by Tamara White
“We’ll get everything ready so you two can talk,” Nate says. He leaves James and I to take seats in the recliners at the back of the room. I leave a seat between us and turn to face him, head on.
“Okay, so what’s up?”
He fidgets with his hands which is such a hilarious thing to see from such an intimidating man.
“I’m not sure how much of this will make sense but Malina told me to come to you. One of the last visions she had before she cursed us, was of you and your mates. She told me you would need me to help you control your powers and that I needed to protect you when you needed it most. I die protecting you but it’s a vision I’m willing to fulfil to be with her again.
Malina wanted me to warn you. Now that you’ve shifted, your powers will reveal themselves like they did while we were outside. It wasn’t just your dominance that forced Luke to submit, it was power as Alpha Queen. In the vision, you also had the ability to heal, detect lies, and turn humans.”
Whoa, hold on a second, Turn humans? Is that even possible? From what I read in the journal, we can’t turn anyone. They have to be born a wolf. What he’s saying contradicts all of what I’ve been learning.
“I don’t think you know what you’re talking about. Nowhere in the journal does it say any of us can turn humans. Least of all me.”
“Well, no it wouldn’t because everyone would hunt you down until you were a slave or dead. Some Alphas seek power more than they care to admit. Working with the rogues, I learnt that everyone has a price for more power. If they heard you could turn more people into easily controlled wolves, then they could build an army. Imagine how powerful someone could be if they could change hundreds, thousands, possibly even millions, if they were ambitious enough,” he says solemnly. I take it all in thinking of the ramifications.
Would someone really do that? Wouldn’t that just mean more wolves to challenge them? This world is so much more complicated than I expected.
“Okay, say you’re right and someone tried to use my ability to turn more people, they’d still have to go through everyone to get to me. That’s not exactly easy. What happened with you in the woods was a fluke. I’m barely ever alone and after that, I don’t think anyone will leave me alone for a long time,” I tell him, thinking of how protective they’re going to get.
“You’ve got that right. Two of us will always be around you and all of us will be with you if you leave the pack property,” Jason says having heard the tail end of our conversation.
Waving off his concern, I go back to the conversation with James. “So, what about the lying? How will I tell?”
“You use scent. Malina could always tell if one of us lied. She described it as a bitter smell coating their words. While our scent is already strong, I could still never smell the bitter scent she described. I trusted her though. The amount of times we caught Petra and Lucinda in lies was remarkable,” he says fondly. I hear his love for his daughters in his voice and admire his devotion. He has lived through watching them die. How is that even possible?
“Sorry before I forget, I have to ask. How are you still alive? Shouldn’t you be long dead?”
“I wondered when you’d ask. Malina and Nora had a small amount of energy leftover that they used to extend my age. Unfortunately, it ends when I’ve fulfilled my job. I won’t know exactly when that time is until it happens.” It leaves me a little unnerved that he’s so blasé about his impending death.
“Okay well, if there isn’t anything else? Do you mind if we get back to the movie? You can stay if you like?” I offer, hoping he refuses. My mates and I have barely been spending time together since I started learning about the packs. The only real time we have is at the end of the day and then we usually end up watching a movie before crashing. Other nights, I go straight to my room and one of them, Jake or Rick, has a sleepover.
“No, I’ll leave you and your mates. Thank you for offering though. We should still speak later about being able to use your will. If you put too much force into what you’re saying, you could unintentionally force someone to do what you want,” he says, giving me one last warning before leaving.
“Well, that was creepy,” Pete says, picking me up. I wrap my legs around his waist until we get close to the mattresses, waiting for him to toss me. Its became our routine. One of them picks me up and tosses me on the mattress like a child.
The first time was after I’d spent the day with my grandparents learning all their etiquette for when the diplomacy trial takes place. It was all how to sit, how to eat, how to blow my nose, anything that seemed pointless to me but important to Monique. Anyway, when I got back here I was depressed thinking about how tiring it will be to lead when Pete scooped me up, tossed me towards the mattresses and I landed giggling like a child. The boys all thought it was hilarious to hear my girlish giggles so they each took a turn. Nate didn’t even reprimand Pete for his childish behaviour, he just joined in on the fun.
“So, what are we watching?” I ask, looking at each of the guys.
“Nope, you can’t distract us with talk of the movie. We want to know what the hell kind of magic you worked? You were already pretty before, but now you look like a goddess,” Jonnie says sighing softly.
I have no idea what he means. There was barely time for me to look at myself after the shift, getting changed, or before meeting the Elders.
“How do I look? I haven’t seen myself yet,” I admit anxiously. Dad told me that after the shift I would be ten times prettier than I was but I’m scared. What if it just made me look worse? And what did my wolf look like?
“Come with me, I want you to see, just how amazing you are.” Jonnie holds out a hand, helping me to my feet so we can go to his room next door.
He shares a room with Mitchell, and it’s such a mix of colors that it suits both of them. While they each have individual tastes, their room shows how eclectic they can be.
One side of the room has posters hanging on the wall. A variety of different tastes are displayed. There’s a few small AC/DC album cover posters, a large Ed Sheeran album cover on the roof and pictures of various other artist’s albums that I have no clue about. Then there’s car and bike pictures pinned up too, though I have no idea what they are. Cars are not my thing. Bikes however, I love me a good Harley. One of my friends at the last school I was at, had a beautiful remodelled engine that purred underneath you. I went for one ride, before Dad banned me.
“Over here, Dani. We have a full-length mirror in our closet,” Jonnie says leading me to a door that looks like it leads to another room and in reality, it may as well be. The closet is massive.
It’s parted down the middle and I see my reflection right at the end. I barely notice that the boy’s clothes are separated on either side, because all I see is myself. The shift really did change me.
If it’s possible, I look taller and leaner. My body has filled out much better than before. Instead of being a stick figure with boobs, my body has equalled out it’s proportion. My ass isn’t as big but that could just be because my hips and thighs have filled out. Whoa! Look at my boobs! They were a generous C-cup before the shift, now they are on the verge of being a D-cup and are slightly perkier than before.
My face is still rounded out, though plumper then before. My lips are fuller, eyes brighter, and my hair is magnificent. Vibrant auburn hair now highlights my face instead of a ginger orange that was so pale it was almost gross. I look like a grown woman, a princess, a leader.
Chapter 22
“So, what did you think?” Mitchell asks while Jonnie and I sit back on the mattress. I’m still shocked at how amazing I looked.
“I don’t know. It must be some kind of trick, I doubt I could have changed that much, just from my shift.”
“Or you just really look that beautiful because you were supposed to be that beautiful. Don’t get me wrong, I thought you were gorgeous when I first met you, now it’s like you’ve gone from a butterfly, to an even more beautiful butterfly,” Nate
says blushing.
“Aw that’s so sweet. Thank you, Nate.” I guess if I keep picking at it, I’ll probably go back to the ugly caterpillar.
“What about my wolf? What’d she look like? Was she pretty?” I ask nervously biting my nails. I’ve been waiting years to find out what my wolf looked like, only to be disappointed when I was supposed to shift.
Now I can actually shift, I’m excited to find out what we looked like.
“She was beautiful. Your coat was a glossy black with white and beige markings. You had a mask of markings around your face and ear, much like a mask. Then you had beige marks around your midriff like a saddle. You were also quite huge compared to the others. If I had to guess, I’d say you were only an inch or so shorter than Cam which is pretty impressive,” Jason says, a note of awe on his voice.
“Cool. So she was badass right?” I ask causing a few chuckles.
“Yes Dani, extremely badass,” Pete grins back.
I’m glad to know what she looks like but maybe next time I can get someone to take a picture for me.
Getting back to our quality time together, “So, what movie did you pick?”
“You’re going to love this. Pete told us about this awesome spaceship movie he found the other day. It’s called ‘The Fault in Our Stars.’ I’m so excited,” Cam replies, splayed out on the mattress.
Trying hard not to laugh, I seek out Pete and see him smirking at me beside the DVD player. He knows it’s not a sci-fi movie but it was actually a really good movie, so I’ll let this play out. It may be sappy, but I love the tragic lover’s storyline. It’s so sad yet so sweet.
***
We’re halfway through the movie when Nate gets suspicious. “Pete, are you sure you put the right movie in?”
I grin, hiding my face in Pete’s chest. If Nate sees me smiling, he’ll know straight away that Pete was up to no good.
“Yeah man, it’s the right one. It gets good soon, I promise,” he tells him over my head. Laying between them I know I’m going to be stuck when the fight breaks out. No sooner do I think it; I feel Nate reach over my back and hit Pete.
“Dude, what was that for?” he asks offended.
“I just googled, ‘The Fault In Our Stars.’ Guess what it said. A tragic romance. No space, no aliens, no fighting. You tricked us, you ass,” he says, a note of laughter in his voice. That’s a good sign that he can joke about it.
“Well how else was I going to get the group to branch out into new things if we’re all watching action shit all the time. In case you guys haven’t noticed, there is a lady present. She doesn’t want to watch action movies all the time,” Pete says relying on me to back him up.
“Oh no you don’t buddy. Action and Horror are my favourite genres, then comedy. Romance is nowhere near the top of my list. That’s all on you,” I smirk.
“You traitor. I try to do something nice and you betray me like this. How will my heart ever recover?” he gasps clutching his chest.
I laugh at his dramatics and wiggle my body close enough that I can look him in the eyes. He hides so much of his internal pain through his humor but when I look into his blue eyes, I see how much pain he’s holding back. I hope one day when I look, all I’ll see is hope and joy.
His father has screwed up his life so much and without the soft touch of his mother, he uses it as a defence mechanism.
There’s nothing I can do to fix it now but in time, I hope we get close that I can erase that pain. For now, I can distract him and hopefully make him feel more at ease. Though I don’t know if what I do next is for me or him.
I lean close, my lips barely an inch from his own, close enough that if he moved we’d be kissing. I caress him softly on the lips and let my wolf rise to the surface so she can comfort him. She sends some of our essence through to his wolf and I feel a weight lift from his heart. He’s finally content. Not completely happy, but not mourning something he can’t change.
“Dani! No kissing until your mated!” Laura chides breaking Pete and I out of the moment, finally remembering we’re not alone. The others are all watching. Blushing, I look up at the doorway to see Laura staring at us disapprovingly.
“We need to get you ready. The dinner will be hosted earlier, at the Elders’ request,” she declares briskly turning on her heel, leaving.
Sighing, I get up ready to face whatever lecture she’s ready to dish out but first I want to gauge the others’ reactions.
“Sorry guys, I didn’t meant to make things awkward between us.”
“Dani, we’ve shared partners before. Our whole race knows that we’re dying out so we have no choice but to share sometimes. What happened here, didn’t bother us. Please don’t let my mother frighten you into hiding yourself. We all care about you, if she doesn’t understand that, then too bad,” Nate declares pulling me in for a hug.
“Thank you. I’ll see you guys at dinner,” I tell them leaving them to their own thoughts while I mull over my own.
They reacted a lot better than I thought they would. I expected jealousy or a refusal to acknowledge what happened but they were very calm about it, which gives me high hopes for the future.
Once I reach my bedroom door, I take a big breath before facing Laura. I don’t know what she’ll say but I have a feeling it’s not going to be good. I’ll try to be respectful considering we’re staying here. There’s only so much judgement I can take, though. I didn’t want more than one mate but six were now thrust onto me and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Laura’s fussing around my room, running from side to side, moving things and putting them down elsewhere, before rethinking the decision and putting them somewhere else. I guess decorating must be her destress activity.
“Laura, please just calm down and talk to me,” I plead, sitting on the edge of the bed watching her go back and forth.
She stops at my dresser, her back facing me and slumps her shoulders. “Why did you kiss Pete? I thought you told them you wouldn’t kiss any of them after what happened with Jason? Then I walk in to see you kissing Pete in front of the others. Are you really so heartless that you’d play them like that, when you haven’t made a choice?”
Is she serious?! How dare she?!
“Look Laura, I understand you’re just looking out for the boys right now but you have no right speaking to me like that! I’ve already told them I want them all if the Elders will allow it. We are still getting to know each other though. We have to learn not just our human sides, our wolf’s too.
There’s no way in hell that I’ll force a lifetime commitment with someone until I’m sure. It can’t be taken back, and it’s unfair of me to rush making a decision that will affect us all,” I boldly tell her.
She refuses to face me for a moment and when she does, I’m shocked to see tears trailing down her face. Shit, I didn’t want her to cry!
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to cry, it’s just overwhelming. You may not want to admit it but you love them. No one cares for someone so much that they risk everything to make them happy rather than themselves. Whatever happens, I’m here for you,” she says swooping me up into a hug.
I pat her back awkwardly, not sure how to deal with someone crying on me. The only time in my life I cried, was when I was a hormonal teenager and some bullies at the school were teasing me about not having a mom. This situation has me completely flustered.
“Sorry, honey. Just having one of those days. Come see the dress I picked out for you,” she murmurs wiping the tears from her face and walking to the dresser.
A garment bag is hanging on the hook beside it. I’m so excited to see what she picked out. Laura has beautiful taste so I’m sure it will be worthy of a princess.
She slowly pulls out the dress and I contain my gasp. It’s breathtakingly beautiful.
Laura beams when she sees my reaction to the dress, “I figured since we’re showing you off as the next Alpha Queen, we better dress you like one.”
***
Butt
erflies are going crazy in my stomach. We’ve been in here two hours, getting ready for this dinner to officially meet the Elders. Dad and Tim came in about ten minutes ago and have been reminding me of everything to do or say to the Elders to get their approval. Meanwhile Laura is putting the finishing touches to my make-up, before I slip into the dress.
The dress itself is a stunning emerald green, with embroidered gold thread around the loose flowing skirt. It’s strapless but has a good inbuilt bra so it will hold my boobs up properly. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Then there’s the shoes. They’re a beautiful pale gold to match my dress, they look like something straight out of a fairy tale. Only two-inch heels thankfully. Anything higher, and I’d be falling over all night. At 5’6, I should be tall enough anyway. Any shorter and I’d maybe consider wearing a bigger heel but even then, I doubt it. Heels hurt.
“Dani, are you even listening to us? This is important! You can’t afford to screw up tonight,” Dad barks grabbing my attention.
“Yes, I heard you. Don’t do anything to embarrass myself, don’t eat without a knife and fork, don’t pee without someone accompanying me, don’t disappear by myself. No swearing, no farting nothing that can be construed as impolite or not ladylike, blah, blah, blah. Did I remember everything?” I ask holding back a smirk.
Tim hoots with laughter, while Dad just looks a mixture of amused and frustrated. It’s sweet that he’s worried about me but if I can’t do this by myself, I don’t deserve to lead. I won’t always have someone holding my hand.
“Fine Dani, do it your way, just don’t come crying to me if you screw things up,” he states throwing his hands in the air exasperated.
“Dad, trust me, okay. Monique and Walter will be there and they’ve both taught me all I need to know for this. Worst case scenario, I excuse myself because I’m feeling overwhelmed. Monique said it is an acceptable excuse based on being new to this world so I’ll use it if I have to. Though if I can’t handle it now, I never will,” I tell him as Laura finishes the last swipe of eye shadow over my eyes.
