Waking up was one of the hardest things that I think I ever had to do but the smell that was circulating throughout this house was delicious.
I opened my eyes and was reminded that I was lying in Jace's bed... with him in it... and his arm dangling from around my waist.
Looking at the clock that rested on the side of his table, it was still pretty early.
Nine-Thirty.
Yawning, I stretched out my sleeping body.
"Morning gorgeous" Jace said leaving a tingling on the back of my neck.
"Morning" I said glad that I wasn't facing him.
I needed to brush my teeth.
"I hope you slept well".
He had no idea. "Yeah. I could just lay here all day" I said.
"I could lay here all day with you' he said kissing my shoulder through his blue shirt.
"I could lay with you all day too but I think I should brush my teeth first" I said.
He began laughing and removed his warm arms from around me. "You go get on that. Don't wanna hold you up".
Walking down the hallway, one of the many doors flew open and I was met with Claire.
"Don't get to comfortable" she mumbled before heading downstairs.
What the hell was this girl's deal?
Walking into the bathroom, I grabbed a fresh toothbrush from the linen closet and went away at my teeth.
I couldn't help but smile at my reflection this morning.
Looking at myself, I could see how happy I was and I loved it.
There was a knock on the bathroom door.
"They made a huge breakfast and they want us down. I'll wait for you" Jace said.
"Okay" I said back, speeding up the process.
After fixing my ponytail and giving myself a quick smile, I opened the door to a waiting Jace.
He smiled and reached for my hand. "You are so gorgeous".
Putting my head down, I could feel my cheeks flaming.
"Don't hide it" he said lifting my chin with his free hand and pecking me on the lips.
We made our way downstairs and into the dining room where me and Essence were sitting with Mrs. Spear only a few hours ago.
Seeing all these people seated, it looked nothing like it did last night.
As we made our way to our seats, I was getting nods and smiles from the pack members. They were making me feel more and more welcomed.
Except for Claire of course.
I was pretty surprised to get a smile from Megan. She was Claire's sidekick after all.
We took a seat next to each other and across from Essence and Peter.
Essence gave me a smile and I knew that we were having a silent conversation with one another.
Both of us were glad that we had decided to sleep in our mate's bed last night.
"Good morning Spencer" Mr. Spear said smiling from the head of the table.
"Morning" I said as all eyes were focused on me.
They had to stop doing that all at once.
"How'd you sleep?" Mrs. Spear asked.
Looking over at Jace, I blushed and he rubbed my hand.
I'm pretty sure they all knew we didn't stay in the guest room.
"I slept really well".
"Well I hope you're up for some food because we have a large amount".
"Let's dig in because I am starving" "Jace said rubbing his hands together.
"You're always hungry" Kristen joked as she threw a plastic fork at him.
As we all began to dig in, I was surprised at how much I was eating. No doubt, the food was delectable but I must have been extremely hungry.
I was eating like the boys do at lunch.
"Calm down you cow" Essence joked as I stuffed a forkful of eggs into my mouth.
Everyone laughed as my face heated up.
She could be so embarrassing.
"Guess I was pretty hungry" I said kicking Essence from under the table causing her to wince.
Payback sucks.
As I thought of payback, I thought of my parents.
Don't ask me why but they were the first to pop up in my mind.
"Um, excuse me. I have to go make a quick phone call" I said rising from my seat and causing everyone to play the staring game again.
Catching on, Essence stood as well.
Our parents were going to be extremely mad. Especially because it was Christmas Eve.
Hurrying out of the room, we headed upstairs into the guest rooms and grabbed our phones.
Of course there were already twenty missed calls and they were all from my mom.
Sighing, I went into Jace's room for some privacy and hit the call button.
"SPENCER STEPHANIE DROID! YOU HAVE THREE SECONDS TO EXPLAIN TO ME WHERE THE HELL YOU ARE AND WHY YOU ARE NOT HOME!"
Rolling my eyes, I let out a sigh. "Mom, calm down. I'm fine".
"I DIDN'T ASK YOU IF YOU WERE FINE. I ASKED YOU WHERE YOU ARE".
"I'm at Jace's house" I said before thinking.
"WHAT?! AND WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO GO OVER THERE?"
The nerve of her to think I would want to stay in that house after hearing her news. "I'M SORRY THAT I DIDN'T WANNA STAY IN THAT HOUSE WITH MY TWO LYING PARENTS".
There was silence on her end of the line and I knew that one had cut deep.
"Look Spencer. I know that you are upset with me and your father honey but we didn't lie to you".
Sure they didn't. "Whatever you wanna call it mom. Look, I'm at Jace's house. I needed him and he was there for me. I'll be home later".
"Let's make later sooner. You may be mad but I'm still the parent" she said before hanging up the phone.
Throwing my phone on Jace's bed, I turned to see Essence standing in the doorway.
"Looks like your mom didn't take it easy either" she said coming over and rubbing my back.
"My mom is pregnant. That is what the big secret it" I told her.
"She's pregnant! Congratulations big sis" Essence said.
"No Essence. I'm not happy about this. My parents kept this from me and I feel so betrayed".
"Why do you feel betrayed?"
"They were running around acting like kids and it was all because they were trying to make another baby. What is so secretive about that?"
"Maybe they wanted to surprise you. How did they end up telling you?"
"They didn't even tell me! My grandmother figure it out. She said she knows a pregnant woman when she sees her and my mom had pregnant written all over her".
"Everything okay?" Jace asked as he walked into his room. "I not only heard you yelling but I heard your mom".
I was going to have to get use to this whole sensitive wolf hearing. I'm sure everyone at the table heard my yelling match.
"I'm sorry" I said sitting on the edge of his bed. "I guess I should have called my mom last night or sent a text letting her know where I was. Then maybe we could have avoided all of this" I said putting my head into my hands.
"It's okay Spence. Your mom is very understanding. Just talk to her when you get home" Essence suggested.
I didn't have any other choice.
"How about we go finish breakfast and then we can talk to my dad about when it's safe for you to go home" Jace said taking my hand as we all headed back downstairs.
........................................................
"You can go home whenever you are ready. Everyone in the pack knows that we need to keep you and Essence safe so we have already discussed shifts" Mr. Spear said.
So Essence and I were going to have babysitters.
That's just great.
We were all in Mr. Spear's office again. I had a feeling I would be seeing this room quite often.
"So whenever we aren't in this house, we won't be safe?" Essence asked.
"You will always be safe. We will make sure that you are always protected by one of the pack members. Whenever you are in this house, it is much safer than being anywhere else. Anytime you are with Jace and Peter, you have absolutely nothing to worry about" Mr. Spear said smiling.
"Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Spear for everything. We really appreciate it" I said.
"Oh honey, it is no problem" Mrs. Spear said.
"So you ready to go home?" Jace asked me.
He looked so sad and I was sad too because I didn't want to leave.
"I guess I have to. I would stay if it wasn't Christmas Eve".
"Alright, let's go get your things" Jace said.
As much as I didn't want to leave, I knew I had to handle everything at home.
"I don't wanna leave" I said to Jace as I sat on his bed.
"And I don't want you to leave" he said sitting next to me and taking my hand into his. "But I heard your mom yelling and I don't wanna be selfish and keep you all to myself".
"But I want you to be selfish" I said sounding a little too needy for my liking.
He smiled and kissed my temple. "Come on, I'll help you with your stuff".
Essence was already a step ahead of me as she folded the pajamas she was given on top of the bed.
"Do you need a ride?" I asked hoping she would say yes.
I really needed this chance to talk to her.
"Sure" she smiled getting the hint.
Heading into the bathroom, I quickly changed into the clothes from this morning.
Walking back into the guest room, I sat Jace's clothes next to Peter's on the bed.
"Thanks for everything. And tell Taylor thanks for me... again".
"I will" Jace said pulling me into a hug.
I knew that with everything going on that this is where I would rather be spending my Christmas Eve.
Slowly but surely I was starting to understand this mate thing.
I knew what the sparks were and I knew that if anyone could take away all the pain that I was feeling, it was Jace.
And there was no way of fighting that.
..............................................
"So what the hell is going on? Why wouldn't you be excited about your parents having another kid?" Essence asked me as I drove.
I was happy to see that my car was parked outside of Jace's house and I was also happy that there was no damage done.
My parents would kill me if my car was messed up on top of being out all night. I was definitely not in the mood for that.
"I don't know Ess. I just feel like what the heck was the sneaking around and stuff about? Why couldn't they just have sex at home like normal parents" I said shuddering at the thought of my parents... and sex.
"They weren't sneaking around, they were just being weird. I'm sure if you would have asked them they would have told you".
"Ask them if they're screwing? No thanks".
"No Spence" Essence laughed. "Asked them what was up with the late nights"?
"Well I guess it really doesn't matter anymore because the deed is done and I just have to deal with it".
Essence let out a sigh and I knew my best friends was about to let me have it.
"Look Spence, don't be that way. You are seventeen and about to be graduating from high school and off to college. Maybe your parents wanted to go through this all over again. With you being gone, they would have been lonely".
Why did she always have to be so right?
"I'm not taking their side or anything but try and understand where they're coming from" she added. "Okay?"
"Fine" I said as we pulled up in front of her house.
"Wish me luck" she said rolling her eye.
My mom was bad but she had nothing on Miss. Theresa. Essence's mom did not mess around when she was angry so I knew she was in for it.
"Good luck. Text me so I know you're alive" I said as we hugged each other.
"Yeah, and if I do make it out alive I will be over tomorrow so we can exchange gifts".
She shut the door and gave me one last wave before running up her driveway.
Taking a deep breath, I headed for my own house.
.........................................
Jace POV
"I swear I just wanna bite that scoundrels head off for that stunt he pulled" I said pacing back and forth through my room.
I was still pretty heated about the whole Justin situation and felt like he was pretty lucky I wasn't official alpha yet.
"Dude calm down. You don't want to be getting all upset about this" Taylor said throwing a baseball up and down in my lounge chair.
"Yeah Jace. We have to figure out how the hell we're going to stop The Blue Shine pack from destroying all other packs" Peter mentioned.
There was nothing that we could do about Justin at the moment. He didn't do anything wrong and it seemed like he wanted to help.
**
"From one alpha to another, I believe that we have all made mistakes when it comes to the way we handle battle. Don't you think?" Justin asked.
"I see what you are saying but you kidnapped one of my men. I don't think a peace offering can fix all of this' my dad said.
"He was a threat to one of my pack members" Justin added quickly.
"And your pack member was a threat to him... on our land. As an alpha I'm sure you understand the importance of protecting one's land".
"Well I'm not here to argue with you. I really do appreciate the letter and I think we started off on the wrong foot but we do have something in common and that is why I am here today" Justin said.
"What the hell could we possibly have in common?" I asked.
"The Blue shine pack wants to murder our fathers" Justin said throwing me off guard as everything began to connect.
Blue Shine was the pack that killed Gabe's pack. They left a letter asking for war. They also were the ones who sent those moron rouges on our land a few weeks ago.
"My father was the alpha. It was passed down to me only a couple of months ago now and they threatened my father. Both of our fathers are powerful and have one of the strongest packs out of four. They also threatened Night Howl and Midnight Shine".
Justin was right. We all were powerful.
"Who the hell do they think they are?" Peter asked.
"I'll tell you who they want to be. They are trying to destroy the powerful pack so they can take over the land. They need to be stopped. You see, I am not your enemy and if anything I am just trying to be your allies" Justin said.
As much as I hated the guy, he had a point.
**
"The guy was right" I said in defeat. "Blue Shine needs to be stopped. What we need to do is make allies with those other two just in case we do end up having to go to war. Blue Shine will never expect us to all work together".
"You know what?" Peter said sitting up from his laying position on the bed. "That is a good idea. Making allies with them will not only help us in battle but it will help us protect our land and theirs too".
"Plus, when was the last time any packs had allies? Packs are so busy trying to be the most powerful that they forget that you need connects. Our pack has one of the best bonds in the world but Silver moon has the best fighting skills and they are well informed when it comes to the other packs. We need them" Taylor said standing up.
The three of us smiled and nodded our heads as we realized something.
The future Alpha and the future Beta's just came up with a plan.
But there's only one problem.
Those wolves from last night couldn't have been the Silvermoon pack.
*** A/N: Hello hello hello! Vote and comment what you think! Thanks everyone for the recent comments as well :) Hope you enjoy!! ***