"Not quite saving your life kiddo, but happy to help." Ethan came over and pulled Logan up. As Beth stood, both boys were peering at her inquisitively.
"Why are you sad Beth?" It was Logan who asked although it was Ethan who watched her response, waiting patiently. Logan could often see what could not be seen by others.
"How can I feel sad surrounded by you boys, speaking of which where is Oliver?" They were still young enough to be fooled by distractions. Both boys groaned and then laughed.
"Gran made cakes." The statement required no explanation; Beth laughed with the boys who required no response from her. Oliver was forever eating and growing, growing and eating. It didn’t matter which way round it occurred, it was all the same to Oliver.
Her brothers were triplets but each had remarkably different characters. Ethan was without doubt the brains, and Alpha in the making. Logan was the sensitive one who could see what couldn’t be seen, and Oliver, well he was undeniably the brawn. Even now he was at least three inches bigger than his brothers and two inches wider. Other than their height they looked the same. Beth loved them all; she saw all of their unique qualities and their differences.
Not only did Beth have her brothers, she had three sisters. There was Claire who now twenty three, and so individual in her appearance and personality, that she either drew people to her or pushed them away. Since the onset of adolescence, Claire had embraced the gothic culture. Her hair changed colours with the weeks and was currently blue, which would have matched her blue eyes however these were often altered with contact lenses, so were emerald green at the moment. The trademark black clothes and heavy black boots were just a part of Claire.
Of the four of them, Claire was more guarded than the rest of them. She was acutely perceptive when it came to others, yet her own thoughts and feelings were closed off to those around her. Still out of all of her siblings, Beth was the closest to Claire.
Beth also had twenty year old twin sisters, Ellie and May. Ellie who was strong and bright; she excelled in strategic planning and was already a security advisor to Ben. Well she had been until she was recruited for a job in the Air Force. Actually Ellie being part of the Air Force was dubious, since when did the Air Force recruit people. More importantly, what job prevented recruits from being able to call home for more than a couple of minutes once a week? It was all too odd for them to believe that Ellie was in the Air Force.
Ellie had been gone nearly a year now and they missed her terribly. They hadn’t even been able to tell her about Connor, until a month after he had died. And then there was May, Ellie's twin, who was more than bright, with her eidetic memory. May only needed to look at an object to be able to recall it in perfect clarity, she made everyone look dumb. May had already completed her PHD; she often lectured and researched at the local colleges. But rather than being arrogant she was the sweetest, kindest person you could ever meet. Both had dark hair, and a petite frames, tall like Beth, they were striking with their chestnut brown eyes, strong prominent cheek bones, and heart shaped faces.
As Beth went inside she found her mom and Oliver putting some cookies in the oven.
"Hey baby, how are you?" As her mom hugged her Beth felt that familiar feeling of being safe and warm. Her mother had always made her feel this way. Trying to bring happy thoughts into her head, Beth desperately tried to mirror the feeling inside her body. Having a mother with empathetic skills made it difficult for any of them to hide things.
"Better now that I am home, those cookies will smell delicious. I am not sure I can hold off until dinner."
"Sylvia made some that were yummier but I just found Oli eating the last one, again." Beth laughed; Sylvia was Ben's mom and had taken all of the girls into her heart, the first time that she met them. The magic of being mated to a wolf meant that she still looked under fifty, when she was over four centuries old. Similarly her mother hadn’t aged a day, since she mated to Ben.
Taking a seat in the enormous kitchen, where the fifteen seater round solid oak table took centre stage, Beth smiled. The most fascinating discussions happened in this room. She grabbed some fruit, and tried to avoid her mom's anxious glances. As Ben came through the door he kissed Beth on the head.
"Hey it's the nearly graduated girl. Um Beth, can I ask why have you have mud on your shirt?" Laughing she told them of Logan's exploits, Ben laughed while her mom frowned.
"You need to tell the boys to stop climbing trees." Beth slipped away to change while her mom lectured Ben. She hated looking dishevelled; she didn’t see the point in having clothes still at her parents’ house and not making the most of them. Climbing the wooden staircase she glanced at the pictures of her family and friends adorning the walls. In each one she was always immaculate, her appearance had always been tremendously important to her, and as such she was always impeccably dressed, with full make up (understated of course) and perfect hair.
Sitting on her childhood bed, she basked in the memories of her adolescence where her worries extended to how many pimples she would get, and whether there was enough space in her wardrobes.
She needed to tell her family that she had broken up with Alan. With a big sigh she looked in the mirror of one of her multiple wardrobes remembering fondly how, Ben would add a new one when one became full. She now had five wardrobes, spanning two of the walls of which three were still full. Even though she had moved out she still had clothes here. Her apartment was not big enough for all of them; she had always loved shopping for clothes and shoes. Her walls were adorned with pictures of male stars from her late teens; her bed was still sporting the enormous soft, white canopy, which had made her feel like a princess. For as long as she could remember Beth had always been the epitome of girly.
Joining the rest of the family at the table she soon became lost in the pleasure of being home. Not only had Sylvia and Leyland, Ben's parents joined them, but Nicky, Morgan and baby Charlie who was no longer a baby, had arrived. Playing with the children took her mind off of her problems, and soon she forgot all about telling her family that she was now single. Well until Ben brought him up.
"I assume that Alan will be bringing you to your graduation party? Beth can you make sure Alan doesn’t bring that damn guitar? This is not a night for him to showcase his talents." Ben was deadly serious his tone almost annoyed. Maybe the introductions hadn’t gone as well as Beth thought they had.
Beth was about to say it to tell them, but Sylvia interrupted.
"Ben I don't think anyone will ever be good enough for the girls. You will always find something to hate. Just ignore him honey, we are all really looking forward to meeting Alan. Ben will just have to get used to you growing up."
Leyland and Nicky shook their head at Ben, commiserating with him for living with five females even though Beth didn’t live here anymore, making it essentially four. Well three females while Ellie was away with the Air Force.
Beth heard Ben mutter. "Not if I can help it."
She grinned inside she had been remarkably lucky to get Ben for a stepfather. Irrationally over protective described Ben well, but caring and affectionate also described him.
Beth then listened to her mom and Morgan taking up Beth's cause reminding him that Beth was a terrific judge of character. This continued when her mom raved about how lovely Alan was, if only they knew. By the time she left to go home Beth still hadn’t told anyone, and now they expected him to come to her graduation party.
Chapter 4
As she dressed in her dark, charcoal skirt and jacket she looked in the mirror. Beth was pleased to see that the black beads at her neck, with matching ear rings and the bracelet enhanced the style. Today was her graduation; her hair was left loose, the ringlets she had painstakingly spent two hours doing sat perfectly off her shoulders. This way when she added the graduation cap, the photos would still look terrific.
She had already called Alan and reminded him of their plans. At the two week stage, when she had still not told her family about their break u
p, she knew time was running out. He had been trying everything to convince her to try again so she had said yes. Since then, she had been out to dinner with him during which she had been lovely to him, letting him suck up to her. Today she had told her mom that Alan had to visit his sick gran (he did, but he probably wouldn’t), explaining his absence from the ceremony, adding that he would definitely be there tonight.
The ringing of a phone made her jump and took her away from her thoughts; her mom and Ben were nearly at her apartment. With a sigh she picked up the photo on her bed side table. It was the last photo taken of her, with her sisters and both of her parents. After losing her father from their lives to satisfy some higher power, Beth had not physically seen him for years. He wrote every week, and she wrote back telling him all about the happenings in her life going so far as to tell him about Alan. She didn't post any of the letters; they were just missing when she woke. Over the years her father had become her long distance confident. On some days Beth missed her father so much it still hurt.
For Beth the pain of losing her father had eased as time went on. But she never stopped wanting him back in her life. It wasn’t that she didn’t have people that loved her, she had lots of love. It wasn’t even that she had no father figure she did, and Ben was great. It was just that Ben wasn’t her father; no one could ever take his place in her heart.
Slipping on her shoes she went to get her handbag out of the wardrobe; having decided on the bag last night. As she turned to leave the bed room she stopped to pick up the white parcel that was now sat on her bed, the one that hadn’t been there a few minutes ago. She and her sisters received these magically appearing gifts every birthday and Christmas from their father.
Turning over the card she smiled, he hadn’t forgotten.
'Sorry I can't share this day with you, my first born princess. I will be watching your memorable moment. With all of my love, Dad.'
Opening the paper took a while; wrapped in silver and white it looked so pretty that she wanted to preserve it. She had always liked pretty things and today was no exception. Inside a blue velvet box was the most beautiful string of pearls, with matching ear rings, and bracelet, along with another note?
'I thought these would match the outfit, and offer a more striking look' she smiled; her dad knew her so well. Looking down at the gift Beth noted how right he was, they were beautiful.
As she felt the tears well up she quickly swapped the jewellery. Today was a pivotal day; no tears after all her dad would be watching her, as well. At the knock on the door she had one quick glimpse in the mirror, before opening the door to her mom and Ben.
"Oh Beth, you look lovely." Her mom was always a little emotional on special occasions and Ben handed her a tissue, before pulling a camera out of his jacket pocket. Wearing jeans and a suit jacket, Ben looked marvellous. Well of course he did, Beth had picked both of their outfits last night, when she popped home. Everyone needed to look co-ordinated and her family had not been surprised at her taking charge of the clothing.
Beth knew most of her friends would end up drooling at Ben. She didn’t see the attraction personally, so he was tall, dark, and muscular. When she looked at him, she saw her stepdad thank god. Beth knew that Ben would only see her mom, who would also receive admiring looks from some of her male classmates. Her mom Lucky, was tall, with hair that was almost black and trailed down into the small of her back. She was a striking and beautiful woman, but again her mom would only see Ben.
Ben started taking pictures first of Beth on her own, then with her mom, before finally putting the camera on a timer so they could then have one together. Beth wasn’t sure who was more excited, Ben or her mom. After her graduation, she would meet with her siblings and the rest of her immediate family, in the most divine restaurant for dinner. After that her gran would take her younger siblings home while the rest of them went onto Silver's for the party. Ben had closed the club to the public and her mom had gone to town on the decorations.
"Now grab your things we don’t want to be late. We have been thinking about when you move home. What about if you take one of the rooms downstairs that way you can have more privacy?" Already, she knew her mom would get round to her moving back home but not so soon.
"The thing is I am going to stay in the City. It's not that I don’t miss the pack but I need to get a job and I have more opportunities here." As excuses go it was a bit lame. Ben and the rest of the pack managed the journey into the City every day.
She watched her mom smile as she continued. "Sylvia and I have been getting the house ready for you to move back home, but it should be your decision." And that was that, well not quite.
Ben hadn’t said a word and her mom had gone quiet. Looking at Ben's face she knew he was talking to her mom using the wolves' telepathic link. For years Beth had hated not having that link; at this moment, she was happy not to be able to hear them. Ben's face was serious and she could almost imagine the smoke coming out of his ears.
Finally Ben spoke. "It is your decision Beth but if anything happens I want to know immediately, and Imogen will set up security in the new place, because if you are staying in the City, it will in a safer area. Oh and this time I will narrow it down to specific areas. And why are you looking for a job, I thought you would come back to Silvers?"
He was so sweet; it hadn’t been easy for him. He had met and fallen in love with mom, only to find out that she had four daughters. Yet not once had he been anything other fair and loving towards them. He had taken all of the responsibility of being a father, without trying to take the place of their father.
"I thought I would come back to Silvers, and I still might. I just need to do this on my own. Make my own little niche, if that's okay." Her mom kissed her on the head before telling her how proud they were of her. Before mom started crying again Ben shuffled everyone out and down the stairs.
Four hours later, Beth had to say that the graduation and dinner went exceptionally well. Her uncle Lewis hadn’t made it but he had sent the loveliest silk scarf as a present. With it mixtures of blues, Beth had already identified at least three outfits it would look fabulous with. Lewis was in some sort of Special Forces and was away most of the time. When he was back Lewis was great fun; everyone loved watching him spar with Ben and the other wolves. Like her mom, Lewis was supernaturally strong and had exceptional vision, making him an accurate shot. When her mom handed her that gift, she also presented her with one from Ellie. Opening the box, she found a beautiful pendant with some ancient writing and a note from Ellie who translated the writing to 'In my absence I send this talisman to love and protect you'.
It brought tears to her eyes; both she and her mom had noticed the postal address to be blacked out, however, the gift from her uncle had the same stamp as Ellie's. Beth wasn’t sure whether this pleased her or not, in one way Ellie being with Uncle Lewis was a relief. On the other hand they also knew that Uncle Lewis worked in some dangerous places.
Her brothers and sisters had presented her with a beautiful gold bracelet with a gold wolf charm, Oliver laughed at her when it brought tears to her eyes. Nicky and Morgan had added another charm to the bracelet, this one was a stiletto that Morgan's gran (who just happened to be the head of the witches), had blessed to keep her safe. Ben's parents Sylvia and Leyland had brought her the cutest shoes made by her favourite designer. With four inch heels she had rapidly made a decision that they would look fabulous tonight. With the silver diamantes across the toes they were just lush.
With the night just beginning she went home to get ready. Ben had arranged to pick her up. She was waiting for them to arrive as she took a last check in the mirror. Tall and lithe, Beth made the most of her long legs; which right now were making her dress seem shorter than it was, hell, who was she trying to kid? It was short. Ending just below her bottom her legs looked endless. The spray tan added an extra glow to her face and legs. With her silver and grey eye shadow; drawing the gaze to her large blue eyes she looked striking. Be
th added her new shoes just as she heard a knock at the door.
Opening the door for Alan she was pleased to see he had dressed appropriately, wearing a black shirt and slacks. Ugh, he had slicked his hair back which made him look a little smarmy. When he looked at her, she had the satisfaction of seeing his eyes pop out.
"Wow Beth you look stunning, absolutely amazing. Everything will be great now; I have a present for you."
Opening his gift she saw a ring, a small band of gold with a red diamond in the middle (she could see it wasn’t real, but the thought was enough to scare her). For a second her heart sped up; this had better not be….. The shock must have shown on her face.
"Don’t worry Beth it isn’t an engagement ring or anything like that, but it is something to show you my commitment to you. A bit like a promise ring, I promise not to hurt you again."
Grabbing her things she dragged Alan out of the apartment before she had to say something mushy and false in return.
"Now remember they know nothing about the last few weeks. That’s not only because I don’t want them to know, but also because Ben would kill you and I don’t mean that as a threat, he actually would. And after Ben, Leyland would follow, and then Nicky, Darius and Theo. Let's not even talk about what my uncle would do to you or Ellie for that matter. Some god must be looking down on you because neither of them is here tonight."
As he came in to kiss her, she was saved by the ring of her cell. Answering she heard her mother telling her that the car was waiting downstairs for her.
"Don’t worry I get it, I will be as good as gold." She knew he meant that, and for a second she felt a pang of guilt at her plans for him. Until she replayed the image of him and that woman writhing on top of him, in her bed and just like that, the guilt disappeared.
Coming out onto the sidewalk she stopped to stare before an enormous smile lit her face. In front of her was a huge black stretch limousine. In front of that stood her mom, Ben, Morgan, Nicky, Leyland, Sylvia and Celia. Thank god she wore waterproof mascara; her eyes welled at the effort everyone had made.
Two Halves of a A Vampires Soul (The Silver Series) Page 2