Mac

It was the big day! My baby is now 18 years old. I probably would have been a little more emotional over that fact if we all haven't been walking on eggshells for the past 3 days. Charlie's mood swings were getting out of control. We all could see she was barely holding on to the control she had on her magic. But I think that had a lot to do with the elder that Kain had sent the evening I spoke to him.

Saffron. What can I say about Saffron? Oh I got it! He's a miserable old goat that really really doesn't like me but seems to enjoy Charlie's company. Which was a good thing, I guess. I swear he was imagining my death every time I caught him looking at me in a trance. Creepy fuckn' fae bastard is what he was. But like I said he seems to enjoy Charlie's company most of the time. Well that was until she pissed him off. Those times I found amusing. He does not. Huh...maybe that was why I kept on getting the death glares?

"Happy Birthday!" The dining hall shouted out as I sat in my own little world.

When I looked up I let out a breath of relief. Charlie walked in and actually had a smile on her face. Shit, it has been days since I saw that beautiful smile. She walked tall and proud to our end of the table. I did tense up a little when Tony stood up and stopped her. I still found it incredible that my boys stood almost a foot taller than her and they still haven't stopped growing yet. I heard a soft birthday wish come from Tony as he gave her a hug. Good he wasn't going to be his annoying self. Relaxing a bit, I took my eyes off them to look at Thomas as he stood as well. I didn't see what happened but I felt Corey's hand tighten on my leg, that had been resting there since we sat down to eat breakfast. I heard Tony's laughter right before a deep aggressive growl.

The dining hall went deathly quiet as I swung my head from Corey, since I ended up looking at him in question when he squeezed my thigh, to my children. Charlie's hair was a mess, Thomas was still in the same spot from when he stood by his chair and a very shocked Tony was around 5 feet back from Charlie. The growling...well that was coming from my girl. I probably would have been jumping for joy since she was about to shift for her first time, but between the anger that was pouring off her and the way her eyes continued to change from her bright blue eyes she got from me to a deep...red. It was off putting to say at the very least.

It had been years since I had been frozen with shock. It wasn't the growl or the anger that made me still. It was her eyes. Maybe not her eyes but her wolf's eyes. Red eyes. Thank the gods my amazing mate seemed to still have his senses. It was his movements that snapped me back to my surroundings. The others in the dining hall were already slowly and quietly leaving.

"Hey Sweetheart." Corey's soft but demanding voice rang out. A small smile on his lips as he gave Charlie his full attention. Once she looked at him he continued. "I have some good news and a little bit of bad news for you." Bad news! Really, Corey! Sure let's tell our crazed teen who is about to shift that there is bad news. What the fuck is wrong with him? That seemed to get her full attention since her growling had stopped as she stared back at him. "Good news first. You're getting your wolf! That is exciting isn't it?" The man sounded way too cheerful for this environment. "Now, the bad news. It's going to hurt and we need to get you outside because if you scratch these floors with your claws your mother is going to beat your ass and mine." And I still get blamed for something! Seriously, Corey! Like. What. The. Fuck!

Of course his daddy charm worked once again. She visibly relaxed right before her eyes widened. "Wolf? Shift? I...I...my wolf!" Charlie stammered then finally screamed in joy. Then fear replaced all the joy in her face as a groan left her lips. "Daddy. Help." The words left her lips as her legs gave out. Her first shift was starting and there was not a goddamn thing I could do about it.

That seemed to get the rest of us left in the room moving our asses. Thomas was the one that caught her right before her knees made contact with the hardwood floor. A split second later Corey had her in his arms and moved quickly towards the door. Tony had grabbed my hand and was pulling me along with him to meet up with Thomas. It was all happening so quickly that it felt like my brain was still back in the dining room watching her eyes changing to red. Damn, I can't get that out of my head. What the fuck does red mean? It sure the hell wasn't a wolf colour.

By the time we made it to the middle of the back yard I could tell she was trying to hold back her screams. Corey had just laid her gently on the grass while speaking soft words of encouragement. It was when I saw her tear covered face I finally completely snapped out of my trance. Oh later I will be so disgusted with myself with how I totally zoned out instead of getting my shit together quicker. Now it was time for me to be there for my baby girl!

Dropping to my knees, I laid down facing her. Leaving a foot in between us. I didn't want to touch her anywhere since I remembered my first shift and that hurt like a bitch. "You got this baby girl. Keep breathing and let your wolf lead you. Don't fight it." I wasn't sure if she was hearing me but I kept on repeating words of encouragement. That was really all I could do.

Thirty minutes. I had to stay like that for thirty minutes watching my daughter suffer and still she hasn't been able to fully shift. She had come close 3 times but each time it stopped and went in reverse. Ending back into her human form. I wanted to scream and tell someone to help her but I couldn't. By the look on Corey's face I knew he didn't know what was happening either and by flipping my shit would only make matters worse. My boys both shifted at 15 years old and their first shift barely took 10 minutes. We assumed it had to do with the Alpha blood in them. So I didn't know why it wasn't helping Charlie. It must have something to do with her magic, that was the only thing I could think of.

Unfortunately one of my less then stealer qualities was when I felt out of control I got angry and that wasn't going to change now. "Dammit Charlie! You listen to me and listen to me good!" Will I feel like a complete bag of shit later for yelling at my daughter during her difficult shift later on? Absolutely. But there are things that just had to be done and I had no other ideas. "Look at me! That's it. Now you are going to let your wolf control your shift right now. Stop being a stubborn little brat and stop fighting it!" Oh god I am the worst mother ever. I am going to burn in hell for this.

The anger in her blue eyes was clear. She was telling me to go fuck myself. That was ok as long as she did what she was told. In the next blink, red eyes stared back at me and I swear I saw her nod her head right as her shift started to speed up. I could already tell this time was different. It was smoother.

Barely a few minutes later there lay my beautiful daughter's wolf. She was exhausted and breathing a little heavier, as to be expected after a difficult shift but overall looked fine. Well more than fine. Her wolf was gorgeous. Thick black fur laid flat against her body but if you moved a certain way you could see hints of red in her fur. We all stayed still and quiet not wanting to disturb her. We knew she was awake but just resting her eyes and gaining some strength before she would make it up to her four feet. She was taking a bit longer than usual but then again her shift wasn't usual so none of us were worried as of yet.

"My Little Queen." Kain's soft voice disrupted the quiet. As if a gun shot just went off Charlie's eyes opened and she was up on four feet.

I wasn't the only one caught off guard by this as the others took a couple steps back. Corey moved so quickly I didn't register that I was off the ground and in his arms before she was steady. The stare off between her and Kain had my stomach flip. The tightening of Corey's arms around me had me wondering if he might have been thinking the same thing. Even when she hunkered down, baring teeth while letting out a menacing growl, all towards Kain. This was not going to end well and if my gut was right things were about to get really bad. Even if it may finally give us some answers.

"Is that how you are going to greet me after 2 years?" Kain's voice tried to hold on to the humor but I knew this man and there was more to his voice. There was an unknown feeling behind it. He was just trying his best to hide it. Her increased growling was her answer. Oh yeah she was pissed and Kain knew it as well. "Come on, love don't be like that. Why don't you go for your first run and we can talk as soon as you get back?" And that was when he made his fatal mistake. She was pissed and he was trying to tell her what to do.

I could see her body start to vibrate as her deep red eyes started to brighten. I wasn't sure if she was going to lunge at him or not. But I did know what could happen if she did and I didn't want her to go through what I had to. My gut was telling me what was happening and I didn't want to believe it. It was breaking my heart. It was like a repeat of 21 years ago. I was about to speak up but before I could my baby girl burst into flames. There was a lot of cursing and people moving back as we all witnessed my daughter's wolf catch on fire as she started to stalk closer to Kain. We all stood there with fear in our hearts but that stupid ass King of the Highkingdom stood there in awe. My daughter was on fire but not burning. Her fur swayed with the orange red flames, her magic poured out of her with every step. It was a breathtaking scene once I realized she wasn't actually burning to death.

The closer she got was when, I think Kain realized he really needed to be more cautious. This wolf and girl that was in front of him was not the girl he last saw 2 years ago. No, this she-wolf was pissed with a good load of anger built up in here and a large amount of untrained magic spilling out of her. Kain really needed to be careful because I knew none of us could stop her or talk her down right now. It looked like her wolf was in control and none of us had the chance to meet her wolf. Sure we were family and her wolf would know and understand that but we haven't proven our loyalty to her yet. She would have to meet each of our wolves before that could happen.

Kain shook his head and sighed. The man was seriously a little too relaxed for my liking. "Saffron? Would you please cool down our Little Queen before she does something that she will most likely regret." Kain has kept his eyes on Charlie the entire time. I wasn't sure if it was for his safety or the fact he was incomplete awe. I swear I heard Kain mumble 'I hope' but I was too busy watching the miserable old fuck. Waving his hand out in some kind of circle slash thing before my daughter's wolf stumbled, her flames went out then she collapsed to the ground. "She's fine! Just resting after that troubling shift she had to go through." Kain's voice rose as he stepped forward and picked up an unconscious wolf in his arms. Everything had happened so fast that even Corey didn't have a chance to move forward yet.

As we all started to walk back to the house, relatively quiet, we were shocked to hear someone chuckling in the back of the crowd. I stopped to look back to see my son, Tony, chucking and shaking his head. He looked like he just won a prize.

"Kain, my man, if this is what I think it is, you are screwed. You better hope your fire proof because Charlie is going to kill you." Tony's voice went from sounding humorous to concern. But I have a feeling the concern was for his sister.

Tony was the jokester of my kids. Thomas was the thoughtful one who always knew what was happening around him and could read people better than even his father. But Tony liked to let people think he was just the fun twin. They didn't realize that he saw a lot. He heard a lot. He was very intoned to the people he was the closest to. I think that was why he liked to keep things light when he wasn't irritating people. It was his way of catching people off guard as well as to lessen their hidden worries in his own way. Tony knew things that I didn't and I knew he may have some of the answers behind Charlie's anger for the past little while.