Beta Tara

Chapter 2

We finally arrive at school and I get out of the car along with Adonis. As I close the door to the car he puts me in a headlock and gives me a giant lick on the side of my face. ARGH, what a f*****g dog. I quickly push him off and he laughs at me while walking away. I wipe my face and tell him to f**k off. Immediately, a bunch of girls flock to him as he walks over to his friends under the pavilion. Zara goes up to him while looking back at me and gives me a dirty look as she grabs his arm. I give her the finger and make a disgusted face at her, she quickly turns away, her curly blonde hair swinging with perkiness.

I look back and see that Cerys still hasn’t driven away, he is on the phone with someone. He looks at me and mouths, "See ya later." I give him a smile and wave at him as he drives away. Since his 21st birthday is approaching, he has been more and more busy and I am starting to see him less and less. I really miss him, but I know he has a handful right now with him becoming Alpha of our pack, the Jade Moon Pack. He is going to make a great Alpha, I know it. Besides, when I become official Beta of the pack I will see him regularly again.

As soon as I turn around, my best friend, Olivia runs over to me with something in her hand. "Tara!" She yells from across the parking lot. Olivia Fields has been my best friend since middle school. She has always been slightly stronger than the rest of the girls in our grade, and before I turned 16, she was even stronger than me. I turn to face her with a big smile on my face as she hands me a blue gift bag, "Happy Almost Birthday Tara!" I take the bag from her with a smile, shaking my head in disbelief, “I told you, no gifts.”

"I know, I know, but I was out at the mall and couldn’t help but think of you. When I saw this I thought you could wear it for your birthday party tomorrow."

I awkwardly smile at her, "Yeahhhh…. About that..."

"What?! DON’T TELL ME…" She starts raising her voice slightly.

I quickly interrupt her, "Alpha Seb invited the neighboring Alpha family over tonight and Cerys and my father have to be there. They didn’t want me to worry about it because tonight is my first shift and tomorrow is my birthday." I start to peek into the bag.

Olivia crosses her arms and sighs in frustration, "They can never just let you have a day, can they?"

"Olivia, this is important. Cerys and my father wouldn’t cancel if it wasn’t. You know we have our duties. The pack comes first. Always."

I put my hand on her shoulder and look at her with dopey eyes to hopefully calm her mood, she always frets over me, ever since middle school. "Fine." she rolls her eyes and smiles, “Now open your gift!” I dive into the bag and pull out a green jewel-toned dress. I look at her with a straight face, “A dress?” She smiles mischievously at me and takes the dress in her hands to unravel it.

I am not keen on wearing dresses or skirts. I tend to stay with what's comfortable and easy. Olivia on the other hand, is the opposite of me. She has fair skin, golden-brown hair that falls in waves, and captivating green eyes. Freckles dotted her nose and cheeks, adding a playful charm to her appearance. Despite her curvy figure she is very strong and toned. She definitely is more in touch with her femininity than I will ever be. She dresses in outfits and wears make-up that compliments her. I admire her and her confidence.

The dress was a stunning jewel-toned green, with a strappy corset v neck top, the skirt falls above the knee with a slight flare. When looking at the dress I noticed there was something else in the bag. I look to see a shoe box from a designer store. I look back at Olivia who simply shrugs at me with a grin. I open the box and there is a pair of nude lace up heels. Thank the Moon Goddess its a chunky heel. I quickly grab the dress back from her hands as she has it from the straps and is playfully tilting the dress left and right. I gently fold it back in the bag. I start walking towards the entrance of school. Olivia starts whining, "Come on Taraaaaaaaa. Don’t be such a brat." I playfully ignore her with a small smile on my face.

As we are headed towards my locker, I see Adonis who has his back on his locker, eyes on his phone, and of course, a small entourage, Zara still on his arm. I roll my eyes as I see them. To my knowledge Zara and Adonis aren’t dating, and if I recall correctly, I definitely have seen her trying to get closer to Cerys before he rightly put her in her place after her many feeble attempts to flirt. The audacity, honestly. Adonis is a ladies man and tends to be a flirt, so it honestly doesn’t surprise me that he lets her hang around like that.

As we pass them, Zara snatches the bag from my hands, "What's this?" she teases. She quickly looks at the contents inside the bag, all the other girls around are also trying to get a peek inside. "What the f**k Zara." Olivia quickly tries to grab the bag back, but Zara snatches so it's just out of reach. "A dress? Really? For who?" She looks me up and down, " I hope it's not for you. You honestly think you would look good in that?" The other girls snicker and the boys roll their eyes. She gives me a sarcastic smirk. Adonis snatches the bag from her and hands it back to me, "Stop f*****g around Zara." he growls.

"What? I was just giving her some fashion advice." She looks up at him with puppy eyes. I scowl and swiftly snatch the bag from his hands. I continue onward towards my locker down the hall without saying another word.

"She’s such a b***h!" Olivia says trailing behind me. I laugh, Olivia has always been so quick to anger.

"Who honestly cares. It’s not like we are going to see her for much longer anyway." I open my locker and begin to load my books into my backpack and my gift into the locker. "So…" Olivia smirks at me, "Will you wear it?"

I exasperatedly sigh, "Do I have to?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" she squeals. "Just because you don’t have your party anymore doesn’t mean that we can’t go out. I am still available tomorrow night." She flutters her long lashes at me.

I giggle, "Okay, fine." I roll my eyes as I close my locker. Why not? I thought. I am turning 18, school will be over next week and there is no harm in updating my appearance a bit. Soon, I’ll have to present myself more accordingly during meetings and pack events, especially if I want the other packs to take me seriously. A female Beta, I don’t want the Jade Moon Pack to suffer because of me.

The bell rings, I quickly hug and thank Olivia and tell her I’ll see her later. I start heading to class when, all of a sudden, black. "Tara!" I hear Olivia shout. Then, nothing.