Caleb's POV
The birthday celebration had turned into everything I despised. My parents had abandoned ship hours ago, escaping to spend the evening at Riley's place instead. For the first time in my life, I envied them with every fiber of my being. I would have traded places in a heartbeat.
The party dragged on exactly as I had predicted. A parade of women approached me throughout the night, each hoping to catch the attention of the future Alpha. Their perfume created a suffocating cloud around me as they batted their eyelashes and pressed against my arm. Every touch felt wrong, every smile felt hollow.
A disturbance near the entrance caught my attention. Stella strutted through the door with Piper and Quinn flanking her sides like bodyguards. They were dressed for war, their dresses tight and revealing, makeup applied with military precision. Stella's eyes locked onto mine with predatory focus as she began her approach.
