Page 12 of Alpha Mates

I’m fine,he argues, as if most of his response hadn’t been a growl.

I don’t argue with him as I near the Hall. Keeping out of sight from the stragglers trickling in, I slip towards the back entrance where our wolves scramble to finish last-minute details. I stay out of their way and head for the room I’m meant to wait in until everything is ready.

It’s supposed to be just me and one infuriating other which is why I stop when I turn the corner and find my parents waiting just outside the door.

“Oh, Julian,” my mother breathes, hands hastily covering her mouth. “Look at you!”

For an awful second, I think she’ll hug me, but she just clutches her hands to her chest as they approach.

“You look the part.”

I resist the urge to ask exactlyhowthat is as my father stops before me.

Again, I struggle to meet amber eyes. He offers me a rare, stilted smile as he raises a hand to my shoulder before he seems to think better of it and lets it drop.

“How are you feeling?”

“Good,” I reply.

“No nerves?” he asks while searching my eyes.

“I’m fine.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” With a nod, he takes my mother’s hand and steps back. “They said ten minutes, so we’ll see you out there.”

I nod, and while they take their leave, my mind whirls.

Ten minutes. After so long chasing this very moment, the thought of it being so close jars me, but I don’t buckle—don’t leave any room for it. I’m ready.

Shaking my fingers out, I allow myself a single deep breath, and I open the door.

“Hells’ curses.”

Aiden turns on his heel, already smirking.

I forgot he was going to be here with my parents’ impromptu send-off, and annoyance immediately flares at the sight of him, but it hardly lingers as my eyes zone in on his.

Aiden isn’t wearing his shades.

I can’t remember the last time I saw him without them. Maybe when we were kids, but I don’t remember his eyes ever being so dark— not these pits of obsidian. Where Aiden is obnoxiously full of life and spirit, his eyes are worn and bottomless.

“Jewels!”

The thrill shriek recentres my mind as I reluctantly close the door behind me, enclosing us in this small space.

“I thought you weren’t going to make it,” he says, folding his arms over his black t-shirt. “Tardy on your first day …” He tsks. “That wouldn’t have been the best look.”

I flex my fingers at my sides as my annoyance threatens to morph into rage. I can barely stand Aiden on any given day, but a full moon?

“Today is not the day to piss me off, Aiden.”

Never one to heed a warning, Aiden’s grin only widens. “No? Trying to make a good impression for the mate?”

When I don’t dignify him with an answer, he shakes his head and sighs dramatically.

“Alright, I’ll stop teasing,” he says with raised hands. “You may not give a fuck about your mate, but I do. So, I promise to be on my best behaviour.”

I roll my eyes. “I honestly couldn’t care less.”