I walk in through the back door of the packhouse only to walk smack dab into Lila, Alpha Declan's flavor of the month, "Watch where you're going!" She jeers.
"I'm sorry Lila, I didn't see you standing in the doorway." I look at what she's got in her hands, "holding a handful of condoms?" I question, quirking my brow.
She quickly shoves them into her pocket, "Yeah, well, Declan ran out, so I had to bring more over. You can never be too careful you know."
"Yeah, okay." I go to walk by her, but she steps in my way, so I sigh, and stare at her, "Did you want something?"
She leans in close, "Now that you're eighteen and you know that Declan isn't your mate, stay the ***away from him."
Igape at her in confusion, "What are you even talking about?"
"Don't play dumb with me, I've seen the way the two of you look at each other, it's disgusting." She sneers, "He is mine, so you better keep your hands off."
I don't know who she thinks she is, but I'm not one to be disrespected in my own home, so I get right up in her space and glare down at her, "There is nothing going on between Declan and I, he's like a brother to me, I owe him everything. If you ever get up in my ***again, there's going to be more than words being said." I shoulder bump her as I walk away, only to stop when I get to the doorway. "Oh, and unless Declan has his ***in your nasty ***, it's Alpha Declan to you." I walk away, leaving her standing there with her mouth hanging open.
Carter is coming down the stairs as I'm going up, "Hey Beta-Bay have you seen the boss man?"
He rolls his eyes every time I call him by the nickname I gave him, "Yeah, he's in his office. You came just in time, because he's in one of his moods and you're the only one that can get him out of it."
"Oh, did loosie Lila pay him a visit?" I grin. Sometimes after she's visited him, he gets into one of his moods.
Carter grins, "Don't let him hear you call her that." He chuckles.
"Why? I like giving people nicknames!" | wink at the Beta and then take the stairs two at a time.
I stop outside of the Alpha office and straighten my clothes. I don't know why I have a habit of making sure ***decent whenever I come to see Declan, but something like OCD hits me every time, and I have to straighten myself up. Raising my fist, I rap five times and then two, letting him know it's me, and then I walk in. He's hunched over his desk writing something down in a ledger of some sort.
I clear my throat, causing him to look up, "Oh, hey Ember. Sorry, I've been super busy today." he closes the book he was writing in and sets it aside before standing up and coming around the desk. "Happy birthday, sweetie." He pulls me in for a tight hug, lifting me off my feet before setting me back down. Holding me out at arm's length, he scrutinizes me, "You haven't met your mate already have you?"
I roll my eyes, "No, I haven't, and I doubt I will. I've been all around town today and didn't smell anything."
Declan's forehead creases, "You went around sniffing for your mate?"
I chuckle, "No, Mimi pulled me around town trying to see if i'd smell him. I really don't have any motivation to find them just yet."
He throws his head back and laughs, "Leave it to Mimi. That girl is going to give her own mate a run for their money."
| grin,"I've said the same exact thing."
He taps my nose with his fore finger, "That's because great minds think alike!"
"Oh yeah?" I close my eyes, "Tell me what I'm thinking right now."
"You are thinking about what my birthday gift to you will be." He smirks.
I open one eye, "Are you serious?"
He shrugs, "That's what I would be thinking." He chuckles.
slap his chest, "Ha, ha! You're such an Alpha dork."
He slaps his own chest. "You wound me, Ember!"
"I'm sure you will be fine in five minutes time," I muse,"Isn't that how it is when any female wounds you?"
I take the seat in front of his desk while he walks back to his own behind the desk, "You aren't just any woman, Ember."
Something flutters deep down, but I brush it aside, "Yeah, I'm like an annoying kid sister that you have to put up with." I laugh, but his next words surprise me.
"I've never seen you as my kid sister, Ember." He doesn't elaborate, so I just change the subject to something else.
"I ran into Lila downstairs, like literally." I snicker.
I see his body tense for the briefest second, "Oh yeah? What was she doing here?"
I shrug, "I don't know. It was weird actually: I came flying through the door and she was just standing there with a hand full of condoms. She said that you ran out, so she was bringing some more over." I watch his expression and can tell that Lila told me a lie, but I don't say anything more about it. That isn't my circus, and she isn't my monkey, "So, what time is dinner, and when are people showing up for my surprise party?"
Declan whips his head towards me, "I don't know what you're talking about, a party? I know nothing of a party." He can't keep a straight face if his life depended on it, "Alright! If you tell my mother that you know about it, though, I'll give you double the ***!"
I slide my fingers across my lips, "My lips are sealed."
He smiles, "We leave for dinner at five. I've had a dress laid out for you on your bed; mom picked it out."
I love Amelia, Declan's mom, and former Luna of Storm River pack. She's been like a mother to me ever since I arrived and I owe her so much, I owe both so much. I stand up and walk around the desk. Wrapping my arms around Déclan's neck from behind, I give him peck on the cheek.
"Thank you for everything that you and your mom have done for me. You didn't have to take me in, but you did. You didn't have to rebuild the Sky Moon pack's town, but you did. I don't know how I will ever repay you." I hugged him from behind.
"Just be happy Ember. That's all I want, is for you to live a happy life."