Fate of the Alpha's Mate

Chapter 12

Esme

I took in the enormous crowd on the field as I stepped out of the black limo that brought Kenzie and me to the gala. I knew that I had put everything I had into looking amazing tonight. Not because I thought I would meet my mate, but because I wanted Lucas to see everything he'd miss by pushing me away. I was able to sleep some last night as his scent surrounded me. I dreamt of him all night and I woke up with a fresh wave of determination. He isn’t my fated mate, but I will be damned if he isn’t my chosen. I just have to make him see that it doesn’t matter.

I know that if I have a chance of making him lose control I need to tempt Kiko. Kiko has way less self-control than Lucas does. The best way to tempt Kiko was another alpha. They are the most territorial. I had a flirtatious relationship with the perfect alpha that I knew would be here tonight. Mason and I playfully flirted a lot in high school, and we remained close friends. I knew he would be here tonight, and I knew he would play the part I needed. I spotted him on the dance floor as I entered the gala and sent him a flirtatious smile.

Mason had matured nicely as well. In high school he was cute, but he had filled out his frame. His black suit fit him perfectly and showed his athletic build underneath. His dark brown hair swept to the side and stubble covered his jaw. He obliged and immediately walked toward me, making his way through the crowd. Kenzie flashed me a smile and made her way to a group of her friends at a table nearby, knowing my plan.

“You look absolutely stunning, Esme,” he smiled at me. I could feel Lucas’s eyes already on me. I glanced to the side just enough to see him on the other side of the dance floor staring right at me. I smiled back at Mason and reached for his hand. He gladly accepted it and spun me out onto the dance floor before pulling me close. His hands slid around my waist and pulled me closer. I laughed, he was always so smooth.

“Alpha suits you, Mason,” I whispered in his ear and heard him chuckle deep in his chest. I hadn’t seen him since well before I left for school, but I knew he had taken his place as alpha a few months ago because my dad went to his ceremony.

“And Luna suits you.” He raised his eyebrows at me. He always said I was a born Luna. But even in high school, everyone knew my heart belonged to Lucas. I never wanted to be Luna, but I don’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be with Lucas.

“I don’t know about all of that,” I replied with a tight smile.

“Don’t tell me that i***t still hasn’t figured it out?” he asked and spun me away from him before whipping me back in close to him. “You’ve been back for over a month now.”

“Keeping track of me, are you?” I giggled at him.

“I hear things,” he smiled at me. “I also heard that he broke up with Emily.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter. We are not fated,” I sighed.

“You chose each other long before fate was to step in. If you looked at me the way you look at him, I would mark you in a heartbeat.” Mason said matter-of-factly. “You never seemed to be the type to let anyone stop you from getting what you wanted.” I smiled at him, then saw his eyes glaze over, and knew he was linking with someone. “You’ll have to excuse me for a minute.” He smiled at me and stepped back.

“Of course,” I smiled back.

“Save another dance for me,” he added before he disappeared into the crowd. I continued to dance and looked around for Lucas trying to be discreet, but he was nowhere to be found. I decided to find Kenzie instead and turned to make my way to the table where I saw her with her friends and bumped right into Emily, of all people. She stumbled back a little and her eyes flashed full of anger at me.

“Watch it!” she snarled at me. I rolled my eyes and tried to pass by her. She grabbed my arm and spun me back toward her. This girl putting her hands on me was getting old, really fast. Selene immediately pushed to the front and fought for control.

Let me take care of her, Selene growled.

I got it, I tried to calm her down. I do not want to ruin my night or my dress over this b***h.

“One alpha not enough for you?” she growled at me.

“I’m not after a title, unlike some people,” I growled back and pulled my arm from her. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll walk away now.” I scowled at her.

“Could have fooled me,” she growled and I noticed people starting to back away from us. “Lucas didn’t work out, so you're throwing yourself at Mason. Pathetic,” she sneered.

“I’m not throwing myself at anyone,” I spit back at her. “And Lucas never loved you,” I added. She launched herself in my direction. I shifted to the left a little and out of her way. She began to circle me, but I followed her, preparing for a fight. I almost felt bad for her. She thought she had a chance in this. I’ve trained my entire life to defend my pack and she has done the absolute minimum training required by every wolf in the pack.

“I sure as hell had him screaming my name. Can you say the same?” she smiled wickedly at me. Her words cut me as deeply as she intended them, but I refused to let her see it. I ran my tongue over my teeth and smiled wickedly back at her.

“Last night in fact." I watched as my words hit their mark. She launched herself at me again just as I saw Lucas breaking through the crowd that was surrounding us. A terrifying growl tore from his chest. The distraction was just what she needed to get her hit and her hand swiped across my face right before Lucas moved in front of her and pushed her back.

“Leave, now,” he growled at her. His eyes flashed red, his body vibrating with anger. The circle around us dispersed quickly as he moved towards me, reaching for my face. I stood, unable to move as the adrenaline pumped through my body. My wolf was still bracing for a fight and unable to back down, even with the threat removed. I saw Lucas turn to me and felt his finger trailing down my cheek as I snapped back to reality. “It’s okay,” he reassured me as he brought his other hand up to cup my cheek. “I’ve got you,” he tried again. My entire body melted, and the adrenaline drained. He put his arms around my shoulders and took me into his chest tightly. A calm filled my body the longer I stood in his embrace. I listened to his heartbeat as it rapidly declined and leveled out. “Are you okay?” he finally asked softly.

"Yeah, she couldn't have hurt me even if she tried," I whispered.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, pulling away.

“For what? You can’t control her, and I don’t expect you to.” I replied, moving toward him. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. It got him to speak to me, to acknowledge me.

“I should've known she would take this out on you,” he admitted, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I never slept with her. I heard what she said. That was just to hurt you. You should know that,” he assured me, looking directly into my eyes. I felt like I could get lost. I tilted my chin up slightly, inviting him to kiss me. “I’ve got to go,” he said abruptly and disappeared into the crowd of people. Tears stung my eyes as I watched him. None of it mattered. I turned to make my way toward the back of the dance floor. There was a wooded area where I knew I could disappear. My chest felt tight, and I was trying to remind myself to breathe.

What a joke. I convinced myself that all I had to do was show up tonight and remind him what he was giving up on and he would choose me. He’s never chosen me, and he never will. Yesterday did nothing but prove that we couldn’t even be friends. We don’t know how to, there is too much tension between us.

I continued to walk through the trees until I came to a small creek and slipped my heels off. I heard someone coming, and I turned quickly. Mason’s enormous frame appeared through the trees, and I gave him a small smile. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself,” he smiled and moved closer to me. “I left you alone for ten minutes and you managed to get yourself in trouble,” he chuckled, moving closer to me.

“I did,” I smiled at him.

“I never did know what he saw in her,” he said trying to comfort me. I just shrugged my shoulders. Despite what he said, he must see something in her.

“It doesn’t matter, he’s not mine.” Saying the words tightened my throat. For years I had been able to accept he wasn’t mine. I was able to come to terms with all of it and just hope one day we could find our friendship again. Why did he have to come to my room and change everything? Have me question everything. Make me miss him all over again.

“I’m sorry to hear about your dad,” he offered. “He was a good man.”

“He was,” I smiled, thinking of him. It's hard to smile thinking about him lately. It's nice to talk to someone who knew him but wasn’t grieving his loss. I didn’t feel like I had to pretend I was okay to make him feel better, it made it much easier. Tears stung my eyes. “I miss him so much.”

“s**t, I didn’t mean to make you cry. I just hadn’t been able to offer my condolences. I’m sorry,” he apologized and moved closer to me. “Don’t want to mess up that pretty face of yours,” he smiled and wiped a tear from my face.

“It’s okay, the night is over anyway. I think I’m just going to head home. I only came for Kenzie.” I sniffled and reached for my shoes.

“It doesn’t have to be. Stay, dance with me. Have fun,” he smiled. Mason always had the cockiest grin I had ever seen. “Let’s go back and give him a show,” he laughed.

“I don’t think I can,” I sighed.

“Of course you can. Let’s go, call it celebrating your liberation. f**k Lucas, if he can’t see what he is missing, then he doesn’t deserve you.” He smiled, and it was contagious. I found myself smiling and considering his offer. I came here tonight to convince Lucas to give us a chance. That's not going to happen, so I need to learn how to move forward.

“Okay, let’s do it.” I smiled at him and reached for his hand. I used it to balance as I slipped my heels back on. We made our way back to the party. I didn’t see Lucas in the crowd. I took Mason’s hand to pull him over to the bar and ordered six shots of tequila with salt and lime. “Let’s get the party started right,” I laughed, turning to him as the bartender lined up the shots. We both reached for the first one and clinked them together before biting the lime. It takes a lot more than a few shots to get drunk for wolf, but it would take the edge off.

“Now this is my favorite Esme, this is the girl I used to know,” he laughed as we reached for the second one.

“I missed you, Mason. Why did we ever stop hanging out?” I smiled and down the second one.

“I’m not sure,” he smiled, reaching for his third and final shot. “Are you trying to get me drunk to take advantage of me?” He laughed at me. I feigned shock and innocence. “Because really, you don’t have to get me drunk.” He taunted and downed the third shot. We threw our limes into the glasses and I spun out toward the dance floor. Mason was right. This doesn’t have to be the end of my night. I can enjoy this party and have fun with my friends.

We moved out to the dance floor and Mason pulled me close to him. Our legs intertwined as we moved to the music. I could feel the tequila in my system already as he moved against me. We continued to dance, song after song. I found that Lucas was the last thing on my mind now. At some point, I stopped scanning the crowd to find him. I think he left anyway. I saw a girl walking along the dance floor with a tray of colorful shots and motioned for her to come over. I grabbed two and handed them to Mason and then grabbed two myself as well. He just laughed at me, and we shot them quickly before handing her the glasses back. The alcohol was making me feel warmer than I already was, but I could feel the tension draining from my body and I was enjoying myself for the first time in a long time.

I glanced around us, and I saw Kenzie was having a blast. This wasn’t such a bad idea after all. I think we both desperately needed some fun. I moved Mason and me closer to Kenzie and she raised her eyebrows at me.

No, he’s not. I linked her, knowing she was wondering if he was my mate. Kenzie was a year behind me in school, so we didn't hang out much during school hours and she has never met Mason officially.

“This is Mason, he's the alpha of Snow Moon.” I introduced him. “Mason, this is my cousin Kenzie.”

“Nice to meet you,” Mason said to her, smiling strangely. “Are you sure we haven’t met?” he asked her.

“Nope, I don’t think so,” she giggled and looked at me. He is hot, why have I not met him?” She linked and I just smiled at her. I noticed the shot girl walking around again and signaled her over. I grabbed us all a shot and passed them around. Kenzie raised her eyebrows at me. I never take shots, so I know she's thrown off by it. I just smiled at her and raised my shot at her.

A song came on, and Kenzie found her friend and pulled him into a dance with her. I turned back to Mason, pulling him toward me with a smile. He grabbed my ass and pulled me closer to him and I could feel his arousal against me. Normally, this would be where I took my exit, but I have just enough alcohol in me to be encouraged. I made eye contact with him and stared into his deep blue eyes as they darkened with arousal. I leaned a little closer, inviting him to kiss me. He took the invite and leaned to meet me, nipping my bottom lip for permission to deepen the kiss. I opened my mouth just enough to allow it. His hands ran up my bare back. I heard Lucas's deep growl fill the air as he ripped Mason away from me suddenly. I tried to focus on seeing what the hell just happened.

“What the f**k?” Mason growled at Lucas.

“She's obviously drunk!” Lucas growled back at him.

“It’s obviously none of your f*****g business.” Mason pushed Lucas aside and reached for me again. I saw Lucas reaching for him again.

“Lucas, stop,” I demanded, holding back tears.

“Lucas, you need to cool off,” Mason added.

“Oh, so now you are telling me what I need to do?” Lucas laughed. I could smell the bourbon on his breath.

“That’s not what I’m doing here, man. I’m trying to stop you from making a huge mistake.” Mason tried to reason and stepped back a little, tucking me to the side of him.

“And who the f**k do you think you are telling me what to do?” Lucas growled. “A mistake like trusting you with her?”

“A mistake like saying things you can’t take back,” Mason growled back. I could feel his anger rising. He was barely holding onto his self-control.

“Enough,” I said, moving between them. “Lucas, you have no right.” I glared at him. “You don’t want me, but you don’t want anyone else to have me either? f**k you,” I yelled at him.

“Esme, please just come with me,” he asked gently, reaching for my hand.

“No,” I replied and noticed people staring at us.

“Esme, please?” he pleaded.

“I think she said no,” Mason growled at him. Lucas glared at him and looked around to see his audience, then turned to leave. The adrenaline left my body, and it left me sober. Leave it to Lucas to ruin a perfectly good night.

“Mason, thank you for an amazing night, but I think I’m going to call it. I’m tired.” I gave him a small smile and he pulled me in for a hug, kissing my forehead.

“Don’t let him keep you down,” he smiled at me and turned to Kenzie. “It was nice to meet you.”

“Oh, no. Kenzie, you stay. I’ll be fine. I’ll see you at home,” I smiled at her. I couldn’t ruin her night just because Lucas is a jackass. There was also something in the way Mason looked at her that I hadn’t noticed before. I wanted to give her more time with him. Mason is a good guy. He could be good for her.

I also don’t plan to go home. I don’t want to head back to Shadow Lakes and have Lucas show up. My grandparents live about twenty minutes from the gala, about an hour from Shadow Lakes and I haven’t visited them in a while. I went out and found our driver and asked him if he would be able to take me to their pack and come back for Kenzie. I slipped into the back and closed my eyes.

I just couldn’t understand Lucas. He couldn’t seem to make up his mind what he wanted. I just can’t keep doing this. I have loved him my entire life. That love has changed and evolved over the years, but I think it's time for me to step back and learn to love myself more. Maybe this was just the wake-up call I needed to accept that I need to move on.

This dance we were in wasn’t fair to either of us. It was obvious we loved each other. That has never been our problem. Now that my mom was staying with my aunt Lacey, maybe it was time for me to spend a few days with my grandparents. They had come to Shadow Lakes for a few days after my dad died, but I hadn’t spent any quality time with them in too long. I’m sure right now they could use the extra quality time anyway. I pulled my phone out and sent a text to my mom and Kenzie not to worry and I would call soon.