Battle of the Roses [Book 2]

Chapter 17

Hope you're enjoying the story! :)

Chapter Quote:

"Aw, you're cute when you're jealous."
~Wolfsbane
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Chapter 17

Elsa

I paced up and down the room, waiting impatiently for Ember to finish dressing. Incredibly I'd finished before her. That typically didn't happen. Someone knocked on our door. I went and opened it. Hunter, Josilyn, and Noah stood there.

"Are you two ready?" Hunter queried.

"Ready!" Ember hollered, exiting the bathroom as she slipped on her heels. "Sorry, couldn't get my dress to zip. The zipper kept getting stuck on a thing of fabric."

"Well let's hurry up. We shouldn't be late," Hunter said.

"Why do we have to go to this? I could be practicing for the dance competition," I groaned. I wasn't comfortable being in large groups around people I didn't know. Everyone else in my pack seemed to have no problem interacting with others, even Akira even if she only just listened to whoever was with her. I wasn't good at small talk. I never had been.

"Because we're going to be running the hotel as a pack and that means we all have to be apart of this and meet everyone. Relax Elsa. You'll be fine. Stick with me okay?"

I wrapped my hand around his arm to help comfort myself. Josilyn peered at me from the other side.

"I heard they have a chocolate fountain. I say we head straight to it. What do you say Elsa?" Josilyn asked.

I smiled at her, knowing what she was trying to do. "That sounds wonderful. Let's do it."

We arrived at the door to the ballroom where our family was waiting. My mom commented on how fantastic we all looked before adding, "Keep an eye out on things. We don't know when the Hunters could strike, it could be any time, so be wary of everyone and everything. You see anything suspicious, come to me or Ren. All right, let's go."

Our entire pack, all thirty of us, entered the room. The place was already packed. I saw a few familiar faces from past years. One guy was named Tony Goldshaw. He was a pervert. He'd practically tried flirting with all the girls in our pack until he realized who our parents were. My dad audibly growled when he found out. Mr. Goldshaw didn't appear the rest of that night. I think that was about four or five years ago. When he saw us this time, he made a beeline for the other side of the room. I bit back a laugh. My dad caught my eye. With the victorious twinkle in his eyes, I knew he'd seen it too.

Josilyn, Hunter, and I made our way to the chocolate fountain. Strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, and other delicious items lined the table, waiting for me to put them under the chocolate waterfall. I took one of everything. The wonderful thing about being a Guardian is that we have incredible metabolisms. We could pretty much eat anything without gaining a pound, and if we did gain anything, we lost it in a few days.

"See anyone you recognize?" Hunter asked, glancing around the room.

"A few familiar faces but none I want to talk to," I answered, stuffing my mouth with a chocolate covered strawberry.

"Oh, it's Mrs. Turner! Let's go say hi!" Josilyn insisted. Hunter readily agreed but I said, "I'll be here. Guarding the table."

My brother and friend didn't push me. They left me standing by myself. I shuffled over to an empty table, scanning the room to see where all my family was. My parents were talking to a group of people; Shiloh and Carrie, Rigg and Erin, and Loren and Melinda were dancing; Nancy and Derek, Taki and Frank, Reyna and Dean, and Sam and Casey were all eating. The kids were simply talking to others close to our age.