Chapter4

#Chapter4

It's been over an hour. My mother can't be too upset if I come home now. Surely, the doors are unlocked.

Once I make it back, I wiggle the handle, and thankfully the door opens, letting me in. Most of the lights are off, and I assume my mother has gone to bed. I kick her heels off at the door and walk into the living room, where she happens to be sitting. I stop.

/"It's been over an hour so—/" I start, but she cuts me off with surprising news.

/"A man came to the door,/" she says bluntly. /"What did you do, Rae?/"

My throat runs dry. /"What kind of man?/"

/"Tell me what you did. Was it at the party? Did you flip a table? Did you spill something on a girl's dress on purpose?/"

/"What? No. Who came to the door, mom?/"

She stands up, her arms crossed. /"A man. He's not from our pack. I know that. He just said that Ms. East needs to be ready by midnight. So tell me, what did you do?/"

My heart drops. /"I didn't do anything. I-I. . . I don't know what happened, he just walked by and—/"

/"Who just walked by? What are you talking about, Rae?/"

/"The man, the Alpha—/"

/"Our Alpha? Dear Goddess, Rae. What did you do to the Alpha?/"

I shake my head, in a panic. /"Not our Alpha. Another Alpha./"

/"What did you do to that Alpha?/" She says dramatically, and I have the need to yell.

/"Mother, please. Just stop. Just listen for a second. I'm not really sure what happened. He just—the Alpha — Look, I might sound like an idiot, but just hear me out. I might have found my,/" I've never thought I'd say these words to my mother, ever, /"mate. I might have found my mate, and it might be that Alpha, but I'm not sure. It was just a feeling. It could have been anything but. . . /" Her face causes my words to drift off. /"Mom?/"

/"Y-You're sure? You think so? An Alpha?/" She breathes out. /"Wow, um, I'm not sure what—I don't know what to do in this situation. W-Well, I suppose you should be ready, whatever that means, at midnight. Just, um, prepare for. . . /"

/"I'm not even sure about it, mom./"

She nods. /"Well, just in case then. Just be ready at midnight, and we'll see what happens./"

I nod also, and we stand in silence for a second or twenty before she says, /"you know, I knew you'd find your mate./"

Feeling very overwhelmed, all I can give her is a smile, and not even a good one. /"Alright. I'm going to go upstairs until it's time./"

Once in my bedroom with the door locked, I run my hands through my hair and fan my heated face. It's already eleven twenty; I only have forty minutes to figure something out. For some reason, it feels as if he is coming to get me, coming to kill me. I have forty minutes to live, well, thirty-nine now.

There is no way I can do this. I can't face whoever or whatever is going to be here at twelve. It's not even time, and I feel as if my heart is going to fail.

We can't be mates. He didn't even say a word to me. I need more than one glance to be forever mated with someone. I need days, weeks, months, heck; I need years. I need years to process, and as of now, I have thirty-eight minutes.

That's it, I'm going to have a panic attack, and in result, I grab a bag and begin piling necessities inside. For some reason, because I can never react like a normal person, I have the brilliant idea to run away from all of this. If I run away, then I will never have to face that beautiful creature of an Alpha who makes my legs squeeze together. Oh, Goddess watch over me, I'm going to hell.

In the bag, I toss a few warm pieces of clothing, my toothbrush, no toothpaste, socks, a pair of running shoes, and if I have to shift, I don't mind tearing this dress apart. The wine leaves me a dizzy mess as I flail my arms about, my hands grabbing whatever is within reach. At some point, I picture of my father falls in, and I begin to cry.

The clock reads eleven fifty now, and I sit on the floor, tear-stained cheeks, red, puffy eyes, and a wrinkled dress. I at least want to be wearing clothes I like when he comes and kills me, so I slowly get up and replace the dress for more comfortable clothes. Something I would wear around the house. My mother would kill me if she knew I would be wearing this to face an Alpha.

My runaway bag is a mess, my hair is a mess, my face is a mess, my life is a mess. Rae East is a mess who might just be mated to an Alpha. Poor man, mated to a wreck like me. He deserves a beautiful mate, some girl like the ones at the gathering, heck, even more beautiful than them. With a position, face, and body like his, he could get the Moon Goddess if he wanted.

I hear a knock at the door downstairs, the house is quiet enough to hear such subtle sounds, and I swallow.

Kiss life goodbye, Rae.