Chapter Four: Fae

"Come on, PLEASE!" Sylvie was gripping my hands in hers and bouncing with eagerness, a huge pearly white smile spread across her perfectly powdered face. I admit, it is EXTREMELY difficult for anyone to say 'No' to her.

"It's just ONE dress! And I PROMISE we can be quick! No one will even know you were there!" She gives me a wink and I roll my eyes and let out a sigh.

These past few days I had decided to ignore my impending doom by drowning in my collection of romance novels. I hadn't needed to set foot outdoors, cooking up some of the meat I'd stored from the elk Gaia had hunted.

But now, the official gathering declared by the Dark Shade pack was just one day away, tomorrow night. Every unmated she-wolf would need to answer the call or otherwise face death.

Despite this, my fight-or-flight instincts and immense fear pushed me to try to run. I could run far, far away and become a rogue. Maybe that would be best? The Alpha wouldn't accept an unmated she-wolf who was without any pack or standing, right?

I hear Gaia let out a low growl in my mind, 'NO. We can't run. I won't.' She protests, and my face sets into a frown as I cross my arms over my chest.

My anxiety is rising, and both my wolf and my sister are not helping the situation. In fact, both of them are way too happy about all of this.

"Syl, you know this isn't just some fun party right? This could potentially be very dangerous." I say in a serious tone and she rolls her eyes, but I continue, "We are talking hundreds of unmated females gathered into one building. You seriously think the males will be able to control themselves with that kind of temptation?"

"When are you going to stop worrying about every little thing Fae? Honestly, I'm far more worried about YOU with how you hide yourself away in here." Sylvie retorts.

Her eyes soften and she squeezes my hands as she says softly, "Look, I understand how hard it is to feel safe after what happened with mom and dad, but we will always have each other."

Tears start to prick my eyes and I quickly blink them away as she continues, "I'm pretty nervous too, but it's just one night. All we have to do is just show up, smile, look pretty, and leave."

I roll my eyes and we both laugh, her bright smile returning. "So..? Would you please come with me to pick out our dresses! You can NOT show up to a ball covered in dirt and dressed like a housemaid!" She scolds me and I sigh again and smile.

She was right, this wasn't something I could run from. How could I forget that I had my sweet innocent baby sister to protect?

It's just one night, just one silly dress, just one quick trip to town.

"Fine, okay fine!" I say in defeat and she squeals and claps her hands.

"Oh my freaking goddess, YES!" Sylvie gets up and starts dragging me towards the front door, "I've wanted a shopping trip with you for AGES! Let's go-"

I pull myself from her grasp and turn around quickly reaching for the Zinnia potion and take a huge gulp. I turn back around to see Sylvie with her hand on her hip, an annoyed look on her face. "What?" I ask sheepishly.

"You act like the whole pack has the plague or something, I'm starting to feel like I should be offended." She frowns and I laugh and pull up the hood of my cloak as we begin our walk to the the dressmaker's boutique.

Of course, the Whisper Moon Boutique just happened to be in the center of the village.

As we walked through town, my arm linked with Sylvie's I kept my head down, careful not to make eye contact with anyone. Am I paranoid? Okay, fine, most would say yes. Gaia huffed in agreement in my mind.

We passed a few pack members, mostly women and children out for a stroll, and Sylvie smiled brightly waving and greeting them all. I waited until we both stepped all the way into the shop and the door closed behind us before lowering my hood.

Before I even had time to process the look of one dress, Sylvie had already grabbed several and was chattering away about dress lengths and colors. "If I do this one it might help show off my thighs, but maybe that's too revealing?Do you think this dress is too short?" She gasps dramatically, "What if my mate is there? What if he doesn't like that? Oh goddess…"

Letting her trail off I wandered around the shop taking in all the color. The dresses here were gorgeous and made from the finest quality materials our pack has. First, I tried on a slim yellow dress with a short hem and clear sleeves, but when I stepped out of the dressing room Sylvie scrunched her nose in disgust and shook her head.

When I tried on the next dress my breath caught in my throat. It was a slightly heavy dress with a flowing waterfall hem, set in a deep green. It contrasted beautifully with my light hair, and made the flecks of gold in my eyes sparkle.

It was the first time I ever truly felt beautiful. Stepping out of the dressing room Sylvie's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open into a smile, she covered it in surprise, "Fae…you look…" She couldn't find the words to describe it, "You have to get that dress. That's the one. We aren't leaving here unless you get it."

I smiled, wider than I have in I can't remember how long, and nodded as she got up from her chair and hugged me squealing again.

The dress she had picked was a soft baby blue ball gown adorned with flower pattern details, with off the shoulder sleeves. She looked like an absolute angel. "Yes! I am so proud of you sis! We are going to knock 'em all dead at that ball!"

"Auction." I mumbled and Sylvie frowned at me, jabbing me in the side with her elbow. She paid the seamstress, smiling sweetly at her before we turned to head out the door.

"Opportunity!" She quipped, and we began our walk back to my cottage.

Keeping my head down a little too much while walking through town, I found myself colliding into a broad muscular chest of a tall figure. The collision caused my hood to fall from my head and I lost my footing.

Before I could hit the ground, the figure reached forward, his big hands grabbing one of my wrists to tug me back onto my feet. Immediately sparks erupted from the spot he was touching and I gasped, my eyes snapping up to meet his.

"Woah there! Are you alright?" A deep masculine voice filled my ears and a shiver went up my spine, my cheeks flushed with heat. The man standing in front of me was beautiful. He had unruly hair, dark as the night sky, and golden eyes with flecks of emerald green.

My heart rate quickened and I took in a deep breath and whimpered, which caused him to give me a look of concern. His scent, it consumed me. It smelled of fresh pine and winter's breeze and I just couldn't get enough.

Gaia was howling and prancing around in my mind, she was overjoyed.

'MATE!' She yipped. 'HE IS OUR MATE!'

I pulled myself from this trance and shook my head.

"Miss? Should I call for a physician?" The handsome man was still looking at me waiting for me to speak.

"Wh- N-no, I'll be fine. Excuse me." I managed to stammer and quickly pushed past him, catching up to Sylvie who had stopped a few feet ahead waiting for me. It took all the willpower I possessed to just keep walking, ignoring all Gaia's protests.

"What was that about? Are you okay?" Sylvie linked arms with me while we walked, but I couldn't focus on anything at that moment.

My mate was here. He had found me. Well, I suppose I had found him. He didn't seem to have any sort of reaction the way I had, so the potion must still be working strong. I let out a huge breath and felt pain in my chest.

Whoever that man was I could never be with him and I would never see his face again.

I looked at Sylvie and put on a fake smile, "Yeah. Just me being clumsy. I can't wait to see you in that dress."