LEILANI ***Under Editing***

⚫Chapter 23⚫

Friday, November 23

Today was my birthday. I woke up to Saphira suffocating me with a warm hug. "Happy Birthday best friend!!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks, Saph," I responded before closing my eyes. "Nope! Get up."

"No, I'm still tired. Give me another hour or two. What time is it anyway?" I groaned.

"It's 8:00 am." Was she crazy?

"Girl, get out of my room now. I'm going back to sleep," I mumbled before covering my head with my blanket. "Fine, see you in a couple of hours," she groaned before leaving my room.

-

I woke up a second time to the smell of bacon. After using the bathroom, showering, and combing out my hair, I walked out of my room and descended down the stairs.

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Leilani, Happy Birthday to you!"

My family and friends were all seated at the table. I noticed the rest of the gang was here too. Neha, Indigo, Violet, Julian, Raphael, and Jasper. And I also spotted my mate looking at me with a little smirk.

"Thanks, guys," I said with gratitude before giving everyone a hug including Elias.

-

I begged my mother to allow me to open my gifts later. She kindly said yes and that was that.

"Ok, so we've been thinking a lot lately, and we have decided that you can go outside for a bit today," my mother said.

"Wait, what?" I asked with excitement.

"Yes, just you and Elias first, and then your friends. We figured you should get used to everyone's' wolves before you go to The Other Side," my father said calmly. I nervously swallowed as I thought about The Other Side. The date was getting closer and that scared me. However, I was extremely curious to see my other friends' wolves, especially Elias'. "Can we go now?" I asked my parents.

"Sure. Just don't pass the lake."

I immediately cringed thinking as soon as I heard the word 'lake'. Getting up from my chair, I raced towards the closet. After throwing on my sweater and shoes, I walked towards the back door and opened it.

I was greeted by the cool air and the sound of the wind blowing against the trees. I ran onto the grass and threw myself onto the ground.

"Um, are you ok?" Elias asked from behind me.

"I haven't been outside for seven weeks and four days!" I yelled as I got up and began to run around in circles.

It was my first time outside as a vampire. To be honest, I was quite surprised that I didn't rebel against my parents because it was often tempting to sneak out at night.

"Race you to the lake?" I didn't even wait for him to respond as I began to run. Adrenaline hit me like a wave. My legs had minds of their own as they moved quickly.

I finally arrived at the lake with a smile on my face. I hadn't been here in so long. I turned around expecting to see Elias, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Isn't he supposed to be fast too? He's a werewolf," I told myself.

Suddenly, I saw him. The same wolf who stared at me as I was taking down the clothing from the line back in September. So, it was him. He trotted towards me slowly causing me to freeze. He was huge. His fur was black with a unique spot of brown right on the top of his head. He was beautiful. I reached out my hand to touch him as he slowly closed his eyes. As I ran my fingers through his thick dark fur he started to purr. He then proceeded to lick my face causing me to stagger back while laughing.

"Hi," I said with a smile. He then began to travel around me as I stood there feeling self-conscious. It was almost as if he was examining me.

He then nudged me from behind causing me to turn around. He dropped to the ground and started to roll. He wanted me to play with him! So that's exactly what I did. We played for a bit before Elias decided he wanted to shift back.

I shielded my eyes as he changed back into his clothes. "You can look now."

I opened my eyes and turned around to see that Elias was very close to me. Matter of fact his face was inches away from mine.

"Gray likes you. A lot," he said as his radiant eyes left mine and travelled towards my lips. "He does?" I inquired.

"Hmm," he hummed. "Well, tell him I like him too."

"Will do," he responded. "Do you still come to this lake, stalker girl?"

"No, it's kind of chilly now and I'm on house arrest but maybe next- wait what did you call me?"

"Stalker girl," he chuckled. "Ok, I am not a stalker. You're the one who was creepily watching me as I did my laundry at my own damn house!"

"Yeah but you watched me every day for about fifteen minutes for a week straight. That's pretty stalker-like if you ask me." He knew that. I mean how long I stood there watching him. How embarrassing.

"Well, I'm not asking you!" I stated in frustration. I then sighed. "Let's just both admit we were stalkers," I suggested.

"Fine."