Page 18 of Silence Falls a New Alpha
Chapter 11
Eighteen Pt 1
Katie's POV
It had been a week since Alexander and Dylan fought. I have avoided both of them like the plague in hopes things would get better. I woke up feeling a bit weird today. I stretched and got out of bed, when it hit me, my senses were all heightened. I’m eighteen now and this would take some getting used to, my senses. I was finally mature enough to fully feel everything that makes us a werewolf. It was overwhelming to wake up to this and made me so nauseous. I ran to the bathroom and threw up; the intense smells and noises weren’t helping. This would take some getting used to. Burning. Pure fire as if my forearm touched a stovetop engulfed my arm as I fought the scream trying to escape. My mark. I looked down to see the wolf's head and trees on my arm. It was a mix of realistic and geometric in design with pine trees running the length behind the wolf. Jet black and similar to my father's, the mark of an heir.
Wait. Fucking damnit I’m eighteen which means the party my father planned will happen. A groan escaped me as I thought about the fact that I have to meet the White Dawn and Eight Moons packs today. They were two other large packs in the United States that my father was neutral with. Their alphas, heirs, and betas would be here at the party, and my father more than likely failed to tell any of them I’m arranged to marry Dylan.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." I said as I climbed back into bed in my pajamas. The door opened wide, and it was Alice. I couldn’t stand her this past week. She was trying to go after Dylan now and it didn’t look like he was stopping her. What a fucking cunt. She knew we were getting married regardless of the situation around it.
"Your father requests that you spend the day in your room until dinner." She paused for a moment, her Boston accent thick as ever. She was wearing booty shorts and fishnet stockings. "He doesn't want anyone seeing you nor being near you until then." She just pathetically looked at me as if she felt sorry for me for once in her time here.
“Locked away on my eighteenth birthday just what I had always wanted”I mocked as she left my room. I can’t stand how my father is being. I get it, when you turn eighteen as a female, you become more sexually attractive, and you put off a pheromone for the first twenty-four hours but shit, I was safe here. It’s not like a pack member would rape me, they still have self-control.
That’s when the emotions hit me. Trapped in my room locked away like a prisoner on my eighteenth birthday. I began to cry uncontrollably. My mom wouldn't have wanted this. She would have let me go about and be me. I threw myself back on my bed and buried my face in my pillow. I just want to find my mate and hopefully cancel this wedding. I felt my heartbreak as I sniffed the air. I can't smell much outside of my room, and this angers me. It was as if my father had them spray so much air freshener it messed with my sense of smell. I jumped up from bed and grabbed a Brothers Grimm book from my bookshelf. Page one seems like a good start to get lost and kill time. I did wake up at noon so it's not like I have super long before I must get ready. Besides this is my favorite book so I knew it would lighten my mood. I got so lost in the book I stopped paying attention to the time.
My phone lights up with a text. Katie, be down in an hour.
It was my father, he made sure to let me know how much time I had left before the planned dinner. I sighed before realizing I wasn’t even dressed. Damnit Katie, get your shit together; you only turn eighteen once. I facepalm myself and jump up my book still on the couch by the balcony. I completely forgot to get an outfit picked out for my birthday. I must look elegant since other packs will be there. I wonder if my father told them about the merger and that regardless of who my mate is I'm being married off. As I'm going through my closet like a mad person, my bedroom door opens. I jumped and growled because there was no knock. There stood my father and, in his hands, laid a black clothing box with a crimson ribbon and bow.
"My Katie, how you've grown." He said and smiled at me with kindness in his eyes. "You've grown up so much and I wish your mother could be here for this."
He walked to me and handed me the box, it was a little heavier than I expected for clothes.
"I got it for you to wear tonight. I hope you like it." He leaned over to me and bent down to gently kiss my forehead. "My Katie Bug is no longer my little girl."
I looked at him as he spoke. A tear ran down his right cheek as he smiled at me and then pulled me into his embrace. I squeezed my father back. He was so nice at this moment it made me realize just how much I missed my father’s old self. I knew he wouldn’t stay this way forever. I wanted to hold onto this moment the best I could. As we let go of each other he turned to leave, and I stopped him. While I wish I could cherish this longer, I had to address the marriage. I couldn’t knowingly allow him to leave before I knew the answer to my question.
"Father, what if-" I pause, not wanting to anger him. "What if the Black Bloods heir, Dylan Steele, isn't my mate?" I said firmly and held my ground.
My father promised me to another wolf without even waiting for me to turn eighteen. He looked at me and his face went cold. He didn’t talk, just stared at me. He and my mother were mates, so it was the perfect fit. She was the heir of the Stone Creek Pack, and my father was the Dark Silence heir. They wed out of love, not force. My mother's birth pack fell not long after due to attacks.
"Then be with your mate." My father said to me calmly. "I'll speak to Bradley if you find your mate. He needed the merger, not us." My father sighed as he walked out of my room.
Had my father finally realized that I wasn’t a bargaining chip? I held my phone in my hand and looked at it. No calls or texts from Alexander, nor Dylan. I had hoped at least one of them would have said happy birthday by now. Oh shit. It's already four-thirty in the afternoon. Dinner was in thirty minutes. How did I lose track of time so fast? My birthday is flying by me, and I hated it.
I rushed into the bathroom and turned the water on to max heat. I felt cold for some odd reason. As if a part of me was gone and it made me dead inside. I played Ruel - Hard Sometimes on my phone as I stepped into the shower. I enjoyed this song since Dylan mentioned it to me, it was nice and relatable. The water ran off my body and turned my skin red as steam filled the room. I stood there and soaked in the heat. I wish my mom was here. I cried to myself. It hurt so much to know she wouldn’t see me turn eighteen. I grabbed my razor and started to clean myself up. I shaved everything from between my legs down to my feet, then my underarms. I must look my absolute best in case my mate was here tonight.
Damian's POV
I should knock but here goes nothing I thought to myself as I walked right into Katie's room without so much as a knock. I heard her growl from inside her closet, and then I saw her. She was a complete mess. Her eyes were bloodshot and her hair a wreck. Does she not realize the time? I said to myself as I held one of her gifts from me in my arms. A lovely dress with a necklace and heels that would match.
"My Katie how you've grown," I said to her with a smile on my face. She looked so much like her mother that it warmed my heart. So much so that you could mistake her for her identical twin.
"You've grown up so much and I wish your mother could be here for this." I told her as I walked up to her to give her the gift. "I got it for you to wear tonight. I hope you like it."
I bent down to give her a quick fatherly kiss on her forehead. I had a long talk with Alexander and realized how awful of a father I had been to her all this time.
"My Katie Bug is no longer my little girl." I felt myself start to cry as I smiled and grabbed her to pull her to me.
We held onto each other for a quick moment and let go. I went to leave but Katie stopped me dead in my tracks with a worried look on her face.
"Father, what if..." She paused and I saw her try to find the words to say. "What if the Black Blood's heir, Dylan Steele, isn't my mate?"
Her question baffled me. Now I understand. I promised my daughter...my only child off for a contract marriage of sorts to merge packs because Bradley Steele came to me. Oh, Rose what have I done I thought to myself. My mate would never forgive me for this. She was always against this kind of thing. I have been so lost in revenge that I lost sight of what was in front of me this entire time. I no longer had Rose, but I had our daughter and I had become a father worse than my own.
"Then be with your mate." I told her. I want my daughter happy and if Dylan Steele isn't her mate the marriage is off. Bradly could be made to understand.
"I'll speak to Bradley if you find your mate. He needed this merger, not us." I reassured her of my support as I left her room.
I walked down the long halls lost in thought. I can't shake the fact I felt this was all my fault because it was. I royally fucked up with I agreed to this marriage and merger. As I reached my office doors, I saw Alexander and Bradley leaning against the walls as if they had waited for me for hours. This can't be good.
"I don't care what it is. If no one is dying, then leave me alone." I snapped at them and slammed my office door in their faces. I did not want to deal with any bullshit today. Today was about Katie, only Katie.
