WHAT BEN SAID

Ben and I were born at midnight, so even though our birthday was technically tomorrow, we were starting the party tonight. Things were lively around our packhouse - which was just opposite my home. I guess the FAO was back in full force. It was nice, we all missed Sam and her betas. And yes, I did miss Ben, just a little.

I went down for breakfast roll call as usual. Ben was there - which was a miracle. He had no lectures today. Sam gave him today and tomorrow off. He had planned to sleep in but Dad had woken him up by texting him NON-STOP regarding some pack house rostering issue and it made him so mad that he just couldn't go back to sleep.

Dad was pretty proud of himself, "Good, then you can join your family for breakfast."

We then proceeded to type in our laptop/ text on our phones/ read my romance novel as a family.

The door burst open, "Happy Birthday!"

Ben smirked at his best friend, "Thanks, but it's not till tomorrow."

"Oh, you are awake." Jonah looked happy, "Quick, I need your help with something!"

The two guys went up to Ben's room.

It was just like before Ben went to college, so it was nice. It made me feel like Ben could always come back and things would be just as it always been.

Mum and Dad had made such a big fuss about it, I guess I subconsciously felt like I had lost the Ben I knew forever, but now I realized we were still growing up together. Yeah, he went to college early, but I was also growing up.

"You're in a good mood today." Jonah said when the two guys came back down.

"Aren't you supposed to be at morning training?" I asked.

"Yeah, uh, I came to collect that letter." Jonah said.

"Seriously?" I felt in my bag for the letter and handed it to him. I almost forgot to write it, except that he had reminded me a hundred times last night.

"Thanks!" Jonah looked extremely grateful. He snatched the letter out of my hand, "Okay, uh, bye!" And he was gone again.

"What the hell did you do to my best friend, Lizzy?" Ben asked looking incredibly amused.

"It's nothing to do with me." I told him, "He's always been an idiot."

Ben laughed, "Only when he's with you, Lizzy."

What was that supposed to mean?

"Don't blame me for your best friend's stupidity!" I hit my brother.

"Mum! Lizzy hit me."

"Ben annoyed me first."

"Lizzy called Jonah an idiot!"

Mum shut the laptop sharply, "Ben send your sister to school. Lizzy, a lady doesn't use her fist."

"Unless she's Sam." I hissed under my breath.

"Young lady, listen to your mother." Dad said without looking up from his phone.

"Come on Lizzy." Ben left for the door.

We took his Lambo out to school, the car spluttered to life with a roar. He dropped me off at the school porch. The guys gathered around to catch up with him. They had heard him coming a mile away.

I just waved and walked over to where Savy was talking to Jonah. As I walked over, I noticed Savy hand Jonah a letter. Love letter?

"Hi, what's up?" I tried to make it sound casual.

"Hi, uh... I was just collecting this. Bye." Jonah quickly left.

"What was that about?" I asked Savy.

"Don't worry, it was a letter to Jonah's mate." Savy told me.

"Seriously? Did he get the whole school to write?" I shook my head. Why would I be worried? That guy was crazy stupid.

"Yeah, I think he really, really, wants his mate to accept him." Savy said.

"Why wouldn't his mate accept him?" I asked. I mean, besides the fact that he was the biggest idiot in the world.

"I think she would too, but its fun to see him have to work for it too." Savy told me, "He had girls chasing him since Middle School, its the first time I've seen him do the chasing."

I laughed a little at that, "Yeah, I guess."

Savy did mean it quite literally too.

We watched Jonah and his football team. They all had letters, but they were making him chase them for it. He pretty much had to chase and tackle down every one of them to collect the letters.

It was very amusing. There was a lot of laughter in the hallway. Even Delta Charlie had come over, but not to stop the fun, he actually handed a letter to Jonah too.

Whoever was Jonah's mate was one lucky girl, even if he was an idiot.

So why didn't I feel completely happy for them?

I paused at the strange less than happy feeling in my heart. Weird.

The weirdest thing was the way that feeling didn't go away at all even after I got home and saw the BBQ pits set up outside our home and the lanterns and decorations Mum, Laura, and our Luna had spent all day setting up.

It didn't go away when I saw Ben ready for the party. He was lounging on the sofa, his shoed feet on the coffee table, laptop propped on a cushion on his lap. Navy blue suit, as what Sam's betas almost always wore, and an emerald green shirt under it. Oh, was he matching me?

He looked up when I entered and smiled, "Hey, birthday girl. Your present is in your room."

I ran up to my room immediately. Mostly I was expecting something terrible. Ben and I had never bought anything for each other before, and the last time he said that, we were eight, and I had found a frog the size of my head my bed.

Ben had claimed he was just bringing my prince charming to me a la the Princess and the Frog movie that I had watched twenty times.

I threw open my bedroom door, wolf on high alert. I scanned my unmade bed, the floors, I checked under the bed. Eh? Nothing.

"It's on your dresser, stupid." Ben appeared at my door.

"You're the stupid, stupid." I retorted back, mostly on auto pilot because there was a small box on my dresser.

A perfectly nice small box.

"Go on, open it." Ben coaxed.

I was almost terrified, but I didn't want to show any weakness in front of my stupid twin. I grabbed the box and pulled off the lid.

And gasped.

I dropped the box onto the floor. Its contents fell out onto the floor.

"Hey!" Ben protested.

I quickly picked up the charm bracelet.

Ben took it from me and put it on my wrist.

"This one," he touched two emerald stone beads, "is us being born together."

"This one is us always celebrating our birthdays together."

"This one is your first shift."

"This one is for all the times you covered for me."

"This one is for meeting your mate."

I looked at the golden heart at the end of the bracelet, "I haven't met my mate."

"Well, you would sooner or later, and I'm not buying another bracelet." He shrugged.

List of times my twin brother was sweet to me:

When he beat up Tim for making me cry

When he gave me his slice of cake when I dropped mine

When he found me and carried my wolf home after my first shift all by himself

When he "found" and streamed the final episode of the romantic drama that I had missed... I was sure he did it illegally though.

When he gave the speech at my student council investiture and said he believed the student body made the right choice in voting for me.

When he gave me this charm bracelet.

My twin brother could be sweet at times. Let's see, we're 18, so he was sweet once every three years on average.

Yeah, that was about right.

But this bracelet was like more sweet than the other things. So I probably shouldn't expect to add anything to this list for the next 6 to 12 years.

So I hugged him. At this moment, I realised I hadn't hugged my own brother for years, I realised we had grown up since, I realised that he was wearing protective armor and a upholster under his shirt. What the heck.

"Anyway, get ready, or we'll start the party without you." Ben threatened lightly before leaving.

I wondered if he was nervous about meeting his mate too, "Ben, maybe we might meet our mates together tonight!"

Ben shook his head, "It'll be best if I never meet her."

And then he was gone.

And this scared me all over again. What if my mate didn't want to meet me either?