"Hey Polly."
The familiar voice distracted Polly from her uneasiness, and she spotted Serra at the dessert table. The young woman was dressed in a golden-colored sequin gown, and was munching elegantly on a cupcake.
"Come here."
She beckoned both Polly and Blake over. When they reached the dessert table, Serra picked one of the delicious-looking cupcakes from the tray and handed it to Polly with a smile.
"Here, you love chocolates, don't you?"
"I think I've had too many sweet snacks for the day." Polly kindly declined the cupcake and looked around. "This is way more crowded than I had imagined, what do you guys even do at a feast gathering for so many people to be here."
"You noticed?" Serra moved away from the table after eating the cupcake. "The feast gathering is not only to dine and eat to stupor, Polly. It helps with bonding, because so many, or at least, the lucky ones will find a mate tonight, and it's the mating season. More reason why we had guests over, cause it expands the pack."
"Oh." Polly nodded slowly in understanding, coming to the realization that she was in fact surrounded by shifters.
She glanced at the crowd, and she spotted Albin having a discussion with Norman at the far corner of the hall. Her brother seemed to frown at something Albin had said, and she could guess whatever they were talking about for Norman to put up that face had to be wolf related— her brother never liked that topic.
It made her wonder if she was making a mistake by keeping them both here. Norman was only staying because she told him to, and even though he acts like he's fine with what's happening, she could see for herself that he was having a lot of difficulty adapting.
After the feast gathering tonight, she'll speak with Norman, and if he has any other place he wants to go, then she'll let him. Knowing her brother, he certainly won't leave without her.
"I'll be back." Polly separated from Blake and Serra. She maneuvered through the crowd, heading towards where Albin and Norman were talking when someone unceremoniously grabbed her by her arm.
She spun around quickly, her face laced with tad annoyance after having someone grab her without her permission, and an unfamiliar-looking tall man loomed in front of her. He had a really strong facial look, dressed in a full black suit, and everything about him was muscles, including his face.
It made Polly nervous for a moment, but she got a good grip and gave him a look that emphasized she wasn't happy with his action.
"And who are you?"
The man in front of her didn't release his grip on her arm. His darkened brown eyes stared at her whimsically, and they narrowed slightly before he muttered.
"Mate."
"Excuse me?" Polly blinked in confusion, however, she wasn't comfortable with his grip and wrestled her hand free from his grasp. "Have you no courtesy for women?"
Polly was undoubtedly displeased, but the man in front of her stood straight and smiled. He exuded pride, but not in a way she found commendable, and that sickening smile only made her stomach churn uncomfortably.
Does he think it's funny?
The man's lips finally parted, and he said, "you have no idea who I am, and I have no idea who you are. This is our first time meeting, and I have never seen a pretty woman like yourself at a feast gathering before. What pack are you from?"
"I don't see how that is any of your concern." Polly answered, "I had somewhere important to be till you stopped me. If you are not going to apologize for interrupting my walk, then allow me to carry on."
Polly turned her head in the direction where her brother and Albin once stood, but they were no longer there.
Great.
Where did they go?
"You have a sharp tongue." The man who was still yet to leave her alone murmured with a settling frown. "I shall let it pass, young lady, cause you have no idea who and what I am. If you did, you'd be grateful that I bothered to glance in your direction, talk more of speaking with you. A human."
"I don't care what you are." Polly was beyond frustrated now, "and I am not begging for your attention. Because of your silly interruption, the people I plan to meet are gone now."
Polly didn't hesitate to glare at him in the eye, and she walked away. The man's bodyguards who stood behind him were slightly enraged by the woman's disrespect, but they made no attempts to go after her since their Alpha hasn't given them the command yet.
"Let her be." He uttered and took a deep inhale, catching that sweet lovely scent only she exuded, and his wolf was not handling it too well. He sensed something peculiar about her, it was faint, which is quite unusual, cause it didn't seem to him like she had a wolf, yet, he was instantly drawn to her, regardless of the scent that only made not claiming her worse.
Is it some kind of spell?
"Find out what pack she's from." He ordered, and his bodyguards nodded.
Polly stepped out of the hall, and the cool fresh air as she inhaled made her feel like she wasn't trapped in a box no more.
"Polly." Blake's voice behind her made her turn around, and she saw him approaching her with a concerned look. "I've been looking for you, why are you out here?"
"I needed some air." She uttered, trying to brush off that strange encounter she had with a lunatic in there. "Have you seen Norman?"
"Yeah, he was there a minute ago." he pointed at the hall, "why are you looking for him? Something wrong?"
Polly shook her head. She felt a strange uneasiness. She couldn't describe the feeling, but she was getting worried. It was that same feeling she had, like she knew something really bad would happen soon, but she didn't know why she felt like this.
"What about Malcolm?"
"He's in there with Albin. I can take you to both of them if you want." he suggested, and Polly nodded in approval, telling him to lead the way.
He took her to the back of the hall where a conversation between Albin and Malcolm was happening as usual, and it was the same back and forth argument between those two. They stopped talking when they spotted Blake and Polly, and a smile dawned on Malcolm's lips when Polly reached his side.
"Polly? When did you arrive?"
"Not too long ago." She answered, feeling slightly better after seeing Malcolm. "Do you know where Norman is?"
"He went back to the house." Answered Albin, his face contorting slightly, "that brother of yours has no manners at all. He doesn't realize the importance of his role in the pack, and he's blaming me for being self-centered. How long shall the pack continue to go on without an Alpha? If he doesn't want to be an Alpha, he should say it to me directly instead of walking out on me in front of the guests."
"You can't blame him for getting upset." Polly defended, "you're forcing him to be an Alpha, instead of trying to make him accept what you claim he is. If I was in his shoes, I would have gotten upset as well, cause I don't think anyone loves being forced to do what they aren't prepared for. He needs time, and you aren't giving him one."
"Time is cruel, Polly." Albin retorted, "it waits for no one. It's either he accepts it, or he denies it forever."
"I'm going to check on my brother." Polly ended the conversation, already leaving the hall.
"I'll come with you." Blake followed.