Chapter 17

Storm

The morning of my eighteenth birthday had arrived!

I was sitting in the lounge room on the big three-seater lounge chair listening to Leah and Julie have a playful argument regarding a guy that Julie was convinced Leah had a thing for. I knew that she didn’t have romantic feelings for anybody, and that all this teasing was just in good fun. By now these crazy arguments between the girls over random nothings had become the norm for me since I had been living here with them. It was almost like they got off on annoying the crap out of each other.

In an attempt to win the argument, Julie had recruited Lilly onto her side. The plan had obviously been for Lilly to help Julie to gang up on Leah. Not wanting to be outdone by them, Leah was now trying to recruit me onto her side. But now that they had seen what Leah was trying to do, Lilly and Julie had decided they were not going to let that happen! So, they were trying to get me to side with them as well.

“Come on Leah, admit it, you do like him. Lena, she does like him, doesn’t she? Come on Leah, just admit it, you like him!” Lilly teased her sister.

“No, I don’t!” Leah denied, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

“Ooh look, she is blushing,” Julie taunted, pointing out Leah’s now red face.

 “Lena, help me out here, please,” Leah begged, looking over at me.

“Girls, I have told you before, I am Switzerland in these arguments. This bickering session just like with the other session’s you girls have had since I have been here, is between you girls. It is a family thing. Keep it in the family and leave me out of it, okay?” I laughed, holding up my hands in a gesture of surrender.

Just at that moment, my phone rang. I looked at the screen and I couldn’t help but smile when I saw Winter’s name flash on my screen. I missed my big sister.

I answered the phone and Winter and Felix started singing Happy Birthday to me. I laughed at them both as they sang to me in their funny birthday voices. Winter had always done that to me my whole life. She had always used a funny voice when singing the song to me. Over time it had become almost like this tradition we had.

“Thank you, guys,” I told them, laughing out loud when they had finished singing the song to me.

Lilly, Leah, and Julie had now become silent in the kitchen, and when I looked over at them, I noticed that they were sitting at the kitchen table openly watching me in amusement. Winter and I spoke for a few minutes, and she filled me in on everything that had been going on in her new pack. It was evident to me that she was enjoying herself there, and I was glad that she had found her place in this world, somewhere that she belonged. I could tell from Winter’s tone of voice that she loved Germany as much as I loved Ireland. I was so happy for her!

“I am telling you bubba, this place is incredible. I love everything about Germany. Felix’s parents run their pack so much better than the pack is run back home. And their set up is unlike anything I have ever seen before. I hope you can see this place someday,” she told me, her voice filled with excitement and happiness.

“I am glad you are enjoying it,” I told her. She sounded just like a little girl on Christmas morning.

“Oh, I am. So, what are your plans for your birthday?” she asked.

“I have made no plans,” I replied.

“Why not? Bub, you need to have fun! Do something, come on, it’s your birthday,” she told me, sounding her usual bossy self.

“You know what? I will Mrs Bossy Boots,” I told her.

“Good, I am glad to hear it. Now get off the phone and go do something,” she told me, a grin clear in her voice.

“Alright, I love you, I will talk to you soon,” I told her before hanging up the phone. After I got off the phone, the girls were on me like a pack of dogs on a three-legged cat, bombarding me with questions.

“It’s your birthday!” Lilly exclaimed.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Leah asked.

“We have to do something today to celebrate,” Julie added.

I got up from my seat on the lounge and walked over to where they were all sitting in the kitchen. I poured myself a glass of orange juice, and after I had gotten my drink, I took a seat at the table with the girls. I had just taken my seat at the table when Leah’s phone rang. She picked it up and looked at the caller ID before giving the girls a look that I could not decipher.

Leah answered the phone, “Hi Daddy,” she said, her voice sounding cheerful, while her face clearly showed worry.

I looked at Julie and Lilly and noticed they were both tense as they watched Leah. ‘This can’t be good,’ I thought to myself, as I watched them. I glanced back over to where Leah was talking on the phone, and it felt wrong to me that we were all sitting here openly listening in to her side of the conversation.

“Yes, yes definitely… on Thursday?... Oh, yeah, I had forgotten about that… no… I am not sure… no, I honestly do not know. I will ask them for you… oh, okay… yes… okay… yep, that’s what I meant, I will tell them. Yeah, they are right here. Girl’s, daddy said to tell you that he loves you.”

“Love you, daddy,” Lilly yelled happily.

“I love you too daddy,” Julie called out, laughing at Lilly.

“Did you hear that? Okay, good. I will see you then. Yes, daddy, I love you too… okay… okay… bye-bye now,” Leah said hurriedly before ending the call.

When she had hung up the phone, she looked at us and said, “Dad said we are to go home on Thursday after our classes and stay there for the four-day long weekend.”

Lilly and Julie turned and looked at me, but I couldn’t decipher the look on their faces.

“It’s okay girls, stop looking so worried.  I am sure that I can survive a few days here without you girls. It will be a good opportunity for me to catch up on some of my assigned reading anyway. Think of the quiet time I will have without you girls here arguing every five minutes,” I told them teasingly, while trying to reassure them that I was going to be fine in their absence.

“Actually, you’re going to be coming with us,” Leah stated, as she watched me closely.

“Wait… what?” I asked her slowly, confused by this revelation. “Why do I have to go with you? He isn’t my dad! He has no authority over me! He can’t just demand that I go home with you! I mean come on! Seriously? Who does that? I will tell you who does that! Psychopaths and serial killers, that’s who! I’m not going with you, and I don’t care if you ring him right now and tell him that! In fact, while you’re at it, you can tell him I said he can go take a running leap off the nearest cliff!”

Julie and Lilly laughed at my brief outburst, while Leah worked hard to hide her smirk. “My dad said I was to bring you with us, he wants to meet the rogue that has been living with his daughters,” Leah replied, still smirking at me.

“Wait, who is your dad? And why did you tell him I was here in the first place? I have never been a threat to you,” I cried out, feeling betrayed by the girls, while at the same time feeling worried about what this meant for me, as a sinking feeling crept into my stomach.

“Alpha Doyle,” Lilly replied proudly, with a big grin on her face.

“Alpha Doyle? You mean Alpha Doyle, as in the Alpha Doyle of the Celtic Moon pack! That Alpha Doyle?” I asked, more worried now, and feeling my anxiety begin to rise.