Two

When Amira finally comes to, she awakes to see she has been placed in Isaac’s room to rest, cuddled up in the very bed she has spent countless nights in before. The memories of the party just before she fainted come rushing back to her, and she suddenly feels sick to her stomach. 

 She runs to the ensuite bathroom and pukes up the little contents of the drinks she has had so far tonight. Once her stomach is empty, she slumps to the ground and begins to sob, replaying Isaac’s words in her head. 

 “I think I’ve found my mate.” 

 This has always been a possibility she has known about, but that doesn’t make it sting any less finding out she isn’t Isaac’s mate, and it is another girl, one much prettier than her and of his kind rather than a useless human. Not only that, but she is also the daughter of an Alpha, the perfect Luna to rule alongside her own Alpha mate. 

 What can a human-like Amira do for someone like Isaac if they were to get married? She isn’t his true mate, and she isn’t even a werewolf, she has no supernatural powers or even any mortal talents as a human. 

 She is utterly useless. Even more so in the face of someone like Eris. 

 “But he promised we would always be together,” she mutters, but the ignorance of the truth just makes her weep harder. 

 “Amira where are you?” she hears Isaac call out. But for some reason, she doesn’t have the strength to call back to him and remains in her huddle on the bathroom floor. 

 It doesn’t take him long to wander into the room and find her. 

 “Hey, are you all right? What are you doing in here?” he asks, crouching on the ground to try and get her to sit up. 

 She pushes him off, her sadness quickly turning to anger and paranoia.

 “I felt sick to my stomach remembering what I just saw and heard. Is it true what you said? That girl…is she your mate?” 

 Isaac looks down and goes quiet, his silence answering her question. 

 “She is, isn’t she? So, what are you going to do now?” she asks. 

 He shoots his head up in confusion. “What do you mean?” 

 “Do I have to remind you of the promise you made me?” she scoffs. 

 He opens his mouth to speak but quickly closes it with a sigh. “You want me to reject her?” 

 “Yes, of course, it’s what you promised me. I always accepted the fact that I might not turn out to be your mate and you might find her one day while we’re together. But it was you who made the promise on your own that you would reject them if you ever met them. You just turned 18 and you’ve already met her, are you going to break your promise the second you have?” 

 Panic fills his eyes and he backs away a little, every movement and second of hesitation from him breaking her heart bit by bit. 

 “You have to give me time to think about it, Amira. I wasn’t expecting her to be the daughter of Alpha Morin, he is one of the few other packs here and we don’t want to make enemies with them during our first family interaction. His family has never visited our pack, this is a step forward for us and we need to take advantage of it while we can.” 

 Amira starts chuckling to herself, not believing what she is hearing. Not only is he trying to use things she can’t comprehend or understand because she has never been included in pack politics or responsibilities, to justify putting off his promise – he is using the party she put together for him and his family to strengthen relations with another pack. 

 His future mate’s pack. 

 Isaac and his family have frequently complained about the other packs in the city, never understanding why they all need to be conjoined with one another and work together, having Alpha meetings every month to discuss the concerns and needs of the other packs. Most of their complaints have been aimed at an unknown group, the High Moon Pack, but they have said their pieces about the Silverhowl Pack also. 

 Now, they want to do everything they can to make a perfect impression on them using everything she has put together. She wants to get angry and feel selfish about her efforts that they are exploiting, but she can’t bring herself to. 

 “Amira, sweetheart, even when I do reject her, she will feel a great deal of pain. I can’t put her through that right here in the middle of a party, I should at least give her the chance to prepare herself and give her a heads up.” 

 He has a point; she isn’t so heartless to put an innocent girl through such pain without at least giving her a proper warning. Isaac is the only person she should be angry with, Eris has no idea what is going on and only recognizes that she has met her mate, someone she might have been waiting for all this time, it would be cruel to take it away like that. 

 “Fine, I can agree to that. But the longer you put it off the worse it’s going to be for all of us, it’s not fair to anyone to keep them hoping and waiting,” she scolds. 

 Isaac beams at her and kisses her cheek. “Understandable, sweetheart. Now, it’s a party, we should get back.” 

 Though she isn’t in the partying mood anymore, Amira also doesn’t want to give Eris the satisfaction of tapping out. She may not blame her for much of this, but it doesn’t mean she is going to sit back and wait for the girl to pull her claws out when it’s already too late. 

 Who says she is going to take this decision lightly? Who is to say she won’t fight for her mate and remind everyone how much better a fit she is than Amira? Although she appears like a sweet and angelic person, that doesn’t mean Amira is going to allow anyone the chance to take away what she has worked hard to build. 

 Getting back to the ballroom, the party seems to still be in full swing, with the only thing left is the presents people have brought to congratulate Isaac on his coming-of-age. He wanders over to the table after apologizing for disappearing and begins to open presents one by one. Amira notices that no one approaches her to ask if she is all right or to say they’re glad she is back, not even his parents.

 They seem more than happy speaking with Alpha Morin and his wife, looking like the picture-perfect family already. Amira can’t stand seeing the joyous interaction and turns to Isaac after opening his last gift and saying his thanks to ask if she can go somewhere else for a bit, but Eris cutting through the crowd and walking toward them distracts her. 

 She walks up with a hesitant look and a shy smile. 

 “Hello Amira, I’m sorry for introducing myself so late. My name is Eris Morin, I’m glad to see you’re awake and feeling better, I’m so sorry about the incident earlier. I majorly overstepped and did something shameful that caused you pain.” 

 Amira isn’t sure what to say in response, conflicted by the girl's sweet words and apology, but sees a sharp glint in her eye as she utters the words. She’s not sure whether to believe her words are sincere or an act for those pretending not to listen. 

 “It’s nice to meet you, Eris. I understand you were just overwhelmed and shocked about the situation,” Amira begins to say, but Eris is quick to cut her off and grasp her hands. 

 “I knew you were going to be as sweet as you look! It’s such a relief that you are so understanding, I hope it won’t cause you too much more pain to see us together, but I’m sure you can be as wise to also understand that a werewolf is meant to be with their mate, it would be morally wrong to keep them apart once they find each other,” she says. 

 Multiple emotions hit Amira at once and she is unable to feel one at a time before they begin to clash with each other, swirling in her chest like a whirlwind. 

 “How about we discuss that later? It’s a little too heavy a conversation for this setting, the party is still going on,” Isaac cuts through the growing tension. 

The smile doesn’t slip from Eris’s smile as she turns her attention to him now, beaming up at him like a puppy to their owner. Amira feels the bile rising in her throat and does everything she can to push it down as she watches her biggest fear unfold in front of her.