Happy birthday, sis

Liam P.O.V. 

“Happy birthday to you… Make a wish, ladybug.” I hug my little sister tight, kissing her head. She smiles happily at me, looking down at the box in my hand. 

“What is that?” She asks, getting all giddy, I laugh at her antics, handing her the box. She opens it, squealing in delight. I gave her the book series she really wanted, and I promised to take her to the book cafe in town later today. I have never been there myself, as I am not as much into books as Clara, but today is all about her and I will do absolutely anything to make her happy.

“This is just what I wanted.” She says sitting down with her books looking them over. 

“I thought I heard you speak about those.” I tease. She has been talking about nothing else for months. The series only came out a couple of days ago, and we all asked her to not buy them because of her birthday. 

“Okay, this is from me and dad, honey.” Mom says, handing Clara an envelope. She puts the book she’s looking at down, taking the envelope. 

“What is it?” She asks, her voice just as puzzled as her eyes. Mom and dad smiles, urging her to open it as well. We all sat down around her. I don’t know what exactly they gave her, but I do know it’s a trip for her and her two best friends. 

“OH MY GOD! Mom, dad, you didn’t!” She squeals while jumping up to hug them both. 

“What is it, ladybug?” I ask, getting an annoyed look because I keep using her childhood nickname. 

“Stop calling me that, asshole. I’m 18 today.” She says and I just shrug. 

“To me you’ll always be ladybug.” I answer with another shrug. She rolls her eyes but does show me the tickets. I whistle. 

“That's awesome, Clara! I’m happy for you, but three weeks?” I ask and she just smiles even bigger. 

“I’m going to be away from your overprotective ass for three whole weeks! I cannot wait. I have to call Ana and Emmy.” She rushes out of the living room in such a hurry she almost runs over Mason on her way out. He jumps aside and chuckles when she hollers an apology over her shoulder. 

“Someone’s in a hurry.” He says, walking to us. I roll my eyes. 

“She just got a three week vacay by our parents as her 18th birthday gift, and she can take Ana and Emmy with her.” Mason groans. Emmy is his little sister who turned 18 a few months ago. 

“If she can pry her from her mate, then good for them!” He says, annoyed. 

After Clara ran off, mom and dad said they were going to get everything ready for the party tonight, and Mason followed me to my office. 

“Do we have any business to attend to today?” He asks, sitting down in a guest chair. I shake my head. 

“No. Kendrick is out handling the meeting for me, as it clashes with Clara’s birthday.” Mason nods. 

“Do you still want me to go with you and the girl to the cafe later?” I smile at my Gamma. He, Kendrick and I are childhood best friends, just like our fathers were and their fathers before them. We try to keep the ranked families as tight as possible in our pack. I know that’s not how it’s done in other places, but here it’s really important that we get along. 

“That would be great, man. Thank you!” He nods, asks me to min-link when it's time and says he’ll get some pack stuff done. 

I’m the Alpha of the Blackmoon pack, and while I do most things packwise, both Mason and Kendrick have their own responsibilities. Mason is responsible for the warrior training as head trainer and for the schedules for the Omegas, sharing this with his mate Sophie. He is the same age as me, so he’ll turn 25 soon, whereas Sophie is a year younger than us and just turned 24. Kendrick already turned 25, and his parents are bugging him to take a chosen mate because he has not found her yet. I have a nagging feeling he is going to be mated to Clara and I may have to kill him. Best mate or not, he is a man whore and a fucking easy one at that. He will have to get his shit together if my hunch is right. But since he is gone until the day after tomorrow for the meeting, and Clara leaves for three weeks tomorrow with her friends, I’ll have to wait and see. 

Kendricks responsibility is to step in whenever or wherever I can’t for some reason or other. He also has to make sure everything runs smoothly at the different jobs in the pack, and handle all pack complaints. It’s a lot, but it also makes it possible for me to concentrate on the business part of the pack. Don’t get me wrong, I am a very visible and active Alpha, but I like to handle the business part of things. 

We work in the surveillance area, and my company helps with developing new surveillance kits and shit for both supernatural and humans. The other side of things is bounty hunting. My guys will get it done, but it’ll cost you. I always make sure to double the pay so everyone has enough money at the end of the day.

After a few hours of burying myself into work, someone knocks on the door. I look up to see Clara and her friends. 

“Two minutes and I’ll be there, ladybug.” I tell her. She rolls her eyes while her friends giggle. They have been doing that for quite a while now, and I still haven’t figured out why. There’s absolutely nothing to giggle about. 

“As long as you promise not to forget.” She says, turning around and going back down. I min-link Mason to get his butt over here, finish my papers and close up the folders. 

I go downstairs to see everyone gathered in the hall. 

“Are we ready?” I ask, and the girls all squeal with delight. They all really love books, and have been bugging us to go to the cafe forever. We move to the car outside, and I drive us to town. 

“This is the best birthday ever! Thank you, Liam!” Clara squeals when we walk up to the cafe. I chuckle at the antics, watching how she and her friends are literally bouncing in excitement. 

“You’re welcome, ladybug. We’re just gonna follow your lead, alright?” I ask, and she nods with the biggest smile on her face. I can’t help but feel proud of myself with how happy she seems. Mason groans when we enter. The cafe is fairly big considering, with shelves upon shelves of books. All around the shelves there’s small tables with comfy chairs and couches by the walls. On our left there’s a counter where you can buy food and drinks. I look around when the most a****n scent in the world hits me. My eyes snap to the counter where an elderly lady is standing, talking to a young woman. She has her back turned to me, but fuck if I don’t think she is the most beautiful person! She is tall, slender and the way her hair glows in the sun rays. Then she turns her head and FUCK! I’m dead and the goddess herself has come to collect me. She is absolutely gorgeous and totally out of my league. I don’t fucking care though. She is perfect! Her eyes seem curious, until they move to my side. I’m slightly aware of Clara holding on to my arm, but she is my baby sister. Clara reaches up and kisses my cheek, to which my mate raises an eyebrow. Her eyes shift, and now they are cold and guarded. SHIT!

“Go find some books. Mason will go with you. I’ll be right back.” I say in a hush tone, moving out of her embrace and towards the counter. When I look again my mate is gone. I feel utterly confused and Ash keeps whining in my mind. He wants his mate as much as I do. 

“Hello. Can I order five hot chocolates? And maybe some assistance from the book department. It’s my sister’s birthday and I want to buy her something, but I’m really not a big reader.” She smiled sympathetically. 

“You really want to speak to Maddie about that, darling. I’ll get the chocolates started and grab her as well.” She answers and I thank her. So my mates name is Maddie? I already love it!