This is the third time I've prepared for a mating ceremony.

I am already twenty years old.

Two years ago, my mom and dad told me that I would meet that soul mate when I turned 18, and like all girls I was filled with anticipation, but no...

A year ago, My best friend since childhood told me that nineteen is the most common age to find one's mate, but that year passed fruitlessly as well...

Today we're going to the mating ceremony again, and I didn't even want to go. If it weren't for my mateless best friend Trinity, I would be drowning in impatience.

" Well, don't be dazed, I asked you to come here to choose a evening dress, not to watch me walk the runway." Trinity woke me up.

"A evening dress? That's too dressy, can't I just wear the same cloth I wore last year?" I didn't even want to go , no one can afford to be disappointed three times.

"Of course not, you have to make your mate fall in love with you right away! It's important" Trinity says and finds a dress and heels from the depths of her closet.

I pick the heels up and sit on the bed to get them on. "My mate? I don't know, maybe there is no such person..."

"And if I remember correctly, one of the mated men from Hart was twenty-four, and one woman was twenty-seven. woman was twenty-seven." Trinity interrupt me

I stand with the heels on. "Twenty-seven? If I have to wait seven more years for love, I'm going to go to a very dark place."

Trinity cracks a smile, and I can't help but give in to it. "Come on," she says and grabs my arm, "pick a jacket and let's get going."

**********

When we leave Trinity's house, the sun is beginning to set, casting warm, firey colors across the sky, beyond the canopy of evergreens.

Like most packs, ours is housed deep in the forest where we're left to the wild.

Trinity loops her arm with mine. "I have a good feeling about tonight," she says and grins with rosy cheeks.

"Tonight the visitors are from the Madden pack, right?"

She nods. "Maybe he isn't here, but — I dunno — I'm excited."

"Me too," I say and smile back, hoping my words come to fruition.

Many events are held in the ceremony hall each month, but on the fifteenth, the mating ceremony always takes place. We enter through the main doors set open to the night.

There are already many people inside — more than usual. Some pack members play music on their guitars, tambourines, and hand drums, cheerful music to celebrate the bonds formed and cheer up those leaving mateless yet again.

Trinity takes me immediately to grab a glass from the refreshments table. Only eighteen-year-olds and older are invited to the mating ceremony, and at eighteen, we're permitted adult beverages. During ceremonies past, we've ended up taking advantage of the refreshments table once we realized our mates aren't there. It softens the blow.

We sip our drinks by the wall. "So? Anything?"

Trinity shrugs. "People are still arriving; it's early."

"It's busy."

"I think I... Ugh." She crosses an arm over her stomach. "I think I feel more than excited."

"You think you feel it?"

"Even when we got here, but I'm not sure. I don't want to jinx myself."

My stomach churns and I touch her arm. "Maybe that meat on our sandwiches earlier went bad. I think I feel a little funky too."

"It's not food poisoning. It's — it's — it's gone." She falls against the wall and has a drink from her glass.

"Maybe it'll come back."

"Yeah... maybe."

I lean against the wall beside her and sip again.

"Trinity, I think I feel it," I say right after I swallow.

"Maybe we're just freaking each other out."

A particular scent sticks out of the crowd, lingering closer and stealing my breath. "No no no," I mutter, "there's a smell."

"A mate smell?" She questions, stepping off the wall to stare at me. "What does it smell like? Like the bond?"

"How am I supposed to know what the bond smells like if I've never smelt it?"

"Goddess, Flora. You have to look."

My eyes widen. "Look?"

"Move around the room and look at people until you find him." She suddenly squeals and bounces eagerly. "He's here, Flora. It's actually happening."

"I-I — come with me."

Trinity takes my hand and yanks me off the wall, plunging us into the crowd of people talking and drinking and occasionally laughing. I search around in paranoia. Any of these men could be him.

"Is it getting stronger?"

"What?"

"The scent. The feelings."

My grip on her hand firms as my skin grows clammy. "I think so. It's all very... intense."

"How about him?" Trinity points subtly to a blonde man standing in a group of women. I shake my head, no. "Good. Thank Goddess. He looks like trouble."

I pick up my pace to walk beside her rather than drag behind. "There are too many people."

"Well, he's probably looking for you too. We could be playing cat and mouse, mousing away from him without knowing. Maybe if we stay in place— Oh, the Alpha's here."

My gaze turns in the direction she's looking. Our Alpha is at the head of the room with another man, and they speak casually while watching the people. I halt and force Trinity to as well. She looks at me. "What?"

"Oh my Goddess. It's him. The man with the Alpha."

She squints. "Why isn't he moving? Searching? Doesn't he sense you?"

"I don't know."

"Are you sure, Flora? I think that's Alpha Madden."

I clench my teeth. Why isn't he looking for me?

"Flora?"

"It's him. I swear on my life, that man is my mate."

Is he Alpha Madden? He sure looks the part — younger than our Alpha but tall, brawny, and handsome, likely coursing with Alpha blood. I weave through the crowd to get closer, and Trinity follows behind.

People accidentally step in my way and bump and elbow me, but I carry on until I'm too close to ignore. My mate finally looks, meeting my eyes. My steps cease. My lips part. This is the moment my life changes. The person who's fated to love me forever is standing before me, and all noise silences.

But then he looks away, as if I had mistaken the person.