Chapter 9

Lia~

Lucas parked the car about 10 minutes ago and here I am, sitting in the passenger seat, still struggling to fix my makeup. Luckily Maddie mostly used waterproof makeup and a damn good setting spray but my lipstick and blush were totally ruined. Lucas looks at me and chuckles, takes the makeup wipe out of my hand and wipes my cheeks clean. "you should go with the natural look. You're beautiful, Lia, and you definitely don't need makeup to show it." I blush and look away, biting my lip to suppress a giggle, turning it red.

Well, that solves that problem.

"You ready?" I nod my head not trusting my own voice to be more than a whisper, or even worse, for me not to stutter.

"Then let's go." He gets out and before I can move, he's at my door and opening it for me like the gentleman he is. I giggle, something I've been doing a lot lately thanks to him, "Well thank you, kind sir." I wink at him and take his hand.

"My pleasure young maiden. Now let us grace this ball with your presence." The sparks are still there but they're more faint than before, maybe because I'm no longer crying my eyes out. It's a shame, those really felt good. They reminded me of how I imagine the mate bond to feel. I smile thinking about it, although I'm not sure why. Lucas is a human and I'm a tribrid, there's no way he can be my mate, that's if I even have a mate out there.

We walk through the doors and instantly all eyes turn to us or more specifically, me. Maybe I should've mentioned the fact that because of my eyes I've always attracted unnecessary attention. They have an enchanting quality to them and people tend to look away whenever I look them in the eye. It's probably a good thing too because if I look into your eyes too long I start to see your true self and your darkest secrets, almost like Ghost rider but the poor soul doesn't self-combust, well not unless I want them to.

I look around the ballroom and it's absolutely stunning. The place is elegantly decorated in various shades of white and gold with toned-down lighting, giving it a sophisticated feel. The one wall is completely closed off by tables covered with food and drinks and a few with chairs where students can sit and in these heels, I'm sure it won't be long before I'm occupying one of them.

I'm barely inside the ballroom when Maddie practically attacks, "You look gorgeous bitch!" I laugh at her words.

"Looking fine as hell yourself there Mads although if you do recall you saw me like 2 hours ago and you did my makeup, I look the same as I did then." I give her a lopsided smile and chuckle at her shaking her head.

She grins at me, "No you don't. You're practically glowing and don't think I didn't notice that half your makeup is missing." I blush a deep red.

Well, I better tell her before she starts drawing her own conclusions, this girl I seriously can't deal with sometimes, "Well, Lucas and I were talking about my dad and I started crying." I can see she's taken aback by this. I don't talk about my dad to anyone but her. Sure, I'm not constantly depressed about it anymore but it still gets to me sometimes when I think that we'll never get to spend another day together. "And yes, I know what you're thinking. I can't believe it either."

She furrows her brows and gives me a confused look but before she can say anything the music starts. "I'm so sorry to interrupt but I'm pretty sure the whole reason I asked Lia to the dance was because I actually wanted to dance with her." I blush once again. I honestly don't know how many times this boy has made me blush today but I'm going to go with 100.

Maddie gives me a knowing look, one I can read all too well." Yes, of course, Lucas but remember that if she gets hurt I know a lot of people who'd be more than willing to rearrange that pretty little face of yours." she gives him a sweet smile and saunters off. The look on Luc's face is priceless. I burst out laughing and try to regain my composure but he's only making it worse by opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water.

I stop laughing enough to finally speaking without choking on the words, "Come on fishboy, let's go dance." he gives me a playful scowl and takes my hands in his. He leads me through the mass of students and onto the dance floor.

Right in the freaking middle.

Lucas puts his hands on my waist while mine snake around his neck. We start swaying to the slow rhythm of the music and it feels like we're the only ones here. It was as if we were surrounded by an invisible barrier that nothing and no one could get through no matter how hard they tried.

We dance to every song, from the slow songs to the upbeat pop music they think the kids are listening to these days. He spins and dips me and I giggle every time because of the sheer happiness I feel. It's like something out of a fairytale. Somewhere along the line Maddie and Cammie joined us and we were all dancing together but they eventually disappeared again, probably to find the guys I saw them dancing with earlier. I'm surprised Cammie didn't bring her mate but I guess she didn't want their relationship to be public yet, especially since it's only been a short while and the other wolves might not accept the queen beta having a human mate.

"Did I mention you look absolutely gorgeous tonight?" Lucus gives me a charming smile.

I roll my eyes playfully, trying to hide the blush creeping into my cheeks, "Only about 15 times but hey, a girl can never get enough of your sweet words."

He laughs and looks at me with admiration and something else. What is that? It kind of looks like... love. No that's impossible, he doesn't like me like that.

Suddenly Lucas spots something behind me and his expression changes. It kind of reminded me of when you're eating fries and someone you really don't like takes one off your plate.

Why do I get the feeling I'm the French fry?

I turn around slowly and follow his gaze and instantly regret it. The night has been perfect so far but of course, he had to spoil it.

"Well, don't we look lovely tonight." He looks at me and smirks. Probably thinking of how none of the other guys could claim me since I'm his. Of course, I would never say it out loud. The thought alone makes me want to gag so imagine having to actually say the words.

"HI, Henry. I wish I could say it's nice to see you tonight." His friends snicker and he scowls at me but quickly masks it with his cocky smirk.

"No need to be bitter sweetheart. I know you wanted me to ask you to the ball but there's no need to get bitchy because I didn't." He crosses his arms and I roll my eyes. Yeah, and he says I'm the bitchy one.

Lucas wraps an arm around my waist protectively and the sparks are stronger than ever. I hear a low growl from Henry and some of the other wolves in his pack but it was just meant as a warning to Lucas. They wouldn't dare disrespect me. I'm their queen and Henry is just another alpha. I outrank him so if push comes to shove they'd choose me over him any day. "Well I'm sure Lia is flattered but as you can see we were busy dancing so make yourself scares." I've never seen Lucas this hostile before. I've got to say it's kind of hot.

"Shut it, Maxwell, you seriously don't know who you're dealing with."

"You're the one who should be careful dipshit."

"If it weren't for all these people, I would've seriously hurt you already! "

"Oh, I'd like to see you try!"

Their arguing starts attracting a crowd and I feel suffocated, I can't breathe, I can't think. I start panicking and push my way through the crowd, trying to escape. As soon as I reach the outside of the building I take off my shoes and start running towards the woods. I don't get far when I feel the same excruciating pain I felt yesterday only way worse and collapse on the ground. I look up at the starry night sky and notice the moon. My eyes widen and shock and fear overtake me.

A blood moon!

The pain spreads from my stomach to my chest until it envelopes every single part of my body. I scream in pain and claw at the dirt, trying desperately to find something to ground myself so I don't pass out. I let out another blood-curdling scream, everything around me starts dying and trees start flying, being ripped out from their roots by the magic coming off me in tidal waves. I hear footsteps approaching but I don't care. The pain is consuming me.

"Lia, listen to me!" I hear Henry's voice. He probably heard my screaming after I left but I can't respond. It hurts so bad.

He touches me and I scream in pure torture. It felt like he burned me. He pulls back his hand and I can feel his sadness, watching his queen in pain. "Try and stay calm! Fuck what's going on?!"

Suddenly my eyes shoot open. I feel my bones cracking and snapping back into place with such intensity that every fiber of my being is on fire. I scream and collapse once again.

"Hello, Amelia" an elegant voice booms in my head.

Everything goes dark.