Chapter 3

"Holy jalapenos", I gasped as I took in the reflection that was staring back at me. My hair had been curled loosely, creating waves that went past my waist. The gold sequined dress I was wearing stopped mid-thigh and it caressed each curve perfectly, it's neckline came down low enough to give a taste of what I had hidden below and was paired with sky-high heels that showed off my toned legs. I could hardly recognize myself as my face had been made to perfection, my bright caramel eyes held a seductive look as they were adorned with gold and nude shades, my plump lips looked rich and inviting.

"Ok seriously, I know you are a werewolf but now I'm thinking you're also part witch!" I laughed as I appreciated all of Marnie's hard work.

"Well, I'm glad you like it, besides I only enhanced your features. The beauty is all you baby", she winked as she wiggled to the bathroom to finish readying herself. Marnie wore a short black dress that had beautifully detailed lace for sleeves, she pulled on some thigh-high boots and straightened her naturally wavy hair. 

"While we may not find your mate tonight, we are sure to catch someones attention", Marnie giggled.

I rolled my eyes as we left a note for Marnies parents telling them we would be back late. They were still at the BBQ, the last I saw of them our fathers had been in a heated debate about some sports player, and our mothers had been nursing a bottle of wine together. 

As we pulled out of the drive I realized I had no idea where we were heading to. Marnie sat in the driver's seat, an excited grin plastered to her cheery face. 

"So, where are we going", I asked, the fact that I had no idea suddenly weighed heavily on me and I was starting to feel a little anxious. 

"To a club of course!"

"Yeah, but which one?"

"Never you mind about that, hey do me a favor and DJ. We have a bit of a drive ahead of us". And with that Marnie refused to answer any more questions, only opening her mouth to sing along or tell me to skip a song she didn't like. 

An hour later I had learned my lesson, if I ask any questions I will get no reply and the music will be turned up louder. Thirty minutes went by and I looked out of the window to realize we had left our pack territory, Marnie had told me she would take me out of town but I hadn't thought she would take us this far away from our pack borders, especially considering the surrounding towns had clubs aplenty. 

"Laila, we're straying awfully close to the Dark Moon packs borders", Amara said anxiously.

"Yeah you're right", I turned to ask Marnie just what the hell we were doing, but decided the poor speakers couldn't handle any more volume.

"What happened to finding out where we are going?"

"Would you prefer to return home deaf?" I asked.

Amara lay down and covered her ears in preparation, I chuckled at her dramatics and continued to look out the window in awe as I had never crossed into the Dark Moons territory before. Their lands looked much the same as ours, forestry surrounding the borders, only to clear when a small town was approaching. 

Marnie turned down the music as she pulled into a packed carpark. Before I could adjust my ears again I could already feel the thump of music softly kicking my eardrums. Amara whined as she retreated to a quiet corner of my mind, she had already been through enough in the car.

As I turned to read the sign of the building I was outside of I stopped frozen. 

"Um, Marns?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are we at a library?", as I looked at the building before me I noticed how run down and inconspicuous it looked. The sign I had read literally said "The Library", yet I could hear music. 

"Welcome to the Dark Moon packs best kept secret, well in the opinion of several young wolves from our training group who like to sneak off at night. It's a club hidden behind the guise of an old abandoned library, isn't it genius?", Marnie was practically alight as she took in our surroundings.

"Wait so this is the Dark Moons club? I'm not so sure we should be here then", I felt a wave of anxiety rush over me as the severity of the situation dawned on me. My father hadn't made his concerns about a possible war public yet, and I know Beta Luke would've been informed and told to keep these concerns to himself. What would this pack do if they found out who we were? Or worse, what would my father do when he finds out.

"Marnie, you are the Betas mate and I am the Alphas daughter. This pack is our enemy, think of what could happen if they find out who we are". 

"Relax! It's not as if we are walking in there with a big sign attached to our foreheads with our names, place of birth and personal relationships listed onto it. Besides, I promised you an exciting night out, and it doesn't get much more exciting than this". 

I searched for Amara in my head, surely she would have some words against this.

"Amara, do you know where we are?" 

"Yes, and I think you should stay".

"WHAT?", I was stunned, my wolf was actually siding with danger.

"Laila, I know this may sound funny but I just have a feeling about tonight. Something is waiting for us here, and I don't think it's anything evil". Amara pleaded, even going as far as to bring out her best puppy dog eyes impression. 

It seemed as if I had no choice in the matter, my best friend and my own wolf had decided for me. With my head held high, I scrambled to find any piece of confidence I could and walked towards the door.

"Eeeeek YAY!", Marnie squealed as she linked arms with me. "Ok, so the door is protected by a password but don't worry, the wolves I caught talking about it let slip the password when they thought nobody else was around". 

As we walked up to the line in front of the building I noticed the lack of humans, there were some but not as many as any other club would inhabit. As if she could sense what I was thinking Marnie sighed and said, "Don't look so curious, people will ask too many questions if you look lost. This club is overrun by wolves, only a lucky few humans make it in". 

As we neared the front of the line a mountain of a man stood guarding the entrance. His bald, round head held a deadly gaze. His arms were covered in tattoos, and his ears had large stretchers taking over his lobes, I couldn't help but notice a nervous shiver going down my spine as I tried to avoid his gaze. When it was out turn to approach he stared silently at us. I stood awkwardly, I felt as if my charade was up and he was mind-linking his pals to come and get us. Marnie seemed oblivious to the situation and smiled up at him, she then giggled and realized he wasn't going to ask for the password, you simply have to tell him.

"Must be above his pay grade to speak to patrons", Amara rolled her eyes. I snickered and told her to keep it down.

Marnie looked the bouncer dead in the eye and said cheerfully, "Nice moon tonight, isn't it?".

I gaped at her as I processed what I had just heard, as I was about to tell her to forget tonight and drag her back to the car, the bouncer stood aside and let us in.

"HOLD up, THAT was the password? Who would make up such a ridiculous password?".

"Well, clearly it was made up by someone who couldn't think of anything else, let's just be glad it worked and get ourselves something to drink", Marnie, still linked to my arm, lead us towards the bar and pushed through to the front of the line. 

A woman with bright blue hair was attending the bar on the side closest to us, she looked and smelt like bubblegum. I also detected she was human, I wondered if she was aware of what we are?

"What can I get you girls?" she asked, a hint of a southern accent to her voice. 

"We'll take two tequilla sunrises and four shots of Good ol' sailor if you have any, thanks". 

As the bartender handed our drinks over to Marnie I took in my surroundings. The club was electric, the smell of sweat, lust, and sex hung in the air. Bodies were grinding up against each other, hands were roaming and grabbing anything they could latch onto. I noticed a few gazes roaming the lengths of our bodies appreciatively as we rested against the bar, though Marnie's mark was covered on her neck I knew she would make a point of telling the hopefuls that she already had a mate, and if that didn't work she always had her boot to shove up someones- "Here you are ladies, enjoy!", the blue haired bartender left us without another glance as she rushed to the other side of the bar.

"Alright, shots first to get us going", Marnie ordered. The liquid burned as I quickly downed it, while it was enough to make the average girl slightly tipsy, it merely warmed my belly. We shuffled off to find a table to lean on as we sipped our cocktails, taking in our surroundings properly. The club's walls were a dark blue colour, they were light up mostly by lasers that created a misty effect. It felt like I was under the night sky as I noticed the ceiling had miniature lights scattered all over, twinkling like stars. It could almost be described as beautiful, which isn't a word I would normally use to describe a club. The huge bar was placed in the middle of the dancefloor allowing access from all over, while the DJ perched in his booth on the far wall. 

"Wow! It really feels like we're having a party under the stars, doesn't it?", Marnie yelled over the booming music, "Admit it, you are loving me for bringing you to this gem".

"While I won't admit to anything concrete as the night is still young, I will say that this is pretty awesome", my voice full of awe as I was truly amazed by where I was. 

We danced together, losing ourselves in the music. While I knew I should be hyper aware of where I was, I was having too much fun to worry about rival packs. My moves were slow and sensual, we had ordered more drinks by this time and I was feeling more confident as I swayed my hips to the music. Occasionally we would notice we had an audience, hyped up guys with their wolves begging to come out to play, their eyes full of desire as they watched us dance.  We knew our limits and allowed them to join, but when things got too handsy we backed right off. Unfortunately, not everyone takes rejection well.

A group of guys we had been dancing with had grown tired of getting nowhere with us, depite my protests I was constantly swatting a hand away from my body. I lead Marnie to the bar, looking for some form of refuge. As I had hoped to blend into the mass of people, a voice so sleazy it made me fight the urge to gag whispered in my ear, "And where do you think you're going, sexy?", a tight grip found its way to my hands as I turned to walk away.

"I thought you said tonight would be a fun time? That those butterflys we felt were a sign of something good to come, not trouble!", I grunted to Amara.

"Yes well, I'm not a psychic, but I still feel something coming Laila, something bigger than these idiots".

"That's it, we're leaving", I mind linked to Marnie as I could see the creeps friends were closing in on the pair of us.

"I'm sorry Laila, these Dark Moon wolves are runing everything", Marnie replied, sounding equal parts disappointed and mad. 

As Amara began to stir irritably, my eyes began to swirl. Amara's amber eyes were threatening to take over as she begged me to let her out. I was about to walk forwards when the hands holding me back tightened again, I was sure my wrists would be bruised by morning. While I wasn't afraid of taking on this group of wolves, confident in my training, I was scared of the outcome if anyone figured out we were from the Crescent pack, let alone how important we are.

Marnie started to kick off beside me, "Listen here meatheads, if you don't let us pass through right now, you're going to leave me no choice but to rub your balls along the side of a rusty cheese grater, you got it?". 

"Dollface, you were the ones teasing us all night, and now we want a taste. So, you can be kind to yourselves and let us have our fun, or, we can get real mean about it. And you don't want that". 

As Marnie hurled more insults and threats I felt as if the world around me had faded into a soft blur. While I could see her mouth moving, I couldn't hear the words coming out of my best friend's mouth. Amara seemed to be under this strange spell as well, for her eyes were focused and her nose lifted as the most intoxicating scent I had ever smelt took over my entire being. It smelt like warm apple pie, a delicious mixture of apple and cinnamon, with a touch of something earthy and inviting. I lifted my nose to try to inhale as much of the scent as I could, though I didn't need to as I could tell it was growing stronger, the smell was coming closer and I had to find out the source of this tantalizing fragrance. Just as I was about to use Amara's strength to rip off the hands that were still gripped to me, I felt them disappear. I looked up as the bodies around me began to part a way for someone, and that someone was walking straight towards me.