twenty - three

'i'm so in love with you, and i hope you know, darling your love is more than worth its weight in gold'

I walk back to the table, grabbing the only money i brought with me, I sit with a sigh as i hand it to my friend causing her to smile. "Are you serious?" She squeals, causing me to grumble out some incoherent words that even i don't understand. "See, I told you, now i'm $20 richer and you're a mother," she giggles like a school girl causing me to roll my eyes.

"A mother?" Joeys eyes widen causing me to splutter our a laugh, as if i had done that, i'm not one to go around to do some frickle frackling. "Titus bought her a puppy." Libby answers. I glare at Jessica who stifles a laugh.

"Oh you mean her brother? The guy from yesterday." An awkward silence surrounds us as i look down at the table, "He's not my brother, He's my...boyfriend. And also, i told him no, i have way to much goin him right now to have a puppy." I hesitate on the word, not sure if i should actually use it. Realization dawns on his face. "Oh,"

"Yea," I respond just as the bell rings, i practically run out of the cafeteria, Jessica and Libby close behind.

I sigh as i leave the school grounds the rest of the day was completely awkward, Charity decided she wanted to go to a friends, that friend just happens to be Joeys younger sister meaning i'm seeing him tomorrow, along with that i've felt his eyes on me all day. I walk straight past Titus as i get in the car, a single tear running down my face.

I can't stop feeling bad, it's almost eating me up inside, along with my fathers sudden appearance. It's all weighing up on me, "You okay tesoro?" Titus asks me as he gets in, he pulls my chin to face him, kissing my head lightly as i nod. "Just stressed." He sighs as he nods "Which is one of the reasons i said no to the puppy. I feel like the responsibility would weigh me down."

"It's fine, tesoro, It was a stupid idea anyway, imagine me having a dog, fucking ridiculous," he pauses, "Where's Charity?" He questions panicked causing me to laugh "Shes at a friends, considering it's Friday when she asked i agreed, Schools probably furious with how much time i've missed."

"Yes well if they have a problem they can come to me," He whispers placing another kiss on my temple as we round the long path towards home. "I have a meeting i have to attend to, i will be back tonight it will just be quite late, i will have guards outside, front back and side, for your protection and for your privacy they won't be allowed inside unless told otherwise, please refrain from causing mischief." I nod with a sad smile, i get a while to myself but at the same time, i could really use him tonight.

"Is that okay? I can miss it if i must, Lance could go i-," I cut him off "It's fine, Titus, Go to the meeting, it will give me a bit of girl time." He nods, still looking unsure as we pull up outside, i place a kiss on the tip of his nose before getting out and walking towards the door. I smile at the guards perched outside as i enter before shutting the door with a sigh, time to cry my sorrows away.

"I'm glad we've come to an agreement," I say as i shake Alpha Craig's hand, his gentle smile a large contrast to my regular scowl. I turn away from him as i finally leave the suffocating room, i've sat in this grueling meeting for 4 fucking hours not including the drive here, It took the problematic Elder 4 hours to decide on a yes or no answer to an alliance, an alliance with one of the strongest packs in America and it still took him 4 long hours.

"That was fucking torturous," I seethe to Lance as we get back into the black range rover. "Now you know how i feel when you drag me to these things," He says, i look over at him furrowing my brows, not quite understanding, "Being away from her, it's horrible," I finally catch on and nod with a sigh as the car starts into motion.

"I hated leaving her how she was, something happened to her during school and she won't tell me what or who the fuck upset her," Lance nods "Man am i glad i'm gay, Darius doesn't have those sensitive moments he also doesn't have that one time of the month where you have to keep changing the sheets, it's so relieving." Lance jokes chuckling.

"Is definitely not excited for that, knowing Amity she's going to get super awkward with me and i don't want that." Lance nods "She's only just an adult, if you can even say that. She's had so much responsibility thrown over her shoulders yet she's still got this childish essence to her, she's a mystery to me." I speak as i stare at the trees that fly by.

"Consider yourself lucky, Darius is so matured i sometimes think he's grown 50 years older overnight, i mean we are adults i get that but he just comes out with this deep as shit, and while we have our moments he's always in protective mode, we never really joke around, i love him an all but he's so cold, very much like how you were before a 5'2 girl in small heels and a long dress walked into a room." I smile at him, like genuinely smile, i guess when i was given my title i lost sense of what truly mattered, the relationships i had, Lance being one of the closest people to me, i pushed him away.

"I'm sorry," I say my wolf almost snaps at me for the submission but i feel as though i owe it to my best friend "When i became Alpha, i pushed you away, I saw the simplest things as disrespect, i mean i full on strangled you because you said something i didn't like, and that's not how friends treat one another."

"You're my Alpha before anything else, I expected you to act differently, but the apology is accepted." He says with a smile. The rest of the car ride is spent in silence, both of us wishing to hold our mates, this is the worst part about this title, the fact i'm always away from her.

I have to admit as we get closer, my mind wanders farther and farther, i imagine her in a white dress accepting her title and effectively 'marrying me' in human terms, i imagine her with a plump stomach as she scolds me for coming home late, i imagine her caring for a pup, our pup, the smile on her face brighter than i had ever seen it before.

I'm so lost in my thoughts i don't even realize we've pulled up to the house until the scent of her floods my nose, I practically jump out the car as i walk into the house. Immediately, a worrying stench of alcohol fills my nose. My eyes brows furrow as i shut the door behind me "Amity?" I call into the overly silent house, i hear a faint groan in the living room and rush inside only to see her, passed out.

I sigh as i catch sight of the bottle of rum in her hand, pretty much all gone. "Oh Amity." I whisper as i walk over to her, i place my arms under her, effectively waking her up, not that i meant to. "Ooh Wolfie's home." She slurs, her voice in a higher pitch, her scent covered with the smell of the alcohol she had consumed. "Have you been drinking?" She smiles as she nods before grabbing her head.

"Just a lille bi," She says, as she holds up her fingers trying to show me just how much, "Amity that was a full bottle," I sigh, "Are you mad?" She slurs once more, tears brimming the edge of her eyes, i pull my arms away from her as i kneel in front of her, "No tesoro." i whisper, rubbing her cheek lightly.

She's silent for a moment before she starts up again, "I'm a barbie girl, in a barbie, Titus i forgot the wurds," She trails off seemingly trying to remember the lyrics to whatever ridiculous song she has in her head. "Why were you drinking?" I question her, she shrugs over-exaggerating as she lays back down.

"I just saw it and wus like ooooh cause you weren't hure and like, i'm an adult!" She says screeching her last sentence. "Ok calm down tesoro, we need to get you to bed," She giggles frantically "Are you coming with me?" She asks with a goofy smile as her fingers trace the side of my neck.

I grab her hand, stopping it as i nod, "Stay here," My voice goes raspy as i erase the feeling of her touch from my mind, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and walking back to the living room. I walk in to see her, later down with her feet in the air as she giggles. "Drink," I order as i hand her the bottle,

"Oooh Sexy." She laughs causing me to sigh, "Just drink, and then we can go to bed." She rolls her eyes at me before bringing the bottle to her lips and drinking pretty much the entire bottle. "Mine," she says as i go to grab it off her, I sigh as i pick her up, her arms go to my neck as does her head.

"Can i bite you? Cause you bit me!" She asks as she prods at the crook of my neck, "No, Little one, You cannot mark me." I say with a small chuckle as i head into our room, I place her on the bed and pull back the covers. "I need my Jamas." She says pointing to a pink set of something on the desk.

"Do you need help?" She nods with a smile causing me to sigh, who knew that drunk Amity would be so hard to manage, I really didn't imagine the first time i undressed her to be when she's drunk and most likely going to throw up on our bed.

My fingertips graze her skin as i pull the hoodie over her head, i keep my eyes away, trying not to look for both of our pride, i pull the nude pink tank top over head head thankfully covering her and leaving her in the leggings before pulling the shoes of her feet, "Do you want to stay in that?" I question causing her to groan.

"No, you're warm," She protests, I pull the leggings off her, once again keeping my eyes trained on my hands rather than her as i pull a pair of nude pink shorts onto her. I feel her hands grip my shirt, pulling it over my shoulders as she practically undresses me, "I like these," she says running her hand against my abs, i laugh at her, come to think of it, drunk Amity is actually pretty amusing, however it doesn't excuse the stupidity of it.

"Stay there," I say as i grab my grey sweats and head into the bathroom, i quickly change out of my dress pants and pull the sweats on as i head back in, i spot her as she plays with her toes. "Okay, feet down," I say as i climb into the opposite side of the bed, her foot drops bouncing the mattress as she curls into me. "No more alcohol for you, ever." I say, she nods into me causing me to smile,

"buonanotte tesoro, ti amo,"