"I think being the Luna is like being a princess." One little girl giggles. Her name is Ruby and she's adorable.

Ruby has platinum blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She's one of the kids at the Kaspian House that has wriggled into my cold heart. I think it's because she reminds me of myself. Not just appearance-wise, but her little mischievous ways. She's already built a reputation for stealing things around the house.

"Don't you ever want to be Luna?" Austin smiles at me. He's a little spitfire that's for sure. He's missing one of his front teeth which gives him a goofy smile. I'm currently volunteering with the House. This last week has been both amazing and terrible.

My wolf is itching to do something bad. My instincts are telling me that I've been fairly good and I've stayed away from trouble. I should reward myself by stealing something from someone rich. Or get into trouble by sleeping with someone's boyfriend. I've had to call Steven to help make sure I don't do anything that Wayan would be disappointed in. We settled for smoking some pot and watching one of my favorite movies, Scarface. Alas...Steven isn't Way. And I'm crazy missing Way.

On the other hand, I've spent every single day volunteering with the orphanage. These kids are slowly getting more attached to me and somehow...I'm growing attached to them. I've been helping set up activities and because I know how to play piano and a few other instruments, I've been offering lessons. When we're not practicing our musical skills, they like to chase my wolf in the playground, or we do arts and crafts.

It's so mundane and some would consider boring, but I'm finding that I'm enjoying it a lot. Even Luna Rebecca has started coming with me every so often. She delivers food to the kids or just makes face to solidify that everything is going smoothly and well. Deep down, I know she's swinging by to make sure that I'm behaving.

I look up at where Ruby is staring. There's a little sparkle of hopes and dreams behind her eyes as she admires Rebecca who is conversing with Jess. I don't want to shatter this little seven-year old's heart. She really does look up to Rebecca like she's a princess. Austin on the other hand looks up to Alpha Marcus like he's some sort of superman.

I say nothing and pretend to be too invested in our coloring books to answer their questions. But I forget they're young children. And they annoy the fucking shit out of you.

"Don't you want to be Luna?" Austin asks again.

"I want to be Luna." Ruby smiles brightly. She picks up the color pink and starts drawing into a dragon.

"I'm not asking you, Ruby." Austin's eyebrows furrow. "I'm asking Kole."

"Oh."

I offer a kind smile, "No, I don't want to be Luna."

"Why not?" Austin is shocked and Ruby looks up with wide eyes.

"Being Luna is a lot of work." I tell them as I color outside the lines of my dinosaur. I frown slightly, "I don't think I'd be a good Luna. Someone else is going to be better, I promise."

"Hey Ruby," Austin turns his short-attention span to the young girl. He smiles at her, "Maybe the next Luna will adopt us! Like how Luna Rebecca adopted Kole."

Ruby gasps with pleasure. My heart sinks to my feet seeing how excited they are. I decide this is when to cut the conversation. I push a forced smile, "Why don't you both go play with everyone on the swings? I'll clean up."

"Thanks Kole!" They both yell as they run away. Any time I offer to clean up they take advantage because they hate it. Jess is running a tight ship, trying to provide a home that's similar to real life with rules and chores.

They're cute, my wolf purrs.

I never thought my wolf would have a nurturing side but since we've been working at the Kaspian house, she's gotten quite protective over these pups. I think they remind her of when I was young, and I was left at the orphanage. She couldn't do a lot to protect me then, but she wants to actively protect everyone in this house.

A few of the older residents—I'm talking middle schoolers and one higher schooler—help me put all the toys and coloring supplies away. It surprises me slightly to see how well-behaved they are. When I was their age, I was already becoming an issue for Marcus and Rebecca. On the contrary, they're polite, saying please and thank-you's.

I want to adopt them all, I tell my wolf. I've been trying hard not to let my work here melt my ice-cold heart. It's almost impossible.

Me too, she sighs.

"You okay, sweetie?" Luna Rebecca asks me when I enter the house from the back. She's helping Jess in the kitchen as they both make dinner for the kids.

I push a forceful smile, "Tired."

"Well, that's to be expected," Jess gives me a bright smile. "You've been here all day. Head home, I can do bedtime with them tonight. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure," I stifle a yawn.

"Wait," Rebecca's eyes widen, and she quickly looks between Jess and me. A slight tinge of panic appearing on her face. "Tomorrow is Kole's birthday."

Push it down. I tell myself. I've been trying not to think too much about my birthday. A part of me is anxious on whether Wayan is going to remember to call me. He promised he would but if he's having as much fun as he did last year, I doubt he'll remember.

My nerves start tingling and my fingers itch. I want so badly to drive out of town and steal from some rich pretentious prick. If Wayan forgets, Steven already promised that we'd go out. He said he'll watch over me while I get high out of my mind. Realistically, I know Steven will fall under peer pressure and I'll be the one bringing him home. But at least I have someone to party with.

"It's okay Rebecca—"

She interrupts me entirely, placing her hand gently on Jess' shoulder. "Could she come help you the day after tomorrow? Marcus and I wanted to do something with her."

"Of course." Jess grins, "You deserve to enjoy your birthday, Kole."

Rebecca and I help Jess finish up dinner. It's not until we're driving back that I turn to Rebecca and ask her, "Why would it be bad if I was volunteering tomorrow?"

Rebecca frowns, "What do you mean?"

"You seemed panicked," I tell her. "Over the fact that I was going to volunteer tomorrow."

Rebecca bites her lip, "Well...it's not every day you turn twenty-one, Kole. Marcus and I wanted to spend the day with you."

Her response seems a bit half-assed. Something unsettling stirring inside me. "Please tell me you're not planning a party, Luna." I sigh out.

"What?" Her voice more shrill than normal. "Of course not. You said you didn't want one."

"I don't." I remind her sternly. They love to host parties for Wayan. But those are for Wayan...the most popular guy in the Port. The Alpha's son. It's like having a party for a local celebrity. Having a party for me is like hosting for the celebrity's annoying chihuahua. No one wants to put up with that.

Rebecca bites her lip trying to prevent herself from smiling. I clench my fist by my side to prevent her from seeing. Trying my utmost best to control my anger in this moment. I've lived with the Hurley's enough to know when they're lying.

She's totally set up a party for you tomorrow, my wolf snickers.

I'm already mentally preparing for it to be horrific. I tell her.

***

I decided to sleep in. My alarm went off early in the morning—as I've been setting it that way to go to the Kaspian House. I checked my phone instantly, wanting to see if I had any messages or missed calls from Wayan. Instead, it was empty.

Phones are so useless. I usually only keep mine here in my room—constantly plugged in. When you have a werewolf mind link, phones really don't serve much of a purpose. But I know that Wayan is too far away to link me, so I figured he'd send me something through our cell. Besides, in the werewolf community we're highly discouraged to use cellphones. It's part of the reason we've been able to stay hidden for so long. Cellphones mean easier ways of leaking our secret society to humans.

Maybe he's not awake yet, my wolf comforts me. I answer her by going back to sleep and waking up past noon.

I check again—almost impulsively and see there isn't a single message. My screensaver, which happens to be a picture of the sunset from the lighthouse, glaring back at me.

Son of a bitch, I tell my wolf as I clench my jaw. He fucking forgot.

Give him a bit more credit, Kole. She tries to reason with me.

Get your head out of your ass, I say to her. She growls at my words which makes me roll my eyes. If you really care, you send a birthday message in the morning.

I decide to get out of bed, going out for a quick run through the forest as I try to get rid of my pent-up energy. Not having a message from Wayan has derailed me slightly. He did pinky promise he'd remember and in return I swore to try my best to behave. The behaving has been difficult but remembering your best friend's birthday shouldn't be remotely as hard.

I let my wolf run and weave through the forests. We make it all the way to the coastline where she sticks our nose into the air. Everything smells like ocean and pine. A beautiful combination that feels fresh.

I return to the packhouse feeling a bit better. To be honest, I think sex would work more efficiently to get rid of my deviousness. Maybe later tonight, I could go back into town and try to find that warlock. Only this time, no weird potions or drugs.

After a fast shower, I change into some sweatpants and a crop top. The sun is close to setting, which means I spent the whole day sleeping and running. I don't want to miss the sunset over the sea. It's the one thing I do every birthday of mine. Some years it's raining and other times it's been gorgeous or mediocre because of the clouds. Today looks like it's going to be a clear night.

Checking my phone again, there still isn't a message from Wayan. Taking a deep breath, I make my way into the Packhouse. Just as I'm about to enter, I can hear Rebecca's voice. "Are you sure Steven?" She asks him with concern.

"I tried. I'm so sorry, Luna." Steven seems genuinely distressed. I don't think they've picked up on my scent yet, the breeze must be working in my favor. "I tried getting our friends to come. Some said they can't, they already have plans. Others argued that they're sick. And a few are conveniently out of town today."

Rebecca let's out a deep sigh, "Why the hell wouldn't they want to come to a party?"

"I told you, I should have used my Alpha commands and forced it upon them." Marcus grumbles.

I smirk to myself. No one wanted to come. I knew it. I decide this is my cue and I step into the house. Alpha Marcus launches himself from the sofa chair—a grand smile taking over his face. Everyone turns to look at me. Their distraught expressions quickly transforming to forced joy.

"Happy twenty-first, kiddo!" Alpha Marcus spreads his arms around the room. I notice that Rebecca has decorated the living room. There's a large pair of balloons that make out the number twenty-one. On the counter, I see a massive keg. The kind of keg that Wayan typically has for his crazy parties. Alpha and Luna tend to go to their second home when Wayan decides he wants to throw a party here. Again, they must be in utter denial that their son is a man-whore.

"Happy birthday, Kole." Rebecca smiles brightly, making her way towards me with open arms. She pulls me into a hug, but I keep looking around.

"Finally," Steven winks at me. "You can buy your own alcohol without that dreadful fake. Ms. Van Gina."

I can't help but laugh under my breath. I hardly ever carry around my fake ID because it's only useful in human stores and I've found that my boobs are much more effective. But I do remember when Wayan and I decided to get fakes. He's Mr. Hugh Richard for huge dick, and I'm Van Gina. It's not Dutch but when people ask, I say it is.

Before my eyes can linger too much on all the stuff that Rebecca tried to set up for me, she quickly pulls me towards the fridge. "I got you a cake!" She says enthusiastically.

She pulls out a massive cake. I mean, it could easily feed thirty to forty people. I raise my eyebrow at her, "So no one showed up, huh?"

She visually gulps. Pity crossing her eyes in the most disheartening way. I hate seeing that look on her face. It makes me feel like a little kid all over again. I turn over my shoulder and see that Marcus and Steven also have that look.

Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes. A part of me wants to snap at them. Tell them that this is what happens when they don't listen to me. Instead, I push a smile. I know they only mean well but sometimes...

In a calm voice I say, "This is exactly why I didn't want a party."

"I know..." Rebecca's voice low. "It's my fault entirely. I'm sorry, sweetie. Next year, whatever you say goes."

Control, I tell myself to try and push back my wolf. My guard going up by the second. I don't want to lose my cool. My wolf is slowly getting angrier as she tries to protect me from pain and hurt. Breathing deeply, I remind myself, Control.

"Let's just...eat the cake so I can leave and go out." I mutter under my breath. Rubbing my hand down my face, I look around the living room. "Where's Paula?"

Color visually drains from Rebecca and Marcus' face. They both start mind linking one another and, in a moment, I can see that Marcus is mind linking someone else. My assumption being he's messaging Paula.

Alpha coughs, "Paula can't make it."

"Oh?" I ask.

His eyes look down at the ground. "She says she's going out with some friends."

I blink a few times. Really? Not even Paula could make it? I know we're not incredibly close but she's the nearest thing I have to a sister. I still remember taking her to the beach when we were young or pushing her on the tire swing. Wayan, herself, and I would sled down the snowy hills together on a makeshift toboggan. I push back the growl in the bottom of my chest and throat. Cement starting to build around me.

Staring down at the cake that Rebecca has set on the counter. It has my name written across it. Happy Birthday Kole! I slowly drag my index finger through the frosting. Leaving the words, Birthday Kole! I didn't expect anyone to show up. I'm not surprised that Paula would rather hang out with her friends. I am—after all—expendable.

My phone rings and I quickly glance at it. My hopes rising as I expect to read a message from Wayan. Instead, it's a standardized notification. Something useless—that I need to update my cellphone. My hand starts gripping my phone so tightly that I crack the screen. I can feel my eyes glazing over in black.

"Kole—" Rebecca's voice makes me look up and she's alarmed by my black irises.

"You would have saved so much embarrassment if you had just not done anything like I asked." I tell her through gritted teeth.

"Sweetie," Her voice is soft. Featherlike. She reaches for me, and I step back. The movement visually hurting her.

"Kole, you know we do this for everyone in the family." Alpha says.

I snap my attention to him, his eyes narrowing at me in challenge. My wolf unwilling to back-off despite the Alpha sending a clear message to. "I'm not one of you. I'm not a Hurley. No one gives a shit about coming to a Kaspian's birthday. You should have known this already after my disastrous eleventh birthday party."

I scoff loudly—seeing the instant regret on their faces when they realize I'm right. Growing up, Rebecca used to host these insane birthday parties. Especially for Wayan and Paula. They had themes, gift bags, piñatas, even jumping castles or Paula had a petting zoo once. The entire pack would be invited, and everyone would come celebrate here at the packhouse. Naturally, Rebecca wanted to host me a birthday party when I was ten. Except, no one showed up. I didn't care much for it anyways because Wayan and I decided to spend the day swimming at the beach so it ended up being great nonetheless. 

On my eleventh birthday, however, Alpha Marcus forced people to show up. One of the boys from my school decided it would be funny to head plant my face into my cake as I was blowing out the candles. Everyone laughed—including the adults who tried to hold their snickers while purple frosting dripped down my face. That is...until I broke the kids nose with my little eleven-year-old right hook. I must have popped a vein because his nose was gushing blood and he started crying hysterically. Then the only laughter that was heard was Wayan's as he fell to the ground clutching his stomach while his father scolded him...and me.

A few adults pulled their kids to their side—evidently telling them to stay away from me. Another instance where I embarrassed the Alpha and Luna to the point where they never threw me a party again. Until today...for some bizarre reason.

Rebecca licks her lips, "We just—"

"What?" I frown at her. Her words unable to form. Shaking my head, I say, "I'm not your daughter. Your own children couldn't even be fucked with saying anything to me today. How the hell do you expect the pack to?"

I grab the cake that Rebecca got me, tossing it into the trash. As I walk out of the house, Steven grabs my arm, stopping me in place. There's pity behind his eyes and his mouth hangs open like he doesn't know what to say. I narrow my eyes at him, feeling my pupils dilate in black. A growl escapes my lips as I mind link him, Let me go unless you intend to fuck me, Steven.

He scans over my face, before dropping his hand from my arm. I grab the Jeep car keys and drive out of town. Now that I'm twenty-one, I might as well test out my ID. I go to the nearest liquor shop, stockpiling way too much tequila and vodka. With my werewolf metabolism, I'll need bottles to get drunk. Unlike the clubs in the Port that have higher alcohol concentrations to cater to our metabolisms.

Let's set something on fire, my wolf tells me. The thought of a Molotov cocktail being hurled at something crossing my mind.

Becoming an arsonist isn't exactly on my to-do list. I tell her.

Then let's go find that Warlock. She purrs.

That, I tell her as I drive back into town. I can do.