Chapter 2

"I've called every single server that works here and they're either letting their calls go to voice mail or they have some excuse for why they can't come back in."

Dylan, shook his head as he glanced at her from the stove. He was going to be busy enough in the kitchen, even with

Tyler's help. And all three of them knew that the Alpha was going to have extremely high expectations, especially with his guests.

Dani heard the door open and sighed, shaking her head in frustration. "I guess we've got to do this. Good luck guys. We're going to need it tonight."

Alpha Vos came through the door first, his arm wrapped around his gorgeous Luna, Emery. She was tall and slender, with long golden hair and she was genuinely one of the sweetest people that Dani had ever met. She smiled warmly at Dani as the Alpha helped her slip off her coat. Emery must have been at least five foot ten, but Alpha Vos still towered over her.

His broad shoulders were covered in a fitted t-shirt shirt, and he wore blue jeans, while she was dressed up as if she was headed to a party. Dani had never seen her looking less than perfect. Dani's eyes moved over to Kent who intentionally looked her up and down and raised his eyebrows at her. She frowned back at him and shook her head slightly. While Kent and his Beta were both huge, muscular men, Alpha Vos made them look small in comparison when they stood side by side.

Alpha Vos fixed Dani with his intense grey eyes and she shivered, and yet somehow managed not to drop her eyes. He frowned for a moment, and she could tell by his expression that he was surprised. Few wolves could maintain eye contact with the Alpha for even a few seconds.

"Hallo and Willkommen zurück to The Dirty Wolf," she said cheerfully as she recited her script to the group who was beginning to press in through the doors. She didn't usually say the script, because she wasn't a hostess, but she'd heard it enough times that she could cover at the front of the restaurant easily. "We are so happy to have you here. Since you are such a large group and you have the entire dining room to yourself, I'll allow most of you to sit wherever you please. But let me show you, Alpha Vos and Luna Emery and your special guests for the evening, to our very best table in the house."

She turned and began to walk through the enormous dining hall. The ceiling was high overhead with great wooden beams, while the walls were red brick. There were many long, brightly polished tables with benches, but the best table was at the head of the room, next to the fireplace. She was thankful that it had been changed to gas years ago and that it's huge flames had come on with a flip of a switch from the kitchen so that she didn't have to rebuild it herself for this special party.

The seats at the head table were covered with comfortable leather, fit for a king, according to her boss. It was usually reserved and rented out for parties. Dani was halfway across the room, leading the group without so much as glancing back over her shoulder, a thick pile of menus in hand, her mind on taking orders around the room, when she heard a growl rip through the banquet hall, echoing off the high ceiling, but beginning somewhere behind her.

She froze, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end, and spun on one of her stilettos, her hands coming up in a defensive position. She saw that Alpha Vos had turned too, and that his Luna was behind him. Emery also put herself between Dani and wherever the source of the sound was.

She is an excellent Luna, Dani thought distractedly as she searched for the source of the sound. Alpha Vos' Beta was on his right and Kent was on his left and she couldn't see through the wall of muscle that was in front of her. Dani noticed that the Beta's mate, Sarah, was behind him as well, clutching his arm nervously.

"What the Hell, West?" Alpha Vos roared.

"Get out of my way." The words were barely understandable beneath the growl.

Dani froze.

"The Hell I will West. There's no one behind me but my Luna and the Beta's mate."

Dani rolled her eyes. Typical Alpha. Forgetting that lower pack members even exist. Not that she wanted him to move, or even remember that she was back there. She couldn't think of a reason that Alpha West could be so eager to get past the ranked members of her pack.

Then the scent hit her. It was faint, but smelled like cedar and rain. It filled her chest with warmth and her wolf began to go berserk in her chest.

No. She shook her head. She'd heard her mother's story enough times when she was small. And a few of her friends had found their mates and had given her blow by blow, in depth descriptions of what it was like. She didn't want that. And an Alpha? Absolutely not.

He would be overbearing and overprotective. And she would be a Luna. Every part of her life would be planned out for her. She had seen how Alpha Vos treated Emery and while she handled the situation with grace it wasn't what she wanted for herself.

Dani took a step back and then turned.

There was an emergency exit on the far side of the fireplace. It was the kind with a bar and an alarm that would sound if you pushed it. But she was out of options.

When Alpha West finally managed to explain to Vos why he was freaking out, Vos was going to let him by. And she didn't want to be around when it happened.

Turning she sprinted towards the door, almost reaching it when one of her stilettos snapped. Her ankle wrenched painfully, and she was about to go sprawling forward onto the hard, polished wooden floor, when she felt a strong hand grab hold of her, plucking her from the air.

He placed her gently in a chair, as if she was made of spun sugar and might dissolve at the lightest touch.

Dani kept staring at her hands, refusing to look at him, until he put one finger under her chin and forced her to meet his eyes for a single moment, taking in the beauty of her dark chocolate gaze.

And then she heard his voice again, echoing off that high vaulted ceiling as he announced their connection to the world and she cringed as she heard her own wolf yip in joy inside her mind. All she wished she could do was run as she heard him say the one word she'd never wanted to hear:

"Mate."