Finding herself

Chapter 19: Welcome home

When Maya and I got back to the house, it was almost morning and we decided it was best if she just slept here. We had a day off and decided to head to the gym in the afternoon. But until then our only goal was to get as much sleep as possible.

Thank Goddess I had a double-size bed, otherwise I would wound up on the floor. Damn, this girl can starfish.

When I finally fell asleep, after some tossing and turning, I only had about a foot of space left for myself. But as I was exhausted, I didn't care much about space. I usually sleep in the same position for the whole night, anyway.

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I could feel the sun shining on my face and I woke up but still had my eyes closed. It felt nice, this moment of peace and warmth.

I realized I was left without my comforter, as Maya wrapped herself in it like a burrito. She was still sound asleep and I didn't want to wake her. I could feel I was still exhausted from the party, but I couldn't sleep anymore.

I got up, got dressed, and went to make coffee.

Everybody that worked at the pack house was running around when I opened the door, and I almost crashed into a younger lady, no older than 15, carrying a glass vase with different colors of roses.

Did Jeremy hire new help?

I passed a couple of people on my way to the kitchen, some regular workers, but mostly new ones. Some faces I recognized from my welcome party, but some were a mystery.

Everybody was in a hurry and didn't even acknowledge I was there. I walked into the kitchen, where a whole staff meeting was being held. But since our only staff used to be Lydia, this was a surprise.

"We need to come up with a five-course meal for dinner and for the party I will hire a catering company since it's on such short notice. I hope everybody will stick with me in this hectic time, remember, it's just for today." Jeremy told the people around him, who wrote in their notebooks.

When he finished his speech, everybody scattered and began to cook or prepare something.

"Hey Jer, what's with all the people?" I asked him, not knowing what was going on.

"Jonathan called, he's coming home today a month early and nothing is prepared yet. We are having dinner and then I'm throwing him a welcome-back party." He answered while organizing some papers on the table.

Did I even hear that name before? I don't think so.

"And Jonathan is ...?" I waited for Jeremy to finish my sentence for me.

"Oh, sorry. He's my son. The one studying in Spain. He called me today and announced he is boarding the plane already. He'll be here in a couple of hours and we have nothing prepared. So today will be a little hectic, but it has to be perfect." He immediately walked away and towards his office. I didn't want to bother him anymore, so I went outside for a run.

So. His son's name is Jonathan. It's a cool name, I guess. I kind of felt a little bit nervous, not knowing what the future holds for me. Everything will be different tomorrow, either good different or bad. I guess I would find out as the day goes by.

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Going on a run feels amazing for my body and my mind. It's the only time I can truly enjoy myself and what I am. It feels amazing being one with nature.

I walk to the kitchen to fix myself a snack and to check on the whole situation. As I walk through the house I could smell the food had already been cooked, as it smelled heavenly.

My stomach rumbled and I went to fix myself a sandwich, but I was steered back out by Lydia, who said she didn't have the time or place for me at the moment.

I decided to ransack my snack drawer instead of fighting with her, fully knowing I wouldn't have won.

I was just about to walk up the stairs, when I bumped into Jeremy, fully clothed in a suit and tie, visibly stressed.

"Whoops, sorry, didn't see you there. Aren't you a little bit overdressed?" I moved out of his way, but he didn't seem pleased with me.

"Why aren't you dressed? He's almost here. And where were you? The whole day has gone by and nobody has seen you for a couple of hours. Get dressed now and meet me in the dining room." He wiped his sweat off of his forehead with a napkin, probably regretting wearing a whole suit.

"I was running. Needed some things to get out of my mind and body, and that was the quickest way. Also, I'm not going to join you for dinner. You haven't seen your son for a while now and I don't want to impose. There will be enough time for us to meet. But I will see you at the party, and I want a dance." I smiled and walked past him.

"You better be there. Or I'll come to get you myself and drag you to the dance floor," he said loudly when I was almost in my room. His remark made me happy. But at the same time, I felt sad.

Everything I worked for here, it could all end with Jonathan. One word and I'm out of here and this life I had built in such a short time.

And even though these last couple of weeks have been awful, it was mostly good. I have spent more time with Maya and our friends, got a job that I'm not terrible at, and going to the gym clears my mind more than I thought it would.

I wouldn't want to lose all of this, just because of some guy.

I plan on fighting for it, hard.

As I got back to my room, I saw Maya was still there, just eating my snacks, laying on my bed and watching tv.

"Where have you been. I'm starving and Lydia ran me out of the kitchen. That lady can be very scary when she wants to be." She shudders and jumps from the bed, cleaning the crumbs from her pants on my floor.

I just looked at her annoyed and grabbed a bag of chips from the bed and started eating. "I went on a run and lost the track of time. Just let me get dressed and we'll go to the diner for dinner, I don't think I'm prepared to meet the future alpha just yet."

Just as I was about to close the door to the bathroom, I yelled out to her: "You're cleaning your mess yourself. We're not going anywhere before or Lydia will have my head on a silver platter." I shut the door and turned on the shower.

The water felt so good against my sweaty skin and I didn't want to get out, even if my stomach was protesting loudly.

I still had to find something to wear, that I could wear to the party after too. I stepped out of the shower, dried myself off and just wrapped in the towel, I walked out of the bathroom and into the closet.

I chose a black lacy dress that went down to the middle of my thighs, a black lacy underwear set and some cute black sneaker heels.

I found the same style dress, just with a floral print, for Maya. I brought it out with me and threw it on the bed. She quickly changed and found red heels that went with the dress perfectly.

I took a purse with me and called a cab. We were out the door as soon as it pulled up and in no time we arrived at our place of work. We could go somewhere else to eat, but we knew what tasted best here and the chefs knew how we liked our food.

We walked in and sat at our favorite booth, at the back where we had some privacy, even though the diner was almost empty anyway.

I ordered a burger with a set of potato wedges and a large pizza, while Maya opted for a large bowl of Spaghetti Bolognese and a side of pizza. The werewolf metabolism is strong with us two.

After we ate our dinner, we each ordered a large chocolate milkshake with whipped cream on top.

"I'm sorry for being a b***h earlier," I apologized to Maya and she just brushed it of. "Oh don't worry about it. You're just a b***h when you're hungry. And if you think you're bad, you should meet my mother."

We laughed together and it felt nice. Some sense of normalcy before everything goes to s**t.

I paid for our food and turned to Maya after I remembered something. "Do you think I should bring a gift of some kind? What do you give a guy that might just kick you out after he takes over the pack in a few years?" I started biting at my nails and watched as Maya's expression went from confused to surprised.

"Is that what's been bothering you all this time? And here I thought it was me eating on your bed." she chuckled and I couldn't help but smile with her.

"Girl, you have nothing to worry about. He's the nicest guy in the world. He would never to that. And even if he does, you can come live with me," she smiled her biggest smile and I forced one too, but thinking about her messy habits, it just made me more nervous.

"So, about the gift?" I asked again after a few awkward seconds to try and change the subject.

"Oh, right. You don't really need to bring anything, unless you want to. And since this is all so last minute, no one would blame you if you didn't bring anything. Unless you want to see if the shops are still open and look for something. We still have an hour and a half to look for something." She stood from the booth and I followed her lead.

"I really should bring something. Let's go, we don't want to be late." I ushered her out the door and thankfully a few shops were right around the corner, so we didn't have to wait for a ride this time.

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"So? What are you going to get?" Maya asked me while looking around the store, flipping through the greeting cards. She handed me one that read 'Welcome back' and I put it in the basket.

"I have no idea. What do you give a guy that you've never met, who is the future alpha of the pack and could potentially, in the future, kick you out of the house or even the pack?" My tone was sarcastic, but I wasn't.

"I don't know the answer to that, but since I know him, I could give you a clue about what he likes," Maya uninterestedly responded and I looked at her with a look I can only describe as 'really, b***h?'

She responded with "What?" and I just kept walking. "Do you want my help or not?" She followed me to the chocolate isle and stopped. I turned around and answered "Of course." And in response, she just pointed.

"What, cheap chocolate?" I didn't quite believe her. "It's his guilty pleasure." She had a smug smile on her face and I couldn't help myself but roll my eyes.

"Fine, you pick which one he likes best, I'm gonna go look for something else, because this isn't enough." I didn't know what else to get, but surely there would be something in this goddamn store that would be right.

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We reached the pack house and there were a lot of people outside. We walked past them, through the front door and into the conference room, where the furniture was moved so there would be space for the guests. The room was very big, but still not all of them could fit inside at once.

As soon as we stepped inside the room, a delicious smell hit me like a ton of bricks. It smelled like caramel.

"Do you smell that? It smells like caramel. Delicious." I turned to Maya for a second and then back to the crowd of people before us, to try and find where it was coming from.

"No?" Maya looked at me weird and then whisper-screamed beside me "Oh s**t!"

Then I spotted him, talking with someone. I didn't recognize him, but my wolf did. She yelled inside my head, so loudly my head started to hurt.

"Mate!"