Chapter 5 - Birthday Surprise

• Once inside my room, with the door locked against the world, I collect my school bag and attempt to complete all my assignments before I am too tired to focus.
• I look up, having finished my last assignment, and rubbing my tired eyes, I glance at the old child's clock I have on my dresser. With a jolt of surprise, I see it is 2am. Happy birthday to me, I think caught between excitement and dread, wondering what fresh new hell could be awaiting me in the morning. I crawl into bed, with my stomach protesting every movement I make due to it being empty as well as those kicks from earlier, and thankfully, I quickly fall into a dreamless sleep.
• My alarm goes off at 5am as per usual, I don't get a day off just because it is my birthday, I'm not even sure if anyone knows it is my birthday, I climb out of bed and head to the communal bathroom to wash up, I have a nice hot shower, lathering my hair with copious amounts of conditioner, then I brush and dry it until it shines, finally, I scoop it up into a neat ballerina bun on top of my head. Quickly brushing my teeth, I give myself a once over in the mirror and dash to my room to dress and start my day before anyone else can join me. I'm praying people will go easy on me, and by people, I mean Ace and Madeline, even if they don't know it is my birthday, maybe today will be a good day.
• In the kitchen, I begin making breakfast, oatmeal today, nice and easy, even I can do this. Once the oatmeal is ready, I separate it into 4 large portions and add flavouring, chocolate, cinnamon, strawberry, and coconut. the process is simple and relaxing for me, so I enjoy oatmeal days. I definitely much prefer that to scrambled eggs and other breakfasts. As I am in the process of putting the huge bowls onto the warming trolley, the door to the dining room swings open, and the scent of sandalwood and lemon reaches me. The scent is homey and refreshing, like a freshly cleaned pile of laundry (I guess that is because those are the scents of our detergents). This can mean only 1 thing, MATE! I turn slowly, breathing the intoxicating scent in deeply and observe in shock, amazement, and with a slight sinking feeling as Ace strolls in with Maddie on his arm and a glare aimed directly at me. My heart sinks.
• No! No! No! How can he be my mate? Anyone but him, please, please, not him.
• "Breakfast is late," he states coldly, "get a move on Cas, how dare you take this long, what the fụck have you been doing all morning?." I glance up at his face and then hurriedly place the last bowl down. I don't utter a sound. I dont think I could even if I wanted to. My mind is racing, Ace is 18, he has known I have been his mate for over a year, and he chose not to acknowledge the bond? He actually actively chose to ignore the bond and wait until the Alpha and Luna were away and then tormented me openly? The Alpha and Luna had been planning this trip since Ace turned 18, he planned all of this...Your mate can be detected as soon as you turn 17, even if they are underage, which means he knew, he knew for all of this time. I can't believe he treated me this way, knowing we are mates. What had I done to make him hate me so much? Was knowing I couldn't sense the bond enough that it gave him reason to hate me? How could he do this?
• After freezing for a solid minute, I decide I have to ignore this for right now and think, maybe I can pretend I am still oblivious, that will give me some much needed time to process this and then I will have to talk with him, find out his reasoning, and make a decision.
• "Cas? don't ignore me, I'm talking to you!" He adds when he gets no response from me.
• Resolved, I try to pass them both quickly, with the trolley, and I plan to go about my day as per usual. Unfortunately, fate seems to have other ideas.
• What happens next happens in a flash. I graze my shoulder on his elbow, trying to get by, I feel the sparks, which means he will too, then Madeline is shoving me away, hard.
• "Don't you touch him, wh0re, watch where you are going, clumsy b!tch!" she yells.
• Everything spins inside me, and I reach out to catch myself, briefly gripping Madeline's arm, but she snarls, grabs my fingers and squeezes hard, I try desperately to find something else to hold me up but there is nothing, so down I fall, and on my way I slip into unconsciousness, I hear her voice floating as if from a distance "Fụcking hell, that slụt tried to push me over."
• My last thought as I flail and then hit the floor in a dead faint is that, he KNOWS, he knows I know he is my mate, he would have felt the sparks too now I am of age, so much for giving myself time…
• Ace -
• Goddess I want her, I hate that I want her, why can't I want Madeline, she is much more my type, and she has rank, she has class, and she needs to be my Luna, it is all a part of the plan her father cooked up years ago.
• And now she knows, she knows we are mates and she knows I don't want her by my side, soon she will know the plan, but for now I have to keep up the act.
• Yesterday I almost gave in. Seeing her on her knees beside my bed had me straining for release, luckily Maddie is always willing, but I want Cassie's body beneath me, not hers, I want to hear Cassie screaming my name in pleasure after I have thoroughly punished her. A good sp@nking is just what she needs to show her who is in charge. Now, today, she knows the truth, the truth that I have been aware of for far too long, she is my mate. I have to make her submit to me, she will be my mistress while Maddie is on my arm, I'll accept nothing less, I need a son, an heir.