The Sun God Diaries
Chapter Five: The Birthday Party (Shifting Included)

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MALACHI!” My family and the guests cheered as I made my grand entrance with my band of friends following behind me. The days flew by in a whirlwind with party preparations, hanging out with family members and friends, and (fortunately or not, depends on how you look at it) being accompanied by the Magnificent Eight to various gatherings at different packs and covens. And it was now Friday with everyone watching my grand entrance into the ballroom with me dressed in all-red Givenchy and my friends in black and red dresses and tuxedoes by Zac Posen.

“Happy early birthday, baby boy,” Dad, in his royal attire complete with a crown (alongside my fathers, Iain, and Archer), crooned as they all joined me in a giant group high that caught the attention of the various tabloids with Uncle Topaz and his cousin Eurydice on their radio spiel with their kids (Sapphire and Travis snick away from my circle) joining them. “Tonight is when all eyes are on you for this exact moment.”

“Thank you,” I replied, still surprised at how my fathers, Dad, and my brothers and I are close to being like college fratboys instead of the usual fathers/sons ages. But I guess you can say that when it comes to the Moon Goddess, anything is possible. “The only thing that can make my birthday even better is if I can-”

“No,” my family chorused.

“You don’t even know what I wanted yet,” I said, noticing the firm looks on their faces as I crossed my arms.

“Ah, but we all know you want to go back to Bethune Memorial,” Dad replied, giving me a knowing look. “And as much as I know you want me to back you up, your fathers and brothers- the triplets included- think that you being homeschooled and attending online classes will be a much safer place for you, especially after what that DuMartel twit did.”

“See, your daddy knows that we Alphas are always right when it comes to your safety,” Gavin boasted happily as my brothers fought to contain their snickers while the Magnificent Eight came to our side. “And the boys beside you have been hoping to have you for the entire night when you’re not with us or your godparents.”

“We can’t wait to see you shift,” Ian replied. “And soon, we’ll know when you’re mine and my comrade’s mate.”

“I bet you’ll be a lovely sight tonight,” Ivan added, his whispers teasing my ear. “Tonight is so going to be the best in the history books.”

Kill me now, readers.

So for the next four hours (from feasting on the banquet-styled spread provided by Yesenia to dancing and socializing to talking with the reporters), one or all of the Magnificent Eight never left my side as my brothers hooted at the not-so-subtle sexual innuendos that were tossed around and my fathers and godfathers wisely kept all of the unmated Alphas away from my sight. Not even my friends (save for Floriana and Pauly were around to keep me from going insane, though I did teach myself to remain calm as the time for shifting grew nearer and my body began to grow painful, every muscle in my body tensing and relaxing as I embraced myself for the inevitable.

And in case y’all were wondering if I got a single bite of food to eat, that would be a “Hell to the motherfucking no, bitch,” because I was always snatched away by some visiting Alpha and Luna for commendations and words of wisdom, interrupted to participate in a photo-op, or even talking with Uncle Topaz and Uncle Eurydice. Dad promised me that a piece of birthday cake and a nice platter of food would be saved for me after I shifted and went to explore my new forms.

I hoped so because no one dares take this Omega away from his food.

************

At one minute before midnight, I felt my body grow more painful as the bones began to slowly and break, giving way for my first shifting. And it was worse than I originally intended. “It hurts,” I sobbed as I saw my parents and brothers huddle around me. “Someone make it stop, please.”

“It’ll be done soon,” Dad cooed in my ear, shifting into his large white wolf Anais as he cuddled near me as Gavin did the same with Dimitriv (his wolf) and Ferdinand into his jaguar Antoni.

“Breathe, my boy,” Alain soothed in my ear. “Count backward from ten and let your first form shine.”

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

And one giant scream, I finally let myself shift into a giant silver-gray wolf with black markings on my front and hind paws.

“Hello, Malachi,” I heard a strong Texan accent boom in my ear. “My name’s Horus and I’m your Moon Wolf. Wanna go for our run into the royal woods?”

“Yes please,” I said in mind-link, breaking away from my shifted parents before I howled into the ballroom and raced out into the night, jumping off the balcony and landing onto the backyard lawn that surprised some of the human guests that stuck around for the night. It felt so good to let myself become this awesome Moon Wolf after hearing the experiences from Dad countless times.

I ran as Horus for ten minutes, stopping only to eat a squirrel or two alongside an opossum before we came to a nearby abandoned woodshed as I felt myself shift into my next form. “Who am I-” I began to stay, slightly growling in pain as my body became slimmer and more toned.

“Bonsoir, mon petit choux,” I heard a French accent say in my head. “My name’s Marais, and I’m your werecat-shifter. Like your father Ferdinand, I can easily shift into many feline forms but your main form is the mountain lion. Let’s continue to run, oui?”

“Yes,” I replied, roaring as I felt a sense of renewed energy before bolting into the night, the light of the half-moon from the Moon Goddess giving me comfort. Marais, did I shred my clothes that I promised Persephone to never ruin?”

“Don’t be silly, mon ami,” Marais replied in my head as we passed by a nearby creek. “As a werewolf and werecat-shifter, we can have our clothes disappear into our fur. And when you shift into your angel and demon tonight, your wings will show through your shirts. Of course, you’ll need to take care of your clothing when you shift into your dragon, merman, and hellhound as anything and everything can happen.”

Right.

Fifteen minutes into the run, it was finally time to rest and I was soon dressed in my all-red tuxedo once more as I shifted back into a human state. Walking to another creek, I looked down to see that I had become a hulking Asian guy with glowing red eyes and fangs. “Vampire,” I deduced.

“Right,” I heard a strong Japanese accent in my head. “Oberoi is my name, and being your vampire is my game. Let’s take a small stroll and slow down to take in the sounds of the night from your Great-Grandmother.”

“Sounds good to me.” And I slowly followed the slowly-rushing river as I chatted with Oberoi in my head alongside Horus and Marais, being surprised to learn that I was Arabic when in Horus’ human form and Hawaiian while in Marais’ human form. And so far, I learned that Horus was as athletic and demanding as Gavin was while Marais loved to play soccer while Oberoi was a quiet soul that loved to help me keep my garden thriving and free from unwanted pests and thieves.

I soon arrived at the banks of the same lake that Dad went to when he shifted into his merman while I felt the need to go for a swim. Taking off my clothes and being careful to fold them, I dove in and let my legs form into a giant emerald-green tail. I looked at my reflection after coming up for air and saw that I had pale skin and the same flaming-red hair as Alain’s.

“Hello, hello,” crooned a musical voice in my head that sounded Cuban. “I’m Dominique, Malachi, and it’s time for us to have a lap or two in the lake.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice. I laughed as I dove back into the water and swam my heart out, noticing the uncanny way that all the fish and other sea creatures stopped to bow at me. Dad said that it spooked him as well but he loved to see that even the aquatic creatures loved him. He promised to take me to the beach one day to meet a pod of dolphins who wanted to race with me.

After a few more laps, it was time to head out, dry off, and get dressed (grateful for a nearby towel that appeared, thanks to Uncle Colin who is watching from a distance!) before I suddenly felt a searing pain in my back that faded as I saw my actual-gold wings. “Angel?” I said in disbelief.

“Correct,” boomed a loud Southeastern voice as I turned to a beefy Black dude with dreadlocks. “Name’s Salgiel, friend. Let’s have a flying meet where you’ll also meet my cousin- your demon.”

I soared up to the sky, amazed that I could see the skyline of Denver from a distance while still catching a good view of the Palace of the Wolves. “This is amazing,” I breathed, flying high into the night while catching the attention of some other nearby angels (all fangirling out and taking selfies with me).

“You bet it is,” came a sharp New England accent that sounded too arrogant as I felt my head hurting slightly (I was growing horns while my pretty and shiny golden wings were replaced by blood-red ones). “Name’s Haman, and you can bet that as my identical cousin Salgiel is sweet and demure, this demon right here likes to raise hell and cause trouble. But I won’t be like your goofy brothers and their halves. Unlike them, I know my limits.”

I chuckled, noticing that I was a tanned redhead with grayish eyes while I chatted with them, asking them if they knew Dad’s supernatural halves Seraphiel (Dad’s angel) and Apollyon (Dad’s angel). And surprisingly, the angels and demons were fraternal twins but were loyal to each other.

Go figure.

I landed at a nearby abandoned farmhouse, slightly bursting into flames and changing into jeans and a T-shirt while discovering that I was a long-haired blonde with blue eyes. “Good day, mate,” came an Australian accent similar to Dad’s hellhound Nikolai. “Name’s Osirus and I’m your hellhound. Nikolai’s my brother, you know. And he told me to mind the wheat fields as we head back.”

“Good idea,” I commented in the same Australian accent as we began to walk at a slow and leisurely pace. “This has been one wild night so far and this week alone has me feeling very frazzled. Pity that I can’t be at Bethune Memorial anymore to show everyone my sides.”

“Hey, your family’s being protective,” Osirus defended. “And besides, mate. There’s a lot of haters at that school. good thing that your family withdrew your butt before that Marissa twit raped you. Her kisses were disgusting.”

“Don’t remind me,” I whined. “The thought makes me want to head back home and- AGH!!!”

A giant wave of pain hit me like a giant hurricane as I began to build more muscle and grew into a giant dragon with gold scales and a deep-blue mane. “We’ll head home soon enough,” came a crisp British accent straight out of prep school. “I’m Eryk, good Malachi, and while I know that the DuMartel is still gone, she still haunts your mind.”

“You think?!” I exclaimed in mind-link. “And who are you in human form?”

“Take a deep breath and you’ll be presented with a preppy sandy-haired blonde with green eyes and a masculine form that’ll hug your tuxedo.”

I did so, shrinking down back to human size and was indeed the person Eryk described and back to wearing my tuxedo. Grateful that my outfit was still spotless, I began to hum and sing a snatch from the Folies Bergere as I began to make the trek back to the manicured palace. And no sooner than I saw the familiar lawn, I felt myself shift into a slender guy who was a near clone of Thebes the djinn except for the indigo-colored hair. “Oh, boy,” I murmured. “Phoenix.”

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!” a loud and exciting Italian voice boomed in my head. “Name’s Helios and like your dad’s phoenix Cairo, I love to party!”

“Bloody hell,” I heard Eryk mutter. “My brother Gareth was right. I’m going to have to balance this bloody phoenix out as he does with Cairo when they share poor Carson’s body.”

I fought back a laugh, suddenly growing tired as I saw my family come towards me while I headed back inside into the palace, the Moon Goddess and Enya appearing immediately. “Had a good run?” the former asked me.

I nodded. “But I’m so tired,” I muttered, fighting to keep myself from falling. “And I haven’t eaten.”

Enya glared at my brothers, all of them looking guilty as sin. “Thye crushed the leftovers,” she ratted. “Pauly’s making a visit to McDonald’s and Krystal for you.” She snapped her fingers as the boys yelped to avoid being struck down by lightning, though it wouldn’t hurt them at all.

“Any chance that there’s any leftover cake?” I asked though I could tell that Gavin, Dominic, and Nicholas were also looking guilty as sin.

“Nope,” my Great-Grandmother replied. “Which is why your dad will bar them from the-”

“Don’t,” I pleaded, making everyone laugh. “I haven’t eaten yet and I already feel like I’m going to toss my cookies.”

“I got you covered,” I heard the voice of Iapetus from the heavens as a single-tiered chocolate cake appeared on the table where I took a seat just as Pauly returned with a McDonald’s bag alongside a cup of iced tea with a Krystal bag and a box of pizza. “Thank goodness for this night.”

Pauly grinned, placing the food on the table. “Figured that you need to restore your energy,” he replied. “Happy birthday, my godbrother.”

And as everyone sang the birthday song, I felt nothing but pure love from my family. But it doesn’t mean that I was going to share my food with anyone other than the Moon Goddess, Enya, Dad, and Pauly since the rest were too selfish to save me a bite of food (though Gabe and Mike tried their best while avoiding temptation, the dears). It’s my birthday and I was going to share my junk food delights with whomever I pleased.