Chosen by Fate, Rejected by the Alpha

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Trinity

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 Reece gave his mother a handful of presents, less than what she had given us, but still not small. I had only gotten Lila three things, but I didn't know what she would want. I felt embarrassed now. She proceeded to open the gifts, first Reece's and then mine. I had gotten her a lovely locket that was a perfect circle, it looked like a full moon, and on the back was a wolf paw print with the words, Thank you Lila, Love Trinity, engraved on the back. I had also gotten her a book, one I thought should be in the library but was missing. And the last present, was a collage of restored photos I found in storage after talking to her that day. I had them sent out and restored to their original beauty and arranged in a collage. The pictures had her, Reece, and the former Alpha at various stages.

 "Oh, Collin." She sighed as she looked at the pictures. "Trinity, this is lovely, thank you so much."

 "I'm glad you like it." I told her, smiling in relief.

 "I love it. I have been missing his face so much." She was nearly in tears.

 "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry."

 "They're happy tears." She told me. "Don't be sad."

 Once she wiped away her tears, she said it was time for Reece and me to exchange our gifts. I turned to look at him, nervous and apprehensive. What would he think? What is he going to say about the gifts that I got him? Only time will tell. I took a deep breath to settle my nerves and got his gifts.

 I gave him the gifts that I thought of after talking to his mom first. He opened the first of the two, it was the largest of his gifts. I noticed the shock on his face, and the heartache. It was a guitar. A classic. And it looked almost exactly like the one in the picture of him and his father. He didn't say anything, but he opened the other gift that went with it. I had also had the picture of him and his father restored. Their smiling faces looked as if the picture had been taken recently with a digital camera instead of over a decade ago. It was no longer creased, now it was set lovingly inside a beautiful frame so he could display how much he loved his father.

 Reece looked at me in awe, his face not hiding how shocked he was for once.

 "When did you do this?" He asked me.

 "After I was done recovering, and we had our argument. I found this picture in the library and talked to your mom about you and your dad." I was scared to tell him, I thought he would be upset about it all. "I know you don't have reminders about your parents around the house. I thought it was hard with them both gone, but I thought, maybe, with your mom back you would be fine with having the pictures up again."

 "Little Bunny." He sighed, the emotion in his voice clear. Before I knew it, he had hugged me, not tight, but gently. "Thank you." He whispered to me softly. I was glad I had done this for him.

 After composing himself, Reece handed me my first gift.

 "Alright, time for you to open one." He said. It was a thin box about the size of his hand. When I unwrapped it I found a jewelry set inside. There was a pendant in the shape of a wolf's paw, and it was covered in tiny diamonds. There were matching earrings, also in the shape of paws. And lastly there was a bracelet that looked like a path of walking paw prints, it would look like a wolf walked around my wrist when I wore it. They were all stunningly beautiful, and obviously expensive.

 "They're gorgeous." I said honestly.

 "Good, I'm glad you like them. Knowing your tendency to hate over the top things I thought you might not like them." He laughed nervously.

 "I don't hate them, not really, I just think it gets to be a little too much sometimes." I smiled at him. "But I really do love them." I admitted.

 "Here, your next one." I said, trying to hide my giggle. He noticed and raised his eyebrows.

 "Why are you laughing?"

 "I'm enjoying myself." I told him, trying to hide my true agenda for the day.

 "Uh huh." He looked at the package nervously before he started to unwrap it.

 He opened the watch set I had bought him. The platinum and black gold looked even better in person than it did when I ordered it online. The military style ID bracelet was masculine enough that he should be able to wear it no problem. He took the watch out and looked at it.

 "This is really nice, Little Bunny." He commented. "This is actually perfect. I could use this all the time, since it would go with everything."

 "That's great." I smirked. That's when he turned the watched over.

 "Oh, it's engraved." He noted. "Alpha, that's simple." He commented as he picked up the bracelet. "Is this engraved too?" He asked looking over the bracelet. He didn't see anything on the top, but he flipped it over and I noticed his eyes go wide. I almost lost it then, my laughter was fighting to be let out.

 "You think you're funny, don't you?" He asked me, a growl in his voice. I laughed, long and loud.

 "Don't you like it?" I asked him. "I had your name put on it."

 "That's not my name and you know it."

 "Aww, but I went through the trouble of having it engraved just for you."

 "I'm glad you did something like this though, it means I don't feel as bad about this." He said handing me another small box.

 "What's this?"

 "Open it." He demanded with an evil glint in his eyes.

 I opened the long thin box. Inside was a beautiful charm bracelet with an engraved nameplate in the middle. I picked it up and looked at the charms. There was a carrot, a rabbit's foot, and a bunny. And on the nameplate were the words Little Bunny.

 "You jerk." I laughed at him.

 "Right back at you." He snapped playfully.

 "I'm not a bunny."

 "And I'm not Fido." We were laughing near hysterically after that, Lila watching us with a smile on her face.

 "Fine, I got one more for you, big guy." I smiled at him playfully. "You're going to love it."

 "Yeah, I have one more for you too, depending on what this last one is, I might just say you deserve it too." I growled playfully.

 "Here." I was trying to keep my laughter from bursting out of me again as I handed him the last box. It was similar in size to the last one he had handed me. When he opened it, he yelled out.

 "Oh, come on, you've got to be kidding me." He was laughing harder than before.

 "Read it, read it." I insisted between laughs. He picked up the silver dog collar, it was a choke chain, and read the tag that was attached. It said "FIDO" in big bold letters.

 "You're a brat."

 "It's so I can yank your chain when you get out of hand." I laughed. Lila, who had been watching us in silence this whole time, finally laughed.

 "That's perfect." She laughed. "Isn't she the greatest Reece?" She asked him.

 "Oh, just the best. And now I don't feel so bad giving her the last gift I have either." He smirked.

 "I don't see anything else for me to open." I told him, looking around.

 "You need to follow me." He said grabbing me by the hand and pulling me behind him.

 "Where are we going?"

 "You'll see." He chuckled.

 He dragged me through the house and out into the garage. There sat a car I had never seen there before. It was a brand-new Jeep Cherokee with red and gold ribbons on it. The vanity plate on the front read LTTL BNNY.

 "That is so not funny." I snapped at him. "There was no need to get another car."

 "This is the least conspicuous car we have now. And it's all for you, Little Bunny."

 "That plate is coming off at least."

 "Not a chance." He laughed.

 "You're so mean." I growled at him.

 "Takes one to know one." He laughed at me.

 It was a fun day. I hadn't expected to enjoy my Christmas without my family this much, but it was great so far. After Reece showed me the car, we had our breakfast. Abigail went all out and prepared an amazing meal and was already preparing dinner.

 Just after noon my family, all of them, came to celebrate with us. I was able to give the rest of them their gifts. From Noah and Nikki, to Aunt Eve and the others, even Grandfather came. They all enjoyed their gifts, and I was happy with what they gave me. And for once Grandfather was not being overly strict and cruel to me. He did disappear with Reece briefly but there was nothing that brought the mood down.

 Juniper, Cedar, and Paul joined us shortly after my family got there. We exchanged our gifts. I was happier than I thought I had any right to be. Everyone decided to join us for dinner, which I think was planned long in advance. It was the perfect end to the day.

 We were just seeing them all off as a group when Lila squealed.

 "Ooooh, Finally."

 "What?" I asked her, confused.

 "I have been waiting for the two of you to end up under one of the mistletoe bunches for the last week at least, and it finally happened." She was smiling like a loon, but I just looked up at it like it was a bomb.

 "Oooohhh." I heard Aunt Eve and Nikki coo.

 "Go on then." Grandfather encouraged. Uncle Wesley smiled at me. Everyone else, just stared at me, trying to gage my reaction. I couldn't say no, not with my family here. Reece seemed uncertain about whether he should make his move as well, so I initiated.

 I gripped Reece's jacket and pulled him toward me. He looked shocked, stunned into immobility. Even while standing on my tiptoes I was unable to reach him unless he bent down. I tugged him again, pulling him a little closer. Finally, with him close enough, I place my lips lightly onto his. This broke him out of his stupor, he put his hands on my hips and kissed me back.

 The kiss was quick but heated. We broke apart after just a moment, but the heat from his lips remained on mine.

 "Oh my." Aunt Eve gushed.

 "Well." Nikki added.

 Carter cleared his throat, drawing our attention back to the group.

 "Sorry." I blushed.

 "It was just a kiss, nothing to be sorry about." Lila said.

 "Yeah, don't worry about it." Juniper was looking at me, her inquisitive eyes boring into me. I predict a barrage of messages soon.

 "We'll be going now." Carter declared as he opened the door.

 "Goodbye everyone, I love you." I heard a chorus of "love you too"s before they all left the house.