A Christmas Wish

CHAPTER 12: BACKFIRE.

By the time that I had finally finished work for the day, I was exhausted. My body wasn't used to working long hours like that. I had been a Luna just a few days ago, and before that, even though I wasn't exactly pampered growing up and had a job, I had never worked like that. Mrs Bury walked over to me and put a plate of food down in front of me. "You will get used to it. You just need to do some stamina training," she said with a chuckle. I looked up at her, "Oh sure, I will get that scheduled in between my double shifts and sorting the ballroom," I replied jokingly. She gave me a playful nudge. "I meant after Christmas when the ballroom is no longer your problem," she said. "We will see. No doubt David will have some other special little job for me," I said, picking up my fork. She just sighed and told me to telax and eat for a moment. It felt good to just sit there thinking of nothing but the food for a while. I was too tired to think about Michael or David or anything else. I finished the plate and washed it before saying goodnight to Mrs Bury and heading out into the cold night air.

The crisp winter breeze felt good on my skin. I had been in a hot kitchen all day, and it felt as though a snowman was kissing my cheek in comparison. I breathed out deeply, smiling as my breath turned to mist. Maybe we would get a white christmas this year, I thought. It was hard to feel anything bad while thinking of how beautiful the Blue Moon pack looked covered in snow, especially down by the lake. I was wandering slowly along, picturing it when I noticed lights on in the ballroom. Curious to know what was going on, I headed over there. "Perhaps Charlie is in there getting on with the cleaning," Lilly suggested. I smiled a little at the thought. I had probably been too hard on Charlie earlier. It wasn't up to me who he chose to date. He was a fully grown man and could make his own decisions. Besides, he didn't even know that I was having problems with Louisa. If he was still in there cleaning, then I would have to apologise for acting like a brat earlier. As I got closer, I saw that the curtains had been rehung. I would need to thank him for that, too.

I reached the door and heard giggling coming from inside. That definitely wasn't Charlie. I pushed the door open slightly, and my heart dropped at what I saw. Louisa and two other she wolves were spraying condiments all over the curtains that had just been cleaned. I was going to have to get them all back down and clean them all over again. My exhausted body wanted to collapse at the thought. Lilly wanted to beat the crap out of all three of them. I was about to call out asking them why they were doing this when inspiration struck. Instead, I quietly pulled out my phone, realising that none of them had noticed me. I began recording them as they continued ruining my hard work. I then snuck out and tried to get hold of David. It would be satisfying if I could get them caught in the act. He wasn't accepting my attempts to mind link with him, though. I went back to the pack house, but Luke told me that David was unavailable. I told him what I had seen and headed home.

I went straight to bed when I got to the cabin. I wanted to get a decent nights sleep, knowing that I had another double shift tomorrow, plus the outfall of Louisa's evening to deal with. I had a really good dream of frolicking in the snow with Lilly. We were two separate beings and were able to play around together. It was lovely. I woke to my front door being knocked so hard that I thought it was going to fly off its hinges. I opened it to find a furious David standing there. His face was red with anger. "Get f*****g dressed now and get to the ballroom. I gave you a chance you little b***h and this is how you repay me. If you are not there in ten minutes, then I will send Luke to drag you there by your f*****g hair whether your dressed or not!" he shouted. Once he was done he stormed out, not letting me say a word. Obviously I knew what this was all about, and looked forward to seeing the look on Louisa's face when I showed my video.

I quickly threw on some clothes and ran to the ballroom, not wanting to give him anything else to be mad about. I mind linked my parents before leaving to meet us there, I wanted witnesses. I needn't have worried about that though there was quite a crowd gathered around the ballroom when I arrived. David ushered me inside and began to berate me loudly. "I charged you with getting the ballroom ready because I thought that as my little sister, and a former Luna yourself, I could trust you to understand just how important the upcoming snow ball is for this pack. Instead, you do this!" he shouted. I tried to explain that it wasn't me, but he told me that if I interrupted again, he would throw me in the dungeon and leave me to rot. I waited patiently while he ranted on about respect and how ungrateful I was. The pack members were all looking on, and I could see Louisa's smug face at the front of the crowd.

Eventually, David seemed to run out of steam. "Well, do you have anything to say for yourself?" he asked. I nodded. This was my moment. "Yes, Alpha, I do. I had nothing to do with this, and I can prove it," I told him. David looked shocked. "What?" he asked. "Well, I saw this happening last night on my way home from my double shift in the kitchens," I told him. He looked a little irritated. "Who did you witness doing all of this?" he asked. I told him, and Louisa started whining that, of course, I was trying to put the blame on her. "It's probably just revenge because she got into trouble about the sauce incident," she said. "Oh my Goddess! That's why she used sauces to do this, as a message!" she exclaimed, her mouth opening in faux shock. I couldn't believe what a bad actress she was. David turned back to me. "I only have your word that you saw them doing it, and Louisa does make a good point as to why you would want to pin it on her," he said. I decided to do some bad acting myself. "I am such an i***t!" I declared smacking myself dramatically on the forehead. "I forgot to mention that I filmed them in the act. I then tried to inform you, but you were unavailable, so I told Luke instead," I said. Louisa's face dropped, and her two friends turned on her instantly. "It was her idea," a tall, sllender brunette said. "You told us that she would get the blame!" A shorter girl with a blonde pixie cut exclaimed. David had no choice but to apologise to me in front of everyone. I knew that I would pay for that moment later, but right now, it felt wonderful.