DANCING WITH LYCANS

CHAPTER 8: NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Emerging from my steamy bathroom with a towel wrapped around me, I go to my closet to put on my clothes for the night.

Ugh. I dropped my panties on the floor, bent down to pick them up, and I felt like my senses were screaming at me.

I stand up slowly, looking around my room, eyes falling on the French doors that lead to the pool in the backyard.

I should pull the blinds. Sheer curtains are great for natural lighting, but not so much for privacy.

I decided to get dressed in the bathroom instead.

No matter where I go or what I do, I get this uneasy feeling of being watched.

I love all of the natural light with so many large windows in every room, but I can't help the urge of wanting to draw the curtains to end whatever stage performance I feel I might be attending.

Call me paranoid, but the way the alphas heated stares bore down on me at the meeting gave me a similar feeling to what I am experiencing right now.

Only this is creepier... it is creepier, right?

Shaking my head, I chalk it up to nerves.

"I must be delusional." I say in a whisper, almost gaslighting myself.

A knock on my door shakes me from my thoughts, and I go to open the door, revealing a smiling Ms. Sherry.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you, Miss, but I'm here to inform you that dinner is ready and your parents are waiting for you."

"Thank you for letting me know. I'll be right out." I say with a smile and shut the door to finish drying my hair.

Dinner smells delicious!

Sherry outdone herself again, making pot roast with creamy mashed potatoes and a fresh salad with a creamy lemon vinegarette, topped with grated parmesan cheese.

I greet my mom and dad, acknowledging their presence before sitting down and...

Wait.. what? There's a glass of red wine sitting by my plate.

I sat down with surprise on my face. "Um, is this grape juice?" I ask to no one in particular.

"It's wine." Mom answers. "It's okay to have adult beverages at age 18 in our world. Your dad and I thought it would pair nicely with dinner and wanted you to partake in a small celebratory dinner to you becoming an adult." She raises her glass, and dad follows suit, raising his as well.

I smile and raise my glass.

"To a bright shining future to our only daughter." Mom says with emotion in her eyes.

"We love you so much, Angelica. Always remember that." Dad says, placing his hand over mine.

"Of course, Dad. I love you and Mother, too." I smile at them, feeling touched by their words, and suddenly, it feels like how it used to be. Family is what matters most to me.

"With that being said, we have some news to share that you most likely will disapprove of." Dad adds, ruining whatever special moment I was feeling, and my face drops to a frown as I look at the food on my plate.

"Go ahead." I say, as I start eating my dinner.

Uh. Yum! Heaven slid across my taste buds.

This meal should surely make whatever news my parents have to share that much easier to swallow.

"The birthday party we wanted to plan for you will have to be at a special location." Dad says, looking at me slightly uncomfortable, picking up his fork to stab at the meat on his plate.

"Oh. Haha. That's not as bad as I thought the news would be." I laugh and continue enjoying my meal.

"The party will be at the main pack house, where the Skarsgards reside." Dad says, taking another bite.

I shrug my shoulders. "I guess that's fine."

"You will be moving into the pack house the day before your birthday."

"Hold up, WHAT?" I shout the last part.

Dad sighs and looks at my mom, and she rolls her eyes.

"It's customary to stay at the pack house when being courted by someone of high status." Mom speaks in dad's place.

"I won't be returning home, will I?"

"No. You will be luna by the time you make your choice." Dad says, unable to look me in the eyes while he breaks the news.

"Why even bring me here at all if this wasn't meant to be my home?"

"Because it is necessary to keep you safe until you're under the protection of the law. If anyone would lay claim to you before you get your lycan the--" I cut my dad off, not wanting to hear him repeat himself. "Or else there will be war. Yeaaah. Yeah." I roll my eyes, aggressively stabbing the beef on my plate.

I'd really like it to be someone's face I was stabbing instead. The tender meat has little give and does nothing to dull the rage building inside of me.

"Alphas are very possessive, Angelica. They will rip apart anyone who dare touch their mates. The lycan takes hold, and no matter how much control one thinks they have over themselves, they can not keep their lycan from making the switch." Dad sounds insistent on me complying, as if that is reason enough to deprive me of my choices in life.

"Oh no, a big hairy wolf doesn't get what he wants, and now we have to bathe in the blood of his victims." I shake my hands in a dramatic sense.

"ANGELICA!" Dad scolds, and I look at him with a side eye glance.

"YOU ARE EXCUSED FROM THE TABLE! Get out of my sight before I regret doing something I shouldn't!" Dad yells, sounding angry.

I say nothing as I remove myself from the table and return to my room.

Pacing the floor, I walk back and forth in my room, wanting to scream.

UGH! There it is again! I feel like I'm being watched.... AGAIN! Why?!

"You know what?" I start closing every blind in my room until it's pitch black, and I cry in frustration.

"I don't want to see anymore. I don't want to be here anymore. Why do I even exist if only for someone else's enjoyment?" I curl into a ball and fall asleep on the floor.