Fate Mate

Chapter 22

"Ahem. May I have a turn?" A male voice sounded from behind me, and one finger poked at my shoulder.

    I spun around. I'd been so engrossed by my conversation with Nolan that I hadn't noticed Dylan approaching. He stood behind me, a prize-winning smile painted across his face. But there was something else in his gaze-- an underlying urgency that beckoned Nolan and I out of our all-encompassing conversation.

    My eyes snapped away from Dylan and took in the rest of the colonial-style gathering hall. A number of onlookers had their eyes glued on Nolan and I, turning towards one another to whisper unintelligible gossip. Dylan-- Moon Goddess bless him-- had interrupted our dance in order to keep up the ruse.

    Nolan seemed to realize this at the same moment, for he quickly offered Dylan a curt nod. "Of course," he replied in a voice of gravel. My mate quickly cleared the emotion from his throat before he leaned down to press a chaste kiss to the back of my hand, "Have a good evening, Charlotte."

    I instinctively opened my mouth to protest, but no words formed. Instead, I focused entirely on the electric burn that lingered on my hand long after Nolan had walked away. Thankfully, Dylan noticed my distraction and took the lead in our waltz, allowing me to repeat the past five minutes in my head again and again.

    Nolan went to the Broken Valley Pack in an effort to throw the hybrids off of my scent.  He never intended to court Savannah-- or any other female for that matter. Oh, and a group of rabid hybrids will try to mutilate me as soon as they know I exist. Great.

    The image of a dozen hybrids gnawing on my bones sent me spiraling back into reality.

    "You know, you could at least pretend to be interested in me," Dylan teased, a fake pout adorning his plump lips. "You're hurting my ego, Charles."

    "Good. Maybe it'll shrink the size of your big head," I pinched his shoulder, but made a conscious effort to pay more attention to my 'mate.'

    "Oh, I love when you're feeling feisty." His dark brows wiggled in a suggestive manner, like little bushy caterpillars on crack, and I laughed. An invisible weight lifed from my shoulders. I allowed the Black Lupis Delta to twirl me around-- once, twice. On the third whirl, however, I slammed directly into a foreign body.

    "Oof!"  The breath was knocked from my chest.Before I could even identify the man whom I'd collided with, Dylan yanked me back a few feet to stand by his side.

    "My apologies, Alpha Sehan," Dylan spoke first, bowing his head in the smallest display of respect toward the Alpha of the Golden Walkers Pack. My former pack.

    I blinked up at the man that I'd known for my entire life. Alpha Sehan had been my father's best friend for the better part of twenty years, and I'd always pictured the man as an Uncle of sorts. When it first emerged that I would have difficulties shifting, he offered me kindness when I'd come to expect mockery.

    "Please, don't apologize," Sehan's smile could warm even the coldest of hearts, "I only thought I'd ask Charlotte for a dance before another suitor jumps up from the crowd."

    "I'd be happy to--" I began, but stopped when I recognized another opportunity to plant a seed of my misidentity in the minds of any eavesdroppers. "I mean, only if Dylan, my mate, agrees..."

I batted my eyelashes up at him, an obnoxious display of female-obedience. Dylan wouldn't let me hear the end of this, but, if it kept our ruse alive for even a day longer, my efforts were worth it.

I fought the urge to barf in my mouth when a prideful, male grin appeared on the Delta's perfect features, and he squeezed my side. "Well, of course! But only one dance, and then I'd like you to myself."