Kids from One Alpha

Chapter 23: Cruel Games
“Serena,” Holly called from across the yard. Serena looked up and saw Holly waving to her. She beckoned her over. Serena look
ed at Adriana. “Oh, go on, she won‘t do anything here,” Adriana assured. “Besides, she did apologize.” “Yes, a very forced apolo
gy,” Serena said with a sigh. She set her drink down. “Come
on, Serena,” Holly called again. “I better go,” she said. She gave Adriana a small wave. The doctor nodded as she departed. Ser
ena went to Holly. She was standing behind the grills near the back porch of Logan‘s house.
“What can I do for you?” Serena asked, keeping her voice friendly. “We got off on the wrong foot,” Holly said. “But, you‘re part of t
he pack now. As future Luna, it is my job to welcome you, just like it is Logan‘s.” “That‘s nice of you,” Serena said with a nod. Holl
y‘s comfort with referring to herself as Logan’s mate and future Luna were odd
to Serena. Logan hadn‘t mentioned anything to her, and if anything, he seemed standoff–ish to the idea of commitment. It
wasn‘t Serena‘ place to judge it, though. “Come on, let me show you around the house,” she said. She looped her arm through S
erena‘s smiling brightly. Serena smiled warmly, allowing herself to be led up the steps and into the house. “Thanks,” she said. Ho
lly brought her into the kitchen, where the back door led. “This house has been in Logan‘s family for generations,” she explained,
heading from the kitchen into the living room. Serena didn‘t want to tell Holly that she had seen the living room already. If Holly a
ctually wanted to mend bridges with her, then she would go along with it.
She didn‘t want to rekindle any
friction by disrupting the tour and telling Holly that she‘d been in the Alpha‘s house. She had no way of knowing if Logan had told
her, or how she would feel about it. “This room has a lot of
history in it,” Serena commented, looking around at all the pictures. She hadn‘t had a chance to really look at them the last time
she was there. Between having the kids, meeting Logan‘s mother, and discovering how much Oliver looked like Logan at age fiv
e, she had been a little preoccupied. “There is,” Holly agreed, going
to the mantle and holding her arm out to some of the more recent pictures. There were a few of Logan and Holly
together enjoying some kind of date activity. Serena smiled, looking them over. If Holly was just trying to bait her, she wasn‘t goin
g to fall for it!
1/4
11:07 D
“And this, this was Logan‘s dad” Holly said, showing a picture of Flo with a male. “I heard he passed away.” Serena said somberl
y. Holly nodded, her lips curving down in a frown.

“I lost my father too,” she admitted. Serena hadn‘t expected them to have a bonding or sharing moment, but she offered the othe
r female a sympathetic look. “Logan was really the only one who could know what
I was going through when I came here. We were both the children of Alphas who died before their time.” “I am sorry.” Serena sai
d. “It is a terrible tragedy.”
“Yes, it is,” Holly said, turning away from the picture. Serena saw actual emotion in the other female‘s eyes. She didn‘t want to ov
erstep her bounds by offering a comforting touch, though “It must have been comforting to find someone else who understood” s
he said, feeling awkward. Why
did Holly want to show her past traumas? “It was. That is what brought us together. That is why we are so good together, becaus
e we understand each other,” Holly said. “I believe that is true,” Serena said. Holly rounded on her, a glare etching into her featur
es. “Why are you always so
passive?” she snapped. “Can‘t you get mad, show some emotion?” “Holly, I‘m not trying to compete with you for Logan,” Serena
said slowly. “There is nothing to get mad over, at least not
for me.” Holly sneered at her. “You‘re a fool!” she spit. “Besides, you‘ve made it clear that
no male in this pack would think twice about me because I‘m a single mother, why do you think Logan is any different?” Serena a
sked. Holly rolled her eyes. “He‘s noble,” she said. “He likes to rescue the damsel in distress.” Serena laughed; she couldn‘t help
it. Quickly, she covered her mouth to stifle it. “I‘m not a damsel in distress,” she
said. “I don‘t need a male or a mate, and I am doing fine on my own with my kids. I have been for a long time.” Holly rolled her ey
es again. “Well, aren‘t you just the perfect saint?” she asked, throwing her arms up in the air. “Guys really go in for that whole ind
ependent, sweet, soft, and approachable female bit.” Serena sighed, shaking her head. “Did you want to finish taking me on a to
ur of the house?” she asked. Holly sighed. “No,” she said. “Clearly, there is nothing I can
say to get a rise out of you.” Serena was surprised by Holly‘s admission to her plan. “Maybe you can feel comfortable in the fact t
hen, that I am not trying to snare Logan or come between the two of you,” she said. Holly shrugged. “Well at least I know he will
always come back to me,” she said. It wasn‘t exactly the
piei cu cruel Games
response Serena was hoping for. She shrugged. “I’m going to go back to the party,” she said. She headed back through the kitch
en; Holly close behind her. Out the back door, Serena headed for the porch steps. She went to step down, but something heavy
pinned the back of her skirt to the porch. Serena‘s skirt caught, causing her to trip forward. The pressure released, and she
pitched forward, falling down the porch steps. Unable
to catch herself, Serena hit the edges of the steps heavily, groaning as she rolled down, slamming into the ground on her should
er

For a moment everything was
numb. Her vision was blurred, sounds were muffled, and her body was tingling. Then, the pain set in. She groaned, rolling off her
injured shoulder. Sound flooded back first. She heard Holly laughing, chorused by several other girls laughing around her. Seren
a sat up, the impact from her fall fading. Her cheeks burned red suddenly when she saw that her skirt had been pulled down to h
er knees. Her hands shook as
she righted her skirt, but already most of the party goers had gathered around her. Matt was leering along with Holly‘s friends. So
me of the other members were laughing too, and Holly stood triumphant on the porch. “Don‘t move!” Adriana said, rushing to
Serena‘s side. “You could have a concussion.” “I‘m fine,” Serena tried to argue. Her cheeks still burned with heat. She just wante
d
to get out of there. “Serena, let me make sure you are okay.” Adriana insisted. “That was a nasty fall.” Serena sat still, looking at t
he ground so she didn‘t have to see the staring, laughing faces.
Adriana checked her eyes to make sure she wasn‘t concussed, and then tested her arm to make
sure it wasn‘t broken. “You‘re okay,” she said standing up and holding her hand out to Serena. She took it, letting the doctor help
her up, but she held the waist of her skirt in an attempt to keep it from falling down again. She could tell her face was still read, a
nd she imagined her hair was a total mess too! It had been silly to think that Holly was
actually trying to be nice. Serena wanted to kick herself for opening herself up to
this kind of humiliation. “I should go,” she said to Adriana. “Please thank Logan for
inviting me.” Adriana bit her lower lip. “Do you want me to go with you?” she asked. Serena shook her head. “I‘ve got this,” she a
ssured. Serena left the yard, not looking back even though she could feel Holly and her friends‘ laughing eyes and smiles followi
ng her. Serena held her injured arm against her chest as she walked. She started to wonder whether or not she should
have come back to the pack. Night
Sky needed her, and she loved having a relationship with her family again, but was it worth all this? She‘d made enemies of
a female for no reason other than being a single female! She had forgotten how catty females could be when competing over a m
Sure, that existed in the human world, but it wasn‘t something Serena had ever worried about because she wasn‘t dating or trying
to date. Not that she was here, but
among werewolves, any single female was a potential threat.
Serena sighed, just wanting to get home to see her
kids again. When she arrived, Dana was giving them their dinner. It was still light out, and would be for a few more hours.

“Are you okay, hon?” Dana asked. “You look...scuffed.” Serena looked down at her clothes
to see some grass stains. Her cheek stung, indicating she had a scrape there. The rest of her body was
already sore. “I‘m okay,” she said. “I‘m just going to go get cleaned up.”