01

Hilda's pov

The solstice party kicked off, and I knew I was going to have fun. Every shade of light was emitted from the party as people danced and swayed their bodies, and I was no exception.

I was on my fourth drink when I noticed two girls and a few guys staring at me with their mouths still moving toward each other.

I felt uncomfortable, but maybe it was because the shapes behind my eyes were shaking.

I ignored them and continued to have another drink. I was so happy today because it was heavily rumored that the solstice made finding mates so much easier.

I was twenty years old without a mate, and it was embarrassing. I was taking yet another drink when the girl from earlier materialized before me in seconds.

I spilled the alcohol on my dress by accident out of fright.

"Goddess!" I shouted, placing a hand to my chest as she continued to look at me, and then she smiled.

"Look, I don't know who invited you, but we're getting..." She trailed off, and I had been trying to clean my dress with a napkin that had been kept alongside the cups.

I looked up at her, daring her to continue and hoping my glare would show just how much I dared her to open her mouth and continue.

"People are staring, and we don't want you to make people uncomfortable," she said, taking a good look at me.

I was stunned at her audacity. What did she mean by that?

"Uncomfortable, how?" I asked, my face falling but deciding not to show it.

I'm sure the alcohol was playing more than a few tricks on me.

"We know that you're mateless and wolfless."

My face was constructed into one of shock.

"You're scaring some of the guests. I think it would be best if you left, so please leave," she said, walking out on me and flipping her hair as she left.

I stood there like a statue, shocked to my bones at how people could be so bold.

A part of me wanted to keep on drinking, twice more than normal, but the moment my hands touched the cups, my eyes caught a movement, and I took a quick glance.

Two guys had their arms folded and looked at me in a not-so-subtle manner, and as my eyes returned back to the cups, I saw the girl from earlier smirk and move away from the men.

I took two more cups of alcohol and went to a corner of the party where I could see them.

I was mateless and wolfless, but that wasn't my fault, and how people kept knowing about that flaw made me wonder if I had it written somewhere.

I drank the two cups successfully, and my eyes did a spin, but I didn't care; anything would cure this pain of constant embarrassment.

I knew that I wasn't originally from their pack, but that didn't give them or anyone else the right to treat me that way.

I looked at the sky as the moon glowed brightly and inhaled.

"If only the moon goddess gave me a mate. At least," I said, and I sighed to myself as something sweet started to filter into my nose.

I took another breath, and soon that was all I could perceive. A deep scent of a thousand flowers with a tang of melting chocolate

I love the scent, and before long I was breathing it in until that was all I could perceive. I tried sniffing my cups to know if maybe the alcohol in my system had messed with my nose, but the more I tried to grasp at the air,the more the scent filled my nostrils.

I unconsciously threw the empty cups away, and I began to sniff the air, my mind searching for what it must have been.

A part of me remembered that to feel a scent from nowhere, you had to have your mate nearby.

I was suddenly excited as I grasped the opportunity of my friend being nearby.

If he was close, I needed to make sure of that. I needed to meet him.

I set off using the scent in my nose to track down where it was that he was hiding that he had been hiding for years. As I sniffed my way out of the dark corners of the party I had decided to hide at, my eyes caught a glimpse of the girl from earlier laughing heartily with a male wolf.

If it were before, I would immediately get jealous, but instead I felt elated.

I moved quickly, as I didn't want the scent to die out. I moved until the scent was the only thing in my nose. Even when I came into contact with the palace gates, I still moved forward.

Suddenly, I felt my body on fire—a good kind of fire that brought warmth to my skin and insides.

I pressed my legs together to stop the feeling, but the more I pressed my legs together, the more I felt a moan at the back of my throat.

I was excited, and I was on heat. All I wanted to do was see my mate and make him mark me as his and his alone.

I walked a good distance, making my way into the palace, stopping occasionally to press my thighs together.

The scent got stronger as I passed through the throne room and some other rooms, but the moment I got to the kitchen, the scent stopped.

I was still excited, and juices dropped down the side of my thighs as I moved. I bit my lip in ecstasy.

All the beautiful things that he could do to me filled my head proportionately.

I placed a hand on my stomach to still myself, and that was when I heard it.

It started at first, but then fast, tiny sounds started coming from inside the kitchen.

My heart started to beat fast as I heard more thumping, and as I pressed my ears against the closed door, I heard moans.

I immediately withdrew, the excitement still growing deep and hungry within me.

I wanted to back away, but the more the moans came out, the more annoyed I felt.

Saliva started to form more in my mouth as I salivated for my mate. I have never felt this restricted about what to do.

As the moans came out even louder, I couldn't help but feel the anger that suddenly built within me.

I opened the door with force, and I was met with an outstretched bareback. My mind played tricks on me about how I could sink my claws into him as he took me.

As I approached him in the dark, I suddenly stopped when I realized that the moans were coming from someone else in this same kitchen.

My face fell as I realized without a doubt that I was connected to the guy but that he was sleeping with someone else.

I gasped in horror as he finally turned back and paused for a moment.

"Don't stop," the girl said, and he smiled broadly.

"As you wish," he said, and then he did something that I never expected.

He kept going!

I stood there with my thighs dripping all of my juices and my mouth salivating, and he saw me standing there fully aware, but he kept going.

I was stunned, and the fact that I didn't even see his complete face because of how dark the kitchen was made me more skeptical that this son of a bitch was actually my mate.

I had to turn around and walk out of the door.

"Stand there," he commanded, and as though I were under a spell, I stood there and heard his every grunt and heard every moan until he was finished. From where I was, my eyes rolled back, but I was still hungry for his touch.

"Were you the one that had a scent?" He asked, and I turned to look at him, my face in horror at what it was he was asking me. He stepped out of the shadows, a smirk on his face.

The moment my eyes saw his, I immediately felt stupid.

What on earth did they put in that drink? I was delusional.

"Are you?" stressed the word as though it were some form of disease.

"Is he supposed to be my mate?" He asked me as he looked at me from my head to my toes, and I froze.

There was no way that Lucas Brandon, prince of the Blood Moon Pack, was my mate.

No way this man whore and brat was my mate!