12: The Welcome Party
TARA
We were having homemade beef dip as an early dinner, and as I cooked in the kitchen, Jenna and Nadia played a game of cards on the dining table.
“So, not only did he come in to make your emotionally starved feathers all ruffled up,” Jenna spoke with a cackle, “but he also stood up for you to a rude customer, in front of a crowd, might I add.”
I rolled my eyes as I brought out plates for us to eat. “It wasn’t a big deal, madam,” I said to her, trying to ignore the feelings that were battling my mind.
Jenna rambled on as if I didn’t just speak. “And then he gave you white roses?”
She dropped her jaw dramatically causing me to laugh.
“I got some flowers too,” Nadia replied, kicking her feet together like it was prom night.
“Nadia got flowers too!” Jenna repeated, adding special throat noises for dramatics. I just shook my head, refusing ti engage in this.
As for Nadia, she was super excited about the flowers today, and it took minutes of pleading to get her to put them down after we got home.
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She currently had a stem from hers carefully tucked in between her hair and ear, and she wouldn’t stop talking about it to anyone who cared to listen.
“Who really is this guy?” Jenna asked with a droopy smile, and she went on to answer her question by herself. “I’ll tell you. He’s the guy of your dreams!”
I merely shook my head as I listened to Jenna perform.
I set two plates down on the table for Jenna and Nadia and paired them with two glasses of homemade lemonade.
Setting up a plate for myself, I joined them on the dining table.
“Calm your pants, Jenna. It’s not going to turn out the way you think. He’s no one, and that’s it.”
in
All I wanted to do was focus on my job and my kid. I didn’t have room for any relationship of that sort because I knew very well how that ended the last time.
Men were not to be trusted, and that lesson was one I learned in hard ways. I wasn’t going to allow myself to go through that again.
“Never say never, honey,” Jenna said, wiggling her eyebrows. “And Nadia seems to like him.”
I watched my baby dig into her food, oblivious to the conversation going on around her, and a pang of guilt trickled into my system. I somehow found it difficult to swallow or savor my food.
Aidan was here, and I was keeping his identity a secret from
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- The Welcome Party
Nadia. I wanted to do what was right for her, but it was so difficult. At this point, I didn’t even know what route to take.
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Jenna too, had been a supporting backbone to me for as long as I could remember. She rarely asked about Nadia’s father, but I felt like she deserved to know eventually.
Shaking off the guilt from my mind, I ate my food silently.
“We should hurry, so that we won’t miss any part of the welcome party,” Jenna said joyfully, cutting the silence. “I heard that all the alphas in attendance would have a friendly race for the opening part.“–
“And where did you get that information from?” I asked.
Jenna replied. “I have my sources, and they’re never wrong. I do wonder how many alphas were able to attend. It’s going to be very interesting watching every pack come together for something like this. You know it only happens once in a decade.”
I nodded before responding again. “Yes, you’re right. And knowing how competitive Alphas can get, the friendly race will be anything but friendly,” I said, making sure to put my fingers up in quotes when I said friendly.
I swallowed thickly, thinking about Aidan. Would he be there? Would he join the race? Would he win?
Jenna bounced excitedly, and some of the excitement even rubbed off on Nadia. “I can’t wait! Come on, let’s go.”
I shook every thought of Aidan from my mind because I shouldn’t care.
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Correction.
I didn’t care.
It was only natural that I felt this way by his presence because he was and still is the only man I’ve ever been bonded with, and that was it.
It was one week. One week for the multipack moon meet, then he would be gone from our lives, and these conflicting feelings would fade.
Soon, we were done with our food, and we got ready to head out to the pack’s square for the welcome party.
Once we stepped outside of the front porch, I caught sight of my neighbor locking her door, most likely about to head in the same direction as us.
“Esme!” Nadia called, before running off to catch up with the elderly woman for a hug.
“Is that my little sugar pie? Ahh,” Esme puffed playfully. “Did she get an inch taller?”
We all laughed as we fell in step with Esme and Nadia, watching them interact freely.
“Careful, Nadia, don’t break the old lady’s bones,” Jenna teased.
Esme, the old lady in question, shot Jenna a death glare that was also playful. “You will soon find out just how old I am when I kick your ass.”
Esme had been my next–door neighbor since Nadia was born. Together with Jenna, they were my support system. Esme had
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been a motherly figure to me since I lost contact with my family.
She lived alone and had no family, and that was all there was to her. It only made sense that we took each other as our missing pieces. Esme loved Nadia like she was hers.
“I take it you’re heading to the welcome party, Esme?” I asked.
“Wouldn’t miss it for anything,” she said. “Who knows if this would be the last multipack moon meet I will get to experience before I join the moon goddess? I have to enjoy every second of it.”
Jenna spoke. “If only we could get Tara here to be just as
excited for the event as the rest of us. It’s like she doesn’t even want to be here.”
The only reason why I didn’t want to invest fully into the pack’s gathering was because Aidan was in the pack, and I wanted to be as far away from him as possible.
I didn’t need to tell them that, so I joked instead. “Well, I would rather run my diner and make so much more money than watch hot–headed alphas run for sport.”
We all laughed as we headed to the place for the welcome party. It took around twenty minutes on foot, and those twenty minutes were spent gisting and laughing with the people who were closest to my heart.
Once we got to the pack’s square, Jenna searched for the best seats for us, so that we wouldn’t miss any view of the evening.
We were about to take our seats when someone pulled my shoulder from behind, saying. “Well well, fancy seeing you here,
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Tara.”
I turned around to see that it was Alpha Collin, and I sighed heavily. He was the last person I wanted to see around me or my daughter, so I balled my hands into fists and glared at him.
“Alpha,” I said, keeping my voice calm even though I was anything but. “How can I help you?”
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