Chapter 3

"Yes, I now live in the city," I say as politely as I can. "And this is my fiancé Ian," I take his hand and pull gently over.

"Oh my God!" Simone screamed excitedly. "You're engaged!"

Derek and Ian shake hands and the Beta narrows his eyes, seemingly displeased. "You're not one of us."

"No," I lay a protective hand over my fiancé. "Ian is fully human."

"Does he know?" he asks in a code.

"Yes, he does." I answered confidently, not trying to sound polite anymore. If he were to be rude, I might just enjoy ripping his head off his neck. Maybe I'm being too protective over here, but I hate Ian feeling uncomfortable in my own home.

"That's wonderful!" Simone says, amazed. "It's like a movie love story!" She tries to subtly hit Derek and let him know he should stop being rude, but I still notice. That is a nice gesture of her anyway.

Other guests arrived soon as well. My three best childhood friends - Rachel, Helena, and Campton - missing one. The closest one I've had - Dione. But he's gone now. He's been gone for 8 years. All because of me.

My friends' families have come with them, my father's friends and their families, my brothers' friends and their families, the Alpha and Gamma of our pack - Jorah and Graham - and a lot of people from the Carter pack. I guess now that Simone is linked to their Beta, the packs have become tight knit.

A small group - consisting of my father, Alpha Jorah, Graham, Derek, Simone, and myself - gathers around the buffet and we start talking wolf stuff while sipping wine.

"How's Jamie's training going, Patrick?" Jorah asked my father.

Dad waved his hand off. "He is still learning."

"Jake and Jason improved," Graham comments. "I saw their progress yesterday on the field. Jacob has fast reflexes... Jason's got a strong grip."

My father nods. "They did improve. But they have a long way to go."

Jorah's eyes shifted to me, suddenly. "This one never had to train hard, though. She is a natural. We have all seen it since she was only a kid."

Dad laughed to himself. "I've got three sons, gentlemen, and it's this lovely lady that steals the show every time. Go figure," he cheers.

The crowd laughs.

"It's a real shame we lost a fighter like you, Lila," Jorah tells me.

My dad nods absentmindedly. "Her wolf has always been the strongest of my kids'. Well, she's the strongest in human form as well. She's always been the rock of this family."

My eyes well up without notice. I never knew my father felt that way. "Are you trying to make me change my mind and stay?" I jokingly said, caressing his hand.

"Oh no, I know that boat has sailed off long ago," he says and throws a glance at Ian behind, as if blaming him for my absence.

I leave to greet my other friends and Ian follows me this time, along with my brother Jamie. He has been serving Ian as his personal guide slash encyclopedia tonight, and might I say I enjoy it greatly.

"That's Rachel," he whispers to Ian as we approach my friend. "And the girl next to her is Helena. She's super hot but already taken. She's one of few people that has a mate. Mates are complicated -"

"I know what it is, Lila explained," Ian says.

"Ah, she really does share everything. Well, probably not everything," Jamie winks at me, chuckling.

I rolled my eyes with love. Little brothers...

"Helena! Gosh, you've changed so much! I wouldn't have recognized you in the street."

"Same goes for you, hot stuff. I already forgot how tall you were," she says, hugging me off the tip of her toes. Helena is a charming girl, reminding me of a seductive Latin.

"It's the heels," I motioned to the skyscrapers that are my shoes. But I notice the look in her eyes - she still blames me for what happened. And I can't stand the appearance.

"I heard you're getting married! That's wonderful. Have you set the date yet?" Rachel asks. But her eyes tell the same story. Dione's on all of our minds.

"Yes. It will be on December 20th, our five-year anniversary."

"How lovely."

All of a sudden, a weird feeling envelopes me. My body starts to sweat and my heart is racing like crazy, even though I have no idea why.

I turned, scanning the room, as if looking for something. Then I noticed somebody.

A muscular, tall man, somewhere in his late twenties... He's dark tanned, tattooed, slightly wavy hair falling to his buffed shoulders. One of his thick arched eyebrows is cut down the middle - probably something he earned himself in a fight.

His lips are strong, yet sensually full. His nose is rough and masculine, his eyes... black copper, yet two shining daggers. And I can't stop watching him.

"Who is he?" I asked.

"Who?" Rachel followed my gaze. As if she could miss him. He's the biggest guy in the room.

"Oh, him?"

I nodded, unable to speak for some reason.

"That's Darius Carter. The new Alpha of the Carter pack. You really have been absent from here for a long time," she laughs.

I force a smile even though I feel like I am about to faint.

"He's just arrived. Without a date, if I may notice," Helena adds. "He's the most desired bachelor in the area."

"I think there's something wrong with him, though," Rachel said to Helena, but her words seemed too muffled for me to hear properly. "Isn't he acting weird?"

My heartbeat accelerates so badly, that I put a hand over my heart, fearing it might jump out of my chest. Even though my lungs feel stuffed with air, I struggle to breathe. My hands are sweaty all of a sudden and my knees are too weak. I want to sit down, but am unable to move.

Then our eyes met.

"Lila?"

"Lila! Are you okay?"

I hear the girls' voices somehow. Why are they whispering? And why is everyone in the room spinning?

On the other side of the room, across from me, Darius is frowning, piercing me with his eyes. My stomach turns and tingles run down my spine, making me feel completely naked.

Then he starts walking towards me determinedly, even though it looks like he's struggling to move.

I see people touching him, asking something, concerned, but he ignores them completely. I hear people saying my name through the muffled sounds of my heartbeat banging in my

ears. Then, suddenly, everyone in the room disappears and there are no voices. The only sound is that of his footsteps and the only scent is the most beautiful, sensual, masculine smell I have ever felt.

Darius approaches me slowly at two feet away, but doesn't stop. As everything seems slow motioned, I try to step back to avoid collision, but my feet won't listen. Instead, I take a step forward and we meet only an inch apart.

He is not frowning anymore.

He looks at me so intensely, so passionately, that I feel devoured.

Then he spoke in a low, rugged voice.

"Hello, mate."