Shattered Bonds

“Mom! You know I don’t like wearing dresses. Richie doesn't care if I'm wearing a dress.” I say to my mother. This argument is one that we've had countless times. My sister, Riley, is the girlie girl. Give me a t-shirt, a pair of jeans and boots any day of the week.

“Emlyn Grace! This is Richard's Alpha ceremony, and you will dress the part of not only an allied pack member supporting the transition of power, but the Alpha female and Guardian that you are.” I grab the dress that my mother is holding out for me and stomp down the hallway back to my room. “If I was really an Alpha female and Guardian, I could wear whatever I wanted to wear.” I say under my breath as I get to my room. My brother is just coming out of his room, and he winks at me.

Emerson is a great older brother. He never tries to make me into something I'm not and accepts me for who I am. I wish he was a little bit more relaxed and laid back, but he takes his future role as our next Alpha very seriously. He'll be great at it.

“It's one night Emin.” He says, using the nickname he gave me when I was first born, and he couldn't say my name. The nickname stuck. “I'm quite sure, as an Alpha female and Guardian, you can handle a dress for one night.”

I roll my eyes and go into my room to change. I don't know why women can’t wear dress pants to big events. It should be a rule that if men can wear pants, women can too. Okay, maybe it's just my mom that makes me wear dresses. Or maybe it's because I never wear them unless I'm forced into them.

Thankfully when I turned sixteen a couple months ago, I convinced my mom that, since it was my birthday, I should be able to wear whatever I wanted. We compromised on dress pants and a blousy top. I'm tall, like the rest of my family, at 5°11", so my mom doesn't fight me on wearing flats. However, if you're going to put me in a dress, I'm going to wear heels.

The only ones in the room that will be taller than me tonight are the Alphas. Of course, there are a ton of Alphas now. Besides my father and brother, there is the Alpha of Canyon Ridge, Alpha Rik and his two sons, Cohen and Clint. Clint and I are the same age and I was taller than him until this past summer when he sprouted up to a giant 6'5". He and Cohen are two of my best friends. My other friend, Cayden, is an Alpha of Shadow Falls pack. He, along with his father Liam and his brothers Richie and Andrew are the other Alphas that will be in attendance.

It's Richie's Alpha ceremony. I'm happy for him. He's the first of us to become Alpha. Not that I'll be an Alpha. Even if I wasn't a female, I'm the second child. And, while I appreciate the responsibilities that I will have being a Guardian to my mate and their pack, I would never want the responsibility of being an Alpha. I've watched my father and I've seen the stress it has caused my brother. No thanks! Richie will be a good Alpha. Like Emerson, he takes the job very seriously. All our parents worked hard to create the peace that our packs have today. And not just for the werewolf packs, but every supernatural group. They went through a vampire war, a hunter war and then created a supernatural council.

When I finish getting dressed, I grab my phone and text one of the sprites born in our pack.

A few minutes later, I hear a knock on my door.

"Come in, Aspen.”

When the wolves and sprites began mating, no one knew what kind of hybrid they would create. In almost every instance, and there are a LOT of wolf/sprite mates in our three packs, the females became sprites while the males became wolves. There are a couple of exceptions, and Aspen's youngest sister is one of them. She got her wolf last year. Aspen, however, is a perfect sprite and she’s amazing when it comes to doing hair.

She walks into my room. “Ready Lady Emlyn? Ohhhh, look how pretty you are!” Every sprite I've ever met is a girlie girl. Riley is friends with lots of them, but I honestly don’t have much in common with them. I'd rather run through the mud and spar with my friends than play dress-up and do my hair. And no matter how many times I tell one of them it's just Emlyn, they still put “Lady" in front of it. My brother is “Sir Emerson.’ It's a sprite thing, I guess.

“Thanks Aspen. And I appreciate you helping me with my hair. You know I have no idea what to do with it.”

She expertly pulls my hair into an updo of gentle waves and pinned curls. When I feel her putting something into my hair, I have to ask. “Are you putting flowers in my hair?”

Her hands go still. “It's okay. It will probably look better than a clip with metal flowers.” I say to her. "Oh, it definitely will! And, I'll add a little sprite magic and it'll bloom all night.”

When she’s done, I have to admit, my hair looks great. Just as we're finishing up, Riley comes barging into my room.

"Oh Aspen, it's beautiful! I wish I'd thought to ask you to do my hair as well.” She says pouting and that's all it takes for Aspen to make a couple minor changes and Riley's hair looks incredible. It looked good before, but there is something about the touch of a sprite. It's, well, magical.

When we're all ready, we head over to Shadow Falls pack. When we arrive, Alpha Liam and Luna Angel are there to greet us. As soon as I've said hi, Cayden thankfully pulls me away from my family. “Cohen and Clint are already here.” He says, pulling me into a room. I should have been prepared, but I was so aggravated at having to wear a dress, that it hadn't occurred to me. As soon as Cohen and Clint see me, the wolf whistles begin, drawing everyone's attention to me.

"Damn Cayden, who's this sweet little thing you found?” Clint says, eyeing me like I'm one of their flavors of the day.

"Yeah, she looks like our friend Emlyn, but our friend wouldn't be caught dead in a dress.” Cohen says, walking around me and eyeing me appreciatively.

“Knock it off, before I remind you both that I'm stronger than all of you.” I say to them, narrowing my eyes.

"We're just playing, Em. But seriously, you look hot!"

“Thank you.” I say and give them a grand curtsy.

I know my friends, and though there is a slight possibility that I may be mated to one of them, they are very protective of me and all the girls in our pack. Even though they have no problem surrounding themselves with willing she-wolves, if another male comes sniffing too close to any of us, they are right there. While I love them and appreciate their concern, it makes finding a boyfriend difficult. I can't even blame the guys. It's not like they are going up against one or two Alpha males. There are six of them and I'm pretty sure they made a pact to watch out for each other's sisters, myself included.