The Unknown

Chapter 22

Once we both change into our dressed we slip our masks over our face. When I open my door I hear the music poring out of the ballroom and into the halls.

Hand in hand we make our way to the stairs. Since I am future alpha I will go down the stairs last just like at the meeting. I watch her walk up to the door and the guards open them and then shut them again once shes through. I wait a few seconds before I go up to them as well. They both give a small bow before then open the doors for me to pass.

As soon as I pass though the doors Oliver links his arm in mine. He gives me a kiss on the check and leads me into the room. "Happy birthday. I was beginning to worry if you started to get cold feet" he whispers into my ear.

I turn to him and smile "I would never get cold feet when I'm with you."

I hope he can't tell that the smile is forced since my mind is still wondering. I have to try to distract myself and keep my mind off Colton. "Come on! Let's go dance."

He smiles and leads me over to the dance floor. We dance for a while until I spot my dad watching us from his seat. This formal is for any wolf that is twelve years old and older meaning it's not strange to run into your parents.

Seeing my dad I remember that I have to talk to him. "Hey I'll be right back I have to talk to my dad real fast. When I get back I think we should make the announcement. It's getting late and people are going to be going home soon."

He nods and lets go of me.

My father stands as I walk up to him. "Happy birthday honey. Your mother would be so proud of they young lady you have grown into." He cups my face in his hands and kisses my forehead.

"I love you so much dad. I wish mom was here. I miss her so much."

"I know sweety, I miss her too."

"Dad can I talk to you somewhere private ? please."

He must see the desperation on my face because he guides me to one of the small rooms that is connected to the ballroom.

I'm not sure how I should bring this up to him. "I've been meaning to bring this up to you for a while now but I haven't been sure how." His face becomes strained with worry. "How do you know if someones your mate?"

Relief washes over his face then. "Is this why you've been acting funny? If Oliver isn't your mate and you have found him then you should have said something. I'm sure Oliver would have understood."

"You didn't answer my question dad. How do you know?"

"Well it's something you just know. You spend all day thinking about how you can make this person happy and you find yourself always thinking about them." His goes into a daze and I can tell he is thinking about mom. "You fall in love with everything about them. Their sent, their touch, everything about them is amazing."

I start worrying because as he says it I find myself thinking about Colton yet again. He hasn't mentioned anything about weird things happening when mates touch though. Maybe Colton and I are just strange. I mean Colton is a hunter and I did watch a person in his tribe kill my mother.

"It's the most amazing thing in the entire world. The other person becomes your entire world. Honey, if you are afraid of what I'll think of your mate you shouldn't be. This person is your other half and he will be my son. Oh, I almost forgot, another way you can tell you're mates is until you're actually mated when you touch you might feel a little zap. That only happens if the connection is strong though so don't worry about that."

I gasp and my legs buckle.

"Mia?! Mia, honey, What is wrong? Has something happened to you mate?" He drops to his knees and grabs my face in his hands to force me to make eye contact with him as he removes my mask. "Mia tell me what is going on" He uses his Alpha voice on me. He rarely uses it on anyone and he only has used it on me a few times in my life.

That voice is a reminder that he is in charge and I have to obey it.

"It's Colton" I manage barely whisper as I stare blankly into his face.

He instantly pulls me into a hug and whispers soothing words. We sit like this for a while, him just holding me and saying calming words.

He slowly pulls me back to look me in the eyes. I don't even realize that I'm crying until he reached up and wipes away tears. "I know this is hard. I wish with all my heart that things weren't like this. The choice is up to you. You can either pick Colton or Oliver to be your mate. Just keep in mind that by picking Colton it will make it harder for the pack to except you since you are the first female Alpha for our pack and by choosing an outsider to help lead with you. The people already know and trust him. But while your wolf will understand she will always want her true mate. Neither decision will be easy for you. I will stand by you no matter what you choose to do."

I smile through my tears and grab him in a tight hug. "I love you so much."

"I love you too Mia. I wish you didn't feel like this was something that you had to keep from me though. I will love you no matter what." He pulls me back so I am looking at him once again "You've made you decision haven't you?"

I give him a small nod and smile as I wipe the fresh tears off my check.

"Good go find him."

I give another huge then stand up and begin to straighten my dress out again. I place my mask back on my face and walk back into the ballroom.

Before I go and look for him I think that I'm going to go outside and let the cool air calm me down some. Being surrounded by nature always calms a wolf.

As I expected when I stepped thought the glass door in the back I instantly felt like my mind was clearer. I walk farther into the night and hear the music fade as the doors shut behind me and I get farther from the party.

I hear a snap behind me and I spin around. I get read to change at a moments notice.

"Mia?"

I relax as I recognize his voice. "Colton I was looking for you. I have to talk to you about something. About us actually. I think I might love you."

I can barley keep myself from running up to him and kissing him. It is like a huge weight has been lifted off of me now that my dad cleared this up for me. Now that I realize that I do actually have a mate and even though we had a hard start I don't want to be without him.

As I get closer to him I see the horror in his face. "Colton?" I feel my face fall "If you don't like me please tell me."

He cuts me off before I can say anything else, "Please Mia run back into the party and don't come out. Please!"

Then I hear laughter behind me. I look away from Colton then and realize that we are surrounded. I was so focused on him that I didn't realize the group of men circling us.

I look back as Colton and two men grab him and hold him back as he struggles to get free. I panic and for a second forget all the training I went though and don't even manage to scream. That split second cost me so much. Before I could change into my wolf and attempt to protect myself they were on me.

"Don't hurt her! Leave her alone! Mia!" Colton's desperate calls come to me right before someone hits me in the back of the head and I loose consciousness.

***

Like I said before I've become really busy with school. I am really sorry for not updating in months... I hope the 2 chapters I uploaded tonight makes up for my absence. I have been waiting to write this for a while actually. I hope you like it!