Hidden Queen

Birthday Morning

                                                                                    POV: Nova

       Saturday comes pretty quickly. I wake up the smell of bacon and pancakes. I groan happily as I roll out of bed. Right as my feet hit the floor, my door bursts open and Aymara, Roman, Aunt Em, Uncle Ben, and Bean rushes me. "Happy birthday, sweetie," my aunt coos, wrapping her arms around me. I smile as each of the people in my room hug me. When Bean gets to me, he looks up at me with the biggest smile. No-No, Mommy and I made you breakfast. Lets go eat," he says, pulling me towards the kitchen. Roman and Aymara follows but my aunt and uncle stays behind to talk. When we reach the kitchen, we all sit down and wait for my aunt and uncle to come down. "Hey Nova, I was wondering, is this is your real family or are you're adopted?" Roman asks. I look at him in confusion but before I can answer, my aunt comes down the stairs. 

       "She is definitely my blood niece. She was not adopted," she tells Roman. Roman looks down at his hand and blushes. "Sorry if that was rude," he says. My aunt and uncle sit down and start passing plates of food around. "So, Nova, what do you kids have planned for today? Are your friends staying for your party?" My uncle asks, trying to change the subject. I look at Aymara and Roman. "Well, I promised them a swim in the pool and then they are taking me out for lunch as a sorry for missing the party. Their family has something going on tonight," I tell him. My aunt gives my uncle a knowing smile. "Well that's too bad. It would have been nice to have you for the party," she says. I shrug. "I'm okay with it. Tomorrow we are going to hang out if that's okay with you Auntie," I say. 

      She gives me a shrug. "We'll see how things go tonight. If you feel up to it tomorrow, I don't care what you do. Now, Nova, I have a special gift for you for before the party," she says, pulling out a large box wrapped in gold and silver wrapping. I take the box and tear into it. Inside, I find a beautiful, floor length black dress and a pair of black heels. "For tonight," my aunt says. Aymara gasps and fingers the fabric. "Is this silk?" She asks. My aunt nods and smiles. "Of course. Nothing but the best for my niece," my aunt says. I put the dress back in the box and stand up. "Aymara, why don't we go upstairs and change into our bathing suits. Roman can get changed in the bathroom next to my room. Then we can head outside to the pool," I say. 

       The three of us run upstairs and hurriedly change. I put on the new suit that Auntie Em chose out for me yesterday. My bathing suit was a gold two piece with  gold chains connecting the bottoms together. Aymara looks at me in awe. "That bathing suit is beautiful on you. It compliments your curves and skin tone and hair. You'll have my brother drooling all over himself," she says, laughing. I blush. "I doubt it. Your brother is only a friend. Someone like him would never be into someone like me," I say. Aymara frowns at me. "Stop putting yourself down. Trust me when I say, my brother is head over heels for you. You're all he ever talks about anymore. He is slacking in our training and my family says he's useless at the moment with how he acts around you," she whispers. I smile. "Really? I like him too but I wasn't gonna say anything," I confide to her.

       When we exit my room, Roman is waiting outside my door for us. "About ti....." He starts to say before his gaze lands on me. "Wow Nova. You look gorgeous," he says. Aymara nudges me and I pull my gaze away from Roman's perfectly sculpted body. "Thanks Roman. You look pretty good yourself," I say, blushing. I turn away quickly and lead them down to the pool. When we reach the pool, Bean is there playing in the shallow end. "No-No, can we swim in the deep end? Mama says I'm allowed to as long as someone is with me," he says, running towards me. I scoop him up and smile. "Sure, wanna jump in with us?"I ask. Bean wiggles in my arms excitedly. "can I?" He asks,eyes round in excitement. I put him down and lead him to the deep end. "On the count of three, we will all jump in together.Keep a hold of my hand though so I don't lose you," I say, counting to three and jumping into the pool with my friends and Bean. 

       We all surface and Bean laughs. "That was fun," he says before Auntie Em comes out and scoops him out of the pool. "Bean, I told you to let Nova and her friends have fun by themselves. Why are you out here?" She asks him. Bean pouts and crosses his arms. "No-No and I never get to play. She is always busy with you when we come. I wanted to play with her before we went back home and she becomes...." he says before my aunt throws her hand over his mouth. "Okay honey, for now, lets go inside. You can play with your cousin later. Wait until her friends leave though," she says, carrying him inside. Roman and Aymara look at me in confusion. "Before you become what?" Roman asks. I shake my head. "I don't know. Maybe he's just upset that we never spend time together anymore. Lets swim," I say, pushing off towards the middle of the pool. 

       We all played in the pool till about 3:30 in the afternoon. My aunt came out and informs us of the time. "Nova, if you and your friends are going to go eat, you might want to go now. There is only two hours before we have to head to the party," she warns us. We all climb out of the pool and wrap towels around ourselves. "Lets go change so we can head to the burger shop. I'm craving some fries and a shake," I say, running towards my room. I change back into my jeans and t shirt and converse before throwing my hair into a bun. "Come on," Aymara says, pulling me towards the door. We all head to the car and Roman drives up to the burger spot. When we arrive, the twins become antsy and very alert. "Is everything all right?" I ask them. They both nod and we order our food. 

       "So, since we can't go to your party, we both bought you a gift," Roman says pulling a small box out of his back pack. I open the box to find a small gold necklace with a diamond studded paw print. Aymara hands me a slightly larger box. Inside is a diamond studded bracelet. "Thank you guys, the gifts are beautiful. I'll wear them tonight," I tell them, looking down at my watch. "Guys, I need to start heading home. Auntie Em wants to do my hair and makeup before we have to drive to the party site," I say sadly. Roman grabs my hand and looks me in the eyes. "Nova, I'm sorry we can't make it to the party. If it was up to me, I would skip the family event and go to your party but my family event is mandatory," he tells me, before leading me back the car, holding my hand the whole way back to my house. 

       My aunt ushers me into the house before I can say bye to my friends. "Go take a shower and then meet me in my room. Don't put on the dress yet," she commands. I run upstairs and take a quick shower. When I get to my aunt's room, she pushes me into the chair in front of the vanity and starts working on my unruly silver hair. Once she is satisfied with my hair, she moves onto my makeup. She looks down at me and smiles. "You look exactly like your mother, except for the hair. You are beautiful. Maybe tonight since so many packs are coming, you'll find your mate too," she says in excitement, handing me the dress. I slip it on before turning to her. "Auntie, what does having a mate really mean? Is it marriage?" I ask. She laughs. "Kinda. A mate is your soulmate. The other half that the goddess granted you," she explains. 

       My uncle stands in the doorway and clears his throat. "It's time to head out ladies. We don't want the birthday girl to be late for her own party. It would also seem disrespectful to the other alphas if the Queen Alpha didn't stick to schedule," He says, rushing us out the door. I grab my heels and run with Bean to the car. "No-No, when you become Queen Alpha, will you still be able to play with me?" Bean asks, a pout forming on his face. I tickle him and smile. "Of course I'll still play with you. You are my Beans," I tell him. He squeals and grabs my hand. "You are the best cousin ever," he whispers. I smile and watch as we drive out of town.