Four Alphas and Me

Chapter 6 : A Birthday Surprise

“Livy, it's been almost a week since that incident. I'm curious what happened to that Patricia girl?" Kain reached over and helped me buckle up. His university was quite close to my high school, so he had been picking me up almost every evening.

“All five of them are suspended from school for an entire month. They also need to clean the neighboring streets of the campus for community service."

“A month? The principal is quite fair," he commented as he got into the driver's seat.

“Indeed. Mrs. Hartford definitely didn't let them off the hook easily. Being out of school for so long meant that they may not be able to graduate on time at the end of the year. If they're lucky, they could make up the work during vacations, or they would have to wait until the following school year and start all over again."

I smiled at him. “By the way, I'm not a baby anymore, you know. I can put on the seatbelt myself."

“You'll always be my baby sister." He rubbed the top of my head before asking, “How about Cecilia?"

“What about her? Do you like her? She's been talking about you for an entire year now."

Kain rolled his eyes. “Livy, don't play dumb. You know what I meant. There was no possible way Cecilia wasn't involved in this… I can't believe she did that to you! I'm worried about you. Are you holding up alright? She's your best friend…"

“She was," I corrected him and then sighed exaggeratedly. “Yikes, I can't hide anything from you!"

“You shouldn't. So… you took the video and sent it to the principal. Why did you cut out Cecilia? Are you giving her a chance?"

“Because I haven't decided what to do about her yet."

Cecilia was unusually quiet for several days. No doubt she was guessing whether I knew what she'd done, and she kept observing me. But since I continued to act normal, she began to relax into her routine as well.

While it was true that I hadn't decided what to do with Cecilia yet, another reason I'd removed her from the video was that it would be much easier to keep an eye on her if she continued to attend school.

I looked out the car window and saw scenes flying away in front of my eyes along with the horrific memories of my sad past life. Maybe she would learn her lesson and abandon me as a target, but if she didn't, she would have no one but herself to blame when she faced the consequences.

Kain's warm voice drew me back. “Livy, you truly amazed me in the past week."

I arched an eyebrow. “Only last week?"

He laughed. “I always have faith in you, but ever since you woke up in the hospital, you seem to have grown up all of a sudden. I'm not used to it yet. What happened to you?"

Half-jokingly, I confessed, “I… had a nightmare that I lost everything. When I woke up, was like I was raised from the dead and was given a second chance to live. Um, it sounds like you'd rather have the old me?"

He chuckled. I turned my face to see my handsome brother's bright smile and appreciated how caring, protective, and supportive he had been. I couldn't believe that I had taken everything William and Kain did for me for granted in my last life.

Neither of them had to treat me as well as they did. I wasn't blood-related to them after all, yet they gave me everything selflessly.

I heard Kain say, “You are you. You may act differently, but deep down, you're still my little Livy. So how's school life without all that drama?"

“I can't decide whether you're calling me a drama queen or not," I laughed. “But I've gotta say, it's so peaceful with the bullies out of school. I was able to concentrate in my classes and actually learn."

“I bet other students thank you for that as well," Kain agreed. “I can't wait to see Dad's reaction when he gets your report card at the end of the semester."

I leaned back in my seat and let out a long breath. I also looked forward to graduation since the last time I was seventeen I'd been expelled—that was, if I could save William from his death.

In the past week, other than my day-to-day school work, I was trying to build up a list of Dad's scheduled events and his social network by chatting with him casually and keeping an ear to his phone calls. However, Dad's nine-to-five work schedule and simple circle of friends made it difficult to pinpoint any suspects.

“Speaking of Dad," Kain said as he pulled into our driveway, “he called earlier and said that he has a social event to go to tonight and won't be back for dinner."

Unplanned dinner event? I was just thinking about where to find leads when a perfect opportunity presented itself!

“Do you know what event?" I immediately questioned him.

Kain paused for a moment and seemed surprised that I would ask. “Well, yeah… I heard it was some sort of celebration his business partner is having. Technically, you and I are both invited, but you never want to go to those kinds of events, so I told him that you and I will fend for ourselves tonight–"

“Kain! Who said I don't want to?! I do!"

“You're the one who said it! Dad asked you a while back but you–"

“I changed my mind! Do You know where it is and how to get there?"

“I do. It's in the Grand Meadow Resort, but–"

“Let's go!"

“Livy, wait. Why are you acting like this? What's going on? You're confusing me now."

“Kain, are you kidding? Grand Meadow has the best steak in the city. Why wouldn't I want a free delicious meal?"

“Oh… okay," Kain seemed to be convinced. “Then let's call Dad and—"

“No, no, no! Do you want to be dragged into endless social talks or just hide out to the side and enjoy your food?"

“Well…" Kain blinked at me as if the question made sense but he still didn't like it.

“See! I can be logical, sometimes. Shall we go now?"

Kain chuckled and rubbed my hair. “Okay, hungry girl. But we can't just go like this. Grand Meadow has dress codes for guests. We need to change."

He exited the car and opened the door for me like a gentleman. I felt warm and fuzzy inside and could not stop the impulse to throw my arms around his neck and give him a hug.

“It is so good to be with you, Kain."

His body went rigid for a moment and his arms stayed to the side. I could hear his breath catch at my sudden outburst and then a low rumble in his chest as he chuckled.

“Hunger makes you really dizzy, doesn't it? Silly girl, stop trying to butter me up! Now, let's be quick. It starts in half an hour."

***

We walked through the front lobby and reception area of the Grand Meadow Resort, where the party was held a little less than an hour later. Kain was wearing slacks and a black shirt. I had put on a sleeveless sage green flower dress and pinned my hair up in a bun to look a little older.

The large water fountain in the center of the lobby encased by glass walls and vaulted ceilings was always breathtaking.

I elbowed Kain in the ribs.

“Yes?"

“It's bad luck not to make a wish," I said. “You have a coin?"

He fished a coin from his pocket and stood back while I made a silent wish of saving William and tossed it into the fountain.

There may have been upward of a hundred people in the lobby, and I made a point to keep an eye out for our father. Kain gave our names to the hostess at the desk and we both were forced to look sheepish when we had no gift for the birthday girl.

“You didn't say it was a birthday," I muttered as we made our way to the resort's back lawn, the venue for the party.

I pulled myself and Kain into a corner when I spotted Dad speaking with a group of people. Luckily, he didn't notice us. I pulled out my phone, took a few pictures, and added new notes for everyone Dad talked to.

Thanks to Dad's simple social circle and the recent homework I'd done, I actually did recognize most of them, and there were only a few faces I couldn't immediately put a name to.

“Kain, do you know who the man in the gray suit is—"

Then I realized Kain had left my side. Where did he go?

I looked around, hoping to locate Kain when a group of teenage girls swooped around and landed in front of me, blocking my view.

A bit annoyed, I was about to move away when I heard what they were saying.

“Do you know who he is?" one of them squeaked.

“Oh my goodness, he's so hot!"

I rolled my eyes, girls.

“That guy in a black shirt with brown hair?" another asked.

In a black shirt with brown hair? Wait a second....

I followed the direction they were pointing at as they continued to giggle.

“He's looking at me!" The first girl sounded extremely excited. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. He's walking this way!"

The “black shirt guy" sure enough was moving toward us, and my mouth fell open momentarily when I confirmed that they were indeed talking about Kain.

Dark brown hair, well-defined facial features, strong jaw, gentle gray-blue eyes–his black shirt and slacks showcased his broad shoulder, trim waist, and strong but not overly bulky legs. The girls were right. From every angle, he was gorgeous to look at.

Was I blind for all these years? Why hadn't I realized that Kain happened to be one of the most handsome men I'd ever seen?

With the excited oohs and ahhs continuing from the girls, Kain arrived with a plate of food in his hands and the girls circled him.

“Oh hi," one of them said. “I'm Nancy. So nice to meet you. Are you by yourself? Want to hang out with us?"

Kain had a faint smile on his face, but he politely turned them down. “Thanks for the invite, but I already have company. Now please excuse me."

The jealous gazes of the girls followed Kain as he walked straight to me. He moved gracefully with a smile on his face that could melt any girl's heart For whatever reason, my heart started to pound loudly.

Then, in a voice loud enough for the girls to hear, he said to me, “Sorry for keeping you waiting, beautiful."

I almost choked on a gasp and stared at him with wide eyes. What did he say just now?

The disappointment in the girls' eyes was apparent. As they moved away, I could hear them complaining that handsome guys were taken up fast nowadays.

After they left, Kain presented the slabs of steak to me. “Here you go, hungry girl."

“Kain, why did you say that?!"

“Say what?"

“You called me…"

“Beautiful?" He chuckled. “It's the best way to get them away from me."

I let out a breath of relief. Alright… I was overreacting.

“Plus, it's true," Kain added, his eyes fixed on me.

I was at a loss for words under his tender gaze for a moment. Quickly, I looked away and stuttered, “But, but… those girls are cute. Why don't you want to hang out with them?"

Kain's face dropped. He nudged me to a table. “Not interested."

His eyes didn't leave me, and I started to get a little nervous as he continued to stare at me. I lowered my head and took a bite of steak, pretending to shift my focus to the food in front of me.

We both went silent for a moment, which made me hear my heartbeat even clearer. What was wrong with me?

Fortunately, the clinking of glasses in front of a microphone drew our attention to a podium.

An attractive middle-aged man stood there waiting for all to get quiet so he could make an announcement.

“Kain, who is he? He looks familiar."

“That's Dad's business partner, Brad Nelson, one of Dad's friends," Kain whispered in my ear.

I added that note next to the picture, satisfied with the progress I'd made tonight.

Investigating a few acquaintances would keep me busy for a while. I looked around and confirmed that there weren't any new faces I'd missed. The primary mission for the night had been completed.

Brad said, “I want to thank everyone for taking the time to come out tonight and celebrate with us, our daughter's coming-of-age eighteenth birthday."

Singing of the birthday song began and a large cake with sparkling candles was wheeled into the center of the venue, stopping in front of a girl with black hair.

I recognized her. On the day Patricia picked on me, this girl was in the crowd. She was the first to laugh at Patricia.

“That's Molly. She's also in my school," I whispered back to Kain so I wouldn't be heard over the birthday song, but I stopped short when I turned around to see his face.

His brow was furrowed and his mouth was set in a very deep frown. He seemed… not exactly angry, but definitely upset about something. Was he in pain?

I was going to ask if he was alright but then I heard him murmur, “She is my… mate?"