North of Dawn

Dizzy

               As Friday rounded the corner I couldn't quite put my mind at ease, my thoughts racing. Most of them revolving around Dimitri and the fact that he took me to the place he met his wolf. That was something most people kept to themselves. I couldn't understand why of all the people in the pack he would take me. Though it made the stories that everyone would take turns embellishing seem even more fictitious than before. There was no way one could meet such a dark figure in a such a peaceful place.

                  "Bess," a voice pulled me from my thoughts, my eyes lazily moving off of my phone and over to Kat. 

                "Hmm?" I asked before looking back down at my phone. The screen was lingering on a shirtless Timstagran of Dimitri and his friends after soccer practice they had to of recently posed for. I kept finding my eyes picking details of his smiling face that I liked. The dimple that only showed up on his right cheek and how his hair had a small wave to it when it was wet. It gave him a boyish charm. Something his normal looks never revealed.

          "I was just saying we should start getting ready for that demons birthday party." I shot the ginger a look of annoyance at her statement and her arms flew up as if to block herself. "What? I'm not missing the chance to see her cry over the fact that there is no possible way Dimitri is her mate. He literally told everyone at his own party his mate wasn't there. The girls a delusion bit..."

       "KAT," I yelled cutting off the insult she was about to throw on Lydia's name. "If my dad hears those words in this room there will be no party for me and you'll be going alone." 

       She frowned but couldn't argue with my logic. It was like pulling teeth to get any of our guy friends to actually go out with her. I was the easiest target to coax into going. Mostly since my mom was on board and was practically pushing me to bond with my peers. She used some sort of psychobabble on me about it possibly helping to pull my wolf closer to the surface. A wolf that most likely didn't exist.

      The trip to Lydia's house took about ten minutes since she was in the neighborhood close to my own. Though we were around an hour late from the actual start time, according to Kat nobody would actually be there on time anyway so we were going to miss much. The music could be heard from the driveway as we pulled in behind a few other cars. A few kids were outside smoking with cans openly in their hands laughing and shouting at shouting at each other.

     My eyes peaked over to Kat as we both managed to climb out of the car. "I thought  no one would be here yet?"

     "I only said that so we could avoid Lydia as much as possible. We have like 30 mins until she turns and then we get to see her mope around all night." the ginger haired beauty stated with smirk on her face. I didn't fight or argue with her. I was more than pleased to not be stuck at a party mingling for hours on end.

         As we entered the party it was pretty packed with seniors and a few of the unmated wolves that were hopeful Lydia was there mate. The music was loud and people were either dancing in the living room or huddled together playing drinking games in the dining room. The party would be more than a success in teen movie I had ever seen. "Let's get something to drink," Kat yelled over the music as she motioned towards what I assumed was the kitchen.

     I nodded and followed after her squeezing through the groups of people gathered around. Once we finally made it to the oversized kitchen I beelined for the large beverage dispenser that was filled with some sort of juice mix. Pouring a rather large cup I downed half of it before topping it off once more in the hopes my nerves would be drowned out by the cool liquid.

       "I'd be careful of that stuff. Lydia makes it pretty potent." The words made the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention as I slowly turned around to spot Dimitri and his current best friends at the other edge of the kitchen island. The blush on my face was hopefully hard to see with the recent tan I had gotten. He didn't make any moves to get closer or even farther the conversations just shot me a knowing smirk before turning to his friends.

          I didn't have any words for him so I made my way back to Kat who had a soda in her hand. "Soda?  I'm surprised it's not a seltzer or something." I teased nudging the pale girl on her exposed elbow. She gave a small humph at the teasing before shaking her head and motioning that we head back out to where the music was playing and people were dancing or jumping around depending on the song that played.

       We spent those fleeting twenty minutes dancing around and laughing at each other as I finished off my cup and Kat her own drink. Soon the music was replaced with the sound of those around us joining in on singing happy birthday to the princess herself. We both joined in the song, it was her party afterall. As the song ended the clock struck midnight and everyone cheered for her. Her friends happily ushering Dimitri into the blonde's line of vision. Whether they were hopefully that she was his mate or hopeful she wasn't his mate. It wasn't clear to me but the smiles on their face never faltered. Not even as Lydia realized she was in fact not the alpha's mate.

      The party seemed to go on as the blonde refused to show that she was heartbroken by the realization that Dimitri belonged to someone else. I on the other hand felt a wave of  happiness and relief at the idea that Dimitri was still mateless. I didn't have to bury my crush for him just yet. By the end of the night I was only two and a half cups in and finally feeling it.

        As an undisclosed amount of time passed by I noticed the air around me started to get too warm, causing me to start a light sweat. Stumbling as I made my way outside for fresh air and plopped down on the front steps of Lydia's home. "I warned you to go easy. Now I'm going to have to make sure you get home okay." Dimitri's voice rang through the warm summer's night as I turned back to face him. My once slicked down edges starting to curl back up as the heat got to them. 

             "I'm certain I shouldn't go home with someone who's been stalking me all night," I muttered out turning my brown eyes back to the neighborhood. He gave a light chuckle as he placed himself beside me with ease. We sat in silence for a few seconds before we both turned to face each other. 

           "So you knew the whole time Lydia wasn't your mate?" I asked placing my elbow on my knee as I let my chin rest in the palm of my hand. Watching as Dimitri gave a small shrug in response.  He knew what I was getting at but seemingly avoided explaining why he never truly ignored the overly confident blonde.

            "I've already met my mate...she's just not eighteen yet. I told Lydia she wasn't my mate on my birthday but she refused to actually listen. So, I figured I could put up with her hanging onto me for a few more weeks." His words came out hushed like he was afraid to be overheard. Though his admittance to knowing who his mate was made my eyes drop. My gaze lost to the concrete space between us as it felt like it was starting to grow. If he had already met his mate then I couldn't possibly be her. I wasn't even present at his birthday party. I felt the frown growing on its own no longer in control of my own expressions the deeper I thought about my flawed crush. Let us not forget I'm missing a big factor in having a mate. A wolf.

         Without a wolf there was no way I would even be considered for mating by another wolf. It was silly to get my hopes up that Dimitri would also not find a mate. The moon would never do that to an alpha. "Hey, what's with the face?" I felt a gentle touch moving my chin up so our eyes were locked once more. "You aren't gonna throw up are you?" His eyes searched mine for a few seconds as if he was trying to see my future. To predict if I was going to cry, throw up, or... something else. There was a small gleam in his eyes that my hazy mind didn't catch.

        I pulled my gaze free as a soft blush dusted across my nose. Thankful for the poorly lit porch and a few too many drinks to hide the burning  my face felt. "Tsk, no. I'm fine my head just feels a bit..." I didn't get the words out of my mouth before I felt his soft lips guiding my own. Letting my eyes close for a brief second I felt his breath tickle across my face as he pulled away a grin on his face similar to the one he gave me in the woods. "Dizzy." I finished my sentence not sure if I had just imagined what happened or perhaps having a drunken dream. Blinking I quickly touched my lips noticing they were now a bit more damp than just a few seconds ago.