Liam
After my invigorating conversation with Sam, I head back to the house with newfound purpose and a plan. Even though I know logically that Lily and I can never have a real mate relationship, and I'm not sure I want that anyway, I wouldn't mind us being somewhat closer to friends. I ponder this as my feet hit the pavement back to our house with a steady, rhythmic purpose. I enter the house and head straight to the dining room where Lily is sitting thinking hard over something.
"I want to help." I say as I put my hands on the back of the chair facing directly away from her. She doesn't answer me or even so much as glance my way. I start to get irritated until I realize she still has her ear buds in. I rap my knuckles on the table in front of her, causing her to jump again. She gives me an irritated scowl and pulls out an ear bud.
"What?!" She shouts at me.
Oh this is starting off great.
"I want to help."
"Help with what?" She responds, almost sounding bored.
"With the Halloween party." Her eyebrows shoot up and her fingertips start tapping on the dark wood table. She's wearing a light green sweater that makes her eyes pop and her hair is in a large bun on top of her head. She's so beautiful I'm almost too distracted to hear her response.
"Why?" I sigh and move the chair out to sit across from her.
"Because you've done a lot of great things and have put in an effort and I have not been very supportive of you. I would like to try and change that." She looks at me for a long moment and then responds.
"No." I'm taken back by her response and all she does is start writing things down again.
"What do you mean 'no'?" I ask.
"I'm not letting you help with this party because you feel guilty. You should want to do it out of the goodness of your heart."
"You're right. I'm just not used to these things but I would like to try. Plus, it would be good for the pack to see us doing things together." She scoffs and rolls her eyes at me.
"I'm not going to pretend to try and make you look like less of an ass in front of the pack." I can't help but chuckle at that.
"Of course not. I wouldn't ask you to. Now, what do you need help with?"
"Nothing right now. Just go away for now and I'll find something for you to do." She waves me off with her hand and puts her ear buds back in, effectively ending our conversation so I decide it's best to not push things too hard. I feel pleased with the little bit of progress we've made.
The next few days passed quickly and I was actually excited on the morning of Halloween. I had tried to talk to Lily a few times about how I could help, all she told me was I could set up and she would plan a costume for me. I pushed back the time of the run so more parents could bring their kids and be involved in the party. I spent the morning setting up small games and decorating while Lily was in the kitchen with Amy getting the food ready. She had some fun ideas like hot dogs that look like bloody toes and popcorn balls that look like eyeballs. The kids were going to love it and even though we weren't exactly spending time together, I hoped I was at least earning some credit for my hard work.
As the time of the party neared and my work was complete I went to search out Lily. She was still in the kitchen, delegating last minute tasks.
"Everything's done out there, Lily. What else do you need help with?" She looked at me briefly before looking around.
"I think we're good. Just go put on your costume the kids will be here in a little bit. I laid it on your bed." She answers. The fact that she was anywhere near my bed makes my wolf's ears perk up for the first time in months. I nod and head up the stairs past the cauldrons with dry ice making them look like they're bubbling and the random skeleton pieces laying around.
I enter my room and can smell faintly Lily's sweet scent. Against my will, my cock begins to harden and I push those thoughts away. I don't have time for a cold shower. I eye the costume on my bed, it's a mass of white polyester. I hold it up and my brain refuses to register what this is. That can't be right. I thought she'd make me a pirate or an astronaut. Something cool.
Not a fucking buck tooth snowman.
I decide to shower and confront her afterwards. Now I'm all agitated and I need to relieve myself anyway. Her scent in my room has my wolf going wild. I take as quick of a shower as I can, stroking my cock furiously until I reach completion then dress hurriedly before searching out Lily. As I exit my room, she's just coming out of hers.
She's wearing a long, blue sparkly dress with smoky eye makeup and her long blonde hair done into a large braid that's sitting over one shoulder. She's got on sparkly silver heels, making the top of her head as tall as my shoulders. She looks stunning.
"Where's your costume?" She asks. I snap back to reality.
"Yeah. About that. I can't wear that I'll look ridiculous." She rolls her eyes and scoffs before putting her hands on her hips.
"It's for the children Liam. Who cares how you look. Besides it's a group costume and that was the only one left. I didn't think you'd want to be involved so I didn't offer you a choice."
"A group costume?"
"Yes. Sam, Callum and Kara are all included as well."
"How is a snowman part of a group costume?"
"I'm the fucking ice queen and you're my God damn snowman!" Her voice starts to go up a few octaves and I am almost legitimately afraid of her.
"Well, I'm still not going to wear it." She shrugs and walks away from me.
"That's fine. It doesn't surprise me." That little quip makes my gut squirm but I'm not backing down now. I refuse to walk around my pack looking like an idiot.
I follow her down the stairs just as the first children begin to arrive. A little boy in a Superman costume spots Lily and his eyes light up.
"Luna!" He yells as he runs toward her. She bends down to scoop him up in her arms and twirls around with him smiling.
"Ben! You look fantastic!" She smiles at him warmly before nuzzling her cheek against his and giving him a little peck on the forehead. Ben's mother follows her son over to Lily, who she also hugs and she nuzzles her cheek as well.
I see Callum and Kara on the other side of the room, Kara wearing a purple dress with black boots and Callum wearing some kind gray snow outfit. Sam struts in shortly after wearing a reindeer costume.
What the fuck?
"How come Alpha's not wearing a costume?" Ben asks Lily quietly, even though I can still hear him.
"Don't mind him, he's just a party pooper." Lily whispers back.
"He doesn't like us, does he?" Ben asks with a sad look on his face. Lily's smile fades and I feel my heart breaking. I walk over to them and take Ben from Lily, throwing him into the air and catching him. He giggles before I set him back down.
"I'll be right back." I say tweaking his nose. "I was running a little late and I need to go put my costume on." Ben's face brightens while Lily eyes me skeptically. I hurry up the stairs and change into the God awful costume. As I walk back down the stairs I can tell quite a few more people have shown up. As soon as my foot hits the last step, all eyes turn towards me. All the children's eyes widen and they scream in unison.
"OLAF!"
And then I am attacked. Every child wants a piece of me and I swear my wolf is more terrified than the time we took on four rogues by ourselves. But when I look over at Lily and see the smile on her face, I know it's worth it.
I stay at the party for awhile, playing games with the kids and eating snacks before it's time to lead the pack run.
"Sam! We gotta go!" I yell across the room at my reindeer beta.
"But Alpha! I haven't bobbed for apples yet! Or carved a pumpkin!" He whines like a five year old. Actually, I shouldn't say that. It'd be an insult to five year olds.
"You're pack leadership Sam. You need to help me lead the run." He huffs and stomps his foot before walking out the front door. I head over to Lily to say goodbye.
"We have to go on the run now." I say trying to take her attention from the child who's face she's painting a ghost on. She glances up at me before turning back to the child.
"OK, bye." She says.
"Could you come over here for a second please." She huffs and stands to follow me a few feet away.
"You did a great job with this party. The packed loved it. Thank you." She shrugs and crosses her arms
"It was fun."
"You look beautiful by the way." She starts to snicker and I narrow my eyes at her.
"What?" I ask.
"I can't take you seriously when you're dressed like that." I chuckle with her and even though I need to go, I don't want to.
"You know, everyone in this pack smells like you and it's irritating my wolf. Can you rub my cheek too?" She eyes me suspiciously before nodding.
She leans forward and I meet her halfway. When our cheeks touch, an explosion of sparks travels all through my body. I hear her gasp and she pulls away.
"What the hell was that?" She asks. I fight the urge to grab her and hold her close to me.
"The mate bond." I struggle to respond.
"Oh." She says. "Enjoy your run." I nod and exit the house where the pack is waiting to start our run. I turn around to see the party goers all watching, Lily standing on the porch with a little girl on her hip. An image of her holding a little girl with my brown hair and her blue eyes hits me, and for the first time a deep longing for that stirs in my gut. I shake the feeling away and shift, purposely shredding that stupid costume.