The Alpha's Red Wolf

Eighteen

I woke up at 12:03 a.m.

Not because of an alarm.

Not because someone made a noise.

Because Ruby screamed inside my head.

EIGHTEEN.

My eyes flew open.

I stared into the darkness.

Jesus Christ, Ruby.

We're eighteen.

I know.

We can find him now.

I grabbed my phone from the nightstand.

12:03.

Technically, she was right.

I was eighteen.

I waited.

Nothing happened.

No magical light.

No voice from the Goddess.

No mysterious man appeared in my bedroom.

Honestly, slightly disappointing.

Maybe he's outside.

I sat up.

We're not going outside at midnight to sniff the neighborhood.

Why not?

Because that's how people end up on documentaries.

Ruby didn't seem convinced.

I fell back against my pillow.

My heart was beating faster than it should have been.

Eighteen.

For my entire life, this birthday had meant something different than every other one.

Somewhere in the world, there was a wolf I could finally recognize.

Starting now.

I smiled into the darkness.

Happy birthday to us.

Ruby practically purred.

Find him.

At a reasonable hour.

Coward.

I went back to sleep.

By breakfast, I had smelled Dad's coffee, Mom's perfume, toast, bacon, Jake, Jasmine, and the delivery guy dropping off something for the ball.

None of them smelled like my mate.

Obviously.

That didn't stop Ruby from evaluating everyone.

Too old.

That's Dad.

Still too old.

I nearly inhaled my orange juice.

Mom looked over. “You okay?”

“Yep.”

Ruby was going to kill me before I ever found this man.

Mom set a plate of pancakes in front of me with an eighteen made out of strawberries on top.

“Aww.”

“Don't get used to it.”

Dad leaned over and kissed my temple. “Happy birthday, sweetheart.”

“Thank you.”

Mom kissed the other side.

My phone had been vibrating all morning with messages, but one name was conspicuously absent from the kitchen.

“Where's Jake?”

“Already at the pack house,” Dad said. “Something about security.”

Of course.

Tomorrow night's Mate Ball had apparently consumed half of Ember Ridge.

“Jasmine too?”

“She said she'd see you tonight.”

I poured syrup over my pancakes.

“And Cole?”

Mom gave me a strange look.

“What about Cole?”

“Is he working too?”

Why did everyone suddenly look at me like I'd asked whether the Alpha preferred boxers or briefs?

“Jake said they're in meetings all day,” Dad answered.

“Oh.”

I stabbed a strawberry.

I only asked because if Jake was working, Cole probably was too.

Nothing weird about that.

Ruby didn't even react to his name.

Why would she?

Cole was Cole.

Our Alpha.

Jake's best friend.

The guy who'd spent years correcting my fighting stance and telling me to keep my guard up.

Today was about finding my mate.

And whoever he was, I seriously doubted he was sitting in a security meeting arguing about parking.

School was a problem.

Not academically.

I barely remembered there were classes.

The problem was that Hailey had been right.

I was sniffing everyone.

Discreetly.

Mostly.

Not him, Ruby said as a senior passed us.

I know.

Not him either.

Ruby, he's sixteen.

Definitely not him.

Hailey was enjoying this far too much.

“You look insane.”

“Shut up.”

“You just smelled Trevor.”

“I breathed.”

“You leaned toward him.”

“He walked close.”

“You turned your head.”

“I hate you.”

She grinned.

“Happy birthday.”

I slammed my locker shut.

“This is terrible.”

“It has been four hours.”

“Four hours is a long time.”

“Cole waited four years.”

“That is not helpful.”

Her smile faded slightly.

I regretted saying it almost immediately.

Because that was the part I didn't want to think about.

Cole had been eligible since he was eighteen.

Four years.

Four Mate Balls.

Pack visits.

Gatherings.

Hundreds of wolves.

And nothing.

I had been eligible for less than half a day and was already annoyed.

Perspective sucked.

The truth was, there weren't many wolves at school who could even be possibilities. Most of the students were younger than eighteen. Several of the seniors were human, some of the wolves already had mates, and the handful who were eighteen and unmated were people I'd known for years.

Still.

I'd wondered.

Maybe one of them would walk past me today and suddenly everything would change.

Instead, they all smelled exactly the way they'd smelled yesterday.

By lunch, excitement had developed an irritating little crack.

Not heartbreak.

Definitely not heartbreak.

Just disappointment.

I knew tomorrow was the real opportunity.

Hundreds of eligible wolves were coming to Ember Ridge.

But some tiny, stupid part of me had imagined turning eighteen and immediately knowing.

Like the universe had been waiting for the clock to catch up.

Apparently the universe had other plans.

Hailey stole one of my fries.

I slapped her hand.

“Those are birthday fries.”

“That's not a thing.”

“It is today.”

She stole another.

“Monster.”

“You'll survive.”

Ruby sighed dramatically.

No mate.

I rested my chin on my hand.

It's been twelve hours.

Too long.

For once, we agreed.

By the time I got home, I had stopped sniffing people.

Mostly because there was no one left to sniff.

Mom had transformed the dining room while I was gone.

Balloons.

Flowers.

A ridiculous banner that said HAPPY 18TH EMMA!

I loved it.

I would deny that if questioned.

Dad was carrying food from the kitchen when I walked in.

“Don't touch anything.”

“I live here.”

“Not today.”

“It's my birthday.”

“Exactly.”

I narrowed my eyes.

He smiled and disappeared into the dining room.

Jasmine arrived twenty minutes later carrying a garment bag.

My eyes immediately went to it.

“No.”

She pulled it away.

“Is that my dress?”

“Maybe.”

“Let me see.”

“You've already seen it.”

“I want to see it again.”

“Tomorrow.”

I reached for the zipper.

She smacked my hand.

I gasped.

“Violence on my birthday?”

“You'll recover.”

Ruby approved.

Of course she did.

Jake came through the door an hour later looking exhausted.

“Happy birthday, pain in my ass.”

I hugged him anyway.

He squeezed me hard enough that my feet almost left the floor.

“Eighteen,” he said when he released me.

“Try not to cry.”

“I remember when you ate dirt.”

“I was three.”

“You did it twice.”

“Why do you remember this?”

“Because the second time was after Mom told you not to.”

I looked toward Mom.

She nodded.

Apparently that was true.

Jasmine slipped her hand into Jake's.

His shoulders relaxed almost immediately.

I noticed.

I always noticed now.

Maybe because I was looking for it.

The tiny ways mates seemed connected even when they weren't trying.

A touch.

A look.

The unconscious movement toward each other.

Tomorrow.

Maybe tomorrow I'd understand.

Dinner was loud.

Mom cried when everyone sang happy birthday.

Dad pretended he wasn't emotional.

Jake gave me a new pair of training gloves and then informed me they were not permission to hit him.

Jasmine gave me the emerald earrings she'd helped me pick for the ball.

They dropped almost to my shoulders, catching the light when I held them up.

“They're gorgeous.”

“They'll be perfect with the dress.”

My stomach flipped.

The dress.

The ball.

Tomorrow.

Mom handed me another present.

Inside was a small silver necklace.

A crescent moon hung from the chain.

I ran my thumb over it.

“Mom.”

“My mother gave it to me when I turned eighteen.”

I looked up.

“She did?”

Mom nodded.

“And her mother gave it to her.”

For once, I had absolutely nothing sarcastic to say.

I stood and hugged her.

“Thank you.”

She held me tighter.

“Whatever happens tomorrow,” she whispered, “remember that finding your mate doesn't change who you are.”

I pulled back.

“What does that mean?”

“It means exactly what I said.”

She touched my cheek.

“You've spent eighteen years becoming Emma. Don't forget her just because you find him.”

Something tightened in my throat.

“I won't.”

Ruby was unusually quiet.

Then—

He will like us.

I smiled.

He better.

Later that night, I stood in front of my bedroom mirror wearing pajamas and the emerald earrings.

Ridiculous?

Yes.

Did I care?

No.

My strawberry-blonde hair was piled into the messiest bun known to mankind, which made the earrings look completely insane.

Tomorrow would be different.

Tomorrow Jasmine would help me curl my hair and pin half of it up, leaving pieces loose around my face.

Tomorrow I'd put on the emerald-green dress hanging in the guest-room closet.

Mermaid cut.

Deep neckline.

Almost no back.

Sequins worked into a pattern that caught the light every time I moved.

I'd tried it on once.

Even I'd stared at myself.

Tomorrow, somewhere in a room filled with hundreds of wolves, my mate might look at me wearing it for the first time.

My stomach flipped.

He will like the dress, Ruby said.

You don't even understand dresses.

I understand males.

I laughed.

Do you?

No.

At least she was honest.

I removed the earrings and placed them carefully on my dresser.

My phone lit up.

Hailey: TOMORROW.

I smiled.

Me: Don't follow anyone chewing cinnamon gum.

The typing bubbles appeared immediately.

Hailey: I hate you.

Me: Love you too.

I plugged in my phone and crawled into bed.

Eighteen had not gone exactly the way I'd imagined.

No mate.

No magical moment.

No scent that stopped me in my tracks.

But I wasn't really disappointed anymore.

Tomorrow was what I'd been waiting for.

Tomorrow, Ember Ridge would fill with wolves from eight different packs.

Somewhere among them could be Hailey's mate.

Maybe Cole's.

Maybe mine.

I closed my eyes.

Tomorrow, Ruby whispered.

Excitement rolled through me that wasn't entirely mine.

Tomorrow.

Neither of us knew that less than twenty-four hours from now, everything we'd spent eighteen years imagining was going to be completely, spectacularly wrong.