Chapter Seven

Greyson GoldenKnight's POV

"How much further to this Great Hall where the Biennial Autumn Ball is being held this year?" I asked Jasper, my best friend and soon-to-be beta. 

"We should be there in less than five minutes." He said as we turned down a long driveway lit by hanging lights. Upon getting out, Jasper handed the keys to the valet and made his way around the car to my side, then elbowed me in the ribs. "Tonight's the night. You will find your mate!" He stated as an older gentleman walked up beside me. 

"Prince Greyson," he bowed his head as a sign of respect. 

"Elder Reiner, it's an honor to see you again," I said as I firmly grabbed and shook his hand. Elder Reiner stood around 6 feet tall; even at his age, he was still built like a tank. His once black and white short, well-kept hair was now completely white and matched his tidy, well-groomed beard. His blueish-green eyes seemed like they could peer into a person's soul. He had always been someone that I had admired and looked up to. In his younger years, he had contributed significantly to the battle against the vampires. After taking over as Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack, he led them into being the third most powerful pack on the continent.

"It has been Prince Greyson. How many years has it been?" Reiner questioned as he gently placed his hand on my shoulder.

A soft chuckle escaped my lips, "A few."

A soft smile touched his lips as he continued, "Indeed it has. Would it be alright if we spoke before heading into the Great Hall?"

"Of course," I stated as a gentle breeze blew past us, and my wolf Koal began to get jittery, anxious to enter the Great Hall.

"How are you doing, Jasper?" Reiner questioned as Koal tried to get me to leave them and enter the Great Hall.

'Come on! Why do we have to talk with an old man? Let's just leave him here and…' Koal was saying when I pushed him to the back of my consciousness and muted him.

I shook my head, returning to the conversation with Elder Reiner and Jasper.

"So, have the vampires made any moves yet?" He asked as we stepped around the building and began to walk towards the garden alongside the Great Hall. 

"Not yet; they have been quiet, but that is what worries me," I said as I ran my hand back through my wavy black hair. I had recently gotten it cut. The sides were short, and I had decided to leave the top long, getting just a trim, but I wasn't used to it, and it kept getting in my eyes. 

"Yeah, and it doesn't help that our informant has gone missing," Jasper added as he brushed back a few stray strands of his black hair that had fallen from his neat half-ponytail.

Elder Reiner stoically ran his hand over his white beard in contemplation. "That is quite troubling. Would it be alright if I had my vampire friend look into your missing informant for you?"

"That would be most appreciated, Elder Reiner," I stated with a half smile.  

Reiner roughly patted me on the shoulder, "How many times must I tell you you don't have to speak to me so formally." He also turned to Jasper, "You know I am talking to you too."

A chuckle escaped our lips, and we spoke simultaneously, "At least one more time."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a couple of teen guys exited the ballroom, and one of the two guys flipped a table over and began shouting, "That bastard made a complete fool of me!" He then broke some flower pots near him and continued his rant, "This is all that witches, Ren's fault. I swear I will make her pay for this!" 

The door they had stormed out of began to close, and as it did, the most heavenly scent hit me: a bouquet of warm homemade sugar cookies. I had never smelled cookies so deliciously alluring as these vanilla-scented cookies in my twenty-four years. 

Come on, let's hurry and follow the scent! Before it disappears! I must have these cookies! Koal demanded.

I shook my head, 'We can't at the…' I began to tell him when the door opened once again with three girls exiting it, and the deliciously divine scent bombarded my senses, destroying every ounce of composure I had. 

I tightly clenched my teeth, "Please excuse me, Elder Reiner, but there is something I must attend to."

"Of course, Greyson," Reiner said, giving me one last firm handshake. I quickly made my way through the doors where the scent came from.

'Why do I have to have these vanilla cookies so badly that it makes my heart ache at the thought of losing them!?' I asked Koal as we excitedly looked around the Grand Hall, searching for the delectable scent. 'I mean, I'm not overly fond of sweets, especially since they give me heartburn.'

Koal chuckled, ‘I can promise you you won't get heartburn from the sweet-smelling vanilla cookies we are smelling. 

'How can you be so sure about that?'

‘Because this scent belongs to our mate,’ he said joyfully.

'Are you serious!?'

Yep. We finally found our mate! It was almost as if Koal was excitedly jumping up and down as we followed the scent through the crowded room. 

I could hardly contain my excitement. My heart felt like it would burst from my chest, and I finally thought I would find my missing half. I was finally going to be with my mate. The woman I had waited for for years! 

'Thank the moon goddess that we saved ourselves for her because if this heavenly scent tells us anything, our mate is completely breathtaking!'

Indeed, Koal agreed. The scent is getting closer! He excitedly exclaimed as we neared the large wooden, hand-carved doors at the entrance of the Great Hall. 

I breathed deeply in the heavenly scent, "She's just beyond this door, our mate." I whispered as I grabbed the wooden handle of one of the hand-carved doors when someone grabbed my hand. 

What the hell! Who would dare to keep us from our mate? Koal angrily shouted as I tightened my jaw and turned to face the culprit. 

Turning around, I glared down at a shewolf adorned with an extravagant, low-cut pink ball gown that was chosen to draw attention to her exposed unimpressive cleavage. She flipped her long strawberry blond hair in what I guess was supposed to be a seductive manner, but it just made me want to gag when her scent hit me full force. 

‘Oh, dear god! What is that vile smell?’ Koal shouted, and I could hear him choking on the scent.

'I'm pretty sure it is the shewolf standing before us."

Are you serious!? Is she rotting inside!?! How can anyone smell so strongly of old, moldy, dirty, festering hot dog water!?!

I shook my head and tried to discreetly run my hand under my nose to block even a tiny amount of the rancid scent permeating her. 'I'm not entirely sure, and the fact that she plastered herself with old lady perfume isn't helping.' I said mentally to Koal as I tried to gag back the bile that had begun to make its way up my throat.

She proceeded to bat her eyelashes at me as she spoke, "Your majesty, it is such an honor to meet you. My name is Erica, and I am Luna, Emily's little sister." I could immediately tell from her tone that she was an entitled, spoiled brat simply from hearing her.

Is this shewolf seriously trying to flirt with us!? And did she say her name was Rick-a? 

I shook my head and silenced Koal's blabbering, "How can I help you, Eric?" I asked through my tight lips. 

"Erica," She said as she batted her eyelashes once again.

I furrowed my eyebrows, "Yes, so what where…" I began to question when someone interrupted me.

"What are you doing here, Erica?" His anger and irritation with this girl before me matched my own. 

She turned to the voice calling her out, "Oh ah…Beta Jace, I thought I might find my mate tonight." She turned her gaze back to me and lustfully looked me up and down.

A shiver of disgust vibrated down my spine, and I fought the urge to cover myself to hide from her lecherous ogling.

"Just because your sister is Luna, it does not give you the right to ignore the orders of Alpha Derrick!" Jace said with so much malic that it almost radiated off of him. "Your punishment for your part in injuring Ren has only just begun, and you're already going against it? She was in a coma for an entire month because of your actions…"

He continued to scold her, and I made a mental note of him bringing up this Ren girl as the guys earlier had when Koal spoke up again, ‘We're losing our mate's scent!’

I took in a deep breath; her scent was nearly gone. I placed my hand on Beta Jace's  shoulder, "Please excuse me, Jace, but there is something I really must attend to."

"Of course, Your Majesty. I have to get her back to her confinement anyhow." Jace said as he roughly grabbed the blond girl by the arm. 

"Right," I said as I nodded to him and pulled the doors open. 

I raced out into the parking lot, where I lost her scent. 

‘This is all that stinky, moldy, festering hotdog water shewolves fault! If she hadn't stopped us, we would be with our mate now! I am so going to kill Rick-a the next time I see her!!’

Koal angrily shouted as I ran my hand back through my hair, "Hey, Koal? Who is Rick-a?"

‘That stupid blond girl, Rick-a stopped us.’

I shook my head, "I am pretty sure it was Eric, not Rick-a."

‘Like it matters that hotdog water girl made us lose our mate!’ Koal angrily shouted.