Page 185 of Alpha Mates

“You’re going to get yourself in trouble,” I tell her while I fix my suit’s bowtie.

“I can handle a bit of trouble.”

“Witch trouble?” I counter. “Because that’s exactly the type you’re going to get if you happen to run into a witch at this party and they don’t appreciate your costume.”

“They’ll be witches there?” Isabel squeaks, the blood draining from her face.

“No,” I say, but I can see the doubt set in.

I leave her be for now. Julian will talk some sense into her when he comes out—if he ever comes out. He’s been holed up in the bathroom forever, swearing he hasn’t scrubbed off his make-up, but I’m not too sure.

It’s just a costume party, but to Julian, I’m pretty sure this is much more.

To him, this is likely bigger than going away for a few days or stopping at IHOP for waffles. Not only are we sneaking into human territory for no reason other than to have some fun, we’re also going to be socialising with a massive crowd of humans.

I know he’s up for it, but I’m not sure if he knows that he is.

“Think he’ll be okay?” I ask Isabel, nodding towards the door. “Tonight, I mean?”

“He’ll be fine,” she whispers with a reassuring smile. “Maybe a little rocky at the start, but if you stay with him, which you will—” I nod at her pause and her smile widens, “then he’ll be fine.”

“I’ll be fine,” Julian says as the door swings open, “but I don’t know if you will be.”

Julian’s attention is entirely fixed on Isabel and her ridiculous costume, so he doesn’t see my jaw drop.

The suit was the best thing I could find to match mine, and I’m so glad I didn’t let the size of it stop me. The jacket fits fine, but the pants are a little tight, enough that they hug his waist. Paired with a loose button-up, he doesn’t just look handsome. Jewels looks sexy as fuck.

I’m dumbstruck.

“Take that off, Isabel,” he says, still eyeing our delta.

“Witches don’t get to claim witch costumes,” she protests, waving her wand around.

“They kind of do,” Julian replies. “Seeing as they’re witches. They’ll find this offensive.”

“Not my problem,” she retorts, turning her back to us. But it’s impossible for a wolf to ignore their alpha, and with both of us staring at her, she cracks. With a groan, she storms to her wardrobe, snatches something white and raggedy, and stomps into the bathroom.

While she changes, I ease my way over to my mate. He finally looks at me and immediately sucks in a breath. “Oh. Wow.”

“Wow,” I echo with a smirk. “That’s big coming from you.”

He smiles, and even with all his dark make-up, he still looks sweet.

While Isabel focused on the top half of Julian’s face for his make-up, she concentrated on the bottom half for me, crafting a skeleton jaw over my mouth so that my shades work without clashing with anything.

I wrap my arms around his waist, making sure he’s looking at me so he sees how serious I am. “You let me know if you need out.”

“It’s a party, Aiden.”

“Doesn’t matter. You need out, you tell me,” I repeat. This time, he nods, his smile so soft that Max rolls over with delight.

“So, what are we exactly?” Julian asks, tugging at the ends of his shirt.

“I don’t really know if there’s a name for it,” I admit. “‘Dead dates’ maybe. I saw a bunch of this sort of thing online, so I thought we could put our own spin on it.” I let him go and spin for his perusal. “I’m the prim, put-together dead date, and you’re the wrecked, troublemaker one. Just a bit of reversal play.”

His lips quirk at that before he tries to bite the smile back. “I’ll admit, it was a shock at first, but it’s growing on me.”

“Good.”