King of My Heart

NINETEEN

The next morning, I hear someone knock on my door while I'm in the shower. I quickly get out and get dressed. I go downstairs and spot Amy sitting in the living room, watching TV and eating an apple.

"Oh hey," she says absently. "I came to your room but you didn't open up so I figured I'd wait for you here."

"I thought I heard someone knocking. I was in the shower," I explain.

"Anyway, I'm gonna get something to eat," I tell her as I move towards the kitchen. Amy gets up and follows me.

"I made some mac and cheese last night, I'm very excited to eat it for breakfast," I say enthusiastically.

"That doesn't sound very healthy, April," she mumbles while chewing her apple.

"Oh, boo hoo," I wave off. I get to the kitchen and open the fridge, but it's gone. My beautiful mac and cheese, the food I've been thinking about since I woke up, it's gone. A loud gasp escapes my mouth.

"What happened," Amy asks raising a quizzical brow.

"That little shit ate my food," I hiss, still staring inside the fridge.

"Who," she questions.

"Liam, who else," I say sounding irritated and step away from the fridge.

That sends Amy into a fit of laughter. She tries a couple of times to speak but then goes back to laughing. I decide to ignore her and get some toast and butter. Once she has finally settled down, I make some coffee and give her a cup as well. We both sit in the kitchen as I eat.

"So, did you decide what you're gonna wear tomorrow," Amy asks while taking a sip.

"What's tomorrow," I mumble with food in my mouth.

"Liam's Alpha ceremony! It's pretty formal so you can't just show up in jeans," she reveals.

"Well, I didn't bring anything fancy," I say trailing off.

"Ooh, guess we're going shopping," Amy squeals.

"Where are we gonna go?"

"To the mall, of course."

"You guys have a mall," I almost scream in shock.

"Yes, April," Amy says calmly. "We're not savages, you know."

We spend a little time hanging out in my room and then ready to leave.

"It's about a fifteen minute walk from here," Amy informs as we exit the house. "We can take the car if you want."

"No, I prefer walking," I say and we set off.

The weather has gotten really cold since I got here and there is even a little snow on the ground this morning. We walk through the woods for a little while until a few small buildings approach. Most of the buildings are about three or four stories tall except for one which is about double the size and a little secluded from the rest of the area, which I can assume is a market.

"What's that," I inquire, pointing towards the building.

"That's the military building. That's where most of our warriors live. After the war with the Mutts, the werewolf community decided to acquire weapons. This is where werewolves from different packs come for training. There is a peace treaty that doesn't allow the weapons to be used against other werewolves but we have trained warriors in case of a war against something else. Since we are the biggest pack in this area, this is where they decided to set up the training camp," Amy explains.

"Is that why you guys also have a mall," I ask.

"No," she says which a chuckle. "Most of the packs aren't located far from a human town so they can get everything they need from there. The closest town we have is yours, Ridgeglass, which is two hours away. So, instead of going to the mall there, we brought a mall to us."

We reach the mall and enter the building.

"How do you guys hide this from the humans," I ask curiously.

"Magic," Amy whispers while holding up her palms as if doing a trick.

I tilt my head, giving her a quizzical look.

"No, really," she continues, seriously this time. "Every pack has a few witches and warlocks that help conceal the pack grounds from humans. If any human ever looked at this area, all they would see is long stretches of the forest. In return, we provide them with protection and a place to live."

We go to a few stores and buy a bunch of random stuff like shoes and jewellery. We try on different dresses but nothing stands out. Amy has already bought two dresses and is started to get annoyed because I can't find something I like.

"Alright, this is the last store. I don't care if you like something or not, we're getting a dress from here," she orders as we walk into a fancy store. There are racks of dresses placed along the walls of the, very spacious, room and a glass table with a huge vase harbouring flowers in the centre. I start looking around and my eyes fall on a gorgeous mauve dress with silver embellishments on the shoulders. It has a slit on the side and long sleeves. The moment I look at it, I know that it's the one. I show it to Amy and she loves it as well. She lets out a huge sigh and mutters, "Finally."

After trying it on, I quickly pay for the dress and we get out of the store, heading towards the exit of the mall.

"I can't believe you spent hours searching for a dress and then bought this two seconds after laying your eyes on it," Amy says, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I knew I wanted it the moment I saw it," I say with a huge grin plastered on my face.

Amy takes me to a nearby restaurant and we eat lunch there. I'm slowly staring to learn where everything is in this place. On our way back, I ask Amy how she and Jason met.

"Well, as you know, I'm from the Blue Moon Pack," she begins. "Since Alpha Robert is my uncle, we would sometimes visit. The first time I met Jason was when we were here for a dinner party. A lot of Alphas and Betas from different packs were invited along with their families. I wasn't old enough to know who my mate was but I could feel something between him and me. That didn't really do much since Jason was a little bit of an asshole and rude to almost everyone back then, including me."

I gasp at the last piece of information. He seems like such a nice guy now.

"Oh my God, what did you do then?" I ask in astonishment.

"What could I do? Anyway, a few months later was my twenty-first birthday and I was supposed to find out who my mate was. My dad threw a party and invited everyone there. Jason had turned twenty-one by then as well and he came too, and that's when we both knew."

"Weren't you upset to be mated to someone like him," I ask.

"I tried to be," she says with smile. "But it was really hard since he started being so nice to me."

"I can't imagine Jason being rude. He seems so nice and doesn't even hide how obsessed he is with you," I point out.

"Yeah. That's just what the mate bond does," she says with a shrug.

We reach back at the house just in time as more snow starts falling. Amy quickly leaves for the pack house in case there is a storm. I think about what she had said earlier, about the mate bond and how it completely changed Jason into a different person. I wonder if things between Liam and I would ever get any better but immediately push those thoughts away. There is no point dwelling over him since he doesn't even make the effort to talk to me. All he does is treat me like a piece of property and eat my food. 

I know this chapter was a little boring but it was just a filler so we could learn more about the pack. Next up, we will be attending Liam's Alpha ceremony, and we all know, a party equals drama ;)

P.S. The picture above is Liam's house.