"Mom! Have you seen my left converse?" Vicki yelled down the hallway to her mother.
"Have you checked under your bed?" A voice yelled back from the kitchen.
"Yes!" She yelled. Wait, had she? She walked back into her room and knelt on the floor by her bed. Yup, right there, behind her orange sheets. "Found it!"
"Told you!" Her mom smiled in the kitchen. "Come get some breakfast!"
Vicki finished tying her left shoe, grabbed her book bag and headed down the hallway. She could smell the bacon before she had even gotten a foot outside her bedroom door.
"That smells fantastic, Mom." She let her bag slip from her shoulder to the floor and plopped herself in a wooden chair at the kitchen table.
The bacon popped in the skillet as her mom flashed a smile. "The toast will be done in just a second and I've got orange juice in the fridge."
Vicki squinted her eyes, slightly concerned at this point. "Why are you making such a nice breakfast? Normally you just throw a granola bar at me and tell me to get off to school."
Her mom lifted her eyebrows in mock innocence. "Can't I do something nice for my daughter on occasion?"
There was a moment of hesitant silence from both of them.
"Does this have something to do with it being my birthday today?" Vicki glared at her mother's back as she suddenly became intently focused on the precise cooking techniques of the food.
"Did I hear someone say birthday?" Her dad's head popped around the hall wall. He had a huge smile on his face. "That means it's time to celebrate!" He walked around the corner, his hands hidden behind his back.
Vicki groaned loudly. "I thought we all agreed we weren't going to do celebrations this year."
"But you only turn sixteen once Vicki. We need to celebrate!" Her dad stepped closer and gave her a peck on the head. "Happy birthday dear." He placed a small gold colored wrapped box on the table in front of her. "That's from your mother and me."
Despite not wanting to celebrate, she couldn't help but smile at the small gift. "Really guys, you didn't have to."
Her mother smiled at her. "We hope you like it." She pulled a few plates out of the cupboard.
Careful to not rip the wrapping paper, Vicki gingerly pulled at the tape. Inside was a small brown box. She eyed it suspiciously for a moment then pulled off the lid. Inside rested a thick goldish chain with an imperfect gold circle pendant on the end. In the middle of the pendant was the image of a wolf. It wasn't like anything she had seen before.
"I love it!" Vicki slipped the chain over her head and let the pendant rest on her chest. "It's so wonderful!" She looked at the huge grins on her mom and dad's face.
Her mom set the plates of food on the table as she and her husband sat down. Her husband's plate was piled high as usual, while she and her daughter had the usual portions. The conversation was light and happy as Vicki told her parents the classes she had that day and how she had way too much homework to do the night before.
Suddenly a honk came from outside their house.
Vicki glanced down at her watch. "Crap that would be Lizbeth. She said she'd give me a ride to school today." She scarfed down her last sliver of bacon and scooped up her book bag. She gave her dad a quick peck on the cheek and her mom a quick hug. "Thank you again for the amazing gift. I'll see you after swim practice!" And she was out the door.
Scott and Allison McCall stared at each other from across the small, round wooden table. The unwrapped box sat open where Victoria had left it.
"I can't believe that our daughter is sixteen today. She was just a baby only yesterday." Scott grabbed his wife's hand.
"Are you sure we should pass the pendant onto her? She doesn't know anything about the Argent legacy. She's only met my dad a couple times. She doesn't even know that she's named after my mother." Allison rubbed the top of Scott's hand. "What happens if she researches the pendant like I did?"
Scott didn't respond right away. "Then she'll find some interesting stories about wolves and hunters." He looked at their hands, a suddenly serious expression on his face. "Really though, I don't think that's the biggest concern on our list right now."
Allison squeezed his hand. "We don't know for sure, and neither does the pack."
"I still don't know if it was the safest thing to let her be by herself on her sixteenth birthday. If anything were to happen, anything at all, it would be today. What if she…" Scott trailed off.
Allison stood up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and rested her chin on his collar, kissing his ear. Scott leaned into her, sighing at the comfort she gave. He could feel his eyes glowing a soft red.
"There's a full moon tonight." Scott stared out the kitchen window.
Allison nodded slightly.
"I've asked the pack to keep an eye out for her, just in case." Scott gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. "Shouldn't we at least warn her? What if something does happen? What if she does change? Victoria has no idea about me or the pack. It she did get the werewolf genes, I don't want it to be something she fears."
Pulling back slightly, Allison turned his face to look at her. "I thought you wanted to keep it a secret from her in case she never did show any werewolf traits." Scott's red eyes didn't look appeased. "What if I called Lydia? What with her being Vicki's principal, she can keep an eye out for her. We could even recruit Stiles and Cora if you really wanted."
Scott thought about it. "Lydia isn't a bad idea. But not Stiles. Cora's due to have her baby any day. They don't need this kind of stress right now. Plus their two little boys don't know either. We promised no werewolf stuff with them until they were old enough. Cora may be part of my pack, but we can't involve her just in case."
Allison nodded again and reached for her phone. "I'll talk to Lydia. Now, go get ready for work. I promise we'll know if anything starts going on with Vicki." She gave him a lingering kiss on the cheek and then walked into the living room to call Lydia.