You Rejected Me? Well, Joke is on You.

Chapter 20 - One Day?

Annabell's POV

By the time the meeting was over it was time for dinner. We headed straight to the backyard, it was a cook-out night. Everyone knew something was going on. I mean, come on, the Alphas and Betas of the packs were coming outside together. They weren't stupid. I could tell everyone was waiting for an announcement to let them know what the heck was happening.

Tonight's dinner was simple. It was just hamburgers and hotdogs. In other words delicious. Man, food is great.

I grabbed my hamburger and joined the guys at the picnic table they were at. Nate and Cole were walking around assuring everyone that there would be an announcement soon. People were still shaken up and nervous from the rogue attack.

I sat down next to Juliet who gave me a wink. She was still giddy about what I had told her. Kelsey was talking with Abigail and Hailey. I felt kind of bad. I hadn't hung out with them much since lately.

"Hey, how about after training tomorrow we go to the spa and have a girls day?" I asked the four girls.

"That would be amazing." Kelsey gushed.

"Yeah, like I need to get away from the pack house." Abigail stated.

"And I know where we can go! I got some spa certificates from my aunt a couple weeks ago and they are going to expire soon." Hailey told us. "It's about a half hour away, not too bad."

"Sounds great." I smiled. I needed to relax.

Juliet was about to say something when Nate stood up and cleared his throat. Everyone stopped talking. It was almost like they were all leaning forward in their seats, waiting to hear the news.

"Good evening Shadow Moon and Wolfsbane." Nate greeted everyone. There were murmurs of people saying hello back before we were all quiet again.

"So as we know, Shadow Moon, Wolfsbane has been with us for a couple months to help train us against those rogue attacks we were getting. Ever since Wolfsbane has arrived we haven't had any rogue problems, until yesterday. Thanks to the training we didn't lose anyone from either packs, but we did have one injury but he is stable. I know many people are wondering why the rogues showed up yesterday, and many people have theories. Let me set you straight, we know that the Great Wolf is in our presence." He gestured to me. "We know that she is my mate, so we will stand behind her, for she is also some of your's Luna. There are people after Annabell who want to hurt her. They controlled the rogues that attacked yesterday. We all know this is not the end of the attacks. From now on there will be mandatory training for everyone. Everyone will be divided up by skill and age. We will have training everyday, except Sundays. We will be ready for anything. Any questions?"

No one said anything. Everyone just stared at Nate with wide eyes and nodded. We all knew something had been off the past couple of months. There had been a lot more rogue attacks lately. Cole called the people in control of Wolfsbane back in California and everything was fine there. No one wanted to mess with us.

"Now Annabell has something she would like to tell all of us." Nate said, handing the spotlight over to me.

I gave him a little glare, still not wanting to stand up and speak. "Um," I said loudly as I stood up to speak. It was a great opener, "I just wanted to say thank you for everyone in both of these packs. You are all so brave and I am so grateful to be a part of the packs. I know that we won't let this scare us as we will train hard as ever. I don't want you to think of me as your Luna, or the Great Wolf. Think of me as an equal. We will all get through this together and we will all support each other through the next couple of months. I know that this is scary. Hell, even I'm a little nervous about all of this, but we can't let these idiots bully us into a hole so they can bury us. I know that this is a really bad speech, so I'm going to sit down now and you can all wipe this from your memories and go back to eating this wonderful dinner. Okay, bye." I could feel my cheeks were reddening as I sat down. That was the worst motivational speech ever.

A couple seconds after I sat down I heard a slow clap to my right. It was Nate. His clap started a chain of other people's claps and soon there was an applause for me. My cheeks got even hotter. I didn't enjoy having everyone's eyes on me, especially after that terribly sappy speech.

I just grinned and bared it. I gave an awkward wave to everyone then stuffed my face with some hamburger. What can I say, I'm a classy girl.

The next day training was a little less painful that when I first arrived, but still pretty painful. For werewolves, some people were so much out of damn shape. I'd seen humans do better than what some did. At least it wasn't everyone like it used to be.

As soon as I was done training I went straight to my room to take a quick shower. I didn't want to be all sweaty since the girls and I were going to the spa.

As I opened the door I was hit in the face by a fist, more specifically my nose was hit. Not hard, but definitely not a little tap.

"Ow, dammit!" I yelled as my hand went up to my nose. It didn't hurt that much, but I was annoyed.

"Oh my Goddess! Shit! I'm so sorry, baby girl!" Nate said as soon as he saw what he had done.

I just gave him a hard stare.

"Who the heck hits their mate in the nose!" I yelled, trying to sound serious. I guess it worked because the color in Nate's face drained. He actually thought I was mad at him.

"I'm so sorry Annabell! Are you okay?" Nate said worriedly as he sat me down on my bed.

I decided it was enough. "I'm fine, you goof."

Nate looked relieved. "So when are we going?"

"Um, what do you mean, when are we going?" I asked with my eyebrow raised.

"You aren't going out alone." Nate told me like I was a child. Nate and I had been over this a million tims. I didn't need a babysitter. I was fine on my own and I could take care of myself. It was pretty cute how protective he was of me though, sometimes.

"Nate, the girls and I are just going to the spa and then coming straight back here. We will be fine. Don't worry so much." I told him as I gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Okay." Nate agreed. "But if there is anything, even the slightest, out of the ordinary, promise you will mind link me."

"I promise." I smiled at him.

The girls and I hopped in the car and drove off to the spa. It was a great, relaxing, and so much fun. I had been around the guys so much lately that it was nice to have some girl time. Kelsey and Cole were doing great and they were going to take a weekend trip back to California so Kelsey could meet his parents.

"I'm so nervous about meeting his parents. What should if they hate me!" Kesley told me as we got pedicures.

"Cole's parents so the sweetest people you will ever meet. Just be yourself, and they will love you." I smiled. "They will love you because Cole loves you."

Abigail and Jason were going strong and it was so nice to see them like that. I couldn't even imagine actually loosing Nate forever. I didn't want to imagine loosing him forever. Abigail and Jason may have been second chance mates, but their love and bond was still as strong as any other mate couple.

"So I have an announcement everyone!" Hailey squealed happily once we were done getting our nails done. Juliet, Abigail, Kelsey, and I looked over at Hailey's glowing face. I knew what was coming before she even said anything.

"Brad and I are engaged!" Hailey screamed happily as she pulled out a beautiful diamond ring out of her purse and slid it on.

The girls and I erupted into a happy chorus of congratulations.

"He proposed last night after dinner. It was so sweet. He has candles all over our room and rose petals everywhere. It was our two year anniversary as a couple and he wanted it to be special. I wanted you guys to be the first to know before we announce our engagement." Hailey was radiating happiness as she told us this. When she was done speaking, we immediately jumped in and started demanding answers to questions.

It was really sweet to see that. They were the first of my couple friends to get engaged.

All of this talk about weddings and engagement brought up that question. Will Nate and I ever be like this one day?