Beneath the Surface

Caught in the undertow

Needless to say, the party was a disaster. 

It didn't start that way, of course. In fact, it started fairly placidly. That wasn't to say there weren't a few teething problems along the way.

To start with, Sarah had insisted every guest bring her a gift. This was going to result in the packhouse being turned into a storage facility, at which point Uncle Ben put his foot down, telling Sarah to lower her expectations. She did so begrudgingly, but then went on to insist on the most expensive caterers in all Bath, at which point Uncle Ben had to put his fot down again. This went on for practically everything, until Uncle Ben was finally forced to make an ultimatum; either Sarah lower her expectations, or the party wouldn't be held at all. 

This caused quite the storm, but eventually, Sarah finally caved.

And naturally, she turned into even more of a bitch afterwards.

Needless to say, I stayed the hell out of her way during the days leading up to the big event itself. My own sixteenth had come and gone with little fanfare, which only served to ignite the hatred in Sarah's breast even more. I hadn't even insisted on anything, but Mum and Uncle Ben had been adamant that my birthday should be marked with a little something at the very least. 

Of course, when Sarah found out about the small family dinner we'd had, and the shiny new laptop Mum had given me, the shit really hit the fan. 

This time, though, I wasn't letting her get away with stealing my new laptop, and I kept it under lock and key when I wasn't using it, sure that she'd resort to destroying it out of spite, and she was a very unhappy little mess, even more so when she found out our distant cousin Jesse was coming into town. He and I had been friends ever since our childhood, and Jesse was one of the other very few family members who treated me like an actual person, instead of a freak of nature. Sarah, naturally, had tried multiple times to break our friendship up, to no avail, and she was furious when she found out he was coming to Bath to wish the both of us well for our respective birthdays, as it meant all of the attention would not be focused on her, as she clearly wanted. 

So when she cornered me the day of her party, I already had a sneaking suspicion she was going to make it as difficult for me as possible.

"You are staying inside," she hissed, as she stood in my bedroom doorway that morning. "You are not going to take any of the attention away from me. This is my day, you stupid little freak. You already had your day in the sun - and it was a hell of a lot more than you deserved. So stay the hell inside, and don't you even dare put one foot over that door, or so help me God, I will break every stupid, pathetic, worthless bone in that flesh-bag you call a body. Understand?"

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever," I said. I had no real interest in being down there with everyone else and watching her act like she was the belle of the ball. And I had a horrible feeling there was going to be serious trouble when she "chose" her mate. I suspected I already knew who she was going to target, and I didn't want to be caught in the crossfire when the shit hit the fan.

I did feel a bit left out, but as I sat by my window, watching the goings on down on the pool deck, I was glad Sarah had insisted I stay away.  She was, as I'd thought, flitting about from guest to guest, dressed in the most garish, eye-popping red swimsuit you could imagine, and it somehow managed to be even more scandalous than the one she'd worn a while ago. Naturally, she was taking full advantage, and needless to say, quite a few females were left glaring in her wake. 

For Sarah was calculating. She knew better than to go after males who were already mated, instead targeting any single male who dared to speak to any other female that wasn't her. Some of the Alphas were eyeing her sideways, and I winced every time she sauntered up to some pack members having a casual conversation, sliding into their personal space and icing out the female altogether. Even Uncle Ben was frowning, and I could almost hear the growl in his throat. Mum was absolutely disgusted, and I knew she was relieved I wasn't down there. Had any single male even dared look in my direction, I'd be dead. I think at that point Mum and Uncle Ben were finally starting to see the true depths of Sarah's hatred for me, as evidenced by my very obvious absence, and I felt sick when I saw the slow realisation dawn independently on their faces.