Authors: Quinn Loftis
"
In the event of some sort of gathering, if one of the bossy, overbearing, possessive fur balls has not flipped his switch and attacked some poor young pup in some misguided attempt to protect his woman's virtue, then the night is not over." - Jen
Costin paced his room like a caged tiger after having stood in front of the mirror for an hour, staring at the markings that now encompassed more than just his right shoulder and right shoulder blade. The markings had moved up the right side of his neck to behind his ear and down his right arm. There was one swirl that came just an inch over his right shoulder, close to his collarbone. He was more surprised by that than anything. It meant that he had the potential to be an Alpha. The right-sided markings revealed his dominant status, but only Alphas had markings on the front of their bodies.
His natural inclination after seeing them was to head straight for Sally's room and demand she bond with him – now. But, surprisingly, his wolf had stopped him and reminded him that she wasn't a wolf, she was human, and wouldn't totally understand the need for him to claim her. So after pausing to think about it, he realized that after all these months of seeing Sally and her friends interact, she would need
them
as she discovered that they were indeed mates and with the physical evidence to prove it.
Of course, that made Costin want to jump up and down like a teenage boy who had just landed a date with the girl of his dreams – which, to some degree, was exactly what had happened. Only this date was going to last a lifetime. He had no problem with that, but he had known his whole life that he would be mated to someone the Great Luna had made just for him. Sally wasn't from his world, despite having lived in it for nearly six months. Humans chose their mates; Canis lupis had one perfect mate out there that carried the other half of their soul.
With those thoughts running through his mind, he decided to give her some time.Well, until her party started. Then she had to face him. A wicked grin spread across Costin's face as he pulled a deep green dress shirt over his head and buttoned it up, leaving it untucked. He rolled the sleeves halfway up his forearms. Then he slipped on a faded pair of well-worn, loose jeans and grabbed his brown steel toe boots.
He looked in the mirror one last time and ran his fingers through his dark, messy hair. Shrugging, he thought that for a bartender he looked pretty good.
Good enough.
Finally, whistling a random tune, he headed out of his room – dimpled grin and all – to hunt down his mate.
Sally tensed at the sound of the knock on her door.
She had tried to leave her room with her two best friends, but they'd insisted she wait for Costin. Her response was, “What if he doesn't come and get me? How dumb would I look?”
Jen and Jacque's responses were identical, with a snort, rolled eyes, and a, "Yeah, good luck with thinking that your mate won't always come find you."
She walked over to the door and smoothed the simple black dress she wore. It was knee-length, and flared out from the empire waist; just below the bottom hemline was one inch of black lace – a small black bow was tied at her left hip. It was the dress that she had planned to wear to her senior prom. It had a small V back that ended just between her shoulder blades. If her hair was down, it covered the markings on her back, which Jen and Jacque had been adamant about. Covering them in public was important, but it was actually good that the dress showed a little of the marks. Sally had asked why and Jacque had explained how important the markings were to the males and that Costin would want to look at them.
Sally knew that she was safe with Costin, but she had never really had a boyfriend. She didn't figure that Steven Mathews attempting to kiss her by shoving his tongue in her mouth after school in the seventh grade counted. Everything with the whole true mate stuff seemed so intimate in comparison with anything she knew about relationships.
Another knock brought her out of her thoughts. Apprehensively, she grasped the door knob and pulled it open.
Costin's contagious, dimpled smile was positively breathtaking on his handsome face. She took in his appearance and liked how he hadn't changed who he was for her party. He didn't try to look fancy or be something he wasn't; his untucked dress shirt and jeans fit him perfectly and a little voice inside her whispered that he was freaking hot. She called that voice her “inner Jen”.
Jacque and Jen did not know about her inner Jen – it was her little secret when she needed a boost of confidence.
Sally smiled back and stepped aside to let him into the room.
"You look beautiful," Costin told her as he stepped close. Sally noted, not for the first time, that he had no sense of personal space boundaries – at least not when it came to her.
"Thank you." She felt the blush creep up her neck. "You look handsome."
He winked at her. "Pretty spiffy for a bartender in Romania."
Sally let out a small laugh. "I prefer it to a suit."
"Excellent." Costin smiled. He began to circle her slowly and his smile turned intense and there was a wicked gleam in his hazel eyes. Sally took in a short gasp when she noticed they were glowing.
"Do you have something to show me, Sally mine?"
It was then that Sally noticed the markings climbing up the right side of his neck and the ones that crawled down his right arm from underneath his rolled-back sleeve.
"Umm," Sally stalled.
"My markings have changed. Surely you noticed." He was teasing her and the tone of his voice helped her relax.
She slipped her hand under her brown hair and swept it over her shoulder to reveal her back to him.
A low growl came from him as he stood behind her. She nearly jumped away when she felt his fingers like a whisper of silk against her skin. Starting at the top of her neck, his fingers traced the marks until the dress halted his progression.
"Easy," he whispered to her when she jumped.
Sally swore she could feel the oxygen being sucked from the room as Costin's dominance filled the space.
"Umm, Costin," Sally squeezed out through her tight lungs. "Sort of short of breath here."
Costin immediately reigned in his possessiveness at the sight of the beautiful markings, which climbed up her spine like a vine. He pulled her hair back over her shoulder to cover them.
His hand rested on her waist and followed around as he circled back to stand in front of her. "Your friends explained what the markings mean?" The question was gentle.
Sally nodded. "They mean that I'm your mate."
Costin grinned. "Yes, gypsy lady, you are indeed mine. But those markings are for my eyes only." His voice was still gentle, but there was an underlying darkness to them. It was clear that he, like Fane and Decebel, was going to be very possessive and obsessive about the markings.
"Your eyes only," Sally repeated. "Got it."
"So," Costin's voice brightened as he squeezed her waist, "I hear you have a birthday today."
Sally laughed. "I don't know where you could have possibly heard that."
"It might have been from a certain blonde running around the mansion reminding everyone of the party of the century taking place in honor of, and I quote, 'the most bad ass gypsy healer known to man', which was followed up with a, 'no offense to Rachel, but fact is fact'.
Sally rolled her eyes and let out a moan of embarrassment. "Sometimes I think we should make a waiver for her to sign so that she understands we aren't responsible for our actions when she flies off at the mouth."
"Well, I for one have been looking forward to it. It will be the first time that we will be seen before the pack as mates, though not bonded," Costin's eyes cut to the side to look at her as he led her to the door, "yet," he finished boldly.
Sally followed him out of her room and had to admit that she liked his hand on the small of her back as he guided her to the large gathering room. The party was already in full swing. Jen and Jacque had gone all out – with the help of Crina and Cynthia, of course.
As Costin led her up to the entryway, the music suddenly died and all eyes turned to look at them. She hadn't considered how large the party would be since Decebel's Serbian pack had been invited. Not all of them had shown up but there was a good number. Sally almost took an involuntary step back but Costin's firm hand held her in place as he whispered, "I've got you. I've always got you."
Sally let out the breath she had been holding and smiled at the room.
"Finally!" Jen spoke into a microphone from across the room. She stood next to the table where the "DJ" was set up. "Here's the birthday girl, everyone! Get your well wishes in because she will soon be on the dance floor partying like it's 1969." Jen paused and spoke softly to Jacque but didn't cover the microphone. Jacque was standing next to Jen, trying not to laugh.
"Was 1969 a good party year? Do we know?" the room heard through the speakers. Snickers rippled through the crowd.
Jacque looked at her and shook her head. "How about we party like it's New Year's Eve 2009?"
A huge smile spread across Jen's face. "Ah, that was a good one." She turned back to the crowd and yelled again, "Rewind! We're going to party like it's New Year's Eve 2009. If you're curious as to how awesome a party that was, please see me, Jacque, or Sally. Sally's version will be much more
accurate, and also free of any important inappropriate details." Before she could say anything else, a large hand wrapped around the microphone and pulled it from Jen's hand.
Decebel handed the mike to Jacque as he growled at his mate and pulled her away. All the while Jen was telling him exactly how much she didn't appreciate him getting all up in her Kool Aid.
"Happy birthday, Sally!" Jacque said into the microphone and the room broke into applause. "Everyone enjoy yourselves. The cake will be out soon, and then presents!"
As soon as Jacque put the microphone down and the music resumed, the crowd was back in motion and the murmur of conversation filled the air.
Sally looked up at Costin as they continued into the room. "Well, that was interesting," he said softly and grinned.
Sally was wrapped in a tight hug before she could respond to Costin's remark.
"You look amazing!" Jen squeezed her, apparently haven gotten away from Decebel.
"Jen, you saw me before I came down." Sally told her with raised eyebrows.
"That's not the point. It's all about presentation. You walk up in here in this yummy black dress with yummy, furry eye candy plastered to you... Jeez, you are very striking together."
Sally tried to put some space between her and Costin after being referred to as “plastered” to him. Costin tightened his hold on her and pulled her close. The move did not go unnoticed by eagle-eye Jen, who raised a single eyebrow at Sally and smirked. Sally was very tempted to kick Jen in the shin or give her the one finger salute that Jen tended to throw around when she was in a particularly nasty mood.
However, Sally decided that the birthday girl should probably not act that way. She did note that her inner Jen was all for the kicking and saluting.
Sally, Jacque, Jen, Crina, and even Cynthia spent most the time on the dance floor. They bumped and ground and gyrated all over, earning them applause and laughs from both packs and growls and frowns from their mates. Crina, of course, loved rubbing in the fact that she didn't have to worry about a mate dragging her off the dance floor.
Finally, after an hour or more of dancing, Jacque announced the entry of the birthday cake, which was beautiful, but Sally did not understand its shape. Perizada stepped up next to the table on which the cake had been rolled out.
"I can tell by the look on your face that you don't know what your cake is supposed to be." Perizada smiled at Sally.
Sally looked at the three round maroon cakes that were pushed together, forming a circle.
"Berries?"
Peri chuckled. "No, healer. This is a gypsy rune symbol. It indicates a bonding when thrown during a casting of the future, or can link situations together when used properly. This cake was chosen due to what a little bird -"
"Jen," Jacque coughed, trying to disguise Jen's name as she interrupted Peri, who continued on as if Jacque hadn't spoken.
“- who told me that you have experienced a bond. Am I correct?"
Sally froze at Peri's question. She knew she couldn't hide her and Costin's mating signs forever, and she knew that they would have to complete the bonding ceremony – eventually. What she didn't know was how to face a room full of Canis lupis and discuss her love life.
Before she could speak Costin stepped forward, and as he said he would, he had her.
"We are here to celebrate Sally turning eighteen." Costin's voice rang firmly over the room, and the dominance he so easily hid was very evident now. "At this moment there is nothing more important than celebrating that on this day, eighteen years ago, Sally Morgan came into the world. Thank you, Peri, for the explanation of the cake. I for one am ready for Sally to blow out the candles so I can have a piece."