BEEP, BEEP, BEEP the alarm is going off signaling it is 9am. We don’t have to be at the pack house till 3pm. The party is from 3pm till 5pm, then we go to dinner before prom and the dance following. It will take us 3 hours to get ready to go. We have a few hours to kill. We ended up looking at our grades and they were posted.
Gasp “Oh my god. I passed everything”, Holly said. I looked over and she had tears in her eyes. School was always harder for her but she kept pushing herself. She wasn’t a straight A student but never had a C.
“I passed too!” I said proudly.
“Let me guess, with all A’s too probably” she said, slightly annoyed but happy.
“Yes, but Susan got valedictorian and I am okay with that. No speech for me!” I laughed, slightly hurt but mainly relieved. Public speaking is not my thing.
“Let’s watch a movie till we need to get ready!” Holly said.
“Okay, I’ll go get snacks and you and pick the movie out.”
Coming back with sausage, cheese and crackers in one hand and chocolate, popcorn and pop in another. We managed to snack and laugh all morning. Feeling so relieved from knowing we passed our classes! I didn’t even have any bad feelings!
Soon, Holly was pulling at my hair and assaulting my face with makeup. She tied half of my hair back with an elegant braid and left pieces framing my face which she curled and curled the back. She applied a smoky eye with a slight blush since I seemed to blush enough to bring out the color on my cheeks. Slipping onto my gown, I looked into the mirror. I didn’t even recognize myself. I was stunning. My wolf necklace just brought everything together. Holly came out with her hair in a low side bun with pieces framing her face and a dark blue smoky eye to match her dress. She was a vision to see.
“Damn girl! I will be jealous of whoever is your mate!” I said, making a show of my heart hurting.
“Oh my god, Nina, you look better than I imagined you would! I’ll take partial credit, of course!”
“Of course, you….
“Girls, it’s time to go!” my mom’s voice sang out, cutting me off. “I can’t wait to see your pretty dresses!”
“Oh great, she already sounds like she is crying” I grimaced.
“I heard that now get out here!” Mom said sternly. Giving Holly a smirk, we made our way to the living room. Looking at my mom, she was wiping the tears from her face and my dad looked pained.
“What is wrong dad?” I asked, slightly concerned.
“Well, I would prefer a turtleneck dress but you girls look beautiful” he whispered.
“I love you too, dad!
“Alright, enough of this lovey stuff, let's get you girls to your birthday party!” Dad said. He had work to do regardless, so he was taking us to the packhouse in his truck.
Suddenly I felt it. A feeling of dread came over me. I tried to act normal and keep my heart rate the same but it spiked a little. I caught dad's eye in the rearview mirror and he looked at me questionly.
“You okay Hun?” dad asked via mind-link. Thankfully, Holly was too excited to notice.
“Yeah, just a bad feeling about the night. I am sure it will be nothing. You know how they can be”. I tried to sound reassuring.
“Hmm well, just mind-link me if you need me and I’ll be there any time you need sweety.”
“I know, thank you dad. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Pulling up into the pack house, it was already busy with kids. They changed the game room into a party. Removed all the games and added tables and snacks and drinks. There was alcohol because if you are of age, you can drink at 18 because it takes so much to get a wolf drunk. However, 17 and under was not allowed but not enforced hard since we are staying on pack grounds. We make our way to the drinks and we both pour ourselves a drink. Holly likes the sweet drinks and goes for a Sex on the Beach and I like my whiskey, so I pour a crown and coke.
“I have to go to the bathroom!” Holly said loudly so I could hear her over the music.
“Okay, I am right behind you.”
We get about half way and Holly suddenly stops. She starts smelling the air and moving away from the bathroom. What is going on with her? I tried to follow her but she was moving too quickly because of how many people were here. I finally caught up to her and she has a deer in the head lights look to her and she was staring straight ahead. Turning my head, I looked to see what she was looking at and it was Damian. I get a sinking feeling in the pit in my stomach as I hear Holly whisper “Mate.”
No no no no, that can’t be right, he is supposed to be my mate, not Holly’s. I am in a trans looking at him. I can feel the tears start to well up in my eyes. I hadn’t taken a breath and Damian was looking between Holly and I, unsure of what to do. Trevor and Zach are on either side of him with shocked expressions on their faces. No one can believe it. I was supposed to be his mate, ME!
“Nina, I….” Holly stammered, unsure of what to say or do. Everyone is waiting to see how I react. Snapping out of my trans, Raven is howling loudly in my ear. She can feel my heartbreak as if it was her own. My whole life is a lie, all of the make-out sessions, all the midnight talks and I know are gone. Damian takes one step towards me and suddenly we all hear a growl that makes him stop. I looked over and Holly had her mouth covered and a shocked expression on her face. I have told her all my feelings towards Damian and she knows how much I love him. Our friendship will not survive this. Of that, I am sure. She is already being possessive of him. She is probably afraid he will reject her. My heart is breaking for her too. She knows her mate is in love with another girl, and that other girl is her best friend.
I did the only thing I could think of, and that was to turn around and run away. And I ran fast. I could hear everyone yell at me from behind and I could hear their paws hit the ground, so I shifted mid stride and took off. I managed to out run everyone. I let Raven take over and I just cried. Cried for my long-lost friend and lover. Raven found a cave and crawled into it. I build a wall around my mind. I cried myself to sleep while blocking out all the mind-links I was getting.