39. A Birthday Surprise Gone Wrong
Tomorrow was Ace’s birthday, and I was beyond excited. I had a whole plan; part of it was already in action.
After Ace left me at dance practice, I waited until I knew he was gone and then snuck away to his house. I was going to leave one of the many presents I’d got him on his bed and decorate his room.
Then, after sleeping at my place, he would go home tomorrow morning to streamers and balloons and a huge banner in his bedroom, as well as a present.
After, when he came to pick me up for school, I would make him his favorite breakfast: cinnamon French toast, fresh bacon, coffee, and homemade blueberry-lemon crumble muffins.
Plus, the cinnamon, orange cake I planned on baking him later—one of his favorites from my mom’s bakery.
I had been collecting presents for the past several months. I had exactly eighteen gifts—eighteen gifts for his eighteenth birthday—that I planned on surprising him with throughout the day.
The last gift was the one that I was the most excited…and nervous about.
Marta had helped me pick out the most, ahem, promiscuous article of clothing I had ever purchased in my life. It was of the lace variety and barely covered any part of my body.
So, one might say I was the last present I planned on giving Ace tomorrow night.
That’s right, I bought sexy lingerie to try to seduce my boyfriend for his eighteenth birthday. I was beyond ready to have sex with this man.
We could barely keep our hands off each other as it was and had already done basically everything else you could think of in the bedroom.
I had no idea why we still hadn’t pulled the trigger yet but had come to the conclusion that we’d waited long enough.
Ace was the king of throwing me surprise parties and showering me with presents on my birthday, making me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.
So, although he’d insisted I not throw him a party this year, I still planned on making the day as special as I could for him.
He’d told me he just wanted to spend the day with me, so I’d made reservations for us at his favorite restaurant.
I’d also told my parents that I was going to be staying over at Marta’s house to study for a test that didn’t exist, so Ace and I could spend the night alone at his house.
Wink, wink!
I raced up the steps to his house, a giddy feeling in my chest. I had to be quick if I wanted to be back at school before dance practice was done.
I grabbed my spare key from my backpack and put it in the doorknob of his front door only to find that it was already unlocked. I pushed it open with ease.
Huh. Ace must have forgotten to lock it this morning.
I peeked my head inside, looking around for him even though I knew he wasn’t going to be there. Ace had told me he was going over to Madoc’s after school.
With two bags full of decorating supplies, I stepped into his house.
I gazed in awe at the magnificent foyer. No matter how many times I came over, I could never get over how big and beautiful Ace’s home was.
It was basically a mansion. Or maybe a hotel, what with its twenty guest rooms and ten bathrooms. I mean, it even had an elevator. And a pool. And, not one, but two kitchens!
It’s not like his dad and he needed such a grand home. Seriously, there were ten people in my family, nd balloons and a and our house wasn’t even half the size.
But Ace told me it had been in his family for generations, and he planned on raising his kids in it one day.
To be fair, before his mom died, his home was constantly filled with people. Since his father was the mayor and always helping community members, they had an open-door policy.
People would even come over to play games in the billiard room or to swim in the pool. It was the hang-out spot, as well as the place to go if you needed help, brimming with life and good energy.
Now, though, it was empty. Mrs. Stoll would be so sad to see what her home had become.
Ace’s dad has been out of the country for the last few months.
I thought about what it must have been like for Ace to stay here by himself. It made my heart ache, and only more so to know things were worse when the man was home.
The two of them had such strong personalities and were always getting into fights, made worse by his father’s unpredictable temper and alcohol-induced outbursts. It was better to keep them apart. y everything else That was why they slept on opposite ends of the house. Ace even had a lock on his door—the kind with a keypad that required a numeric code to unlock. that we’d waited When I’d asked him why he had done it, Ace told me it was because his father was an “asswipe.”
It made me sad. And so, Ace’s estranged relationship with his father was one more reason to make his birthday special. I wanted him to know how much I loved him.
I was just about to make my way upstairs, when a deep voice spoke, causing my heart to jump to my he day as specialthroat.
“I hear a little omega traipsing through my house.”
I shrieked, the sound ringing off the walls. I whipped around and came face to face with Ace’s father, William Stoll.
Speak of the devil and he shall appear, I guess.
Mr. Stoll was in the room across the hall from me, sitting in a brown leather swivel chair behind a massive wooden desk. I had never seen the inside of Mr. Stoll’s office before. ted to be back atHis eyes seemed to be glazed over. There was an empty bottle of scotch in front of him and a half-full glass in his hand. Alarm bells went off in my head. He was drunk.
“Oh, hi, M-Mr. Stoll,” I stammered, wincing when I couldn’t keep my voice steady.
“I’m…I’m sorry, I didn’t know anyone was here. Ace didn’t tell me you were back in town.”
Mr. Stoll’s leering gaze traveled up and down my form in a way that made me squirm.
Of course, he immediately noticed my reaction, and his eyes snapped back up to my face. His expression darkened as it twisted into an annoyed frown.
Mr. Stoll was a giant man, almost as big as Ace. But unlike his son who made me feel protected and ld never get overcared for, his towering body made me feel small and vulnerable.
He was thicker, burlier, and shorter than his son, but shared many of Ace’s features, such as his strong jaw and dark brown hair.
It was funny how such similar men could make me feel completely opposite levels of comfort.
Mr. Stoll leaned forward. “What are you doing here all on your own, little girl?”
Little girl? ~Seriously?~ “Shouldn’t my son be with you?” he continued, spitting out the word like it left a bad taste in his mouth.
I shifted my feet. “Oh, I, um, came to decorate Ace’s room for his birthday tomorrow.”
I reached into my bag and pulled out a roll of streamers to show him, trying to keep my expression friendly. “Ace doesn’t know I’m here. Just wanted to make the day special for him, you know?”
Mr. Stoll scoffed and downed the rest of his drink, then reached for a new bottle to pour himself another. I could only imagine how much alcohol it took to keep a man his size inebriated.
The air around us was taut and uncomfortable.
And that’s my cue to leave. y heart ache, and I took several steps back. “Well, it was nice chatting with you, Mr. Stoll. I’ll see you around.” I turned on my heel and attempted to flee upstairs.
“Stop.”
Mr. Stoll’s tone was so absolute and firm that my legs stopped moving on their own accord, and a gasp
or—the kind with escaped my throat.
With my back to him, I heard his slow steps approach me. My heart raced like a pack of wild horses.
Seconds later, I felt him press his body against mine, his heat seeping into me.
“You follow orders so well,” he mused, chuckling a little. “Such a submissive thing.
The perfect little omega for my big, bad alpha son.”
He brushed the hair from my shoulder and onto my back, revealing my neck. I suppressed the urge to curl up.
He sucked in a quick breath. “And finally in your prime, I see. Nobody told me.”
I gripped the bags at my sides tighter. Nothing he was saying was making any sense to me, but I didn’t need to understand what was going on to feel unsafe.
“Um.” I swallowed the thick ball in my throat. “I think maybe it’s time that I—” I took a step forward only to have him grab my arm and yank me toward him so my back was flush against his front.
“Not so fast, little girl,” he snapped, squeezing my upper arm.
I yelped, and panic swarmed my gut. “You’re making me very uncomfortable, M-Mr. Stoll. Please let me go.”
He let out a strange growling noise, but unlike when Ace did it, my blood ran cold.
He leaned forward until his breath was fanning over my neck, right above that little bump.
An icy revulsion ran through me, and my stomach took a dramatic and nauseating dive. I struggled in his hold, but he wrapped an arm around my stomach, keeping me trapped against him.
“My son is going to hate me for this. But I think it’s time he learns what it’s like to lose a mate.”
Before I could react, Mr. Stoll was dragging his fingers over my skin, starting at my jaw and then moving down to my neck.
Then he gently stroked the bump near my throat.
My reaction was extreme and violent. A manacle clamped around my throat, and terror speared the walls of my chest. My body convulsed, desperate to arch away from him.
I hated everything about it. It all felt so wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
I need Ace.
I thrashed against him, so hard that his hold loosened for a moment. But before I could get away, he grabbed me by the shoulders, whirled me around, and slammed me against the wall.
My shoulder screamed in agony. I cried out.
“You need to be taught some fucking manners. This is no way to treat your alpha,”
Mr. Stoll spat, baring his teeth in my face.
“Let me go! Please! I don’t know what you’re talking about!” I shouted. Tears of panic pooled in my eyes.
His grin was sinister. “No, you wouldn’t know what I’m talking about, would you?
Always in the dark.”
Maybe it was my panicked brain causing me to hallucinate, but I could’ve sworn I saw Mr. Stoll’s eyes flash from their normal brown color to completely black. ccord, and a gasp But real or not, it was all it took for me to lose my shit completely.
With a scream, I raised my knee and slammed it as hard as I could between his legs.
Mr. Stoll released his hold on me immediately and doubled over, cupping himself with a loud groan.
I scrambled away and sprinted up the stairs, taking them two at a time, leaving everything I had brought with me behind. My only concern was to get somewhere Mr. Stoll couldn’t reach me.
Once I reached Ace’s bedroom door, I fumbled to punch in the key code, my hands shaking uncontrollably. I messed up twice before I actually managed to press the right numbers.
Mr. Stoll groaned from downstairs.
Then I heard his heavy, determined footsteps following after me.
“Fucking omega!” he shouted.
My blood turned icy cold.
The keypad beeped. I only got one glance at his livid and— I was sure of it this time — pitch-black eyes before flinging Ace’s door open and flying into his bedroom. I slammed the door shut behind me.
I’d only just managed to lock it when Mr. Stoll started pounding against the wood.
“Open the door, little Doe,” he said in a dark, sing-song voice, slamming his fists against the door, over and over again. The whole room shook with each pound.
Mr. Stoll’s eyes
ing I had brought
nst the door, over
