"Diana!" Daniel snarls, stalking over to where she is lounging on the grass. She lifts her sunglasses, takes one look at Daniel's pissed face, then leaps to her feet.

"Oh shit!" She breathes out, taking off running. 

I was upset with Daniel for ignoring me before when I asked him to be calm and reasonable about this, but it was hard to stay mad with the sight of my mate chasing my best friend around the forest. It's like a damn cartoon.

After several minutes of sprinting, he finally catches her, swings her over his shoulder and carries her over to where I am standing. He drops her onto her feet, but keeps a firm hold on her arm so she can't run away.

"You told us that angels and werewolves aren't compatible, if that's true then how could Daniel have been born?" I ask, desperately hoping she made a mistake or lied before.

"I already fucking told you," she snapped, yanking her arm from Daniel's grasp. "A normal angel with wings is compatible with a werewolf sure. But you don't have your wings, so you are very weak compared to the rest of us and don't heal as fast as you need to. That's why you two can't be mates."

"I fucking hate the Council, they completely ruined my life!" I yell, kicking a nearby lounge chair in frustration. It flipped over, hitting the concrete with a muted thud. 

I collapse onto the ground and put my face in my hands, my shoulders slumped in defeat. They completely ruined my life. I can't be with my mate, I can't fly, I don't have a family, and I can't even live without constantly worrying about the Council taking me back to the Cage.

"Luciana, don't forget what you said about your wings," Daniel offers, his voice gentle. 

I look up and see him crouching down in front of me. "What if I don't get them though? What if I never get my wings back?" I ask, my voice cracking with either anger or sadness, I don't know.

"You can deal with that when it comes, but for now, you can put a smile on your face and just hope for the best," Diana interjects.

"Easy for you to say," I snap.

"You know you aren't the only one who has had problems with the council. Daniel and I were in a rehab center for years, well, Daniel had vacations off property but I didn't. I was there for eight years before they transferred me to the academy," she says angrily.

My eyes widen. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that. Why did they even put you in there?" I ask, my voice quiet.

"Because I'm a weird mutation of angel, not dark or light. They called me a devil angel because I'm red. Red hair, red wings, and red eyes. I dye everything black and wear color contacts—just like you."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. The Council, which includes my own mother, has done horrible things to everyone, so stop being so selfish and don't you dare think that you're the only one who has problems," she spits before stalking away.

I fall onto my back with a low groan. "I feel like the biggest bitch in the world right now," I mumble.

Daniel sighs, then sits down beside me. "You shouldn't. I mean yeah you were focused on your own problems but your situation is worse than Diana's. And seriously, you need to try to relax about the wing thing, I think she is just getting annoyed by your attitude. You're a bit of a pessimist," he says and I turn to him with a raised eyebrow.

"But what if I like being a pessimist?"

"Nobody likes being a pessimist."

"Fine, I'll try being a little more optimistic," I say, throwing him a sarcastic smile. 

He narrows his eyes at me. "I'm serious," he says.

I shrug. "So am I."

***

"Ana!" Someone screams, jumping on my bed. My eyes fly open and I let out a yelp as I fall back onto the bed.

My gaze lands on a grinning Diana and I glare. "Get up bitch you're 18!" She squeals, bouncing me again. She stopped being pissed at me a few days ago, obviously. 

I jump out of the bed before she can bounce me again and hurry into the bathroom. I take a shower then pull my blow dried hair into a high ponytail and slip on a white skater dress.

As soon as I'm dressed, Diana links her arm with mine and drags me downstairs. I would have fallen flat on my face if her arm wasn't holding mine tightly.

The dining table is loaded with food, pancakes, waffles, eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, fruit, yogurt, I mean every breakfast food I can think of.

"Oh my god," I mutter with wide eyes. Daniel comes around the corner and gives me a smirk.

"And you were worried it wouldn't be enough," he chuckles, glancing at Diana. 

"If this was my birthday it wouldn't be," she snorts. 

I roll my eyes and immediately sit down and start stuffing my face.

"Don't eat too much, we still have a lot of stuff planned today," Daniel says, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Like what?"

***

My eyes widen in disbelief. I stare at the car for several minutes, just questioning is existence. "Is this seriously mine?" I ask.

"Yeah! Come on let's go!" Diana squeals, trying to snatch the keys out of Daniel's hand. He makes an annoyed face at her before turning to me.

"Happy birthday," he says, kissing me lightly on the cheek. I take the keys from him, then slide into the black leather seat.

Diana is in the passenger a second later, shaking with excitement.

"I still can't believe Daniel got you a $200,000 convertible!" She says, running her hands along the interior.

"It's a what?" I shriek.

She grins. She presses a button and the roof lifts off, falling back into a secret compartment. My lips lift into a wide smile as I hear a revving noise and see Daniel pull up beside me in an even fancier black sports car.

My jaw drops and I gape. "How much money do you have?"

"More than I need to be honest," he says, pulling on a pair of aviator sunglasses. I shake my head in amazement.

"Here," Diana says, handing me a pair of aviators. She pulls on a pair as well.

"Where'd you get these?" I ask, sliding them on.

"Glove compartment." 

"Oh," I murmur, running my hands over the wheel and glancing around at the interior. 

"Ana are you okay?" Daniel calls. 

My cheeks burn a bright red as I look back over. "I don't know how to drive."

***

"You really didn't need to buy me all that stuff Daniel," I say. 

He shrugs, slipping his arm around my waist and tugging me to his side. "I wanted to. And you look ravishing in that dress by the way," he whispers in my ear, a growl rumbling in his chest. A shiver runs down my spine at the lust in his voice.

My dress is a simple black bodycon that ends mid-thigh. But it is fairly tight and shows off my body nicely.

"Where are we going?" I ask as he continues to lead me down the dark street.

"A nightclub that a friend of mine owns," he says.

"The one we went to last time, do you own that one?" I ask him.

"I do. Just make sure you are by me, Diana, or one of my pack members at all times. Humans can be a quite aggressive when they're drunk," he says.

I nod as we turn the corner. My eyes widen at the bright neon sign that illuminates the sidewalk packed with people. 

"Wow this place is packed! Please tell me you're on the VIP list or something?" Diana asks behind us. I turn to glance briefly at her and the wolf she is walking with.

"Of course I'm on the VIP list Diana. Now make sure you, Jayson, and the others are spread around inside the club, we want to make sure we don't get a surprise visit from the Council's guards," Daniel says, looking at the men behind them.

"Yes Alpha," they say, nodding deeply. We walk past the line of people and the bouncer looks at Daniel for a moment before letting us in.

Diana and Jayson stay close behind us while the others immediately spread out around the club. Loud music blasts in my ears and the smell of alcohol hits me like a wave.

"I'm going to go dance, you two have fun," Diana says, throwing me a wink before making her way to the dance floor.

"Do you want a drink?" Daniel asks, pulling me through the crowd of grinding people.

"I can't really get drunk, remember?" I point out when he pushes a vodka shot into my hand.

"Then take one of these, maybe without the whole bottle this time it won't get you wasted and just loosen you up a bit," he says. I watch as he mutters something to the bartender who discreetly pushes two small boxes across the counter.

Inside the box Daniel hands me is a small pill. "You sure you want to deal with me after this?" I ask and he nods, grinning in amusement. I swallow it with the vodka, making a face at the aftertaste.

"Come on, let's dance," he says.

I nod. He takes my hand to pull me towards the dance floor. The bass is vibrating in the floor and my body instantly start swaying to the beat.

Daniel grabs my hips so that I am grinding against him as I dance. "I remember last time we danced like this," I say, a small smile on my face.

"I'm surprised, you drank so much that you didn't recognize me at all," he chuckles. 

I feel something warm suddenly start to spread in my chest until I begin to feel elated. I lift my arms above my head and sway my hips. Daniel's arms wrap around my waist and I feel his lips on my shoulder.

Letting out a contented sigh, I turn around so that our lips meet in a slow kiss. It is soft, and sweet, completely different from our normal heated make-out sessions.

One of his hands rests on my lower back while the other gets tangled in my hair. Mine run over his chest, his dress shirt doing little to cover the well-defined muscles underneath.

Daniel suddenly pulls away, looking around wildly.

"What is it?" I ask, growing worried.

"Jayson spotted Council guards in the parking lot, heading this way," he says.

"The bouncer's a werewolf though, he won't let them in, right?" I ask as we shove past people towards the back of the club. It is quieter and it is mostly employees.

"The Council guards have complete jurisdiction over everyone, even werewolves. He will have no choice but to let them in."

"Can we make it back?"

"Yeah, but we have to go now," he says, pushing me out the back door.

"What about Diana and the others?" I ask when he hurries me down the long alley.

"They'll meet us in the forest." He glances behind us every few feet to check for guards. I quickly yank off my heels and carry them in my hand.

"Fuck, I see them," he growls.

I sprint faster down the alley, towards where it ends at the forest. My feet sting from the rocks digging into my skin and are no doubt bleeding but I grit my teeth against it.

The paved street soon gives way to grass and dirt. Relief washes over me as we run deeper into the forest. I start to slow, wincing at the pain in my feet and headache I'm starting to get.

I stop suddenly when the ache spreads down to my neck and then to my spine. "Fuck, that hurts," I hiss, rubbing my neck.

"Ana are you okay?" Daniel asks, lifting my chin. Everything gets blurry and I feel like I'm losing my balance.

"No, I'm not. Something's wrong," I groan. I stumble and nearly fall but Daniel steadies me.

"We have to go! They're coming down the street now," Diana's voice says, raspy and out of breath.

"Holy fuck!" I gasp as the pain is suddenly like fire burning underneath my shoulder blades. I fall into Daniel's arms, tears flooding my eyes. My body is shaking and I am gripping onto his arm so tightly I can feel warm blood trickling over my fingertips.

A harsh cry leaves my lips when the skin on my back tears and agony rips through me.