Mates of the Luna Queen

CHAPTER 6 Surprise

　　Raven's POV

　　Dinner seems to drag on. Beta Brent tries to keep the conversation interesting but I am too nervous about shifting tonight to respond appropriately. I simply smile politely and offer short one-word answers. My father also tries to get me to converse more as well but I can't take my mind off of the fact that I am going to shift for the first time without my twin.

　　I am pushing the food around on my plate, trying to force myself to eat when Alpha Leo clears his throat. Raising my eyes I look in his direction but avoid his perfectly sculpted face.

　　"You should try and eat something," he butts his nose in where it doesn't belong. "Your first shift will take a lot of energy out of you."

　　My teeth grind together as I clench my jaw. "Thank you for your consideration, but I will be fine," I say through gritted teeth.

　　"He is right, you know," my father says matter-of-factly. "You will need all the energy you can get for tonight."

　　My eyes snap in the direction of my father and I instantly wish that Dad was the one that came with me on this trip. At least his boyish antics would have made the trip more interesting.

　　"If you three will excuse me," I say as I lay my napkin back on the table. "I am going to get some rest before midnight. As you all have so graciously informed me, I will need all the energy that I can get for my first shift.

　　Beta Brent stands so quickly that he bumps the table and I almost knock it over. "Wait!" He calls out after me. "You can't leave yet. I have something planned for you."

　　My face burns with embarrassment. Someone must have told him that it is my birthday. "Please, that is not necessary," I spit out but Beta Brent isn't listening to me.

　　Running to the kitchen door he knocks three times and then it swings open. My worst nightmare is standing on the other side of that door. A giant cake with eighteen candles blazing on top of it. It is truly beautiful but I didn't want to celebrate my birthday without Kieran, I thought that I had made that perfectly clear.

　　The Omegas sit the cake on the table and stand back waiting for my reaction. I try to sniff back the tears that are threatening to fall but a single tear falls from my eye. Quickly, I wipe it from my cheek not wanting anyone to see that I have been brought to tears.

　　I look at my father and he has a remorseful look on his face. He promised me that there would not be a celebration. But he nods toward the cake and gestures for me to put a smile on my face. I glance around the table and I am not the only one with a scowl on their face. Alpha Leo looks as if he would rather be anywhere but here.

　　Looking back at the Omegas, I put the fake smile that I have been wearing all day back on my face. "This is lovely," I smile gently. "However did you put it together on such short notice?"

　　None of the Omegas step forward to answer me and I c**k my head and look at them curiously. Are Omegas not allowed to address higher-ranked wolves in this pack?

　　Beta Brent steps forward and smiles brightly. "When I heard from the Alpha that it was your eighteenth birthday, I decided that you couldn't go without cake on your birthday. I know you said you didn't want a celebration but I thought a little cake couldn't hurt."

　　Ugh, why does he have to be so damn sweet? It makes it hard to be mad over the fact that he defied me. "Thank you," I say with the fake smile still plastered on my face. "That was very kind of you."

　　I politely sit back down in my seat and place my napkin back in my lap. One of the Omegas puts a huge slice of cake in front of me and I cannot stop the tears that flow. The clock on the wall chimes nine o'clock and panic sets in. I will be shifting in just three short hours.

　　"I am sorry for crying," I sob. "I must look like such a baby."

　　Beta Brent rushes to my side and puts an arm around me, to which my father growls, and Beta Brent promptly lets me go. "No one thinks you are a baby," he says sweetly but I can see Alpha Leo hiding a smirk behind his hand.

　　My father's voice fills my head through our pack mind-link. 'You are the Queen, now would you act like it.'

　　Pushing my chair away from the table, I glare at my father. I don't bother using the link when I respond. "Yes Father, I am the Queen, but I am allowed to have feelings. Now. If you boys will excuse me..."

　　I storm from the dining room and my father follows quickly on my heels. "Do you want to explain yourself, Little Bird?"

　　Spinning around on the first step of the stairs, I glare into my father's blue eyes. "Am I not allowed to have feelings?" I snap. "This is the first time I have been away from Kieran on our birthday. I asked for this trip to be moved by one day. One f*****g day and I was overruled. So excuse me if I am a little emotional on the night that I will shift for the first time."

　　"Watch your language when you speak to me," Father yells at me.

　　"I suppose that is one more thing I can add to the list of things that I am not allowed to do," I spit at him.

　　"Raven," my father exhales and rubs his eyes in frustration. "You have an image to uphold. This is just the first stop on our trip and you are already throwing a fit like a spoiled brat. I told your mother that you weren't ready for this position."

　　My eyes widen in shock and more tears spill down my cheeks. "Thank you for your confidence," I say sarcastically as I storm up the stairs and lock myself in my guest room.