/ I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you (I can never look away). / I don't wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you (things will never be the same) /

I stayed for a while with Dmitry, drinking and looking at the night sky. We didn't really talk, instead, we enjoyed each other's company in this comfortable silence. Dmitry finished most of the drink as if it was water and not Russian vodka — probably one of the strongest liquors there was, while I only took a sip here and there, mainly because I still wanted my head attached to my neck when I woke up in the morning. After a while, I decided to head back inside. "I'm gonna head back inside. Someone needs to make sure none of these punks break anything."

Usually, parties at the packhouse could get really crazy especially since everyone knew that for one day, I would let them be happy and ignore the hierarchy. But even they knew that they should never cross the line such as having sex in the packhouse or going to the third floor. Most of them, especially the older and more mature ones, abode these rules and respect the boundaries, but some of the young folks usually especially those that were too drunk, usually did not. And that group was the one I had to watch out for.

Dmitry nodded his agreement. "Yes. I will follow you shortly."

I walked into the kitchen and headed straight toward the dance floor. Although the music was slightly too loud for my preference, I supposed it was fine and tried to ignore it. Instead, I let my eyes scan the surrounding, Alana was no longer there which was a relief because the last thing I wanted was to deal with her. Despite my guilt for ruining the wedding — or should I say, 'one of the most important days of her life'  as she claimed it to be, I was tired of her nagging and her sulking. During a pack meeting the other day, she even went so far as to demand my mate be removed from the property, claiming that we had never allowed outsiders before. I'd been more than pissed, I'd been outraged. I wanted nothing but to kick 'her' instead but I calmed myself down — and somehow managed to calm Khrysaor who wanted nothing but to drag Alana by her hair. After I'd laid down the fact that Xyrra could be my future Luna and that the only reason Alana was even able to be in the council meeting was that she was once considered as future Luna, Alana'd finally shut her damn mouth throughout the rest of the meeting or else Moon Goddess knew my patience could only go so far.

Shaking my annoyance away, I continued to look about the room and soon my gaze fell on a girl wearing what looked like either a witch costume or a graduation gown. Although her costume was unique, it was not her costume that caught my attention. It was the way she moved her body. She was dancing in the middle of the writhing mass of bodies without care and the way her hips swayed was both sexy and graceful at the same time. Each sway of her hip caused my body to stir. Out of curiosity, I squinted my eyes so I could see her better, wondering if she was a pack member who had been abroad and had just gotten back because I certainly would remember if she was one of the active pack members, and my body immediately froze when the girl turned her head slightly so I caught a glimpse of the side of her face and realized a second later that it was Xyrra. It was my mate. At this realization, I could feel Khrysaor who had tuned out this party walking away from the corner and moving forward.

This time, she turned around so she was facing me but her eyes were closed. I watched her hands touching her body, one hand was on her cleavage while the other was on her flat stomach. They moved slowly, sensually, teasing my every nerve. My gaze roved further down her body and my eyes took in her long legs wrapped in tall boots as I frowned.

What the fuck is she wearing? Where is the rest of her skirt?

'I don't know but I am liking this,' said Khrysaor with a growl.

I rolled my eyes at him and said through the bond, 'You like every woman. What you think doesn't count.'

Khrysaor went all pissed off and stalked away. I felt lucky that he decided to leave me alone because I was already barrelling through the crowd, making a path to her. She was already facing the other way and I was standing right behind her. Her eyes were still closed, her body was simply letting loose and following the song when her arse touched the front of my pants.

Fuck.

If she noticed that, she didn't show any sign as she continued to sway her hips. For all she knew, it was merely an accidental touch, people tended to bump into one another on the dance floor. I could only bear for another five seconds of her rubbing against me before I snaked my arm around her waist and hauled her against me. This time, she did notice it as she stopped moving and turned around very quickly, probably ready to knee the intruder. Her eyes slightly widened in both surprise and amusement.

Without removing my arm, I asked her, "May I have this dance?"

"Um, sure." Xyrra slid her hands up my chest and for a split second there, I was reminded of our time in the ladies toilet at the back of a club two weeks ago. She'd done exactly what she was doing now, except that she had been half-naked then. We both had been. Then her arms safely clung to my neck as our bodies started to move.

In the middle of the dancefloor with the lights dimming a little, I pulled her closer to me. I've danced with many girls before, all different sorts of women including those who were really good at it that they made a living out of it, and yet I'd never felt the things I felt when I was holding Xyrra against me. Our bodies moved in complete sync and her body fit mine perfectly as it was made just for me. As if I was made just for her. It was crazy because Khrysaor was the one who always believed in soulmates, he had been the one who had spent the last ten years still believing that a miracle did exist, that she was still out there, and that one day we shall be reunited. I had none of those fairytale, happy-ending beliefs. Even though judging by how horny Khrysaor had been during my time outside this place, people would be easily misled to believe that he was the non-believer.

I let my arms slip around her ribcage, settling on her lower back. With our gazes locked, I lost track of how long we'd been stayed pressed against each other as long as another song kept playing once the previous one had ended. Breathing proved to be harder when she unwrapped her arms from me and turned around until her shoulders were against my chest.

My heart was beating against my chest and I waited for Khrysaor to take over. He always did interrupt at the worst possible time. Yet he didn't. He remained silent at the corner leaving me completely alone with Xyrra even though he was the one who always became so excited when it came to her because he had been waiting for a lifetime for her.

I felt my dick grow hard. No, this had to stop. I should put a stop to this. From the moment I had laid my eyes on her, I had always known that I wanted her but I also knew that she didn't deserve to be hurt. I should be a better man by taking a step back and walking away. However, I found myself unable to get away from her. Instead, my hands moved inside her black cloak which I noticed had a Gryffindor logo on her left chest, and rested around her bare waist, right below the edge of the midriff top she was wearing. The tips of my fingers grazed the soft skin of her taut stomach.

As my hands drift upward, slipping beneath the cotton of her midriff top to strum over her ribcage until my thumbs were able to rest right beneath the silky fabric of her bra. A few inches higher and I would be cupping her breasts.

How many times had I fantasized about touching her like this? Too many to count. The night before my wedding had been the longest, worst torture I'd had to endure. Still, it was nothing compared to what was happening right now. She was real and not just an imagination of my past memory. The feeling was overwhelming.

Bloody hell! I've been in a situation like this at least twelve dozen times, being so close to a girl that I would waste no more second to drag her into the nearest bedroom or bathroom stall before fucking her brains out, but with Xyrra, I couldn't. I shouldn't. And this was absolute torture.

I hadn't realized that I'd stopped moving altogether because I'd been way too focused on trying to keep my dick in check. Only when she finally looked up, her honeyed eyes locking into mine, and she breathlessly whispered my name, had I realized it.

When her tongue peeked out from between her bare lips, my eyes immediately were drawn to her mouth, and my mind was reminded of how soft those lips felt. How much I wanted nothing but to lean in and claim that sweet lips of hers for one more time.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I needed to walk out and get some fresh air because I was clearly too drunk if my mind started to think of things I wanted to do to her, things I'd been wondering ever since we had been stripped close to our birthday suit in that blasted bathroom. Things that had kept me wide awake in the middle of the night, sweating and panting. Shite!

I grabbed her hand, my fingers were entwined with hers as I moved through the crowd, up the two flights of stairs, and down a long stretch of a dark hallway where no one was around because not a single person was dumb enough to go to the third floor where the Alpha's room was. Even though I knew this would only lead to a disaster, I could not stop myself from unlocking my door and bringing her inside, in the one place I had fantasized about her the most.

My bedroom.

* * *

Bold... Way too bold, dearest Alpha.