The Monsters We Hide

Chapter 17

We rode home in complete bliss. He would glance at me, his smile never leaving his face. I felt a burst of pride to be the one to make him this happy. When we pulled in the garage of the mansion, we sat in the car for a few minutes.

        He turned to me, his smile fading. "Are we going to tell them today or what? It's your call," he said. I thought about it for a moment and then shook my head after making a decision.

        "We'll wait until tomorrow at the mating ceremony. You can say that you object to it and then we tell them what's really happening. Then we can make it our ceremony and do the binding ritual." His smile grew again and he leaned over to kiss me. He pulled back, still smiling.

        "Sounds like a plan," he said. We reluctantly let go of each other and got out of the car. When we walked in, a bunch of different scents hit my nose. There were visiting werewolves from other pack, but one stood out in particular. My grandmother. Logan tensed up when he smelt the unfamiliar scents but I laid a reassuring hand on his forearm. 

       "It's okay. Its family and friends." He nodded once and I opened the door. The living room was dark but before my eyes could adjust, the lights flickered on. 

        "Surprise!" I looked around in shock. The whole pack was there, along with the visitors that I haven't seen since the moon of my first shift. I was genuinely surprised because nobody has done anything for my birthday in years. My grandmother was the first one to come up and hug me. I hadn't realized how much I missed her until then.

        She was my mom's mother. She was human, as was my mother before she met my dad, so I didn't get to see her very often. We were really close when I was younger but she's been too sick to travel all this way, and I took this to meant that she was doing better.

        "I missed you my little wildflower," she whispered in my ear. I smiled when she used my old nickname. I hadn't heard it in so long and I had forgotten about it. "I missed you too Grandma."

        She pulled away and I was greeted by everyone else. "What are you all doing here," I asked, once we were all gathered in the dining room. There was a huge cake on the table and I hoped it was fudge marble. Or red velvet.

       Mom spoke up to answer my question. "They were coming for your mating ceremony, but they decided to arrive earlier for your birthday," she explained. I smiled and sat down beside Grandma who patted my hand with her small, frail one.

       I looked around and noticed that Logan was standing awkwardly by the doorway, looking uncomfortable in the room full of strangers. I stood up and pulled him into the room to introduce him. 

        "Everybody, this is our new Alpha, Logan. Logan, this is everybody." They all greeted him politely and Aaliyah narrowed her eyes at us. "You're not supposed to call him Logan, Shyanne. You have to call him Alpha Logan." My eyes widened and a felt a slight heat on my cheeks when I realized my mistake. 

        "Oh, right. Sorry," I mumbled, shuffling my feet. I walked back over to my seat and Logan reluctantly sat down on the other side of me. Mom stood up and clapped her hands. "It's time for presents," she announced.

       I glanced at Dad and mouthed "presents?" He shrugged and gave me a small smile. "Bring them in Gage," Mom called. I stiffened at the mention of his name. I had completely forgotten about him. Logan grabbed my hand under the table and squeezed. I turned, forcing a smile, but I relaxed. 

        Gage brought in an armul of wrapped boxes. He placed them all on the table in front of me and I counted five boxes. Three were big and the other two were on the smaller side. Once he finished, Gage looked expectantly at Logan.