Chapter 7

• Ashira's POV
• The Van started moving while Ava and I talked. All I hear from her is how she's so excited to meet her mate. Mostly what I've been hearing from Lucy.
• For the rest of the drive, I was sleeping.
• It was dark when we reached the pack. I was woken up by loud gasped of amusement from the girls with me.
• The Van dropped us on a clearing in front of what I think was the pack building. A guy is standing there, waiting for our arrival.
• He's tall and lean with a huge smile on his face. Almost welcoming.
• Some would think that he's being nice and warm to us as their guests but since I knew how the pack works, I know he's being cautious with outsiders of their pack. Which was us.
• "Welcome, ladies!" His voice is even cheerful. "I'm Anton, the one in charge of your group. If you'll follow me, please?"
• He turned his back on us and took a step before facing us again. Caught us off guard.
• We all looked questioning by his behavior.
• "Just checking if one of you is mine." He smiled sheepishly. He's a joker.
• The girls from my pack laughed at his remorse. He did, too before leading us the way again.
• We walked away from their pack building and lead us to another building. Not too far from where we're dropped off.
• "This is the guesthouse. Prime pack prepared a room for each of you, ladies."
• Ava, the girl with us, put her hands up.
• "Yes?" Said Anton. Smiling to her.
• "I'm just curious. How do you know how many ladies you'll have as a guest?"
• I shrugged from her question. That makes sense. Since I never took interest in this mate topic, I have no clue about it.
• "Oh. Pack reaches out to each other for that. We'll inform how many of ours will come to yours after the mapping, and they do the same. Every pack does." He humbly explained and continues once no one has any follow-up questions.
• We reached the lobby of the guesthouse. Our pack has a guesthouse as well for events like this or if other Alpha's need a meeting visit. But Prime pack's guesthouse is way bigger. It's tripled the size of ours.
• "Everyone is to fill out these forms." He handed a piece of paper to us. "We'll pass that information you'll provide to the pack office once you've met your mate. For official purposes only."
• "And if we won't meet our mate at the ball?" It was Ava again.
• Her questions are informative for me. I knew less about mates than I should but I don't think I have the guts to ask like that. I'm quite thankful for her curiosity, feeding mine as well.
• "That's rare to happen here at Prime pack but IF, we'll send you home the same way you arrive."
• "Does that mean we won't meet our mates forever?" I'm surprised I asked. I was bothered by what he said, considering that in my case, it's almost a mission to find my mate. And his answer just disturbed what I was aiming for.
• "It depends. If you ladies missed your chance this year, you'll participate in the mapping again next year and repeat the process."
• "What part of that applies the 'depends' part?"
• "Well, if the mapping shows your mate had died, it's entirely different then, wouldn't it?" Anton smirks. Now I have the feeling that those warm smiles are for a show.
• He had a point. A year-wait is long. Anything can happen within a year and if we miss this chance, then it will be like risking our fate.
• We finished filling out the forms and hand them over to our guide. He gave each of us a card with the number of the rooms were assigned to. Mine is 512. Which is the top floor of the building. As I said, the guesthouse is extravagantly huge.
• "You can roam around the pack tonight and tomorrow before the ball. There are shops within the pack temporarily available only for the event. No one is to leave the pack land or even set foot outside our territory. That's an ultimate rule so it's best to remember it. Once you're with a mate, that rule is will not apply. Good luck, ladies!" He waved us goodbye and left.
• Since I don't belong to our group, I decided to find my room alone. The rest of them are still talking, complimenting everything their eyes saw.
• After settling in my room, I took a bath. The warm water calmed my nerves that I already felt sleepy. I slip on my tank top and shorts and lay down on the bed, tucking myself on the blankets.
• I'm ready to be drowned in my deep sleep when I felt someone was looking at me.
• I opened my eyes and looked around. Steadying my eyes on the window.
• No one is there.
• What should I expect? I'm five floors above the ground. No one can sneak a peek at this high.
• But my wolf is calling to me. She's asking me to look outside the window. She wants me to go to the window.
• I tried shutting her down. I badly needed sleep from the exhaustion of the ride but my wolf is resisting. It's persistent. She wants me to open the window. And let it open.
• I'm growling as I stood and walked towards it. I clicked open the locks and pull up the window. I saw no one outside. Practically, nothing.
• My window is facing the forest and it's dark out. I growled when I can't hear my wolf now. A minute and she wants me to open the damned window and when I did, she hung me up?
• I closed it again, not liking the idea that some mateless wolf barging in on my sleep. I sighed in relief when my wolf didn't argue when I closed it.
• As I went to bed, a loud howl was heard all over the pack.
• I was stunned. The howl seemed frustrated, irritated, and longing.
• The thought of some mateless wolf, finding my scent, made me pale.
• I forgot that pack guesthouses are soundproof and in our case, smell-proof.
• It is made that way to prevent our mates to smell us and break the purpose of the pack tradition. Also, if another Alpha came for a meeting visit, overall privacy should apply for them. That's why guesthouses are made that way.
• Someone must have caught my scent as I open the window. Probably lost me when I closed it again.
• Was it my mate? Was it a mateless wolf? I cringed upon the last part.