The Alpha's Red Wolf

Mate

“Holy shit.”

I stared at myself in the mirror.

Jasmine grinned behind me. “That's what I said.”

The emerald-green dress hugged every curve I had before flaring below my knees and falling to the floor.

The neckline plunged low enough that Dad was probably going to have a medical event.

The back was worse.

Or better.

Depending on who you asked.

It dipped almost to my waist, leaving most of my back completely bare. Sequins swept across the fabric in an intricate pattern, catching the light in different shades of emerald every time I moved.

My strawberry-blonde hair fell in loose curls down my back, the top half pinned away from my face. A few softer curls framed my cheeks.

The emerald earrings Jasmine had given me last night completed everything.

I barely recognized myself.

Pretty, Ruby said.

I smiled.

Thank you.

Mate will like.

There she was.

A knock sounded before Hailey walked in without waiting.

“Are you—”

She stopped.

Her mouth dropped open.

I turned.

“Well?”

“You bitch.”

I laughed.

Hailey looked gorgeous too, and judging by the expression on her face, she knew it.

“Ready?” Jasmine asked.

My stomach immediately tightened.

Ready.

I'd been waiting eighteen years for tonight.

“Yeah.”

Ruby pushed excitedly against me.

Mate.

I took one last look in the mirror.

“Let's go find him.”

I'd seen the Ember Ridge gathering hall hundreds of times.

I'd never seen it like this.

Lights glowed through the trees surrounding the building. Inside, greenery and tiny golden lights covered the beams overhead. Music drifted through the room, mixing with hundreds of voices.

And wolves.

So many wolves.

My heart started pounding before we'd made it ten feet inside.

Find him, Ruby demanded.

I'm working on it.

I inhaled.

Perfume.

Cologne.

Food.

Flowers.

Alcohol.

And beneath all of it, the distinct scents of wolves from packs I'd never visited.

Nothing grabbed me.

Nothing stopped me.

Nothing said mine.

Yet.

Hailey leaned toward me.

“I'm already overwhelmed.”

“You followed Cinnamon Gum Guy through school.”

“That was different.”

“How?”

“There weren't three hundred options.”

I laughed.

Jasmine hugged both of us.

“Have fun. And breathe.”

“Where are you going?” I asked.

She pointed across the room.

Jake stood near one of the entrances in a dark suit, watching the crowd.

Even from here, I saw the moment he noticed her.

His entire face changed.

Jasmine smiled.

“Oh,” I said.

Hailey followed my gaze.

“Yeah.”

Jake's hand settled at Jasmine's waist when she reached him. He bent and kissed her forehead before saying something that made her laugh.

I sighed.

“I want that.”

“Same.”

Ours will do that, Ruby said.

My stomach fluttered.

We have to find him first.

We moved farther into the room.

For once, unfamiliar faces were exactly what I wanted.

A tall guy smiled at me.

Ruby immediately dismissed him.

No.

I didn't even smell him yet.

No.

“Rude,” I muttered.

“What?” Hailey asked.

“Ruby.”

“Ah.”

The guy approached anyway.

“Ethan,” he said.

“Emma.”

“Pine Hollow.”

“Ember Ridge.”

He smiled.

I waited.

Ruby waited.

Nothing.

Ethan smelled perfectly fine.

Unfortunately, perfectly fine wasn't what I was looking for.

We talked for a few minutes before another wolf joined us.

Caleb.

Silver Creek.

Also not mine.

Then a very attractive warrior from Blackstone whose name I forgot approximately ten seconds after he told me.

Ruby rejected him too.

Too slow.

You haven't seen him move.

Looks slow.

That's incredibly judgmental.

Yes.

At least she owned it.

For the next half hour, I met more wolves than I could possibly remember.

Every introduction created the same tiny burst of hope.

Every one ended the same way.

Nothing.

And somehow, I was still having fun.

The music was good.

The food was better.

Hailey dragged me onto the dance floor twice, and neither of us could dance particularly well in heels.

At one point she nearly fell into a visiting Beta.

He caught her.

She froze.

I froze.

Ruby froze.

Hailey stared at him.

He stared at her.

“Oh my God,” I whispered.

Then Hailey straightened.

Nothing.

She looked at me.

I looked at her.

The Beta walked away.

I lost it.

“Shut up,” she hissed.

“I didn't say anything.”

“You're laughing!”

“You should have seen your face.”

“I thought maybe—”

“So did I!”

She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the drinks.

“You're a terrible friend.”

“You love me.”

“Unfortunately.”

I grinned.

Apparently that was going around.

We each took a glass of sparkling water.

“Well?” she asked.

“No.”

“Me either.”

“Excellent. We're failing together.”

“Best friends.”

We clinked glasses.

An hour ago, I would have thought not finding my mate immediately would ruin the night.

It didn't.

I wanted him.

God, I wanted him.

But standing there with Hailey, surrounded by music and laughter and wolves who had traveled hours just for the possibility of finding someone, I realized something.

This was my first Mate Ball.

Maybe it wouldn't be my last.

And if he wasn't here tonight, I'd survive.

Ruby grumbled.

He is here.

I smiled.

You don't know that.

I do.

Based on?

Silence.

Exactly.

“Dance?” Hailey asked.

“Again?”

“It's either that or let Ruby judge more men.”

I can do both.

I laughed.

“Dance.”

By the time we left the dance floor again, my feet hurt.

“Why do women wear these?” I complained, looking down at my heels.

“Because we're stupid.”

“Finally, something we agree on.”

“I've agreed with that for years.”

We found an empty spot near one of the columns.

I leaned against it.

Hailey looked across the room.

“There are still a lot of people we haven't met.”

“You want to start interviewing them?”

She straightened dramatically.

“Name, age, pack, relationship status, scent.”

“Please don't ask anyone their scent.”

“Why?”

“Because they'll think you're insane.”

“I followed a man because of gum yesterday. That ship has sailed.”

Fair.

I laughed and looked around.

Couples had begun filling the dance floor as the music slowed.

Some were mates.

You could tell.

Not because they were all hanging on each other.

It was subtler than that.

The way they oriented toward one another.

The way their attention kept returning to the same person.

I spotted Jake and Jasmine again.

He was supposed to be working.

Apparently Beta duties now included dancing with his mate.

Good for him.

My chest tightened slightly.

Maybe he's not here, I told Ruby.

She went quiet.

That worried me.

Ruby?

Nothing.

I straightened away from the column.

Something inside me had changed.

Not emotionally.

Physically.

Every tiny hair along my arms rose.

Ruby surged to attention.

What?

Quiet.

Excuse me?

Ruby had never told me to be quiet in her life.

I stopped hearing Hailey.

The music faded into background noise.

Voices blurred.

And then—

Something drifted through the room.

A scent.

So faint I almost thought I'd imagined it.

I inhaled.

Gone.

My heart began beating harder.

Ruby?

She didn't answer.

I pushed away from the column.

“Emma?”

I held up one finger toward Hailey.

“Wait.”

“For what?”

“I don't know.”

Then it came again.

Stronger.

Cedar.

No.

Something darker.

Woodsmoke after rain.

Warm earth.

Night air.

There was something else beneath it.

Something I couldn't name.

Something that made heat spread over every inch of my skin.

My glass slipped in my hand.

Ruby surged so violently inside me that I gasped.

MATE.

Everything stopped.

My heart.

My breathing.

My thoughts.

Then all three came rushing back at once.

“What?” Hailey grabbed my arm. “Emma?”

I inhaled again.

Nothing.

“No.”

I turned my head.

“Where did it go?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Shh.”

Her mouth dropped open.

“Did you just shush me?”

There.

My entire body reacted.

The scent swept over me again.

Cedar.

Smoke.

Rain.

Him.

Ruby was practically clawing at me from the inside.

MATE. MATE. MATE.

I know!

Hailey's grip tightened.

“Emma?”

I looked at her.

“He's here.”

Her eyes widened.

“Your mate?”

I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face.

“Yes.”

“Oh my God.”

“I can't see him.”

“Can you smell him?”

I nodded.

“Go.”

“What?”

“Go!”

She practically shoved me.

I stumbled forward.

“I'm going!”

Faster, Ruby demanded.

I'm wearing heels.

Take them off.

I'm not chasing my mate barefoot.

Why?

I ignored her.

The scent disappeared again.

I stopped.

Panic flashed through me.

No.

No, no, no.

I turned slowly.

People moved everywhere.

Dresses.

Suits.

Strangers.

Pack members.

Any one of them—

There.

I sucked in a breath.

Stronger.

I followed it.

Past the edge of the dance floor.

Between two groups of wolves.

My heart hammered harder with every step.

Where is he?

Close.

“How close?”

A woman beside me gave me a strange look.

Right.

I'd said that out loud.

Didn't care.

I kept moving.

The scent wrapped around me again.

Powerful now.

My hands started shaking.

Somewhere in this room was the wolf I'd wondered about my entire life.

The man I'd talked about with Ruby in the dark.

The one I'd joked about with Hailey.

The person who would look at me and somehow know exactly what I was about to know about him.

Mine.

Someone stepped in front of me.

I moved around them.

The scent intensified.

Ruby practically howled.

MATE.

“I know.”

This time I didn't care who heard me.

I pushed farther into the crowd.

He was close.

So f*****g close.

I could feel it.

I took another step.

Then another.

And somewhere on the other side of the crowd, my mate was waiting.