Chapter 3 Pain

POV: Autumn

After training, I went back to my room in the pack house, wanting to take a nice long shower. Next thing I know, I have someone banging at my bathroom door. I rolled my eyes and yelled "WHAT!"

"Dude relax, it's me," my best friend, Jaxson, yelled back. I groaned, my shower cut short, grabbed my towel and wrapped it around me. I unlocked the bathroom door and walked out.

"Damn girl! I do not know how you haven't had every mate-less guy here after you!" he said to me while checking me out. I rolled my eyes. I would have been offended if he didn't have a mate.

"Probably because I beat the shit out of all of them. They don't want someone more powerful than them," I said. He rolled his eyes.

"Well, I'm still surprised that you are a virgin though," he shrugged.

"Oh, shut up! I don't want just anyone to take my virginity. I want it to be my mate. I'm not like all the other she-wolves who just think about sex," I sighed. I got hit on so many times I just brushed them off. I got called a prude a lot.

"You will eventually find your mate. Anyway, I brought good news. No night patrol tonight. I talked to your mom and asked for you to have a night off. Me. You. Drinks. Tonight," He said excitedly. I shook my head.

"No, we are not. You got me in trouble last time," I said, as rolling my eyes.

"No, that was not me. That was Darren and his bitch of a mate causing trouble," he said angrily.

"You encouraged me to fight her! I was too drunk to disagree," I sighed.

"That bitch had it coming. The way she was talking about how you are a prude and how she was jealous because you kept getting hit on and she wasn't. Then she got mad because you kept turning them down," Jaxson growled.

"True. Okay, I will go, but is it only going to be me and you? Is Mia not coming? I don't want to make her mad," I said. Mia is Jaxson's mate.

"Mia can't go out right now for a few months. Uhm, I guess I should tell you. Mia and I are expecting pups! She has a whole reveal planned so act surprised!" he said excitedly. I grabbed him and hugged him.

"Oh, my goddess Jax! I am so happy! I'm going to be an aunt!" I yelled, jumping up and down while holding my towel.

"Yes! I know but you must act surprised at the party or Mia will kill me. No one is supposed to know, so be quiet!" Jaxon hushed me, putting a finger on his lips. "Now get dressed! We are going out!"

I went into my walk-in closet and put on a white tank top with a blue lacy top over it, and I put on a pair of black leggings. To finish off the look, I put on my knee-high silver boots. I walk out of my closet and go to my bathroom to do my hair and makeup. Since my hair is naturally curly, I put some curl cream on it while it's still damp. For makeup, I do a smokey eye and cat eyes, my signature to bring out my eyes. I walked back out to my room with Jaxson sitting on my bed. He looks over and his mouth is a big O.

"Girl, you are so getting hit on tonight! Let's go!" he said while grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the room.

We walked to the club since it's only three blocks away. We get into the line to get in, and the next thing I know we are being escorted to a VIP booth. I stopped walking and looked at the bouncer.

"Daughter of the Alpha gets to go in immediately, you know that," the big bouncer said to me.

"I didn't want to make a big deal about me being here. Which is why I just wanted to wait in line," I growled.

"Yeah, it's not happening, I will get into trouble, you will have a guard around you too. Alphas orders," he laughed. I sighed and rolled my eyes as I gestured toward the booth.

We get our drinks and I look at my guard and just sigh.

"Why does my dad think I can't protect myself? I mean he puts me in charge of the training and night patrol," I questioned.

Jaxson just shrugged his shoulders while leading us to the bar for drinks. The bartender looks me up and down, undressing me with his eyes. I scoff.

"What can I get this sexy lady to drink?" he asked.

"I want a Jack and coke," I said coldly. He shakes his head.

"Are you sure you can handle whiskey?" He laughed. Jaxson decided this was the time to step in.

"Man, I've seen this woman out-drink three men, she will be fine getting her a drink. I want a scotch on the rocks. And any more comments about my friend here and I will end you," he growled. The bartender turned to get the drinks ready. After a few minutes, he brings back two drinks. We down them and headed to the dance floor. After dancing till we couldn't dance any more, several drinks, and many guys hitting on me, we decided it was time to head back. I got Jaxson to his house safely to say hi to Mia, then headed to the pack house. As I walked into the pack house, my sister-in-law came to me squealing. I cringe.

"Autumn! Autumn guess what!" Brittany, my brother's mate, my irritating sister-in-law, screeched. I scrunched my face up.

"Brittany lowers your voice you're going to wake up the whole damn pack house. are you and Darren finally moving out of the pack house?" I said hopefully.

"No, he still wants to find the perfect house. Anyway, other good news is the Alpha King is having a birthday ball and we are invited! I must find out what to wear, how to do my hair, Oh my goddess I cannot wait, it's just in 2 weeks!" she squealed.

"Great one more responsibly I have to do," I rolled my eyes and walked away to my room to lie down and try to sleep before the sun rises in two hours.

The next morning, my alarm goes off and I groan. I hit the snooze knowing if I stay in bed too long my mom will be up here pouring ice water on me. I get up, take a quick shower, get dressed, and head to breakfast.

"Do you have a hangover after your night out?" My mom asked.

"Yes," I groaned. Holding my head, trying to eat as many pancakes as I can to try to soak up the alcohol. Mom gave me a disapproving look, probably because she didn't approve of me skipping my responsibilities.

"Yeah, I figured that. Anyway, did you hear we got invited to the King's birthday ball?" mom questioned. I sighed

"Yes, I heard last night when I got in from Brittany. I think I'm going to stay home, though we all can't go and leave the pack alone," I tried to reason to get out of going.

"Absolutely not! You are going. The future beta will be staying back," mom scolded.

"Seriously! I must go to this stupid thing, but Jaxson gets to stay here! That is not fair at all. I don't want to go with out my best friend." I yelled. Yeah, Jaxon is the future beta, second in command. They wanted someone older than Darren to take the beta spot to help make reasonable decisions, since at 19 Darren would take over.

"Yes, and you are going to be on your best behavior," mom said. I just sighed and gave mom a look. I started to head to the training field. Jaxson comes up to me, I glare at him.

"I hear you get to stay here while I go to this stupid ball," I growled.

"Look, it wasn't my choice. Even though I didn't want to go, but I wanted to be there for you," Jax sighed. I just shook my head and went to address the warriors for training.

"Alright, let's start off with running five miles, then we will partner up and do some sparing. Off we go," I yelled. We all started running. Jax and I started running together, then eventually made it a race for us. They let me run the training and not Jax, because I am more ruthless than anyone else and a lot of the wolves fear me more than Jaxson. I ended up winning our race, and while Jaxson got backwinded, I laughed at him. Five miles is just a warm up for me.

"I don't know how you do that without getting winded. I've been training with you since you took over and still can't catch you and get winded." He said out of breath. I laugh.

"I've been running 15 miles a day since I was ten. It comes naturally. Then also all the night patrol," I shrugged. The rest of the wolves showed up.

"Alright, get a drink, then pair up. Work on dodging attacks and counterattacks," I commanded. Jaxson and I paired up. Started sparing, and he tried to land a punch to the ribs. I flipped over his head, crouched, and knocked his legs out from under him. Training went on for another two hours. Jax tried to land a punch and each time I beat him, after about 50 tries he had up and me and he started circling and giving instructions to the wolves, who struggled a little more with landing a counterattack. After training had done, me and Jaxson headed to the pack house for lunch.

"You know the reason why you have to go to the ball, right?" Jaxson asked.

"No?" I said skeptically.

"The alpha king is looking for his mate and he wants as many mates-less she wolves there as possible. He is forced to pick a mate if he does not find his destined mate by his 30th birthday in three weeks. I feel for whoever is his mate or if he chooses a mate, he is known to be one of the meanest wolves ever. Everyone fears him and what his wolf does when he takes control," Jaxson explained. He had a grave look on his face.

"So, I have to go to this thing because I'm mateless," I growled while rolling my eyes.

"Yes, pretty much," Jaxson sighed.

"Great, just what I need more disappointment of never finding my mate. But even if the alpha king finds his mate, he won't hurt them. He physically can't with the mate bond. He would want to protect her from everyone. Right," I ask, letting out a sigh. Jaxson gave me a skeptical look.

"For us that's correct, but for a wolf like him, I don't put anything past him, he is the king. He kills just for fun. But I have a feeling you will be finding your mate. I have a good feeling a whole bunch of packs will be there," he said excitedly. I just gave him a look to say I'm not giving my hopes up. We headed into the pack house. Once everyone settled down, Mia stood up and got everyone's attention. She was so pretty. Everyone was so jealous of Jax when they were mated. She had blond hair with blue eyes. Tall and perfect body. So, she normally has all eyes on her from when she walks into the room till she leaves. She smiles warmly at everyone while reaching for Jaxson's hand to stand up with her

"Jaxon and I have an announcement. We are expecting a pup!" she says, beaming with happiness and a smile that reaches her eyes. Everyone started cheering. I am the first one to get up to hug the lovely couple.

"I'm so happy for you two!" I said, hugging them tighter with unshed tears in my eyes. I left room for everyone else to give them their congratulations. I made my way up to my room and groaned as I lay on the bed. I don't know why I can't find my mate.

"It'll be okay Autumn. We will find our mate eventually and be whole," Athena tried to reason with me.

"I feel like a failure being this old and not finding my mate. I feel like I let you down, especially when I stopped looking," I sighed, putting my face on the pillow and letting the tears flow freely.

"Hey, now we can't look forever or all over the world. I don't blame you for stopping the search," She whimpered.

"I just want to sleep," I said to Athena in our head. She went to the back of my mind, giving me peace and leaving me alone. I sighed, hoping I wasn't too harsh to her. I just want my mate to love and be with. I gave into the darkness and let sleep take over.

About an hour later, my mom was knocking on my door.

"Autumn honey are you in there?" she questioned.

"Yeah, I'm here just taking a nap before my night patrol," I sighed. Mom walked in and saw my puffy eyes. She came over and laid down on my bed, pulling me to her chest. She stroked my hair.

"It's okay baby, you will find your mate and be happy," mom reassured me. Mom knew exactly what to do and say. I poured my heart out to her about being as old as I am and still not finding my mate. Telling her about how seeing Jaxon and Mia being so happy together, announcing their pup made me sad and want my mate even more. She just pulled me closer and played with my hair.

"Well, I came here to tell you we are about to go shopping for a dress for the ball," she said. I sighed.

"Alright let's go," I said, not getting excited. I hated shopping with a passion. we go down stairs and I saw Brittany waiting by the front door. I groaned. One thing I hated more than shopping is shopping with her. I sucked it up, went out the door and got into the car to take us to the formal dress shop. We arrived at the shop. I found a long sapphire gown with lace sleeves. I instantly tried it on. I came out to find my mom and Brittany gawking at me.

"Oh, my goddess," Brittany said with jealousy swirling in her eyes. I smirked

"I think this is the one!" I said excitedly, giving a big smile.

"Absolutely is. You look gorgeous!" mom squealed.

"I wish I could find a dress as fast as you," Brittany sneered, rolling her eyes. I just smiled, not wanting to get into a fight with her. Three hours later, mom and Brittany finally picked their dresses, and I picked out a pair of black flats to go with the dress. A practical choice for a wolf who may have to fight at any time.