Legend of the Shadow Wolf

Chapter Four

I woke to the sound of my alarm, feeling surprisingly not as tired as I expected for only get a few hours of sleep. I get up and take a quick shower, making sure everything is shaved, cleaned and lotioned. After all, it’s not every day you turn 18. I decided to dress up a little bit today, pulling out a pair of black faux leather leggings, sage green crop corset type spaghetti strap top with some small spikes lining the sides and top of the bust area, pulled on my black biker heals and grabbed my favorite leather biker jacket. I decided to do more makeup than my usual, winged eyeliner with a smokey eyeshadow look and a deep red shade of lipstick for the day. After brushing my hair and fixing the curls, I grabbed my backpack and headed out the door.

When I turned 16, Alpha and luna bought me my very own Kawasaki Ninja H2R crock rocket motorcycle. Damien and Alpha have a motorcycle of their own as well and they would go on rides together to neighboring packs or just around our pack, Damien would let me ride on the back with him and I fell in love with them instantly. So with some convincing from Damien on my behalf, Alpha and Luna surprised me with my very own.

I don’t take it out much lately due to the heavy training I’ve been focused on but today was a special occasion to take my baby out and show her off. We have a little shed on the side of the pack house that Alpha Ransley turned into a small garage for me so I could keep my bike close. I opened the door to the shed, pulled my helmet on, pushed it outside and got on, starting my baby up revving it up a couple times before peeling out of driveway and headed towards the school.

I always loved the feel of the wind rushing past me as I picked up speed, to me it was equivalent to how Kali feels when she’s running through the forest in wolf form. A lot of heads turned in my direction as I pulled up into the parking lot. No one’s ever seen me on my bike before so they must think I’m new or something. Damien sees me and runs up with Scarlett following behind him. I park, turning the bike off and pulling my helmet off, shaking the last of my hair out.

“There’s the birthday girl!” Damien yells with a big goofy grin on his face. “Woah Layla, I didn’t know you ride. When did you get this baby?” Scarlett asked excitedly. “I got it for my 16th birthday from Alpha and Luna. I haven’t been able to take her out for a drive in a while cause I’ve been focused on training but thought today would be perfect,” I responded back with a smile. “Oh girl, today is definitely perfect and you look bangin hot!” Scarlett said, fanning her face and googling over my outfit. “Not even,” I said rolling my eyes laughing.

I lock my bike up and the three of us started walking to building, meeting up with Taylor and Julie as Brittany rushed up to Damien’s side, grabbing his hand like she’s trying to stake her claim. “Hey baby, you’re lookin hot today,” she said with a flirtatious tone, looking around at the rest of us. I rolled my eyes at her sad attempt of trying to flirt with my brother. “Hey Brit, thanks. Hey Layla I’ll see you at lunch, I have to go make sure our graduation stuff is sorted out, happy birthday again.” Damien said to me with a smile before leaving with Brittany tailing behind him.

“I swear, what does he even see in that bimbo? Did you notice how she purposely tried to stake her claim on Damien like he’s her property?” Scarlett said with a disgusted look on her face. “Ya that girl has some major issues. Could be worse though, at least she’s only subtly mean.” Julie said, making an observation. “She has a point there, she’s still distasteful though.” Taylor said sticking his tongue out.

“Oh by the way, happy birthday Lay,” Julie said, handing me a small gift wrapped in gold wrapping paper. “This is from all of us, we know you’re not big on gifts but you’ll love this one.” Taylor said with a smile. I grabbed the little box, tore the paper off and opened it. Inside revealed the most beautiful necklace I have ever seen. It was silver crescent moon attached to a matte black chain that had a little black wolf standing on the bottom of the crescent howling and there was a little jewel attached to the top tip of the moon that was a beautiful mixture of red and gold, it reminded me of the color of Kali’s eyes almost exactly.

“You guys, this is absolutely perfect and I love it so much,” I said as I started putting it on. “You are hard to buy for sometimes girl, but when we saw this we knew it was perfect. Something just told us it was the perfect thing to get.” Scarlett said proudly. “Well it was more Scarlett that picked it out and we just helped pay haha,” Taylor said laughing. “It’s really perfect you guys, thank you. The wolf reminds me of Kali when we are in wolf form.” I said observantly. “Oh we will have to see her soon! I want to meet her! Then Tay and I could show our wolves on Sunday!” Scarlett exclaimed.

Scarlett and Taylor share a birthday surprisingly, they both turn 18 on the Sunday after the Full Moon Ball. “Hey maybe they’ll do something cool for us at the kingdom since we will all be there for the ball this weekend,” Taylor said happily. “Haha maybe, if there’s others turning 18 and shifting for the first time, they might.” Julie stated. The gang and I talked for a little longer as they walked me to my first class before we all said goodbye and separated.

So far today hasn’t turned out too bad. First three classes went by pretty smooth, received some birthday wishes, hugs from teachers and of course the guys wanted to see who could out arm wrestle the birthday girl, they all lost of course. I was glad when lunch time hit, I needed a break from all the birthday attention.

I got my food and decided to head out over by this big oak tree that sat on the side of building away from the other kids. I took a seat against the tree as Damien spotted me from the field across the way and jogged up to sit next to me. “Hey Layla, I got a little something for you.” He said shyly, which is not like him but I brush it off. He hands me a black box with a red bow on it, I look at it curiously. Slowly opening it, I see a beautiful bracelet with black red and gold gemstones encrusted in it. “I know it’s not much but I wanted to get you something special for your birthday this year.” He said with a slight grin. I pick it up out of the box, “thank you Damien, it’s beautiful and it matches my necklace the gang got me too,” I said with a smile. “I’m glad you like it. Here let me help you put it on.”

He took the bracelet out of my hand and helped me fasten it to my wrist. “Hey I was thinking, do you want to go for a run with Fang and I later tonight? He wants to see Kali and so do I,” he chuckled. “Of course, Kali and I would love to.” “Great! Ok tonight then. I gotta get goin though before Brittany sends a search party out for me. She’s been kind of clingy lately,” he groaned a little. “Haha ya she seems like she is. Go before her posse finds you.” I said, waving him away before getting up and throwing my trash away. Back to class to finish up this school day. I’m not allowed to train today, as per orders from her highness, Scarlett.

The last few classes go by quick and I meet Scarlett at her car. “Hey babes, I’ll follow you back to the pack house then you and I have a date with the mall.” She said excitedly as we both get ready to leave. She follows behind me steadily back to the pack house where I park my bike back into the shed and hop in her car, then we head off towards the mall.

As expected, shopping with Scarlett took forever. She finally found a dress for the ball that’s a nice gold and silver mermaid style dress with a sweetheart neck that shows plenty of cleavage but that’s still modest. I found a beautiful black and red ombré A-Line/Princess sequin ruched off the shoulder sleeveless dress that’s floor length that had a slit up one of the sides that reaches my upper thigh. I’m not a dress kind of girl but I love how this dress hugs my curves in all the right ways and shows the girls off a bit without revealing too much.

We paid for our dresses and headed back to the car. Thankfully I was able to find a cute black glitter dress with rhinestone spaghetti straps and came up to the middle of my thigh. I protested a bit but Scarlett wouldn’t have it. I managed to find a cute pair of black wedges for tonight and a pair of basic black stiletto heels for the ball. We talked about the ball and graduation most of the way back to the pack house when I noticed lights shining above the trees. Scarlett parked the car in front of the house and we got out grabbing our bags as well.

Scarlett led me up to my room where we dropped our stuff off. “Alright missy, it’s time for you to get dressed and ready. We don’t have a lot of time so hurry up and make it quick.” She said as she start rushing me into the bathroom, not giving me any chance to talk or interject. I take a quick shower and dry off, applying some lotion to my body and slipping into the dress I just bought. I blow dry my hair real quick and start to apply my makeup. I do a simple night look with a smokey eye, winged eyeliner, mascara and I decided to wear my matte black lipstick for tonight to bring the look together. Once that’s done, I exit the bathroom and put on my new necklace, bracelet and add some studded earrings. I slip on my wedges and grab a simple leather cropped jacket and look in the mirror.

Damn we are hot Kali says confidently.

You think so? I replied back unsure.

Hell ya, whoever our mate is will have a hard time keeping his hands off She said with a smirk.

I’ve barely thought about finding my mate, things have been crazy lately. So far I haven’t felt any pills or smelt anything different so he’s most likely not in our pack. I know we will find him when the time is right. For now, we will focus on graduation and the ball then the competition.

After giving myself one more once over before I feel satisfied, I grab my phone and put it in my pocket as Scarlett opens the door to come in. “Oh good, you’re ready! Let’s get shakin’ babe,” she says excitedly and grabs my arm, dragging me downstairs.

We walked through the main floor towards the back door that leads out into a big back yard. There are string lights decorating the patio, tables set out with food and drinks decorating them. As soon as we walk out the door, I am welcomed by everyone yelling “SURPRISE!” I look at Scarlett, who has a big grin on her face. “What is all of this?” I ask curiously. “It’s your surprise party of course! Did you really think you were going to get away with another boring birthday?” She said laughing and pulling me towards the crowd that waited for me. We walked through the groups of people, giving me hugs, high fives and happy birthday wishes.

Finally made it through the crowd of friends and pack members to my adopted family waiting for me in the back. They each had a big smile on their faces which made me smile in return. Julie and Taylor finally joined up next to me and gave me each a hug before I turned my attention to Damien. He gave a me a big hug and said, “happy birthday punk.” “Thank you, what happened to keep in it chill?” I said with a chuckle, punching him in the arm. “Haha that would be my fault. We wanted to do something a little extra for you this year. Only fair we spoiled Damien on his 18th birthday that we do the same for you as well,” Luna Calista spoke up with a smile and gave me a tight, warm hug.

“Happy birthday sweetheart, your parents would be so proud of the woman you have grown up to become. They never wanted you to be without and they loved you more than life itself. We are very blessed to have been able to raise you and see you grow.” Alpha Ransley said as he gave me the biggest hug of all. “No matter what, you will always be our daughter and we love you so much,” Luna choked out with happy tears in her eyes. We did a group hug before starting off the party they planned. Tonight couldn’t get any better.