CHAPTER 1 - CONUNDRUM

-RAINA'S POV-

“You’ve been avoiding me,” an angry voice came from behind after I descended the glass-bifurcated stairs of the exquisite Saturn Striders Hotel.

“Alpha Kain,” I acknowledged when I swung around to the six-foot man with hands crossed that made his biceps appear larger and ready to crush me for neglecting his messages. I said coolly, “I didn’t know that you were coming.”

“You would if you had replied to my recent messages.” He dropped his hands to his side and his vexation toned down.

The seventeen-year-old Alpha of an external pack licked his lips as his steps approached me with a cocky swagger. His nomad eyes lit up as he roamed them over my body and I took a deep breath. I was not afraid of him, but he has been one of those guys who constantly expressed an interest.

 “May I have the pleasure of enjoying your company or am I too late?” He stood too close to me with a taunting smirk as he gazed at my rose-mauve-coated lips. “I’ve been looking for you all evening.” He took my left hand and raised it to his lips. “I used this opportunity just to come and see you.” He kissed my knuckle. “You are quite the beauty.”

Tonight was Valen’s eighteenth birthday party. It was the event of the year since Alpha Females gathered from around the globe for the main reason that we expected him to scent his mate tonight. We all wanted him to make the announcement. Each of them was wishful to be his future Luna Queen.

Especially me. I turned sixteen two months ago, but I won’t have my wolf until two years’ time. Therefore, if I were his mate, he would be the one to know because he was at the age of maturity. Nevertheless, werewolves could like or even fall in love with others until that time. It wasn’t wise, but I could not help that my heart yearned for him. Not Alpha Kain.

Valen was my childhood crush. The man I crammed my brain with thoughts of. I wished he was mine. I've prayed countless times that the moon goddess would grant me this one desire of my heart. It was the hope I clung to for tonight. Every second that dreadfully went by ticked on my heart with anxiety.

Alpha Kain was my espresso brown-haired friend and a visitor to our pack tonight. He wanted more, but that was his problem. He did not back down from my rejections.

“What’s this, Alpha Kain?” Vaheed, one of my best friends, jumped from the top of the stairs and flashed between us, shoving the guy back. Harlequin-green eyes dilated full black and his warning was a barbaric growl, “Do not touch her! Get the fuck away!” Then he turned to me and brushed the fringes of his medium-length black hair slick back. He gently touched my right arm to ask with concern, “Did he hurt you?”

“No,” I shook my head and assured him, “He’s a friend. Not a stalker.”

Vaheed growled in response to demonstrate his dislike of my friendship with the Alpha. Treading away, I glanced over my shoulder to give Kain an apologetic expression.

The party was in full swing when Vaheed grasped my hand and led me into the luxuriously decorated grand hall. My electric blue eyes combed through the grinding crowd in search of my other two best friends, Azara and Venus.

“You’re finally here,” Azara hugged me while dancing. Her auburn orbs sparkled with glee and her bouncy, cinnamon, soft, kinky hair slapped against her forehead when she bobbed her head to the rhythm.

Vaheed left me in their care and left to hang out with his boys, Isaac, Benji, and Zack. He gave each a high five and then took a drink. Girls swarmed them but mostly because of Vaheed, since he was Valen’s younger brother and Venus’ twin.

“Kain is here. Did you see him?” Venus asked with questioning harlequin green eyes, knowing about our friendship. With hands at the back of her neck that lifted her mid-length, layered black hair with side bangs, she did a pivot turn before jumping up and down to the beat.

“Yeah, and your brother chased him away.” I began swaying my hips on the dance floor, throwing my hands up in the air and waving them from side to side.

Venus and Azara chuckled. Basically, we drank and danced to every pop and hard rock song. Suddenly, the strangest thing happened. An intoxicating scent of cardamom and amber swirled into my nasal passage.

My body froze in disbelief and perplexity. I sniffed again. That scent! Could it be what I think it meant? Impossible!

A certain scent of cardamom and amber lingered in the air. It was rather enticing and potent, almost palpable. The spicy taste lingered on my tongue.

"Mate," I heard, puzzled.

I scanned a wide scope to see who was saying that. Riveting a full three-sixty degrees. Did Azara or Venus find their mate? Despite the blaring music and loud chatter of the partying bunch, one voice was the clearest.

"Mate!" The female voice was a bit louder. A sharp pain pierced into my cranium. “Find mate.”

Venus saw me flinch, with fingers rubbing my forehead, and inquired, "Rai-rai are you okay?"

"Um, yes." I lied and tried dancing again to avoid drawing attention to myself.

Something was happening to me. An essence was inside of me and growing.

"Find our mate, Raina." There it was, very resounding and exclusive.

"Who are you?" I pondered internally.

"Silly girl, I'm your wolf." The voice heralded, “Call me Hera.”

“How?” I was stupefied. The arrival of my wolf was not due yet.

“I don’t know either. But I’m here now. Don’t you want me?” Hera queried, sounding sad.

“Of course. I’m just shocked.” This was remarkable. My enthusiasm was fueled by her joy.

“Go to mate, please. Follow the scent.” She urged.

A bullet of panic rose in my throat. Which guy in this vast place was the man that I was to spend the rest of my life with? My heart raced in exhilaration and fear.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” I told Venus and Azara. They nodded as I weaved through the mob, tracking the breathtaking scent. I found myself going towards the left end of the banquet hall and realized that I was actually drawing closer to Valen and his crew, but his back was turned to me.

The throng was too massive to move faster. My chignon was pulled apart by a flashing hand as a tipsy girl carried on loosely on the dance floor. My burgundy bundle rolled down to my lower back. As jerking bodies brushed against mine, my strands got more unkempt.

It wasn’t until the cutting of the cake that the music died and Luna Sianna made the announcement. I paused and every eye went to the clamorous Luna Queen.

There was a low stage where the trolley with the super-sized birthday cake with eighteen colorful candles was. As Valen advanced in his Greek god-damned glory, whistles and hoots went off from the audience.

He was handsomely wearing a gray denim jacket suit with a white dress shirt underneath that did nothing to conceal his bulky chest and paired that with leather low-top sneakers. The sleeves were pushed up to his elbows to reveal portions of the tattoos along both muscular arms.

Oh, goddess, his wavy long, glossy, black hair, which flowed over his shoulders, was the ideal complement to his chiseled features. The raw and intense sex appeal he radiated demanded everyone's attention in the room.

Tall and confident with a powerful gait, he strode with grace as he passed me, leaving behind him a rocketing aura trail. The scent I'd been hunting hit me like a boulder. My heart beat wildly. Our skin is connected. Sparks produced instant shockwaves through my body and I gasped.

It was him. My brain, heart, and soul screamed at me. Valen was my mate!

The goddess has blessed me with this perfect man as my mate. My heart fluttered and my eyes beamed with happiness. Every cell in me wanted to run to him. Hera purred in my head. I touched my temples from the dizzy spell that came with her foreign movements in my head.

“Valen! Valen! Valen!” Continuous screams of excitement filled the building as Valen took the stage and blew out the candles.

“Have you detected your mate, son?” Luna Sianna's icy-blue eyes gleamed with hope. Alpha King Vance embraces her around the waist, waiting for his response.

Our gaze collided and electricity sizzled through my veins. His pained eyes narrowed on me in a way that hitched my breath. The mate bond snapped into place so strong that it tugged at my heart with a compulsion to touch him. A pin-drop silence permeated.

Then he tore his eyes from me and landed them on his Mom to deny it in a deep velvety voice, "No."

“Aw!” The crowd sympathized.

My heart panged and my brows furrowed in confusion. The humiliation carved a deep hole in my chest and I wondered if the pain was evident on my face. Or if my attempt at maintaining a stoic façade was successful. I blinked back tears. Internally, I was falling apart, yet he appeared normal and disinterested.

"Well," Luna Sianna hugged him and kissed his cheek. "The night is still young."

Heartbroken, I stared at Valen while he exited the stage. Hera whimpered as I let out a soft sob. He didn't want me. Most werewolves would have run into each other’s arms for a passionate kiss as the bond kindled. I was stuck staring at what was mine.

Brazenly, he trod the same route that he'd taken to the stage. He paused at my side with a smirk and whispered right in my ear as his hot breath tingled my skin, "Stay away from Kain."

"What?" I peered up into his mesmerizing emeralds that hacked into my soul to stir up a fervent desire I had never experienced. My cheeks blushed red. The sexual attraction was very commanding.

"Go back to the girls." The coldness in his voice extinguished the heat and he rejoined his clique where Theo, Thaines, Devin, and Jason stood. Not to mention the women who flocked around them like that ever-present strawberry blonde girl.

Hurting in the process, I growled lowly with my chest heaving. Hera wanted us to tear those girls from around him. He was mine but he did not display any sign of wanting to claim me. I was doing my best not to crumble and break down.

And now, I endured the dreadful hallmark moment, wondering when and how my crush would reject me.

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