It has been almost a week since the incident at my hideout.  I have carefully avoided Magnus as I am just not sure what is going on inside of me.  Tomorrow we both turn eighteen and there will be this huge celebration for him throughout our land and other packs have been invited to attend as well.  It will be quite full of wolves so I thank the Goddess that I live on the edge of  the packlands.  Hell, even I received an invitation but there is no way in the world I am attending.  

After spending some time with my Nan, I plan to have my own celebration in my almost secret hideout!  I don't think I can handle being around a bunch of wolves and still feel completely alone.  Crazy, I know but that is what happens.  Some may ridicule me, be mean and some ignore me completely as if I don't even exist but they never lay hands upon me.  That is not to say they they don't want to.  I am sure that if they were allowed, they would attempt to beat me just for being ...me.  With the profecy, the Goddess made sure that anyone who was perceived as weak was never brought to any harm.  Not like it matters because I have a feeling that if someone were to threaten me, my wolf would annihilate them anyway.  But as we all know, sometime words can hurt more than physical blows.

I do not want to spend my birthday dealing with that kind of crap so I have decided to be alone.  That is not the only reason I want to hide though.  Thoughts of Magnus have consumed me to near madness these past few days and I just feel that if I come into contact with him, I will loose my very soul.

I am unable to comprehend what is happening to me and because it is so hard to control these feelings for him, I am scared.  There is also something else going on.  My gifts are becoming enhanced and there are more things that I can do now and it takes everything inside of me just to make myself appear normal.

I look up as I hear my wonderful Nan coming into the livingroom of our small home with a small cake she has baked just for me.  It is of the darkest chocolate and the sweetest strawberry icing and my mouth just waters at the smells.  She smiles so proudly at me as she places the cake, my absolute favorite, down on the coffee table and lights up the one and eight number candles she has on my cake.  

My Nan is the most beautiful creature to ever grace this earth.  She is so kind to one and all that if someone were to try and be mean to her, the world would weep.  Our current alpha does not tolerate anyone even looking at here wrong so when she is among the pack, you could hear a pin drop.  However, that does not stop them from treating me badly.  I do notice that they don't do it in front of our alpha.  As long as she is treated kindly, I don't care about myself.

She sits down next to me and her tiny little body attempts to wrap around mine in a loving hug and she says, "My sweetness, make a wish and blow out the candles but take care dear.  A wish on your eighteenth birthday can be a special one that may come true."  I kiss her on her cheek and look into the eyes that are the same as mine, a trait that my mother shared as well, "Thank you so much for this Nan.  Thank you for reminding me that I am important at least in your heart!"

I turn towards my cake and close my eyes, make my wish and blow out my candles.  I am sure you can imagine what I wished for!  My Nan removes the candles, which I feel compelled to lick clean, and proceed to cut us each a nice huge chunk of cake and I tear into mine like a ravenous beast.  Hey, don't laugh because my Nan is the best baker in the world!

Then I see my Nan pull a small rectangular box from behind her and place it on the coffee table in front of me.  "Nan, you didn't have to get me anything you know that."  But I become a bit emotional as I reach for the gift.  You see Nan and I really don't have much and we make do with what we have and I do my part not to be much of a financial burden on her but she looks over at me and says, "Just open it sweetness."

So I unwrap my present and open the box and the tears start to fall down my face.  Inside is my mom's locket.  This locket has been in our family for many generations and she wore it till the day she died.  I notice that it has been shined to almost new like quality and that there is a new chain on it.  It is made of titanium at a time when no one knew what that metal even was.  That is how old it is.

"Finis, I did not spend much so please don't worry.  All I did was get a new chain for it to fit around your neck and have it cleaned up real nice.  Now that you are eighteen I thought it was time to hand it down to you my darling boy.  I put a picture of your parents on one side and a picture of me on the other.  Do you like it?", she asks in a soft voice and I nearly knock the cake to the floor as I throw myself at her and hug her with all my heart.  "Nan I love this so much.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  I will never take it off. "

We both stand and she takes the chain from my hands and I bow my head so that she may put it around my neck.  Then she gives me a smile that is so bright it makes me forget about my woes at that moment.  "You know Finis, your parents would have been so proud of you the way I am."  I say, "But Nan, I have not really done anything so special as to warrent this pride."  "But you have sweetness.  I know that life has not been easy for you but you bear it with such grace that I know that you can handle anything that comes your way."

More tears fall down my face and I again hug this woman whose heart is so big it's a wonder that it fits inside of her tiny body.  I mumble my love and thanks again and we get ourselves together and begin to have our little celebration of the day I was born.  I open up my locket and gaze upon the people that mean most to me, my family!