My Best Friend, My Alpha

Years Before

Years Before

The day of Ashley's twelfth birthday, she sat alone in her bedroom while her parents were busily baking cakes and buttering sandwiches downstairs.

She had left them alone over half an hour ago after she had opened all of her presents, which sat in a neat heap by the grey sofa in the lounge where the Christmas tree would usually be. Her mother had picked out a beautifully silky ice blue dress that felt like warm water beneath her fingers.

The dress was sprawled out nicely on the bed, so that no creases were visible, one of her hands was outstretched and was stroking the length of the silky masterpiece and the other was holding an envelope. She was flipping it around and around carefully in her fingertips as though she were scared that it would cut her if she held it too tightly.

She was sat, so intently watching her letter, as if if she were to take her eyes off it, it would burst into flames. She didn't even notice the scraping of the wall outside her window and the curtains fluttering around as a gust of wind blew them away. You'd think with her a acute senses she would realise, so did he.

The fire boy crept over to her on tiptoes, using his own unnatural abilities. When he was close enough, he growled and leaped on to the bed. Ashley screamed and jumped away from him. Danny raised an eyebrow, "you need to be more perceptive, I could have been anyone," he smirked.

She crouched down on her legs and flung herself into the air with the smallest amount of force so that she did not break the bed when she landed on top of him. She growled playfully but the dangerous tint in her eyes told Danny that he had just messed with the wrong girl on the wrong day.

"Why cant you just use the front door like everyone else!" she yelled and slammed her tiny fist into his shoulder. Danny winced but shook it off, she wasn't that strong and definitely not strong enough to take on a future Alpha. "I'm sorry did I disturb something?" he bated and she shook her head slowly, a frown big enough to tip the whole world on its side.

She got off him slowly and ignored him as she went to sit on the cushions by the window sill. "What's up birthday girl?" he asked, a phrase he would come to get used to in the next few years. She completely blanked him, searching her hands for something and with worried eyes tore the room apart from her nest by the window.

She froze when she saw it, a crisp envelope on the floor of her bedroom by Danny's feet. He followed her eyes curiously and bent down to pick it up, which caused a whimper from Ashley who leaped to her feet straight away and raced towards him.

"Danny! Give it!" she yelled as he placed it high above his head and way out of the small girls reach. "Why is it from your boyfriend?" he mused, knowing her lack of romance was down to her over protective parents and most likely him, he was very intimidating to other kids apparently. He laughed at her attempts to grab for it, pulling on his arm and leaping into the air. "Danny I'll scream!" she threatened and filled her lungs with air. He gave her encouraging eyes that said, 'I dare you' and she choked on her breath.

Giving up on that idea, she quickly came up with another brilliant plan. "I'll bite you!" at this Danny laughed, "with what?" he asked, "you haven't got your teeth yet," he mused. "Last time I checked, my human teeth were still intact!" she shouted and lunged for the letter, knocking them both to the ground. If her parents had not heard them yet, she wondered if they would if Danny screamed.

She growled and grabbed his other arm, the one that was not holding a letter. Her teeth came out of hiding and she pressed them into the inside of his arm. "Don't even think it!" he said angrily and she looked at him evilly, smirking. "Give me the letter and I won't," she bargained. The fire boy debated his options; he really did not want Ashley to bite him but he was eager to know why this letter was so important to her. He yanked his arm off her, shooed her off his body and jumped up. Ashley was crouched and once again preparing to lunge, this time Danny was a step ahead.

He grabbed her forearm and pushed her into the wall, nothing but small training techniques they had both used on each other before. He held her right arm above her head, knowing for definite that her right was her strong arm and therefore she would struggle trying to get out of this one.

Danny's assumption was right, she did struggle but still she tried, locked in Danny's strong hold. "Ashley. Stop!" he half yelled. The snow girl didn't like it when Danny tried to use his dominating power over her. By now she kind of thought herself above his command, they were after all best friends so it did not influence her as it may every other pack member. He knew this and so this was the first time he had ever used this tone on her.

She didn't submit, of course. She did, however, stop trying to hit the side of his face. She stared at him with hate, "give me it idiot!" she said, reaching for the letter once more and losing her balance so that Danny had his chance to push her into the wall, missing the door handle by a short distance.

"Not until you tell me what it is!" he demanded, shaking it in front of her face. Now that she was still, he took liberty to read the letter. "From mum?" he asked, reading the envelope. Ashley looked at the ground.

"Why would you be hiding it if its from your mum. She's only downstairs."

She shook her head at the floor and Danny just stared from her to the letter. "Not that mum," she whispered, looking up shyly but only peeking from under her lashes. "What do you mean?" Danny pushed, breathless all of a sudden. Ashley looked from him to the letter.

"How do you know?" he continued, getting a little angry, "you haven't even opened it!" he demanded.

The thought of her trying to get in contact with her old life was a horrible feeling for Danny. Obviously they weren't good enough for her, they had given her up.

"It's her handwriting," she admitted slowly. "You really do have some dark secrets," don't you he half yelled, "so you're in contact with her?" he added, a frown matted across his lips.

"No, I just get a letter from her every year," she whispered. She looked at his angry features and sat down on the bed. "I've never opened one," Ashley admitted. Danny couldn't stand the look on her face, he sat down and hung an arm over her shoulder, he pulled her closer so that her head was on his chest and placed the envelope between her hands.

"Thank you," she whispered. Her eyes were closed, she was thinking about her mum, she couldn't even put a face to the name anymore. Their hair was different, the same brown but hers had always been longer than her mothers and they shared the same blue eyes. The only thing Ashley could think about was why she couldn't remember her mum and why she was sent away, actually that was the only thing Ashley could remember about her mother.

"You won't tell anyone right?" she asked anxiously. Danny took away his arm and looked down at her. "I promise," he said, putting up his pinky finger. She smiled and hooked her own pinky finger with his. "Thanks weirdo," she said and he laughed. "You know now's not a good time to be insulting me," he joked and Ashley pushed his shoulder back into the bed.

Ashley looked down on him, she knew that he would in no way forget this but he was her best friend. She had to trust him, didn't she?