Love me,Beta.

Rejection.

I stood in shock. I guess that was the only way to describe it. My body refused to move away from him, my eyes refused to depart with his skin, his lips... his eyes. 

He was here, truly here. A few feet away from me. My mate. 

My wolf purred at my admittance, she liked the way the word sounded in our thoughts. mate.It had us both shivering in bliss.

 My human was forced to agree. 

I wondered why he wasn't moving closer to us, why wasn't he claiming us? 

I looked down at his tightly clenched fist and saw  that he, like me, was frozen. 

It was then that I realised I didn't know his name. I didn't associate with the higher ranking families in my pack especially the Beta's family.

I did not want to know them, their poison filled minds had caused Tristan so much hurt, so much pain. I made it my life's mission to stay as far away from them as physically possible. 

Could I love him?

It was a question that crossed my mind. Could I love the man that felt this way about Tristan?  Would I, knowing that the poison filled mind  was that of my own mate?

Could I stand his touch when I knew that he had hurt one of my own? 

The questions were endless. What if fate had it wrong? What if she made a mistake?

Fate never fails. My wolf told me, softly. he is our mate.

She then proceeded to tug at my body fighting for freedom. She wanted to run with her mate.

I fought hard against her, but I knew that I wouldn't last much longer. I wanted my mate as much as she did.

I saw the Alphas son lean down and whisper something into the Betas ear. The Beta flinched, his muscles tightening as he listened to whatever it was the guy had to say.

"Isobel." A cold hand gripped at my arm tightly, forcing me to face them. "Isobel, what's wrong?" Tristan looked down at me with worried eyes, as he scanned my body for any sign of injury. 

Why would I be injured this close to my mate?

I had forgotten all about the incident with Jack. Tristan thought he had hurt me in some way. His eyes blazed with anger as he continued to scan my body, once, twice... three times.

"Tris, I'm fine. It's... it's.." I couldn't finish my sentence, I couldn't say the words. my mate. They stuck in my throat, the feeling was so surreal.

Tristan looked at me, to the joy in my eyes and the way my wolf was battling for dominance. It was then that he understood.  

"You found your mate." He breathed, he sounded strange. A mixture of both happiness and grief. I tried not to take it personally. 

Tristan slid his arm around my shoulders, he followed my gaze out into the crowd. "Its not Josh is it." He said looking at the Alpha's son. 

Tristan studied Josh's relaxed stance for a few seconds whilst he conversed with a similar looking red headed girl. "No. Then that means its...." He inhaled sharply and turned his gaze on him. "Caleb." He finished. "Caleb's you mate."

His voice held no sign of resentment as he reached his conclusion. My wolf rejoiced at learning his name, Caleb seemed appropriate for the god-like guy before me. 

It was a name of strength and courage, somebody brave and loyal, just like a Beta should be. 

"He's related to you." I stated. I just didn't know how.