Me:You could tell me what this is… but sure. Thanks… I guess?
Kingsley:I won’t ruin the surprise. Your Xander planned this for you. I’m just happy he’s the man you always said he was.
Me:I’m happy when you get married, we will be related. Though the Hackura consider us to be family already… and we both do too.
Kingsley:We are official family like we were always meant to be. You were family to me long before we knew our mates were cousins.
Me:Yes, we were. From the very moment we met… I knew we were going to be close.
I smiled and put my phone away in my pocket… because I had them. Elise asked, “Are you ready to go see your mate?” I nodded. I didn’t know why my friends always gave me crap about my opinion on women’s clothing’s pockets.
Especially when I was right…and they knew it. Several admitted it on multiple occasions. The pockets on most women’s clothes were a joke. The designer of this dress clearly understood that. The pockets could fit a whole phone. Pants designers needed to get it together.
I walked down the stairs and saw a lot of Xander’s family waiting. It made sense Hastein was here since Kingsley probably told him she was coming. I shot him a small smile before my gaze landed on Xander.
Freya purred, “Mate looks so good in slacks and a white dress shirt. Shirtless would work though.” Shirtless with that red tie to match my dress definitely had strong potential. Tristan linked me, “You look beautiful, little sister.” I replied, “Thanks.”
Dad linked, “You look so stunning, Ladybug.” Mom linked next, “I’m so happy we are getting to do this.” I asked, “And this is?” Mom chuckled, “Letting your mate surprise you and treat you like you always should have been by a man. Real men do things like this, not talk to you in a derogatory way.” I knew that.
The more pictures we took an idea formed in my head. These were standard group shots for people going to dances.I’d seen my brothers do this before. When Xander confirmed it, I felt such love for him at this moment. Freya purred, “Mate’s perfect.” He was.
My husband was giving me a normal moment. I’d dreamed of going to dances with him and my friends. All those were dashed when I was taken, but it didn’t stop me from dreaming. Adeline linked me, “It’s our first dance together! I’m holding you to this grandiose prom of our dream idea.” I smiled at her.
Xander led us outside to his awesome car… that I nearly stole… because he drove on the ICE with it. Sierra gasped, “He drove that way because you didn’t come home?! Fuck the fake you. If she was alive, I would hit her so hard. I talked you down from stealing that damn car.” It was close too, but Caine and Addison pointed out Xander would be upset.
Freya snorted, “You only agreed so you could collect more data. If he drove it again in bad weather, you were taking it.” Tristan linked, “You killed a car salesman for selling Alexander a car he wanted?” I answered, “Uhh no. I killed him for knowingly putting my mate in danger and being a creep with women… so… that’s totally different….and very reasonable…when you consider all the factors.” I felt my brother’s eyes roll somehow.
When we got to the dance I couldn’t help but be astonished by the decorations. It made sense. My friends obviously helped the guys’ plan. This was a perfect combination for Paige and me. Paige linked me, “Damn. Our mates went all out. I can’t believe they did this.” I smiled at her, sharing this moment.
We’d both dreamed we could have something like this. Plenty of guys in the pack asked Paige to a dance, but they weren’t good guys. My friend told them being roofied wasn’t on her list of things to do. Then she’d cursed them when they tried to make her go.
The message after that was clear. Do not mess with Paige. Her powers were intense, and she could defend herself. Sheworked with me a lot on self-defense. My friend was far from the pushovers those boys were used to.
Not that it was the fault of the she wolves in the pack. They weren’t allowed to train, so they couldn’t fight back. Freya advised, “Maybe for tonight, we just have fun. You deserve this, Melanie.” My wolf was right. I wanted to enjoy this treat my mate had planned for me.
I took pictures with my friends in many poses on the stairs. We did the Charlie’s Angels pose except there were a lot more of us. Adeline, Ziggy, Abigial, MaryBeth, and Melinda were even having fun doing the crazy poses our group wanted.
Abigail giggled, “I can’t believe I’m at a dance.” MaryBeth asked, “You didn’t go to one when you were in high school?” Abigial snorted, “To the bin of sin of debauchery? The man who wanted me to call him dad would’ve never allowed it.”
Melinda said, “Uhh it’s a school gymnasium, and an event the school puts on.” Abigial replied, “Where women dress like the one thing they are good for and no daughter of his was going to such an event.”
I scoffed, “He was the worst, and massive hypocrite.” Ziggy asked, “Did you kill Abigial’s dad, Melanie?” I answered, “Yup…. well with her brother… but he was sneaking up on her brother… while Abigial’s brother defended a pup… it might have upset me.” Abigial snorted, “Might have?” I hummed, “Ok… fine….it did upset me deeply.”
Adeline told me, “We know, because your voice squeaks even when you lie.” I was being sarcastic… not lying. Freya offered, “Your voice still squeaked.” I laughed with my friends more than we ever had. We always had fun together, but there was always this tense cloud of being prepared for something bad to happen at any given point. Tonight, there wasn’t that cloud over us. For once, we could be free and have fun.
Our mates joined us, and we took even more silly pictures. Was this what being a normal teenager would’ve felt like? Being at a dance with my mate and friends? I couldn’t stop smiling at Xander. This was amazing and we’d just got here.
Xander ended up talking to Tank before his little sister. Angela winked at me and pointed out the gym doors. I bit my lip knowing Kingsley must be here. I knew where my friend would most likely be. We’d met in an abandoned school before… and it was always the same place.
Freya said, “I can scent where she is.” That was true. It was much easier to slip out here than it was at my Mating Ceremony. No one was watching me since Angela had distracted Xander. I made my way around into the science classroom.
I’d been here many times in the past. I was taking some summer classes and I’d been here for my brother's games. Kingsley snorted, “Why was I going to bother to text you?” I admitted, “I don’t know… there is now a mischievous little Fairy involved in our affairs. She happens to be related to both of our mates…and fair warning…. things tend to be more fun with Fairies around.”
Kingsley laughed, “That would be Angela Conners then.” I nodded, “I’m betting she’ll come to meet you.” Kingsley said, “I’ll make this fast then. Not that it’s surprising, but the King of Missouri is a bad guy. I’m pretty sure Booker McCann is there, and I’m going to keep trying to find him.”
I shrugged, “Best of luck….should you see him please punch him for me… but they will probably keep him pretty hidden. They’ve lost too much to lose him… even though it’s not a loss at this point.” Kingsley smiled, “Naturally. I think the King of Faerie has a partial Demon there as a pet.”
I replied, “Aiden does have someone there as a pet. I don’t know who it is though… I could find out.” Kingsley assured me,“It’s ok. I know who it is and she seems to know we are on the same team.” I nodded, “That fits with what Aiden said.”
