Awakening Fate

Chapter 5: Bonfire Pt. 2

Clark’s POV

              My family’s lakeside cabin is full of young pack members ready to celebrate the end of the school year. I look out my bedroom window in the cabin and watch as pack members, start to socialize and light the bonfire. A brief knock on my door pulls me away from the window.

              “Hey you ready?” Matthew asks walking in buttoning up his shirt.

              “Yeah, where is Parker?”

              “Oh, he is setting up the bar. We should probably go check on him, otherwise we won’t have anything left.”

              I chuckle and follow my best friend out of my room. We don’t find Parker in the bar, so we head outside to the fire. Parker is standing there with a drink in hand talking to some she-wolves.

              “Hey guys!” He yells coming over to stand with us. “There are some good-looking girls here tonight, where do you think they were hiding?” He asks scanning the crowd.

              “Many are family members visiting from other packs dude.” Matt says smacking him on the back of the head.

              Parker rubs his head giving Matt a dirty look. “Well maybe I will find my mate tonight. Speaking of that, where are your two clingy she-snakes this evening?”

              “Shut-it Parker.” Matt says glaring at him. Of course, it doesn’t take long to give him an answer, as both Hayden and Kenzie walk up joining us. Both of them wearing very little clothing.

              “Hey baby!” Hayden says pulling me down to kiss her. I groan feeling annoyed rather than feeling relief from her touch.

              “What are you wearing Hayden?” I groan looking at the little shorts she is wearing which barely cover her cheeks. She has on a small black crop top under a grey zip up hoodie. The lace trim of her black thong peaks out from her shorts.

              “Do you like it?” She giggles giving a small twirl.

              “No.”

              “What, why not?” She asks pouting and standing there with her hip popped out.

              “He is just worried about others looking at you.” Kenzie says rolling her eyes. She is dressed in a pair of low riding jeans with a red crop top.

              “No, I couldn’t care less about others looking at her that way. What I care about however, is how she makes me look when she is with me.” I grit out glaring at Kenzie who is appears to be grinding her teeth at my statements.

              “I didn’t mean to embarrass you, Clark.” Hayden whispers looking horrified. Tears start to form in her eyes as she looks to me for comfort, but I could not give her any. I was just too annoyed.

              “Well, what is everyone’s plans for this summer?” Parker asks trying to ease the tension in the air. We all start to talk about plans for the summer including trainings and vacations.

After about an hour we are about three drinks in when suddenly Matt notices my younger siblings. I watch him walk over trying to start up a conversation, but after a minute his whole-body tenses and he moves forward snatching something away from someone. He starts to raise his voice at this person. My curiosity increases as I watch the scenario unfold before me. Matthew barely ever loses his temper.

“Who is he yelling at? I ask looking at Parker who only shrugs. Kenzie leans over looking at Matt and groans.

“It’s his sister.” She says and starts to march over there. Next thing we know Kenzie is now the one shouting as well as my little sister.

Goddess, help me. I march over there ready to break up a girl fight when my eyes meet the hazel ones I saw earlier in the day. The same female who ran into me is now sitting propped up on the stone wall outside the cabin. She is dressed in a dainty black dress with a light jean jacket. Everything about her looks effortless. She has a disappointed look on her face as she looks at Matt, but when her eyes meet mine they begin to soften.

“What is going on?” Hayden asks holding Kenzie by the shoulders and shooting glares to my sister and the tiny female. Her tone is already accusatory, and I can see that she is ready to defend Kenzie. This girl just doesn’t know her place at times.

“Well, these two think they don’t have to listen and do as they are told.” Kenzie seethes, trying to defend her reasoning for getting involved in what appears to be a sibling spat and yelling at the current Alpha’s daughter.

Hayden leans forward with her eyes fixated on the tiny female. She is planning on teaching this girl a lesson, so I quickly intervene before it gets worse. “What were they told to do?”

Hayden and Kenzie turn their gazes towards me with a bit of shock. Hayden raises an eyebrow at me almost asking me silently to be on her side.

“That one needs to change and quit looking like she is looking for an easy lay.” Kenzie says after composing herself.

I feel myself holding back a chuckle at the thought of these two being upset about what this female is wearing given their own choices of clothing. I let myself look over the tiny female still sitting on the wall. She isn’t putting up much of a fight. Instead, she looks flustered with the amount of attention she is getting at this moment. She keeps gazing between me and her brother, basically begging her brother to drop it and leave her alone. I flick my glance towards Matt to see concern etched on his face. Clearly, he cares for his little sister. My eyes go back to the tiny female once more getting one last look at her completely.

I clear my throat slightly and turn towards Kenzie and Hayden, but my eyes continue to go back to the tiny female. “I think she looks fine, she is dressed in more fabric than you. My guess is this is more of sibling thing, which is something that you should not be involved in.” I state turning my gaze toward Matt who is smirking slightly and giving me a nod. The tiny female on the wall looks relieved while my sister stands there looking smug.

Kenzie whips her head to look at Matt. “Are you going to agree with this?”

“Well, it’s true that I don’t need help with my baby sister.” Matt says giving her a small smile and shrugging a bit. Kenzie huff and storms off towards the cabin. I feel Hayden bump my shoulder and take off after her best friend. I know she is pissed, but I don’t really care right now.

Silence fills the tense group as Matt continues to stare at his little sister, while she refuses to even glance at him. I shift my stance uncomfortable with the amount of feeling in the air between the two of them. “I’ll be at the bar.” I mutter turning to leave the group. I grab Parker and pull him with me so that the two can address their issues without additional audience members. Once we reach the bar Parker turns to look at me with a big smile one his face.

“Dude why didn’t Matt tell us he had a hot younger sister?” Parker asks glancing back towards Matt and the tiny female.

“I don’t know.” I mutter taking a sip of beer. Thoughts of the tiny female with hazel eyes continue to play over and over again in my mind. “I do know that Matt won’t like all the attention she is going to continue to get as she gets older.” I state glancing back as well. I see Matt hugging the tiny female making my heart clench slightly. What the hell is wrong with me? I don’t even have claim over her and I’m starting to feel jealous over her brother.

Matt turns and leaves his sister with her friends and walks over to us. He runs his hands over his face in frustration. “Man I don’t know what I’m going to do.” He sighs lowly while grabbing another beer.

“Sorry man.” I mutter patting him on the back.

“Seriously, I have never been placed in this position before. First off, Emmeline never dresses like that. Secondly, my girlfriend and my sister are butting heads which is only making my head hurt in the process.” He exclaims running his hands through his hair.

“Emmeline?”

“Yeah, that’s my sister’s name.” Matt states while glancing back at his little sister. I on the other hand make a mental note not to forget her beautiful name.

“Well man, she is growing up. You’re going to have to let her spread her wings and fly.” Parker says laughing. “Plus, she deserves the attention, I mean look at her!”

Matt looks like he is about to knock Parker out. I step between them and shake my head. “He has had a bit to drink. However, he isn’t wrong Matt. You know this was going to happen at some time, right?” I ask raising an eyebrow. “Others are going to start showing interest and at some point, she will find her mate.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t think it would happen this soon. She has always been so pure and innocent.” Matt explains in a pained voice.

“I get it, but the more you try and control her the worse it will be.” Matt nods slowly and looks away from his sister with a long sigh.

“You’re right.” He glances around and notices the girls missing. “Do we even want to go find our ladies?” He asks making himself sound pathetic.

“I’m in no rush.”

“Good then lets party!” Parker yells earning cheers from others surrounding the bar.

Another hour rolls by as we enjoy ourselves at the party. Parker is wasted and has caught the attention of a female from another pack. I watched them slink off to his bedroom, knowing very well not to disturb them. Matt on the other hand continues to sulk about his predicament. Every once in awhile he would debate with himself on going to find Kenzie or his sister, but never actually came to a conclusion. Leaving him to sit on the couch sulking.

I start to get annoyed with people as they try to engage me in conversation. Many of them are females who are trying to grab my attention while some are warriors excited about fighting beside me in the future. I finally have had enough when a female basically rubbed herself on me in hopes of turning me on.

Sneaking out the back of the cabin I finally find myself alone for a minute. I walk towards the water when I see a small figure sitting on the dock staring out over the lake. A small smile creeps across my face when I realize it’s Matt’s sister. My eyes remain on her as I walk towards her almost trance like. As I get about a few feet from her I notice her stiffen so I stop. She slowly turns to look back and her eyes rise to meet mine. Warmth surges through me as I stare into her eyes. I start to realize that I am creepily staring at her and I have to basically kick myself to talk to her.

“Why are you out here by yourself?” I ask hoping to just start a conversation. However, her eyes grow wide and she turns away from me. Great, now I’m scaring her.

She keeps her gaze on the lake as she slowly takes a breath. “I’m just enjoying some peace and quiet.” Her voice is soft and her answer for sitting alone makes me smile. She is definitely different than most of the she-wolves that surround me on a daily basis. She seems to prefer being alone rather than seeking attention from everyone around her.

“You don’t seem to like parties.”

She smiles slightly, “honestly, I don’t really.” Again, her answer causes me to smile. Silence again grows between us and I start to panic.

“How do you know my sister?” I ask pathetically. Internally I smack myself for asking such a stupid and personal question to a young girl who barely knows me.

“We have been best friends since young pups. She is also my captor who brought me to this party.” She smiles and laughs softly. She shakes her head side to side softly as if recalling a funny memory. I make a mental note to ask my sister more about her later on.

“That sounds like something my sister would do.” I laugh and realization hits me that the dress and the way Emmeline looked tonight was probably my sister’s doing. “Why haven’t I noticed you around before?” I ask trying not to make it sound harsh or imply that she has been nothing of importance within our pack.

Her gaze falls and my heart clenches again as the thought of her feeling sad makes me panic. “I’m good at blending in and not being noticed. I’m also not very memorable.” She says softly with a small quiver in her voice. She continued to look down at her hands as moments passed. Her body appeared tense.

“I don’t think that is true.” I state still staring at her. A small tight smile grew on her face. She turns to look at me making eye contact. 

“That is very kind of you to say.” She said genuinely and then paused before breaking eye contact. She appeared to glance behind us. “Don’t you want to have fun with your friend?”

“Is my presence bothering you?” I ask glancing behind us as well.

“Oh goddess, no. I’m sorry if I gave you that impression, I really didn’t mean to.” She says with wide eyes. Her voice is rapid, and she stutters slightly as fear radiates from her.

I couldn’t help but laugh at her. She just looked so cute being worried about my feelings. I gain a bit of my composure and take a deep breath. “You didn’t offend me. It’s okay.” She is staring at me as if I have grown two heads making me laugh a bit more.

“It wasn’t that funny.” She states trying to pout.

“Yes, it was. As for the party, I have made the rounds and now I am also enjoying some quiet.” She remains quiet for a moment. The sound of heels echo through the night causing us to turn around. I groan internally as I spot Hayden approaching us.

“Baby what are you doing?” She asks smiling at me, but there is a glint in her eyes as she looked at Emmeline sitting beside me.

“Just talking to a friend.” I state giving her a small shrug. I feel myself getting frustrated. Every inch of me is wanting to throw her into the lake and dump her, but I know that now is not the time.

“Well, I think her other friends are looking for her. Emmeline, I think they are over by the fire.” Hayden says annoyed giving Emmeline a look. I hear Emmeline shuffle into a standing position and move towards us. Her eyes remain down as she approaches us. I do a double take as I notice that she has taken off her jacket showing off her slender figure. She was skinny but had some of the most amazing curves for someone her size. My eyes dance over her body as she walks by off slightly but stop immediately at her arms. There are purple bruises wrapped around both of her upper arms. It looks like someone has grabbed her roughly recently.

Anger rages through my body. “What happened to your arms?” I ask more aggressively than I meant to. Hayden looks at me surprised and tries to grab my arms, but I slip past her grasp moving towards Emmeline who looks at me with a horrified expression.

She looks down at her arms quickly before looking back at me. “Oh, it’s nothing, just an accident.” She throws her jacket back on and pulls her hair out of the collar. The sight of her slender neck causes the blood to rush to my groin. “Bye Clark, it was nice getting to know you better.” She says giving me a slight smile before dashing back up the dock towards the cabin. I’m about to follow her when Hayden pulls me back.

“She is fine.” Hayden says glaring at me. “She doesn’t need you to help or protect her.”

I pull my arms from her grasp and start to walk away. To say I’m pissed is an understatement. I can hear Hayden walking after me her pace increasing as she tries to catch up with my strides.

“What is wrong with you?” Hayden asks pulling on my arms again. “She is not someone you should be worrying about or even talking to for that matter. She is nothing more than a weakness and someone who tries to undermine those above her.” Hayden states running her hands through her ice blonde hair.

“I worry about all my pack members Hayden, this is why we are never going to work out!” I yell at her making her flinch. “All you ever care about is yourself and the Luna of the pack needs to care about not only the Alpha but the pack as a whole. I’m fairly certain we are not meant to be mates.” I state turning and walking away back towards the cabin.

I can hear Hayden sniffle as she starts to cry. “Clark, I’m sorry.” She yells out to me, but I am still to angry to care. I make my way to the fire and look for Emmeline, but I am too late. She is already gone.