I was awakened from my dreamlike state by the sound of people around us murmuring and whispering things. I tore my gaze away from Alpha Nolan, which proved to be much harder than I had suspected, and suddenly, reality hit me.

It seemed to hit Alpha Nolan at the same moment too, because the second our eyes were ripped from each other's he almost pushed me away from him. He looked down at himself, as if making sure that he was still there, and then back to me, clearly as confused as I felt. But there was something else in his eyes that made me uneasy. His piercing blue eyes were clouded with a hungry anger.

Suddenly, somebody pushed their way to the front of the crowd, which was now surrounding Nolan and me. My father, the beta of the Golden Walkers Pack, emerged followed by a few other high-ranking officials from other packs.

My father's bewildered and somewhat horrified face made me want to melt into the ground, "What has happened, Charlotte?" He kept his burning gaze on me.

I tried to appear strong and opened my mouth to speak but no words came out. Amidst my struggling, I could sense Alpha Nolan inch closer to me again, but he offered no help.

What could I say? That Alpha Nolan and I were fate mates? I shook my head slightly- it could not be. My thoughts kept going back to his deceased previous mate and how there was no way he could have gotten over her that quickly. But he does not have a choice.

I don't know how long I stood there in silence, with every eye in the room trained on me, before, suddenly, a pair of rough hands grabbed my arm. I let out a small shout of surprise as nails dug into my skin.

It was my brother, Jeremy, whose face was distorted in anger as he tried pulling me away from Alpha Nolan. But before Jeremy could get me far, a menacing growl erupted from Alpha Nolan and, in an instant, Nolan wrenched Jeremy away from me.

Now, Nolan stood in-between my brother and I, shielding me from my brother's fierce, brown gaze. Nolan's hand lightly grazed my arm, sending an electrifying chill down my back.

Jeremy stared at me for a second, looking slightly betrayed, as if I had a choice in Alpha Nolan choosing me. The look he gave me made my insides twist and I attempted to walk around Nolan to reach Jeremy, but Nolan gave me a dark look, and held me back with a shaking hand.

After a few seconds of strained silence, Jeremy erupted, "Not my sister you son of a bitch." He suddenly advanced on Nolan, his entire body shaking with might and fury. Before Jeremy could reach Nolan however, dozens of people from the crowd leapt forward to hold his struggling body back.

My brother held a special hatred for the Black Lupis Pack, ever since one of their members blinded his mate in a border quarrel. And now his only sister and longest friend was mated to the pack's alpha.

I realized that Nolan was shaking too, although nobody from his pack attempted to calm him down. I gently reached out a hand to touch his arm, and instantly I felt him stiffen beneath my touch.

"What is done is done," my father said calmly as he stood in-between my brother and Alpha Nolan, "Somebody take him out- there will be no fighting tonight," he motioned to my brother and a group of my pack members escorted him from the room. As Jeremy vanished from my sight I lightly held out my hand in the direction he had gone, as if that could make my dear brother come back.

The room erupted into a frenzy of chatter and people were staring at me with mixed expressions- shock, excitement, and even some horror.

"We need to leave..." Alpha Nolan muttered, although I do not know if he directed it toward me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw other Black Lupis pack members nod and begin to clear the way to the nearest exit.

In an instant, Nolan's hand was wrapped around my arm in a steel lock as he pulled me along with him as we reached the exit and stepped into the cool night air.

Once we were outside, I looked behind me, "What about my family?" My voice was full of fear as I searched the crowd for a familiar face.

When Nolan said nothing and continued to force me over to a black SUV that just pulled up, I began to struggle against him.

"Stop! My family! ...I need to say goodbye!" I yelled, twisting my arm away from him only for my other arm to be snatched by him with ease. Fear began to consume me and a feeling of panic rose in my throat as I continued to fight my mate. When he would not release my arm, I spun around as fast as I could and punched his face.

When my fist made contact with his face I let out a strangled yell as I felt my knuckles crack. I cursed loudly and gripped my hand, while he stood unfazed before me.

His beautiful eyes connected with mine in a way that took my breath away, but there was a certain fierceness in his gaze that stopped my fighting all together and I just clutched my broken hand.

He pulled me closer to him, "Do not ever do that again." He growled in my ear, a sound that made me shudder as I felt his breath graze my skin.

Nolan almost shoved me inside of the SUV, and, once I was inside the car, I was face-to-face with a girl who looked a little older than me. She had short, cropped black hair with highlights of red spread throughout it. She possessed the same fierce eyes as Nolan, except hers were filled with pity as the door slammed behind me.

Nolan was in the driver's seat, a rigid expression on his face as he put the keys into the SUV and shifted it into drive. The car was full of strangers that sat in silence, but occasionally I would catch a pair of eyes watching me.

Tears began to fill my eyes and I did my best to wipe them away before anyone noticed, but one rogue tear slipped down my cheek and I looked up to see Nolan's piercing eyes on me from the rearview mirror. I quickly glanced away and rested my head against the seatbelt as I looked out into the night sky.

Everything had happened so fast that I hardly had time to think, but now that I was alone in the silence, everything caught up to me, and I could feel myself shaking from tears as we drove into darkness.