Chapter 27- Rose's Birthday

I went and met Rose in the entry way, giving a quick kiss to Clay he said, “Happy birthday sis! Don’t get too crazy.”

“I’ll keep her safe.” Rose winked to Clay and then to me and grabbed my arm pulling me out the door. We walked down the pathway that we just walked up a few days before. It seemed like a year had passed already but in reality, it hadn’t even been a full week.

“What are we doing Rose?” She started to laugh, which made me a bit worried. Rose was always fun to be with and she was a great friend, but Rose always had a tendency for getting into trouble. Or rather she caused a bit of trouble at times.

“Oh, don’t worry. We are just going to do some shopping!” I gave her a side eye. Again, she only laughed in reply.

“It is your birthday. We will do whatever you want to do.”

“We are definitely going to do what I want to do. The first thing we are going to do is go to some of my favorite boutiques. You haven’t been able to see any of these places and I am so excited to show you!” I could tell Rose was very excited and I was excited about visiting the area.

The first store we went to was a little dress place. The outside was hot pink and the whole front was covered with green moss and ferns. Inside, the walls had many hanging flowers and cacti all about. Dresses were every where and an entire wall was full of just fabric. It was the neatest and cutest little shop I had ever entered.

“Rose!” The small plump woman behind the counter yelled. She was very short maybe 4’5” and had a round face. She had small legs and I thought for a moment what she looked like as a wolf. However, then I smelled the air and realized she was not a wolf, and she was something else completely. “Who is this?” She looked at me as she asked Rose.

“Darla, this is my best friend Gracie.” Instantly, Darla bowed before me. I had no idea why but I touched her shoulder and asked her to sit up.

“I am sorry, I did not realize who you were.” Darla said kindly. “I can not believe that the golden wolf is in front of my very eyes. I never imagined that I would get a chance to meet you in my lifetime!” In another moment, Darla ran to the back and brought out many types of dresses. She held them in front of me.

“Please, your highness, take one as a gift.” Rose eyed me with a smirk.

“Darla, I could never do such a thing. You worked so hard to make these. I will certainly buy one, they are all so beautiful.” That was when Rose nudged me a bit and leaned in to whisper in my ear.

“Gracie, it is rude if you do not take it as a gift.” I realized my mistake when I looked at Darla and saw the hurt expression in her face.

“However, Darla, if you insist, is there anyway I could try them on and have you pick which one is the best?”

Darla’s face instantly lit up with this idea and she replied, “I do insist your highness!”

Rose and I then went about trying on a variety of dresses for the next hour. It was so much fun and we laughed and had a blast. Darla was such a sweetheart and we ended up with a dress for each of us, plus buying a few others. I found out Darla was a fairy that chose to live in this world with her mate. We waved goodbye to Darla and set off for the next store.

“I did not know wolves could mate with other breeds.” I stated to Rose.

“Yes, all supernatural beings can mate with one another. I have even heard of people having a human for a mate.” Rose said excitedly. It made me curious on where her mate was.

“Rose, have you met your mate?” Rose looked a bit sensitive about the topic. She simply shook her head no and I dropped the matter. I was curious about what the moon goddess had planned for my dear sweet friend.

“Rose, why did Darla call me ‘your highness’?” Rose looked at me unsure of what exactly to say. She took a deep breath and let it out. Obviously trying to figure out how to explain it.

“One. You are the golden wolf. You are part of the moon goddess and here to save us all.” She took another breath, “two. You are mated to my brother. Remember, how I told you my parents were like a king and queen. The Alpha and his Luna?” I nodded my head starting to follow.

“Well, darling.” She only called me this when she was about to be honest, “Mating with my brother was like marrying him. If his parents are king and queen…”

“He is a prince. I’m his Luna.” I finished for her. She nodded her head. I had been living up in the mansion the last few days and hadn’t really thought about this fact. However, now hearing Rose spill it like this it made sense. It also hit me that I was now married, in the wolf sense. This was also a bit of a strange thought.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a similar way. We went in to many stores and the people were so kind. Many offered gifts to me and showed great love for the Alpha and Luna. It was an interesting way to live when I was so use to the more city world of humans. There everyone pretty much just saw themselves and that was it.

The end of the day was near and I was so thankful that Rose had took her time to show me around town.

“All we need now is some ice cream from Tommy’s.” It was our favorite ice cream place.

“I know it Rose. Today was fun. I would love 22 scoops of some sugary cold goodness.” I told her giving her a little nudge. Our hands were full of bags and some had been delivered to the house.

“I was so happy to share this with you. But yes 22 scoops of yummy goodness sounds so amazing. It would putting the topping on the cake!” Rose laughed as we walked in. As soon as we did I knew my mate had come through. There in the entryway of the house stood Rose’s parents, Clay, Ian, George, Izzy and a few other people I had not met yet.

We walked in a they all started singing Happy Birthday. However, Rose was not paying attention. She was just staring at Ian. Her big eyes were wrapped around him, like he was the sun. I realized then that Ian also was not singing but staring at Rose like she was a heavenly being.

Clay came over and wrapped his arm around me, “I think your ice cream is going to melt. Rose just found her mate.” I dropped my jaw. This did not make sense to me, how had they not known?

Clay seeming to read my mind whispered in my ear, “ I will explain later.” With that he kissed me on the forehead. I watched as Rose and Ian came together in the middle of the group and just stared at one another. Someone in the crowd gave a little cough and with that signal Ian took Rose in his arms and kissed her. The whole room erupted in applause and laughter.

When the kiss ended Rose yelled, “Well this is a good birthday! If only there was ice cream!” Everyone stared at Rose and started to laugh even harder. Ian pulled her into the kitchen where 22 different types of ice cream sat out.

“No way! Gracie How did you?” Rose was stunned, which was amazing for me since surprising my best friend was one of the harder things to do in life.

“Clay helped.” She ran over and gave us hugs.

“You guys are the best.” Rose was instantly back at Ian’s side. I guess Ian would officially be coming along on our journey now too.

Our group devoured the ice cream easily. It was the first time in my life where I felt so full. Rose and I had always relied on one another but seeing her here and knowing everything else she had and how I had become a part of that made this birthday memory extra special.

We all cleaned up and then headed up to our rooms, I was smiling big when I was Ian heading into Rose’s room.

“I did not see that one coming.” I said to Clay when we had laid down in bed. We were laying there and he was stroking my hair as we chatted.

“I knew it.” Clay said confidently. I sat up immediately.

“How did you know?”

“We have the power to find our mates when we turn 21. Ian is older than Rose.” Clay said it like this simple sentence was supposed to make me realize how he knew.
“That is why Rose did not know? Well, why did Ian never say anything?”

“Ian is a good man. He turned 21 last year. He knew it in an instant, but he did not want to pressure her. He waited for her birthday. He has been waiting for a while.”
Clay explained further. It was a sweet move on Ian’s part. Then it got me thinking about Clay.

“Wait you turned 21 three years ago. You waited al this time for me?” I looked at him in the eye. He simply nodded and then kissed me passionately.

“Of course I waited for you.” Clay said in words and kissed me again, soon our clothes were on the floor and we were making a mess of the bed.