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~Lou Wilson~

"He's not here, just like he hasn't been here for years," I said annoyed, surveying the crowd. I'm 19 years old now and you can actually find your mate between the ages of 16 and 16 .. and 18. This whole search is slowly but surely pissing me off. At every ball, the same hope that it would finally show up. Maybe that sounds desperate, but what would you do if your parents prepared you your whole life for it, like it's finally meeting his or her mate.

From a very young age, my parents told me about the amazing bond created by the moon goddess. They told me true love stories of these mate connections that it was my greatest wish for a long time to finally meet him.

"Have you looked around at all? He'll show up at some point." My mother tried to give me hope. But that didn't help much. I'm fed up with all this hope, whether he comes or not.

I rolled my eyes annoyed and made my way to my best friend Zara.

Her red hair was not difficult to find in the crowd and her dark green short dress was a real eye-catcher.

When I got to her, I tapped her right shoulder to draw attention while she was in conversation with a tall, hot guy who wasn't my mate.

"What?" she hissed as she turned around. Her recently annoyed expression turned into a wide beam when she recognized me, which I could only return. "So? Have you been luckier than me?"

"Why? Who's that hot guy behind you?" I asked, casually waggling my eyebrows.

"Unfortunately not my mate," she said in a sharp tone. She then grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the crowd, outside, where we could talk privately.

Once outside, I took in the fresh night air. It felt good to get some fresh air after being stuck in a stuffy room with a hundred other werewolves for an hour. The problem was that I had to be there until my father, the alpha of our pack, gave a little speech. As his daughter, I have to be there, unless I'm visiting a mate ball in another pack.

"I really can't stand it in there anymore. This hot guy from right now is useless too. You know, you think if you can't find your mate, then at least you can have a hot night, but no, the guy really wants to wait for his mate. That sucks. Isn't the mate ball also for having fun?" Zara immediately started complaining about everything. She hadn't found her mate yet either, but she was still 18...

"Well, I think it's kind of romantic to save up for your mate," I tried to defend the poor guy now. I don't know why I suddenly stood up for him. But I was hopelessly romantic.

"You're still young and naive, too," she said, mockingly annoyed, which made me shake my head.

"Rightly says the one year younger than me." I laughed.

It's funny that Zara of all people is my best friend. Unlike me, she is confident and never minced her words. She's tall, beautiful and a total banger. I, on the other hand, am the exact opposite, because I'm rather shy and others would call me stuffy when it comes to parties and men. I believed in the mate connection and that you can find a lost part of your soul with your mate.

But maybe I'm really naive.

"So..." Zara started, lifting her voice a long way. "Do you still think your mate will show up here today...?" she asked in a very innocent tone.

"No. It's the same as the last few times...no special scent, no indescribable feeling...everything the same as always. What are you getting at?" I reply, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

Zara had to plan something. I can tell when she's got some nonsense on her mind again.

"Well... the night is still young... and..." she rambled on.

"ZARA!" I hissed. She should finally come out and get to the point.

"We could go to a human club... have some fun and stuff. Also, human males are less complicated than werewolves," she explained.

"I don't know. My parents would worry and then..."

"Oh come on... The next town isn't that far away." Zara put on a puppy dog ​​look. I'm sorry to say she pulls it off really well.

In the back of my mind I was still worried that when my parents found out I was gone they would make a total fuss. But I guess I should just chill out and have some fun with my best friend.

"Okay, but only one hour... and no alcohol," I tried to admonish. Zara, however, jumped up happily after my okay and seemed not to notice the rest at all or else she ignored it on purpose.

Once again I could only shake my head at her. How I loved her.

Zara jumped around me and casually got out her car keys. Faster than I could see, she pulled me to the parking lot and steered me to her car.

Arriving in front of her car, I was about to get in when she pulled me back by my long blue dress.

"So you don't seriously want to go to a club?" she asked, shocked.

I shrugged and looked down at myself. My long blue evening dress was tight up to just above my bottom, after which it ran loosely down my legs. At the top, the V-neckline was only warped with lace, from which the long sleeves were also made. It was just a normal evening dress. Nothing special.

"At least my dress looks like a party, but yours is absolutely boring. She said. She clutched her chin in thought and looked me up and down until she suddenly spread her claws and came towards me. "I hope your parents won't kill me for this."

It wasn't until it was too late that I realized what she was up to. Everything happened so fast and the next moment I felt a strange chill on my legs.

"Zara!" I cried out indignantly as I looked at her work. She had seriously shortened my dress. "What's the point? Now everyone can see my butt," I stated. So bending down was already out of the question.

"Then at least the men have something to look at."

"My parents won't kill you, they'll kill me if they find out about this." My tone was anything but happy. It's more like panic creeping through my veins just thinking about how they'll catch me.

"That's why we should go as soon as possible. The sooner we get there, the sooner we'll be back." Zara pushed me into her yellow VW Beetle and then got in on the driver's side.

"Party, here we come!" she yelled happily as she hit the gas pedal.

"Woo-hoo," I said in a tongue-in-cheek tone. I hope nothing bad happens tonight. But I still couldn't be happy because, knowing my best friend, she finds a guy and leaves me alone. I'll probably have to call one of my brothers at the end of the night to pick me up and hope they don't rat me out to our parents, so no, I wasn't enjoying it at all.