The Alpha's Rebel

Chapter 18

"We," Kaitlyn states, pointing between the four of us standing in front of her, "Are having a party tonight."

"What a surprise," Vinnie smirks, rubbing his hands together in excitement. "It's been a while."

I jokingly scoff, "It's been two days, Vinnie."

"Two days too long," he responds, and him and Thay high five.

"Harp, Maddox better be there," Molly says, narrowing her eyes in a teasing way. "None of us have actually met him yet."

I look at Thay to watch his reaction as I say, "Yeah, he'll be there." He's staring right back at me, but there's no sign of any hatred in his face. I shouldn't be surprised. It's Thay, the guy I've known since I was three years old. He was my first everything, and he knows me better than I know myself. All he wants is for me to be happy, and as long as I'm happy, he'll be okay.

"Good. Then it's settled. Spread the word," Kaitlyn grins.

"On it," Thay grins back.

"Break," I say loudly, and we all burst out laughing.

Laughing with my friends makes me realize how much I've missed them. I've spent the last day and a half with Maddox and only Maddox, and I'm used to being around my friends twenty four seven. Not a day goes by where I don't see them until now. Sharing my time between them and Maddox will be hard, because I want to spend time with all of them all the time.

And then I realize that Maddox and I have to leave soon so he can return to his pack.

So we can return to our pack.

The thought hits me like a freight train. When Maddox and I leave, I won't get to see my friends every day. I'll miss out on so much with them. I won't be there for the almost-daily parties we throw now that we're out of school. No more crazy nightlong adventures with the biggest bottle of vodka we can buy. No more group sleepovers in Molly and Vinnie's living room.

Everything inside me deflates as I realize what leaving actually means. My friends are going to continue living their lives as usual, and I'm slowly going to fade away. I'll come and visit and they'll come visit me, but it won't be the same. This is the last time things will ever be like this.

This is the last time I will be one hundred percent part of my friend group.

After tonight, I'll be the background piece.

The thought makes me walk into the kitchen so I can grab the first bottle of alcohol my hand lands on. It's one of the strongest vodkas Molly and Vinnie own, and I take a long swig from it, ignoring the burning down my throat. It numbs after the first three sips.

I rejoin my friends in the living room and take a seat on the couch. "Oh, we pregaming," Kaitlyn smirks, and I pass her the bottle with a lazy grin on my face. Even with my high tolerance, the alcohol is already starting to hit me. I feel my mind relaxing, my body feeling looser as the seconds go by.

"Gimme," Molly says, reaching her hands out for the bottle. Kaitlyn takes a long swig before handing it over. The bottle rotates around the five of us, and when it's back to me, I drink some more. Kaitlyn drinks more, and Molly finishes the bottle off.

"Damn," Vinnie drags out, getting up to most likely grab another bottle from the kitchen. "That's my girl."

Molly giggles at this, and her uncontrollable laughter has me and Kaitlyn cracking up right along side her. The only funny thing to me is how drunk we already are. Vinnie comes back with another new bottle, and between him and Thay, they chug half of it.

"Okay," Thay says when he almost-slams the bottle onto the coffee table. In my drunken state, I can hear the slurring even in that one word. "No more until tonight. We don't want to ruin the party before it gets started."

I point at him and say, "Good idea," and then I start giggling again. My arm feels so floaty as I hold it up, and then I let it drop like a weight. "Let's play a game."

"YES!" Molly screams loudly, and the rest of us cower away from the noise. "Oopsies," she giggles, covering her mouth with one of her hands. "I didn't know I was yelling."

"It's okay, baby," Vinnie comforts, leaning over and planting a sloppy kiss on her head. "What game should we play?"

"Oh!" she squeals, like she already had the exact game in mind. "Cards Against Humanity!"

"Shit, Mols! We haven't played that in ages!" Kaitlyn says, the excitement shining in her eyes. Kaitlyn is a fucking boss at Cards Against Humanity, and she knows it.

Vinnie stumbles to the cabinet under the TV, opens it, and digs around before pulling out the black box. He makes his way back to the couch and sets the box onto the coffee table in front of all of us. I slip off of the couch to sit down on the floor. Thay slips down beside me, and I have to stop myself from leaning my head on his shoulder.

The alcohol has quickly worked its way to my brain. I know Maddox is my mate and I am already deeply in love with him, but with the state of intoxication I'm in, it took a second to remember that Thay and I aren't together anymore. We were together for five years, so everything with him is second nature. Was.

That's going to be the hard part. I can't let our old habits of being together continue. I love Thay, and I always will, but Maddox is my mate. I'm in love with Maddox. I can say that without a doubt in my mind. It's confusing, though, because not even a week ago, I was deeply in love with Thay. The line between a romantic love and a platonic love towards Thay is so blurred, I don't know what kind of love it is anymore. It's love, though. That I know for sure.

Molly sloppily deals the cards to us, the piles she sets up on the table already falling over. The rest of us are too drunk to fix it or even care, so we deal with scattered piles instead of neat stacks.

"I'm judging first," Vinnie declares, and he grabs a white card. "What gives me uncontrollable gas?" He lays the black card down on the center of the table, and I start reading my own cards. The last one makes me burst out laughing, because, even in my drunken state, it's a clear winner. I slide it to the middle of the table and lean back as I wait for everyone else.

I have a lazy grin on my face from how fast the alcohol is still hitting me. The process of actually getting drunk and feeling yourself lose control is sometimes more fun than actually being drunk.

When everyone else has their white cards in, Vinnie scoops them up and starts reading out loud. "Deez nuts. A bleached asshole. Texas. My sex life. Poorly timed-" He bursts out laughing before he finishes reading mine, and I know I won. "This one is fucking gold," he manages to say.

"We'll come on, spit it out," Thay urges.

Vinnie takes a few more seconds to sober up just a little before he finally does. "Poorly timed holocaust jokes."