I walked out of my closet in my non-negotiable outfit. Harmony dropped her face into her hands and groaned loudly.
"You cannot go on a first date dressed like that Lily. You've got to be kidding me." I glanced down at my outfit. I was wearing jean shorts with a frayed hem that wrapped around mid-thigh. I pulled the long black sleeves further down my hands, so they almost completely covered my thumbs. The neckline was a gentle V-neck with a small silver necklace that had a small moon symbol hanging from the chain. It felt fitting.
"Yes, I can. He texted me and said to go comfortable and casual. It still looks nice, though right?" Harmony shrugged and sighed.
"I guess it's you for sure. At least let me do your hair and makeup to my standards okay?" I sat in the chair in front of my vanity. I was suddenly self-conscious and contemplated changing my shorts into some jeans or anything that Harmony might deem more acceptable. She began twisting the warm curling wand into my hair. She would pick up some big pieces then smaller ones shaking the larger ones out as she went. After every piece was curled into a delicate loose curl, she began laying out her makeup tools. I was never one to wear makeup, but she loved to cake it on. I closed my eyes letting her work her magic and tried to find Adam's energy.
I could feel a faint tugging in my body and a warmth that started in my chest and spread down into my stomach.
"Will you sit still." I had not even realized I was moving in the direction of the energy and I had to open my eyes to snap out of it. Harmony was brushing on a faint layer of blush. She stepped back and admired her work then nodded approving. I had more of a BB cream than a true foundation. The slightest bronze surrounded my face bringing back my natural color. My eyes had the slightest cat eye eyeliner with a light grey and white eyeshadow look. I reached out and touched her hand.
"Thank you. It's perfect." She gave me a quick hug and shoved everything back in her bags.
"You know you're always welcome. Now you have a date in approximately ten minutes, and I have some plans with Cane before my parents get back home from their date." She gave me a wink and walked out of my room. I heard the downstairs front door open and words fill the living room. It was in that moment my life flashed before my eyes. Not only were my parents' home, they brought John and Abby along with them.
I clambered my way down the stairs ready to lay some ground rules on how to act when Adam arrived but before I could open my mouth there was a knock at the door. By the uncontrollable blush that was settling its way into my cheeks, we all knew who was at the door.
Dad put his hands up and walked to the door. His shoulders were back, and I could see the full alpha energy radiating from his body. I hoped Adam's alpha instincts would not take the energy as a challenge. When I met John's eyes his devilish smirk told me that he kind of hoped it would happen, but when dad opened the door Adam stood in front of him. His eyes widened at first and I could feel his alpha fighting through our bond. He dipped his head into a small bow showing his respect towards my dad then stuck out his hand to shake it. Dad laughed and pulled him into a big hug. He almost tripped over the door frame as Dad pulled him inside. As soon as Dad released him his eyes landed on me for a second then he tore his eyes away and stepped to John. He performed the same action to John then took Abby's hand in between two of his. "It's so nice to meet you." His eyes went around the room meeting each one of their eyes. "All of you."
As soon as the words left his mouth Mom huffed and almost slammed the two glasses of lemonade on the counter. "Well you haven't met everyone!" Her hands fell to her hips and she stuck one of them out. I could not tell if she was kidding or pregnancy hormones were already getting the best of her.
Adam glanced at me nervously and John coughed to try and hide his laugh. She reached her arms out demanding a hug from him which he immediately obeyed. "It is lovely to meet you Luna." He dipped into a bow even deeper than the ones he gave to my dad and brother.
"Okay you two, I think it's time for you to go have some fun." I grabbed his arm and practically drug him to the door. "But not too much fun!" I shut the door behind me and we both breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"Well that went well." He seemed oddly pleased and I nodded agreeing with him.
A small black Ford Ranger sat in the driveway. It looked like the truck had been freshly clean. The silver trim caught the porch light. He pulled the door open and held out his hand for me to use to push myself inside. He closed the door and jogged around to the driver side. I moved my fingertips around the seat feeling the leather and small davits in the cushion. The car smelled like a pine air freshener and a top hits radio station played on low.
Adam pulled himself into the truck and turned the ignition over. The headlights automatically kicked on and he backed out of the driveway.
"So...nice truck."
"Thanks. My dad just upsized, and he passed this one down to me."
"Nice gift. So where are we going?" He glanced over at me and I could barely see his smirk from the lights on the dashboard.
"Well you'll be meeting some of the pack. I know you've met some from your classes, but this time we are going to be having a friendly conversation." I tried to pry more information from him, but I could get nothing. After about fifteen minutes of driving and singing to the radio we pulled into an old dirt track. We walked to the gate where Adam gave the girl his license in place for our wrist bands.
"What are we doing?" His fingers brushed against mine and my heart jumped.
"We are go-Kart racing." The stadium lights shuttered on and the dirt track in front of us was illuminated. Giant cement stands surrounded the track and a row of six go-carts were lined up at the makeshift finish line. A group of kids our age jumped up from the stand right beside us.
"This is Noah who you already know from chemistry and his mate Zoey. She's in the grade below us so you may not have met her yet." Noah waved at me and Zoey ran up giving me a big hug. She had short blonde hair cut in a bob. She was extremely short for shifter standards barely coming to my shoulder. She had dark thick rimmed glasses that she would push up the bridge of her nose every few minutes.
"This is Jameson and his mate Riley. Jameson is in our homeroom and Riley is in the grade above us with Henry." I looked down feeling uncomfortable at the mention of his name, but I tried to swallow it down so Adam would not feel it in the link. At least he was not here. Jameson had short blonde hair and blue eyes. Riley had long red wavy hair that went to the middle of her back. She looked almost like a lion on fire. Riley also gave me a small hug. I fought the urge to sneeze as her hair tickled my nose.
"Jameson and Noah have been my best friends since before we could talk. My mom used to say that we had some weird babble language before we could form real words."
Adam placed his arm across my shoulders and started leading me down the stairs towards the track. Noah and Jameson started pushing each other yelling about how they were going to beat each other. Adam's warm breath tickled my ear as he leaned in.
"We have the track to ourselves for one hour to race as much as we want."
My feet crunched against the red dry dirt as we walked across the finish/start line. Adam pulled the helmet off the top of the cart. He pulled the helmet onto my head and began tying the chin strap.
"Remember to keep from shifting your weight too much. The carts are light, and any shift can cause you to lose your line. Do not press the gas and brake at the same time. They are not high tech so sometimes pressing both can shut the whole thing down and leave you a sitting duck. Remember to slow down going into the curve and speed up coming out of it. Do not try and take it too fast or you will spin out. Most importantly please stay safe."
He kissed my hand and ran over to his own cart. I climbed into my own. The cart was pretty much half a car with the top missing. The back of the seat rose above my head and the entire vehicle was painted red. Adam's was blue and the rest were an array of different colors. The girl from the front desk stood in a small box on a pole beside the start line. She blew a pink bubble from her bubble gum. As soon as it popped, she dropped the green flag. I could hear Noah's yell from behind me and Adam's from beside me. I joined in with my own and slammed my foot on the gas.
We drove in circles for an hour before the young girl waved a white flag to signal the final lap. I had stayed the middle of the pack eyeing Adam and Riley fighting for first. Noah would occasionally pass by them and takeover first place before dropping back into third. Riley's hair was flying out from around her headrest making her look like a blaze of fire. Jameson and Zoey pretty much stayed in the back afraid of contacting anyone or anything.
Around the first curve I dipped low when I knew Noah would go high. I easily passed and heard Noah yell over the engine. Adam and Riley were neck and neck fighting for first as we drove around the second curve. Adam's blue cart went low and Riley's yellow one went high. There was a small space in between and I gunned it. Riley slowed down a little as she took the turn too fast. Adam shot out of the turn and I followed close behind him. We hit the straightaway and he would move up as I moved then down as I did block me from the pass. I groaned as we hit the third curve. I decided to go low and keep my foot completely on the gas. He slowed down and I sped by moving into first. I pumped my fist into the air as I took the final straightaway.
The girl started lazily waving the checkered flag as I neared it. I started hitting my steering wheel with my hand screaming for us to get there faster.
I saw a flash of blue to my left and screamed as he crossed the finish line a split second before me. We all slowed down and climbed out one by one.
I pushed Adam hard in the chest as I laugh yelled at him. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead.
"Just a little too slow there Lisl."
Within a few minutes everyone was out of their carts and two guys collected our helmets and began preparing the track for the next round of racers. We could hear the next group of people laughing and cheering from the stands. It looked like a bachelor party by the yells of "last night of freedom."
I turned to face everyone else and Adam left his arm over my shoulders.
"Who's up for some dinner?" They all yelled yes except Zoey who did a little excited jig.
"I'm down for some bottomless Red Robin fries. Anyone else?" My hand shot in the air at Adam's suggestion. I was dying for a good burger.
He led me to the car and helped me back in even though I insisted I was perfectly capable of doing it by myself. When he slid into the passenger seat, I felt a new energy across our link. It was nervous but serious. He put the keys in the ignition but did not turn it over.
"I noticed how tense you got when I said Henry's name." I looked down at my hands and began playing with the hem of the sleeve. "I didn't realize it was this serious. We've decided what to do about him."
My breath caught in my throat. I was almost afraid to look up at him.