Ian stands, allowing my exhausted body to rest against his. “Such a good girl. Let’s get you to bed so you can rest.” He picks up my limp body and carries me to bed, laying me down gently, then covering me. “You rest, angel. I’ve got some things that I need to take care of. Don’t worry, I’ll lock up on my way out.” He kisses me before walking out of my bedroom.
Chapter four
Ian’s Gift
**May 1999**
Kate
“Jessi,I’mkindafreakingout.” I flat iron my hair.
“Oh my gosh, Kate. If Ian finds his mate today, then you know it wasn’t meant to be.” Jessi applies her lip gloss.
“Jessi, if he finds his mate today, I’m going to die. DIE!” I put the straight iron down and clinch my heart overdramatically and gasp. “I could never love anyone else.”
“You’re so dramatic.” She laughs and throws her lip gloss at me. Jessi and I have been friends since the first grade. We know each other like the back of our hands. Jessi’s dad is a warrior, and her mom is a nurse, and she is a spoiled only child. “Ya know, even if you’re not mates, you can still use him for his hot bod.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me.
“Oh, my goodness, don’t be gross.” I throw her lip gloss back at her.
“Don’t be a prude. It’s just sex. You’re sixteen and he’s eighteen. What’s the big deal?” She stands and adjusts her very short leather miniskirt. Even though Jessi and I are very close, sex is the one thing we don’t agree on. She has been sexually active for a year now and always has a new and hot boyfriend. Many of the girls in our pack are very experienced… sexually, and that’s fine for them. I’m still very much a virgin. That’s the way I plan to keep it, too. I want to wait for my mate, even though I’m sure he’s not waiting for me. That’s something that Jessi constantly points out. She is always asking why wait, you know he’s not. But to me, my virginity feels like a gift that I only want to share with someone who was made for me. Maybe I read too many romance books and they’ve made me some hopeless romantic, but I’m fine with that.
Standing next to Jessi, I take a long look at myself in the mirror. I love my floral pink babydoll dress. It makes me look more like a woman and less like a little girl. It has a deep plunging neckline with a tie front, hugs my waist and hips, then flares out. Yes, it’s short, but not nearly as short as Jessi’s skirt. My dad had a fit when I came home after shopping for it. He hated the fact that he could see cleavage and that it was short. Luckily, mom intervened. Whatever she said to him worked, and he allowed me to keep the dress for Ian’s eighteenth birthday party.
Ian is the son of our pack’s Beta; therefore, a gigantic party was planned for him. Turning eighteen in our culture is huge. We meet our wolves and shift for the first time, it’s also when we can feel the pull of the mate bond. Everyone usually gets a party of some sort for their eighteenth birthday, but those of us who are ranked… it gets made into a pack affair. Many other unmated females from other packs will be in attendance as well, hoping he will be their mate. I hope he doesn’t find his mate; I really want it to be me. Since I’m only sixteen, I won’t feel the mate bond for another two years. It’s going to be a torturous two years.
“Girls!” My Dad shouts from downstairs, “We need to get going, put it into high gear!” I grab Ian’s gift and head downstairs with Jessi in tow. Waiting for us at the bottom of the staircase are my parents. Mom’s face is glowing with pride as we descend the stairs… dad looks like he’s constipated or something painful like that.
“Shit,” dad mumbles under his breath, triggering an elbow to his side from mom.
“Kate, you’re simply breathtaking. Where did my little girl go?” She rubs my arms lovingly with her hands. “Jessi… you look… beautiful,” mom squeaks out. I can tell she is not a fan of Jessi’s outfit of choice, but my mom is so sweet and wants to make everyone feel loved.
“Beautiful, sugar.” Dad pulls me into a hug. “I’m going to have to fucking kill someone tonight.” He mumbles under his breath. Mom gives him the side eye and dad calms down. He releases me and steps to the side, taking a last look at himself in the large mirror in the living room.
I find myself looking into the most exquisite brown eyes. Ian. He is dressed in a black form fitting suit, my cheeks flush at the sight of him. The fresh scent from his signature cologne is intoxicating. I wasn’t expecting Ian to be here, but I guess he, my brother, and Zane want to make their grand entrance together, just like they did at Zane’s eighteenth birthday party last month.
“Wow, Kate…” Ian puts his hand on his chest and breathes out.
“Bro… that’s my sister.” Kelsey snarls.
“I guess this is where the body count starts.” Dad mumbles, causing another side eye look from mom.
“We need to get going. I need to do a final security sweep before too many guests arrive.” Dad says, looking at mom.
“The girls can ride with us… if you’re in a hurry. We have the Alpha’s six-seater golf cart.” Ian looks between my mom and dad.
“Yeah, it’s really no big deal. My father told me to take the big golf cart in case you were too busy to give the girls a ride. Actually, if anyone needed a ride. If we take the girls, we’ll be full and can go straight to the party.” Zane, our pack’s future Alpha, says with authority. My dad looks intently between Zane and Ian. My guess is he is trying to detect an ulterior motive.
“Okay,” Mom breaks the silence. “Um, girls, can you ride in the golf cart with the boys, so we can get going now?” Mom looks between Jessi and me. My heart just about jumps out of my chest at her suggestion, but I play it cool.
“Yeah… I guess.” I sigh out as if I’m annoyed.
“Good, thank you, sugar.” Mom pats my arm before turning her attention to Ian. “Oh, Ian, I almost forgot. This is for you, from us.” Mom hands Ian a small box that was beautifully wrapped by her. Mom has such a talent for wrapping gifts, she has a workspace dedicated to it. She has all kinds of different wrapping papers, ribbons, and trinkets to put on each gift. She wrapped Ian’s gift with a simple yet elegant paper. He rips into the paper and into the small box containing cufflinks with his initials. “Every man should have a beautiful pair of cufflinks.” She smiles and pats his cheek.
“Thank you so much. I love them.” Ian gushes over his gift.
“Bro, we match.” Zane shows Ian his cufflinks. My parents leave for the party, and I watch as Zane helps Ian put his cufflinks on. I can’t take my eyes off Ian. He is so beautifully built. After they finish with Ian’s cufflinks, Jessi nudges me with her shoulder, almost knocking me off balance. Ian takes notice of the interaction between the two of us, then turns his attention to me.
“Hey, Kelsey…” Jessi makes her way to my brother. If you ask me, she has always had a little crush on him.