[Seven Years Ago]
[Incayon Pack, Obren Kingdom]
As they waited for the one who would have her first dance, a girl stepped forward. She was equally as beautiful as the birthday girl, but she didn't come close to the girl of the day's beauty.
Master could sense that the girl was a royal, but that did not concern him. What he wanted to know was what would happen. He could see the stars in the birthday girl's eyes and he felt jealous, to the point that he let out a growl.
Raqeeb had to hold his Master's arm back, to stop him from going into the dance floor and making a fool of himself. Maybe he wouldn't, but that was a gamble that Raqeeb wasn't willing to bet on.
"You look so beautiful, my love. The stars are bright for you tonight. Happy birthday, my sweet Rania," the girl said when she got to the birthday girl, one that they had now learned was called Rania.
"Happiness looks good on you, my beautiful," the woman said and the master let out another low growl.
At that, Rania turned to where the growl had come from, her entire being alert, like she was trying to look for the threat. However, when her eyes settled on Master's, she just sighed, before she went back to focusing on the woman with her on the dance floor.
"What does that mean?" the master whispered at Raqeeb who had seen the interaction, however brief it had been.
"She doesn't think of you as a threat. All is well," Raqeeb said like that was supposed to make the man feel better.
Perhaps it did because, for the rest of the evening, the master didn't say anything. Instead, he and Raqeeb went to sit in a corner and watched Rania dance the night away and enjoy themselves.
"Master, I think we should leave too. We already know where she is and if you're impressed with her, we can come for her some other day," Raqeeb said hours later when everyone was slowly dispersing.
"I will be back for her. Not anytime soon though. I still have things to sort, before you can drag her to my palace," Master said.
Raqeeb didn't say anything.
He understood what the Master meant and he knew that they would come back when the time was right. What mattered was that the master had found what he was looking for and nothing would stop him, not even time.
"Shall we?" Master asked once they were outside and he had created the portal.
"Yes, Master Seto," Raqeeb said, before going through.
However, they had failed to see the beautiful girl in the night, who had been watching them the whole time and had followed them. Or maybe the Master had seen her and figured this wasn't the time.
"So, he has a name, huh? Master Seto… Where have I heard that name before?" Rania asked as the portal disappeared.
"What are you doing out here again?" the girl from before asked, bringing Rania back to her reality.
"Just getting some air. Let's go back in. It's time for me to meet the unmated males and find my mate," Rania said with a prolonged sigh and the girl just smacked her head as if it wasn't that bad.
"You're always pessimistic."
"Just being realistic, Dalrae. Come, let's get this over and done with," Rania said before she walked back into the hall, while her head was filled with the name Seto. She would probably look into the name later.
'Was that the Kaisei Seto?' Rania thought to herself as she went back in.
Would she be okay if she knew that she was right about the man she had just seen?
*******
The night was beautiful, with the moon shining, and the beautiful sounds that came from the orchestral band in the pack lands. What made it even prettier were the people who had shown up to the annual Incayon mating ball.
They were here to celebrate their friends and hope their enemies got ugly mates, but then, in a pack where beauty was something worth noting, it was impossible to find an ugly mate.
When she had come back to the ball, after seeing Master Seto disappear, Rania had gone to mingle with people, because she knew she needed to be there, given she was the reason this ball was held here and on her birthday.
She had to get a mate today, and get over it.
She never cared for birthdays; always thought they were a waste of time, however, tonight, something about that changed, when she caught a whiff of her new favorite scent.
She had found the one meant for her, her soulmate and she was so excited and anxious about the whole thing. It was understandable though, considering she had been hoping for this for months since she had gotten her wolf.
"Dalrae! I saw him! I saw him today!"
An overly excited wolf shouted at her best friend who was just watching her, a genuine smile plastered on her face.
"Hey, hey Rania, calm down yeah? Who did you meet that got you this excited?" Dalrae had said to her best friend who looked like she had the whole world in her hands right at that moment.
"Him, Dalrae. I met my mate!" Rania whispered, afraid that if she spoke out loud, she would scare him and he would leave her. They had both heard of werewolves being rejected by their mates, and while it was not right, the alphas had no right to intervene.
Wolves had the right to accept or reject their mates, and the goddess would always give them other mates. After all, the trick was to keep the werewolves functioning. They were her people, so it was understandable.
Rania, in her state, hadn't even thought that it was possible for her to be rejected. So, she rejoiced at the idea of having a mate. She was happy and everyone in the pack could feel it. Anyone could tell that the future alpha had gotten her mate.
Some were happy for her, while others were expectedly envious, but they were not envious of Rania. They were envious of the alpha's possible mate. People wanted Rania for their children, because Rania was the perfect girl.
She was diligent and did everything gracefully, not to mention she had a beautiful heart. Rania was love in every aspect.
"Oh, Rani! That's great news!" Dalrae jumped along with her best friend.
She was truly happy for Rania. She knew how much this night and the new revelation meant to her friend, which was also why she wished for happiness for her.
Her friend deserved to be happy and she would always be there for her no matter what happened in the future. They had promised never to leave each other, even if they had their mates.
"Where is he?" Dalrae asked, curious to see who had made the ever quiet and lethal Rania transform into this carefree bird who only seemed to be thinking about her mate. It was a pretty sight, no doubt, but just like everyone, she wanted to see who was lucky enough to be mated to Kim Rania.
"He's with the warriors. However, let's continue with the celebration, I'll go to him later, I don't want to scare him with my excitement. He may even reject me if he sees how happy I am. Goodness, Dalrae, I feel so happy!"
"Okay, love. We don't want you fainting before you meet your mate, okay. So, relax and act naturally. This is your birthday and we're going to celebrate it like we always do!"
"You're right, I need to act natural! Act natural, yeah," Rania repeated it to herself almost like she didn't want her mate to catch her off guard.
Tonight was her night and she would be happy about it.
She would try and enjoy it to the fullest, but would it be worth enjoying?
A few hours into the long night, Rania excused herself to use the washroom. She hadn't seen Dalrae in a while and had assumed that her best friend was in that direction too. Besides, that is where they always were, considering they were loners.
It was crazy how powerful they were and didn't have people in their circle. However, they couldn't be blamed. Their parents had protected them too much that they literally didn't know how to interact with anyone other than themselves.
Passing through the drunk teens, Rania scowled at their behavior, but didn't worry too much because no one would be hurting anyone anyway. Those who had found their mates were already bonding with each other.
It was expected anyway.
When Rania got to the hallway to the washrooms, she caught a thick whiff of two very familiar scents. One belonged to her best friend and the other belonged to her mate, or rather, the man she had just realized was her mate tonight.
"Oh no," was all Rania could manage when she saw the sight before her. The scent of her mate filling her nose, made her feel a tinge of desire in her undies, but she knew this was not the time for that.