Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
Oh, wow. Thinking about that now. I was going to be thirty-nine on my next birthday, and then after that I would be forty. Joaquin was already in his forties. That old man. I joked about that with him from time to time. Yeah, he still looked like he was twenty-five, just as handsome and strong as when I met him all those years ago, but biologically he was forty-five now. That was trippy to think about. I mean, this November thirtieth and December first, Reagan and Rika would be nineteen. They were the same age now that I was when I was first starting my relationship with Joaquin. And I didn’t even want to think about the fact that they were going to be getting into similar situations. Just hopefully not with someone that was so idiotic in the beginning.
“Riviana, you want the apple pie bombs again, yes?” Abigail, who now looked about forty, but was nearly ancient when I met her twenty years ago, asked me in her sweet voice. She still talked like an old granny, even if she was younger now.
“Yes. Those are always a hit. And so are the pumpkin pie bites. The kids look forward to those treats every year, and so do a lot of the parents.” As I thought about it, about how the parties had evolved and improved over the years, I couldn’t help but think about the first time that I threw the party. It was more of a way to annoy Joaquin than anything else. And he was a little angry when he found out. That was why I had announced that he was there to judge that costume contest. He couldn’t act like an asshole in front of the little kids. And now, with him finally being able to join the party again, Joaquin was looking forward to announcing Alpha’s favorite among the costumes. Though he needed to be unbiased, since we had five children of our own that would be in the contest. He couldn’t just pick Talia, Zachary, Zander, Zayden or Zaley just because they were our kids.
“How many people are we expecting this year, Riviana?” Abigail asked as she made notes on the paper in front of her.
“I think that it will be a little more than last year. We have had some new people settle into the city since the battle. I know that our friends from California are still here. So, as a rough estimate, I would say that there will be about nine hundred or so. But to be safe, let’s make enough food for a thousand. If there are leftovers, we can always donate it to the shelter on Sunday.”
“Lovely, dear. I will make sure that we have all of the goodies ready that day. I am just glad that I have so many helpers now. Heh heh heh.” She chuckled sweetly as she said that. “If I had to do a party this large by myself I would probably die.”
“I wouldn’t do that to you, Abigail.” I squeezed her hand gently. “Don’t you worry about that. You are a part of the family, and I can’t ever let you go. I am not that good of a cook, and Joaquin would burn down the castle. I need you, Abigail.” I was practically begging her never to quit on me.
“Don’t worry, Riviana. I won’t leave. I have been with Joaquin since he was a little pup, and I won’t leave him either. He is like my own little boy, and I love him wholeheartedly.”
“We love you too, Abigail. All of us do. Even Reeselynn here.” I patted my belly that was already starting to curve a little. “She loves your food already.”
“I am glad to hear that, sweetheart. And I will continue to cook for her as well. For as long as I am able to.”
“Thank you.” I leaned across the table, across the costume that I was working on, and hugged the older woman.
We talked a little more about the food that I wanted to be at the party, and then she left. After that, Roisin came in to discuss her part of the party. As the head maid for the tower, and my personal maid, she liked to be the one that decorated. Or the primary one that did it. She also had an amazing eye for detail and magic that would be vital in accomplishing the task.
She had enlisted a crew that had two more Fae and two witches with a flair for the gothic style, and together the five of them were going to make the party perfect. There would be three different ballrooms set up for specific parts of the party. There would be the toddler party that had things that were cute and not scary at all. The second one would be for the elementary and young middle school kids, or those that just didn’t want to be scared. It would be a little scary, but mostly it would just be fun. And the third ballroom was going to be the creepy, scary, haunted horror fest. And Talia, with her connections to the dead, actually enlisted real ghosts to help us. They were happy to do it too, since they were usually so lonely. This was something that made them feel wanted and needed. And that was something that all the souls had been craving. They wanted to be useful for once.
I was starting to get excited for this part. It was the twentieth anniversary party for the annual Halloween bash. And I meant to make it into the best party that they had ever seen. They would see, it was going to be amazing.
Chs
ADD
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Riviana
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Come Saturday evening, I was getting myself dressed for the party while the kids were downstairs getting their costumes on. Some of them needed makeup to be done, but they were having their attendants do it for them. They said that it would be better than me having to do the makeup for all of them.
Talia, taking the holiday as an excuse to be literal and spot on, was going dressed as a devil. Her red dress was going to be accompanied by horns, beautiful makeup, and hair that had been teased and still looked really good. Her boyfriend, Arthur, was going to attend the party dressed as an angel. He said it would be a contrast and a statement. Usually, when couples dressed as angels and devils, the girl was the angel so that she would be skimpy and scantily clad. And men were the devil because that was the stereotype. Well, they did the opposite, and Talia’s dress was anything but skimpy. Joaquin would murder her if she tried to dress like that.
Zaley, whose costume I had worked on just the other day, was going as a zombie. A zombie school girl that is. She was wearing one of her uniforms for school, which I had tattered in all the right places and stained with dirt and fake blood. She was going to have her hair pulled back into pigtails and black streaks of fake dye in it to make it look dirty. She was going to look amazing. And her best friend, Breanna, who she had recently started to hang out with, was going as bubblegum. Literally. Since her hair was bright pink, she was dressing entirely in pink and calling herself bubblegum.
Zachary was going as an alien. The big headed, green skinned, huge eyed alien that you see in cheesy movies. It was funny, and he had gotten the perfect lifelike silicone mask for it. And his outfit that he was wearing was shining silver. He was going all out for this.
Zander had chosen to go as a pirate. He was wearing a wig that had long hair and a few braids in it. He was getting a fake five o’clock shadow. He was wearing an eye patch. And he was dressed perfectly for the role. And he had spent the last three weeks practicing how to talk like a pirate. He was getting good at it too.
Zayden was going dressed as a knight. Not in his armor or anything, but in the tunic and other clothes that marked him as being a knight of status. He would, however, still have a fake sword at his hip. That was a necessity. And what a handsome young knight that he was when he was dressed in that outfit.
…..
Reagan and Rika had costumes as well, but not for tonight. They were going to the university’s Halloween party on the thirty first. And they had partially coordinated. Well, the groups of them did. Reagan was going as a mummy while Levi was a skeleton, Luka was a ghoul, Elias was a scarecrow, a scary one, Cypress was a giant bat, Beech was a spider, and Rowan was Frankenstein’s monster.
Rika and her group were going to switch roles with each other. Rika was going as a vampire while Alyssa, who is a vampire, was going to go dressed as a werewolf. Alexandria was going as a Fairy while Ashle went as a half vampire half werewolf and Ilana was going as a Tree Pixie. They had all borrowed something from the other’s species and made something out of it. It was quite amazing if you asked me. And they looked quite amazing when it was all said and done.
Joaquin and I were going to dress up as well. Though I was going to go dressed as Joaquin, and he was dressing as me. We hadn’t decided on anything overly elaborate for the costumes. I thought that this was going to be fun, since it was the first time that Joaquin and I were going to be dressing up together in all this time.
I had gone out to get some clothes that were the same as Joaquin’s, only in my size. His favorite long sleeved green t-shirt, his favorite black pants, and his go to sneakers that he always wore. To be a little snarky with it, I also put on his collar that I got him for his first Christmas present that said Fido. I figured that it would be appropriate, but no one had to know that it was actually Joaquin’s collar. I could say that I bought it for the costume.
I also pulled my hair up and put on a baseball cap. I knew that my long hair would make me look nothing like Joaquin, so it needed to be taken care of. And the hat that I was wearing said Alpha on it, so there was no doubt about who I was supposed to be.
After I was dressed, I headed down the stairs to find the kids. They were all almost done getting ready for the party and I wanted to see what they looked like. I also wanted to get some pictures of them and save them for the future. These moments were always so precious to me.
After more pictures than were necessary, and way more than the kids wanted me to take, it was time to head down to the party. The guests would be arriving soon, and we needed to be there for them. I also wanted to see off Reagan and Rika before they went on their first ever hunter’s moon hunt. They were excited about this, and I didn’t blame them one bit.
And I wasn’t worried either. Vincent, Shawn, Shane and David were all going as well. Shawn wanted to be there for sure, because he was taking Alexandria, Levi and Luka. Since they were either werewolves or hybrids and that meant that they were able to shift into a wolf form. The only one that had to miss out was Alyssa, and I felt bad for that. Though, she was spending the night doing something with Dietrich, so it wasn’t that bad.
“Oh wow, you all look awesome.” Reagan complimented the kids as we came down. “And wasn’t it nice of Dad to walk you down?” He joked with me.
“Yeah, Dad, you really should have worn a costume.” Rika laughed.
“Me, wear a costume, hmmphf.” I harrumphed and pretended to scowl at them. “Anyway you two better hurry. You’re going to be late.” I kept my voice deep and pretended to talk like Joaquin. And the scowl stayed in place. All seven kids laughed hysterically.
“What is this about me not wearing a costume?” I heard Joaquin coming down the stairs behind me. “I have the perfect one here.”