43. Happy Halloween! 🎃

**MAEVE**

In what world did I ever imagine that I would be spending Halloween with werewolves? I still pinched my skin every day in the morning just to make sure that I was not dreaming this whole time.
“So you said no fancy dressing and I still have to wear the bat cape,” I asked Eirlys, picking up the silky black cape that looked like half the bat costume.
“Yes, the minimal dress up, you know,” she shrugged, fluffing the hoodie with cat ears attached.
How the hell is this no-dress-up Halloween?
Well, according to wolves, it is, my inner voice screamed.
“Fine,” I agreed and picked up the cape.
“Oh, and you gotta wear this too.” Eirlys added, handing me the shortest, skinniest, and brightest red dress I have ever seen! It also appeared to be a size or two smaller than mine.
“What?” I gasped, inspecting the fabric. It was something with a silk blend but definitely flexible against one’s figure. Which means every imperfection of my curves would be highlighted.
I have not craved a runaway figure, but this was another reason I never picked a dress like this because the mirror would not agree with me.
“No way!” I said with finality, handing her back. “Thank you so much, Eirlys, but I really don't think it would fit me. Besides, I am going with the nice glitter black dress, one that would possibly fit me in.”
“Nonsense! This would totally fit you in. You just have to skip the bra.”
Was this Halloween, or was I hallucinating?
“I…what?” It felt like my eyeballs would just gorge out.
“Maeve, this is Halloween. And your first Halloween with us!” she screeched as if I had just landed from another planet. Although, the analogy would not be completely bogus.
“Please! And you will be wearing the cape, right? So, why are you so worried?” She gave a brief shake to my shoulders. “Besides, we might be werewolves, but we got the same tits and ass, girl!”
I closed my eyes, shook my head, and chuckled.
Whatever happened to my silent, neglected, and unadventurous life?
“Okay, I give up. I will wear the red dress, minus the support system. Happy?”
The Cheshire smile she flashed worth more than the words. “Get ready and come to the grounds. Don’t take too much time!” She yelled on her way out, leaving me sighing into the madness.

————-
An hour later, I shimmed into the striking red dress and looked up and down the mirror. Hell! If it weren’t for the cape, I would not have dared to flaunt it the way I was doing in the privacy of the room.
As expected, Xander met me outside the room, wearing a red and black devil’s cape on top of his trusted casuals. The sling on his injured shoulder was gone now. Apparently, the shifters heal surprisingly fast.
He smiled at me before leaning down to kiss me on the cheeks. “Are you ready for a bash?”
“Can’t wait!”
We walked out of the pack house and advanced towards the ground, and the mere sight of it dropped my jaw—the celebration of magnanimous. As we closed nearer, Blaize approached with a dainty smile and sort-of a freakish Halloween wear.
“Who knew werewolves were fun?” I commented with my gaze traveling from one end to the other.
“Are you kidding me?” Blaize smirked. “We are the embodiment of fun!”
My eyes stopped near the giant pumpkin structure, overflowed by the crowd from all sides. “That’s quite a Halloween pumpkin,” I commented, squinting my eyes to get a better view. “What is…is that a tap?” I asked, turning around to meet Blaize’s.
“Yep.” He bobbed his head while Xander laughed at my expense. “And it’s filled with the greatest beer made on earth.”
Drunken horror!
“By the end of this night, I wonder if any one of us would be sober,” Xander grimaced.
“Drunk werewolves and halloween.” I threw up my hands in the sir. “Looks like my life is sorted.”
Blaize immediately raised a finger in all but seriousness. “Strictly speaking, we have a rule - if we are going to stay in our human form, we never do it sober.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “I will surely remember it tomorrow morning.” As my eyes explored some more of the craziness, a different sight caught my attention. A man passed by, wearing a tired expression, made his way towards the residence houses. The attire spoke nothing of Halloween or celebration. I was still getting the hang of their names, so I double-checked with Xander.
“Is that Dylan? Where is he going?” I asked.
“Back to his place, I guess,” Blaize answered for his brother. “He wanted a morning duty so he could spend the night in his room.”
“Sedona,” I slowly recalled and turned to Xander, pleadingly. “Why can’t she join us? You won’t allow it?” The very thought of someone missing out on a party like this made me upset.
“She can’t, Maeve. Until the three full moons are passed, her cycle of penance won’t be completed,” Xander sighed like he was trying to make sense with a five-year-old. Except, I was not and would not let him treat me that way either.
“And what did Dylan do?” I retorted, planting my hands on my hips and flaunting the sexy bat wings. “By punishing her, you are punishing him as well. You once told me that the pack is like a family, and you are depriving both of them from this very family. How does it make sense?”
His lips flattened into a thin line. “It’s complicated.”
“You are the Alpha, Xander,” I said, jabbing a finger at his chest. “They chose you as a leader, so it is your decision. You can bring in the change if you want.”
Xander did not say a word, carefully measuring each word before he got them out. But Blaize beat him to it. “The Devil’s got your tongue?”
“Shut up,” he gritted, throwing a nasty look his way.
“Please. Look how happy everyone is!” I begged, hoping he would change his mind.
“Well, they won’t be when they see Sedona,” Blaize quipped, quirking up his traditional smirk. “That woman isn’t exactly Miss Popular here.”
“Nonsense. Everyone knew I was human and they still accepted me so warmly. Why won’t they do the same with her? Please, Xander.”
With the loudest possible sigh, his shoulders sagged. “Okay.” He raised his hand and called out the man in a devil-wore-the leather outfit. “Garett, tell Dylan that I have invited him and Sedona for Halloween. She can celebrate with all of us.”
Garett’s brow raised in astonishment, and his eyes flitted over to mine. It did not take for a genius to guess, but the small smile on his lips told me a lot.
“Sure, Alpha.”
He turned around and left while Blaize leaned closer to me, whispering, “You are not even crowned the Luna of this pack and you are already winning votes.”
I threw him a wink and trotted down to join Eirlys and others. A group of men and women chanted, “try! try!” as a couple of participants gobbled food like hungry animals. The rule was that the participant has to try and guess the favor of the cookie-cum-cake. In case one failed to do that, they’d have to do shots.
Fifteen shots, back to back.
And my goodness! Werewolves can indeed drink.
“I swear, if I drink another drop, I will start embarrassing the hell out of myself. If I haven’t done that already,” I screamed into Grecia’s ear over the blaring music from the speakers, coupled with the chaos of the wereres.
She shook her head vehemently, giggling all the way. “Considering where you are, embarrassing yourself would be perfectly normal.”
We sang, danced, and cheered all the way through the night, sharing food and drinks like never before. When it was absolutely clear that our tired feet could not take any more abuse, I dragged Eirlys and Grecia, and two other women towards another part of the ground.
“What is that?” I asked, pointing at an old-school bow and arrow.
“Oh, it’s nothing.” Grecia dismissed with a slur, chugging down her hundredth glass of beer and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “You gotta aim and then you win a surprise pumpkin spice gift. Just one strike out of five.”
I should have known that she was drunk, and I was semi-drunk to fall into the trap. Also, I should have considered the words ‘*slutty pumpkin huntress*’ on the banner.
*But I did not.*
Picking up the bow and arrow, I aimed at the mini-pumpkins. “I did it!” I screamed like a kid who just won the race and leaped to grab the pumpkin hamper.
“Nope!” The burly man dressed as a grim reaper shook his head.
It was only then done I caught the challenge.
Grecia forgot to mention that ‘*just one strike out of five*’ would involve a small penalty if missing an arrow. That penalty meant I’d have to take off a piece of my clothing. And because I had missed a shot, I’d have to sacrifice the bat cape.
The very flaring bat cape that was covering my not-so-decent red dress underneath.
*Shit*.

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***Thank you for reading my story. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter on Halloween. I have another chapter on Halloween coming up in a couple of hours! Let me know in the comments if you have liked it. ***