Chapter Twenty-Five

Ellie

Dad and Jason disappeared from sight, leaving us alone by the river. Jason, once a strong beta, now looked like a shattered man. I was grateful that Dad and Seth had given him another chance. I didn’t need another death weighing on my conscience.

We started to head back to the car, and I thought we might have time to swing by the house. Dad and Jason would take a while to walk back, which I figured was the point. It would give Jason time to sort through his thoughts.

But then we stopped. Seth pushed me against a tree, his hands gripping my wrists above my head.

“Don’t ever do that again,” he said, his body pressing against mine.

I frowned, not understanding what he was talking about.

Seth seemed to read my confusion.

“Don’t ever show your body to another male or put yourself in danger.”

Before I could protest, his lips crashed into mine. His tongue danced with mine, taking control of the kiss.

A jolt of electricity shot through me as our lips met. I gasped, then moaned as he deepened the kiss.

I let my body melt into his.

Seth let go of my wrists. One hand slid behind my head, the other gripped my hip, holding me in place. Not that he needed to—I wasn’t going anywhere.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, returning his kiss. I forgot about everything else—Dad, Jason, the warriors who were probably watching us.

It felt like we were in our own little world.

I arched my back as his hand drifted up the back of my shirt, his fingertips tracing random patterns on my skin.

Seth broke the kiss, pressing his lips to my jaw, then my neck.

I moaned again when he gently nipped at the spot where he would mark me.

“This is mine. All of it. No one gets to look at you, or touch you except me,” Seth growled.

I hummed in agreement.

Right now, I couldn’t imagine wanting anyone but Seth to touch me or look at me.

“You’re lucky I don’t mark you right here…right now,” he growled.

I smirked, my mouth running on autopilot.

“Do it,” I dared him.

Seth hummed with pleasure, sending tingles through my body.

He chuckled as I moaned,

“I would, but I don’t want to feel the wrath of your father.”

Before I knew what was happening, he scooped me into his arms.

I squealed.

“Wh…what are you doing?”

He chuckled deeply.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m taking you back to the car before you distract me even more.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my head in the crook of his neck.

“But I like distracting you.” I giggled.

He smelled so good. Wait! I could smell his scent. I hadn’t been able to do that before.

I still couldn’t sense Nix though. Could she be coming back?

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to disappoint Seth. I knew he said he wanted me, wolf or not, but I also felt that he wanted my wolf to return.

Maybe she would. Maybe Seth was all I needed for her to come back to me.

When we reached the car, Seth gently set me down. I quickly climbed into the passenger side, before either of us got any other ideas. We needed to get back to the pack house to hear what Jason had to say.

Seth climbed in the driver’s side and started the engine. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. How did I get so lucky? Most wolves would be devastated to lose their mate, and I had been.

If it hadn’t been for Seth, I don’t know what would have become of me. I would have probably been quite happy to end up at the bottom of the lake.

Not now though. I had a wonderful mate to watch my back. I was beginning to believe that maybe we actually were second-chance mates.

There would only be one way to confirm it though, and that would be for Nix to come back. She would know for sure.

Even if we weren’t, I didn’t care. I just wanted Seth to mark me. I wanted to mark him too, although I wasn’t sure I could unless Nix returned.

I offered up a silent prayer to the moon goddess. Please let my wolf return, if not for me, then for Seth.

As soon as we pulled up outside the pack house, I jumped out of the car and hurried up the steps.

Before I even had a chance to open the door, I heard Olivia’s screeching voice.

“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before turning to face her.

She glared at me, her eyes narrowed.

“How do you expect me to make you look beautiful for your mating ceremony tomorrow if you don’t work with me?”

Seth walked over with a smirk on his face. He wrapped his arm around my waist.

“She’s already beautiful,” he retorted, pressing a gentle kiss to my temple.

Olivia rolled her eyes. I didn’t know why. I’m sure that she and Murdoch were all loved up when they first realized they were mates.

“I have to meet with Clayton and my dad first. We have to make plans to…”

The words had barely escaped my lips before she interrupted me and grabbed hold of my arm.

“No!” she huffed. “No excuses. The war will have to wait, you have a mating ceremony to attend to first.”

Seth released me as Olivia pulled me away from the door. I glanced at him with pleading eyes, but he just chuckled.

“I’ll meet you here when you’re done.” He smirked. “Don’t worry, I’ll let you know what’s going on.”

I let out a groan, rolling my eyes. I’d rather be plotting Joel’s downfall than letting Olivia play dress-up with me.

It took me back to when I first joined Dad’s pack. He used to put me in cute little dresses when all I wanted was to wear shorts and a T-shirt. I despised dresses then, and I despised them now.

Actually, I don’t think I even owned one. But I doubted that would deter Olivia. She was on a mission.

“Alright! Alright! I surrender,” I huffed.

The frown instantly vanished from Olivia’s face, replaced by a wide grin.

“This is going to be so much fun,” she gushed.

I rolled my eyes. Fun for her, maybe. Not for me.

I shot a final glance at Seth, who just shrugged at me before Olivia whisked me away to my personal hell.

Olivia led me to a part of the pack I seldom visited. I wasn’t a girly-girl. Never had been. Dad knew that—heck, everyone did.

When I outgrew my clothes, new ones would just magically appear in the same style, just a size bigger. I knew Dad was behind that.

I was asked a few times if I wanted to go clothes shopping, but I always said no, much to Olivia’s disappointment.

This time, it seemed like I wasn’t going to have a choice.

Olivia pulled me into a tiny shop that seemed to only sell dresses.

The woman who ran the shop approached Olivia and they embraced.

“Livvie, darling. It’s been too long, and look at you,” she cooed.

Olivia’s hands instinctively went to her baby bump and she smiled.

The woman then looked at me and forced a smile.

“Ahh, and you must be Ellie, Beta Seth’s young mate? I’m Katarina.”

I shot Olivia a scathing look, but she just shrugged it off.

“Ellie needs a gown for tomorrow. I know it’s short notice but…”

The woman waved her hands dismissively.

“Not a problem, my dears,” she interrupted. “Come this way.”

I was relieved she didn’t manhandle me the way Olivia had. Instead, she guided me to a back room.

I’d never seen so many dresses in my life. And these weren’t just regular dresses. They were all long and elegant. Not my style at all.

“The alpha insisted that you only had the best,” Katarina finished as she walked toward a rack of dresses.

“Clayton said that?” I asked, glancing between the two women.

Katarina raised her eyebrows, shocked that I dared to call the alpha by his first name. Well, we were related. I wondered if he paid for everyone’s mating gown; I highly doubted it.

“Did you have anything in mind?” she asked.

I just shrugged.

I knew nothing about fashion or dresses. Lately, I’d spent most of my time either on the training field, on patrol, or in the war room. Worrying about what to wear hadn’t even crossed my mind.

Katarina chuckled. “I have just the thing. I think it will be perfect.”

A little while later, I was standing, staring at my reflection in the mirror. I thought it was me, but my reflection looked nothing like the usual me.

The dress she had picked out for me was relatively simple. At least compared to some of the others in the shop.

It was a white A-line dress with a V-neck and long sleeves. The bodice and sleeves were made of sheer lace and adorned with sequins. The skirt had a side split that went up to the thigh.

I turned to see the back in the mirror. I was relieved that the dress covered the scars on my back.

I knew Seth wouldn’t mind, but I didn’t want the rest of the pack to see them.

That was the most intimidating part for me. Having a ceremony in front of the whole pack.

I had hated it when I joined both my dad’s pack and Clayton’s. Standing up there in front of everyone, now I was going to have to do it again. I would though, more for Seth than for anyone.

Olivia looked at me and gasped.

“Oh Ellie, you look stunning. Seth is going to love it,” she chuckled, “or more likely love tearing it off!”

I felt my face heat up.

With everything that was happening, I’d almost forgotten that he would mark and mate me.

I wanted his mark, but the mating…I swallowed nervously; this had all happened so fast.

Kissing and making out was one thing…maybe I would feel differently once he had marked me; I hoped so.

Olivia rolled her eyes.

“Don’t look so worried, once you’ve marked each other you’ll feel each other, know each other. All your memories will be his, and all of his will be yours.”

I blinked and stared at Olivia.

“What do you mean?”

Olivia sighed.

“You really don’t know?”

I shook my head, feeling a bit foolish.

“It’s a soul bond, silly. When you mark each other, your souls are joined. You know everything about each other. All your memories, all your hopes…even all your fears.”

I felt my heart pounding in my chest. He would know everything. No one, not even my dad, knew everything.

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.