ISOBEL
My heart pounded in my chest as I waited for Mason's response to Alpha Francis's question. Mason sat still, and his face was as blank as ever.
"Oh, who's he going to pick?" A lady by my side commented.
"He better pick the hottest one because Alpha Francis organized this party specifically for him." Another lady replied.
"You know, for a moment there, I thought Alpha Francis wouldn't throw a party for Alpha Mason since he's always so strict, but here we are." The first lady spoke again.
Another woman chimed in with a laugh, "How can you think that? Like you don't know Alpha Francis and his womanizing nature."
I didn't know if I should continue listen to them or look to see who Mason would pick, that's if he would pick because he looked uninterested like he didn't want to be there and was only honoring Alpha Francis.
My heart raced as I waited for Mason, and to my surprise, Mason stretched out his hand and pointed to a lady. She had blonde hair and she was dressed in the same lingerie as the other ladies.
In that moment, I lost balance, and the world around me seemed to spin around. I watched as the lady smiled and walked up to Mason, then he pulled him up and led him out of the room through the back, followed by cheers from the men.
I wasn't a child and I didn't need someone to explain what was going on as it was obvious that Mason and the lady would spend the night together.
"He's got eyes and he knows what he wants," I heard the lady beside me say.
"I love men like him who don't waste time with the woman of their choice and go straight to the point. Did you see how he just picked her like he's had his eyes on her for a while?"
"Exactly. I even thought he was uninterested all these while. He's totally my type!"
Their conversation suddenly stopped and I figured out that they had noticed that I was the woman who came in with Mason and so they thought it was awkward to continue talking in my presence.
I couldn't take it anymore and I squeezed my way out and headed back to the room. I could feel some eyes on my back and I could tell that some of the women were probably looking pitifully at me and I didn't care. I just wanted to lie in bed.
I didn't know what to feel. I didn't know if I should be angry or jealous. Mason had rejected my rejection. If he had accepted my rejection or better still, reject me himself, then I wouldn't be in this mess.
At this point, it was obvious that he was playing mind games with me and he was getting me good. This was why I hated the mate bond. Why did we have to get so attached to someone who wants nothing to do with us? It was cruel and unfair.
"He doesn't care about you, so you shouldn't care about him," I said out loud and repeated it several times so it'd get better but the more I said the words, the more I felt like I loser.
Mason was out there, having a good time, while I was here, dying inside. I hated this, I hated everything. I wanted to go home. Although, I was treated horribly at home, but I could go somewhere quiet and be alone.
But here, I didn't know anyone and there was nowhere I could go. I felt trapped and stuck. It was suffocating, but I shouldn't be because this was what I wanted right? So I should be glad that he was finally letting me be.
Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door and I quickly sat up and composed myself. I didn't want Mason to think that I was sulking because he chose to spend the night with a blonde woman since I wasn't blonde, and apparently, he liked blondes.
I composed myself and went straight to the door where I pulled it open, "You're ba—,"
I didn't get to complete my sentence as I saw that the person who was by the door wasn't the person who I expected.
"Alpha Francis, what are you doing here?" I asked, surprised. Wasn't he supposed to be in the party? He was the host and I saw him pick two women. He was supposed to be occupied with them.
"Were you expecting someone?" He asked with his usual dazzling smile.
"N..no, of course not," I stuttered and then cleared my throat to compose myself, "Mason is busy and he probably won't be here all night, so no."
Alpha Francis smiled when he heard me and I quickly realized that I had blurted out more than I should have and I wanted to facepalm myself for that.
"Yeah, he is," He replied, and for a moment, neither of us said a word and it felt like he wanted me to soak in the fact that Mason was with another woman for the night. It felt weird.
"Alpha Francis—"
"You can just call me Francis,"
"Huh?"
"There's no need for the formalities. You're Mason's sister, and he's my friend so there's no need to be formal with each other." He explained and though it was a valid reason, something didn't sit right with me.
"Francis…," I let the name roll of my tongue and he gave me an encouraging nod which was accompanied with a smile.
"See? It wasn't hard." He smiled.
"Yeah," I agreed, "But, if I may ask, what are you doing here by this time."
"Oh," his smile fell and his face turned serious, "I was wondering if we could take a stroll and I could show you around the pack."
My eyes widened in excitement as I was finally going to leave the room and get some fresh air. Without hesitating, I agreed. "Of course!"