Chapter 42: It's My Party

Harlow

“Get your hands off her!” Cyrus’s voice boomed from the bottom of the cellar stairs. Within seconds, he shifted and charged forward as Madoc released me and put his hands up.

“Woah, woah! I just gave Harlow her birthday gift. That’s all,” Madoc said.

Cyrus didn’t listen. Before I knew it, Madoc was on the floor, and Cyrus was on top of him.

“Cyrus, stop!” I cried. “He wasn’t doing anything to hurt me!”

Cyrus now had Madoc’s mangled wrist in his mouth. He looked over his shoulder at me with his wolf eyes and let out a low growl.

“Please, let him go,” I begged.

He released Madoc and slowly shifted back.

“What was he making you do?” he asked as he picked his cut up off the floor.

“He wasn’t making me do anything!” I shouted angrily. “I was just hugging him to thank him for my gift.”

“Why are you crying?” Cyrus asked, gesturing to my tears.

I wiped the tears from my cheeks. “Madoc set up a call with my dad. That’s all. I haven’t so much as heard his voice in years. I’m just happy.”

Madoc let out a moan from the floor. He held his bloody arm against his chest. I grabbed a dirty shirt from one of his piles and began to hold it to his wound.

“No, that’s alright,” Madoc said. “It’ll fix itself in a minute.” Then he looked up to Cyrus with a scowl. “But it still hurts. Werewolves are so ill-tempered.”

I helped Madoc to his feet.

“I thought he was making you…” Cyrus trailed off.

“You thought I was seducing your girlfriend with mind control?” Madoc replied in a pissy voice. He went to his nearby mini-fridge to grab his protein shake cup. “I may be undead, but I’m not an a**hole,” he said, slurping blood from the blue plastic straw. His wrist seemed to heal in seconds, and he put the cup back in the fridge. “Besides, Harlow isn’t remotely my type. She’s too short, and she’s got those giant bug eyes going on.”

“Bug eyes?!” I yelled.

“My point is,” Madoc said, dismissing me, “I’m not trying to get with your girlfriend, naked Fonzie.”

“What the hell is a Fonzie?” Cyrus replied.

“Ugh… I’m way too old for this.” Madoc threw up his hands. “I’ll try to surf the internet for some pop culture references you children can understand.”

Cyrus sneered and kicked over a pile of papers next to Madoc’s desk. Madoc let out a gasp and bent over the scattered pile.

“Why would you do that? I have a system. A very intricate filing system!” Madoc said, attempting to put his pile back together. “Well, this is just ruined!”

“Good!” Cyrus replied like a bratty kid.

“Cyrus,” I said sternly. “Madoc did a really sweet thing for me. I’m sorry if seeing me hug someone pisses you off, but that doesn’t mean you can just go around mauling people.” I looked down at Madoc. “Bug eyes, though? Seriously?”

“I stand by my opinion,” Madoc said, standing up.

“I’m sorry,” Cyrus said to me.

“I’m not the one you attacked,” I replied. “You can apologize to him.”

Cyrus looked at the floor.

“Cyrus?” I nudged.

“I’m sorry,” he said with a clenched jaw.

“Apology accepted,” Madoc said with a smug grin.

There was a long silence.

“Your party’s supposed to be getting started,” Cyrus finally said. “We should get over to the bar.”

I nodded. Madoc began to sit down in front of his computer.

“Thank you again,” I told Madoc. “Getting to talk to my dad meant the world to me.”

“It was the least I could do,” Madoc said, not looking at me.

I turned and began to walk out with Cyrus but then turned back toward Madoc.

“Hey,” I said. “Would you like to come? To my birthday party?”

“Harlow…” Cyrus began.

Madoc looked up at me with surprise. “You want me to come?” he asked. Something behind his eyes seemed touched at the invitation.

“Yeah,” I said. “Come hang out. Have a margarita.”

“Harlow, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Cyrus said with concern.

“Well, it’s my birthday,” I replied. “Everyone else has decided to make a big deal out of it, so I might as well take advantage of it. It’s my party, and I’ll invite a vampire if I want to.”

The three of us left the cellar, and Cyrus got a spare change of clothes from the back of his bike. Madoc and I stood by in silence while Cyrus dressed. The sun had fully set at this point, and the moon loomed overhead.

“Where are Leon and Remy?” I asked as Cyrus pulled his cut on over his shirt. We all crossed the road heading toward the bar.

“They went on a food run for me,” Madoc replied.

Cyrus scoffed. “A blood run, you mean?”

“As a matter of fact, yes,” Madoc said. “From live, healthy people that I don’t bite or kill.”

“Cyrus,” I warned. “Enough.” Then I turned to Madoc. “We’ll save them each a piece of cake.”

“You’re a really sweet kid,” Madoc replied. “Don’t let these hot-headed biker wolves change you.”

I rolled my eyes at his jab at the werewolves as we entered the bar. A good seventy people waited inside.

“Harlow’s here!” Red shouted as multiple people cheered. There were some wary stares at Madoc, but no one seemed to want to call it out since he’d come in with me.

Arlene then brought out a huge sheet cake with twenty-two candles lit, and everyone began singing “Happy Birthday.”

This was, by far, the best birthday I’d had in years.

When the song was over and I went to blow out the candles, Arlene reminded me, “Don’t forget to make a wish, darlin’.”

Cyrus

Harlow looked me in the eyes before blowing her candles out. I was sure I knew what she was wishing for. Despite seeing how much everyone cared about her—how much I cared about her—she still wanted to be turned. And I knew she would only be completely happy if I was the one who did it.

I let Harlow mingle a bit, despite hating that Madoc stuck by her side. Blayze came up to me and handed me a beer.

“Why’s the vampire here?” Blayze asked.

“Harlow invited him,” I replied.

“Just remember what we talked about. She shouldn’t know—”

“I got it, Alpha,” I cut him off. “You don’t need to remind me.”

Then Arlene walked over with two paper plates holding large pieces of cake.

“For my boys,” she said as we each took a plate and dug in.

“Thanks, Arlene,” I said with a smile.

“I heard about your gift to Harlow,” Arlene replied. “Very nice job. I remember when your daddy used to ride it around, and all the she-wolves just went crazy over it. You two seem to be head over heels.”

“Yeah,” I said, watching Harlow laugh with Stella, Brat, and Liam. Madoc stood by with a look on his face like he didn’t get whatever the joke was, and Harlow began explaining something to him. I hated that guy so d*mn much. The thought of him being staked through the heart was almost comforting.

Eventually, I rejoined Harlow and did my best to ignore the vampire. As the night wore on, it was nearing time for Dax, Liam, and Brat to hit the road for L.A.

“I’m sorry I punched your face,” I heard Brat say to Stella.

“I kinda deserved it,” Stella replied with a laugh.

Then Brat gave Harlow a hug. “I’ll be back before you know it,” she said. “Happy birthday. We’ll celebrate lots more later.”

As Brat and Liam readied themselves on their bikes, Dax came up to Harlow and gave her a small gift box.

“I think Lola would want you to have this,” he said. When Harlow opened it, she gasped. Inside was a moonstone pin in the shape of a crescent moon. Lola used to wear it on her cut.

“I’ll always wear it,” she said, hugging Dax. “Thank you.”

Then Dax came up to me. “Don’t let her go, son,” he said. His eyes drifted, and I followed his gaze to Madoc. “And keep her safe. Even if she thinks he’s harmless, he’s not.”

“I know,” I said, giving Dax a quick hug.

Harlow was a street-smart girl, but she had a habit of being a little too optimistic about people’s intentions. She was already getting close to Madoc. Too close. And that had me worried. Not because I didn’t trust her, but because if she formed some kind of friendship with this vampire, I feared what she would think of me when the time came for him to be taken out. Would she understand why it had to be done? And would she be able to forgive me?