Ariella
I hear my family laughing and joking outside my bedroom window. It must be open because I can smell the air, the trees in the woods, and every single one of them out there. Everyone out there has their individual scent. Wow. I never realised how strong or how unique wares smelt before.
I creep my eyes open and see mom fast asleep beside me. Her blonde and brown hair is scattered everywhere, even on me. Mom’s hair is long because she never cuts it; it's almost down to her hips. I look closely at a blonde strand and see the tiniest split end. My eyesight is crystal clear.
The laughter outside becomes louder, but I somehow turn down the volume in my head. I focus on mom and hear her heart beating. I feel like freakin’ out when I hear my brother’s or sister’s heartbeat, too.
Now that is seriously incredible.
“Mom,” I whisper softly.
I hear dad say my name and realise he's heard me whisper all the way from the garden.
“Dad,” I reply, smiling. He's coming up.
Everyone in the yard starts cheering and shouting my name. That makes me smile harder.
Mom stirs and opens her eyes. “Sweetheart,” she says and then hugs me as tightly as she can over her bump. “Oh, sweetheart,” she gushes.
“Hey, mom.” I laugh on her shoulder.
She releases me so we can sit up. She looks over my face and hair. “How do you feel? Are you hungry? Uncle Demetrius is grilling up everything we have in the house.”
Dad rushes in and takes a quick look at me before getting on the bed and squeezing me to death. He wraps a hand around mom and hugs her, too.
He finally lets us go and then holds me at arm’s length. “Let me get a decent look at you.” He smiles widely. “Oh, I think you've taken your mom’s crown with your appearance after a change.”
My stomach summersaults. “Uh... Why?”
“Go see,” mom says.
Once I’ve moved to the edge of the bed, dad helps me to stand. He holds me for a few seconds while I get my bearings. Whoa, I feel off balance.
“Just take a minute to adjust to your new centre of gravity,” mom says. “You have a brand-new body to get used to now.” I hear her close the bedroom window behind me to give us some privacy.
I finally take a step towards dad. “Wow, I feel so light,” I say in awe. It’s like I’m weightless.
“That sounds about right,” dad says.
I quickly find my new body balance and then make it to the full-length mirror beside my bedroom door.
“Uh...” I’m left speechless by my reflection. Well, I definitely look different.
First thing I notice is my hair. My wild curls are jet black, but my side bangs are white! Like old woman hair, white! I mean, I knew there was a chance I might wake up lookin’ different, especially after seeing the white fur on my arms when I was changing, but I never expected this.
Next, I notice how dark my eyes are. They reflect the light like crazy, too. They remind me of Aura’s eyes, but mine have just the slightest hint of a sky blue around the iris’. My lashes are longer and fuller than they were, and my eyebrows are a little thicker, too, so I won’t be needing brow pencil anymore. And I won’t be needing foundation either because my skin is completely clear, and it’s glowing.
My body’s the same shape but I'm firmer everywhere. I can see a lot more muscle definition on my thighs and calves. I lift my tank top up to just below my breasts. Okay, so I have definition on my stomach now... I definitely feel a lot stronger and guess I look it now, too. My arms are tighter for sure, but I don’t look manly or hench, just more toned. I actually can't wait to see what I can do with this new body.
I turn to the side. Same booty, it just sits a little higher, and I ain’t grown any, so I’m still a short ass.
“What do you think?” Mom asks. I can hear she’s amused.
I turn around to face her and dad. “So far, so good. What did I look like as a werewolf?”
“You'll find out for yourself soon enough,” dad says. “Mom will help you shower and then you need to come and eat. You need to feed your ware.”
I nod and dad leaves the two of us. Mom runs me a bath instead and washes my hair while I close my eyes and embrace all of my new senses. Smell, sight, even sensing who’s around me.
If it's like this now, what's it gonna be like when I have magic, too?
I suddenly remember… Davonyé... He saw me change. “What did Davonyé say, mom?”
Her eyes light up at that question. “He asked about the scars and if you were in pain. He sat with you for a little while after we brought you up here. He's troubled, Ariella. I think he wants answers now that the initial shock of what we are has worn off.”
I sigh. “Yeah. I think you might be right, but he's still with Carisse and I need him to leave her off his own back, not because we're fated mates.”
“I understand. He said he'd text you. He's in Ontario for the weekend at his mom’s. I don’t think he wanted to go. He admitted he was finding it hard to leave here.”
My jealously spikes. He’s probably with Carisse. “I think I'm gonna push him away, at least until I’ve done my training with dad...” I don't know how I'm gonna do that because I’m already desperate to see him. “…I don't want to, but maybe some forced time apart will be good for him. He’s gotta come to the decision about us on his own.”
And maybe this will force his hand…
“It's your relationship, sweetheart.”
Ugh… or not. “Yeah.”
***
I wear a white Versace jumpsuit and tie my hair up into a ponytail. I set a quiff with the white band of my hair and for the first time ever, I skip the makeup.
“Ready to face the world?” Dad asks as he reappears.
Him and mom look so happy, it almost makes me cry. “Yep.”
I'm greeted to an assault of party poppers and balloons when I step out into the backyard, and then I'm swiftly hugged by everyone. I'm glad mom and dad only invited close family because I don't think I could handle the scent overload of any more wares than this.
I spend the next half hour opening gifts from everyone. I get a Rolex, diamond earrings, clothes, a small island in the Bahamas from granddad and grandma James, and finally, an imported baby blue and black ombre Bugatti from grandad Victorio and Junia. When I was a little girl, Grandad Victorio always used to ask me what my dream car was, and I always told him a black and blue Bugatti. Blue has always been my favourite colour.
“Right,” dad says as he shuts the garage. “It's our turn now and no offence to any of you, but we’ve got Ariella the best present.”
I give him the eye. “Okay...”
Aunt Cecile pulls out a blindfold from her jeans pocket. “Turn around, Pumpkin,” she says while grinning like mad.
I frown but I do as she asked. My vision is completely cut off and I’m left with only my sense of smell to guide me.
I feel dad’s hands on my shoulders and then we begin to walk. I wonder where the hell they’re taking me. I wonder what they’ve got me…
Dad asks me to stop and then my heart races. I can smell the woods… but I can also smell paint?
“Ready?” mom asks.
“Yeah,” I say excitedly.
“Surprise!” mom and dad say in unison, then my blindfold is finally whipped away.
I gasp hard. I'm standing in front of a light blue, two-storey house. It has its own single garage and when I look around, I realise it has its own drive and everything.
WOW. This was definitely not here two days ago.
“You built me a house?” I whisper in disbelief. I always knew my parents worked miracles, but to build this in two days?
“Yep,” dad answers excitedly. “Do you like it?”
“I love it!” I gush. “But... how did you manage to build a house in two days?”
“You know what your dad’s like,” mom says, rolling her eyes.
“I can’t believe it. Thank you,” I say sincerely as I hug them tightly. I decide to mess with them. “Thanks for kicking me out on my twentieth birthday.”
The rest of the family laugh at that.
“Hey, it ain't like that,” dad says, quickly releasing me.
I laugh. “I'm just joking, dad.”
“You best be.” He hands me a set of keys. “The main house will always be your home, no matter how old you are. Thishouse is so that you can have your own space when you want it. You got your own drive, so you can come and go as you want, but we're still close by if you need us.”
My parents are so thoughtful. I swear I'm so lucky. “I really appreciate this, both of you,” I say as I wipe a few stray tears from my face. “I can’t tell you how much I love you both and how grateful I am for you.”
“You are welcome, Baby,” dad says while mom gets emotional, too.
They pull me to the front door. “Come,” dad says. “We’ll give you a tour.”
We go inside and I’m shown around my new crib. I can't believe I own my own house, even if it ain't that far from theirs.
My home has two big bedrooms, both en-suite, and the master bedroom has a little balcony looking out back. It also has another bath, a kitchen-diner, a lounge, and it even has a sunroom with French doors that open out onto my own little garden surrounded by the woods.
It’s amazing, and I can’t wait to be able to go shopping for all the finer furnishings for the place.
We reach the end of the tour and the three of us look out the back doors of the sunroom.
“So, do you like it?” my parents ask for the millionth time.
“I absolutely love it.”
“It's all soundproofed,” dad explains. “But as long as you leave one window open we can still hear you from the main house.”
I give him a hug. “Thank you.”
“You're welcome, baby.” He chuckles. “Your hugs are a lot firmer than they used to be.”
I give mom a quick hug, too, but I make sure I don't hold her so hard. “I guess we should return to my party, huh?”
“Yeah,” Dad replies. “I wanna see how much you can drink.”