Chapter 4

Liam's POV:

One hour.

One hour until I'd be eighteen officially. One hour until I'd be before the pack elders, representatives from the Council, with the moonlight streaming in, and then, finally, I'd officially become an adult wolf with a mate.

Oh, Goddess. A mate. I was about to be a full-fledged adult, citizen of the pack, soon-to-be Alpha.

Juliana's birthday was in December. Hopefully we'd have a winter mating.

I returned my attention to the blinking alarm class on my bedside table, which I had been watching almost obsessively for the past few hours. Eleven-oh-three. Fifty-seven minutes to go.

"Liam, come down here," Mom called from downstairs. I swallowed, my pulse racing. "We have to get going soon!"

I stood up, stalling for a few more moments by checking myself over again in the mirror and trying to smother my excited grin that somehow kept peeking out, straightening my green tie that Mom said matched my eyes- of course she would know, since our eyes were more or less the same copy of each other- so I trusted her judgement despite not having an eye for this sort of thing myself.

I left my room, my stomach turning in excitement as I descended the stairs, appearing much calmer on the outside than I felt on the inside. It was, in practice, much easier to act self-assured than to actually be the part.

"Lili!" Paisley squealed as she barrelled into my chest, nearly knocking me down and wrapping her arms around me, squeezing my abdomen once before pulling away, looking up at me with wide, excitement-filled hazel eyes. The kitchen's atmosphere was cheerful, a sign of hope in the Cole household. After the rough past few weeks, it wasn't surprising they were looking forward.

"Did Dad let you have a soda?"

"Yep! It was really bubbly," she enthused. "It tasted kinda weird."

"A bit expired," Dad whispered to me as he passed behind me. I raised an eyebrow at him, but he just chuckled and moved behind the counter, wrapping an arm around Mom's waist and pressing a soft kiss to her lips that Paisley and I promptly 'aww'ed at. "So, Liam, you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," I responded with a smile that was only half forced.

"Great." Mom clasped her hands. "Let's get ready to go, kids."

I wasn't able to get a word in with my father as we clambered into the car and started to drive to the Ceremony Hall, just across the street, though the streets were much more crowded than they would usually be since the entire pack was expected to be there unless circumstances demanded otherwise. The rain pounded outside, the constant thrum that had stopped us from simply walking or running across the street and had obviously stopped everyone else in town from doing the exact same thing. There was already a traffic jam at the crossroads that Dad seemed to want to honk angrily at, though Mom placed a hand on his along with a gentle yet stern stare, so he sighed and kissed her hand instead. Even Paisley seemed annoyed by the lack of movement within the traffic.

A couple minutes later, I spotted a couple sentries running through the fray and frantically ushering people along. I understood their haste and dirty looks- only forty minutes on countdown, after all.

Finally we managed to park and dash into the building, a futile attempt in staying dry. Paisley's green dress was splattered by water droplets by the time we got through the crowd and made our way to a corner inside the lobby of the Council Hall. Dad placed his hand on my back, seemingly unconsciously, and pointed across the crowded area to where Aunt Eva was laughing and talking with her family. Sage caught my eyes and began to walk over.

"Paisley, honey, go talk with Aunt Eva and Uncle Nolan and your cousins," Mom said as she grasped Dad's hand. Paisley nodded and turned away obediently, making her way over and passing Sage on the way.

"I'll go greet the Ceremonial Elders and Council Representatives," Dad said, sighing as he kissed Mom's hand.

"I'll go with Paisley and see how your Aunt Eva's doing after her broken foot last week," Mom added with a soft smile, though I wasn't fooled- she wanted to give Sage and I a moment alone before we would be surrounded by others. One last chance to be kids.

They all left as Sage reached me, wearing a suit that looked more or less like my own- though I really had no clue about fashion, the only thing I saw similar between us was the uncomfortable expressions on our faces.

"I can't believe you're almost eighteen," was the first thing he said to me, shaking his head in awe as he took his place next to me. "Then you'll find your mate and I'll be eighteen and I'll find my mate and then we'll become the alpha and beta and oh Goddess, Liam, it's all happening so fast," he said frantically, looking panicked all of the sudden.

"Relax," I said in the most soothing voice I could muster. "Let's think about that when it's not midnight and when I'm not about to be eighteen and actually have a mate and oh Goddess Sage, you're making me freak out!"

"Sorry," he sighed, looking down, "maybe we shouldn't be thinking about this."

"Liam!" another voice called out, and I turned around, smiling, to see Juliana walking towards us. She stood opposite Sage and I, so that we sort of formed a triangle.

"Hey," I smiled at her.

"You're so old," she huffed, crossing her arms across her chest and looking slightly sad at the notion. "It's kinda sad that we might not have that much time together, isn't it? As free wolves, I mean," she said to my expression of confusion. "Even if we do end up being mates, it's kind of forced, isn't it?"

"I guess," I muttered, looking down. I really didn't want to think of it like that.

"Well, we should trust the Moon Goddess's judgement," Sage said firmly, looking down.

"Mmm," I hummed, feeling as though I should be a bit more sturdy in my faith fifteen minutes before I turned eighteen.

I noticed my parents starting to walk over again and evidently, Julie did too, since she grabbed by hand and quickly said, "Even if we don't end up mates, Liam, we're still going to be friends. Got it?"

I nodded, feeling a bit threatened. "Yes ma'am."

Sage and Julie laughed quietly as my parents reached us, and I smiled along- though if anyone was looking close enough, they would have noticed the way it didn't reach my eyes.

"Sage, Juliana, would you mind giving us a moment alone with Liam?" my father asked.

"Of course," they nodded and began to walk away.

"My office, son?"

"Sure."

Dad didn't work away from home a lot, at least when he was doing paperwork, since there wasn't a lot that he couldn't do from home on his computer, but he had an office in the Council Hall in case he was meeting with other pack leaders or Paisley's friends were over and being loud. So his office wasn't very well decorated, except for a few folders filling the cupboards and family photos stretching back to when he and Mom had gotten married, myself not even born yet.

"Are you excited?" was the first thing said by Mom as we entered the room. I shrugged.

"I guess."

"Nervous?" she asked next, nailing my mess of emotions right on the head. I didn't say if this was correct, but I guess she saw it in my face since she nodded with a smile. "That's okay. I know I was so nervous when I first met your father- as, well, mates, not just pack members who spoke every once in a while. Who would have guessed that we would be mates?"

"Grandma Adeline says she knew when you were toddlers," I pointed out.

"That woman will tell you anything if you listen hard enough," Dad muttered, causing Mom to hit his arm with a disapproving expression.

"The point is, Liam," Mom said, turning back to me with a smile, "is that, whether you end up meeting your mate tonight or years from now, you need to take in their feelings. Especially if it's tonight, you'll be prepared to find your mate. The other person most likely won't be. You're not the only one in the situation and you can't lose sight of that."

"I know, I know," I groaned in exasperation. She'd given me the same speech with a few variations many times over the past weeks. Needless to say, she'd engrained two very simple words in my brain: Be nice.

"Okay, okay."

"We ought to get going," Dad said with a glance at the clock. "Only seven minutes until midnight."

I followed my parents out of the office, turning the light off behind us, to find the lobby of the Council Hall nearly empty. The sanctuary of the hall was filled with people talking and laughing, and I could hear the piano music being played spilling out onto the streets.

"You know what to do?" Mom whispered to me as we stood in front of the glass doors that led inwards, the windows near the back already opened to allow the moonlight entrance. I nodded in response; not only had I watched every recording of coming-of-age ceremonies over the past few days, but I also had done extensive research on the topic and had a seventy-three page document online that I had been memorizing- tips on how to not look stupid and the like.

Five minutes on countdown, the doors opened and my parents with interlocking hands walked inside, with me following four feet behind them. I stared straight ahead, through the space between their heads, feeling a lot calmer than I thought I would with near a thousand pack members, along with representatives from the Council and representatives from nearby packs, watching me. Maybe it was the sacredness of the night or maybe it was the nerves finally wearing off, I wasn't sure, but it was good with me.

My mother split off in the front aisle from my father and I, going to sit next to Paisley while we continued forward to the front of the stage.

"Liam Cole," he announced to the room as I kneeled on the floor, feeling quite vulnerable in this position in front of everyone who'd ever punched me before, though of course the training sessions didn't quite have the malicious intent that one might assume when describing without context. "Son of Chase and Maya Cole, brother of Paisley Cole. On this night, the eve of September twenty-seventh, his eighteenth birthday is almost here and therefore the bond between our pack and the Moon Goddess grows ever stronger. Tonight he is here to seek the wisdom and guidance of the Moon Goddess so that he may become a worthy Alpha in the future. I invite the Ceremonial Elders, along with the beta of the pack, to please come forward and bless Liam as he steps onto the threshold of adulthood."

There was a bit of rustling in the crowd as several people stood up, though I couldn't tell exactly who due to the fact that my eyes were fixated on the ground, my slow blinking becoming more therapeutic as time wore on.

There were three Ceremonial Elders in our pack, one being my grandmother who had once claimed to know my parents were mates while they were still in diapers. They all gave me quick blessings, not a word being spoken as they rested a hand atop my head, stayed silent for a moment, and moved on. Then Aunt Eva, the beta, moved forward, but instead of staying entirely silent, she just whispered 'doing good, kid' so quietly that only us two could hear and, when she moved away, I wasn't sure if I'd imagined it. Finally my father touched my head and then that was done.

"Liam, please stand and look out the window behind you," Dad instructed, sounding calm and collected despite the fact that my nerves were finally taking off. Yet I complied, getting to my feet and turning around (quite slowly, for dramatic effect). The moon was in perfect sight from where I was, almost glowing in the sky through the center window.

That was when I heard the grandfather clock in the lobby part of the hall ding twelve times, evidently scaring someone in the audience as a loud thud was heard, but my mind was blanked from all of that.

I could smell them.

It wasn't like anything I'd ever smelled before, something of a mixture between baked goods and new books, with a hint of spices, and there was really no way to describe it other than that, but a million times better.

It wasn't Juliana's scent.

I met her eyes first. She didn't know, but something in my gaze must have told her that it wasn't her because she just nodded with a composed look on her face, and her mother put an arm around her shoulders.

I half-wanted to dwell on it further, to maybe disregard everyone else in the room and personally apologize, but the other part of me that wanted to find my mate was stronger and it led me as to where to look. The back row, on the very left, as inconspicuous as possible. Three figures.

Daniel Scott, one of the pack's food suppliers who had a chicken farm. Father to Adriel.

Adriel Scott, a loner but not in a melodramatic way. He had never known his mother and Daniel refused to say, and despite being cold at first, he was nice enough.

And Milo Lazos-Rodriguez, the pack's omega.

My mate.

I took a step forward, fighting hard to keep from emitting any sort of noise, locking eyes with him. His pupils dilated and he began tugging on Adriel's arm frantically. He looked... scared.

And I've messed it up already, I thought, my brain moving slowly yet somehow at high speeds the same time as the two stood and left, quickly walking out into the wetness outside. I blinked and looked at my father, who had questions running through his eyes. I nodded, unsure how to explain in words.

"You're free to go!" he called to the rest of the room, obviously good news as everyone began hurrying for the exits. I stood there, staring at him and not sure what to do as the room emptied until it was just my family, Juliana, and Sage's family.

"I'm sorry," I began to say to Julie, but she cut me off.

"No, you're not apologizing for this. I refuse," she tsked. "Spill the tea, it's Milo, right?"

I couldn't get any words out except for a groan as I buried my head in my hands. Dad sighed from behind me.

"What the hell, Liam," Aunt Eva shouted as she reached us from where she had been sitting. "If that kid that left was your mate then you better hightail it after him!"

"Mom, I'm not sure if that's the best idea," Sage began to say, but I nodded before she was finished.

"Okay."

"I'm gonna get going," Julie said, looking at her watch before glancing back at us with a smile. "I've gotta work tomorrow."

"Good luck," I joked as I turned around with her and we began to leave the building, Sage hurrying after us. I raised an eyebrow as he slowed to walking next to me.

"Mom told me to come," he explained. "She also said to come back when we're done doing whatever it is we're doing. What are we doing?"

"You're asking me like I know," I sighed.

"Don't you?"

"No."

"Oh."

Leaving the building that night, it was similar to how I'd entered. Cars piled up near the exits, just this time leaving instead of entering, and there was a similar feeling of nervousness in my stomach. The only differences were that now, I had surpassed all that, and I was chasing down the omega.

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this was one of my favorite chapters to write :) I feel like I learned a lot about Liam's character and idk, i just love him as a character I guess. thoughts?

-bloom :)