The Alpha Who Saved Me

Chapter 3

I didn’t dare look at the dress that is laying on my bed still inside the garment bag. I want it to be a surprise until the very end. Cici already agreed to come and do my hair and makeup, so I’ll let her peek at the color, so she knows what she’s working with. Other than that, she’s got to wait to see the dress as well.

Stepping out of the shower, I wrap a towel around me and stand in front of the vanity. Using my hand, I swipe at the mirror, leaving a clear streak to see myself through. As I look into the baby blue eyes that are identical to what my mothers were, I can’t help but tear up. Three years ago. I was celebrating with my family. Now, I’m celebrating with a new family because mine was torn from me. I wish I knew what advice my mother would give me if she was here with me now. Turning eighteen as a she-wolf is supposed to be a huge deal, and yet, I feel no excitement. I take that back, I’m excited to be wearing a new dress and getting myself dolled-up to go spend time with my favorite people

Looking more closely at myself in the mirror, I notice that my arms and shoulders are more toned, and I can see muscle where it was once just skin and bones. You see, for the last six months, I’ve been training with the others. Declan didn’t want me anywhere near the training field at first. I had to beg and plead for him to let me train. He finally gave in, but only with a personal trainer at first. For the last month, though, I’ve been training alongside all his other warriors. Why, you ask? Because one day, I’m going to come face-to-face with the Alpha of the Desert Sand pack, and I am going to kill him, it’s that simple. Of course, I would never reveal that to Declan, or anybody here for that matter. The Alpha’s death is mine and mine alone.

“What the hell, Quinn, did you fall in or what?” Cici yells through the door to the ensuite.

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch!” i holler back.

“Ha, jokes on you! I’m not wearing any panties!” She laughs from the other side.

I fling the door open, “Seriously, TMI, Cici!” I look my friend up and down. She’s looking super cute in her mid-thigh, body-hugging purple dress. She definitely made the right decision in not wearing panties.

“You likey?” Cici smiles and does a slow spin.

I must laugh. “Yes, I likey. I won’t be the one getting hit up because they have mistaken me as a ***.”

“Hey!” Cici inspects herself in my full-length mirror, “I can at least pass as a high-end escort!“ We both burst out laughing, because we know that she is completely serious when she makes that statement.

“Okay, can we please get me ready, preferably not ***-like?” I wink at her.

“No way, it may be your birthday, but I’m the one that’s needing a ***-up! You can’t look better than me.” Yeah, my bestie is far from being a virgin, unlike me. Even though she’s dying to meet her mate, she doesn’t believe that we should have to wait and only have sex with one person our whole lives. Me, on the other hand, I’m not in a hurry to meet my mate, but I am saving myself for them.

Rolling my eyes, I take a seat in the chair to my vanity, so Cici can begin her masterpiece. I love dressing up and putting on makeup as much as the next girl, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to put any of it on my face, hence why my best friend is doing it. She loves doing this stuff, though, and I want to help her open her own salon once she graduates beauty school. The closest salon is over in the human territory, thirty minutes away.

She somehow made it so my baby blue eyes pop with all natural and shimmery shadows, some mascara, a dusting of blush and nude lip gloss. My hair is swept up in a comb on one side and drapes over my other shoulder in waves. Now all we need is the dress reveal. Hanging the bag up on a ***, I unzip it and pull out one of the most gorgeous dresses that I’ve ever seen. It also causes me to blush just a tad.,

“Well ***,” Cici places her hands on her hips, “Guess I’ll be going home alone tonight.”

“Oh stop!” i chuckle, taking the dress with me into the bathroom. First thing I say when I come out wearing the dress is, “I cannot go out wearing this!”

“Holy ***, Quinn, you’re hotter than ***!” My best friend exclaims.

“Oh gee, it takes a barely there dress for you to tell me that I’m hot?” I shake my head.

“Well, no, but seriously, you have to wear this dress!” Cici just gawks at me as I twist myself back and forth trying to see myself in every angle.

“I can’t believe that Amelia picked this dress out.” I stand there, staring at myself. The dress is gorgeous, but I feel more naked than anything. It’s an off-white dress but there’s a golden shimmery, sheer material over it, like chiffon or something, and the top has a plunging neckline all the way to my waist. The rest of it fits like a glove and ends mid-thigh. My back is completely bare. I am so glad that I have been training because my back looks so awesome in this dress.

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19:08

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Cici comes out of my closet with a pair of glittery gold strappy heels and holds them out to me, “These are perfect for that dress.”

I take the shoes from her and put them on one at a time. When I glance at myself, I have to say that Cici was right, I am hotter than ***. My calf muscles are pronounced with the heels while the rest of my legs look long and toned. The dress gives my skin the look of being golden brown, but that could be how it normally looks but I never notice it.

My phone pings and Cici grabs it, “Alpha wants you to meet him in his office before you go downstairs.”

“Oh.” 1 pluck my phone from her hands. “I didn’t realize that your name is Quinn.” 1 chuckle and shake my head. I grab a clutch that Cici also found for me and head towards the door. “You better go make sure that your brother is ready, because I don’t want to be late because he can’t decide which watch to wear with his shoes again!”

Cici laughs, “Like brother, like sister!” She laughs and heads for her brother’s quarters while I head down to the second floor where Declan’s office is.

After doing my knock, I open the door and peek my head in, “Hello, Declan, are you in here?”

“Yeah, over here.”

I still don’t see him, so I walk in and close the door behind me. As I get closer to the desk, Declan pops up and scares the ***out of me, “What the hell, Alpha!” My hand to my chest, I take a moment to settle myself.

“I’m sorry, I was grabbing stuff from the safe.” He says softly, and that’s when I notice the way he is looking at me.

I do a little spin, “Do you like?” I smile.

“Uh, um yeah, you look very beautiful,” his eyes roam up and down my body, “My mom bought you that dress?”

I chuckle, “It’s the one that was on my bed.”

“Hm, she’s got good taste.” He praises.

I notice that his tie is crooked, so I walk over to him, “Of course, she does. She’s Amelia Storm!” I muse as I fix and straighten his silk tie, which coincidentally, matches my dress perfectly, “New tie?”

“Yeah, mom bought it when she bought the dress.” He smirks and I can’t help the bubble of laughter that slips from my mouth as well.

Taking a step back, I clasp my hands in front of my body. “Your text asked me to meet you here?”

“Uh, yes. I have part of your birthday gift that I thought you may want before we leave.” He holds out a blue velvety box, wrapped with a white ribbon, “As you will see, they aren’t brand new, but I think you will love them more.”

I glance between Declan and the blue box as I untie the ribbon. Opening it slowly, it takes a moment for my brain to catch up with what my eyes are seeing, but then I gasp and lose feeling in my legs. Luckily, Declan is here to catch me before I fall on my ***. He holds me up while I gaze at the pair of diamond teardrop earrings that my father gave my mother for their twentieth wedding anniversary just a few months before the attack

I look up at Declan, “How? I mean…”

“Quinn, I put all your family’s things into storage, so you can go through it when you are ready. I have everything here, it’s all yours. I wasn’t sure if these meant anything, but they looked like they may have been special, so I wanted to give them to you for your birthday.” He swipes at a tear that escaped.

“They are special. My father gave my mom these for their anniversary just before the attack.” I throw my arms around Declan’s neck, “Thank you so much Declan. You don’t know how much this means to me!” “I think I did, that’s why I did it.” I can hear the grin in his voice, so I push myself away from him and slap his chest.

“You’re such a ***, Alpha!”

He catches my hand and kisses the top of it, “Happy Birthday, Quinn.”

“Thank you, Declan.”

He claps his hands together, “Why don’t you go grab Cici and touch up your makeup,” he does a little hand motion by his face, “You have a little mascara running down your face.”

“Ugh! Why did you have to make me cry?” I hurry out of the room to go find Cici as I hear the Alpha’s laugh all the way down the hall.

RUN VNNNNAARRA

The Italian restaurant that we go to is one of my favorites, and we are seated in the VIP area. Since I am a wolf, I can now legally drink at the age of eighteen, since it takes longer for our bodies to metabolize the alcohol. Declan orders a few bottles of wine and some sparkling cider for Cici, although she steals sips from mine all night long. When the waiters are done clearing the table, they start to bring our dessert

19:08

out, but there is a slight commotion just outside the door. A moment later, Lila comes waltzing through the doorway with a smug smile on her face

“I’m so sorry I’m late! I couldn’t remember what time it was, and my invite got lost in the mail.” She leans down and kisses Declan on the cheek as he stares in shock at her. Lila grabs an empty chair and squeezes it right between mine and Declan’s chairs. Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“You must be mistaken, Lila,” Amelia speaks up. “This is a private birthday party. There were no invites sent out. The only ones invited are already here.”

Either Lila didn’t understand what Amelia was saying or she chose to ignore her completely, because she giggles and sits down in her chair. There is no room for either Declan, nor , to move over, so we are squished together, and the **-scented perfume that blondie is wearing is already giving me a headache.

I stand up. “Excuse me, I just need to grab some air quick. I’ll be back in two minutes.” I smile at everyone but the intruder before I leave the room. When I step outside, I take huge gulps of air, needing the clean air to clear out the poison that she’s wearing.

“The audacity of that ***!” Cici’s voice is low and menacing.

“Yeah well, it’s not the first time today that I had to deal with her. I got in her face this morning and told her that if she ever treated me the way she did this morning than I’d be doing more than getting up in her space.” I tell my best friend.

“Good for you! I don’t know what he sees in her, but I’m sure there are better ***throughout the pack.” My friend snorts.

“Who, like you?” I ask jokingly.

She pulls a disgusting face, “Ewe, no! That’s gross, he’s like my big brother!” She moves her body like she just shivered in disgust.

I laugh and shake my head, “Come on, I better get back in there.”

We make our way back to the back room and would you believe that the /***has pushed my chair out from the table, not leaving any room for me. I’ve had enough of this ***; I don’t care how ***Declan gets at me. This she-wolf is not going to come in here and ruin my birthday!

I tap her shoulder, “Um excuse me, Lila, but I’m pretty sure that you’re in my seat.”

She sneers over her shoulder at me, “Actually, your seat is right there, sweetie.” She points to the chair that she pushed back.

Declan is about to say something, but I hold up my hand and walk out of the room, only to return with two of the security personnel. I point to Lila and they each grab one of her arms, dragging her from the chair.

“What the hell! Do you know who I am? Declan, tell them that I’m your girlfriend!” The she-wolf screeches.

“Lila, shut up already!” Declan sighs, “You are not my girlfriend, you’re just a warm body that I use for my own needs. I’ve told you this since the beginning.”

“Declan!” Lila calls out for him again.

I hold up my hand, stopping the security guys, as I walk over to them, “I told you this morning that unless he is in your nasty ***, you are to call him Alpha! Have some respect, Lila.” I wave my hand and they take her away kicking and screaming.

The room is quiet for a moment, and I begin to think that I’m going to get my ***chewed, but then the room erupts in laughter, the loudest being Declan, himself. My face turns red in embarrassment.

“I am so sorry, Quinn. I never thought that she would actually show up here!” Declan runs his hand over his face, “I should have ended it with her a long time ago when I first started seeing the signs.”

“I think you may need your eyes checked son. I had seen all the signs the very first time that you brought her home.” Amelia chuckles.

“Come on, Mom, she wasn’t that bad in the beginning.”

“Hm, you have your opinion, and I have mine. Let’s agree to disagree.” She smiles and then holds up her wine glass, “To Quinn, the beautiful birthday girl! May all your wishes come true tonight, and every night after!”

“Here, here!” They all say, and I smile.

When I glance over at Declan, I can see that something is bothering him, but I don’t broach the subject right now. Instead, I hold my glass up and toast to the man who made it possible for me to be here.

**I want to toast Alpha Declan! I wouldn’t be here with all of you had he not saved me that day. Thank you for bringing me home, like a stray little puppy, and giving me not only a new home, but a new family.”

“Cheers to the Alpha!” We all say in unison.

“Actually,” Declan speaks up, a stray puppy would have been cuter and a lot less of a sassy loud- mouth.”

gasp, but I see that he’s trying to hold back his smile, so I shrug. “At least I don’t get fleas.”

Declan spits out his wine all over the table as he laughs, everyone joining in with him. My birthday is officially back on track! When we leave the restaurant, we tip them well for having to deal with Lila and then we head home; all of us in a great mood all the way back. Amelia is in charge of the radio, and surprisingly, she’s got some great taste when it comes to listening to good tunes. We are all belting out the words to the songs playing on the radio, acting as if we are all still in high school. And to think, the night is just beginning.