Both girls were quick to get back to the Packhouse.
"Clara, when are you going for the run? " Naomi asked while they were getting ready for the dinner. Their Alpha had mind linked the whole pack to join dinner. It could only mean that the meeting between their Alpha and shadow night pack is over.
"I don't know. Maybe after dinner." Clara shrugged as she pulled her favourite blue skin-tight jeans on.
Naomi put on a simple grey gown which only reached her calf since she had no desire in wearing jeans. Usually, she prefers jeans and couldn't put a finger on her sudden change of mind but went with it anyway. Her wolf was anxious all day and her mind kept reeling to a certain subject. She wondered why she was bothered by it so much this particular day.
"What do you think they decided?" Clara asked suddenly. Naomi turned to look at her. The same question has been revolving around her head for the entire week.
"I guess we will have to find out later. " Naomi had nothing else to say since she doesn't know how the meeting went. Shadow night pack was notorious for their barbaric ways. It was still a mystery for Naomi to think that her Alpha had agreed to a pack treaty with the same pack he had a cold war on for years They both left their room and headed straight to the stairs.
Clara seemed happy to the prospects of going on a run with her mate. Seeing her, full of life and happiness gave Naomi a sense of pride. Since they only have each other, they felt more like family. And seeing each other happy would naturally make the other happy.
"You look happy, " Naomi commented after a moment. Clara's smile grew even wider as she heard her friend's comment.
"I am happy, that's why" she stated matter of factly. "Isn't it the most obvious thing? Your mate would change your world upside down. It feels like suddenly that person is the only one for you." Clara said dreamily.
"It is actually quite strange though. " Clara said after that, giving a second for her thoughts. Naomi turned her head to look at Clara with a quizzical expression.
"What is?"
"That you will instantly fell in love with a total stranger who you have no idea of, " That made Naomi even confused.
"Why are you having such thoughts all of a sudden?" She asked her friend half jokingly and half seriously. She knew Jason hadn't marked Clara yet. He wanted to wait for her to finish high school.
It is not a secret in were-world that once a werewolf marks his or her mate the desire for each other would become unbearably irresistible. And it would only lead to immediate mating and result in conceiving. Jason still amazed her by resisting his desires for his mate and actually trying to be more considerate towards Clara. He wanted to wait till she is ready to be mated. He didn't hide his thought from Clara either. He told her and she agreed to it.
They both walked side by side in silence for a minute.
"What I was saying is that when I was young I thought it was just an exaggeration." Clara continued after a moment and looked at Naomi's questioning stares and sighed.
"You know about the mating pull." Clara laughed nervously. "But now that I have him so close, resisting the mating pull is so hard." Her smile slowly fades. Naomi could tell that her friend has something else that bothering her mind. Naomi stopped walking, pulling her friend to a halt as well and turning her to face her.
"Clara, what is it?" Clara sighed in exasperation. She stopped walking and turned her face to look away. She didn't want her friend to see the silly tears that now forming on the corners of her eyes but stopped by Naomi. She reached her hand to touch her chin stopping her from doing so.
"Tell me, what's bothering you. " Naomi insisted, the tears didn't go unnoticed by her. Clara sighed again, not clearly knowing what's bothering her at all. She had this dubious fear ever since she met him.
"He hasn't marked me yet, and I can only wonder why." she had Naomi's full attention now.
"I thought he would mark me right away. But then he said he wanted to wait. FOR WHAT? " Clara swallowed a lump in her throat. The last bit came out rather strong. Naomi didn't flinch away from the harshness and understood now what it is that bothering her friend. She is worried that Jason might reject her. It is not a common thing in their pack anymore but is a very common thing in other packs. Jason is a pack scout, higher in his rank but Clara is an omega. It is only natural that she would feel scared of getting rejected.
"Clara, do you have any idea how Jason looks at you? " Clara looked up from the ground to stare at her friend, nodding her head sideways. Naomi smiled softly.
"It's like he is longing to be with you. He cherishes you, Clara. You mean the world to him. Anybody with a clear sight could see how he looks at you. Held no doubt in your heart, dear. I can tell that he loves you to no end."
"Really? " Clara sounded like a two-year-old asking such a silly question but Naomi could understand her concern and nodded yes. It was not like Clara didn't know it, it was rather her silly impulses, jealousy even for those she-wolves who girdle and flirts with him all the time.
"Yeah, really, he is your mate after all. " Naomi's smile grew bigger as her friend literally bounced with joy. "Now let's go, I am starving."
Clara laughed feeling her burden have lifted from her shoulders. Holding hands they both walked towards the stairs. But before they could head down to the ground floor they were so rudely blocked by the stairs by someone.
Naomi looked up to see two bulking figure blocking their way. Two unfamiliar faces, and she could tell by their scent that they were from another pack. She can only guess that they are members of shadow night pack. She didn't get a chance to see them as they both came to the pack late and went straight to their rooms.
Both men were standing at the staircase blocking their way down. Clara was the first to speak.
"What are you doing? Why are you blocking our way?"
"What are you doing up here, your alpha has ordered you to go downstairs a while ago. Is this how you respond to your alpha's call? " The one with blonde hair practically spat at her face. Naomi could not help but notice his rude behaviour to her friend. But Clara didn't even waver for a second.
"Mind your tone, will you?" Clara didn't like his lack of mannerisms one bit and she was determined to give the rude guy a piece of her mind. Realizing what to come next, Naomi grabbed onto Clara even more. The last thing she wants is to get into any kind of trouble. For a moment she contemplated on calling Jason if anything gets out of control.
'Don't'
Clara's voice breached through and invaded her thought, giving her a warning look. Naomi looked at her friend knowing that she can get really tough at times. But these wolves don't follow our ways and probably won't like her friend speaking out of turn. The ways of her pack may allow a she-wolf freedom to speak her mind but she was not so sure about others.
'Don't say anything, Clara. Just walk away.' Naomi mind linked her.
'How dare they speak to us like this, they have no right.' Clara was right, of course.
"Don't you know who we are? How dare you speak to a pack warrior out of turn like this? A mere omega like you should know your place. " The other one with brown hair spoke. Now that she really looked at him, he looked even scarier than the blonde one. Naomi scooted more close to her friend. As in queue, Clara grabbed her hand and squeezed it, assuring her.
"Nobody talks disrespectfully to anyone no matter their rank. It is our pack rule. As for your question, we are just headed downstairs to meet with rest of the pack, just as our alpha requested us. " Clara's was annoyed, she was barely controlling her temper for the sake of Naomi, who was petrified with these two monsters in front of her.
"Well, your pack rule sucks, and it looks like I should put you in your place myself," The blonde one said, his face reflecting his anger and wounded pride. His body radiated power and intentions in waves.
'Clara,' Naomi's voice laced with dread. Clara realized what was happening, she was quite a stubborn one when it comes to fighting, sure she had participated in pack training but even she knew she can't overpower a pack warrior. They are born that way, strong and powerful, build to protect and in cases, destroy.
Just when his hardened fist came almost in contact with her face, a loud authoritative voice stopped the incoming assault in mid-air.
"What do you think you are doing? " Everyone turned their attention to the staircase where they heard the voice. The blonde guy dropped his hand to his sides and stand straight in military stance. The other one did the same.
Naomi noticed the deep voice, it sends shivers to run down her spine and travelled her entire body. His voice was not the only one she noticed though. She can recognize a very sweet smell, which she couldn't resist. This was only meant to happen when she finds her mate. Wait... is it?
She saw a figure ascending the stairs. Her heart fluttered at the sight in front of her. She felt her wolf going crazy inside her head, jumping and yelling with joy.
Mate... Mate..... Mate...
She heard her wolf chanting it like a mantra in her head. Naomi stood frozen in place. There he is, her long-awaited mate, her other half. His eyes were a shade of dark blue, his jet black hair was cut short but some of the bangs have escaped its patterns and fell on his forehead. He had a masculine figure, too muscular in her opinion.
His stance was rigid, his eyes were calculative, he wore a serious expression on his handsome face. Handsome, that's what Naomi thought about him, her first impression. She continuously stared at him, waiting for him to look at her.
He looked at his pack mates instead. More like staring them down. And indeed they squirmed at his intense gaze.
"I asked you a question, what are you doing? " His voice held so much power and Naomi wondered what rank he is in. If he can scare two bulking monsters like this, he definitely holds a higher rank for sure. Her heart sank at the realisation.
She expected her mate to be an omega like her. She really hoped it to be the case. Then she does not have to worry about a rejection. But just her luck, she got something much higher than she hoped for. Now she can only hope that her mate wouldn't reject her because of her status. Her train of thoughts was interrupted by a scared stutter of an answer.
"I was told to check the upper stairs by Beta Brad. I was only doing that. " Naomi watched as the blonde shaking in fear as he tried so desperately to defend himself.
"I am aware of that but did he tell you to behave like this?" Her mate took a step closer to the warrior making him shrink in fear. "if what I saw was right, you were going to hit her" He raised his right arm to point his finger at Clara. Both girls stood quietly as he continued. "You shouldn't have done that," The blonde guy shook with fear even more.
"I... I am sorry, Sam. " He said in his shaking voice.
"It's not me you should apologize to, it's them." He turned to look at the girls. Naomi found herself waking up all over again. This is it, this is the time she was waiting for. She heard from Clara that when mates lock eyes for the first time, it would feel like the world would shift around them and suddenly, everything around them would melt away. The whole world would seem different.
Her heart went elated, her wolf howled in joy but all in vain. He didn't even spare her a glance, his gaze landing right over Clara. Her heart gave out that moment, realizing what comes next made her heart sank even more.
"Now, apologize, " He ordered.
"We are sorry for our behaviour, please accept our sincere apologies." They both said in unison like they trained to do so, not even missing a beat.
"It's alright, " Clara managed to say it halfheartedly for Naomi's sake for her friend was shaking like a leaf behind her back. She knew their apology was out of fear. Naomi remained quiet, staring now at the ground so that nobody could see her face. She was sure that anybody could read the disappointment and pain from just looking at her.
"Good, now you can leave. I will take care of the rest. " The two warriors obeyed his command and went down the stairs. Then he too walked to the other direction of the corridor, without even sparing a glance.
"Ooh! I wonder who would that be?" Clara exclaimed. Naomi didn't say anything. She didn't have the strength to even move. She felt like all her hope had suddenly disappeared. She finally found her mate, but he didn't even bother to acknowledge her.
Does she have to live rest of her life with a broken heart? Is her mate going to reject her?
Her mate is her other half, her soulmate destined to be with her, who suppose to make her happy and cherish her. But there he was, walking away from her like nothing had ever happened.
"Hey! You alright?" Clara asked her suddenly. Naomi looked at her feeling rather empty. Her mind and soul went all numb due to her mate's lack of acknowledgement. Even her wolf withdrew to the back of her mind feeling rejected, leaving her all by herself.
"Nothing, " She said plainly, luckily her friend didn't seem to pick on her sudden disdain. To tell the truth, at this point she didn't care about anything.
"Okay, then, Let's go." Clara grabbed her hand and dragged her down the stairs. Naomi followed her friend like a robot.
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