Chapter 18: Scent of a Mate

Zariah

Alice seems to be on the verge of a panic attack, and I don’t know what to tell her because this is not how this is supposed to go. This is supposed to be the best night of our lives, when we fall in love and realize that our mate is the man of our dreams.

She is not experiencing that. She looks like she is about to run out of the event center, screaming.

“Maybe… it’s a fluke?” I say. “Maybe… your mate is standing behind him.”

She slowly shakes her head. We can both tell that he knows it now, too, that Alice is his mate.

But he doesn’t seem as horrified as my best friend is. He seems amused.

And he’s headed our direction.

“What do I do?” she asks me.

“Give him a chance,” I say with a shrug. “Alice, come on. He’s your mate. You have to trust the Moon Goddess.”

She stares at me, her eyes wide. “I’ll remember you said that when you find out who your mate is.”

I slowly shake my head at her.

“Hi,” Eli says as he stops in front of her. “Uh… this is kinda weird, huh?”