Thirty- eight

My eyes took in my brown hair that had been carefully twisted and pinned up into a classic but sophisticated chignon at the side of my head. A few wisps and tendrils framed my face and lightly swayed whenever I walked or moved my head.

My gaze moved lower to inspect the dark blue smokey eyes Natalie had perfectly created. The color matched my dress and made my sky-blue eyes pop out even more.

I took in the light blush that coated my cheeks, which skillfully accentuated my cheekbones. 

My lips were painted with a soft nude shade, which made them look even more plump and naturally pouty.

I had on a halter-neck dark blue dress that clung to my torso, flared at my waist, and ended mid-thigh. I paired the ensemble with three-inch high-heeled, dark blue colored stilettos, which Samantha let me borrow.

I just hope I won't trip in these shoes. 

My parents had woken me up today with a chocolate cake, at 6 in the morning. They wished me a happy birthday while I tasted the amazing cake mom had baked for me. Nothing can beat a chocolate cake!

School had been amazing too. My friends remembered my birthday as always. Aiden had remembered it too, which surprised me a lot, with a cheeky grin on his face. 

Harper kissed me as soon as he possibly could before I could even buckle my seat belt, earning a chuckle from me. I was way too excited for everything that would happen today, between me and Harper, and my anxiousness only grew when he refused to tell me anything about the mating process or anything else that would happen today. He had refused to accept me as his mate in school, much to my utter disappointment. He told me that he had plans and would have me alone for what he had in mind. The last sentence left goosebumps in Its wake.

As I stood in front of the mirror and assessed my dress, I was pretty much ready for my date with Harper.

My friends had unanimously decided that the dark blue dress was much too amazing to pass on and had forced me to buy it. I was glad that I had conceded to their demands because I looked pretty good in it if I say so myself.

Mom had helped me put on the makeup and my friends did everything else. I had been worked on by three females for over two hours and I was pretty pleased by the result. So were they, because even my mom squealed like my teenage friends when I did a final twirl in my dress.

"Harper's going to be here in fifteen minutes," Sam said as she read over the text he sent on my phone.

I released a deep breath and squared my shoulders to gather my confidence and rid myself of any shyness. I would need every ounce of confidence today.

Mom called the three of us from the kitchen and we slowly made our way down the stairs. 

As we entered the kitchen, Dad walked out of his study and frowned as he took me in. "You know, you're too good for him. He doesn't deserve you."

My friends chuckled behind me and I playfully rolled my eyes. 

"Will I ever be good enough for anyone?" I asked him while crossing my arms over my chest.

Dad sighed. "No, probably not."

I rolled my eyes at him and Mom laughed when she heard his reply.

"Anyway, we are going to go," Nat said. "And we want every little detail of the date." She said and pointed a threatening finger at me.

"Yeah, not every little detail," Samantha said, while playfully making kissing noises.

All four of us laughed at the horrified expression my dad sported.

My friends bid goodbye to my parents and went out the door.

That sentence disturbed my dad's peace and my mother giggled behind his back. Instead of going back into his office, he decided to sit in the living room, probably to threaten Harper about touching me.

It was becoming hard not to fidget or jump, out of both excitement and nervousness.

It was not long before we heard the bell ring and I had to resist the urge to run to the front door and fling my arms around Harper's neck and kiss the daylight sour of him. After that, I would probably squeeze his neck for making me wait so much and building up all this suspense.

Instead, I had to placate myself and watch as Dad's back became more rigid by the second. The sight was amusing, really and I couldn't help but smile at his discomfort.

Mom smiled cheekily at me and I craned my neck to see the person following behind her. My heart was thumping wildly in my chest and I knew my cheeks were growing warm at the weird look my dad was giving me, after gauging my reaction.

Harper entered the living room in all his majestic, black, and brooding glory. He walked like he owned the house and I couldn't help but envy the amount of confidence he had.

His eyes immediately found mine and I stifled a gasp. His intense gaze raked over my body and I couldn't help but blush. My body has always reacted subconsciously to Harper and I found it hard to stop myself from going up to him and capturing his lips with mine.

"Ahem," my dad said while throwing daggers at Harper.

Harper's gaze whipped from mine to meet my dad's and I saw him nervously fidget under his strong gaze.

Mom chuckled at their testosterone-induced interaction and ushered us both out of the house with a promise from Harper to drop me off before midnight before my father could say anything else.

As soon as we were outside the door, Harper held me in his arms and planted his lips on mine. I returned his kiss with equal fervor, our lips desperately moving against each other. I clung onto his jacket-clad biceps while his arms circled my waist. My body was flush against his, my soft curves with his hard ridges.

"You look beautiful." His voice came out all husky and hoarse. I looked into his eyes which had now changed color and had turned black. A blush rose on my cheeks and I grinned at him.

"And no funny business." My Dad's voice sounded muffled coming through the door and Harper's eyes widened in surprise.

He grabbed my hand and led me to his car without a word. It was not hard to notice the blush coating his cheeks and I couldn't help but chuckle.

***

"You know, you still haven't told me about what's going to happen today," I said, standing up from the dinner table.

Harper had brought me to the best restaurant in town and we had talked about everything for two hours straight. Well, everything except the due mating step we would have to take before the clock struck twelve.

"Now, we are going to a place where we can be alone," Harper replied as he guided me out of the restaurant, his hand placed on my lower back, burning my skin.

I frowned. "Why do we need to be alone?" Not that I mind.

He opened the passenger seat for me and I got in and buckled my seat belt. Harper walked around the car, seated himself, and buckled his seatbelt. 

He started the car while I patiently waited for him to give me answers. 

"Firstly, I don't want to ask you to accept me as a mate in front of anyone else?"

"So that no one knows how you rejected me." I snapped at him, irritated by all this secrecy and suspense. Words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them and I immediately regretted them as I took in Harper's clenched jaw.

He gripped the steering wheel tightly and I could see his Adam's apple bob up and down his throat. I wonder if there would come a time when we would be able to talk about this subject without Harper's drastic reactions.

"I just thought that it would be a private moment we could share." Harper gritted through his teeth while avoiding eye contact with me.

Anyone who thought that our whole relationship was all fun and rainbows was wrong. Our relationship started on shaky grounds and that had impacted both of us, making many topics uncomfortable to talk about. Topics like Harper's playboy past, his birthday party, his rejection, and the way his hurtful words at Monique's bakery.

I sighed dejectedly, annoyed with myself and my snappy self. "And secondly?"

He furrowed his brows, a crease forming between his brows. He glanced at me in confusion. "What?"

"What is the other reason that we need to be alone?"

"Oh!" Harper chuckled and ran a nervous hand through his hair. "When we will accept each other as mates, the mate bond will become stronger between us and there will be a strong surge of energy between us. This energy works in two ways. One, it will alert every pack member that their future alpha has found his mate and the both of us will feel the joy and contentment of every wolf in the pack, young or old."

I gulped nervously and checked my wrist watch which showed that the time was a quarter to eleven. Although whatever he was telling me was very interesting and intrigued me so much, I couldn't help but be nervous. 

If everything was to go on smoothly, the whole pack would know that Harper had a mate and with the way we acted with each other, everyone would soon know I was their future Luna and I wasn't sure if I was ready for that. I was still coming to terms with the fact that I was supposed to lead a pack of wolves in the future and that they would bow down to me and try to serve me as best as they possibly could.

Harper must have sensed my growing nervousness because he placed one of his hands on top of mine. I didn't even realize that they had begun to shake out of nervousness.

He gave me a small smile. "I will be with you every step of the way. Always."

I smiled in gratitude. His words had no doubt eased some of my anxiety and I couldn't help but be thankful that he was my destined soul partner, even though we had a rocky start and an even rocky middle. 

"What more does this energy do?" I asked tentatively. I was sure that anything would be this nerve racking than whatever he had already told me.

"The other function of the energy would be to create an immense physical interaction between us and force us to complete the, um, mating process with each other," Harper said slowly and I gaped at him.

Oh god!

That meant, by the end of the night, me and Harper could, oh god!

My cheeks flamed at the thought and I couldn't find the strength to meet his eyes and I was pretty sure he was suffering the same dilemma.

After some agonizing ten minutes, Harper finally switched off the car. I glanced out of the window and my eyes took in the dilapidated cabin, deep in the woods where I had come twice before.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't think of a better place."

Well, this place was guaranteed to give us privacy. Oh, joy!