BONUS CH. 131.1- PREYA'S BITHDAY

PART 1 - Two weeks later.....

-PREYA’S POV*

Over in Primese Forest, I sat on the ground with my mated parents at 11:55 pm, five minutes away from my birthday. My back rested against a sandalwood tree feeling anxious and worried.

My Dad, Senior Warrior Brian Delvaux, is a full-blooded werewolf and towers over me at 6’2'. He is chocolate colored with wavy black hair and gimlet blue eyes. He had a patrician nose and hirsute, bible-black eyebrows on an artist's face.

Mom gave me a reassuring smile, “Honey, it will be alright.” They understood my glum mood and apprehension.

“We’ll be here with you through the process,” Dad said sweetly, then glanced at the mired beauty of the moon. The silver deity of the submerged night embellished the still forest with its serene sweetness as we waited.

“Thanks, Dad,” I replied, with a wildly beating heart.

Because I have witch blood, I feared that I might not shift. This added to my further concerns about having a mate if I had no wolf. The mental torture was intolerable. I was terrified. The minutes went slowly by, thus making it the longest five minutes in history.

In the meantime, while Mom and Dad talked, my mind derailed into thinking about my wolf and what she would look like. Dad's wolf was shadow-grey. Would mine be similar? I thought of my mate and his wolf too.

Initially, I hoped that Sage could be my mate. I’ve never had a boyfriend. It was difficult to have one with an overprotective witch mother. Considering that my destiny was to be at Alpha Heron’s side as his pack’s witch when Mom and Dad retire.

Majorly crushing on Sage since my thirteenth birthday, he's been the God-sent man that I wanted to spend my life with. When I discovered that he was a man-whore, I didn't care. I wished only for him to recognize me as a woman ― his woman. Then he began to obliquely express interest in me. We flirted and he kissed me once but stopped himself from crossing boundaries.

Mom discerned my infatuation and repeatedly warned me to be wise, and avoid pursuing a guy who does not value relationships. While Dad remained ignorant of it, I disregarded Mom's warning until I witnessed his cruelty towards a she-wolf. He had fucked her with absolutely no regard for the fact that she had fallen deeply for him. Amidst a throng of people in front of the college, he strolled away from her like she was nothing. I imagine myself being that girl. I figured that he'd be like one of those men who liked the chase, but once they got you, it became monotonous. They like fresh meat and fucking one cunt for too long eventually becomes distasteful. Would I have been a quick fling if I had slept with him? It was a high possibility.

Unrequited love was a set-up for heartbreak. To protect my heart, I decided to stop. Putting my foolish crush away, I told him to permanently leave me alone on the night of Heron's birthday celebration. When I had Zixuan on a date, Sage acted like a jealous moron. Acting almost as though I was his property, which left me flabbergasted. I'm a virgin. Maybe that's what kept him interested.

Even after Alpha Heron warned him to leave me alone, he went for a run in his wolf form, and sadly, he came right back to disturb me and my date a little later. He disrespected Zixuan on a massive level. Amber and Simon were surprised at his behavior. If Sage had feelings for me, he never showed it or told me, so why should I put a thin line of hope into something that could only exist in my head?

This is my special night. I shouldn’t be thinking about him.

“Princess,” Dad’s baritone got me out of my thoughts. My head shot up to look at him as he extended a hand to lift me from the ground. “It’s past midnight.”

“Happy eighteenth birthday,” Mom cheered with a clap of the hand that resounded throughout the forest.

Dishearteningly, I did not shift. Wolfless. The fantasy of possessing a wolf was over.

Dad’s gigantic hand palmed my cheeks when he saw my disappointment. “A wolf does not define who you are. You’re my daughter and I love you and your Mom the most.” I nodded and he kissed my forehead, then wiped the small opalescent tear that trembled beneath my lower lashes.

We made it to the cottage through Mom’s encouraging words. Yet I heard nothing of what they spoke. Pretending to be okay, I dashed into my room. On my phone, there were messages from Amber.

Amber:-Hey, how’d it go? How was your shift? Call me when you get home.

Putting the phone on the night table, I collapsed in the bed with my head on the pillow and cried until sunrise.

^~^

~*~

SAGE’S POV

Luna Mikayla and I met on the stairs going down. Her eyes narrowed at me skeptically. “Sage, why are you here? Isn’t today Preya’s birthday?”

It was her birthday. Deep inside, I felt that I messed things up between us. I’m on edge too because I hope that she was my mate. She should have shifted last night and had her first run with me.

“Preya needs her space.” I excused.

“Don’t you think that you should go and see her to confirm whether she is your mate or not? Isn’t it torture not to know?” Mikayla goes to the fridge to remove ingredients for breakfast. “I think she’ll be mad if you’re her mate and don’t show up. Especially when she finds out that you suspected all along.” She takes a bowl from the cupboard and rinses it before pouring the pancake mixture inside. She does not give me time to respond. “Have you planned anything special for her?”

My face fell as I shook my head. “I thought about it, but what if she’s not my mate? She told me to leave her alone.” I stood at the counter hoping Mikayla would offer sound advice.

“Can you blame her?” Ouch! Mikayla's words hurt and she looked me square in the eyes. “You’ve been sleeping around, Sage!”

As Mikayla defended her friend, she had the scariest look that I have ever seen. I recoiled three steps from the white and gray granite island. The Luna aura surrounded her small frame. It rendered her desires—spoken or unspoken—impossible to refuse.

Ping!

Both our phones showed a notification on our social media:

-Preya’s birthday bash was canceled.

The two of us made eye contact, though hers chastised me. What was up with that? Why would she choose to call off her eighteenth birthday celebration?

“You should talk about this with her.” Mikayla turned on the stove and placed the nonstick frying pan on it.

I raked my fingers through my sandy blonde hair. Goddess help me.

“Alright, I’ll go to her. See you later.” I turned and exited the kitchen.

Amoy, Axel, Forbes, Semani, and Heron passed me on my departure.

“Where are you headed?” Axel growled when my shoulder bumped his.

“Out!” I went up the stairs to my room and changed.

For the first time in my life, I was conscious of my appearance. Wanting to be perfectly dressed for her, I donned a light blue shirt, folded-up chinos in a muted hue, white sneakers, and a pair of sunnies.

Calling her, they all went to voicemail, which agitated me. Felt like her not picking up broke my heart.

I sent out instructions to some buddies to make preparations for me and went downstairs. “Alpha, I’m out.”

“Good luck.” Heron's deep voice entered my head.

Yea. All of them knew my intentions. I’m sure that Preya and I were the discussion topic of the morning. I jumped into my black Toyota Celica and headed out.

I parked in front of the cookie-cutter cottage. Taking a deep breath, I realized that I was nervous as hell. Look at me acting like a nerve-wracking teenager who was shy about asking the girl out.

I rang the doorbell and waited for Silva or Preya to answer. My heart thudded louder when I scented rosemary. It was definitely Silva coming to the door, and by the time she opened it, I glimpsed Mr. Delvaux on the couch in the living room. His eyes trained on me.

The pink-haired witch scowled at me while I gave my charm-boy smile.

“Hi,” I walked the chalk line. Nevertheless, I proceeded warily, “Is Preya home?”

Silva emitted a hideous snigger and folded her arms. Immediately, Brian came to the door, narrowing his eyes at me to slits.

I began with a short half-suppressed ingratiating chuckle, “Um, I wanted to…..”

I swallowed my words when a fireball alit in the middle of Silva’s right palm. Suddenly tongue-tied, my irises popped out.

Something was burning. I sniffed. Shit! It was my designer sneakers. Impulsively, I jumped like I was doing a zaouli dance, trying to stamp out my flaming feet. The mated couple placidly watched me tackle the fire until I extinguished it.

"Who are you here to see?" She rhetorically challenged with her right hand coiled up to her clenched cheek. Then she flashed her fingers outward to create another fireball. Brian's entire aura paralleled the heat.

Perspiring profusely, I pursed my lips, and shook my head vigorously, swallowing another air-filled bubble that went down wrong. I croaked, "No one," and limped over to my vehicle cursing with hyperboles.

I'll find her myself.

^~^