Chapter 4

It's been over an hour. My mother can't be too upset if I come home now. Surely, the doors are unlocked.

Once I make it back, I wiggle the handle, and thankfully the door opens, letting me in. Most of the lights are off, and I assume my mother has gone to bed. I kick her heels off at the door and walk into the living room, where she happens to be sitting. I stop.

"It's been over an hour so—" I start, but she cuts me off with surprising news.

"A man came to the door," she says bluntly. "What did you do, Rae?"

My throat runs dry. "What kind of man?"

"Tell me what you did. Was it at the party? Did you flip a table? Did you spill something on a girl's dress on purpose?"

"What? No. Who came to the door, mom?"

She stands up, her arms crossed. "A man. He's not from our pack. I know that. He just said that Ms. East needs to be ready by midnight. So tell me, what did you do?"

My heart drops. "I didn't do anything. I-I. . . I don't know what happened, he just walked by and—"

"Who just walked by? What are you talking about, Rae?"

"The man, the Alpha—"

"Our Alpha? Dear Goddess, Rae. What did you do to the Alpha?"

I shake my head, in a panic. "Not our Alpha. Another Alpha."

"What did you do to that Alpha?" She says dramatically, and I have the need to yell.

"Mother, please. Just stop. Just listen for a second. I'm not really sure what happened. He just—the Alpha — Look, I might sound like an idiot, but just hear me out. I might have found my," I've never thought I'd say these words to my mother, ever, "mate. I might have found my mate, and it might be that Alpha, but I'm not sure. It was just a feeling. It could have been anything but. . . " Her face causes my words to drift off. "Mom?"

"Y-You're sure? You think so? An Alpha?" She breathes out. "Wow, um, I'm not sure what—I don't know what to do in this situation. W-Well, I suppose you should be ready, whatever that means, at midnight. Just, um, prepare for. . . "

"I'm not even sure about it, mom."

She nods. "Well, just in case then. Just be ready at midnight, and we'll see what happens."

I nod also, and we stand in silence for a second or twenty before she says, "you know, I knew you'd find your mate."

Feeling very overwhelmed, all I can give her is a smile, and not even a good one. "Alright. I'm going to go upstairs until it's time."

Once in my bedroom with the door locked, I run my hands through my hair and fan my heated face. It's already eleven twenty; I only have forty minutes to figure something out. For some reason, it feels as if he is coming to get me, coming to kill me. I have forty minutes to live, well, thirty-nine now.

There is no way I can do this. I can't face whoever or whatever is going to be here at twelve. It's not even time, and I feel as if my heart is going to fail.

We can't be mates. He didn't even say a word to me. I need more than one glance to be forever mated with someone. I need days, weeks, months, heck; I need years. I need years to process, and as of now, I have thirty-eight minutes.

That's it, I'm going to have a panic attack, and in result, I grab a bag and begin piling necessities inside. For some reason, because I can never react like a normal person, I have the brilliant idea to run away from all of this. If I run away, then I will never have to face that beautiful creature of an Alpha who makes my legs squeeze together. Oh, Goddess watch over me, I'm going to hell.

In the bag, I toss a few warm pieces of clothing, my toothbrush, no toothpaste, socks, a pair of running shoes, and if I have to shift, I don't mind tearing this dress apart. The wine leaves me a dizzy mess as I flail my arms about, my hands grabbing whatever is within reach. At some point, I picture of my father falls in, and I begin to cry.

The clock reads eleven fifty now, and I sit on the floor, tear-stained cheeks, red, puffy eyes, and a wrinkled dress. I at least want to be wearing clothes I like when he comes and kills me, so I slowly get up and replace the dress for more comfortable clothes. Something I would wear around the house. My mother would kill me if she knew I would be wearing this to face an Alpha.

My runaway bag is a mess, my hair is a mess, my face is a mess, my life is a mess. Rae East is a mess who might just be mated to an Alpha. Poor man, mated to a wreck like me. He deserves a beautiful mate, some girl like the ones at the gathering, heck, even more beautiful than them. With a position, face, and body like his, he could get the Moon Goddess if he wanted.

I hear a knock at the door downstairs, the house is quiet enough to hear such subtle sounds, and I swallow.

Kiss life goodbye, Rae.