... My feet pacing the hard wooden floors, uncaring of elegance, dignity or overall appearance, I almost aggressively push my way through the different groups.

All that matters now is getting to my mate, and healing the pain that she is feeling. I don't know how much she heard, but it was clearly enough. 

My footsteps quicken.

I'm certain people have called my name as I have raced through them, but they don't matter right now. I'll be their alpha soon anyway; they'll get over it.

After a few minutes of what feels like forever, I make my way through the mansion, to where the scent is strongest.

I enter the door from which the scent emanates, only now realising; this is my bedroom. An unfortunately large part of me grows in excitement at this realisation.

Locking the door behind me, I notice all lights are off in this spacious room.

But she has to be here.

Unable to see anything right now, I turn the lights on, and luckily, notice the bathroom door ajar. I know I had closed it before the party, and none of the servants are here today, and well, no-one else would dare to go in my room.

It has to be her.

As I approach the bathroom, I can feel Alex becoming more alert, howling in anticipation of his mate. I know she's in here.

I enter the room. The lights are off, but I can make out her small, strong figure seated on the floor by the bath, legs curled up to her chest and head on her knees.

Too dark to fully be able to appreciate her beauty, I flick the light switch, light now pouring on her stunning form.

"Sophia," I exhale, moving over to her.

"Isaac..." Her tear-stained face looks up at me, unsurprised by my presence, but no necessarily happy by it. "I..." She barely chokes out, before her head falls back to her knees.

I kneel down beside her, placing a finger under her chin and lifting her head up to look at me. This touch alone shoots blissful sparks through my body, igniting a fire deep inside me. A fire I didn't know existed.

I can tell Alex feels the same.

Sophia's expression has changed as well, as she stares up at me directly now, no longer crying, the fire behind her eyes igniting my own even more.

Neither of us move, the tension building as we stare into each-other's souls, frozen in this moment.

Another moment passes, I drag my hand from her chin, slowly, to the bottom of her neck, barely able to control my emotions.

"I-Isaac..." Sophia lets out a small moan, extending her neck for me.

A small grunt escapes my lips in response. 

And just like that, both of us lose control.

Sophia pulls me down, her lips are on mine in an instant, the fire inside us blazing. In no time at all, I have Sophia pinned on the cold tile of the bathroom floor. My hand runs slowly up her thigh, savouring the feeling as I squeeze my way up, stopping just at the top of her inner thigh, eliciting a small whimper from her.

Almost impossibly, I stop myself from moving any further.

"I-Isaac?" Sophia lets out after a moment passes. "Is everything okay? Is it... Is this about Claire?" Her eyes begin to well up as she barely croaks out her name.

That name almost makes me want to completely stop. The guilt inside me rises, feeling like it could crash down if the name were uttered once more.

I look over Sophia's form once more, and just like that, even the name of that person is completely removed from my mind.

The fire inside me is all I can feel right now.

"No. No it absolutely is not." I look deeply into her eyes, the fire inside blazing, burning higher and higher with each moment. "I just thought... Maybe I shouldn't mark you on the bathroom floor." My voice deep, I give her a tilted, bashful smile, before moving to lick her neck, forcing myself not to mark her here and now.

She moans. "Then bring me somewhere else." Her eyes bore into my own. "I need you, Isaac, now," She breathes out in impatient pleasure.

My trousers impossibly tight, I lift her off of the bathroom floor with brute strength and toss her over my shoulder with ease, carrying her out and throwing her on the bed.

Pinning her down once more, my eyes catch the sight of a tear on the upper thigh of her short, tight dress.

"Oh, Sophia," I lick my lips, "You made such a nice starting point for me." She looks up at me in confused excitement.

I take the rip between my hands and tear the rest of her dress, from bottom to top, revealing the vision underneath.

Sophia squeals, arching her body in response, "Isaac!"

With that, unable to control myself anymore, I tear off my own shirt, buttons scattering across the room as I toss the remains elsewhere.

Sophia sits up now, stopping me, and moves her hand down to my trousers, feeling all around me. 

"Sophia," I moan, begging her to stop teasing me, forcing myself to not just mount her right now.

Sophia, hearing the pleasure dripping from my voice, begins slowly unzipping me. My hips thrust forward a little in excitement.

She moves in, slowly, looking up at me slyly while pulling my pants down. Her mouth approaches my member, teasing me.

Instead, she places her hand on me first, pumping slowly, slowly at first, speeding up little by little, eliciting numerous small grunts from me. "Sophia," I moan, her touch igniting sparks all over the area.

Just as she moves to place her mouth on me, a series of knocks come from the door, the handle twisting.

"s**t!" Sophia squeals in a whisper, diving under the blankets to cover her almost naked form.

"Uh... Coming!" I call to the person behind the door, not even thinking about who it could be, full of too much frustration to even care.

I quickly pull up my trousers, not even bothering with my shirt, as I move to open the door.

"Hey, Isaac, right?" The tall, dark-haired man says, looking at my naked chest. I eye him up and down for a moment. Shoddy, torn clothes adorning his body - I've definitely seen him before.... I notice a badge on his shirt.

Oh yes - he's one of the gardeners. A part-timer, from memory, around my age.

"Yes, I remember you..." The gardener glances into the room, catching sight of Sophia under the covers. A tiny smile appears on his face, but he says nothing, his eyes knowing.

Shit.

"You know you're not supposed to be here today." I move to block his view of the room, closing the door behind me. "Didn't you get the mass email sent to all of the serv...- I mean, employees?" Alarm rising in my voice, as I realise how easy it would be for this human to find out the truth about wolves from just being here, at this party of wolves. That is, if he hasn't already.

I need to get him out of here.

"Oh. Really?" He says monotonously, shrugging his shoulders, "Guess I'll be off then."

Shiit. I don't want him to pass through all of those crowds again.

"Here, I'll take you out the back entrance, it's the quickest right now."

He gives me a tired look, before accepting.

He leaves without another word, for which I am simply thankful, as I return to my waiting mate, my fire still burning, impossible to ignore any longer.

"So, my mate. Are you ready to get marked?" My voice husky as I lock the door, moving over to her. She stares up at me, biting her lip in anticipation. With that, I lose it, throwing the blanket from her form, across the room...