We made it back to my house right at five. Josh dropped me off so he could go home and change for dinner. I ran inside quickly and went upstairs to get ready for dinner. As I was about to shut my door Sean came out of the bathroom with just a towel on. Why must he do that? And why did he have to look so damn good? I needed to get myself together I had a boyfriend and though It may be ok to think a man is hot It certainly was not Okay to stare at him Like he was a Greek God.  I grabbed a change of clothes and rushed to the bathroom, my mother would not tolerate me being late when she had guests.

I decided to wait until the last minute before going downstairs. I needed to avoid Sean. I still did not understand why he was even here.

I heard a knock on the door. "Hey, Babe It's me," Josh called out to me.

"Come in," I answered back

He immediately wrapped his arms around me when he came in "You ready babe, everyone is here?" He asked.

I nodded as we walked down to dinner hand in hand. Everyone was seated at the table. I noticed two chairs were available between my mother and Philip, Josh's Dad. I sat down by my mother as Josh sat next to his Father. Sean was sitting across from me next to my Dad. That was odd. Usually, Philip sat there when they came to dinner. My parents as well as Josh's always had seating arrangements.  It was weird at first but I got used to them after time. A man I have never seen before sat next to Sean and a woman I assumed to be his wife by the way they acted together.

"Laney, Josh this is Sean's uh, assistant Damon and his wife Farrah." My dad said as he pointed to the couple sitting next to Sean.

"Nice to meet you," I said extending my hand to them. Damon looked to be a little older than Sean but not by much. He had a warm smile that reached his eyes. He was bald and looked to be about six foot seven. His wife Farrah seemed nervous and a bit shy. She was also much shorter than her husband Damon by at least a foot if I had to guess. She wore her hair tapered at her neck and though her hair was blonde I could tell it was not her natural color. Josh nodded at them and shook Damon's hand, but not Farrah's.

We all began serving our plates. As I went to reach for my mom's fresh-baked rolls, Sean's hand bumped mine, sending a shock through my fingers. I yanked my hand back fast.

"Are you ok dear?" My Father asked with eyebrows raised.

"Yes. Uh, I am trying to cut back on carbs, and almost forgot. Prom and Graduation are coming soon." I said as I shrugged my shoulders.

"You are beautiful Laney and perfect," Josh said making me blush. He always knew how to make a girl feel better, even If I wasn't really counting carbs.

"Because you are Beautiful." I heard a voice say in my head. The voice sounded somewhat familiar like I had heard It before, but I could not think when. It was feminine but not my own. I shook It off deciding I must have just imagined It.

The rest of dinner I ate in silence as the others talked around me. After dinner, everyone said their goodbyes as I walked Josh outside.

"I will pick you up for our special date at two tomorrow afternoon," Josh said as he grabbed me in a passionate kiss. I tried to imagine the tingles like Stacey said in that kiss. I felt queasy in my stomach. Maybe I just needed to lie down. I probably ate too much or something. I pulled away and went back inside.

"It's good to be back." I heard the voice say in my head. I went straight upstairs. I thought sleep sounded good, especially since I was hearing voices. I did feel tired too. I looked at the clock it was only eight pm. I put on my pajamas and went to sleep.

*** I was in a forest, The leaves on the tree looked crisp and full of color. I could almost smell the clean fresh scent of pine. I could hear a slight buzzing in my ears, then the sound of a river nearby. As I walked towards the sound of the water, a huge waterfall came into view. There were no waterfalls in our small town. As I stood admiring the waterfall, I wondered why I was here.

 I could hear a slight rustling noise behind me. My muscles began to tense up, this must be the part of my dream where I am suddenly being chased by a crazy ax murderer, I thought as I slowly turned around.

 There in front of me was a huge white wolf with hazel eyes. She had red ears and black paws. A low feminine chuckling filled my head. The wolf tilted her head to the side then just sat down on the ground. Her eyes beckoned me closer. I was not afraid, so I moved a bit closer to the wolf. The wolf laid on its back as if asking me to pet it. I didn't know if it was a male or a female, though if I had to guess I would say a female.

"Laney, come closer." I heard in my mind. 

That voice, it sounded vaguely familiar.

 Before I could really give it much thought I kneeled down next to the beautiful wolf and rubbed her belly. She looked me in the eyes, then rolled over and stood on her paws. "Do you remember me?" I heard in my head. Then the wolf was suddenly a vision of me fully naked, and standing before me. I blinked my eyes in disbelief, and then suddenly the white wolf stood before me again.

***

I suddenly woke up and looked at my alarm it was four am. It was only a dream, but it felt so real. How could I smell the scent of pine, and hear the water? Since I didn't think I was capable of going right back to sleep, I decided to get some fresh air. That was the benefit of having a balcony, I often slipped out on it many nights. 

I slid the window open quietly, and went out on the balcony. the air was cold, and just what I needed. Suddenly I heard my father's voice below. What was he doing out here at this time of night?

"Well do you think you can help her Alpha Sean?" I heard my Father say.

"Actually I do" Sean answered him.

"I sure hope so. Her birthday is coming soon and if she can't change she may never" my dad said sadly. What were they talking about?

"Don't worry Joe she will change. I promise you that" Sean said in a matter of fact way to my dad. They both went inside as I heard the door close behind them.

What does he mean change, I wondered. He sounded worried and sad. What does he mean Alpha Sean? Thinking my father may slip in to check on me I slipped back in and slid the window shut. My head was hurting, though I was not sure If it was from the brisk Nebraska air, or something else. I slid back into my covers and tried to go back to sleep.

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I woke up and my clock said seven am. I could smell my mom's pancakes in the air. My mom made the best pancakes. I jumped off the bed and went running down the steps but stopped. I cannot go down there like this. I almost forgot we had guests. A very sexy guest I did not want to see me in my penguin pajamas. I took a quick shower and fixed my hair and went down.

My mom had just finished putting the last pancakes on the pile as she turned off the pancake griddle.

"Morning dear. You're up early." She said with a huge smile.

"I went to bed early last night," I said as I put two Pancakes on my plate, topped it with strawberries, glaze, and whipped cream.

"Thought you were counting carbs?" Sean said as he sat down next to me with a smirk.

I just ignored him and took a bite out of my pancakes savoring the flavor in my mouth.

"I guess not." He said with another of his famous smirks.

I just rolled my eyes. "I never miss my mom's pancakes when she makes them."

"Oh by the way dear the barbecue has been moved up to this afternoon." My Mom said.

"WHAT" I screamed making my Mom Jump back. I felt bad. "I'm sorry mom, it's just me and Josh had special plans for today"

"Well his parents bumped it up, but he will be there so you guys can spend time together then," she said shrugging.

"But WHY? These plans were special Mom" I said annoyed. Her eyes suddenly got big and I did not want to imagine what she thought I meant by special.

She composed herself then said," I'm sure you guys can just change your plans for tomorrow."

I ran up to my room and saw that I had four missed alerts on my phone. Josh had called twice, Rain once, and there was a text from Cassie.

 I read the text first. "Hey, we should hang out soon". 

It was odd Cassie even sent me a text, we weren't exactly texting buddies. I sent a quick reply back telling her I would see her at the barbecue then called Josh. 

He answered on the first ring. He had no idea why the barbecue was moved up to today but said he had a plan anyway. He was going to pick me up at noon. I then called Rain. 

She said everyone was curious about my new hot visitor. I only laughed. It actually made sense why Cassie was calling. She made it a habit to get to know every hot guy in our town and even in nearby towns. Sean was definitely hot.

 Rain said her parents found out about the Barbecue being switched last night. They had people calling everyone to inform the town. Good thing our town was small. She said they were all taking bets on how long it took Cassie to get her claws into Sean, and somehow the thought of that angered me. I guess it's because I was already mad anyway about the Barbecue being switched. We talked a few more minutes about the barbecue then hung up.

I had three hours until Josh came to pick me up. Since I had already showered, I decided to work on my school project. I still had two weeks before it was due, but it counted for a big part of my grade in Biology. I still couldn't believe in a months' time I would be graduating High School. Prom was coming up in three more weeks and I still needed to do the final fitting for my dress.

 My mom got two dresses from Rita's. One was for my birthday party and one was for Prom. I didn't understand why I had to be so dressed up for my party, But Mom insisted anyway. I sat down at my desk with my notes and began reading them when I heard a knock at my door.

"Who is it?" I called.

"It's me. Can I come in sweetie?" My mom said back. I don't know why she did that when she knew she could. I guess I was at least happy she always asked.

"Come in," I said as I turned my head towards the door. My mother came in and shut the door behind her.

"I just wanted to see how you were feeling sweetie. I came up to check on you last night but you were already asleep". She said as she sat on my bed.

 I never really noticed how young my mother looked. She was thirty-seven But she didn't look a day older than 30. I could only hope I took after her when I got older.

"I was tired. I went to bed early." I said to her.

"You got homework on a Friday?" Mom asked me as she saw my Biology book and notes out.

I laughed. We never got official homework on Fridays. "Mom we didn't have school yesterday, remember the pipes broke. Besides this is my end of year project" I answered her.

"Oh, Laney you are right. I'm sorry I forgot. So much has been going on what with your party, The Barbecue and Sean coming in." She said as she looked down.

I still didn't know who Sean was, and how my parents even knew him. I remembered the conversation I heard my Dad and him have outside and I asked her "Mom who is Sean and how do you and Dad know him?"

"He's an old friend of the family." She answered as she stood up from the bed. Old friend my ass. If I had to guess he was about nineteen maybe twenty years old. "Well, Hun I have to finish getting ready I will see you at the barbecue." And as my Mother walked out I knew she was hiding something from me, but what.

**********************************************************

After Josh picked me up we arrived at his parents' house. He shut off the engine and turned to me and said "Laney I want to spend time alone with you before everyone gets here." I nodded my head. We got out of the car and I followed him inside.

"Hey, kids! Sorry about switching the date" Mrs. Maurice said

"It's ok," I said as I hugged her

Josh took me upstairs to his room. Before he opened the door he covered my eyes with a bandanna. It made me laugh, but at the same time, I was nervous. I heard him open the door and he led me inside.

"Ready Laney?" He asked. I nodded my head as he removed my bandanna. It was beautiful. He had candles lit everywhere, there were roses everywhere, on the bed and floor. I didn't know what to say.

"I wanted it to be special. I had planned to do this somewhere else, but since they changed the barbecue date I improvised. I hope you like it" Josh said.

"I do It is beautiful Josh. Thank You." I said before I could move or say anymore though Josh was bent on one knee. I took a long breath. I suddenly felt dizzy. He was going to...

"Laney McLaughlin, I love you and have for a very long time. Will you be my wife" Josh said as he looked up at me with a ring in between his two fingers.

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Small Authors note. The next part will have Josh's point of view starting out as a treat, and let's just say a lot of action. Things will get complicated. Hope you all enjoy it.

 If you read this chapter already I made some additions to it. Sorry