Shopping wasn't as brutal as I thought it would be. Apparently, there was a new outdoor mall in town, which meant that I could enjoy some fresh air between stores. This made the trip enjoyable, despite the two of them goading me into trying on clothes that I would never wear. Luckily, they didn't buy any of the ridiculous ones. They knew me well enough to know that it would be a waste of money. I chuckled as I recalled how, in our early friendship, they'd mistakenly bought me outfits that were still tucked away in my closet, never having seen the light of day since placed there.
We'd arrived back at the pack gaff¹ about an hour ago and Finn was lying spread-eagle on my bed. Maeve and I had sat down on my small couch and there was an action movie playing on the television. Finn had been prattling on about anything and everything.
The lad never closed his mouth, even in his sleep, but that was fine by us. Both Maeve and I preferred listening to speaking. At the moment, I was painting Maeve's nails a maroon color that complimented her warm skin and hazel eyes. Him being the most impatient of all of us, I'd done Finn's nails first. He had picked out a bright green that contrasted his dark brown hair and eyes, but I thought that he looked savage².
Suddenly, he shot up into a sitting position. I felt my eyebrows raise, but I wasn't really surprised. He was always doing things like that. Usually, it meant he had an idea. More often than not, those ideas were not very thought out. This one was no exception.
"You should wear that little black dress tonight!" He exclaimed it as if it were the brightest idea he'd ever had.
My response brought him back to earth though. "Finn," I paused for effect. "Whatever clothes I'm wearing tonight will most likely be ripped to shreds."
His face fell. "Oh. Right."
Then another idea occurred to him. "Then you HAVE to wear it to your party!"
I sighed, resigning myself to oblige him. "Grand," I muttered.
He practically bounced with glee. "You're going to look so hot! Those alphas are going to be all over you!"
I felt a pang in my chest. I wasn't trying to snag an alpha, but everyone expected my mate to be one. That's why my father had invited every allied alpha we had - and their successors - to my birthday party in two days. I was dreading it, as I'm sure that Finn was right. Every unmated wolf there would be hoping to be my mate. Our pack was one of the strongest and my mate would be sure to secure my pack's unyeilding loyalty. I shivered at the thought of being wanted only for my status. It was going to be murder³.
Finn was still going on about how "cracking"⁴ it would be to be mated to an alpha. He had turned 18 a few months ago, but had yet to find his mate. I knew that he was hoping to find his mate in one of the many visitors at my party. I hoped, for his sake, that he did. I also hoped, for my sake, that I didn't. I didn't want a mate right now. I had too much to see, too many places to go. I wanted to explore the world.
Despite my feelings, I knew that I had no control over who my mate was or when I found them, and that the bond would pull me to them no matter what. This knowledge only saddened me further. The thought of being forced by the matebond had never made sense to me. I had never understood why we couldn't pick our mates ourselves, why the goddess had to do it for us. Was it always that way? Or did something big happen that forced her to change things for us? Either way, I suppose it didn't matter. It was what it was and no one but the goddess herself could change that.
I could reject them, but that always ended badly for at least one of the mates. I'd seen wolves go mad after being rejected. In the best cases, they went into depression and left their pack, becoming rogues. Beyond that, I had no idea what happened to them. I'd heard enough to know that an alpha bond was even stronger than a normal matebond and that, if my mate was an alpha, we would probably both go insane if I rejected him. At that morbid thought, I mentally shook myself out of my reverie.
As my mind was brought back to the present, I realized that Maeve was talking now. She was expressing thoughts that, unsurprisingly, were pure opposite to my own.
"I wouldn't want my mate to be from another pack. I would miss you guys, and my family." She shook her head delicately as if to shake off the thought. "No, I hope my mate is in our pack."
Finn grinned. "Oh, I know who you hope your mate is."
He waggled his eyebrows at her knowingly, as her face turned bright red. I chuckled, putting the last touches on her nails.
"There," I said. "Beautiful enough for a luna."
The shade of red on her cheeks deepened and she hid her face behind the nearest pillow. Finn and I burst into laughter, unable to contain ourselves any longer.
"You guys are mean." I could hear the soft pout in her voice, which only made me laugh harder.
We spent the rest of the afternoon having the craic⁵, watching movies and chatting.