February 14th - V-Day

The morning light shines in through the crack in the dark green curtains that cover the bay window in Riley's room. It stirs Riley from her deep sleep, where she lays on her stomach on top of her queen size bed with her duvet tossed to the foot of the bed in a heaping mess. Her long, brown, naturally wavy hair flows in different directions as she peeks and shields her eyes from the sun. She had been dreaming of her 20th birthday that was coming up, which would signify her spot in the pack, and the first time she were to shift.

"Riley! It's time to get up! We leave in 20 minutes," her dad yells at her door as he walks down the hall to start breakfast.

Riley groans as she rolls onto her back. Today is Valentines Day, the day of love, and another reminder that she just broke up with her ex Nathan about 2 months ago. So, there is no love for her in the relationship department at the moment. However, she still crafted a couple of Valentines Day cards for her best friends, Lily and Ollie. Ollie will probably go all out for both her and Lily because that's the type of guy he is, however, as much as he tries to hide it, she knows there will be a little something extra for her as Ollie has been crushing on her for the past 8 years. Why won't he give it up already? She's expressed there is no interest on her end, but he is relentless and thats probably one of the best attributes about him that Riley loves as she knows he will protect and care for her no matter what.

Riley rolls out of bed and stretches as she sits at the edge. With only 20 minutes until she has to leave for school, she has no time to shower. She strips out of her pink silk pajama set and grabs a pair of skinny jeans, a cropped white t-shirt that hugs her upper half, and her converse. She then brushes out her hair, which she styles in a messy bun atop her head. She stands in front of her floor-length mirror, assessing the way she looks. Riley knows she's pretty. She's petite but has curves where it matters, a little smaller chested than she had hoped for and a little short for being a werewolf. Otherwise, she's strong and possibly one of the strongest and fastest in her combat classes. Her face is a bit mousey with smaller features and pink undertones but with a natural golden glow about her and beautiful hazel eyes.

She got her looks from her father, who is a single dad to just her. She lost her mom when she was only 2 from a Rogue attack on the pack lands. Her mom had a position with the patrols, while dad worked in administration for the Alpha. Dad had really gone through a tough few years. They even had to move in with her grandmother and grandfather until dad got out of his deep depression. See, dad and mom were true fated mates, and that kind of bond is unbreakable. Riley hoped to find her fated mate as well but knew the chances were low unless she did some traveling to other packs after graduation. It was only a couple of years ago that they finally moved out again on their own. It was only a few houses down from grandma and grandpa, but it was a big step in moving forward. Dad even began dating again and had a girlfriend, Sarah, who she absolutely adored. She did come with her own baggage as well, a 15-year-old son named Landon. They got along for the most part, but once Riley turned 20 in two weeks' time, she would move into one of the apartments closer to the Pack house to finish school and start working full time. She was hoping to get a position on the patrols just like her mom.

She rushed down the stairs and greeted her dad with a peck on the cheek. He had just finished making up a plate for her of some bacon and eggs, which Riley stuffed into her mouth and finished just as dad grabbed the car keys.

"Come on, kid, otherwise we might be late."

Riley grabbed her backpack as they left the house. Riley hopped into the passenger side of her dad's pickup truck. School was on the way to the administration buildings, so dad always gave her a ride. It only took about 5 minutes before they pulled up to Alpha Academy on the pack lands. Alpha Academy got the children ready for their life as a pack member and helped them figure out where they would fit in best. Riley has always been pushed towards doing more combat, although she did have a couple of administration classes in accounting and business, as well as health and healing. She knew she was destined to be sorted into patrols just like her mom.

"Take care of yourself today, kiddo. Here's some cash for lunch, and if you see Landon, just keep an eye on him. He's been hanging around Ethan and his crowd lately. Me and Sarah just want to make sure he's doing alright."

"No problem, dad. I hope you have a great day at work. I'll just walk home after school and maybe drop in at Grandma and Grandpa's."

"Sounds like a good plan. I'm having dinner at Sarah's tonight anyway, so you would be alone for a few hours till I got home."

"Alright, bye, and I love you." Riley shouted as she closed the passenger door shut and spotted Lily and Ollie over by the front entrance benches. She jogged over and gave them big hugs and surprised them with their Valentines.

"Riley! These are great. Did you make them yourself?" Lily exclaimed as she opened them up and read the small poem inside.

"I sure did, and it's only because I love you that I spent any of my extra time making them." Riley laughed.

"Well, you two will have to wait for your surprise a little later in the day. I will discuss what it all entails at lunch." Ollie declared, boasting his large, muscular chest as he seemed proud in whatever he had planned for the girls.

Riley and Lily giggled as they got up and started towards their first class. As they walked the halls to their first class, Riley noticed her ex Nathan hanging with Landon, Ethan, and a few more of the more popular girls and boys. Riley really didn't have anything against Nathan, and they broke up pretty amicably. Unfortunately, Nathan turned 20 at the end of November and found his true mate within our pack, a girl named Samatha. Riley and Nathan had both known there would be a chance that they weren't fated but had still dated for about a year before they broke up. Their relationship was purely more physical, and they had their fair share of sex which isn't uncommon with wolves. Some save themselves for the fated one, but that's been fairly outdated for many, many years as there's a chance you won't meet your fated mate and instead decide to pick a chosen mate.

Riley walked over to the crowd and tried to just get Landons attention but was roped into the conversation with them all.

"Hey Riley. How have you been?" Nathan asked as he looked shyly over at Riley while he had his arm drapped over Samatha.

"Good, all is good. Landon, can I have a word with you?" Riley said as she tried to hurry herself so she wouldn't get caught up in this groups antics. Although, it was proving to be too late as Ethan threw his arm over her shoulders.

"Riley, I'm so glad you stopped by to say hello. We don't get much quality time together. You have really blossomed since grade school." Ethan said with his lopsided smile. Goddess, he was good-looking.

He was tall, muscular, and had these green eyes that went on forever as if you got lost walking through a forest just looking into them. His hair was beach blonde and tousled just perfectly, like he just walked out of the ocean looking. He glowed and was easily one of the most attractive guys in the pack. It was hard to resist his charm, especially because he was actually genuinely a good guy, too.

"Thanks, Ethan, but I really just came over to check on Landon as per our parents' request."

"Riley, I'm fine and don't need you checking in with me. Plus, I'm hanging with some friends at the pack house tonight since I know Jack will be coming over to have dinner with mom." Landon said sternly as if he was embarrassed.

"Alright. If you need any company, you know where to find me," Riley said as she tried to walk away before Ethan grabbed her hand and pulled her to the other side of the hallway, away from the group.

"Hey, so, before you go, I wanted to ask if you would have dinner with me tonight. I know this is last minute, but with it being Valentine's Day and all, I was hoping we could have a date and get to know each other. I've been wanting to ask you for a while now, actually." Ethan said as he blushed and brushed a strand of loose hair out of Riley's face.

Riley was taken aback. She had no idea that Ethan had liked her or even saw her that way. I mean, she would be stupid to say no to a guy like him, but at the same time, she knew a relationship with him could have significant consequences with him being a son of the Alpha and all. But when would another chance like this come? His older brother Eli was already working towards taking over as Alpha in a years time and as far as she knew, if he didn't find his fated mate, he would have to pick a chosen mate of his parents approval. They couldn't just have anyone mating with their sons and future alphas. So it's not like she had a chance with him. But this opportunity to date Ethan, of course, she had to take it.

"I would love to go on a date with you," Riley said shyly, blushing and smiling from ear to ear.

"That is great news. I mean, I didn't even think I had a shot with you, so you don't even know how excited I am. How about I pick you up at 5? Would that be enough time after school for you to get ready?"

"That should be more than enough time. I look forward to seeing you later," Riley took off down the hall before she embarrassed herself by turning an even brighter shade of red.