The Midnight Prince

Happy Birthday

(Flint)

“Baby Girl, are you almost ready?” I call out down the hall to our bedroom. Tonight is Slate’s party for his 18th birthday. It’s also the night I plan to announce to my family that Kaylee and I are engaged.

I hear her heels clicking down the hall second before her immaculate form appears before me. Kaylee is dressed so elegantly in her baby pink skirt and white blouse. Her beautiful honey hair is in a ponytail, with the bangs and back curled. “You are the most beautiful woman in the world.” I admire my fiancé for a minute before finishing the last button on my white dress shirt. “How do I look?” I’m not a big fan of myself in white. It feels like a lie, like I’m going to taint the innocence of the fabric with the darkness that lingers somewhere under the surface, waiting for it’s opportunity to escape. But for Kaylee, I’d wear a rainbow tutu if she asked me.

She smiles and comes closer to fix my collar. “You look impressive, although I wish you would’ve wore the khaki slacks I had left out for you.” Kaylee pouts out her bottom lip at me. I wish she’d let us bite that. Drago growls from within my head.

I shrug his comment off. Kaylee is a very delicate and gentle girl, she doesn’t want to be thrown around and attacked like some piece of meat. She wants to feel cherished and loved by me.

I grab the keys to my black mustang and we drive the short ten minutes to my parents house. Their home is massive, three stories high, the first being strictly for business and entertaining while the second and third are where they and my younger siblings actually live.

“Flint, I’m so nervous. What if they don’t approve?” Kaylee whimpers beside me and I can’t hide the smirk that comes to my face as she says it.

“Baby girl, if they didn’t approve don’t you think they would have said something in the last six years? They’re going to be ecstatic. I want to ask Slate to be my best man.”

Kaylee laughs dryly once. “Are you sure? I mean aren’t the brothers supposed to the ushers?”

“Not necessarily, besides I have Jasper still that could be an usher.”

This time she rolls her eyes at me. “You want your 14 year old little brother to remember where everyone is supposed to be sat and actually do it? Don’t you think that’s kind of juvenile?”

I huff and throw the car into park. “Then we’ll hire people, your brother Karp is going to be a groomsman too. Let’s worry about the fine details closer to your graduation, shall we?”

“Well if we’re going to wait to figure out the Ushers until then why not wait to decide on groomsmen too?” Kaylee mutters and fluffs her hair.

I sigh and pinch my nose. She’s never liked Slate, although I’m not sure why. He’s an incredible guy. He’s very smart and business savvy like Na and I. Slate’s also kind and endearing. Despite having a revolving door of women throwing themselves at him, he’s only ever slept with one to my knowledge so it’s not like he’s a womanizing jerk either. Yet, Kaylee avoids him like the plague. If I invite him to go with us to do something, she’ll suddenly come down with a cold or headache. When he stops by the house, she leaves to go visit with her parents. I’ve tried bringing it up in the past, but it usually ends in an argument, and I cannot stand to have Kaylee mad at me so I always drop it. “Look let’s not talk about this now, alright? I want to have a good evening with you.”

Kaylee sighs heavily but agrees to drop it. Together, we walk towards the door but before I can type the PIN code in, Chance yanks the door open. Music echos from upstairs and I see blue party balloons leading up the stairway. “Flint! Kaylee! You’re late.” She sticks a hand on her narrow hip and moves out of the way so we can pass.

“Don’t start giving me s**t already Chance, the party started two minutes ago. Is everyone upstairs?” I wrap her into a side hug and guide Kaylee to follow me to the steps.

“Yep, everyone but Slate. He had to run to town to grab the cake. I offered but he seemed like he needed to step out for a minute anyway.”

“Whose all here?” I ask.

Chance swats an orange curl out of her face. “The usual, plus Grandad, Karp, Darlene and Uncle Anthony.”

Kaylee stiffens beside me. “My parents are here too?” Her face loses a bit of color and I squeeze her hand for reassurance.

Chance raises an eyebrow and looks between the two of us. “Uh yeah, they always come for birthday parties. Are you two okay? You’re acting weird.” Her eyes widen with excitement. “Oh my gosh, you’re pregnant!” She exclaims and jumps up and down. “Holy s**t, I’m going to be an Auntie.”

I grab Chance’s freckled arm harshly. “Shut the hell up, she’s not pregnant you lunatic. We’re engaged and are gonna tell everyone after dinner. Can you try to keep that giant trap of yours quiet until then?” I hiss.

Chance seems a little disappointed but nods. “Yeah okay, fine. It would’ve been cooler if you had gotten pregnant though, that’s all I’m gonna say. Engagements are boring. I’d rather just elope and go get married in Vegas or somewhere cool.”

“Yeah I’m sure that giant red mop on your head would help you fit in just fine there. You could play Jolene in the Dolly Parton Drag Show.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “I would be honored to be in the presence of so many Dolly’s.”

“You need a better hobby than memorizing crappy country music.” I growl and make my way up to the party.

“How dare you insult my idol!” Chance shouts from the front door, feigning hurt.

Kaylee laughs nervously at my little sister and holds onto my arm like it’s her lifeline. I relish in the way her seeking protection from me feels. I’d protect her until the day I die, even if it’s just from our families.

“Hey everyone, we’re here.” I call out over the music and several heads turn our way. Mom and Darlene immediately come up to compliment Kaylee on her outfit and whisk her away to the corner of the room where they were standing with my other younger sister Jade. For a sixteen year old, Jade is probably one of the most mature people I know. You couldn’t tell from a distance that she’s even a teenager. Her strawberry blonde hair is cut to her shoulders in a way that reminds me of a schoolteacher, and her clothes match the vibe.

Surveying the room, I find dear old Grandad hugging a bottle of vodka on the couch with his head tilted back and mouth wide open, snoring loudly. Jasper sits beside him, entranced by his video game on the tv screen.

Jasper is the baby of us all, and definitely acts like it. The kid barely goes outside unless it’s to grab a package with more computer parts or a new gaming device in it. He’s immature socially, but very technologically gifted. Na says everyone on this earth has something they’re good at, and if you can figure out what it is, you can set them up for success. She plans to send him off to some fancy college for computer coding or something and teach him how to do all of our online stuff, maybe even some amateur hacking to keep us off the FBI and IRS’ radars.

“Hey dude, whatchya playin?” I ask and plop down on the other side of Grandad. The old man stirs a bit, but doesn’t wake. Carefully, I pull the bottle out from under his hands and take a swig of it myself. I grimace at the nasty bite of his top shelf vodka but take another sip anyway.

“GTA.” Jasper tells me, his focus never leaving the little red car in the screen.

“Cool what’s this about?” I ask, trying to get a conversation out of my littlest sibling.

“Grand Theft Auto.” Jasper replies blandly. He takes a sharp turn and runs over an old lady. There’s police sirens in the background and gunshots being fired at him.

“So what’s your favorite part?”

“Stealing cars.”

“Okay, good talk bud.” I shake off the awkward interaction and pull out my phone to scroll through social media for a bit.

The back porch sliding door opens and Anthony and Anaana step inside just as Slate comes up the steps with his massive birthday cake.

“Hey it’s the birthday guy!” I hoot and rise to help him get the cake onto the dining table. My announcement turns the rooms attention to Slate.

“Aw come on don’t draw attention to me..like..that..” Slate’s words fall off as he seems to enter a trance, staring straight ahead at the flock of women moving to the table to start laying out plates. His arms fall limply to his side and the cake falls, splattering against the floor. Blue icing coats the bottom of his jeans but he doesn’t budge, not even when our mom yelps with surprise.

“Slate, are you alright?” Mom calls to him and she moves towards her son. A pit in my stomach forms as Drago starts to growl at the anxiety nipping up our spine. Something is wrong here, very wrong.

My eyes instinctively flick to Kaylee, and I find her staring straight ahead at my brother, seemingly caught in the same hypnosis as him. Darlene grabs her arm gently and she doesn’t budge for a second. Slate and Kaylee are trapped in each others gaze.

They’re f*****g mates Flint. He’s our woman’s true mate. We know that look. Drago’s growls turn into snarls and my ears begin to ring.

Red bleeds into my vision as our rage intertwines and my body moves without warning. I hurdle myself over the back of the couch, propelling through the room with the speed of a wild animal.

“Kaylee.” Slate whispers just before my fist makes contact with his jaw and knocks him into the wall beside him.

“You son of a b***h! She’s mine! She will always be mine.” I roar at him and rear back to hit Slate again as he tries to focus on who attacked him.

Just before I can plow into him, Anaana is between us, a single hand held up and her fierce eyes focused on mine. “No.” Her frozen tone commands. A cold, unrelenting command from my Alpha, something that’s near impossible to disobey. Despite the hatred blooming inside for my own brother, I listen. My fist falls to my side and I move away from Slate.

The once still room erupts into a million sounds and movements. Mom rushes over to Slate, who is leaning against the wall and holding his cheek. There’s a trickle of blood coming from the corner of his mouth. Kaylee’s hand is over her mouth in complete shock. Darlene holds onto her daughter, as if to protect her. Karp moves to his father’s side, unsure of what to do, and Anthony’s focus flickers from his wife and children to Anaana. Like a true Beta, he waits for his Alpha’s instructions of how she wants to handle this.

“Jesus Christ Flint, why the f**k did you hit him so hard for?” Chance’s loud voice seems to capture the rooms attention as everyone waits for the answer they already have but aren’t ready for.

My chest heaves with pain, anger, and confusion as everyone’s eyes fall onto me. My reasoning for attacking him is lost in my tornado of emotions, and the first words I’m able to form fall out of my mouth. “Kaylee and I are engaged.” I turn to look at Slate, whose swatting Mom off of his swelling face. “We’re f*****g engaged and you’re her f*****g mate.” I throw my hands up and let them fall slack against my side.

My bottom lip quivers but I hold strong. Slate stares at me with no anger, only sorrow and guilt. He tries not to break eye contact but I catch the way his vision moves momentarily to check on Kaylee. My gaze follows his. She looks at me with fear and something worse; understanding.

“You’ve known, haven’t you? This entire time. That’s why you hate being around him right? Because for the last six years you’ve been dating the wrong brother!” I erupt into a fit of rage again. This time instead of my brother, I punch into the wall, sending drywall shrapnel into the air around me. Heat surrounds me, and I can feel the darkness swelling, manifesting into a thin red mist around me. Static crackles in my ears as it grows with each thud of my heartbeat.

“Outside.” Anaana grabs my shoulder and harshly guides me to the stairs. Once we’re standing on the exterior of the front door, and out of earshot from the others, she grips my chin and pierces my gaze with her own. “Control it. I know it’s hard but you’re making a goddamn fool of yourself right now. You are the future King and you’re punching holes in my f*****g wall.”

The crisp evening air feels good on my flushed cheeks and I take a few seconds to pace the driveway and search for a way to get a grip on myself. Na is right, I shouldn’t have lost my composure inside. I know better than to act like that and yet I allowed for it to happen.

Na stands still, watching me as I find my center. Drago falls quiet too, allowing for me to have a moment of clarity.

“What happened in there Flint?” Na questions. She is like a statue, completely in command of her body and emotions. Her silver blonde hair doesn’t even seem to move in the breeze. It’s cut just above her shoulder and straightened with perfection. That’s the standard Na has always held herself to; perfection. And that’s the standard she expects me to meet as well.

“How can this be happening to me right now, Anaa? He’s her mate? My own brother? And did you see Kaylee’s face? She knew. She’s known for two years! That’s why she never wanted to be around him. I can’t believe this.”

“Do you want me to be your parent or your mentor?” Na asks me matter-of-factly.

“Parent.”

“Just because they’re true mates doesn’t mean she’s going to leave you to be with him. True mates are rare in the north because there’s such a low number of us. Chosen mates happen everyday. And if she’s known all this time that just means she’s known who her soulmate was and still decided she wanted you. Slate is your brother, he had no control over this and would never intentionally hurt you.” Anaana replies. Her words make sense to me logically, but in my heart I still feel deeply betrayed.

“Now mentor.” I request.

She sighs. “The attraction of your soul mate can be extremely difficult to fight. While I would like to believe they will reject each other for you, I want you to begin mentally preparing for the chance they don’t. I understand you love her like your true mate, but you are a prince, and soon to be a king. You must maintain your composure and not let the pack, or anyone else, ever see you weak.”

Her words leave a bitter taste with me, and I can feel my hope for Kaylee’s love for me faltering with each passing second. “What will I do if she leaves me? I love her so much Anaa, I can’t lose her. I can’t see them be together.”

She looks at me with a strange expression and pulls me into a hug. It feels awkward and uncomfortable, I could count on one hand the amount of times she’s ever hugged me. “I’m here for you, son.”