Chapter 1
ONE
Current Day — Halloween
“Is that what you’re wearing?” Mavin asks, her eyes bright through the screen as she trails over my costume.
“Yes! Can you tell what I am?” I do a little spin, my white dress flying up with the movement. The silky fringe glides like butter over my skin.
“To be honest, El, no.” She laughs, pushing some loose hair behind her ear.
“Hold on.” I grab the accompanying headpiece and place it on my blonde locks. “What about now?” I ask as I sway my jazz hands dramatically.
“You look like you’re from The Great Gatsby,” she observes. “Are you a flapper?”
I put the tip of my finger to my nose. “Ding, ding, ding.”
She shakes her head. “Normally people go for red, you know.”
I shrug, moving to pin the headpiece. “I thought it would look better with my hair.” I snap a bobby pin in place and sigh. My hair is near white these days, the blonde turning more and more translucent as the years go on.
“When will you be here?” Mavin asks.
“Probably a little after nine.” I attach the last bobby pin and adjust the feathers on my eyelashes, the white wisps curling dramatically.
“Destiny and the guys are going all out. I think they want to show out since it’s our first party as a bonded pack.”
I glance at her, peeping the flush in her cheeks and her smile creeping up.
Mavin and I have been friends since freshmen year when we took the same grueling statistics class with a stickler for a professor.
Her determination to pass despite our teacher’s horrible attitude is what drew me to her in the first place.
That and we just happened to sit next to each other. She’s been a confidant ever since.
She and her pack recently bonded, which means they are always together now. Luckily, I like her pack, and they’re completely in love with Mavin. I’ve never seen her happier.
Still, it’s left me feeling some kind of way. As an omega, I definitely want a pack, but the idea that Casey and I will find alphas that want us both seems very slim. I’m always at war with what to do: live in the moment with Casey or think about what my omega ultimately needs for future heats.
My heat hasn’t come yet, which would be concerning if I weren’t so determined to avoid it at all costs. Normally, an omega’s first heat happens sometime after designating, but here I am three years later and I’m yet to have one.
When I realized that mine would be later than usual, I was relieved. I didn’t know what I would do if I needed to find alphas. The idea of letting a stranger help me when I’m most vulnerable is terrifying. I imagine the only person I’m going to want is Casey.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a knot, and biology is a bitch.
Like she can hear my thoughts, Maven asks, “Are you bringing Casey as your date?”
I choke, my throat suddenly dry. “We are coming together, but not as each other’s date.”
She snorts. “Please. Are you going to tell him that?”
I whip my head in her direction. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Come on, Elsie. You two are practically glued at the hip.”
“Platonically glued,” I murmur, but apparently not quietly enough because she narrows her gaze on me.
“I don’t understand why you two keep running around each other. Why is it so hard for you to have an honest conversation with him about how you’re feeling?”
“You’re just saying that because your love story worked out,” I tease, my fingers fidgeting with the tassels on my dress as a distraction.
“Don’t turn this back on me,” she scolds, but her lips twitch with amusement. “I guarantee that he will surprise you.”
My lips flatten, because it’s not that simple. My worry isn’t that Casey doesn’t love or care about me, my worry is that it won’t matter in the end when we need alphas to simply survive.
“You two are so cute. You look like you belong together. And the way he looks at you…” She sighs dreamily.
Casey’s face flashes in my mind, that same look that Mavin is referencing clear as day in my memory.
The way his lips curve softly, the way his crystal-blue eyes hold mine with intensity.
If I let myself, I’ll start believing that those looks mean more than they do.
I’ll start to let myself believe that there is a future for us that doesn’t end in horrible heartbreak.
I shake my head, trying to clear the traitorous thoughts before I look back at my friend. “My maybe-unrequited-maybe-mutual crush will have to wait,” I say, changing the subject. “At least until after your pack’s fabulous party tonight.”
“Hm, I wouldn’t be so sure,” Mavin laughs as a wicked gleam enters her eye. “Halloween always has a way of pulling things out of us.”
I sigh. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.