The Broken

An Uninvited Guest

I placed my hands on top of his, leaned back onto his chest and closed my eyes, taking in his scent and the feeling of his embrace. I couldn't help but smile. "Thank you; you look very handsome yourself," I said in a whisper, knowing with his wolf hearing, Kilian could hear every word "everything is going to be okay, sky," he said, trying to reassure me. But nothing could calm my racing mind. It is a lot to process right now; so much has happened in just 24 hours, turning 18 years old, finding my mate, and attending a gathering of the whole pack to celebrate my birthday, where I will be the center of attention. Just that alone sends a shiver down my spine. I am not a social person at all. I prefer to hide in the shadows, and now I am in the spotlight, not just for today but for the foreseeable future, because I am now mated to Killian, the future alpha leader of the pack. But deep down, I knew something else would happen, something big that terrified me.

Killian turned me around, still in his embrace, pulling me from my thoughts back to reality. As he pulled me into a tight embrace, I could hear his voice in my head, "we will figure everything out when the time comes, sky. " I was pulled back a little, staring straight into his eyes "h. how," I said as he pulled me into a passionate kiss.

"Because we have completed the mate bond, we can mind-link each other," he said in my head as we continued to kiss passionately. "I can feel your every emotion and hear what you think when you allow me to, and if you focus, you can do the same to me, my love."

As we continued to kiss, his hands slowly slid down my waist till he reached the slit in my dress, grabbed my thigh and slid his hands into my underwear, pulling them to the side, feeling fireworks dance across my skin and a fire building inside me. He pushes me up on the wall, our kiss becoming more hungry as the seconds pass. "Try to do it, sky," he says over my mind-Link, I do as he says and suddenly, I am filled with his thoughts and emotions, his passion, his love for me and images of everything he wants to do now. I can feel myself becoming more turned on by the second. His finger slowly slides across my folds, sending fireworks through me. He pulled his lips away "see, my love," he said aloud before kissing my mark as he slid his fingers inside me, sending a wave of pleasure, arching my back, "ohh," I moaned as Killian captured my lips once again. Killian worked his magic until there was a knock at the door, pulling us both to reality. We both pulled away, straining out our outfits and collecting ourselves. We giggled.

"We will continue later, my love," Killian said over mind-link so no one could hear us; we walked to the door and opened it together to reveal Freya standing there. "Everyone is waiting for you two to make your appearance," she said with an all-knowing look on her face "sorry," I said, blushing, knowing she had caught us in the act. I felt like a teenager sneaking away, getting caught by his parents, which is what happened. Still, we have grown but acting like teenagers still, and Freya is like a mom to me; being Killian's mom made it so much more embarrassing; we walked hand in hand, following Freya to the party where the guests were waiting for us to make our entrance. We stopped in front of the solid wood door. As I took a deep breath, Kilian squeezed my hand, lightly pulled it up to his lips, and kissed the back of my hand, calming me. "It's okay; I'll be right by your side," he said out loud. His mother turned to us with a proud look; she pushed open the door, revealing everyone behind the door and all the decorations of gold and blue. Suddenly, everyone turned around to look at us, nerves shooting through me as Freya announced

"the birthday girl has arrived, Skylyn and her mate, my son Kilian. " Suddenly, the room was filled with gasps of shock and applause.

Killian slowly pulled me into the room towards our table as everyone made a path for us, congratulating me and wishing me a happy birthday. I put on a smile, acting as if this wasn't nerve-wracking, putting on a brave face and thanking everyone as we walked past till finally, we got to our table. Thankfully, our table was at the far side of the room, away from the other tables. I was seated in the middle, Killian on my left, Ivy on the far left, Freya to my right and Ian to the far right. As everyone sat down at their table talking away about the news, servers came out with trays, placing the first course in front of every guest; a server approached our table, putting our places down in front of us—a young woman with short brown hair. Brown eyes looked up at me, placing my meal in front of me. "Happy birthday and congratulations, my lady," she said with a look in her eyes. She seemed off; maybe she would be the first of many to look at me like that since I have been mated to Killian, the dream boat every girl in this pack has swooned over. I tried to push my uneasy feeling aside to avoid disturbing anyone. Killian grabbed my hand under the table, slowly calming me down. Suddenly, Freya stood up, clinking her glass to get everyone's attention.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming. This evening will start with dinner and drinks; then, all the tables will be moved to make way for the dance floor. Enjoy the evening and have fun ". The room is filled with applause and the sounds of glasses clinking together. As Freya sits down, the room is filled with chatter and a lot of conversation. "the happiest of birthdays, sweetheart," Freya says with a smile on her face from ear to ear, "thank you.. for everything" I say as I smile back suddenly the nervousness washes away and is filled with the feeling of pure love as I look around I am surrounded by the foremost influential people in my life and a room of happy people celebrating my birthday,

We get lost in conversation, talking about the party and reminiscing on fond memories over the years I've been a part of their family. My heart is filled with love, knowing that no matter what, they will love me and guide me wherever life takes me. After eating, everyone moves well. The staff removed the tables and chairs for everyone to dance. The room is filled with happiness, laughter and cheers. Looking around, I have a feeling of joy and belonging.

Ian walked towards me with an outstretched hand. " May I have the first dance, my dear daughter?" He said with a smile. Since they found me, he has treated me as a daughter, and I am proud to see him as a father. "It would be my pleasure," I said, placing my hand in his. Slowly, everyone made a path leaving the dance floor. as Ian and I walked to the middle, music started to play for our father-daughter Dance. "I am so proud of you, sweetheart." He whispered as I rested my head on his shoulders, dancing slowly to the music. "Thank you, dad," I said with a smile as we hugged tighter. I had never called them mom or dad before, only referring to Ian and Freya by their names. Part of the reason is that I was afraid to call them mom and dad because those words were painful memories of my birth parents. Those two simple words were tainted with pain and abuse, but now they meant to love and belonged to me; slowly, as the music stopped, Freya and Killian walked towards us.

"Can I have this dance, my love," Killian said, reaching out his hand." I would love to" I said, smiling, going to take his hand in mine before Freya stepped in. "I would love to say happy birthday first, my dear," she said, glancing over at him and then turning and hugging me, "Happy birthday, sweetheart. Love you," she said as I pulled her into a tight embrace. "I love you too, mom, " I said as we hugged. She squeezed me tighter and slowly pulled away, wiping happy tears from her eyes, then hugged her son, "You be good to her son," with a protective look. He didn't respond, just nodded and hugged her, then pulled away. When I was in his arms for our first dance, I felt safe; slowly, as we danced, other couples started joining us. Quickly, the dance floor was filled with laughter and dancing couples,

The night was filled with love, laughter, dancing and many drinks.

As Killian and I are dancing our last of the night before leaving the party, the door bursts open. Everyone stops and gasps at the sudden interruption when suddenly I get a scent that sends a shiver down my spine, freezing me in fear. I knew who that scent belonged to without seeing his face, but there was no way he... he was dead. I saw him killed with my own eyes that day. He can't be alive. So why did he wait till today to show himself if he was?

Killian sensed my reaction and stared at the door, pulling me close to the side before the deep voice echoed through the hall. l

"Happy birthday, my dear daughter," he said with an evil tone,

"nnn. oo you died.." I said in a stuttering voice.