Chapter 6: Birthday Lunch - Amelia

Returning to the packhouse Zara’s appearance gets a lot of notice. People nod in respect, some look concerned while others are smirking. Vitali bounds over to us with a big smile on his face.

“Good morning birthday ladies. Want me to hose you down?” he asks jovially. Zara just snorts, though I can tell she is very tempted by the offer of playing with a hose. Sometimes she’s like a giant puppy dog.

“I heard that! How very dare you?!” she exclaims making me chuckle. Zara pushes herself back and pushes me forward as I take over the shift and with a quick burst of heat I’m back on two legs and throwing my clothes back on.

“So what did you find for her this time?” he asks curiously.

“A moose, a huge one,” I grin proudly as his eyes widen.

“Not that I’m surprised, but way to go, Zara,” he applauds making Zara preen inside my head. The moment is interrupted by a scoff nearby and of course, it had to be coming from Ryker.

“As if you brought down a moose. I can picture a lot of wolves doing it, but not you,” he says snidely causing Vitali and me to roll our eyes. This guy is an absolute moron. My wolf is larger than his in every way and an Alpha; taking down a moose is child’s play for us.

“Ryker, I think you need to make a visit to Dr Richard’s office,” I say while walking towards the packhouse with Vitali in tow.

“Why would I need to do that?” he asks in confusion.

“Because something is clearly wrong with your sense of smell, otherwise you would have smelt that the blood I am currently covered in was moose blood,” I tell him impassively and hear Vitali snigger while Zara is in hysterics in my head.

Ryker stands there; his face blank with surprise before it morphs into anger. I can tell he wants to hit me, but I ignore him. Idiots like him are not worth my time. Though I did always wonder… since he’s so convinced he’s going to be the next Beta you’d think he’d be kissing up to me as his future Alpha.

The Alpha and Beta have to be in sync and act like a well-oiled machine, which is one of the many reasons I’m giving the role to Vitali.

“Is that dickhead ever going to grow up?” Vitali asks as we walk through the packhouse.

“I am pretty sure that ship sailed long ago,” I tell him.

Passing through the house I get more nods and birthday wishes and it makes me feel great. Vitali is telling me how excited he is for the party tonight while we walk towards the stairs, when our conversation is interrupted by Beta Declan.

“Happy Birthday Amelia,” he says flatly.

“Thank you so much,” I say giving him my best smile which makes him scowl. I don’t know what this guy’s problem is but he’s always so sour around me, and I know it pisses him off when I don’t retaliate so instead I just kill him with kindness. He’s looking at the blood all over me, but his face looks almost calculating, which is not the reaction you’d expect from someone in this situation.

“I hope you saved some of your energy, you’re going to need it for the ceremony,” he says smugly, but there’s a sinister look on his face when he says it that has Zara growling in my head. “Enjoy your day, Amelia,” he says as he walks off.

“Well that wasn’t ominous at all,” Vitali says through the pack-link so no one can hear us. I nod in agreement as we head up the stairs.

“That guy has always hated me. I’m starting to wonder if Ryker is going to be one of the people to challenge me tomorrow,” I speculate much to his surprise.

“That pipsqueak?! He doesn’t stand a chance against you, challenging you would be suicide,” he announces.

“Not disagreeing with you but think about it. He refuses to acknowledge me as his future Alpha and if he at the very least thought he’d be getting the Beta position he should be trying to get on my good side, but he’s not and then there’s the comment his dad made. All signs would suggest Ryker plans to challenge me tomorrow,” I say calmly.

After a moment of silence, Vitali doubles over in a fit of laughter.

“I’ll go get the shovels now shall I?” he asks making me laugh.

I promise this isn’t ego talking. I know how strong and capable both Zara and I are. Not only do we outrank Ryker but he barely ever trains, so performance-wise he’s weaker than the average wolf. Even Torie can kick his ass; that says a lot about her skills and his lack of skills.

We get to the Alpha suite, and I step in to…

“SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” Is shouted from my parents, Gamma James and Lacey, Tyson, Delta Xander and Kennedy, Evalyn, Chris and… Mei?!

Shit.

I quickly duck behind Vitali. This is the first time she’s come out of the Delta suite and she’s seeing me covered in blood. Just great.

“I’ve got her, Amelia, she’s not looking,” says Chris through the pack-link. I’m glad he figured out I wasn’t just scared of a surprise; that would be embarrassing.

“Thank you so much for the surprise everyone. I’m just going to go shower and then I’ll join you all.”

I speed off to my room which is through the door on the left of the communal area. Once I’m in I rush to the bathroom, throw my clothes in the hamper and step into the shower and work to scrub all the blood off me. I really hope I haven’t just contributed to Mei’s trauma. I’m starting to think I should have let Vitali hose me down outside.

After a very thorough shower, I complete my usual morning routine and then head into my closet to pick something to wear. It’s my birthday so I want to look nice. I pick out a lovely white maxi dress with blue floral prints on it, bishop sleeves and a low sweetheart neckline. Very feminine. I put on a pair of white strappy wedges with cork bottoms and then put my hair up in a large hair clip since it’s still wet.

I make my way out to the communal area, my eyes looking for Mei.

The Alpha suite is almost identical to the Delta suite, the only difference is our suite is all blacks and whites. The kitchen is all black fixtures and cabinets with a black island and white marble countertop. The room is covered with a black carpet because white would be a bitch to clean. The living area has a large half circular white sofa around a white coffee table facing a large electric fireplace, bordered by black shelves with a large plasma screen TV on the wall above it. Behind the couch is the dining table which is a large rectangular glass table with eight white upholstered dining chairs. The walls are a soft grey which is the happy medium between the whites and blacks.

If you’re wondering how large the sofa is, comfortably it can fit nine people, but if you squish everyone together then you can squeeze in thirteen. This means everyone can fit on the couch comfortably, but I notice my parents, Uncle James and Aunt Lacey have pulled over some dining chairs instead.

Mei is tucked under Chris’s arm sitting on the edge of the sofa furthest away from me, so I slowly make my way over and kneel in front of her.

“Mei?” I say softly to get her attention. She looks down at me, I can see nerves but I’m not sure if it’s me or just being out of her room. “I am so very sorry you saw me like that, if I upset you or made you uncomfortable in any way I truly apologise,” I say gently.

“Chris said it wasn’t because of an attack,” She says quietly. I notice he keeps gently rubbing her back.

“No attacks I promise,” I say giving her a warm smile. “It was a birthday surprise for my wolf, Zara,” I tell her, and she looks at me confused. “I see today as our birthday not just mine. So I like to treat her with something good to hunt. She loves it, though now I’m feeling a bit bloated,” I chuckle patting my belly. Mei gives me a genuinely warm smile and Chris looks a mix of surprised and elated. I can hear his heart pounding fast while he kisses her temple causing her to direct her smile at him and now I think he’s going to pass out.

“You have a special relationship with your wolf,” she comments sweetly.

“I sure do,” I grin. “She’d love to meet you eventually; when you’re ready of course,” I say.

“I would like that,” she says smiling and nodding and now Chris has tears in his eyes. I think their bond as animais is going to kill him. “Maybe… I can shift, and you can see what I look like too,” she says while wringing her fingers in her lap. There are a couple of gasps while the rest of the room goes silent and I can tell it’s making Mei even more nervous and so can Chris, so he pulls her closer.

“Are you sure you’re ready for that?” he gently asks. She looks up at him taking a breath.

“Not today, but maybe soon. I think I can trust everyone here,” she explains. He hugs her tightly while smiling.

“I promise we are all here for you and we all want to see your shifted form, especially me and Axel. We won’t let anything happen to you. Not ever,” he vows. She smiles and kisses his cheek making him blush through his beard.

Too cute!

I look around and see all the happy faces, and it makes me proud to call these people my family. I see Tyson on the other side of the couch trying to hide the tears in his eyes. He may look all macho on the outside, but he is someone who wears his heart on his sleeve. Evalyn is cuddling him and looking at him sweetly.

Which reminds me...

“No grandpa and grandma?” I ask sadly. Dad just gives me a gentle smile.

“Sorry sweetheart, their flight got delayed so they won’t make it on time. But they’ll be here for the Alpha ceremony tomorrow,” he promises. Sucks I won’t see my dad’s parents until tomorrow but that’s better than nothing.

Vitali walks over and hands me a small white box with a blue ribbon around it and a card tied to the ribbon.

“This is from my mum and dad. They’re still visiting my Aunt’s pack in Hawaii so they can’t be here. But they sent this and wish you a very happy birthday and said – and I quote – ‘be sure to give hell to anyone who challenges your title’, they also told me to record the whole thing” he grins as I chuckle.

“Great, you can be the camera crew for tomorrow.” I joke, open the box and finding a stunning blue topaz hairclip that’s been shaped to look like a blue hibiscus. It’s so gorgeous I can’t help running my fingers over it. I take it out and immediately clip it into my hair.

“How do I look?” I ask as I model the jewel in my hair. I get many smiles and nods.

“It suits you perfectly, and it goes lovely with your dress today,” my mother praises. I glance down at my dress and chuckle. She’s right, it matches perfectly.

“My present is next!” chimes Evalyn.

I spend the rest of the afternoon opening presents and enjoying a delicious lunch prepared by the packhouse staff. I know I said I was bloated from the moose, but like I said, we wolves have a fast metabolism, so I was ready for more food by the time lunch came around.

My day could not have been more perfect, surrounded by the people I love. Note that the Beta family wasn’t here, not that I’m surprised. But I did overhear my father venting about it to my mother during lunch. He was pissed off and felt extremely disrespected. It’s not that they have to be here for my birthday, I sure as hell don’t want Ryker near me – or any of them for that matter. But they were personally invited by their Alpha and rejecting the invitation for no good reason is extremely disrespectful. While I didn’t personally feel slighted – because I genuinely just don’t care – It did make me more apprehensive about tomorrow.

This just further leads me to believe Ryker is going to challenge me and while I don’t feel the least bit bad for what will inevitably happen to him, I do feel sad for his parents. They’ll end up grieving the death of their only son – unless he taps out – and I’m certain it’ll shatter my father’s friendship with Declan, although I have noticed it hasn’t been so great over the last few years. I think if dad didn’t know I was taking over he would have replaced Declan as Beta ages ago. But that’s just speculation.

The highlight of my day so far was seeing Mei interact with everyone. She’s really starting to come out of her shell, and it was great getting to know her as a person. She fit right in, and everyone loves her. I can’t wait to officially make her a member of this pack. This is her home and where she belongs.

Eventually, everyone went their own ways to start getting ready for the party. Mum headed off to check on the setup, dad went off with his Gamma and Delta to make sure the patrols are tight this evening, handle some other pack business and maybe even scold his Beta; I didn’t ask.

I’ve decided to stay in what I’m wearing; I see no reason to change. I can still dance the night away in this outfit, so instead, I decide to go lay down in my room and take some time to reflect.

“You’re worried about tomorrow aren’t you?” Zara asks gently.

“No, not worried,” I shake my head.

“Then what? You can tell me,” she encourages.

“I wonder how many there will be. Dad hinted that there would be more than one,” I answer.

“So? We’ll take on every single one and make them regret it. We were meant for this; I know you know this. No one is going to stand in our way,” she says confidently. I smile at her optimism.

“What if it’s too many? The more fights we have to participate in the weaker we’ll get. The last challenger might win by default just because I was exhausted from the other fights,” I say voicing my concerns. I know I can tell Zara anything and she’ll never judge me for it.

“Hmm. That’s a valid concern. Though we’ve taken on dozens of curs at a time and come out unscathed, but then again they haven’t had the training your challengers have. Not counting Ryker of course.” That last comment makes me laugh.

“So let’s go in with a game plan,” I tell her to which she nods in agreement.

“I like a good plan. What do you have in mind?”

“I think I should fight in my human form for as long as I can, only letting you take over when I feel my strength waning. After that I’ll let you take over, this would give me time to get my strength back. If we’re still fighting by the time my strength comes back and you feel you’re getting weak then we’ll come together and show them just how united we are,” I explain. I watch as she paces back and forth full of anticipation like she’s already pumping herself up for the fight.

See, while we’d share injuries, we’ve learned to use our individual spirits to reserve energy. We can use it and lend it to our other half to aid in combating fatigue or even speed up healing. Like I said, we’re the ultimate team.

“This is an excellent idea and a perfect strategy, though I expect no less from you. It’ll also mean potential opponents won’t be able to predict our moves as the fights go along since they won’t know what form we’ll be taking or when. This will give us an element of surprise,” she agrees. “We’re going to make a terrific Alpha, Amelia. I’m proud of you already.” Feeling and hearing Zara’s pride for me has me feeling very emotional. I wipe away tears as they form in my eyes.

“I’m proud of you too, Zara.”