Chapter 2

"Oh, your brother! Goofball, really? You know what? He's actually never said my name! It's always goofball, clumsy, klutz or butterfingers! Do you even remember the time he called me ham-handed? Do you know what ham-handed means? I do! I had to go home and look it up. It's, it's it's...the same as the rest of them! Just who does he think he is? OHHH!" Katie groaned and quite literally stomped her foot.

Emma sat quietly and listened to her best girlfriend's rant. As she was putting the last curl in her hair she said, "Katie can you check the back and curl anything I missed?" She knew this would divert Katie's attention long enough to tell her what she had been thinking for quite some time. 

"Katie, there's something I want to talk to you about. Will you promise to hear me out?" Emma pleaded. Katie looked at Emma's dark eyes, always struck by how they matched her father's eyes exactly. She knew Emma was serious and said to her friend, "Of course, what is it?" A deep concern hovering just below the surface of her words.

"I think I know why Ethan antagonizes you to the degree he does." Emma started slowly. Katie looked at her friend searching her face for a clue to what her friend was thinking. Emma continued, "Ethan seems to bring out a different side of you, I would almost say a passionate side. Katie, I think he's your mate." 

Katie stared at her friend in stunned silence. Her wits seemed to come back to her all at once, "Oh no! By all that is good with the Goddess, that... that... that fool is not my mate. Besides, you know I'm head over heels for Brian. Brian is kind, he's gorgeous, he comes from a great family. Afterall, he is Beta Hanson's son. But most importantly, he knows my name." Katie was right, Brian was a great guy and was always kind to her never pressuring her to go further sexually than she was ready for. After three months they had done no more than kissing. But Emma saw the way Katie looked at her brother she only wished someone would look at her that way. She would not let Katie off the hook that quickly.

Emma continued to tell Katie her reasoning, "Well, I think you're being pulled to Ethan by the Goddess and by my calculations, we'll find out if I'm right in fifty-three days." She smiled at her friend who gave her a look that could have killed, if possible. She continued speaking as if she hadn't just dropped a bomb on Katie, "Now enough of this seriousness, help me pick out a dress."

Being the good friend that Katie was she pulled out the five, yes five, dresses Emma had bought for tonight's party. She laid them out gently on Emma's sky-blue bedspread, giving them the look of a rainbow. Katie knew that no matter which dress Emma chose she would be gorgeous and told her friend as much.

In the end, Emma chose the Indigo colored dress. Somehow it made her chocolate-colored eyes an even richer color as her wavy sandy blond hair cascaded down the open back of the dress. As she looked on at her stunning friend, she began to think of the stark contrast to her brother. Ethan has dark locks with just a hint of a natural curl while his eyes copy his mother's eyes, olive almost frosted with a deep honey color.

Katie shook her head away from her thoughts of Ethan just in time for her friend to ask, "How do I look?" Katie immediately replied, "Beautiful! Whoever is lucky enough to be your mate should spend all of his days and nights thanking the Goddess for the gift she has shared with him." A slow blush crawled across Emma's face as Katie's words meant the world to her. As she embraced her friend she said, "I hope I'm right about you and Ethan. You know I always think of you as a sister. Your mate bond would make it official."

"Good grief, will you stop? I love you like a sister too, but I would rather mate with a human than your brother" Katie declared. "Be careful what you say, it's happened before." Emma replied. They were both silent for a moment, thinking of the stories that were told by elder pack member. Emma let out a small shudder as she thought of the story that has been told of how her grandfather died. Her parents may have tried to shield her and her brother, but tales have a way of being told. Besides, there has been peace amongst the packs and the human world for nearly two decades. Other than the need to shift to run off some energy, many did not even allow their wolves to surface. Even though Emma had never met the man, she heard stories of what a great and just man he was and knew that was where that came from in her own father.

Needing to break the silence Katie told Emma, "Brian and I went shopping yesterday. We bought him a new outfit for tonight and my man looks fine." Emma couldn't help but laugh, not only for Katie's choice of words but also because she knew what her friend was doing. She was guiding Emma's thoughts away from the tragedy of her grandfather's death and reminding her tonight was her night. 

"Well, I'm sure all of the she-wolves will have their tongues wagging when they see him. Make sure you keep him close." Emma paused then said, "At least until your birthday." 

Katie cried, "I give up! You'll see. Brian and I are meant to be together. He turned eighteen over two months ago and now he's just patiently waiting for me. Now let's go find out who your mate is." She headed for the door with Emma right behind before she could bring up the insufferable Ethan again."

She opened the door while looking back to tell Emma how excited she was for her and ran straight into Ethan, nearly knocking him over. He looked at her with a grin and said, "What's the hurry weirdo?