Kiss Of The Alpha : A YA Paranormal Romance

Chapter 106: Chapter 106

Heather

So much had changed, and even if it had been hard, it felt like all of that was for a purpose. Now that I got to have moments like these, I really truly appreciated them for what they were.

Mom once told me that the bad days were there so you could really enjoy the good ones. It’d been at a time in my life when I was having nothing but bad days, and it hadn’t gotten any better. For years.

I could see her point now. She was right. If I had to go through years of bullying to get here, then that was okay by me. This was amazing.

Maybe it wasn’t much. A handful of friends and some burgers. But to me, it was everything.

Brent kissed the top of my head. "You okay?" He could feel my emotions through our bond, and when I wanted to, I could speak to him through it.

I looked up into his amber-colored eyes. "Yeah. Really okay."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely." I took a big bite of my burger.

Then dad dropped the bomb. "So, I want to talk to you two about the ceremony tonight."

I started to choke. Yup. Today had been going just a little too well. A little too perfectly. This was probably the last thing I wanted to talk about with my father. Especially in front of everyone.

The blissful moment was officially over.

Brent patted my back as I coughed and gulped down Mom’s homemade lemonade. "Sure," I said when I could talk again. "What about it?"

"From what Presley’s told me, this is like getting married. You turned eighteen today, which means you’re still way too young to be so serious—especially about someone you barely know."

Oh jeez. The problem was that I used to agree with him, so I didn’t really have a leg to stand on. Even a week ago, the thought of going through the whole bonding ceremony had given me severe heart palpitations, but somewhere in the last forty-eight hours, my perspective had changed.

When I finally shifted forms, I’d let go of what I thought my life was going to be like and accepted what it was now. Being wolfy no longer scared me, and I was more than ready for the ceremony. It would cement my bond to Brent, and that was something I wanted more than anything.

Dad was right about one thing, though. It was like getting married, except for werewolves, there was no such thing as divorce.

Do you want to wait? Brent asked through our bond.

You bit me. I think it’s a little too late for you to back out.

I’m not backing out. I’m just trying to consider your father’s position.

"If I might say something." Xander smiled, but I was all aware of the apology in his eyes. He was going to say something I might not like.

"Sure," Dad said.

My heart sped. I had no idea what might come out of Xander’ mouth—he could be a little unpredictable at times—and if Dad was already worried...

"They can talk to each other without speaking and read each other’s emotions," Xander said. "So they’re pretty much as together as they can be already."

Why the hell was he bringing this up? It only made us sound like freaks. And honestly, it was something that I was still adjusting to.

Dad twisted to stare at me more fully. "You can?"

I shoved my burger in my mouth, not sure what to say. "Mmm."

"James. Leave them alone. She’s going to be fine," Mom said.

"She will be," Donovan agreed. "I know it seems rushed and odd, but this is totally normal. Especially for True Mates. You couldn’t find a better match for your daughter. He’s financially sound, responsible, and would do anything to make sure Heather’s happy."

Great. Now they were talking about me like I wasn’t there. This was too awkward. I jammed another bite into my already full mouth so that I couldn’t be expected to say anything.

"Am I the only one who thinks this is completely insane? She’s—"

"James." Mom’s voice was a warning to drop it.

"No. She’s my daughter. She’s still practically—"

"She’s eighteen—"

"Exactly. Still a child. People change so much between eighteen and twenty-five. She doesn’t know who she is yet or who she even wants to be. She—"

"Stop it. Like it or not, Heather’s legally an adult. If she hadn’t been bitten, she would’ve been starting her transition as leader of the coven." Mom blew out a breath.

God. This was mortifying. Did they have to do this now? On my birthday? In front of everyone?

"I know you’re worried, but I’m not," Mom said. At least that was something. "This is her life now, and we need to at least try to be understanding and supportive."

I swallowed the last bite as I looked between them.

"She’s only eighteen." Dad muttered as he got up to flip the burgers.

I caught Mom’s attention as I swallowed. "Thank you," I mouthed.

"Give him time," she said softly. "He didn’t think his baby girl would be moving on so fast."

"Me neither," I said under my breath.

Brent poked me in just the right ticklish spot, and I barely suppressed a squeal.

"What? It’s true," I whispered to him.

Dad cleared his throat. "Who wants more burgers?" His voice was a little gruff, but he at least he didn’t try to argue anymore. Thank God.

All the werewolves held their plates up.

Dad shook his head. "I gotta say, it’s impressive how much you kids eat."

Donovan chuckled softly. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties, but I was pretty sure he was older than a few of us put together. As one of the Seven—the council governing all the packs—he was extremely powerful. From what I understood, he had to have been around for a long time to gain the power for that position. It felt rude to ask his actual age, but I was curious.

Once we were done with the burger portion of the meal, we cleaned up and moved inside. Mom went into her room with West and came back with two giant sheet cakes.

"Whoa. That’s a lot of cake," I said.

Mom laughed. "Well, I wasn’t sure how much to get." She looked at Donovan. "Too much? Not enough?"

"I’m sure it’ll be just grand, Gabriela."

Mom blushed at Donovan’s accent. I had to admit, it was pretty hot. I lived for the times he said ’ehm’—the Irish version of ’uh.’

The doorbell rang. I paused what I was doing. Pretty much everyone who knew where I lived was already here. "I’ll get it." I cut through the house to find my cousins Claudia and Raphael on the porch.

I never saw them unless something was wrong. "Hi. What’s going on?"

"We just wanted to stop by and wish you a happy birthday." Raphael wore his usual khaki shorts and flip-flops. His black hair was cut short, and he rubbed his hand back and forth over the top of it as he spoke.

That was a surprise. I didn’t think they knew when my birthday was. "Thanks." I swung the door wide and waved them in. "You got here just in time for cake."

Claudia gave me a hug. Her hair was pulled back in two braids, like always. She wore a flower-print sundress. "Felicidades."

"Is that Claudia?" Mom asked from the kitchen.

"Yes. And Raphael."

Mom appeared and gave them both hugs. "Come on in. We’re lighting candles."

I cringed. "Oh, we’re not doing the whole singing thing, right? Because that’s really not necessary. We can skip straight to the cake part." I hated getting sung to. It was embarrassing.

"We absolutely are singing." Mom pushed me into the kitchen. "Get in there," she said as she slapped my butt.

I jumped. "All right. All right," I said as I rubbed my stinging tush.

As soon as I got back in the kitchen, everyone started singing. I wanted to shrink into the ground. I’d never had so many people be around for this, so I avoided their gazes and stared at the cake. When the song was done, I leaned down, made a wish, and blew out the candles.

Brent pulled me into his side while Mom cut the cake. "What’d you wish for?"

I glanced up at him. "I can’t tell you. That’d nullify my wish."

"Does it have anything to do with tonight?" He squeezed me, and all I could see was him.

"Maybe." I gave him what I hoped was my best flirty look.

"What’s happening tonight?" Raphael asked, dragging me back to reality.

I wasn’t sure how I should answer the question. La Alquelarre—the coven—had been pretty pissed about Brent biting me. My cousins had been cool though, no matter what the rest of the other brujos thought. They’d even helped me out a few times.

Brent gave a small nod and I took that as the okay to tell. "The full moon is tonight, so we’re formalizing our bond."

The twins shared a long look, before Claudia turned to me. "I thought you were waiting until after the Tribunal." She said the words carefully.

I knew that the relationship between the pack and la Aquelarre was strained, but the way her hands fisted at her sides made me realize she was a little more upset by this than I’d thought.

I should’ve kept my mouth shut. This was totally going to come back to bite me in the ass. We were rushing things because Brent and I wanted a stronger case when we defended ourselves at the Tribunal for the whole biting thing and all the drama that had happened afterward. If the brujos started interfering... "No. We’re doing it tonight," I said as casually as possible.

"Are you sure about joining into this kind of a bond? Once done, it can’t be easily undone. Not even by us," Raphael said.

I didn’t like the threat of them breaking our bond, let alone the fact that that was even possible.