Hidden Lake’s secret

Chapter Three.

Chapter Three.

Aria

I hear the commotion downstairs, and the voices begin to sound further away as my mother leads our guests the other side of our pack house. I had just run from the kitchen to get ready when I saw their vehicles pull in. My ripped jeans and t-shirt were covered in flour, and I was absolutely not presentable. I’m always cutting it close when it comes to getting myself ready for these kinds of things. There is always so much to do last minute that I forget that I forget about myslef. I know I’ll hear about it later from my father.

I strip down quickly and walk into my private attached bathroom, and turn the shower on. Stepping in I grab a bottle of body wash and start scrubbing myself down. Although it’s technically MY bathroom, most of the fancy products are Cassidy’s. I just have a couple of basic makeup palettes and some moisturizers. My hair care is also a lot ore basic than Cass’. She always tries to get me to put more effort into my appearance. I know I’m not unattractive, by any means, but I’ll never be on her level. It’s just not worth the effort to try. I don't have any lack of confidence because of it. She never uses her beauty to make anyone feel lesser. I don't even know if she realizes that she doesn't need to put in the effort she does. That’s just who she's always been. I’ve always wonder if her personality is a result of her loss at such a young age.

I pull myself out of my thoughts and finish rinsing myself off. I wonder where Cass is right now. Grabbing a couple towels from the rack by the shower, I wrap my hair up in one, and my body in the other. I walk of the bathroom, right as Cass walks into my bedroom.

“There you are!” Cass says, as she gives me a disapproving shake of her head. “What am I gonna do with you?” she sighs.

“I have no idea what you mean.” I state sarcastically. -“I think she means you’re late.” Snow judges quietly in my head. “Ugh! Why is it I have both you and Snow lecturing me at the same time? You know I want everything going according to the timeline I’ve written up. The kitchen prep took a little longer thank I thought it would.” I roll my eyes at Cass.

Cassidy may be a flirty party girl, but she takes her responsibilities very seriously. She is always there whenever anything big is happening at the pack house. She's my parents right hand girl, second only to myself. She’s so much like my parents, in her lack of administrative abilities. So I help take care of anything that needs organized, and she participates much more in the social part of our events. I thought she would already be with my mother, engaging in her social butterfly habits with the unmated males of Blue Lake.

As though she read my mind, she let out an exasperated sigh. “I had to do some last minute shopping, and missed the arrival of our guests. I thought it would be fine because I knew you were still here, but then I find out that you weren't even with your parents to greet the new Alpha.” she continues to scold me and remind me about the importance of showing face, and making good impressions.

“Okay, okay.” I interrupt her. “I’m sorry, but since you're here, you wanna help me get ready?” I wiggle my eyebrows at her, knowing that if I asked her to help me she would ease up on me a little.

“Of course I would!” She exclaims. “Actually…” She pauses and digs around in all of her bags she acquired while shopping, “I got a dress today that I just know will look fabulous on your figure!” She gives me a sly sideways glance. I know she's avoiding direct eye contact because she knows how much I despise dresses. I normally try to go with a nice pair of pants, and some kind of flattering top. She always tells me like I dress like an accountant, but I AM the best office administrator we have here, so at least I typically look the part.

I roll my eyes for what feel like the millionth time today, and put my hand out for the dress. I already know I don't really have a choice at this point, and she’s aware of it. She knows where I draw the line when it comes to how much skin I’ll show, and it’s significantly less than her. She’s never tries to get me to wear something that she knows I wouldn't be comfortable in, so I trust that she bought something I’ll at least be able to tolerate.

She squeals, and hands be the large bag. I pull the dress out and gasp. It’s actually beautiful. She helps me get in and zips it up. It’s an off the shoulder silver number with an asymmetrical hem. The shortest part of the hem stops mid thigh, and the longest ends by my ankle, which is perfect. The neckline is straight across the top of my chest. I don't have a large chest, but the dress compliments my size C breasts perfectly. It hugs all my curves in just the right places while maintaining an elegant look. Cassidy really knows me perfectly.

I check myself out in the mirror a little longer before I turn to my cousin with a large grin on my face. “I look hot!” I state. -“If our mate finds us wearing this, we’ll be pregnant with his pups in no time!” Snow exclaims proudly to me. I can feel my face turn beet red and Cass glaces over at me with a smirk.

“Is my little Aria having dirty thoughts?” She teases me.

“NO!” I yell a little too loudly. “Snow is talking about pups! We haven't even found our mate yet, and she might as well be planning a baby shower!” I cover my red face with my hands. “She’s so embarrassing.” I moan. I wait till my face feels normal again before looking up at Cass. “Oh my Goddess..” I gasp when I see her. The dress she has on is TINY, black and strapless. And of course she looks fabulous. Her legs look even longer in the mini dress. It flatters every part of her. A twinge of jealousy creeps in the back of mind, but I ignore it.

We spend another 20 minutes getting our hair and makeup ready. She could've spent another hour primping herself, but I reminded her that we’ve already missed greeting the Alpha, so we absolutely can’t be late to the small gathering mom has planned. Mom didn't want to just send the Alpha and our other guests to bed without filling their bellies. She's always so nurturing.

We’re head downstairs towards our large living area, when Cats stops. She starts sniffing the air curiously.

“Something smells phenomenal…” she mutters to herself.

She starts to move ahead of me like she's in a trance, so I follow her to see what has her acting so weird. We make our way into the room everyone has gathered in, and she abruptly stops. I run right into her with all the grace thats expected of an Alpha’s daughter. Or so I wished. Really I fall backwards, landing on my rear end in front of what I assumed to be all of our guests.

My fall knocks her out of her enchantment and she turns around to apologize and give me a hand up. “Oh no Aria! I’m so sorry. I don't know what just came over me. It’s the weirdest thing… “ She trails off as I’m brushing myself off and then we hear a gruff voice in the room.

“Mate”

We both turn to look to see where the voice came from. An attractive man was looking very lustfully right at Cassidy. She grabbed my forearm to support herself. She was gaped mouth and dead silent. I’ve never seen her act like this around a man, ever. She closed her mouth and gulped hard before speaking.

“Hi, I’m Cassidy”, she says in light breathy voice.

“And who are you?” she asks in a daze.

The whole room is watching quietly. I glance at my parents whose eyes are wide. My mother’s expression was unreadable. Cassidy is as much her daughter, as I am, so I’m sure she is happy, but probably just shocked. My father, however, is beaming with pride. Some of the other men have started patting the mysterious man’s back. He is definitely a ranked wolf. But I cant tell what rank exactly. He has a powerful presence. Could he be Alpha Garret?

“My name is Ethan.” He finally replies.

So he’s not the Alpha, I think to myself. -“He must be a Beta then. No-one lesser would have that kind of aura.” Snow whispers in the back of my mind. I nod in silent agreement.

Cass sucks a breath in. “Ethan…” she repeats quietly.

Ethen takes 3 large steps and puts his hand out for her to take. When she accepts his hand, everyone breaks out in cheers. I smile at her and step away, giving them some space. Ethan carries her to the couch and takes a seat pulling her onto his lap. Everyone else starts to turn their attention elsewhere to give the new couple some space. I hear Cass giggle and a grin stretches across my face. I’m just so happy for her. I’ll get more details from her later. A pang of sadness washes over me when I realize that she’ll be leaving me to go with her mate to Blue Lake. I push the negativity aside, and remind myself that she has found her true love. That he’ll take care of her and love her, and she deserves the happiness that he’ll bring to her.

Another she-wolf I don't know walks up to Class and takes her hands quickly, introducing herself. because of my elevated wolf hearing, I learn her name is Sarah. She is laughing and squealing, and seems like she has an excess of energy. I chuckle to myself, grateful that Cass is taking up the majority of the attention in the room. I quietly sneak away to get the dining room set up for desert.

I make my way to the kitchen and wonder if anyone will remember about the pie with all the excitement going on in the other room. I could never forget about pie. Especially ones that my mother has prepared. I start to pull down plates and getting some serving utensils out. We don't really have many Omegas help us around the house and due to the planned arrival of our visitors, we gave the few house employees we do have, the weekend off, paid of course. It helps ensure that our guests personal lives stay personal. Everyone knows that Omegas love gossip.

After getting everything ready, I walk into the dining area to set out plates. We have a large dining hall, with several long tables to accommodate visitors and any parties or events we want to host indoors. I put out a couple dozen place settings and start to move back to the kitchen the bring in the pies and ice cream, when I catch a whiff of something lovely. Like rain in the woods. It reminds me of the forest during the fall. I love hiking through the wet leaves on a brisk morning. Everything still shines with the morning dew and rain from the night before.

I shake my head to bring myself back to reality and take a deep breath again. The scent is getting stronger. I almost knocks the wind out of me. Less than a second later the most handsome man I’ve ever laid eyes on walks into the room and sets his sights on me. He doesn't speak, and neither do I. We just stare at each other for a moment before he makes his move.

Faster than I can blink, I’m being swept up by this deliciously handsome man. He captures my lips with his as he pulls me in flush against his solid frame.

Then he pulls back and stares into my eyes. He opens his mouth and out comes the word I’ve been longing to hear….”Mate.”