9

Charlie

I was drawn to him as I have never been before, Sadie was going crazy in my head and it made me uncomfortable, I didn't know how to calm her down because she's never acted like this before. We continued to stare at each other and it felt like neither of us was planning on looking away. It wasn't until I heard a growl that scared me out of my daze. I looked to see where it came from and it was from Tyler. Tyler walked over to where his parents were standing and we all were waiting to see what was going to happen.

I still don't know what his brother's name is and it is an itch I needed to be scratched immediately.

"Welcome home baby!" Luna yelled and grabbed her son into a tight hug. Her eyes started to water like she found something so special she lost years ago. And I guess she did.

He hugged her back just as tightly and you could feel how much they missed each other. I could sense that he missed his mother very much and she missed her son. But what caught me off guard was when he spoke:

"I missed you, Mom."

That simple sentence sent sparks all up and down my spine, I almost moaned at how good it felt just by him speaking. Sadie started howling in my head, giving me a headache but I understood why that voice is mesmerizing.

But then, he smiled and I almost fainted at how gorgeous he was. My heart couldn't take it. It was perfect, perfectly white and straight, his lips were the icing on the cake. They were full and very masculine pink and well moisturized. I wanted to run up to him and kiss him and feel his lips on mine.

What was I thinking? I've never felt this way before not even Tyler. Is this what it felt like to be with your true mate? I'm confused at the feelings and thoughts going on in my head but the one thing I knew was that I wanted that man.

"Damon, welcome home son." The King said reaching his hand out to shake his son's hand. It was very formal but it was to be expected.

"Damon," I said as quietly as I could trying the name out on my lips. I had forgotten that Lycans have super hearing and can hear better than us werewolves. So of course when I realized he heard me I instantly regretted it. He snapped his head up to look at me, our eyes locked and his eyes flashed from silver to black, if I blinked I would have missed it. And then he smirked at me.

I had a heartache.

"Hello brother, long time no see," Tyler said, having to look up at his brother. There was a significant height difference between the two and it made me almost chuckle. Tyler looked so little c compared to him.

"Glad to know you are still my little brother," Damon said smirking at him. I could tell Tyler was getting annoyed by him already.

"Damon, who are these people you are with?" The Luna interjected and looked at all the blank faces staring back at her.

"Well, these are my beta, delta, and just a good friend of mine. Trey is my Beta." He said and he pointed to the redhead that was as tall as Tyler.

"Then my Delta is Robert. And that is Christina who is Trey's mate and also a good friend of mine."

Robert was 6'0 feet and he had blonde shaggy hair with brown eyes, to me, he was just an average-looking Lycan, but he was still pretty attractive if that makes sense. Then Christina was gorgeous, she had long jet-black hair with an undertone of purple when the sun hits it just right. She had blue-green eyes that shined and perfect pink lips. She was about 5'11 and had a perfectly sculpted body. Then that's when I realized what I was wearing. I was still wearing my comfortable clothes in front of this beautiful man. I looked like a mess.

Christina and I made eye contact and she let go of Trey's hand and walked over to me.

"Hi, I'm Christina, nice to meet you." She said to me shaking my hand. I looked around confused as to why she is introducing herself to me.

"Charlotte, Charlie for short," I said smiling back. At that moment I felt his eyes on me again, with his now black eyes. It felt good knowing I affect him as much as he affects me.

"Well now, son how about we head inside the castle to get you and your guest settled in." The King said as he pulled him away.

"Do you mind if I hang out with you? Being the only female Lycan sucks and I need some girl time." Wait what? Only female Lycan? I'd have to ask about that later.

"Yeah, of course, I don't mind."

I mean could I say no? She's a Lycan. I smiled back at her. She went back to her mate to tell him that she was staying with me for the rest of the night. I looked over and took one last glance at the gorgeous man as he walked away. And as he walked it felt like my soul was being ripped in two. I was waiting for him to turn around but he didn't. Not one time. Which hurt the most.

3 Days Later

It has been three days since the last time I saw Damon, and that means three sleepless nights, and with the little sleep that I did get his face was ingrained in my brain. One positive that happened was that Christina got close really fast, it was my first time having a real friend and it was her first time having a friend that's a girl.

The night Damon arrived we were told there will be a ball in the king's castle for the whole pack. Which was happening tonight. I was nervous, I would be seeing him again, which is what I wanted. But part of me didn't want to go in case I ran into Tyler and Kenny. I haven't heard from them since the day in the field, or seen them. Not that I cared, they were the last thing on my mind.

Christina and I had gone shopping yesterday and we went crazy, we each bought ten different dresses because we couldn't decide which one we wanted. A bunch of different shoes, and all types of makeup

"Christina! I don't know which one to pick!" I yelled from my closet as I looked through the dresses I just got.

It was 5:45 and the ball starts at 7, I had already done my hair which was braided up into a ballerina bun on the top of my head. I haven't told Christina who I am yet, she thinks I'm a random pack member, not his mate.

I plan to never tell her at all. I didn't want her to look at me differently. Maybe that's why I couldn't choose a dress because I wanted to look my best for him to notice me. I walked back into my room defeated and see Christina doing her makeup already. Maybe I should tell her? I keep going back and forth. I mean she's my friend and I should be able to trust her right? especially with this...fuck it.

"Christina, I need to tell you something," I walked up to her and sat in the chair next to her.

"Yeah, what's up girly?" She says smiling at me.

"I have been so scared to tell you, maybe because I don't want you to treat me differently than me," I said, I felt my heart start to speed up. She looked at me confused and waited for me to tell her.

"I am Tyler's mate...which means I guess that Damon is my mate too?" I said taking my eyes off of hers.

"I already know silly. I knew from the moment when we all were in the car. That's why I came to talk to you. Also because you seemed like you'd be really sweet." She said laughing at me.

I sat there shocked, how would she know...unless he said something to her? I don't know why but that just made my heart warm thinking that he would talk about me.

"Uh okay."

Christina grabbed my hand and walked me to the closet and grabbed the long sleeve A-line dress, it had lace on the top and flowed down but not too much to the point where you couldn't see my curves. It was maroon colored and made my eyes pop, it was one of my favorites.

"Here, this will make his jaw drop. And maroon is his favorite color." She said handing me the dress.

She walked out and I put the dress on and I looked hot, and I still hadn't done my makeup yet. I decided to wear tan strap heels to go with my dress and walked out to see Christina already dressed. She was stunning, she wore a red, backless high neck, long-sleeve dress. It was about an inch off the floor and I could still see her sparkly silver heels. Her hair was straight and slicked back. She had minimal makeup, it's not like she needed it anyways.

"Wow Charlie, you look beautiful. Damon is going to have a hard time keeping his hands off of you." She grabbed my hand and sat me down and did my makeup, which was just lip gloss, and mascara.

"You're gorgeous and you don't need all this crap off your face." She said.

"Are you sure? Can you try and contour my nose, make it seem smaller?" I asked her, my insecurity was seeing through.

"What are you talking about? Your nose is gorgeous." I rolled my eyes and I could feel the tears start to swell.

"Please don't lie."

"Why would I lie?" She looked down at me confused, and looking into her eyes I can see she genuinely cared.

"People in my old pack used to call me Pinocchio, because of how big it is. And I just don't want to go and have him see me for the time like up close and the first thing he sees is my nose." I told her honestly and tried to stop the tears. She noticed and she stopped doing my makeup and grabbed my face in her hands.

"Your nose is the most beautiful thing about you. Damon told me that himself. I wouldn't lie to you."

I looked deep into her eyes looking for some sort of lie but I couldn't find one. I just nodded and she pulled away and finished my makeup. I looked at the time and it was now 6:30 and we decide it was time for us to go so we are there on time.

After the 10-minute walk to the castle, every step made my heart beat faster, I needed to calm down. Christina had agreed to stay with me the whole night so I wasn't alone. I felt bad keeping her from her mate, but I was appreciative. We walked in and the music was playing and the ballroom was already pretty full of people. I walked past a group of girls talking about Damon and how attractive he was, one story caught my attention, saying that she was going to flirt with him tonight.

I growled at her and she was just as shocked as I was. Christina grabbed my hand and dragged me away from her, I had to resist the urge to rip her throat out.

"Hey, it's okay. There's no way Damon is going to let that happen. Trust me." Christina said to me. And right on cue, the music stopped, and out walked the King and Queen.

"Good evening everyone! Thank you for coming to celebrate the return of my son Damon." Said the King, every time his name is said I get chill up and down my spine.

"Tonight Damon will be going around meeting everyone and getting to know his new subjects. Yes, that is right. Damon will be the new alpha king!"

Everyone cheered and I couldn't help but look around for Tyler, and wonder what he was feeling.

"Now everyone please welcome Future King Damon!" Everyone continued to cheer but as soon as I laid my eyes on him everything faded away. He was in a maroon suit with a black tie and tan dress shoes. He looked drool-worthy, and I am pretty sure I was.

His eyes scanned the crowd and eventually locked eyes with mine, time froze. Those silver eyes stared right into my soul, but the way he was looking made it seem he...wanted me. Right then and there. He smirked at me and then tore his eyes away to continue his speech.

"Hello everyone, I'm going to keep this short and sweet so we can continue with our night. I'm so thankful for being back here with my Lycan family and werewolf family too. I'm excited to see what this new chapter has for us all."

Then he walked off the stage and a swarm of girls ran towards him trying to get his attention. My heart ached a little bit at that.

"Come Charlie let's get something to drink." Christina reached her hand out to grab mine to try and distract me from them.

It was 10:30, and the ball is almost over and I still hadn't seen him. I had lost all hope of talking to him hours ago but I thought I could get one last glance. Guess not.

"Hey C, I'm gonna go to the bathroom," I said, she nodded and continued her conversation with one of her fellow Lycans.

I walked out of the ballroom down a hallway toward a bathroom, it was nice being away from people for a bit, especially all those desperate girls. Regardless of how I felt about them, they were beautiful. Everything he could want in a girl.

I was caught up in my world to the point where I didn't hear footsteps approaching. At first, I was nervous, but then the smell of the woods mixed with cinnamon and apple hit my nose. It was him. I felt a hand grab my arm and sparks flew all up my arm and I was pushed against the wall, with him towering over me. The smell was intoxicating and overwhelming. I was surrounded. By him. And I loved it.

He put his head in my neck taking in a big breath of my scent, his lips slightly grazing my skin on my neck, setting me on fire.

"What is your name mate?" He said, I almost fainted at his voice, it was full of lust and passion.

"Charlotte," I said as strongly as I could without sounding like an idiot.

"How beautiful."

I don't know how long we stood there but it was cut short when he moved his head from my neck and looked me in the eyes. His silver eyes consumed me again. His hand reached my face and he began to caress my face leaving a fire feeling where ever he touched me. I leaned into it without knowing and without realizing a moan escaped my lips. Damon growled lowly, but not a fierce commanding growl, it was a lust-filled one.

"I wouldn't do that." He said, his eyes were darker and more intense. He not once broke eye contact. His eyes flickered down to my lips and back to my eyes. He slowly leaned in and I could feel his breath on my lips. His hands were on my hips setting my body on fire.

"If maroon wasn't my favorite color already, it would be now." I wanted to just relish in this feeling but I couldn't. how could he go the entire night without talking to me if he wanted me so bad?

"What's wrong?" He leaned back from my neck and looked down at me with concern in his eyes.

"Why didn't you come to find me earlier?" I whispered and moved my eyes away from his.

"I tried, I just got up in other things that I couldn't get out of." I rolled my eyes at that.

"You mean talking with other women? You couldn't stop them from talking to you?"

The feeling of passion was gone, and I just felt annoyed.

"Never mind, I don't want there to be any problems. Tonight is your night, I'm happy for you. I'll see you around."

I forced a fake smile on my face and pushed myself away from him. I wanted to go back and be in his arms. I did. But there was no effort. It was like he didn't want me. First, he doesn't talk to me for days, then he doesn't talk to me all night. It wasn't fair.

"Charlotte, wait." He reached his hadn't out and tried to grab my hand.

"It's okay, truly. Have a goodnight, Damon."