"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

"Gah!" I gasped, flicking my arm out of my bed, my fist hitting something hard. I pulled back my tingling hand and sat up to see Seth stumbling around my room, his hands clutching his stomach. It only took a second to realise that I'd hit him right in the gut. My duvet was spread all over the place, so I kicked it off impatiently and then stretched my arms and legs, yawning loudly as I did.

My brother was still cussing under his breath and was glaring at me scornfully. "What was that?" He snapped.

"That was self defense. Serves you right for sneaking up on me." I pointed out. "Now if you don't mind." I hinted, gesturing towards the door.

"Whatever." Seth mumbled as he walked out of my room.

I scrambled out of my bed and had a quick look around me. My room was still clean. Books on shelfs, papers in drawers, clothes folded neatly in a pile on the chair. I quickly exchanged my pyjama shorts for some old black combats and my vest top for a plain t-shirt and a hoodie, before rushing down the stairs and into the kitchen.

The smell of pancakes drifted around the small dining room, causing my stomach to growl. My mom was fixing up a special breakfast for me in celebration of my birthday. I waited impatiently as she poured the maple syrup over the plate full of pancakes. Finally she was finished and walked over to the table.

"Happy birthday honey." She said brightly, placing the plate in front of me.

Immediately I dug in. As I chewed, I glanced at Seth's breakfast. He was chewing on his toast, staring at my plate longingly. My mom disappeared for a second and then returned with a pile of presents and put them in front of me.

"Mom. You promised, no presents." I complained.

"I know but it's been ages since you had a birthday here." She explained, pushing the gifts further in my direction.

"Leave it mom, she doesn't appreciate anything nice you do for her." Seth cut in bitterly.

"You wuss. You've had much worse: broken collarbone, broken shoulder, broken arm." I jeered.

"Hey. That punch hurt." He muttered.

"What's this?" Mom interrupted us.

"Nothing. Seth scared me this morning and I ended up punching him." I shrugged.

Seth's disgruntled expression made me laugh, even my mom joined in. Things settled down then, I sighed hopelessly and reached for the first of my presents.

After unwrapping my presents--which included a new phone, a pair of trainers, a bag and about $200--I started to head back upstairs when the doorbell suddenly rang. I wheeled in the direction of the door and swung it open. Mike leaned against the wall with a big friendly grin on his face, his eyes twinkling with excitement. I smiled back.

"Hey birthday girl." He greeted me.

"You know it's not that big of an event." I reminded him of what I'd previously told him, rolling my eyes as I did.

"Your 21st? Course it's not." He mocked. My 39th I corrected in my head. Actually it really wasn't a big deal. But being 40 was. "So are we heading out?" Mike interrupted my train of thought.

"Sure." I replied, snapping back into reality.

I took Mike to one of my favourite spots. Whenever I needed time to think, this was the place to go. It was quite far from the trail, so no one else ever came here. We both sat on the damp, overgrown grass and gazed out at the tremendous view of La Push. The small brick-red houses were vaguely hidden by the tall evergreen trees. Black waves crashed onto First Beach and further out by the horizon I could see St. James' island where the dull grey sky met the ocean. The gentle cool breeze blew an odd aroma of Pine, Oak and Brine in our direction.

"Wow." Mike breathed, breaking the silence.

"Beautiful isn't it?" I murmured quietly.

"Well it is a nice view." He agreed. "But I wasn't talking about that." He whispered, looking at me meaningfully.

Blood rushed to my cheeks.

"So..." Mike continued awkwardly, "Do you want to see your present?"

I was about to protest but thought better of it, so I scowled at him instead.

His face suddenly lit up when he saw that I'd given in. He reached into his back pocket, pulling out a small, black bag. Then he carefully placed it on my outstretched hand. I glanced at Mike anxiously and pulled on the thin black rope. With a gentle shake of the satin bag the silver locket fell onto my palm.

I was stunned, literally I was unable to move or speak. The only thing I could do was stare at the trinket that lay in my hand. It had a thin metal chain and a small diamond resting above the crest. In the centre of the locket my name was carved in neat flowing handwriting, an intricate pattern of leaves framing it. I slowly undid the latch, then opened the locket to reveal two small empty frames. For a second time I froze.

"Turn it to the back." Mike said, peering at my present from behind.

I followed his instructions, only to find that the back was just as pretty as the front. Another elegant script was carved at the top of the oval shaped crest. I repeatedly read the words "As free as running wolves" again and again. Below was a small carving of a wolf howling. Several feelings seemed to explode in my mind. Tears began to swell in the corners of my eyes. I forced my eyes away from my gift to look at Mike thankfully.

His face was only 6 inches away from mine. He stared deep into my eyes; searching for something. Something that he quickly found. I also found myself staring into his coffee brown eyes; it was like I could see directly into his soul. We had both moved closer so that our faces were now only an inch apart. Mike's breath suddenly paused as he closed his eyes and hesitated. I closed my eyes as well and slowly leaned in. Just as our lips were about to meet an urgent howl ripped through the air. I pulled away from Mike, stood up and started to gather my things. Of course Mike hadn't heard anything and stayed sat on the ground, watching me in confusion.

"Sorry" I mouthed at him, then I disappeared into the wood

Sorry, I just had to throw in a cliffhanger there. Please Review!