Liam

Liam couldn't believe that Nia had actually showed up, he hadn't seen her in months. Though he knew that it was mostly his fault, but at the same time they could've stayed friends if she didn't become so obsessive and lie about being Thomas's mate. That was so weird of her. But now she was here at his party so he might as well thank her for the gift. Thomas and Enesta were right behind him, so eager to see Nia, especially Thomas. Although Liam didn't know why...

"I don't know why she had to show up with Kane though, you think he'd know that I wouldn't want him here. I guess I'll have to give him the memo." Liam smirked at the thought of pushing Kane around for a bit, all Liam could think about is how that would be  hilarious to see.

Enesta glared at him as they walked through the hallway, not in the mood for Liam's bullshit. "Don't ruin this for us. If you embarrass Kane she may end up leaving the party. And besides, why can't you be nice to him for once in your life?"

Liam shrugged off her question, only listening to her warning. "Being nice to Kane is physically impossible for me. I don't think there's a single bone in my body that can tolerate him."

"Dude, you don't have to tolerate him, just don't be a jackass. It's that simple." Thomas gave him a reproachful look that reminded Liam of a tired mother.

Liam sighed and shook his head. "I can't do it. It's just not possible, I don't know what to tell you." The trio neared the stairs and Liam gestured for them to go first, the looks that his friends were giving him signified that they probably were going to push him down the stairs.

They quickly walked down the stairs, their ears becoming increasingly sensitive to the music the further they went down the stairs. "I swear this wasn't the music we picked. Some idiot probably hijacked the Bluetooth speakers." Enesta shook her head, dissatisfied with her peers music taste as she jumped down the last five steps, as eager as possible to see Nia.

Liam looked at her weirdly as he and Thomas walked down the remaining stairs. "The music is good though."

Thomas snorted, "This music is trash, you can't even understand what they're saying."

"You don't need to know what they're saying as long as the beat sounds good."

"You have no taste, at all." Enesta said as they walked close behind her.

They stepped into the huge living room to see hundreds of his classmates having the time of their lives, getting so drunk that most them will have migraines that would last days. The trio walked into the crowd to see a bunch of people stare at them and yell in their direction. On the other side of the room Liam saw Nia and Kane talking as they sat down on a couch, trying not to draw too much attention to themselves. Their attempt was about to be futile because the trio of popular kids started in their direction, ignoring the people gawking at them.

"The man of the hour has arrived!" Liam saw one guy hop off of a table and wave at him, obviously drunk enough to think that Liam would pay attention to him. The random guy was wrong, all Liam did was roll his eyes and keep walking. People kept on swarming Liam and his friends, making them use all of their willpower to not shove them away.

Thomas sighed and walked through the crowd, ignoring the drunk yelling and the occasional person saying happy birthday to his friend. He always hated big parties like this, it had been even worse when it was his birthday.

By the time he reached the pair Liam could tell that Kane had noticed him but Nia had not. Kane turned his head to look specifically at Liam, his expression going from one of mirth to one of disgust. Kane's facial expression then led Liam to become a bit more self-conscious, wanting to see a kinder expression on Kane's face directed towards him. Suddenly Liam didn't like the fact that Kane didn't like him and he didn't know why.

But instead of trying to understand it, Liam shrugged off the weird feeling and looked away from Kane to look at Nia. The crowd around the group quickly became silent, the only thing stopping the situation from becoming awkward was the loud music that was still playing in the background.

"Hey Nia, it's been a while, hasn't it? Thank you for the gift. I truly appreciate it." He smiled at Nia, trying not to become angry as Kane muttered something rude under his breath. Nia looked away from Kane to give Liam a nervous smile. It was clear she didn't think he would personally thank her for the gift and because of that she had just been put on the spot in front of the whole party. Whoops.

Enesta just laughed at Kane's remark, finding the insult funny. Thomas just stood there looking at Nia, who for some reason did not want to even look in his direction.

"You're welcome, Liam. Did you open it already or are you actually going to wait until your actual birthday? You're usually so impatient." She awkwardly cracked a joke, trying to release some of the tension in the room but the trio of friends were the only ones who felt comfortable laughing, while everyone else except for Kane just drunkenly stared at Nia.

"Nah, he's probably promised himself he wouldn't open it until tomorrow but the least he can do is say thank you." Enesta smiled at Nia and Kane couldn't help but shift awkwardly. Almost everyone in the crowd was starring at them now.

"You're welcome. Happy Birthday, Liam." Liam nodded and gave Nia a small little wave. Liam and Enesta started walking away and only then did Thomas snap out of his daze to see Nia finally looking at him.

"Enjoy the party, Nia."

Nia nodded and looked away from Thomas's piercing gaze. "Thank you." Thomas shoved his hands in pockets and them followed his back into the crowd that parted to make way for
them. Some of the crowd still stared at Nia and Kane, surprised that three of the most important people in the pack would even acknowledge her presence.

Once Liam and his friends reached the center of the room completely full of rambunctious teenagers had started to dance again while Kane and Nia sat still whispering to each other as they surveyed the room.

Before Liam could say anything Sam and Hyejin pushed through the crowd with drinks in their hands. Hyejin spared a glance in the direction where Nia and Kane were sitting, trying not to laugh at how awkward that exchange was. All while they both started handing out the drinks to his friends.

"How did your conversation with Nia go?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Terrible, it went terrible." Enesta and Thomas said that at the same time, while Liam shrugged, not really caring since he now had alcohol in his hand. "Eh, it was kind of boring to me. Oh well, it is what it is."

Sam laughed and cupped his hands together to yell to the hyped up crowd. "It's ten minutes till midnight!"

The crowd screamed back, intoxicated and excited to see what would happen next. Hyejin laughed, already downing her drink. The music after that became louder and the party formed a mosh pit around Liam and his friends, excited from the music and the alcohol. Thomas just ran a hand through his hair, trying to vibe to the music while Enesta wrapped an arm around Hyejin and took a swig of her drink. Sam swung an arm around Thomas and Liam, trying to talk to them in spite of the music.

"In a few minutes you'll be a taken man Liam. How you gonna handle that?" Liam rolled his eyes at Sam, who was asking the obvious.

"Well one, I'm gonna sleep with them first. And then we'll see after that, maybe I'll mark them afterward. It depends on my mood." Sam laughed as Thomas just sighed and started drinking, tired Liam's antics. Hyejin and Enesta were now giggling as they danced, becoming less sober by the minute. Liam was also becoming inebriated to the point where he didn't notice Hyejin give Sam a pointed look at Nia and Kane sneaking off, confirming her earlier suspicions about them.

Kane

Kane eyed the mosh pit full of drunk teenagers from the couch he was sitting on, from there he could see the bright lights of cell phones recording as strobe lights flashed around the dark room. Kane's ears were practically bleeding from how loud the music was. How were other werewolves handling it? In an ideal situation he could be having fun, but majority of the people in the room hated his guts. And he hated theirs.

"Kane, you in there?" Nia tapped Kane's shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts. He looked at her sheepishly. "Sorry, I was just thinking about how tiring this party is."

She laughed and stood up from the couch. "It's fine, and we'll be gone in about thirty minutes if everything goes right." Nia looked around the room, giving everyone an over-exaggerated conspiratorial glance. "Lets go before anyone notices we're gone."

Kane snorted and looked around at the people who were no longer glaring at them, they were all just jumping around or dancing around to the music. "I doubt they'd notice with how much... fun they're having." Kane trailed off, barely being able to comprehend how someone could actually have fun with these people.

Most of them were dancing without even having a coherent rhythm. Then all of a sudden he heard someone shout and then everyone screamed, excited by what the person said. Kane got up and winced, fighting the urge to cover his ears. His acute sense of hearing was just too sensitive for this, he almost wished he could turn it off in situations like this.

Nia gave him a look of sympathy when she saw his expression. "They all sound like monkeys don't they? I don't know what's wrong with them. I think they're suffering brain damage from the amount of alcohol they consumed." Kane laughed, letting Nia lead out of the room and in the hallway.

"They sound even worse than that. It wasn't bad until they started screaming like the building was on fire. I can't wait to witness those idiots hungover tomorrow." Kane rubbed his ears trying push away the migraine that was about to form. There was no one in the hallway, luckily. Most people had congregated into the living room once Liam had come downstairs.

Nia stopped at the base of the stairs that led to upstairs to give Kane an excited look. "Now, that everyone is occupied, let's go get the book. We'll be gone before anyone even suspects it." Nia flashed him a mischievous smile that would usually make him extremely nervous but in this case he knew exactly why she was smiling so it was only marginally worrying instead.

"That look on your face is just too scary. Now come on, let's go to the West Wing and get me in trouble with the Alpha again." Kane and Nia started walking up the stairs hurriedly,  immediately turning a corner once they were on the second floor.

"Are you actually gonna get in trouble if we sneak in?" Nia gave him a hesitant look, almost as if she was starting to regret asking him to help her with this. She didn't want him to get in trouble because of her eagerness.

Kane smirked at the thought of Nia being worried that he could get in trouble. Even though everyone in this pack hates Kane, he's still untouchable. "No, I definitely wouldn't get in trouble for this, if anything I could make up an excuse and they'd have to let me off. I have security clearance to all of these places in the pack. It's necessary for the missions I have to do."

Nia sent an impressed look his way as they climbed another set of stairs, this time near a farther part of the hallway, "You sound like a FBI agent."

Kane laughed, "If anything, I have a higher position than those guys. And I'm way more useful."

Nia laughed and shoved his shoulder, "Ooh aren't you humble."

Kane chuckled, wrapping an arm around her. "Extremely, it's one of my defining characteristics actually. I can't help but be so self-effacing."

Nia was about to laugh again but then she saw something out of the corner of her eye. There were security cameras in this area of the hallway, probably because of how close they were to the restricted areas.

Nia automatically pulled Kane towards the wall under the camera so they wouldn't be in its line of sight. Then she turned to Kane who was looking at her, extremely bewildered.

"Why are we pressed up against the wall, are we pretending to be spies or something?" He laughed before Nia shushed him by putting a finger to his mouth hurriedly. She pulled him close and whispered in his ear frantically.

"You didn't mention the fact that there were security cameras. What are we supposed to do now?" Nia stopped the urge to tug on her hair as Kane looked up, he laughed again when he realized there was a security camera right above them. "Ohh, I forgot that they have those. My bad."

Nia stifled the urge to laugh and just smiled at Kane's surprised expression. "Are there anymore down this hallway? Or is this the only one?"

"This is definitely not the only one. There's even more but it's fine, like I said before I can make up an excuse. Or I can destroy the cameras if you want." He leaned down and pulled a knife out of his boot, waving it around like toy.

"Kane, put that back. Someone could see!" Nia stood up from her crouch to look around the corner. He laughed and put it back in the sheath concealed in his boot. "So I'm guessing that's a no?"

Nia rolled her eyes at his antics, "Yes, that's a no. All of a sudden you're so excited, are you really that eager to destroy security cameras?" Nia started walking again, trying not to stare at the cameras while Kane mulled the question over while walking next to her.

Kane sighed in disappointment, but she was right. They shouldn't take needless risks. "I can't really explain it but I feel like something is gonna happen tonight. I've been feeling jittery all night but the feeling just got worse."

Nia wrapped an arm around his shoulder, trying to soothe Kane's nerves. "Don't worry Kane, nothing is going to happen except us getting that spellbook and going home. As long I'm here I'll make sure nothing happens."

Kane nodded, feeling a bit better, even if the bad feeling in his stomach didn't completely leave. "Okay, thanks."

She smiled at him and sped up her pace, trying to get down the open hallway as fast as possible. They both turned another corner to a more secluded part of the area. There were way more security cameras in this area, it was obviously a warning to anyone that didn't have the jurisdiction that they shouldn't be there.

Kane pulled his identification card out of his pocket and waved to one of the cameras. Nia just sighed as Kane walked up to the double doors and put his ID onto the scanner. Then he entered a complicated code into the electronic lock. And lastly he scanned his fingerprint only to hear a small clicking sound, signifying that the door was now unlocked.

"Ive always wondered why are they so excessive? What could they possibly be protecting this part of the pack from?" Nia stared at all of the security measures installed on the doors, surprised by how thorough it is. All while Kane just laughed and pushed open the door and they both walked through, closing it behind them. It automatically locked as soon as it closed.

"It may seem excessive but it's absolutely necessary, this part of the house holds most of the information, along with all of the files. Not to mention this leads to the floors where the leader's families have been sleeping for the past few months, ever since they were attacked a year ago. Security is important."

Nia gave him an impressed glance when she looked at him. "You take this seriously don't you?" And Kane just shrugged, "It's my job."

She nodded, her admiration for him growing even more. "Okay, now we're heading to the archives. That's the place where I had found the spellbook last time." Kane sent an amused look her way, suddenly curious about something. "How the hell did you end up in the archives anyway? Even most of the time I don't even go there."

Nia sighed and shook her head at the memory. "I was hanging out with Thomas in secret and afterwards he had tried to sneak me out the back way, but he ended up hearing his father coming out of the meeting room from far away so he just shoved me into the first place he could find. And it just so happened to be the archives. It was dusty as hell too. I was sneezing for a week afterwards."

Kane laughed as Nia wrinkled her nose at the memory obviously not finding it nearly as funny. But she did shed a tiny smile when she thought about how Thomas had made it up to her afterwards, that was until she remembered that a few weeks after that they broke up. Then her tiny smile quickly disappeared.

Kane sensed how her mood had change and he immediately changed the subject. He bumped her shoulder as they walked, trying to get her from spiraling into her depressing thoughts. "Hey, after we get the book we should leave and go get pizza or something. I'll pay even. The food at this party sucks ass. The only thing worth my time here was the alcohol." Nia looked up at him and laughed, "Yeah, we're definitely getting pizza after this to celebrate." Kane let out an infernal sigh of relief that it worked, he hated seeing her sad about Thomas.

Then all of a sudden, Kane stopped in his tracks and listened to a distinct sound he had heard. Kane heard people faintly talking. From the sound of it he could tell that they weren't that close. They still hadn't reached the doors that led to this part of the pack house.

"Ah shit." He whispered under his Kane tried to ignore the music he heard in the background and tried to focus on the voices. But the loud music made them too faint. Usually he would've been able to hear them sooner but the noise from the party had interfered.

"Kane, what's wrong?" Nia looked concerned as he grabbed her hand and started pulling her down the hallway towards the archives.

"There are people that I think may be following us. I don't know why and I don't really care but they can't catch us here." He rounded corner after corner until he came across the archives, hidden in a corner where the security cameras couldn't see as much. He scanned his fingerprint and typed in the passcode for her to go in. Then he started walking back down the hallway.

"How do you know? There's no one even around us."

"They're not close yet but they will be soon. I can hear their conversation."

Nia turned around confused, a few seconds ago everything had been fine and now everything seems to be spiraling out of control. "Kane where are you going?"

"I'm going to go see if I can throw them off. You go and find what we came here for. I'll be back soon."

Nia gave him a worried glance not wanting him to leave. "Are you sure?"

"Don't worry we'll be fine!" Then he started down the hallway, sticking to the corner where he wouldn't be as visible to the security cameras. He almost laughed when he thought about how he would have to explain this to the Alpha tomorrow. He'd probably have to wake up early and delete the footage.

"I'm becoming too reckless." He muttered to himself as he started down the hallway, that weird feeling in his stomach returning.

End.

This is the first part of the party chapter. Sorry that the ended was rushed. I'll probably go back and edit it a bit. I think there may be two to three or even four more after this. I always end up over writing but I'm gonna try my best to not go over one or two! I wouldn't want to overstretch this part of the story out. After all of this the book will actually get more interesting. But it's not like anyone is reading anyway so it's not that big of a deal!

See ya later!
T.J