“No, you are coming to your party, and that’s that!”
Julia is dressed up in a dark coat and has her hair piled on her head with glitter in it. She looks pretty, but she can’t hold a candle to her daughter, or maybe I’m just biased.
I clear my throat. Cordie is still clinging to the door frame, refusing to let go, and Julia has a hold of her arm and is tugging her, trying to free her from the death grip. They both whip their heads towards me, but neither yields.
“Happy birthday, gorgeous.”
She gives me a tight smile. “Can you come back tomorrow?”
I blink, unsure of what to say to that. I don’t think anyone has just dismissed me so effectively before. It’s…refreshing.
“Cordelia Darla Lake, you apologise to that handsome alpha right now before he decides he doesn’t want you.”
“He can want me tomorrow. I’m not doing this.”
Julia lets go. “Fine, desperate times. Desperate measures.” She pulls out her phone and glares with narrowed eyes that promise that her wrath is coming.
“Wait!” I say to Cordelia, who is trying to escape. “I got you something.”
She glares at her mother. “Come inside. You can hide with me.”
I enter the house, trying not to smile when she slams the door and goes and flops on the couch.
I sit beside her and study her intently, trying to gauge her mood. “I can tell that you hate your birthday, but I will love this day forever because it gave the world you.”
She grumbles and wiggles deeper into the couch, trying really hard not to look in my direction.
“And I bought you this. But it’s not what it is that’s important, it’s what it represents.”
I hand her the black-wrapped box. She takes it slowly and opens it, pulling out the silver cuff with its engraved horses running out of the ocean.
“It’s beautiful.”
She looks on the inside and sees the words I’ve written down.
I get down on my knees in front of her, trying not to laugh at the way she sits up suddenly, trembling with a tension that turns her scent sharp. “I promise to be patient and kind. To listen to you at all times. With all my strength, I will protect you from even the slightest harm. You will never be alone because we are together. And I will love you until the day I die and perhaps even longer.”
The words are engraved on the bracelet. Jewelry is pretty, but it’s my intention, my words that are the gift. My promise. My pledge. Patience, kindness, to listen, to protect, to be together, and to love her.
She’s staring at it for so long I think she hates it, and then I see a single tear fall, and she throws herself at me, hugging me tight. When her lips find mine, I realise that other than in her heat, this is the first time she has instigated a kiss.
I never want it to end.
I cradle her head, teasing her mouth open, teasing her lips with mine. She invades all my senses, just like she has invaded my heart, just like she has invaded my world.
She slides off the couch and sits on my lap. I pull her closer, wrenching my mouth away so I can drag my lips down the delicious satin of her jaw to the scent-soaked skin of her neck.
She lets out a weak whine; I wrap my hands tighter, pulling her up against me. All I can think about is getting her naked and pulling that slick, loaded pussy down onto my face.
“NO! None of that.”
We break apart as Lorelei, Sofia, and Asher come in.
“Oh, come on. She’s getting lucky, I mean if it were my birthday, that would be the absolute best present. This really is her worst birthday ever. You, Mum, are being a pussy block.”
“I am not!” Lorelei hisses. “I do not want to hear about your sexual exploits, Asher.”
“Don’t be a purist, Mum. You chose to meet your scent matches at stupid young. I hope I never meet mine. Life is too much fun to settle for just one pussy or dick when I can try them all.”
