Chapter 36
ELOWEN
Two weeks pass in a haze of marked bliss.
The campus adjustment is... interesting. Some students still stare openly at my neck. Others pretend not to notice. A few omegas approach me in private, asking questions when no one else is around.
Seraphina coordinates with me on student council proposals: new language around pack diversity, omega advocacy, consent frameworks. My marks become unintentional activism.
The marks themselves are healing beautifully. Still raised, still visible, but the angry redness has faded. They'll scar: three permanent crescents on my neck. Left side: Calder's. Right side, higher: Tyler's. Right side, lower: Julian's. I catch myself touching them constantly.
Our connection settles into background hum as Julian predicted. It’s comforting. Like knowing the sun is there even when you're not looking at it.
"So," Calder says one evening when we’re all in his apartment.
The holidays are rapidly approaching. So is my twentieth birthday, but I haven’t mentioned it to my pack; it isn’t an occasion I’ve wanted to celebrate since losing my parents. It’s simply a day that passes with a cake baked by grandma and a gift I know she probably spent all year thinking about.
"My parents have invited us to dinner."
I sit up. "Your parents want to see us?"
"It won’t be as formal as last time. It’s something my mother does every year when she decorates the house for the holidays."
I catch something else, a flicker of anticipation quickly suppressed. He's hiding something. Deliberately keeping it from bleeding through.
"Who will be there?" I ask.
"Uncle Marcus." He shrugs. "Other family members. Think of it as a simple get-together."
It sounds reasonable. Normal, even… for other people. But this is Margaret Ashford we’re talking about, and that flicker of hidden emotion is still lingering although Calder is trying to hide it.
"Okay," I say. "When?"
"Saturday." He pauses, and I wonder if he knows that’s my birthday. "I'd like to take you shopping first. Get you a dress. Something nice for dinner."
"Calder, I have the cashmere dress—"
"Let me." His eyes meet mine. "Please. Let me spoil you. It would make me happy." The alpha instinct to provide is clear. "It's important to me that you feel beautiful. Please."
How can I argue with that?
"Okay." I smile. "You can spoil me."
Across the room, Tyler and Julian exchange glances. I sense more amusement and... something else. Like they know something I don't.
"What is it?" I ask.
"Nothing," Tyler says innocently. "You deserve to be spoiled."
“With more than just chamomile tea,” Julian adds.
Fine. Let them have their secrets. This time, I’ll be more prepared for Margaret Ashford.
The day before the get-together, I discover what shopping with Calder really means.
We drive to an upscale boutique in the city, the kind of place with individual dressing rooms and staff who bring you champagne while you browse.
"This is too much," I whisper when we enter.
"It's exactly right," he counters.
A sales assistant approaches, takes one look at my marks, and smiles knowingly. "Shopping for something special?"
"A dress," Calder says. "Something that makes her feel beautiful."
"You’ve come to the right place, sir."
I wonder if she learned that from a script when she first started working here.
I take a seat while she gathers options for me to try on—elegant but not fussy, sophisticated without being uncomfortable. Deep jewel tones, soft fabrics, cuts that flatter without restricting.
I try on six dresses, my hair working loose from my braid, my cheeks growing hot and flustered, before finding the one.
It's emerald green, fitted at the bodice but flowing at the skirt. The neckline sits just low enough to show my marks clearly. The color makes my skin glow, brings out depths in my eyes I didn't know existed.
When I step out of the dressing room, Calder goes very still. "That one," he says, swallowing hard. "Definitely that one."
His emotion hits me like a gust of warm air: possessive pride, overwhelming love, fierce satisfaction.
"You're sure?" I ask.
"I'm sure." He stands, crosses to me, hands settling at my waist. "You're stunning, Elowen."
His mouth finds mine, a gentle kiss hiding his desire.
"We'll take it," he tells the sales assistant.
"Calder—"
"And shoes," he adds, ignoring my protest. "She'll need shoes."
Twenty minutes later, I walk out of the shop with a gorgeous dress, elegant heels I'll probably only wear once, and a feeling of being thoroughly, completely cared for.
"Thank you," I say when we're back in the car.
"For what?"
"For spoiling me. For making me feel..." I search for words. "Cherished."
His hand finds mine. "You are cherished. Always."
The day of the get-together, I spend extra time getting ready, styling my hair in loose waves instead of the usual braid, careful makeup.
Grandma calls in the morning to wish me happy birthday.
The sound of her voice brings tears to my eyes; it’s my first birthday without her, and even though I have my pack, I still miss her.
“I’ll make it up to you at Christmas,” she says. “We’ll have a lot of catching up to do.”
“Love you, grandma.”
I sense her smile. “Love you too, little one.”
I knock on Lila’s door to show her the dress when I’m ready, but she doesn’t answer, and I hope that she’s enjoying a date in town with someone she will want to see again.
When Calder picks me up from my dorm room, his reaction is everything. "Elowen." His pulse picks up, his pupils dilating.
"Too much?"
"Perfect." He's in a dark suit, looking unfairly handsome. "Absolutely perfect."
Tyler and Julian are waiting by the car. Tyler in a navy suit, Julian in charcoal gray. Both stare when I approach.
"Wow," Tyler breathes.
"Statistically, you exceed the expected standard of beauty," Julian begins and stops when Tyler elbows him in the ribs. "You look beautiful.”
I can’t help smiling.
But by the time we reach the Ashford estate, my mouth is dry, and I’ve wound my hair around my fingers so many times,
"Stop," Calder says, his thumb brushing my knuckles.
"Stop what?"
"Worrying.” He flashes me a sideways smile. “Breathe. They love you already."
"Your mother tolerates me." It sounds harsher than I intended, but I’m too nervous to take it back.
"That was before the marks. Before it was official. Trust me."
The estate comes into view, even more impressive twinkling with millions of fairy lights. Several cars are already in the drive.
We park. I smooth my dress, check my hair, touch my marks to make sure they're visible.
"Ready?" Calder asks.
"Ready."
We approach the main entrance together, pack moving as one.
The butler opens the door before we knock.
"Mr. Ashford. Welcome home. And Miss Rowan, you look lovely."
"Thank you, Thomas."
"Your mother is in the drawing room. She asked that you join her there before dinner."
We move through the familiar halls. I can hear voices from the drawing room, more voices than I expected.
Calder's hand rests on my lower back. He opens the drawing room door.
And I freeze.
Because everyone is here.
Mira stands near the fireplace, elegant in a deep plum dress, silver hair swept up. She turns when we enter and her smile is filled with affection.
Catherine and Thomas Vale are by the windows, Catherine in soft blue, Thomas in a neat suit, Maya beside them, bouncing with excitement.
Rebecca Cross’s face is animated, eyes sparkling when they settle on us. Pen is beside her in a simple black dress, hair down instead of the usual gymnastics bun.
Seraphina and Lila are there too, near the back, both grinning.
My hand flies to my mouth.
"Happy birthday," Calder whispers in my ear, sending shivers down my spine.
"You—" I turn to look at him. "You planned this?"
"We planned this." Tyler steps closer. "All three of us."
"We wanted everyone who matters to celebrate with us properly," Julian adds. "Your birthday seemed like an appropriate time."
Mira crosses to me first, pulling me into a hug.
"Hello, little one." Her voice is warm against my ear. "Your alphas are wonderful event planners."
"How long have you known?" I pull back to look at her.
"They called two weeks ago." She touches my marks gently. "How could I say no?"
Catherine's next, wrapping me in a maternal hug. "We wouldn't miss this for anything."
"Miss what?" I'm still trying to understand. "Calder said—"
"I may have downplayed it a little." Calder grins.
Rebecca approaches, pulls me close. "Hello, Elowen." She examines my marks, nods approval. "Beautiful. All three of them claimed you properly."
"I… yes,,, but why is everyone—"
"Because," Margaret Ashford says, joining us, "you gave yourself to them privately. They wanted to give themselves to you publicly."
I turn to my pack. All three watching me with identical expressions, love and pride and fierce certainty.
"You'll see," Tyler promises.
"After dinner," Julian adds.
"For now," Calder says, hand finding mine, "let's just be with family."
The formal dining room twinkles with fairy lights and candles, the hearth draped with holly and ivy and plump red ribbons. A gold runner lines the middle of the table, the centerpiece a holly wreath threaded with gold.
I'm seated at the center of one long side.
Calder on my left, Tyler on my right, Julian across from me.
Families interspersed around the table, Mira beside Julian, the Vales near Tyler, the Crosses near Calder.
Margaret and Robert anchoring the ends. Marcus, Seraphina, and Lila filling in the spaces.
Once again, we eat multiple courses, food that melts on the tongue, all of which I’m too excited to remember.
I listen to Mira and Margaret sharing stories about their children with mutual understanding and growing respect.
Catherine, Rebecca, and Margaret form an unlikely trio, comparing notes on raising alphas.
"Julian sends money home," Rebecca says. "Even though I tell him not to."