"Ok I just got Melanie's text," Kaylee announced. "She and Cerys are on their way home, so we have about fifteen or twenty minutes until they get here. Is everything ready? Cass, you're ordering the food?"
"On it," I replied as I started putting the order in on the wing place's website.
Willow told my girlfriend, "I'm pretty sure everything else is ready. There's not much to do is there?"
Sasha added, "The cake is hidden, and the rest of us are all here so I think that's everything?"
My girlfriend frowned and her ears and tails all drooped a bit, "I guess. I feel like we should have got decorations or something?"
"If we went too overboard she'd notice something before she got here," Willow pointed out. "Or she'd smell it anyways? Like I don't know, balloons and streamers and stuff probably have a scent to them?"
Sasha smiled, "Surprising werewolves is a particular challenge."
"We managed it for Melanie's birthday back in April," Kaylee responded.
"We didn't have any decorations or anything that time either," I reminded her. "It was just the cake that had to be hidden, and Cerys took care of that."
"And the food is on its way, it'll be here in forty-five minutes," I continued as I set my phone aside.
The small kitsune sighed while her tails twitched around in irritation. After a couple seconds she asked, "What about the cards and gifts?"
"We've got all that hidden in our rooms," Willow shrugged. "No point getting that stuff out here where she'll see it ahead of schedule, right?"
I added, "I'm pretty sure Melanie's got the stuff from Brooke and Paige and Melody, so she can hand that over when the time comes."
Kaylee pouted, "It's too bad they couldn't come. It's a friend's birthday, not club business."
"I'm sure they're still thinking about what happened at my birthday," Nina said in a sad quiet voice.
I moved to my little sister and pulled her into a hug, "Sorry sis. I hate that those people ruined your party like that."
"Thanks Cass," she hugged me back. "At least we know they won't ever do it again."
"Yeah," I nodded. It still made me feel awkward thinking about that stuff, but Nina was right. There was no chance the council would ever ruin another birthday for any of my family or friends.
Then Sasha asked, "I think there's nothing left to be done now but wait until the guest of honour arrives?"
"I guess," Kaylee agreed.
It was early Friday evening, the fifth of August, and today was Cerys's birthday. And unlike the backyard BBQ party we had at this time last summer 'for no reason', this time around Melanie made sure the rest of the club was in on the secret.
Hopefully Cerys wouldn't suspect anything, since there was no announcement of a get-together, we hadn't made plans for a BBQ or anything. And Melanie was careful to make the arrangements and plans with all of us in secret. If it all went according to plan we'd surprise the birthday girl after dinner, with the cake and cards and gifts and stuff.
With nothing else to do but wait me and my girlfriend cuddled together on one of the sofas, while Nina Sasha and Willow sat together on the other sofa.
We all had some drinks, and to make it look like we weren't all sitting around waiting for the wolfgirls Nina turned on the game console then she and Willow started playing something while the rest of us just chilled and watched.
About fifteen minutes later the two wolfgirls came in right on schedule. As usual as soon as they were in the door their wolf-ears and tails appeared. Then Melanie greeted us, "Hey folks, what's up?"
"Not much," Willow replied with a shrug. "Just waiting on dinner."
"We ordered wings and wedges and stuff," I told the two werewolfs. "Should be here in about twenty minutes I think?"
"Cool," Melanie nodded.
She went into the kitchen to grab a couple cans of cola while Cerys sat down on one of the big comfy chairs. Then Melanie sat on the other chair after handing one of the cans to her girlfriend.
Cerys opened up her can and had a sip, then she announced "I know the full moon isn't for another six days, but something's come up and we need to do the club meeting tonight. So we'll have to put the surprise birthday party on hold until after the meeting."
"You knew?!" Kaylee gasped as her ears and tails drooped again.
The blonde wolfgirl rolled her eyes, "It wasn't that hard to figure out. Last year Melanie and Cass both knew, and they tried to make it a thing. This year neither of them said a word about it. That made it pretty obvious you were all up to something."
"Crud," Melanie sighed. "I was hoping to get some revenge for when you surprised me at my birthday."
"Sorry Mel," Cerys replied with a smug grin.
Her expression quickly became serious again as she got out her phone and pulled something up on the screen. Then she announced, "I got a few texts from Melody today. There's a potential incident, and something important we all need to be aware of."
Our club leader continued, "I'll get the serious thing out of the way first. Melody says she has reason to believe her dad, Alison Sinclair, is either still working for the council or she's recently been re-recruited or re-activated or something. Either way she thinks Alison is working for them, and the council has her looking into Club Luna."
I felt a heavy weight settle in my stomach at that, and I couldn't help feeling anxious again. I wasn't worried about the council as such, but I was scared about what not-me might do with this information. Especially after what she told them last time. And what I just told Nina a half hour ago, and the fact that this was coming out on Cerys's birthday.
At the same time I could feel Kaylee tensing up with stress. We all knew Alison worked with Mr. Holt, which meant my girlfriend's dad might be at risk if the council was looking into our families as well.
Meanwhile the young wolfgirl looked at me and said, "I'll forward this to you Cass but Melody's begging for mercy for Alison. She didn't have to tell us about this stuff, it kind of puts her in the middle between her dad and her friends. She wanted to warn us though, so we'd know the council ignored what you told them last month."
"Ok Cerys," I grimaced. "Thanks."
Then Sasha asked our club leader, "You said there was something else? An incident?"
The wolfgirl nodded, "Yeah. Melody apologized for this one too because it's kind of her fault? Or at least, she's taking the blame for it anyways."
"So the mystery cave we visited back in March?" she continued, "Melody gave the location to the guy who analyzed the lichen we found in the old runes near the entrance. That guy went to have a look at the cave himself a few days ago, and that was the last anyone ever heard from him."
Cerys sighed as she read out the next part off her phone, "On the holiday, Monday August first, Rick Kovacs left his parents' home and drove out here to visit the nature reserve where we found that cave. He had the coordinates of the cave and a general description of the area, along with some of the pictures Melody took when she was there with us. Rick sent a text at around noon on Monday that he'd parked his car on the side of the road and was going to have a look at the cave. That's the last anyone heard from him."
She continued, "Rick's twenty-four years old, he's studying geology and geomorphology. According to Melody he's in good physical fitness and has experience hiking. She said he's not a trained cave diver, but he does have some experience investigating caves as part of his college course."
My girlfriend spoke up, "Have the police been notified? If he's been missing since Monday his parents are probably freaking out."
"Yeah," Cerys nodded. "The cops searched the area yesterday. Rick's car was found at that bend on Third Line where we parked both times we were there. They searched the nature reserve but apparently nobody told them about the cave or the coordinates? Melody's pretty sure Rick didn't tell anyone else about the cave, because she asked him to keep it secret. So his folks didn't know, nobody else had the coordinates. Anyways the cops have searched the area and didn't find any trace of him. So his folks are freaking out, and Melody's freaking out because she's the one who gave him the location in the first place."
She finished up by telling us, "Melody just found all this out today. Apparently Rick's parents contacted Melody's boyfriend Craig to ask if he'd heard from Rick, which he hadn't. They told him Rick was missing, Craig let Melody know, and she texted all this to me while I was at work earlier."
"Are we talking about the same cave that I used to pray to Hecate?" Willow asked.
Kaylee nodded, "Yeah. We were lured out there in March, we think someone got pictures of us."
I grimaced as I added, "It was the council. The creeps who attacked us? That was part of their investigation, they were watching us from February until they made their move last month."
Sasha spoke up at that point, "This may well be a coincidence, but August first is a pagan holiday. It was celebrated by the Gaelic peoples, and some of my mother's followers observed it as well I believe."
"Good point," Cerys replied. "It's a neopagan holiday too, modern Wiccans call it Lughnasadh."
My girlfriend pointed out, "That cave couldn't have anything to do with that stuff though, could it? Those are Irish or Scottish traditions, they wouldn't be tied to a cave in Canada."
Willow shrugged, "I used the cave for neopagan rituals, and it worked. Ok it took four tries, but eventually it worked."
Nobody knew what to say to that, so we all went quiet for a bit. Then Nina broke the silence, "So I guess we need to go and visit that cave again? How are we all going to get there?"
My girlfriend turned and gave me a hopeful look, but I honestly wasn't sure if she was hoping this was the moment she'd learn how to teleport, or if she was going to suggest we go car shopping.
Then Cerys kind of cemented it as she asked, "What do you think Cass? We all hate to impose on you, but this sounds like a job for the Lunamobile?"
"We're not calling it that!" Melanie insisted.
Fortunately there was a knock at the door at that point, signalling the arrival of dinner. It was the perfect distraction, and it got us all up and moving.
I went to the door to get the food, Kaylee and Sasha got the plates and napkins, Nina and Willow got everyone more drinks, and within a minute or two we were all back in the living-room enjoying an unhealthy feast of wings, potato wedges, and onion rings.
As we all started on our meal my girlfriend asked, "Hey Cerys? I remember this time last year Melanie threw a BBQ party, but nobody mentioned your birthday at all. Now I know your girlfriend knew about it and that's why she did the party, but why not let the rest of us know? Why keep it secret?"
The blonde wolfgirl shrugged, "Today's my eighteenth birthday, right? Today's the day I would have been kicked out of the house. My dad made a point of reminding me of that every birthday for three years. That's why I didn't want to celebrate. It was like a countdown to being out on the street. And I guess in a way I kind of imagined that if I didn't actually have a birthday then the counter wouldn't advance? As if not celebrating would hold off that magic number for another year."
"Damn," Kaylee sighed. "I'm sorry Cerys. I didn't mean to drag up bad memories."
The birthday girl shrugged, "It's fine Kaylee. You didn't know. Anyways I'm over it. Better still, here I am on my eighteenth birthday and my dad's gone, my mom's moved away, and I'm still here. With all my friends. The past twelve months had some awful rough spots, but the last two months things have been better than I could ever imagine."
"I'm glad to hear that," I said. "I'm glad you're happy Cerys."
She smiled, "Thanks Cass. Me and Melanie owe you a lot, and your moms too. And we're grateful for everything you've done for us. We're lucky to have all you girls as friends."
"Agreed," Melanie said as she raised her cola can in a toast.
The rest of us raised our drinks as well, before we continued eating. Nobody said anything else about birthday stuff though, and we didn't mention the Melody stuff either. I had a feeling there was an unspoken agreement to just focus on the positive for now, like enjoying the food and hanging out with all our friends.
When everyone had enough to eat the leftovers went into the fridge, then we all got the gifts and cards and stuff that we had hidden away for Cerys.
Melanie went first, she gave her girlfriend a card and a little package. The blonde wolfgirl opened it up and grinned. The card had a cute picture of a little puppy on the front, and the package was a new video game for the console they had in the basement.
Then Cerys opened the cards that were from our friends who weren't here. Brooke's card had a picture of a couple puppies playing, and Paige's card had a picture of a tiny puppy in a basket. And Melody's card showed a pair of chihuahua puppies.
By that point the blonde wolfgirl was starting to notice the pattern. Especially when Nina's, Willow's and Sasha's cards all had puppy pictures on them too. Mine and Kaylee's were no different. We even had one that our parents sent, and yes that one had a cute puppy picture on the front as well.
"Ok I get the point!" Cerys pouted while she blushed brightly at all the puppy cards in front of her. "You know I'm not a puppy, right? I'm a wolf! I'm a big scary werewolf!"
"Of course you are," Sasha replied with a smirk. "Your tail's wagging that way out of sheer unbridled anger, I imagine? Nothing to do with being happy."
That just got the blonde wolfgirl to pout even harder. And that's when Melanie went to get the cake. That we'd special-ordered. In the shape of a puppy.
As the older wolfgirl set the puppy-shaped cake down in front of her girlfriend she grinned, "Happy birthday, to the cutest werewolf pubby I've ever met!"
That was our cue, and the rest of us chimed in with "Happy birthday!"
At that point Melanie leaned closer and gave Cerys a kiss. Then she grinned, "And now I have my birthday revenge."
"I hate you all," the birthday girl grumbled. She was still trying to hold her pout, but after another couple seconds it gave way to a happy smile. And her tail was wagging up a storm, incase we weren't sure how she really felt.
"Ok I don't hate you," she admitted a moment later. "But I'm not a puppy."
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"Ok I just got Melanie's text," Kaylee announced. "She and Cerys are on their way home, so we have about fifteen or twenty minutes until they get here. Is everything ready? Cass, you're ordering the food?"
"On it," I replied as I started putting the order in on the wing place's website.
Willow told my girlfriend, "I'm pretty sure everything else is ready. There's not much to do is there?"
Sasha added, "The cake is hidden, and the rest of us are all here so I think that's everything?"
My girlfriend frowned and her ears and tails all drooped a bit, "I guess. I feel like we should have got decorations or something?"
"If we went too overboard she'd notice something before she got here," Willow pointed out. "Or she'd smell it anyways? Like I don't know, balloons and streamers and stuff probably have a scent to them?"
Sasha smiled, "Surprising werewolves is a particular challenge."
"We managed it for Melanie's birthday back in April," Kaylee responded.
"We didn't have any decorations or anything that time either," I reminded her. "It was just the cake that had to be hidden, and Cerys took care of that."
"And the food is on its way, it'll be here in forty-five minutes," I continued as I set my phone aside.
The small kitsune sighed while her tails twitched around in irritation. After a couple seconds she asked, "What about the cards and gifts?"
"We've got all that hidden in our rooms," Willow shrugged. "No point getting that stuff out here where she'll see it ahead of schedule, right?"
I added, "I'm pretty sure Melanie's got the stuff from Brooke and Paige and Melody, so she can hand that over when the time comes."
Kaylee pouted, "It's too bad they couldn't come. It's a friend's birthday, not club business."
"I'm sure they're still thinking about what happened at my birthday," Nina said in a sad quiet voice.
I moved to my little sister and pulled her into a hug, "Sorry sis. I hate that those people ruined your party like that."
"Thanks Cass," she hugged me back. "At least we know they won't ever do it again."
"Yeah," I nodded. It still made me feel awkward thinking about that stuff, but Nina was right. There was no chance the council would ever ruin another birthday for any of my family or friends.
Then Sasha asked, "I think there's nothing left to be done now but wait until the guest of honour arrives?"
"I guess," Kaylee agreed.
It was early Friday evening, the fifth of August, and today was Cerys's birthday. And unlike the backyard BBQ party we had at this time last summer 'for no reason', this time around Melanie made sure the rest of the club was in on the secret.
Hopefully Cerys wouldn't suspect anything, since there was no announcement of a get-together, we hadn't made plans for a BBQ or anything. And Melanie was careful to make the arrangements and plans with all of us in secret. If it all went according to plan we'd surprise the birthday girl after dinner, with the cake and cards and gifts and stuff.
With nothing else to do but wait me and my girlfriend cuddled together on one of the sofas, while Nina Sasha and Willow sat together on the other sofa.
We all had some drinks, and to make it look like we weren't all sitting around waiting for the wolfgirls Nina turned on the game console then she and Willow started playing something while the rest of us just chilled and watched.
About fifteen minutes later the two wolfgirls came in right on schedule. As usual as soon as they were in the door their wolf-ears and tails appeared. Then Melanie greeted us, "Hey folks, what's up?"
"Not much," Willow replied with a shrug. "Just waiting on dinner."
"We ordered wings and wedges and stuff," I told the two werewolfs. "Should be here in about twenty minutes I think?"
"Cool," Melanie nodded.
She went into the kitchen to grab a couple cans of cola while Cerys sat down on one of the big comfy chairs. Then Melanie sat on the other chair after handing one of the cans to her girlfriend.
Cerys opened up her can and had a sip, then she announced "I know the full moon isn't for another six days, but something's come up and we need to do the club meeting tonight. So we'll have to put the surprise birthday party on hold until after the meeting."
"You knew?!" Kaylee gasped as her ears and tails drooped again.
The blonde wolfgirl rolled her eyes, "It wasn't that hard to figure out. Last year Melanie and Cass both knew, and they tried to make it a thing. This year neither of them said a word about it. That made it pretty obvious you were all up to something."
"Crud," Melanie sighed. "I was hoping to get some revenge for when you surprised me at my birthday."
"Sorry Mel," Cerys replied with a smug grin.
Her expression quickly became serious again as she got out her phone and pulled something up on the screen. Then she announced, "I got a few texts from Melody today. There's a potential incident, and something important we all need to be aware of."
Our club leader continued, "I'll get the serious thing out of the way first. Melody says she has reason to believe her dad, Alison Sinclair, is either still working for the council or she's recently been re-recruited or re-activated or something. Either way she thinks Alison is working for them, and the council has her looking into Club Luna."
I felt a heavy weight settle in my stomach at that, and I couldn't help feeling anxious again. I wasn't worried about the council as such, but I was scared about what not-me might do with this information. Especially after what she told them last time. And what I just told Nina a half hour ago, and the fact that this was coming out on Cerys's birthday.
At the same time I could feel Kaylee tensing up with stress. We all knew Alison worked with Mr. Holt, which meant my girlfriend's dad might be at risk if the council was looking into our families as well.
Meanwhile the young wolfgirl looked at me and said, "I'll forward this to you Cass but Melody's begging for mercy for Alison. She didn't have to tell us about this stuff, it kind of puts her in the middle between her dad and her friends. She wanted to warn us though, so we'd know the council ignored what you told them last month."
"Ok Cerys," I grimaced. "Thanks."
Then Sasha asked our club leader, "You said there was something else? An incident?"
The wolfgirl nodded, "Yeah. Melody apologized for this one too because it's kind of her fault? Or at least, she's taking the blame for it anyways."
"So the mystery cave we visited back in March?" she continued, "Melody gave the location to the guy who analyzed the lichen we found in the old runes near the entrance. That guy went to have a look at the cave himself a few days ago, and that was the last anyone ever heard from him."
Cerys sighed as she read out the next part off her phone, "On the holiday, Monday August first, Rick Kovacs left his parents' home and drove out here to visit the nature reserve where we found that cave. He had the coordinates of the cave and a general description of the area, along with some of the pictures Melody took when she was there with us. Rick sent a text at around noon on Monday that he'd parked his car on the side of the road and was going to have a look at the cave. That's the last anyone heard from him."
She continued, "Rick's twenty-four years old, he's studying geology and geomorphology. According to Melody he's in good physical fitness and has experience hiking. She said he's not a trained cave diver, but he does have some experience investigating caves as part of his college course."
My girlfriend spoke up, "Have the police been notified? If he's been missing since Monday his parents are probably freaking out."
"Yeah," Cerys nodded. "The cops searched the area yesterday. Rick's car was found at that bend on Third Line where we parked both times we were there. They searched the nature reserve but apparently nobody told them about the cave or the coordinates? Melody's pretty sure Rick didn't tell anyone else about the cave, because she asked him to keep it secret. So his folks didn't know, nobody else had the coordinates. Anyways the cops have searched the area and didn't find any trace of him. So his folks are freaking out, and Melody's freaking out because she's the one who gave him the location in the first place."
She finished up by telling us, "Melody just found all this out today. Apparently Rick's parents contacted Melody's boyfriend Craig to ask if he'd heard from Rick, which he hadn't. They told him Rick was missing, Craig let Melody know, and she texted all this to me while I was at work earlier."
"Are we talking about the same cave that I used to pray to Hecate?" Willow asked.
Kaylee nodded, "Yeah. We were lured out there in March, we think someone got pictures of us."
I grimaced as I added, "It was the council. The creeps who attacked us? That was part of their investigation, they were watching us from February until they made their move last month."
Sasha spoke up at that point, "This may well be a coincidence, but August first is a pagan holiday. It was celebrated by the Gaelic peoples, and some of my mother's followers observed it as well I believe."
"Good point," Cerys replied. "It's a neopagan holiday too, modern Wiccans call it Lughnasadh."
My girlfriend pointed out, "That cave couldn't have anything to do with that stuff though, could it? Those are Irish or Scottish traditions, they wouldn't be tied to a cave in Canada."
Willow shrugged, "I used the cave for neopagan rituals, and it worked. Ok it took four tries, but eventually it worked."
Nobody knew what to say to that, so we all went quiet for a bit. Then Nina broke the silence, "So I guess we need to go and visit that cave again? How are we all going to get there?"
My girlfriend turned and gave me a hopeful look, but I honestly wasn't sure if she was hoping this was the moment she'd learn how to teleport, or if she was going to suggest we go car shopping.
Then Cerys kind of cemented it as she asked, "What do you think Cass? We all hate to impose on you, but this sounds like a job for the Lunamobile?"
"We're not calling it that!" Melanie insisted.
Fortunately there was a knock at the door at that point, signalling the arrival of dinner. It was the perfect distraction, and it got us all up and moving.
I went to the door to get the food, Kaylee and Sasha got the plates and napkins, Nina and Willow got everyone more drinks, and within a minute or two we were all back in the living-room enjoying an unhealthy feast of wings, potato wedges, and onion rings.
As we all started on our meal my girlfriend asked, "Hey Cerys? I remember this time last year Melanie threw a BBQ party, but nobody mentioned your birthday at all. Now I know your girlfriend knew about it and that's why she did the party, but why not let the rest of us know? Why keep it secret?"
The blonde wolfgirl shrugged, "Today's my eighteenth birthday, right? Today's the day I would have been kicked out of the house. My dad made a point of reminding me of that every birthday for three years. That's why I didn't want to celebrate. It was like a countdown to being out on the street. And I guess in a way I kind of imagined that if I didn't actually have a birthday then the counter wouldn't advance? As if not celebrating would hold off that magic number for another year."
"Damn," Kaylee sighed. "I'm sorry Cerys. I didn't mean to drag up bad memories."
The birthday girl shrugged, "It's fine Kaylee. You didn't know. Anyways I'm over it. Better still, here I am on my eighteenth birthday and my dad's gone, my mom's moved away, and I'm still here. With all my friends. The past twelve months had some awful rough spots, but the last two months things have been better than I could ever imagine."
"I'm glad to hear that," I said. "I'm glad you're happy Cerys."
She smiled, "Thanks Cass. Me and Melanie owe you a lot, and your moms too. And we're grateful for everything you've done for us. We're lucky to have all you girls as friends."
"Agreed," Melanie said as she raised her cola can in a toast.
The rest of us raised our drinks as well, before we continued eating. Nobody said anything else about birthday stuff though, and we didn't mention the Melody stuff either. I had a feeling there was an unspoken agreement to just focus on the positive for now, like enjoying the food and hanging out with all our friends.
When everyone had enough to eat the leftovers went into the fridge, then we all got the gifts and cards and stuff that we had hidden away for Cerys.
Melanie went first, she gave her girlfriend a card and a little package. The blonde wolfgirl opened it up and grinned. The card had a cute picture of a little puppy on the front, and the package was a new video game for the console they had in the basement.
Then Cerys opened the cards that were from our friends who weren't here. Brooke's card had a picture of a couple puppies playing, and Paige's card had a picture of a tiny puppy in a basket. And Melody's card showed a pair of chihuahua puppies.
By that point the blonde wolfgirl was starting to notice the pattern. Especially when Nina's, Willow's and Sasha's cards all had puppy pictures on them too. Mine and Kaylee's were no different. We even had one that our parents sent, and yes that one had a cute puppy picture on the front as well.
"Ok I get the point!" Cerys pouted while she blushed brightly at all the puppy cards in front of her. "You know I'm not a puppy, right? I'm a wolf! I'm a big scary werewolf!"
"Of course you are," Sasha replied with a smirk. "Your tail's wagging that way out of sheer unbridled anger, I imagine? Nothing to do with being happy."
That just got the blonde wolfgirl to pout even harder. And that's when Melanie went to get the cake. That we'd special-ordered. In the shape of a puppy.
As the older wolfgirl set the puppy-shaped cake down in front of her girlfriend she grinned, "Happy birthday, to the cutest werewolf pubby I've ever met!"
That was our cue, and the rest of us chimed in with "Happy birthday!"
At that point Melanie leaned closer and gave Cerys a kiss. Then she grinned, "And now I have my birthday revenge."
"I hate you all," the birthday girl grumbled. She was still trying to hold her pout, but after another couple seconds it gave way to a happy smile. And her tail was wagging up a storm, incase we weren't sure how she really felt.
"Ok I don't hate you," she admitted a moment later. "But I'm not a puppy."
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