Expired!

Loriann's POV

It's all fun with the girls.

Louise, Rachel and I tease the newly mated as they shyly stare at us. Meg proudly shows off her mark, a blue moon with a wolf's head in it. Cliara seems to have one too; Hedrick must have wanted to make sure she didn't change her mind.

"I couldn't imagine before how great it would be to be mated. I was afraid I wouldn't be enough for him. So I hid my insecurities behind that arrogant attitude. Everyone thought I would know exactly what to do when I met him one day," Cliara sighed. "Hedrick is amazing. His time among humans has only been good for his character. He helped me get over my anger and desire for revenge."

Louise rolls her eyes. "Good? The debauchery over there is unbelievable. At least I used to stay away from mated wolves, human girls don't differentiate. Even if the men are married, they have relationships. But werewolves are saved, the Moon Goddess united the souls of mates. If one mate is adulterous, the other feels it immediately. And it is lawful to kill an unfaithful mate and his mistress".

"Well, I am a witch, so I do not feel the mate bond. If Jace were to cheat on me, I would never know. So the Moon Goddess has given me another tool to control him," Rachel elaborates.

We stare at her expectantly, curious about her wondrous tool.

"A potion," she explains proudly. "Once he's marked me, he'll never get rid of me. And I won't get rid of him either, but that's fine with me." Louise and I fell with laughter. Of course, the other two don't know that Rachel has already tried one of her potions on me. She shakes her head and looks at us sheepishly.

"Yes, Rachel. I'm counting on it. These potions you're making must have some special effect, we'll see," Louise sneers. Meg rolls her eyes and purses her lips skeptically.

Then I looked at the clock on the wall. I still have fifteen minutes to get ready. But these girls, how do I get out of here unnoticed? They are here to help me get dressed. I know from the Luna that Romero will be in the hall in a few minutes to entertain the guests. The Luna has arranged for me to arrive just after midnight.

"Hey, why don't you wait for me here? I want to pray to the moon goddess for a good result. I need some time alone". Almost everyone nods, but Louise stares at me suspiciously.

"I'll come with you. I want to pray too, Zalev has been giving me the cold shoulder and no sex for a few days now. I won't survive that."

Yeah! Trust that bitch, she will always ruin it for me. And of course, it will look suspicious if I refuse her. So I signaled for her to follow me.

We leave the room and walk up the corridor. Around the corner is an apartment that Luna has set up as her personal prayer room. The walls are soundproof and no mind-linking is possible. She does not want to be disturbed while she worships Selene loudly. On her request, the witch Xanna has cast a spell on the apartment to block mind linking.

So this Louise is going to have a great experience, only I won't be able to entertain her in person.

As we enter, I switch on the light.

"There are two rooms here. We will each take one, I want to pray privately without witnesses". I walk to one of the doors, but Louise remains rooted to the spot. Annoyed, I turned to her.

"Did you really want to pray or were you just wanting to babysit me, Louise? Or eavesdropping on me at the door?"

Offended, she dashes into the other room and slams the door behind her. That was faster than I thought. But if I know Louise, she will come out in a moment to spy on me.

I quickly take the key to the room from a vase on the table and lock her door. Louise will stay there for a while before I come to get her. And then I have no time to lose.

I ran to the flat where I lived before I had the pups. My bow, arrow and spear are still there. I quickly change into my black jacket and jeans, pull my hair back into a ponytail and put a cap on my head.

I check the clock, it is only a few minutes to twelve, I have to hurry. But as I was about to leave the room, I spotted Romero and Jace getting into the lift. So they will arrive in the hall later than planned.

I take the stairs to get as close to the stage as possible, to see if a she-wolf dares to claim my true love. I managed to hide in the stairwell, just outside the doors from which Romero was about to enter.

As he finally steps onto the stage, I see his head lift slightly, sniffing the air.

The blood drains from my face and I grit my teeth in anger. My Romero has sniffed out his fated mate, so I am the other woman after all!

Shit! This is bad. But I have no choice.

I draw my bow, the arrow searching for its target, which is about to emerge from the crowd.

With a nervous Jace in his wake, Romero saunters to the center of the stage and sniffs again. By now, the crowd has fallen silent, all eyes fixed on Romero and his doings. Shock appears on the faces of Luna and Alpha, and I see my parents sitting next to them, looking down at the floor.

The tension is rising, everyone is waiting.

"I invite the she-wolf assigned to me by the Moon Goddess to join me here on stage." My heart thunders against my chest, this is the moment I had dreaded but was determined to get through.

No one steps up to the front and everyone turns to look at the unmated wolves gathered at the back of the hall.

But even there they look at each other questioningly.

And then I hear Rachel's voice from behind me, my eyes on Romero who is now turning in my direction.

"Lori, I forgot to mention that the potion only lasts for ten days. If you used it last night, it won't work anymore, it's expired," Rachel whispers hastily.

"Lori, baby. Come to me. Come here, my fated Luna."..