War Claim (The Claim: Book 3)

Chapter 31 - Chloe (Part 2)

A lot of wolves showed up for her eighteenth birthday. Even more than her fifteenth birthday, which she always thought was excessive. This time, there were higher-ranking wolves present as well to welcome her into adulthood. She got to meet the Head Female Warrior, who seemed friendly enough. She was young too, at least ten years older than Chloe. Chloe watched her closely out of the corner of her eye from time to time, measuring her up, trying to spot the female's weaknesses.

Kayla and Anwaatin were excited for her, and Chloe was happy to have them both at her side—especially when she saw Animkii standing along the walls. The sight of him dampened her good mood.

The Hall was brimming with positive energy and all the pups she had trained along with their parents were present. The place was packed. Thankfully, every family brought a dish of food with them so there was no shortage of food to be shared. The tower of gifts looked ready to topple over with the slightest bump to the table. Chloe couldn't help but hope there was money in there somewhere—money for her boob-job. She wondered how much breast reduction surgery cost? Either way, she'd have to find a way to save up for it.

Animkii kept his distance throughout the party, hanging out on the edge. He was usually with Ethan, Mik, Sam, or her father, but she saw him talking with all kinds of wolves as well.

Good. She didn't invite him anyway. He could keep his distance, wish her a happy birthday like everyone else, and leave. Good riddance.

There were five large cakes made so everyone could have a bite to eat, but only one had eighteen candles on it for her to blow out.

Her wish when she blew out all but one candle was to become the youngest Head Female Warrior the pack had ever known. A grand idea, but an attainable one, she thought.

Alpha Noodin, Luna Aki, Animkii, and Anwaatin helped to slice the cakes and hand them out to everyone alongside Chloe and her parents.

Chloe noted a particular scent in the air attracting her attention throughout the party, but it wasn't as "grabbing" as she'd been told the matebond was like. It didn't smack her in the face and demand her full attention but was rather one that smelled more pleasing to her—like the smell of her favorite cookies baking when she entered the house from school. Subtle, warm, and welcoming. She couldn't place it with all the wolves gathered in such a confined space, but she noticed it was the strongest when she was handing out slices of cake to everyone. Someone in the crowd of wolves was catching the attention of her senses and making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end—she just couldn't figure out who.

After only a few minutes of helping with the cake, her mother suggested that she get started on her gifts and everyone could watch while they were enjoying the cake.

Chloe agreed and, taking a piece of cake for herself, went to the table full of presents to unwrap them between bites. Camilla and Roxy helped her, eager to dig into the presents that made their faces light up. It was more fun watching them than unwrapping her own gifts. She would have to give away most of them to those who needed them more like she did after her fifteenth birthday.

Once all of the gifts were unwrapped, and everyone's bellies were full of food and cake, the pups went upstairs to play for a couple of hours while the adults and a few older pups played card games or simply chatted in the basement.

Everyone approached Chloe to wish her a happy birthday and catch up with her on the latest events of her life and what her goals were for the near future. Same questions, same responses, but it was nice to catch up with everyone and hear their stories.

Kayla kept making googly eyes at Animkii and Anwaatin would gag every time she caught her.

"Hey, it's not my fault your brother is hot," Kayla snapped playfully, batting her hand at Anwaatin to shoo her away.