"Yo Sass!" a voice hollered from across the beach. An annoyed growl emitted from my lips as I sank deeper into my chair. Why oh why must people insist on bothering me when I am trying to relax?

"What do you want?" I grumbled lowly, pushing my sunglasses up onto my forehead, leaving my eyes clear, and leaning back in my beach chair to survey the young man that ran up to me. He, as most werewolves in the Starlight pack (myself included), had dark brown hair that was slightly lighter from the summer sun. His copper skin glistened with a slight sheen of sweat as he sprinted up to me, like the eager little puppy he was. Well, he was about three years younger then I was. I can call him a puppy if I want.

"Your father wants you to clean up and dress in something pretty." he stated. "An alpha from another pack is coming and he wants to forge an alliance with him."

I raised an eyebrow at this. Not the fact that there was an alpha coming on a very, very short notice (that happened quite often), but the fact that Tristan of all people told me this. Generally other werewolves of lesser rank then Tristan would come and tell me this.

"Demoted to messenger dog, I see?" I said in an amused voice as I stood up, taking my dignity along with me. I really, really wanted to sit in the sunshine of the late July afternoon, but my duty as Alpha's daughter came first. This has been drilled into my head so many times it comes like second nature to me now. Alpha's daughter's duties first, everything else second.

He narrowed his green eyes at me, not amused at my remark. Hey, I found it funny. And that's all that matters to me. I have learned over the years that trying to please people doesn't get you far. So, I've taken the high road and stuck to being sarcastic and witty. A bit more fun then just rolling over on command.

"Har har, Sass. Very funny," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and placing his hands on his hips. He was shirtless, as you might have guessed. He was well-developed, sure, with abs and arm muscles that were better-toned then some of the guys my age. Even I had to admit that he was quite attractive. But it's not like I like him in that way at all. He's like an annoying little brother to me.

"I know right!" I snorted, turning to go back towards the woods, which depths held my house. "Go play fetch or something. I probably should go get ready."

Because, me being a girl and all, I have to follow the stereotype that girls take forever to get ready. It's a Rule of the Universe, apparently. And if I have to make a good impression, I will take more time then I generally do.

"You're a werewolf too!" he hollered in irritation as I strolled leisurely up the path. "Would you quit making the dog jokes?"

I stopped for a moment to 'contemplate' my answer. Haha, contemplate. I knew the answer the moment the question came out of his mouth. But, of course, I decided to hold him in suspense for a moment and pretended to consider my answer.

"I will never stop making dog jokes. That would be like taking away my name," I said mockingly. "I wouldn't be me anymore."

Besides, I poke fun at myself sometimes. It's not like I say, 'Hey, I'm better then you because I'm Alpha's daughter.' I just simply sometimes tease people and make dog jokes. I sometimes use myself as the butt of the joke.

"Whatever." he grumbled as I continued walking. Ok, so maybe I gave him a really hard time, but hey. I'm basically his older sister. We've known each other forever. I can do what I want. I don't have the nickname Sass (or Sassy, whichever people prefer) for no reason. I was given it when I was like three when I learned how to talk.

As I came upon the trail to my house, I was already not looking forward to this meeting. All of the Alphas that I have met so far have been like most Alphas. They're stuck up and they think that they own the world. My daddy not included. And, for a lot of the younger ones (and even some of the older ones), it feels like they are trying to analyze what I would look like without clothes on. Can you say uncomfortable? My dad does notice this, however, and he generally makes it a point to growl or something to get their attention away from me. Best Dad in the world, right there. No joke. I really love my dad.

My house... oh, why not quit the theatrics? It's more like a mansion. Anyways, my mansion was three stories high, with that cozy house in the woods feel to it. White picket fence, flowers lining the sidewalk. Just don't watch any scary movies that has anything to do with a house in the woods. I did once, and I couldn't sleep at all for around a month aft4erwards. Unless I slept with my teddy bear, Mr. Cuddles.

Don't give me that look. I've had him since I was five. He is my childhood friend.

I made a mental note to remind my mom, our pretty awesome Luna that I love to pieces, to tend to the garden. I would help, but every time I have tried to plant or run a garden, everything ended up dying. Needless to say, I have given up that pursuit years ago.

The front door, white mahogany with glass windows. opened without me needing to pry it open, like I sometimes have to. What can I say? It's an old house. I would never have asked for anything different, though. My footsteps, with the flapping of my red flip-flops, made echoes throughout the hallway. Hm. It seems quiet. Too quiet for the Rosele house.

We don't live alone. My mom and dad both have siblings, who have kids, who live here with us. It is such a big house, how else would we use the space? Uncle Toby, my father's brother, is our Beta, which makes it make more sense that he lives here. Uncle Toby has a wife, who has three kids. Then there's Dad's younger sister, Aunt Skylar, who has a husband and three kids as well. Anyways, the noise level is generally about two hundred notches higher then it is now.

If Dad had to kick out most of our family just to greet an Alpha, then he must want this alliance pretty badly. Sure, he'll kick the younger kids out to go play on the beach or something, but even the older ones aren't here. I should have asked Tristan who this Alpha is.

As I walked up a certain set of stairs to get to my room, I pondered on the quietness of the house. Do I hate it or love it?

I'm leaning towards hating it. It's too empty for me. I liked the daily chaos that the Rosele family brought to the house. We range from as young as newborns to me. The oldest. Like a boss. Dad is the eldest out of his family, after all. There's him, then Uncle Toby, then Aunt Skylar.

My room, generally a mess of clothes and other miscellaneous items, has been efficiently cleaned and vacuumed. Cleaning ladies and all. They do save me the trouble of having to clean my own room.

My room had scarlet (ha) carpets, pure white walls decorated with various posters of bands and movies, with some of my art projects as well, and matching curtains to cover the windows right in front of my bed. It faces the east, so when the sun comes up, it comes directly in my face if I leave the curtains open. It's a curse and a blessing at the same time. It's about the best way to wake up. More relaxing then alarms.

I made my way to the closet, fixing the peeling tape of a poster on my way. My closet was one of those really cool walk-in closets that had my dresser inside of it to save room. Apparently being Alpah's daughter meant that you needed a wardrobe the size of Texas. I'm not complaining or anything, because my clothes are awesome, but seriously. It's a little much.

Anyways, something to greet another Alpha in generally falls into the 'very nice clothes' category, depending on the Alpha. For the smaller packs that we are very-closely acquainted with, we wear more casual clothes. The smaller pack that we are the closest with is the pack right next to us, the Black Forest pack. I party with some of their kids from time to time. For the bigger Alphas (this one included) would mean my fanciest get-up. A dress, generally. Not prom-dress fancy, but fancy-dinner fancy. I am a very descriptive person, can't you tell?

"Hmm... I wore the green dress last time..." I muttered to myself, riffling towards the back parts of my closet where my fancy clothes made their home. "Maybe the yellow dress..."

Oh great. I'm talking to myself now. Fantastic.

Suddenly, a hanger with a bag over it caught my eye. There was a sticky note on it, which I assumed was for me to read.

I want you to wear this, I recognized my mother's curly scrawl, I saw it and knew it was just for you.

Curiosity overcame me as I removed the hanger from the closet and walked over to my bed, laying the garment bag over the red comforter carefully. If you haven't guessed by now, my favorite color is red.

I unzipped the bag slowly, at first only seeing the scarlet of the dress. My mother does know my color preference, after all. I'm not very surprised. I removed the dress from the bag and smiled to myself. My mother does have a great sense in fashion.

It was a knee-length dress that could be for both a formal gathering and a cocktail party, so to speak. It was a v-neck, a little tight-fitting up until the waist, where ruffles overcame the space. Needless to say, I liked it. I liked it a lot.

"Thank you, Mommy." I said loudly, hoping my mother could hear me from here. If she was in her room, then probably. She didn't answer, though.

Now to find the right kind of accessories... I am not the best at this fashion thing. My rule is if it looks pretty, it will work. So yeah... My mother is way better at this then I am. Maybe I should ask her to help me.

Nah. I probably should leave her to get ready herself. She takes even longer then I do. Even though she insists that I look drop-dead gorgeous whenever we greet Alphas that do not have mates yet because apparently my mate is destined to be an Alpha or something. I do not care much at the moment about finding my mate. If I find him that would be awesome because apparently being the Alpha's daughter scares away all of the boys.

I pulled my jewelry box out of my closet and set it on my bed as well. I would dig through everything after a nice hot shower.

I didn't bother grabbing any clothes as I wandered into the bathroom connecting to my room. The only way into it is through the door in my room so it is my own private bathroom. For the win.

I stripped out of my light yellow tank-top and faded jean shorts before taking off my sunglasses and hopping in the shower.

Since showers are pretty boring, I will skip that part. Anyways, I stepped out, dripping water all over the floor, grabbing a towel from the cabinet and wrapping it around myself. I plugged in my black hair dryer and proceeded to brush and dry my long dark brown locks. The general hair color of werewolves around here.

My eyes, golden-hazel, blinked back at me warily from the mirror. I have never really enjoyed having to entertain, so to speak, other Alphas. Always in the fear of saying the wrong thing does that to you. Sometimes I get the case of word-vomit; words just literally tumble out of my mouth. Which is why I generally keep my mouth shut around important people.

As soon as my hair was completely dry, I wandered back into my room. Dressing in undergarments, I dropped the towel and unzipped the back of the dress. It's material was soft, thank goodness, not scratchy like some of the dresses I own. Though I rarely wear them, I still have to on occasion. And boy are they annoying.

It was kind of snug, but it wasn't too terribly tight. When I glanced into a mirror, it looked like it fit okay. The ruffles reached my knees, as I predicted, and I had a few minutes of fun spinning around to watch it swish around.

I opened up my jewelry box, smiling slightly at the tune it sang out at me. I've had this box for so long, I just can't bear to get rid of it. I'm forever the sentimental junky.

I figured that silver would probably work best with this dress, so I chose a silver chain necklace with a diamond tear-drop that was once my mother's. For earrings, I chose simple studs that had those fake-crystals in them that are supposed to look like diamonds.

Carefully setting the necklace and earrings on top of my jewelry box, I walked back over to my closet to pick out a pair of shoes.

Let's see... I'm not very tall, and I just so happen to be able to navigate heels with ease. Awesome balance and all. But, heels just don't sound appealing right now. Maybe flats? Eh, like I've said, I am not much for fashion.

I ended up choosing a pair of black ballet flats with a buckle on them. They would do, for now. Kill my feet, but they match the dress.

A knock at my door caused me to jump and drop my shoes.

"Honey, are you decent?" my mother called from the other side of the door. I visibly relaxed slightly at the sound of her voice. She can make sure I don't look stupid.

"Yeah, I'm good. Come in!" I called back, bending down and picking up my shoes in the process.

"I see you found the dress." she said with a smile on her face as she walked into the room, shutting the door behind her. She wore a black long-sleeved dress with a scoop neckline. Instead of ruffles on the skirt of the dress, hers was just straight. She wore a nice pearl necklace with matching pearl earrings, her black hair piled up into a bun of curls on her head. Her hazel eyes were rimmed with black eyeliner and a touch of gold eyeshadow. The early signs of aging were appearing around the corners of her eyes and mouth, but she still looked like Mom.

"I did indeed." I replied, placing my hands on my hips. "Now I'm just picking out everything else."

Her ears almost perked up at this.

"What did you pick?" she asked curiously, looking over my shoulder at the jewelry on the bed.

"Just stuff." I said, showing her the shoes. "I wasn't very sure on what to wear."

"Let your old mother take a look!" she declared, picking up my shoes and waltzing over to my bed. She picked up the jewelry on my bed and held it up.

"Jewelry is good." she clarified. "Shoes are too. You haven't done your make-up yet, either!"

She clucked her tongue in irritation.

"We won't have time to do anything really fancy with your hair, but it's pretty enough that putting a hair clip in would do the trick. For your make-up, maybe something silver..." she mused to herself, assessing my face as if she hasn't seen it five billion times before this.

"Just sit back and let Mama do all of the work," she insisted, pulling my make-up bag out of the closet.

My mind went blank as she unzipped the bag and started pulling various products out of it.

Mom, what are you going to do to me?