I could feel him smirk at me before he went back to his wordless self. Man, my wolf could be stubborn sometimes! With that, I felt him growl inside me and all I could do was smile. He really did act like a child when he wanted to. Snapping out of my thoughts, I felt two slender arms slither their way around my neck and I couldn't help but wince at the contact. Where the hell did she come from? Claudia, who was wearing a tight red dress that clung to her body and was nearly exposing her long legs a little too much for my liking, was now pressed against me and giving me a wet kiss on the cheek. I tried my best to not look disgusted at the gesture, but even Ethan could see how much I was struggling in her tight grasp. All he did was laugh silently beside me. What a friend he was. "Marcus! I have been looking all over for you!" I smiled weakly. Man her voice was annoying. How in the world did Ethan put up with her all these years? This girl had to be one of the most irritable females in the entire pack! I mean, I did have practically all the un-mated females drooling at my feet without even trying, but she was the most persistent one of them all. I had even heard from some of the few pack members that she had personally went up to every girl that would say hi to me and told them that I was hers. How in the world could I be hers if my wolf never even recognized her as a contender? And trust me, I have actually given her a chance and tried to see if I felt any connection with her, but it was simply hollow. The only thing I felt towards her at this moment was annoyance and irritation. Can't this girl ever give up? As if on cue, I felt her loosen her grasp around my neck and move away from me. But to my surprise, she wasn't moving away by choice, she was being forced to. As I turned to look at her, I noticed that Alex had appeared out of the blue and pulled her away from me. He now had her pressed against him and secured her by wrapping his arms around her waist. She struggled against his grasp with an irritable expression. "Alex! Let go of me!" I couldn't help but chuckle at her protest. Like he was ever going to do as she asked. Alex was quite the womanizer and he always had his eyes set on Claudia. Why? I have no idea. I'm telling you, I have no idea what goes on in that boy's head. Anyway, ever since he noticed that Claudia was attracted to me our Junior year and I was clearly not interested, he always pulled her away at the perfect times. I owed this kid my life for saving it, who knows how many times, before because of this chick in front of me. Then again, Alex was the type that he would go for any girl in the pack. I wouldn't even be surprised if he had already slept with Claudia. As if hearing my thoughts, an evil smile played at his lips as he leaned his chin against her shoulder. She was still thrashing about but he didn't even seemed to notice. Ah, the perks of being a male wolf. But I wasn't surprised why many girls would play along with Alex's games, he was a handsome young man. He had light brown hair and blue eyes. His tan skin was fair and he tended to get all the girls he wanted. Even if they still wanted to be with me. "What's wrong sugar? I thought you wanted to be with me," he cooed against her ear. Her expression was priceless! "Ew! I don't want to be with you. Now let me go you pervert!" Suddenly, a loud piercing noise erupted from the microphone. The sound was a lot louder to our sensitive ears, but we all still looked towards the end of the backyard where my dad now stood on the small platform that some of the pack members had assembled earlier in the day. He gave us all an apologetic look before his eyes landed on me. With a swift movement of his hand, he motioned for me to come forward. It was now or never. 'Now.' I couldn't decide who was more persistent: Claudia or my wolf who decided to be a jackass this past week when I needed him the most. The crowd parted, leaving a narrow path for me to take with Ethan right behind me. I stepped onto the platform and stood beside my father. My mother was on his other side who had a bright smile on her face. Man she's a moody woman. My father gave me a tight squeeze on my right shoulder before he turned to the crowd. "Welcome all. Tonight is the night where my son finally turns 18." With that, the crowd erupted into a mixture of applause and whistles as the pack gave me bright smiles. I tried to smile in return, but I'm pretty sure it looked forced if anyone were to be standing right in front of me. Beside me stood Ethan, who gave me a reassuring smile the second he sensed my nervousness. He knew me better than anyone which is why I had chosen him to be my Beta. He leaned forward and whispered above the screaming crowd, "Just relax man. Let your wolf take over when the time comes. He'll know what to do."