Some Mate You Are...

“It is lovely to meet you, Alpha Harm.” I cooed with a sly smile.

“I assure you, the pleasure is all mine, Marvel.” Something in his eyes, as he said this, made me shudder.

I could not decide if it was a good sensation or a bad one. I made certain to make a mental note of it, just in case.

“Sorry that I am late everyone.” A deep, gruff voice, that I knew all too well, found its way into my ear.

There was a sudden heating in my core at the sound that I did not understand. But I did my best to ignore it.

I looked over to Enzo who was wearing a beautiful suit in the most undignified fashion. He failed to wear the proper attire underneath the suit jacket and the shirt that he had chosen was left mostly unbuttoned, revealing a peek of his toned, muscular abs. There was not a hair out of place on his head, the perfect blend of formal and dangerous. I found myself desiring to run my fingers through those chestnut locks…

“Wait…what in the hell am I thinking?! I do not want to do anything of the sort.” I focused on trying to convince myself.

I needed to get my hormones under control and fast.

That was when I saw exactly what I needed to revive my anger towards Enzo rather than my lust. Draped on his arm was a bleach blonde she-wolf wearing a fitted, black, knee-length, cocktail dress with a plunging neckline and no back. Her hair was up so that you could clearly see all of the skin that she had left exposed. Her chest was pressed against Enzo’s arm as she clung to him for dear life, a fake smile plastered on her heavily made-up face.

“Cora…” I growled to myself.

Cora was well known around the pack. She had slept with almost every unmated male and, rumor had it, even a couple of mated ones. I knew her for a different reason though, I knew her because we had gone to school together and she had bullied all of us, well, the she-wolves anyway.

I should not have been surprised that Enzo had brought a date to the dinner. He often brought dates to pack functions. For some reason though, tonight, I was enraged by the thought. I wanted to rip her arms away from him and threaten to break her hands if she ever touched him again. I knew that I had a crush on Enzo, but I had never felt this level of jealousy before. I could not fathom what was happening to me to cause me to feel such a way. Enzo was the same womanizing jerk that he had always been. It was I who was reacting differently towards it and I needed to stop.

“I would like to introduce everyone to my date, Cora.” Enzo announced, casually.

Then for some strange reason, Enzo chose to single me out specifically...

“Hala, have you met Cora?”

“Unfortunately.” I grumbled.

“Now, don’t be like that, Marble. We had some good times in school.” Cora smirked.

“Marvel. My name is Marvel.” I managed through clenched teeth.

“Whatever.” Cora chirped as she began to stare off into space. “Come on, Enzy, I want to go say hi to your parents before dinner starts.”

“Enzy?” I snickered, I knew that Enzo hated nicknames, especially ones that attempted to shorten his already short name.

Enzo merely shot me a sideways glance before allowing Cora to lead him away.

“What was that all about?” Alpha Harm spoke up, suddenly reminding me of his presence.

“It was nothing. Just a little rivalry from school.” I attempted to dismiss.

“Yeah, I picked up on that. But I was not talking about you and Miss Bleach-for-Brains over there. I was talking about the situation between you and Alpha Enzo.”

I looked at him, stunned. There was nothing between Enzo and I. I was certain that he was just picking up on the tension that we have had between us since our friendship was ruined.

“There is not a 'situation' between Alpha Enzo and I. We grew up together and that is all there is to it.” I answered, knowing that it was not quite the whole truth.

“Well, I could tell that you were angered by their presence. Whatever it is, you don’t need to worry about a thing. I would be happy to have you as MY date for the evening.”

“It would be my pleasure, Alpha Harm.” I accepted with a smile.

“Good. Then there will be no doubt as to who the luckiest Alpha in the room is tonight.” He whispered in my ear as he wrapped his arm around my waist, causing me to gasp.

He kept me close as he escorted me to a seat next to him which placed me directly across from Enzo.

“Just my luck.”

I turned towards Alpha Harm so that Enzo would not be in my direct line of sight. I was not going to allow him to ruin my night.

“So, Alpha Harm, I have heard that you are visiting our pack because you are looking for your mate.” I tried making small talk to distract myself from the feeling of Enzo’s stare threatening to burn a hole straight through me.

“Yes, that is true. Though it is hard to keep my mind on a mate when I am in the company of such a beautiful she-wolf as you.”

I felt my cheeks begin to heat and I knew that I must be turning as red as my dress.

“Oh, Alpha Harm, you flatter me too much.” I giggled and ran my hand down his arm, flirtatiously.

“You know, Harm…” Enzo interrupted again. “If you’re looking to have some fun with a truly gorgeous she-wolf then you should have Hala, over there, introduce you to her friend, Kiara. Now THERE is a sexy wolf.”

My mouth fell open and I gaped at him in surprise. I could not believe that he just said something like that. I had not even realized that Enzo found Kiara attractive. I had never been jealous of Kiara before, and I had to swallow down the lump that was building within my throat. I could not let him get to me. I would not let him get to me. It was time for my schoolgirl crush on Enzo to officially end.

“Thanks for the advice, Enzo.” Alpha Harm offered with a nod. “But I am quite happy with my choice of date for the evening. I cannot imagine a more alluring she-wolf than the one I have next to me.”

I shot Enzo a sneer and stuck my tongue out at him in a childish fashion. I knew that I should have acted more mature. But I did not care for the remarks that he was making. If he did not find me attractive, then oh well, I would get over it. But how dare he try to redirect my date's attentions to another she-wolf.

It would be one thing if Kiara were Harm’s mate. Then it would be understandable to any wolf. Otherwise, it would be extremely rude of him to toss me aside for another in the middle of our date.

“What about your mate?” Enzo spoke up again with a smirk on his face.

“Pardon?” Alpha Harm questioned.

“You know that Marvel is not your mate. If she was, you would have claimed her already. Can you not imagine that your mate is a more ‘alluring’ she-wolf than Marvel is?”

“I imagine that my mate will be just as radiant as Marvel is. However, since she is not here currently and the beautiful Marvel is, I would say that Marvel is the most magnificent wolf in the room. Speaking of mates…” Harm began as he turned his attentions from Enzo and back to me. “I understand that you have not found yours amongst your pack members yet, Marvel?”

“No, Alpha, I have not.”

Enzo growled, lowly, the sound rumbling in his chest. Surely because he did not enjoy that he was not at the center of attention anymore. We all knew that it was only a matter of time before he grabbed the spotlight again; I rolled my eyes at the thought.

“I would like to invite you to join me at my pack lands. You can meet the members of the Blood Moon Pack and explore my territory. You never know, maybe you will find your mate there. In the meantime, we could get to know each other better.” Alpha Harm suggested with a dangerous twinkle in his eye.

I thought on this for a moment. It was not a bad proposition. Typically, females did not go searching through the packs for their mates. It was more common for the males to enact the search. But, in this case, I had been invited to visit the pack by the Alpha, himself. It would be a shame to turn down the opportunity. Although, I also had to consider the timing. Kiara’s birthday was in a few weeks and this may not be the optimal time to travel.

“Unfortunately, Alpha Harm, I will have to turn down your invitation at this time…” I was unable to finish my thought as I was interrupted.

“Ha!!!” Enzo honked, noisily, from across the table.

I shot him a quick glare before turning back to Alpha Harm.

“My best friend, Kiara, whom Enzo so thoughtfully mentioned earlier, is having her twentieth birthday soon and we always plan a big party for that event. She is the last of us to turn twenty, you see. So, while I cannot accept your invitation at this time…” I paused, momentarily, and shot Enzo another annoyed glance, daring him to comment. “But I would like to ask for a rain check. I would love to come see the Blood Moon territory.” I finished with a smile.

With a loud huff, Enzo suddenly pushed his chair back from the table, purposely, allowing it to scrape along the polished floor. The entire table stopped to look at him as he stormed off without a word of explanation. The front door of the house could be heard slamming shut as he exited the manor.

His date, Cora, simply sat there, smiling. She clearly was uncertain how she should respond in the situation. She was trying to make an impression on the Alpha and Luna but being ditched by her date at a volatile dinner was not one of them.

I could not help but wonder what was going through her mind at that time. I waited to see if she would get up to follow Enzo, but she did not. Instead, she returned her attention to the meal in front of her and began to pick at the vegetables on her plate.