I spent most of the day before the party doing my hair. Curly hair is very hard to style unless you want it in kinky curls. Normally I wouldn't bother. I'm fine with leaving my hair naturally unruly and curly. Knowing that hundreds of people were going to be looking at me tonight though, had me wanting to look my best. So, I spent about an hour straightening my hair and working out the kinks only to recurl it into long, spiral curls.

Next came makeup. I really didn't care much for make up and was terrible at applying it, so I just stuck with the basics: a light layer of foundation, a bit of mascara and eyeliner, and finally a very small amount of lipgloss. 

Finally, I had to decide what to wear. There really wasn't much for me to pick from, as most of the time I wore skinny jeans and a casual t-shirt or sweater. I figured that jeans wouldn't cut it for a ball, though, so instead I put on an empire waisted sleeveless dress with a knee length skirt that flared out a bit. It showed a little more cleavage than I was comfortable with, but I could handle it because I loved the dress so much. The color was similar to maroon but a little more red and somehow made the red highlights that naturally graced my hair stand out. I had bought the dress because it reminded me of a dress I had seen my mom wearing in an old picture. Of course, she looked spectacular in it and I could never hope to look half as good as she did in it, but the dress comforted me because it reminded me of her.

On my feet I wore a pair of old, beat up black converse. This wasn't a fashion statement, even though I really did love my converse. I just couldn't risk wearing heels or flats. I gave up wearing anything other than sneakers years ago after tripping and face planting one too many times. Hell, even in my sneakers I manage to trip over myself, just a bit less often.

And now all there was to do was wait. I still had about half an hour until my dad wanted me downstairs, so I had a chance to mentally prepare myself. Just relax, I told myself. Imagine that you're a carefree confident girl and you'll come across that way. Smile at everyone and make them feel welcome. Maybe you'll even have some fun yourself!

My time ran out too soon, though, and I forced myself to walk down the stairs with a smile on my face. My dad was waiting at the bottom dressed handsomely in suit and tie. When I reached him, he offered me a soft smile and held out his elbow for me to take. I held on to him as he walked me out the door and towards the pack gym. Even though it was where the warriors of our pack practiced combat, it was the only place on our territory big enough to hold an event like this.

"You look absolutely beautiful, McKayla. Just like your mother. She would be so proud of you. You've become such a wonderful, strong, caring woman. I just can't believe my baby is so grown up," my dad whispered as we neared the gym. I looked up and was surprised to see that his eyes were watering. I hadn't seen my dad cry since the night that mom died, and it was a little bit disarming to see him so close to tears now. 

"I love you so much, daddy! I'm so lucky to have you as a parent. If I am a good person, it's only because you raised me to be that way. Thank you for everything that you've done for me!" I exclaimed, looking him in the eyes and hoping he understood just how much he meant to me. A moment later, he reached down and lifted me off the ground in a bone crushing bear hug, making me laugh.

"I love you too baby girl. So much that you could never know. I never would have survived your mother's death without you. You have so much of her in you and I'm just so grateful that you let her live on in you. Now I want you to have a great time tonight. It's all for you," he said, then set me down with a chuckle. "Sorry if I messed up your hair or dress. Come on, let's go in."

Smiling, I took his elbow again and followed him into the gym. Then, I stopped dead in my tracks. I looked around the gym wide eyed, then turned back to my dad who was wearing a very proud look. "Oh my god, I don't even recognize this place. This is incredible!" I exclaimed. Dad must have been planning this for months. Somehow he managed to make our stinky gym look like a real, very fancy ballroom. There were even chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. All of our pack was already in the room, as well as some members from the back immediately north of ours. "I can't believe you did this. Thank you again!"

He chuckled, then said, "Go find your friends and have some appetizers. The rest of the packs should be arriving soon, so we can wait to greet the guests. Go have some fun." And with that, I took off into the crowd in search of my best friends Sarah and Ashton. I had been friends with Ashton since the third grade when he pantsed me at recess and I retaliated by throwing mud in his face. Sarah joined our pack in middle school and we instantly bonded over our obsession with books. Our trio was inseparable and spent every spare moment we had hanging out. I continued looking for them in the crowd, but they found me first.

A small person jumped on my back and I immediately knew that it was Sarah when she screamed, "Oh my god, this is insane! I can't believe your dad did this! Ive never been to a party like this before. You're so lucky McKayla! And god, how do you look even more gorgeous than usual? Your boobs look incredible! It's so not fair, why did you get blessed with all the assets and I got none?" I rolled my eyes. Her boobs were not much smaller than mine. She was a solid B cup while I was between a C and D cup. Besides, her boobs looked right on her and I looked like I had gotten implants.

"Yeah, Mickey, you look great," Ashton said and I groaned when he used my hated nickname. Never let your friends know that you know the entire Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song as a 16 year old or you will never live it down (especially if your name kind of resembles Mickey). Or better yet, don't spend so much time hanging around little kids that you get the theme songs to all of their cartoons stuck in your head and can't stop singing them. I only do it because socializing with kids is so much less traumatizing than socializing with people your own age.

"Thanks you guys! Now, can we please get some food? I'm starved!" I had been too nervous all day to eat and was sure that if I tried, I would immediately throw it back up. They both agreed and brought me over to where the appetizers were laid out while Ashton told me which ones were the best and which were only ok. I laughed while I listened. Of course he would find the food before he did anything else. That boy cannot go two minutes without eating something.

For the next 20 minutes we stuffed our faces with food while goofing around and pretending to be upper class socialites attending a gala or something stupid like that. 

Guests from other packs continued to stream in as we continued to eat. After a while, dad came to find me and we went around the room, greeting everyone and talking to the important members of each pack. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, but that may have had something to do with the champagne that I slipped. It wasn't like I was drunk, I just had a little to calm my nerves.

Everyone was very friendly and a few of the alphas from other packs complimented dad on raising such a wonderfully sweet girl. I was redder than a tomato by the time we had talked to everyone.

"There is just one more pack that hasn't arrived yet, so we will have to make sure to talk to them once they get here. Their territory is much farther than the others, so only the alpha, his sister, and the beta will be coming. Until then go have some fun," dad said then walked off to talk business with one of the alphas.

Cake was served soon, and after I danced with Sarah. Of course Ashton wouldn't be caught dead on the dance floor and refused. I was nervous and reluctant at first, especially after Sarah told me how many people were watching me.

"Relax," she chided, "They're all looking at you in a good way. The girls want to be you and all the boys want to be with you. You look gorgeous tonight. Let's just let loose a little and have fun." I rolled my eyes. Sarah was mistaking a large chest size for beauty. I don't think she realized just how pretty she actually was with her long legs, platinum blonde hair, and pixie like features.

I took a few more sips of the champagne and tried my best to chill out. The alcohol helped a bit, and so did this amazing smell that filled the air. It was very woodsy and masculine, calming my nerves and making me feel safe while simultaneously exciting my wolf.

 Pretty soon I was actually enjoying myself, twirling around and giggling with Sarah. I loved the feeling of my skirt rising and flowing around me as I spun. Sarah kept making funny faces at me which caused me to burst out laughing.

After dancing to a couple of songs, a slower one came on and Jared came up and asked, "Hey, Kayla. Can I have a dance?" I smiled up at him and nodded. 

I took his outstretched hand and he pulled me in a loose embrace. We swayed slowly to the music while he started making jokes about the other packs. I couldn't stop laughing after he said something about a bunch of dogs being forced to wear suits. I was just about to respond when I was suddenly ripped from his embrace. 

Confused, I turned to find out who had interrupted us. Before me stood the most handsome man that I had ever seen. 

He was very tall, like maybe 6'5, and all muscle. Not the over the top body builder kind, but enough to know that you didn't want to mess with him. He had a very handsomely defined face, the most prominent feature being his defined jawline that screamed masculinity. His bright green eyes stood in contrast to his dark brown, almost black hair that was a little overgrown and tousled in slight waves.

The longer I stared at him, the more ecstatic my wolf grew. His scent called to her and tingles sprouted through my body from where he still held my arm. I was beginning to come to a realization when he finally spoke.

"Mine," he growled, causing my eyes to widen and my wolf to howl within me in pleasure. 

I was dazed and still a bit confused, but my wolf pushed me to say, "Mate." And with that he growled again and buried his face in my neck.