I just got some wonderful ideas for this story so I want to get close to those chapters meaning y'all are going to be getting faster updates :)

Chapter Quote:

Calla: "I look like a cake."

Bryn: "But a beautiful cake."

~Nightshade

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Chapter 16

Ember

"Elsa, what are on earth are you doing in there? How long does it take to put on a dress?" Hunter called out. Josilyn, Laurel, Thea, Akira, and I were already outside the dressing rooms in their dresses. Akira had chosen a pretty conservative dress although that was typical. The dress was lavender and the straps were bedazzled. It cinched in the middle making her tiny waist seem even smaller. Laurel wore a strapless purple dress with a sweetheart neckline and black beading. It was different but it suited her. She could wear practically anything, just one of those people, you know? Josilyn wore a strapless, blush pink dress with a sweetheart neckline that was bedazzled at the top. It was very loose fabric so when she spun around, it flared out. Thea wore a green and silver rhinestone dress which strangely reminded me of a peacock but she worked it like no other. I stuck with a strapless, black lace dress that flared out. The girls and I were trying on our favorite dresses again. It was poor Elsa who was having no luck with dresses. The rest of our pack wasn't up to going to Denver today so it was just the ten of us.

"Hold your horses, Hunter. This dress has too many damn straps and I'm only one person," Elsa snapped.

"Do you need help?" I asked.

"Yes please!" I slipped under her door since she couldn't actually open it. I started laughing when I saw her. The dress was halfway over her head, her arms were sticking out of the straps at awkward angles, and it looked overall very uncomfortable.

"Would you stop laughing and help me out of this please?" Elsa begged. "I can't breathe anymore."

I set to work unraveling the straps and putting them in the appropriate places. I couldn't blame my sister for getting confused about where the straps went. I got confused too. It took five minutes for me to actually get the dress fixed correctly. When she stepped out, Hunter shook his head.

"That looks like a death trap," Sebastian remarked. He, Barry, and Noah were sitting next to each other. The boys had already bought their suits for the event in Denver which was some special thing for hotel owners. Coincidentally it was the same week of Elsa's dance competition so we would be staying a few extra days. It wasn't for a while but some schools had dances so we wanted to get ahead of the shopping frenzy there would be when girls started getting serious about shopping for dresses.

"Next," he said. Elsa groaned and went back inside. I helped her get out of the dress again because there was no way she could do it without breaking it. She didn't want to pay for a dress she didn't want. It took her a much shorter time to put on the next dress. When she exited the dressing room

"You look like a grandmother," Noah said. I grinned. I looked over at Hunter who had covered his mouth with both hands, shaking his head slightly, and was seriously trying not to laugh.

"Noah!" Josilyn chastised.

"What?! I'm just saying it's too old for her!"

"And you're an expert in that category?" Laurel chimed in.

"Thank you, Noah," Elsa said sarcastically.

"These are horrible dresses," Hunter laughed.

"These are your picks! I'm never letting you help me pick out dresses again," my sister grumbled.

"They looked good on the rack," he defended. Elsa rolled her eyes and went back into her dressing room, firmly telling Hunter she was trying on her picks now.

"Em, can you help zip up the dress? My fingers are raw from trying to zip up the other dresses," Elsa inquired.

"Sure thing," I answered. I slipped back under the door and smiled when I saw the dress. "This is perfect for you. This will definitely be the one."

At that moment, her phone buzzed. "Can you check who that is?"

I picked up her phone for her. The lock screen said she had a text from-

"Spencer... Ooh!" I exclaimed, opening her door. "Guys, guys, guys! Elsa just got a text from Spencer!"

"Give me my phone!" Elsa shouted, running out of her dressing room. I'd totally forgotten to zip up her dress so she was clutching it to her chest with one hand while her other hand was outstretched trying to grab her phone from me. I ran around the store with my sister chasing me.

"What's your password, El?" I queried, dodging her grab for her phone.

"First off, I'm never telling you that, second, don't call me El, and thirdly, give me my damn phone back!" she demanded.

"Elsa?" a guy said, sounding rather shocked. The two of us skidded to a stop and turned our heads around. Speak of the devil...

"Spencer?" Elsa squeaked.

"Uh, is everything okay?" He asked. His eyes drifted to Elsa's bare back but quickly shot back up to her rapidly reddening face.

She turned around and clutched the dress even tighter to her chest. "Yeah, yeah... just trying to get my phone back from Ember. What are you doing here?"

"Trying to find my friends. One said she was in here. Guess she left."

"Um, Elsa, introductions please?" I tapped my foot impatiently.

"Oh, Ember, this is Spencer, my dance partner. Spencer, this is my older sister Ember," she presented.

"Pleasure to meet you Ember," Spencer said kindly.

"No, no, the pleasure's mine. Ever since Elsa here told me how good looking her dance partner was, I've wanted to meet you. And she was not wrong," I replied. My sister slapped me on the arm. Spencer grinned but I could tell he didn't believe me.

"I'm sure she didn't say that," he said.

"I think the words were 'handsome' and 'drop dead gorgeous'. Did I miss anything?" I faced my sister inquisitively. If looks could kill, I'd be dead a hundred times over with the way Elsa was staring at me.

"I'm going to kill you when we get home," she growled.

"That's a beautiful dress. What's it for?" Spencer questioned.

"Oh, thank you," Elsa said. "I think it'd be much prettier though if someone zipped it up."

I rolled my eyes but zipped it up for her. "There. Fabulous."

"Thank you." She sighed. "Where's a mirror? I want to see what it looks like."

Elsa walked off a few feet. I watched Spencer's eyes trail her with an unmistakable longing in them. When she turned back around, his eyes immediately became expressionless.

"How do I look?" she asked.

"Wonderful," I said. "I think that's the dress."

"I'm in love with it," Elsa admitted. Her dress was powder blue with a rhinestone embroidered top. At the waist, it cinched in with a fabric belt, and then flowed out. The blue matched her eyes, making them stand out more than usual.

"You're beautiful," Spencer admitted. Elsa blushed and so did he.

"I think I'm going to buy it. And Ember, remind me to never let Hunter pick out my clothes again."

"Deal," I agreed.

"Your brother is here?" Spencer asked.

"Oh, yeah. Speaking of, he's not all fond of me talking to strangers. Not that you're a stranger to me but to him you are and it's just not something you want to get into. You should probably-"

"Who's this?" Hunter demanded, suddenly appearing on the other side of our sister. The rest of our pack was behind him, staring at the new boy suspiciously.

"I'm Spencer, Elsa's dance partner."

"What are you doing in a dress store?"

"Searching for my friend. She said she was here but I guess she's not anymore."

"Then you should leave if she's not here," Hunter pointed out.

"Hunter, be nice. We ran into each other, that's all. Spencer, this is Hunter, my older brother. Hunter, this is Spencer."

"I know who he is," Hunter responded shortly.

"Spencer?" A girl called out. We all peered behind him. She appeared from behind the clothing racks. She flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder. The girl had money. There was no mistaking the Burberry coat and scarf she was wearing. She wore boots that gave her a completely badass vibe. I didn't like it. I wanted to be the only badass looking person in the room... does that sound weird?

She halted when she saw all of us in front of Spencer. She glanced at him before saying, "Are you causing trouble Spence?"

"Who are you?" Hunter inquired.

Elsa stepped in. "This is Carter. She's a friend of Spencer's."

"I didn't ask you Elsa. I asked her," he told her. My sister hung her head. There was a gleam in Carter's eyes when her eyes met Hunter's. It almost appeared as if she was challenging him the way she stood and the way she lifted her head when speaking to him. That would not go over well with my brother.

"My name is Carter. I'm Spencer's friend. We have an event we're going to and we're finding outfits. We got separated," she explained.

"How do you know Elsa?"

"I met her briefly when I was picking up Spencer from dance."

"Bull. You two know each other more than just one conversation. Elsa, is he the reason you've been sneaking out at night?"

"What?" My pack and I said simultaneously.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Elsa said.

"I'm not stupid. You've been sneaking out almost every night, and it's not because you're going to see Anna."

My sister's nostrils flared. "Don't bring her up. Not here."

"Then I'm right? You've been sneaking out to see him?"

"I-"

"You might as well tell him Elsa. He won't give up until he knows," Carter interrupted. Both Spencer and Elsa whipped their heads in her direction.

"What do you mean?" My sister questioned cautiously.

"Yeah, what do you mean?" Spencer chimed in, looking particularly alarmed.

"About you and Spencer. You can't hide it from them forever."

"Are you two friends with benefits or something?" Noah queried.

"No!" Elsa and Spencer declared vehemently.

"Did you two hook up and he's your baby daddy or something?"

"I'm going to kill both you and Ember tonight," Elsa warned.

"We'll just continue our antics up in heaven then," I said.

"At least I won't have to hear anything," she retorted.

"Noah, be quiet," Hunter ordered. "Elsa, tell me what the hell is going on."

When she didn't say anything, Carter did. "You seriously haven't figured it out? They're dating."

"What?!" I and the other pack members exclaimed. Elsa closed her eyes.

"Oh my god it makes so much sense now!" Thea claimed. "You two were pretending to hate each other to throw me and Riley off when in reality you two were dating!"

Spencer's face was tomato red. He kept staring at Elsa desperately. When her gaze met his, an understanding seemed to pass through them. Elsa spoke up. "We started dating about two months ago. No one was supposed to find out, mainly because I knew no one in my family would approve. Yes, we acted like we didn't like each other to throw off any suspicion because I was afraid of Riley and Thea figuring it out and telling it to Hunter who in turn would repeat it to mom and dad."

"Elsa, a word. Now," Hunter growled. He stalked off. Before leaving, Elsa said, "Y'all just have a nice chat. I'll be back. Maybe."

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Elsa

I thought it was impossible for things to get any more awkward between me and Spencer. I was dreadfully wrong. I knew Lily had been trying to cover Caleb and so was I, but to say Spencer and I were dating? This just got to a whole new level of craziness.

Hunter led me to the back of the store, out of ear shot from the pack. He faced me with pure rage on his face. "What the hell Elsa? What the hell were you thinking?!"

"I'm sorry!" I said. "I'm so sorry you had to find out this way!"

"How the hell are we going to explain this to mom and dad?"

"We're not going to tell them! They can't find out!"

"Elsa, he's human! We're not allowed to date them!"

"I know that but god, he's so- so..."

"So what? What makes him so special that you would go against our rules?"

"Because he gets me and-"

"Don't give me that 'he gets me' crap. I don't believe it," my brother growled. "You're lying. Your heart is beating a hundred miles a minute."

I crossed my arms tightly across my chest. I did that whenever I was uncomfortable and this situation certainly was that. "Of course my heart is beating a hundred miles a minutes! I'm frazzled! I didn't expect any of you to find out! And you should believe it. He does get me. He gets what I've been through. Hunter, there are so many things I have never told you or Ember or mom or dad or anyone."

"What things?"

"I-I don't want to talk about it. It's not exactly easy for me to admit."

Hunter placed his hands on my shoulders. "You can tell me anything Elsa, you know that. I may not understand but I'll listen. I promise."

My heart pounded as I took a deep breath. I was trying to figure out the best way to explain what was going on when my mouth blurted out, "I had depression, okay? Twice."

Hunter blinked. "What?"

"I had depression. First when Anna died and then after Caleb left. It was a shorter period when Anna died because I had Caleb to talk to. We shared the same guilt over her death so he got it. When he left, I lost another family member, I lost my closest friend, and that's when the second period hit. I didn't want to eat, I didn't enjoy the things I used to, I was tired all the time... but I forced myself to act normal because I thought all of you had more important things to worry about. Mom started catching on so that's why when she said I had to do some activity, I chose dance. It helped. It distracted me. I'm better now but Spencer, he lost three people really close to him. Don't tell him I told you that, he doesn't like people knowing. He's like me. He puts on a façade and acts like everything is okay when in reality he's broken on the inside. We bonded over being able to relate and it just sort of... went from there."

"No, no, no, never think for a second that any of us have something more important than your health, physical or mental. Oh god Elsa, I wish I knew. I could've helped. I don't know how but I'd figure out a way," Hunter said firmly yet strangely gentle. "You're my baby sister. I don't know how serious your depression got but please, for the love of god, if you ever go through another bout of depression, come to me. I can't lose you too."

I hugged my brother tightly. "It never got to a deadly point if that's what you're wondering. I saw what the death of Anna and the leaving of Caleb did to all of you. I promised myself I would never make any of you feel that way again. I still have too much to live for Hunter. I'm not going anywhere."

Hunter pulled away. "You don't always have to act so strong Elsa. I feel people don't tell you that enough."

"But I do. I'm a Guardian. We're expected to be these big, strong, badass people."

"And you can still be big, strong, and badass while telling people what's going on. You had to be strong in telling me what you just did. I can tell that wasn't easy for you. You've hid that a while. Promise me you'll come to me for anything that's bothering you. I don't care if it's four in the morning. I will get up for you."

"Promise."

Hunter sighed. "Thank you. Now, Elsa, do you know what you're getting into? Dating a human I mean."

"I do. I know he's not going to be around forever. He's just visiting some good friends of his and then he's heading back home. I don't know when that is but he makes me happy. So please just let me have this small bit of happiness while it lasts."

"What about mom and dad?"

"They can't know. They'll kill him, Carter and anyone else associated with him. It has to be kept secret."

"I'll keep it a secret and I'll tell everyone else here to do the same but I can't promise they'll do it. You know they love to gossip."

"You're a freaking alpha, Hunter. You can get them to keep their traps shut. I mean Ember and Noah will be dead by tonight after what they've said so you don't have to worry about them saying anything."

Hunter snorted. "I'll do my best. Let's go back."

"Actually, can you go and send Spencer back? I want to talk to him. Privately. Boyfriend girlfriend talk."

"Sure. I'll talk with everyone about keeping it a secret. I love you Elsa," Hunter said, kissing me on the top of my head.

"I love you too," I replied. The minute he disappeared, I collapsed onto the bench next to me. What had I gotten myself into? This was insane! I ran my hands nervously through my hair.

"Elsa?" Spencer asked hesitantly. I looked up at him. "Are you okay?"

"No, far from it. I'm lying to my family about dating a guy, saying he's human when he's not, and now we have to act like a couple. I've never dated a guy in my life so I don't even know how to act like a girlfriend. Then there's the matter that we've barely spoken to each other and I don't know how in the hell we're going to pull this off and then we have to explain to Caleb what's happening and I know for a fact he's not going to be happy about this and-"

"Elsa," Spencer said, placing his hands on my arms as he knelt in front of me. "We'll figure it out. We have to. We won't have to act like a couple around Lily and Caleb because they'll know the truth. We can go back to our original arrangement where we make awkward small talk and then go about our business whenever they're around. We only have to act like a couple in front of your family. How often does your family see us together? Hardly ever. We won't have to pretend much. Focus on that part of this situation okay? You won't have to deal with me too much."

"I needed to hear that. Thank you. Okay, I told Hunter the reason we bonded was because we both experienced the same thing. Before you get mad, I had to tell him the truth about what both of us went through so he'd really understand. I didn't go into detail about your situation, just mine. That's for you and only you to tell. He's going to keep quiet about it and he's going to tell the others to be quiet about our 'relationship' as well. If my parents found out, they'd kill you, Lily, and Caleb and there's no way in hell I'm letting that happen."

Spencer nodded. "I understand. Now what do you say we head back before they think we're up to something we're not?"

I smiled. "Trust me, Ember has already thought of it."

Spencer held out his hand for me. I took it and we went back to my pack. Lily was talking to Ember. The former was in alpha mode. I could tell she and Hunter did not like each other right now. That's what happened when alphas who didn't know each other got together.

"There you two are. What were you two doing?" Ember asked, a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Nothing you're thinking of," I snapped.

"Spencer, I hate to drag you away from your girlfriend, but we have to go. Elsa, I'll see you soon, I'm sure. Laroche pack, it was nice to meet you," Lily, or Carter, said.

"What did you call us?" Hunter stared at her.

"The Laroche pack. You act like a pack of wolves. And if you were, you'd definitely be an alpha."

"Oh yeah? What gave that away?"

"You're an ass. I'd be an alpha too because I'm an ass as well. So is my boyfriend. How Spencer puts up with us I have no idea. We'll see each other again." Lily gave me a hug. Spencer kissed me on the cheek before he left with his alpha.

"The girls and I are going to go take off our dresses. I think we all know which ones we're getting," Ember said. Laurel, Akira, Thea, and Josilyn hurried to their dressing rooms. Ember walked slowly back with me.

"Are you two really dating? Because I can't believe he just left you with only a kiss on the cheek," my sister remarked. "Surely you two have been itching to stop hiding it from all of us and sneaking around to see each other."

"That's my doing. I'm not comfortable showing affection in public. I'm not like you, Ember. That was one of the things we were talking about just now," I lied. Well, it was only a partial lie. The first two parts of that sentence were true. The last part, not so much.

"There's no problem showing affection in public just as long as it's not overdone. Come on, let's buy these dresses and get out of here. I don't know about you but I'm exhausted." I agreed whole-heartedly. The two of us switched back into our regular clothes. Hunter took our dresses and purchased them all for us. I fell asleep in the car on the way back home. After all that had happened in the past thirty minutes, I needed a rest.

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How do y'all think this whole lying about dating thing is going to go for Elsa and Spencer? Let me know in reviews :)