Daddy And Alpha

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight: Introducing the demand

I had heard of many crazy, unrealistic things in my life, but this one just had me in shambles of confusion, wrapped up in denial.

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"What the f**k?"

Those were the first words to leave my mouth as the annoying sound of an airhorn woke me from the only good sleep I was getting this week.

My highly prominent frown changed into more of a smile and all the cussing words I had stacked up, ready to throw vanished to the back of my eyes when my eyes fell on the wide smile of my mother.

"Happy birthday, my previous pup! Oh! I cannot believe you are all grown!"

How so very dramatic she could be sometimes. It had absolutely slipped my mind that every year on my birthday, she woke me up with whatever overly loud, irritating and unbearable device she could find and make use of.

Noisy alarms, a flute, maracas and banging cutlery together were doing it just fine. This year definitely had to take the cake.

Waking me up with an airhorn was by far the worst.

"I know! But did you really have to-"

I started but she cut me off before I could finish my sentence.

"You know I have to! Come down with me, you know what else we have to do too!"

Oh no! Not this early, pleaseeee!

"I am much older now, do we have to do that this year?" I tried to run an excuse but it did nothing to get through to her. She shook her head vigorously and beckoned for me to leave the comfort of my blankets.

"What time even is it?"

I lifted my phone and checked the time to see 3:30am on the screen.

This early? Mom had to be kidding.

"It's too early. We should do it later!"

I was yet again unsuccessful in my attempts to change her mind, I could just see it in her face that she was not ready to take no for an answer.

Before I had the opportunity to explain that I indeed was going to get out of bed, but I would do it as quickly as a sloth can finish a marathon, she had pushed the blankets off me.

"Mom!" I yelled out with shut eyes. Did she know how tired I was?

"No, Kacey. You are coming with me!"

She demanded and I had no choice but to listen to her.

I got out of bed and followed her, not bothering to change into anything more decent than my pajama top and bottoms.

We got to the car and she did something I thought I would never see my mother do, opened the door for me and literally refused to let me close it myself.

She must be on something today. Or maybe she was just that excited to have me turn eighteen.

Well if that is the case, mother, that makes both of us!

I watched as she walked behind the car and made it to the front of the car, getting into her driver's side.

"I had missed this so much, Kace, you have no idea!" She clapped her hands in excitement and I chucked a bit before letting her I knew how true what she was saying was.

She started the car and backed up before taking a turn to join the road. The darkness of the town and sound of wolves howling to the moon actually had me smiling. I was more excited about this than I was before, now that I thought about it.

Every year when I earned one more year of grace, my mother drove me to the woods and we would hunt till we had caught a decent amount of prey and got the much needed thrill of a chase.

It started when I was just a tiny wolf, hyped up by any opportunity to get into the woods and run. My mom would always treat our little wee hour dates like a game, hiding pieces of prey for me to find. It was always such a blast before school and other responsibilities came about and almost took over my life.

I smiled as the memories flashed in my mind.

My mother caught my hand, noticing the sudden change on my face.

"I told you that you would enjoy our little tradition!" She laughed and I rolled my eyes with a smirk still on my face.

"Yeah, yeah! I could still change my mind!" I joked and she shook her head fast.

"Never! We will never abandon this bonding session, honey!" She emphasized.

The drive to the small forest surrounding our city is not long and we actually make it there with my energy more picked up.

I appreciated this. Competing in something that was actually fruitful to me and much more fun was always better. I could not say I felt school held as much of a benefit for me.

The hunt goes very well and at the end of it, I actually feel more ready to start my day. Or not. Spending more time just exploring the woods in my wolf form sounded more enticing than just having another boring day of non enthusiastic school. Thank goodness this was my last year and it was close to being over.

My mom and I walked back to our car, now shifted back to human form. I was pleasantly surprised to see that we had only spent an hour and half on the hunt and I still had time to get back to hitting the sack once we drove back home.

"So, Kacey..."

My mom dragged the pause for far too long and cleared her throat before proceeding.

That could only mean one thing, she was either about to expose me for something I did or have an important talk with me.

Quite frankly, I appreciated none. Being busted was not for untalented liars like me and I did not do well with important talks at all. They were simply not for me, especially if they were coming from my mother.

"Yes?" I hesitantly replied and swiped some of my hair behind my ears.

"How old are you now?"

Her question had me furrowing my eyebrows in confusion.

"This is not a happy birthday song, I am eighteen now and I know that."

"I am very glad you are aware because there is something very important and significant that is going to happen in your life from this point on."

Oh, right!

"You are going to find your mate and that is a big deal. Huge deal, Kacey."

She explained and her words brought back my fear of knowing who the moon goddess had chosen for me. It could literally be anyone, but something in my heart just told me whoever that was would just be my mate on paper.

"You have to accept your mate. Denying a mate is the worst thing you could ever do! I speak from experience!"

She continued and I already knew what was to follow.

"You see, your father and I found out we were mates when I was eighteen and he was just two years older than me. Back then I was living my life according to what my family was feeding me, what they wanted me to be. I regretted rejecting him when he wanted me for years even after he had forgiven me. I do not want you to find yourself in such regret, Kacey."

I had heard this story over and over, time after time. It could not shock me at this point. I knew how much my mom valued mates. She always emphasized on how the Moon Goddess knew what she was doing by pairing people. She believed it was destined to work out for everyone like it did for her and dad.

But that really was not the case. I has seen good relationships get broken because people were chasing after this so-called mate!

Deciding I was not ready to listen to a full twenty minutes of more of her and dad's "unpredictable love story" as they both call it, I took my phone from the centre console and checked it for anything worthy of providing a good enough distraction.

Molly's text came in immediately, as though she sensed the awkward situation I wished to get myself out of.

MOLLY : "Come over before I leave for school and get your gift!"

Well! This has not been such a bad way to start the morning of my birthday.

Wait...my eighteen birthday! A smirk plastered itself on my face as a thought crossed my mind.

I had always believed that my age was what was holding Martin back from even exploring an idea of being with me. This was perfect! I was finally an adult worthy of respect. We'll see how well he can ignore me now that I am not off limits by age as well.

I quickly texted her to ask if her father was around and her reply confirmed it, just what I wanted to hear.

It was a non profitable way to prepare for school but I was in Naughty Kacey mode and there was no going back.

"My goodness, Kacey! Are you listening?"

I jumped in my seat and turned in my mother's direction when she slapped my thigh and raised her voice.

"Sorry, mom. What was the last thing you said?"

I refused to ask beyond her previous sentence since I already knew the talk would never end.

"I said you have a week only to find your mate in this neighborhood or your school. If not, your father and I have already planned a trip to help you find him, wherever he is."

"What?"

I had heard of many crazy, unrealistic things in my life, but this one just had me in shambles of confusion, wrapped up in denial.

Before I could even commend her for her astounding performance in acting out an insane woman, she had her index finger in the air, signaling she would take no bullshit from me.

"One week. After that, you will take a break from school and search for your chosen partner."