#Chapter 10: A Grand Affair

(Logan’s POV) I didn’t plan to attend the Mate Ball. Honestly, even in spite of mother’s incessant nagging, I’ve been doing everything I can to avoid it. The idea of being surrounded by hopeful-eyed Alphas and fluttering Lunas made my skin itch. But the envelope sat on my desk for days, taunting me with its gold-embossed seal. Eventually, curiosity—or maybe some buried instinct—won out. I tugged a dark suit from the back of my closet and drove. I’m barely two steps through the grand arched entrance when Emma materializes beside me like a ghost from my past. “Logan!” she breathes, smiling with too much familiarity. “Go in with me?” I hesitate. The polite answer is no, but her hand snakes through the crook of my elbow before I can decline, her perfume thick and cloying. I allow it, though every muscle in my arm tightens. I should have come alone. Against mother’s unwelcome advice, I intended to come alone. They didn’t put my name on the guest list. I hadn’t RSVP