Wolves, Witches and Lies

Mates

It's 11 pm and I see Becka walk out of the pack house with Drew. her hair is dishevel and his suit is messed up, oh yeah they had some fun, i think as i see that their hands are interlinked and the both have bright red marks on their necks. They are official mates now. 

'come talk with me' i tell her through mind-link. 

"on my way' she links back. 

My mom spots me standing by the stage and tells me that my cake will be out in 5 minutes and I'll need to be on the stage by then so everyone can sing me happy birthday.

"Hey Kiri" Becka says walking up to me.

"where'd your new mate go?" I ask her, looking around. He must've disappeared into the crowd.

"He went to go talk to his parents about me "she says, pointing her thumb over her shoulder. "He wants to live here with me since I have a rank and he Doesn't in his pack." she says with a shrug. 

"Well if he's the son of the Blackstone pack then we can always use another really good fighter." I told her.

"Hey your Alpha side is showing." she says, giving me a hard time.

Just then my mom interrupts our conversation by mink-linking me 'get on the stage, it's time!'

"Well time to go" I tell her pointing at the stage. 

As I climb the stage stairs I see my cake. its 6 layers with green fondant and orange, red and yellow leaves decorated all over it, on the top tier it says Happy birthday Kiri written in dark green letters and has 18 candles on top. The whole crowd starts singing to me and it's so loud you can hear it echoing all over. I burst out in a huge grin when I see Mitch and Becka in the front row singing their hearts out. I blow out my candle and grab a microphone from one of the stands off to the side and tell everyone thank you for coming out and celebrating mine and my future Betas birthday with us. 

'hello Kiri' the voice from the forest says to me

'are you my wolf?' i ask the voice

'Yes. I've been really excited to talk with you Kiri. my name is Roxie' she says to me politely.

'not as excited as I've been to finally talk to you!' I say to her in my mind.

"i know you probably have a lot of questions about what happened in that dream last night,' she says to me, honestly i kinda forgot about it with everything going on today.

 'We can talk tonight in your dreams since it's easier to communicate before your first shift.' she finishes saying. your first shift only happens after you mate or on the first blue moon after your 18th birthday. all of this conversation happens within a few minutes.

The pack chef comes on stage  "Who wants some cake?!" he says with another mic in his hand. 'i got it from here' he links me. I give him a smile and a nod and head off the stage walking over to Mitch and Becka.

"So Mitch are you ready for your turn?" I ask him with a grin pointing at the stage. 

"Uh. no." he says with sarcasm. "my cake will be done in 10 mins over there." he says pointing to the patio off the pack house. "I really don't need all these people singing to me." he says, getting a laugh from me and Becka. 

He doesn't like a whole lot of people's attention on him even though he's a Beta, he'll do anything for the pack but if he has a choice, he'll avoid people.

we walk over to the area where Mitch is doing his cake and there's maybe 20 of us, including his dad, Becka parents, my mom and some others from school.  

We sing happy birthday to him and he blows out his candles. a minute before his birth time i get a mink link from Becka.

'Can you come talk with Drew's parents real quick?' 

'sure, where are you?' i link back

'behind the stage'

I turn around and see my mom, the Alpha and Luna from the Blackstone pack and Drew and Becka.

I link Mitch right as his cake is being brought to him on a table in front of where he's standing. 'I gotta go do some pack stuff, i'll be back in a few' 

' you need me for backup?' he links looking at me

'nah, should be fine.' I told him with a wave of my hand.

I walk over behind the stage and I hear Becka talking to Drew's parents. "i'm the next Gamma of this pack. hell be perfectly safe here with us." 

my mom is standing next to her "i have no problem with him joining our pack Alpha James and Luna Kate. he will be welcomed here with open arms." She tells them reassuringly.

I walk up joining the conversation "as future Alpha, I promise you that your son will be well taken care of, have a choice of any job he is qualified to do and will be able to leave to visit you whenever he wants. plus Becka is one of our best fighters so hell have someone to spar with.'' I add to lighten the mood.

"Well...." says Luna Kate . "i guess, if your true mate is here in the bloodstone pack and you can come and see us, i'm ok with you staying here. " she says looking at her husband Alpha James. "then i am too. also i didn't want to take your gamma away from you Miss Kiri." he says looking at me. 

"It's okay Alpha James, " I say to him, "I understand that you are just concerned about your youngest son moving to another pack."

Becka and Drew look at each other and embrace in a tight hug. 'all good now?' I link her. 'oh yeah' she links back.

'MATE' Roxie says to me as I smell him. 

He smells like chocolate and campfires, two of my favorite things. I walk away from my mom and the others without saying anything. 

I inhale deeply following the smell of my mate. 

'MATE' Roxie says again, getting excited. 

I keep following the smell as it leads me away from the party and to the front of the pack house.

I see a small group of people talking and the smell gets stronger. I see someone from the group move away and start walking towards me,but it's too dark to see since all the lights are off.

i hear Kora calling out to the person who left the group "Aw, baby come back! i was about to show you something!" she says in a whine.

As I get closer to the person who smells so good and as his form takes shape, my heart skips a beat.

Me and Mitch both look at each other and say "MINE"