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“No—Mom! Dad—don’t leave me!” I jolted awake from the nightmare. Our Alpha Jeremiah—more than a brother to me—was already there, pulling me into his arms. Since the car accident, I had been taken in by the werewolf pack. But I was still human. I would never have a wolf. Never have a mate. And I would never truly belong. Now that Jeremiah had found his mate, I knew I couldn’t rely on him forever. I had to learn to stand on my own quickly. When I accompanied him to visit his mate’s pack, a sudden, intoxicating scent filled the air. My breath caught. I looked up. Ryker, the infamous Alpha of the Dark Moon Pack, was watching me. -- The peeling sound of screeching tires. A loud thunk and an explosion of glass. An invisible force throwing me forward. But no control over anything, nothing to grab as my hands fly through the air. I hit a solid surface and jolted up. I gasp as I blink my eyes open. I’m in my room. I am always in my room. I can still smell burned rubber and gas though. The pungent fumes still burn in my nose. This nightmare will never go away. It’s the same thing every night. It has been for two years. I take another deep breath in, trying to clear the smell from my nose and the sight from the back of my eyelids. My door bursts open and my best friend comes flying at me. He says nothing, just climbs under the cushiony down blanket and wraps me in his arms, placing my head on his chest. His heartbeat and smell is comforting enough for me to fall back into a dreamless sleep. I have had the same dream every night since the crash. I have been to every doctor that Aunt Beth has sent me to and nothing seems to make it better, except being near Jeremiah. It is messing with my life which is already a complete sh*tshow anyway. It’s also not super convenient for him either. Aunt Beth and Uncle James have done so much for me the last couple years. They didn’t have to, but they still took me in without question. “You ready yet?” Oh the dulcet morning howl from my best friend comes from somewhere in the house. “Almost. Aunt Beth is trying to gorge me on food and I can’t be rude and leave anything behind.” I say shoving a forkful of food into my mouth. “Mom, you know she doesn’t need to eat the same amount as me, right? I’m going to have to roll her to school.” He throws my way walking towards the fridge like he isn’t going to grab a plateful of food and wolf it down. “Did you just call me fat?!” I took a swipe at him from my seat, but he’s fast as f*ck and I missed. “I will remind you, sir, that I train just as much as you. My body just isn’t predestined to be god-like with rock solid muscles stacked on more muscles.” “So, you’re saying I’m hot?” He leans on the doorframe of the kitchen as he slings his backpack over his shoulder while simultaneously shoveling food into his face. I can’t deny that my best friend is hot. He is one of the best looking guys I have ever seen and there are a lot of good looking guys here. His over six foot stature screams ‘I will keep you safe’ or ‘I will f*ck you up’ depending on who it’s directed at. But, I will never say any of that to him out loud, his ego doesn’t need the boost. But I have never felt the hormonal pull to him either. He is my brother for all intents and purposes and we are super close, but that’s it. We have known each other from birth, literal birth. We have the same birthday and were born in the same hospital. Our mom’s had been best friends since college. They graduated together and opened a studio that taught yoga and women’s self defense. My mom took over the studio when Aunt Beth met Uncle James and became the Luna of the pack, which takes a ton of time. Aunt Beth kept the studio for me and I work there a couple days a week. I help train and the manager is teaching me about the inner workings of the business so I can take over some day. It’s the one thing that my mom left to me that I feel the most connected to her. They started this from nothing and taught both humans and werewolves. It’s a legacy that I really want to keep going, no matter what I do with my life. “You still plan on leaving for school next year?” Jeremiah asks, not looking at me from the driver’s seat of his muscle car. I couldn’t tell you what it is, but it’s sleek matte black, big and beefy with an engine that growls. We have had this conversation so many times over the last year that I don’t know what else to say to him. “Yes, Jer. I have to go. You are going to really start Alpha training and I am a human so it’s not like I am looking for a mate.” I say dramatically, putting the back of my hand on my forehead. “And right now, I don’t have any other useful purpose in the pack.” “You know how strangep that was right? Everyone waiting to see if we were mates. I mean, don’t get me wrong, you are amazing and beautiful, but you’re my twin sister.” He shutters dramatically and I just laugh at him. “You are such a weirdo. You ready for this year though? I mean there are a lot of expectations now. Everything is starting to feel real.” “Ready as I’ll ever be I guess.” He shrugs. “We already have a bunch of trips planned to visit with other pack Alphas so I can start building relationships with them. At least I’m not the only new Alpha. There are two more in our alliance, which helps. I won’t be the odd man out and just treated like a stupid kid all by myself.” I laugh at him, but I get it. The visiting Alphas can be patronizing to younger wolves. It’s a hierarchy thing, but some of them, like some of our pack members, think that their species, rank and position make them automatically better and allowed to behave anyway and say anything they want with no retaliation. We pull up to the school and into Jer’s parking spot and of course the b*tch entourage is here waiting. “Oooooh! Your fan club is here to make sure you don’t break a nail on your way to classes.” I sing song. “Shut up.” He growls, taking a deep breath before getting out. These girls are ruthless in their pursuit of him and many of them are eighteen like us and know for a fact that he isn’t their mate, but they still pursue him like he’s available. I mean, he’s not a saint by any stretch of the imagination, none of his crew is. They are actually kind of manwh*res. According to Tommy, it was to practice so they could be good for their mates. But since our birthday when he came of age and is able to sense his mate, I don’t think I have seen Jer with another girl, I don’t think his wolf will let him. They are game on for their mate and only their mate. Too bad none of the b*tch brigade got the memo. His lack of attention brought on more rumors about him slumming around with me, but I could at least shut those down pretty fast when I reminded them that means he chose me not them. They changed tactics pretty fast. We both got out of the car and I had to fight the crowd that surrounded him just to get by, but he has never left me hanging, no matter how mean some of these girls can be, and now is no exception. I do love that he doesn’t baby me or fight my fight for me. He knows that would be more detrimental. I can actually fight for myself and I have the attitude to match. He just keeps the trolls from getting in my way or holding me up from classes. “Kennedy, let’s go girl. The guys are waiting.” He wraps his arm around my neck and leads me away. “What am I going to do without you here to c*ckblock for me? See, you can’t go away to college. I need you here.” “First, that is your mate's job, so chop chop and find her already so I can pass the torch. Second, you know why I want to go. I can’t be a burden any more. I want to do right by my parents and Aunt Beth and Uncle James. I need to be able to support myself, I can’t rely on you guys forever.” “That is a lie and you know it. You had better rely on me forever. I fully plan to rely on you, Warrior.” He tries to look stern, but his handsome face doesn’t really do the look if he isn’t actually angry. “And you know Mom is never letting you go, she’s plotting just as hard as I am to keep you here.” Before I can reply, the rest of the guys walk up looking like a Magic Mike runway show before all the clothes come off. Not gonna lie, I might have drooled a bit, but what do you expect when all of my friends are hot as f*ck. Too bad none of them are my type, and I’m not their mate. And I have tested all the waters, except Jeremiah. It’s just an unspoken rule that none of us bring it up or discuss it at all. Ben is our dark haired, tattooed and broody Beta. Tommy is our fun loving Delta and Jason our blonde surfer boy Gamma. They are all tall, and wide like Jer, with Adonis muscles crammed into too tight shirts. I always wonder if that’s on purpose or if they just can’t be bothered to find clothes that fit. They all do the bro hug thing as we meet up and each one gives me a hug and kiss on the head or cheek. It’s all very public and very much on purpose after last year. “Hey Kennedy! Looking good girl! I think you get hotter every time I see you.” “Tommy. You saw me yesterday…at training…when I kicked your ass.” I didn’t actually kick his ass. I just didn’t get beat, and gave him a run for his money. “That’s better every time too.” He closes his eyes and smiles and we all just laugh. “You are so stupid!” I say to our future Delta. “Does that line work on any girls?’ “I save my best lines for you, until I find my mate of course. Then I won’t need any lines, she will love me no matter what.” He puts his hand on his heart. “Lucky girl.” I pretend to vomit on Jason, who just laughs. “You’re lucky the Moon Goddess is going to force someone to be with you forever. Otherwise, I don’t know if anyone would put up with you that long.” Ben huffs a laugh. I don’t know if I have ever seen our tough-as-nails friend really show any emotion outwardly. He’s actually a really nice guy, when you get to know him, but to the outside world he’s stern and quiet, but he seems to make that look work based on the amount of girls that try and get him to open up, so determined to ‘fix’ him or ‘save’ him. I don’t think he’s broken, just reserved. His mate will be the only person he shows that side to. We head into the school ready to start the first day of our senior year. —- The first week of classes were about as expected. Mean girls say mean things, but the guys don’t let it go too far. They don’t step in right away like they used to. When I first got here, it was a big deal that I was human and best friends with the Alpha’s son, and no matter what race, species or supernatural powers you have, teenagers can just be assholes. So the guys would jump in to protect me, but that just made things worse. It made me a bigger target to pick on because I was perceived as being weak, an easy target. I struggled to even just get out of bed after the accident, the kids at school didn’t help. Jeremiah used to drag me to training to get me out of the house. It did give me an outlet when my depression morphed into the anger stage of grieving. One day at training a girl got extra rough after she got laughed at. A prank she tried to set on me backfired and she ended up with syrup on her pants for part of the day. She decided to retaliate publicly. Since I was human, she assumed I wouldn’t know how to really fight even though I train with all of them every day. Her first mistake. She also thought she wouldn’t have to put a lot of effort in because, again, I was human and she was a wolf and there is no comparison. Her second mistake. I beat her severely, and since then I have been training with the guys as a future warrior as well as training self defense at my mom’s studio. There are things I can’t do, like shift into an enormous beast, but I still train with them even when they are in their wolf form. It has made me faster and more aware. I think the guys go easy on me, but the jealous girls do not. My skill set is varied and probably better because of that. I have also been working with the trainers on using my other senses to enhance them like any other muscle. I have found I am really good at tracking and hiding from trackers. Even though a wolf’s sense of smell is very strong. I can even fool Jeremiah, who is one of the strongest with Alpha blood. “So, what exactly is this meeting about? I mean all of the alliances are good, right?” Tommy asks Jer as they are circling each other in the sparring ring after school. “I think it’s more about getting me and the other future Alphas ready to take over. You know meeting the other Alphas, establishing relationships, that kind of thing. I’ve known most of these guys my whole life, so it won’t be too bad. Mostly a formality.” Jeremiah dodges a series of punches, but doesn’t respond quick enough, because he talks with his hands, and is taken out with a leg swipe and he hits the ground hard, recovers and rolls before Tommy can land another kick. Jer pushes Tommy’s foot away, causing him to stumble and stands to take the offensive. Before they get too rowdy, Jason steps up and taps Tommy on the shoulder, switching out to partner with Jer. We rotate frequently to work on his stamina. “When do you leave?” Jason asks as they continue to work around each other. Our resident surfer boy with sandy blonde hair and dark eyes. He’s the sweet calm to Ben’s military rigidity and Tommy’s wild silliness. “We take off tonight, so make sure you keep an eye on her.” He pointed to me and I almost spit out the water I was drinking. “What are you talking about ‘watch me?’ What do I need a babysitter for? You’re going to be gone for the weekend.” I am trying to stay calm, but not doing a great job. I hate it when they get like this. “It can’t happen again, I can’t handle it, we can’t handle it.” He gestures at the guys. “What, Jer-e-mi-ah,” I enunciated his name, “can’t happen again?” “You can’t get taken again!” He grits out through clenched teeth. “Nothing happened last time.” My voice is getting louder. “They had me for all of 2 days, you have to get past this.” “Bullsh*t! You were targeted because of me. That can’t happen again.” I change tactics. “Who had to rescue me then, hmm?” I’m fighting for a calm I don’t feel. I can appreciate his feelings, but I do not have to put up with his stupid reactions to them. He takes a breath and halts his fight with Jason. “You got yourself away, okay? I know that, we all know that, but that is beside the point. You are a human who was left unguarded.” He growled at me. “The f*ck?! I was and am a warrior with this pack. Anyone in my position, in my location, could have been taken. Or am I not good enough to hold that title anymore?” “You know you are, I just…” He grunts. “I can’t lose you. People know you are important to me and they will target you because of that and the fact that you are human.” He rubs his face. “I’ll be fine.” I mumble noncommittal. “We go now or I mindlink mom.” I gasp. “Low blow, Jer.” “Come on Ken.” Tommy chimes in. He already has his stuff packed up and ready to go. “Here, Kennedy.” Ben hands me my bag. Well, I guess we’re going then. I grudgingly follow them out to Jeremiah’s car. I know if I stall too long someone will just pick me up and throw me in like a toy. When we got back to the pack house Aunt Beth had pizzas all lined up for us. All the guys rushed for the food. Aunt Beth walked up to me while Uncle James and Delta Drake carried the bags outside. “We will be back in a couple days, hon.” Aunt Beth hugs me, that worried look in her eyes. “Seriously, I will be fine. Besides, I have the boy band to keep me company.” I point my thumb over my shoulder at Tommy, Ben and Jason sitting at the island working on a pizza. “You better go, so I can get over there, you know they won’t leave me any.” I hugged her one more time. I walked over to the island and had to slap Tommy’s hand away from the last slice of cheese pizza. He just giggled like a little kid. Big strong arms wrapped around me from behind and squeezed me tight. “Love you, Ken. I left a shirt in your room. Just in case.” He whispers in my ear. “Thanks. Love you too.” I lean back into him and squeeze his massive arm with my hand. Then he was gone. gone. “So, the cat’s away. What are the mice going to do?” Tommy taunts. “This mouse has some homework to do and the Beta gave me something to test this weekend so we are playing hide and seek.” They all look up at that? Shocked faces tell me I am going to have to work for my freedom. “Not a good idea, Ken. You heard Jeremiah. He’s going to lose his mind if he finds out we let you off in the woods by yourself.” Ben tries to shut the idea down before we even start. “It was your dad’s idea! Come on Ben! Please?” “Uh, no.” “Jason, help me out. It was an assignment from the Beta, you can ask him yourself.” “I can guarantee that he would not assign you something the same weekend the Alpha, Luna, Gamma, Delta and Jeremiah are all gone. Even he knows what Jeremiah will do if any of us allow that. And he will be too busy running the pack for two days to supervise. Not a chance. I love you Ken, but I like my balls more.” He laughs. “Ugh, Tommy? What do you say?” “If they are out, I’m out. You’re a handful when you are in your testing sh*t mode. And it kind of makes my brain hurt.” “Really? Ugh, traitors.” I figured as much, but it was worth a try. ‘I’m going to go change. Can we still do movie night? Or am I not allowed to do that either since Jeremiah won’t be present?” I turn to leave before any of them can answer. It’s not their fault, but I hate feeling like a prisoner. I clearly haven’t done enough to prove myself. I’m just going to have to double the training. “We are for sure watching a movie. Are you going to wear that sexy thing I got you for Christmas?” Tommy hollers down the hall after me. I turn to give him an evil glare, but I break when he wiggles his eyebrows at me. “Not a chance in hell, traitor.” I smile at him. “For your inability to grow a set and help me out, I’m going to wear a bunch of frumpy layers.” I turn around to walk off to my room when I hear him mutter. “Layers are more fun. It’s like unwrapping a present.” Such a hornball. We didn’t do much of anything all weekend and I barely left my room, let alone the packhouse. It was just easier than getting the third degree for trying to leave. I kept my space from the guys. The longer Jeremiah was gone the more irritated I got at being a prisoner, and they didn’t deserve that wrath. I got a call from Aunt Beth on Sunday, the rest of the guys got a mindlink from Uncle James. I can’t mindlink, because I’m not an official member of the pack. Our elders found some information that insinuated humans can’t handle a pack connection and trying could kill me. So, naturally, Aunt Beth said absolutely not and won’t even entertain the conversation. Something came up and they had to stay an extra day. It wasn’t like her to be so vague, but maybe there were people around and the ‘something’ wasn’t common knowledge. I missed Jeremiah and the nightmares were getting worse. All the guys know, it’s just another thing we don’t talk about. Ben stayed with me last night after we got the call. He didn’t even ask or wait until I had the nightmare. He followed me into my room, wordlessly, and climbed into bed behind me, and just held me while I clung to Jer’s shirt inhaling the scent that has faded over the last two days. The nightmares seem to be worse when I don’t expect Jer to be gone. The worst part is I hadn’t heard from Jeremiah at all in two days either. I don’t know if we have ever gone more than 24 hours without talking or texting. Nothing feels wrong, but something has definitely changed, it’s palpable in the air and it’s kind of freaking me out. School was rough Monday. Even with Ben soothing me, the nightmare was on a loop and I couldn’t seem to get it to stop or get myself out of it. We were both tired, he just did a better job of hiding it. I was lost in my thoughts after exchanging my books at my locker for my second period class. “Were you too busy entertaining last night? You look a little rough, but maybe that’s the way you like it. Is that how you keep all those guys entertained? I hope they pay you well for the services, human.” “So witty, Janelle. I’m so glad to see that our education system hasn’t been wasted on you.” I didn’t even look at her as I walked away. It was going to take her a few minutes to figure out I called her stupid. Plenty of time to get to my next class. “Are they still on that kick?” Jason asked from the seat behind me, and I jumped, damn ninja. “Yep, it’s an oldie but a goody and she really only brings that sh*t out when Jer is gone and she has nothing better to talk about. Apparently you guys aren’t scary enough to keep her away with your mere presence. ” I give him a half hearted smile. “Well at least your humor is still intact. Oh… we gotta go. Now.” “Wait, what?” He completely ignores me and stands up grabbing his backpack and mine. The f*ck? “Alpha said come to the packhouse now and to bring you, the rest of the guys are already there.” We jump in his car and head over to the packhouse, really fast and Jason’s not usually the panic guy. “Jason, what is going on? Is everyone okay?” Now my brain is going a hundred miles a minute thinking something bad happened to Aunt Beth or Jeremiah or Even Uncle James. “Oh Sh*t. Sorry Ken, I didn’t even think. No, everyone is okay, I guess. I wasn’t told that anyone was hurt, and he usually leads with that. Alpha James said that they have news. That’s it, I swear.” The ten minute drive felt like forever and I couldn’t get my heart to beat at a normal rate. I just have to see them then it will all be okay. That’s what I keep telling myself as we drive up and I see all the familiar cars in the driveway. There is also an unfamiliar car, a sleek white SUV. I jump out of Jason’s car before it is even in park and run through the front door not bothering to close it. I have worked myself up and I need to see my brother before I lose my mind. I trample through the house and straight toward the voices I hear in the common room. “Jer,” I whisper out and he turns to me with the biggest smile on his face, he looks so happy to see me. I run straight at him and jump into his arms without even thinking, wrapping my legs around his waist. I bury my face in his neck and inhale, feeling calm immediately. Then a loud menacing growl sends a shudder around the whole room and Jeremiah lets me go, just drops me to the floor and turns away. I land in a heap on my butt. I am stunned, he’s never dropped me before, not outside training anyway. “Who the f*ck is that!?!” A female voice I don’t recognize snarls. I can’t see her behind Jeremiah’s big frame and everyone else has moved to stand next to him. “What’s going on?” I ask all the backs facing me, finally pulling myself together enough to get off the floor and stand upright. I’m ignored by everyone. My heartrate spikes again, something is very, very wrong. “I will not ask again, Jeremiah.” Her voice is on the higher side and demanding. I can feel her power from here, but it doesn’t seem to bother me, my body just knows it’s there and she’s using her aura, meaning she‘s high ranking. “It’s nothing, really. This is my best friend, Kennedy. Kennedy, this is my mate, Rayna.” He finally turns around to look at me, but I don’t know if he even sees me. His warm chocolate eyes look between her and I, and I can tell he is already in love. Completely infatuated with her and my heart sinks. She is staring daggers at me with her emerald green orbs. She is perfect, like, literally perfect. Her symmetrical face is angular almost like a fairy and she is tall and lean with generous curves in all the right places. Her raven black hair falls in loose waves around her, hitting her mid back. Her olive skin is radiant and the soft pink tracksuit she has on makes her look athletic instead of like a lazy traveler. She is gorgeous and looks amazing standing next to my best friend. I choose to ignore the insult of him ignoring and dropping me and focus on my friends' excitement. “Your mate? No way! Jer, this is amazing!” I go to give him another hug and she growls at me again. It takes everything in me to pull my hands back and not hug him. I just clench my fists at my sides, looking around awkwardly. The whole room had gone silent watching the exchange. I want to be excited for my friend, but this is not what I expected at all. I don’t know what I thought would happen, but it wasn’t this. Tommy breaks the tension and introduces himself. “Hello Rayna. It’s nice to meet you. I’ll be your Delta. This is Jason your future Gamma, and Ben your future Beta. Kennedy is one of our warriors too.” He points me out and I wish he wouldn’t, she was calming down, but that tension is back the instant he says my name. “I’m just gonna go. Rayna, It was nice to meet you.” I turned to leave as quickly as I could. Ignoring protests. I had no idea where I was going to go. I lived here and she was going to stay here and eventually live here and she clearly doesn’t like that I have a friendship with Jeremiah. I head out the front door. Did she even know about me, that we were friends? Or did he try to hide me? Is he ashamed of me, his human friend, now that he has his mate? I have never felt so unwelcome in the packhouse before. The foreign feeling is not setting well with me, I feel sick. I don’t know what that will mean for us. I never once considered what would happen if his mate didn’t like me or want me around. I just assumed she would fit into our group, not replace me in it. It feels like my heart is breaking, just like when I lost my parents and I really need to catch my breath then hit something… hard. I needed to get to the training grounds and work out my frustrations and confusion on some weights and a punching bag. I change into some spare clothes from my locker and wrap my hands to hit the bags, letting every insecure thought run through my head, fueling my fire. The three guys are outside the changing room, waiting for me. Tommy goes to say something, but I just hold my hand up and shake my head. I don’t want to hear it right now. I don’t want excuses or placating neutral thoughts. I don’t think I could listen to anything rational, I just need to beat the sh*t out of something. I moved over to the heavy bag, checked my wrapped hands and started running through our usual hitting warm-up then I just started wailing on the bag adding in kicks and full body movements, until I couldn’t feel my limbs any more. I stopped when I couldn’t push my body any further and leaned my forehead on the bag breathing hard. My weak human self doesn’t have the same natural stamina my werewolf friends do. Another wave of irritation washes over me. Not Enough, my internal voice taunts me. Ben walks up next to me in his own workout gear and hands me a water bottle. “Did you get it all out?” I didn’t realize he stayed. He’s sweaty too, so at least I didn’t keep him from his workout today by being stuck babysitting me, again. “For now, but that’s only because I can’t feel my arms.” I roll my eyes at him. “You’ve been at it for three hours, I would hope so. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you move like that. You are getting stronger and faster. Apparently your anger is your secret weapon.” He winks at me, but the amusement doesn’t last long. “Well, I guess it’s good at least one of you noticed, finally.” I scrunch my eyes together and take a deep breath. “I’m sorry, you didn’t deserve that. I’m not angry at you, you’re just here.” I sit down on the bench next to the bag and he follows suit. I see movement out of the corner of my eye and notice Tommy and Jason coming closer. They stayed too? I’m interrupting their night, now I do feel a little bad. They really should be getting to know their new Luna and hanging out with Jer. “Is it safe to approach, or am I going to lose the jewels?” Tommy tries for a joke, pointing to his most prized possession. “Shut up. You’ll be fine.” I roll my eyes and almost smile, but I'm not there yet. “But, will you?” Ben asks and all I can do is shrug my shoulders. “What if she tells him he can’t see me or talk to me or be friends with me? What if she kicks me out of the pack house?” I take another drink. “I’m not going to make him choose. Mates are special and once in a lifetime.” “He didn’t even tell her about me. That’s not normal on any level and he didn’t even tell her, you could see the surprise on her face. He's never been ashamed of me before, but it's never mattered before either. Maybe her pack isn't as tolerant of humans. And she was pissed I hugged him, pissed I was near him at all. She isn’t going to accept me in their lives and I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can’t get in between them, but I can’t just stay there and watch him pull away from me slowly. That will kill me.” Ben wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into him. I rest my head on his shoulder just letting the tears stream now, looking in front of me but not really seeing anything. Jason sits on my other side and holds my hand and Tommy kneels in front of me. “Ken, we’ll figure this out. You are important to him, you know that. A new mate bond can be overwhelming and I’m sure he isn’t thinking totally clearly.” Tommy squeezes my other hand. “That much I figured out on my own. What am I supposed to do in the meantime though? I can’t wait forever for him to pull his head out of his ass. And you guys will eventually find your mates and do the same thing.” A fresh wave of tears starts to fall. I close my eyes and lean my head back on the wall, willing them to stop. “We would never leave you hanging, you know that.” Jason leans into me. “I knew that about Jeremiah too, and look where that got me.” I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, opening my eyes to look at the ceiling. “I just need to train more, keep myself busy until I can get out of here, go to college and do the normal human thing. We all knew this was coming. I just didn’t expect it to be so sudden and suck so bad.” I move to stand up, but Ben holds me back. “This isn’t forever, just give him some time. And stop trying to run away.” “I’ll try, but I’m also not going to stand around being growled at. And I’m not running away, we all needed space.” What I don’t say is that I will also be mentally preparing to cut ties with all of them, if that’s what make their lives easier. I just wore my sweaty gym clothes home, wadding up my street clothes. I didn’t come prepared so I have no shower stuff with me and the disheveled hot mess look is a good representation of how I feel right now anyway. The guys insist on walking me back. I try to not let it irritate me, because it still feels like I’m being babysat. They leave me at the door though, which is a relief. I walk into the kitchen from the back patio door. I thought I was being smart and would be able to slip in and to my bedroom unnoticed, but I was wrong. “F*ck, Kennedy!” I jump and grasp my sweaty tank top like it will slow my racing heart, then take a deep breath and compose myself. “Where have you been? I was worried. You just ran out and left your phone and everything here.” Jeremiah jumps up from his seat at the island moving to come to me. Is he angry at me? Why does he look angry? He has no right to be angry at me for putting distance in a stressful situation so everyone could calm down. I ignore him and walk to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. I open it and take a long pull before I turn to answer him. She’s in here with him. I can smell her perfume and I will not have anything that can be misconstrued as a fight with him in front of her. I won’t give her any other reason to tell him to stay away from me. “I was training and I had an entourage of sentinels with me. Did you not think to check in with any of the guys? They could have told you where we were. ” I let my irritation bleed into my words. “They all blocked me. I thought something might have happened.” He scrubs his hands over his face before looking back at me. I look at him like he’s stupid, because he is right now. Something did happen and he completely iced me out. “You know them better than that. If something was really wrong they would have linked you. Also, If you really thought something happened, just sitting around waiting wasn’t your best move, Alpha.” And pack a bag, but I don’t say that out loud. I told Ben I would call him to come get me so I could stay with him. To his credit he didn’t argue. I try to walk past Jer, but he catches my wrist and stops me. Another low growl from the other side of the island and I press my lips into a line, but keep my face away from both of them until I am sure I can school my features. I can’t show irritation or disrespect to the future Luna. “Kennedy, why are your hands bleeding?” He asks softly, but his own irritation is bubbling under the surface, barely controlled. I stop trying to pull away and look back at my hand, confused, noticing that my knuckles bled through the wraps I didn’t bother taking off. None of the other guys said anything about it and I know they noticed too. “F*ckers, they could have warned me.” They knew he would ask. That’s why they didn’t follow me in, they knew he would stop me. “I did some work on the bags. I didn’t even notice until now.” I shrug it off, showing a calm I am nowhere near feeling. “I really need to go and clean up, I haven’t slept well the last couple days and it’s starting to hit now. And I have some injuries to bandage too apparently.” I finally look him in the eyes and a moment passes. I try to pull my wrist free. But he holds tighter. “Let me go, Jer.” I whisper. There’s so much meaning in those four words, that tears fill my eyes again, but I don’t look away. He needs to get it. I am making this choice. I have to pull away now, quickly, not slowly and resentfuly over time. His face falls and he pulls me into a tight hug and I wrap my arms around him, grasping his shirt because my hands don’t reach around his massive waist, and let the tears fall, soaking his shirt. If this is the last time I’ll get to hug him, I’m going to make it count. I can feel my heart breaking and pounding away in my chest. I’m sure he can too. A menacing growl comes from behind him and I realize for the first time it doesn’t scare me like it should. She is his mate and future Luna, her growl should stop me in my tracks and I find it really just brings me back to reality, like someone clearing their throat. I pack that thought away in the ‘figure it out tomorrow’ pile in my head and nod into his chest, taking a deep breath of his comforting scent before pulling back. I put my hands on his firm chest and looked him in the eyes. “Jeremiah. Let. Me. Go.” I say it sternly, but not mean. He needs to let this happen, she has laid her claim, I am not wanted here and I’m trespassing. I may not be a werewolf, but I understand being territorial. “Never.” Is all he says. His arms tighten around my waist, making this harder than it needs to be. I clench my jaw, I have to fight these tears, she won’t see me cry anymore. “Well, it’s not only your decision to make anymore. You are now a packaged deal and you need to consult your other half before you go making promises.” I pat his chest twice, trying for light banter and a smile. Another growl and this time a huff. It’s possible she’s agreeing with me, but I’ve only heard her say about five words all together so I’m not sure. I push off of him and this time he lets me step away. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school, I guess. Unless that’s not a thing you do anymore. I don’t really know how this works... I guess I’ll just see you around.” I rub my hand across my forehead. I’m rambling at this point and don’t even know why I keep trying to talk. We have never been awkward, and that’s all this is right now. I walk into the common room to grab my bag from where I dropped it earlier. My phone on the floor near it, just dropped haphazardly. No one touched it, another feeling of sadness washed over me. Discarded and overlooked like my phone. Man... I hate this whole thing. I grab my stuff and make it to my room quickly before another wave of tears hits. I shower in record time. I pull on a sports bra and a pair of my comfy sweats. Out of habit I reach for Jeremiah’s t-shirt where it stays on my pillow. I stop halfway through putting it on, take a deep breath and pull it back off. I close my eyes, steel myself, fold it and set it on top of my dresser across the room. I have to start doing this without him. While I’m there I pack a change of clothes for school tomorrow and a set of workout clothes for training. I will just spend as little time here as possible until we figure this out. Once I’m set I text Ben to come pick me up. I walk my two bags downstairs and set them by the front door and grit my teeth. I need to say something to Aunt Beth or she will tear this whole pack apart looking for me. Come to think of it, I didn't see her when we got here to meet Rayna today. Weird. She probably would have made the whole introduction so much smoother. I follow sounds to the common room. It doesn’t cross my mind to make myself known before I walk in. A moan and grunt and then “WHAT THE HELL?!” A female screech pierces my ears. “Oh sh*t! Sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt.” I shield my eyes. “I was just looking for Aunt Beth before I head out.” I start to back out of the room as quickly as possible. “Ken, wait! Come back.” I hear a ton of cloth rustling and I move faster. “Nope! Not a chance. Continue, I will find her on my own, sorry for the interruption.” I continue down the hallway heading for the door fighting tears. It took less than an hour for him to be distracted enough to forget I’m even here. ‘Important’ is no longer a word anyone gets to use when it comes to how Jer feels about me. “Ken, stop.” He’s so fucking fast and right in front of me now, blocking my way to the front door. I slam my eyes closed. I’m not going to have his mate try to beat me up for looking at him naked. “Where are you going? Why do you have a bag packed? And why are you looking for Mom?” Now he’s worried? I mentally roll my eyes. “I was going to tell her I was heading out. Are you dressed? I like my eyes where they are in my face. I don't need them ripped out.” I squeezed my eyes tighter and ignored his other questions. “Yes.” He laughs. “Now look at me and tell me where you are going. What’s going on?” “I told you, I haven’t been sleeping well. I’m going to go stay at Ben’s so I’m not a problem.” “What are you talking about? I left you my shirt, that usually works when I’m gone. And since when have you ever been a problem?” “Really? Are you that dense? The shirt isn’t working anymore.” I lied. “And It became a problem when you found your mate, who you very obviously forgot to say anything to, cause she didn’t expect me based on the welcome I got when you brought her home. She doesn't want me here and you aren't going to choose.” “I’m right here, you know. Don’t talk about me like I’m not in the room.” Her voice comes up close behind me. I close my eyes and take a deep breath in, then out. Don’t get an attitude, don’t get an attitude, don’t get an attitude. I have to keep repeating to myself. This is not her fault, she’s just as much a victim here as I am and she has just as much if not more right to be angry than I do. “I still don't understand the problem?” Jeremiah looks from her to me and back again. It’s my turn to glare and growl and I don’t even have a wolf. Jer’s eyes go wide and he takes a step back from me. Hands up in a surrendering gesture. At least he’s smart enough to know we are both pissed, even if he doesn’t understand the problem. “Why are boys so stupid?!” I don’t yell, but my temper is getting harder and harder to control. I let out another sigh and decided to get this over with. I turn around. “Rayna, I’m Kennedy, Jeremiah’s best friend, his female best friend. I live here in the packhouse.” I gesture around me. “I’ve been here for the last three years. My mom was his mom’s best friend and I’m here because my parents died three years ago. I still have nightmares from that day and Jeremiah usually sleeps in my room with me…” I get nothing else out when she launches herself at me snarling and grabbing for my hair. She’s strong but I don’t know if she trains much, her movement is clumsy. We both fall back and I take the brunt of both our weights before flipping us both over trying to gain the advantage. I don’t want to hurt her, but I also don’t want to get hurt by her. She’s clawing at everything she can and her legs are kicking wildly underneath me. She’s snarling and growling but having a hard time getting words out. “You b*ch! You can’t have him!” She yells as she swipes at my face with her nails and distracts me enough to shift our positions and move on top of me. I can feel the blood trickle down my face. She thinks I’m just a rando girl trying to claim her man. With all the time he has spent with her even since she found out about me, he still never explained who I was. Jackass. Now I understand her frustration, I would find that shady too, and I’m fighting to get words out to reassure her while not letting her hurt me. I can only get a few choppy syllables uttered here and there while trying to hold her off. “I don’t f*cking want him you crazy ass. He’s like my brother.” I grunt as she gets a good punch to my stomach. “But you would know that if you two spent just as much time talking as you do f*cking! Now stop trying to claw my eyes out!” That made her pause long enough for me to thrust my hips and flip her on her back. I have her wrists in my hands and finally get them pinned above her head. She’s still flailing as I’m straddling her torso leaning in almost nose to nose. We are both panting, but she’s slowly stopped fighting me. Maybe she realized I’m not trying to hurt her back or my words are sinking in. Whatever, it’s working. “Stop trying to kill me. He’s like my brother.” I say again, breathing hard, now that I seem to have some of her attention. “He should have told you about me and to be honest a heads up about you would have been nice. But sometimes these boys aren’t the brightest.” I rolled my eyes and finally looked up at him just staring at us and noticed we have a whole audience. “Oh Goddess! That is so f*cking hot! How did you get so lucky?” Tommy slaps Jeremiah on the back and bites down on his lower lip. Such a perv. “So all four of you assholes just stood there and let us fight? You weren’t concerned for your best friend or your future Luna hurting each other? We should beat the sh*t out of all of you instead.” Ben and Jason roll their eyes, then Ben walks over. “You two get it out of your system?” He reaches his hand out to me. “Maybe.” I raise an eyebrow looking back at her, slowly releasing her arms and sitting back, straddling her waist, waiting for her to take a cheap shot. Nothing comes so I take his offered hand. Jason helps Rayna up. I fix my clothes and run my fingers through my hair, not looking at anyone. “I’m ready Ben, let’s go.” They need to talk and decide if this is something she can deal with. I don’t want to walk away, but an Alpha needs his Luna. In this case she is more important. My friendship with Jeremiah is solely in her hands. If she says no, then that'st it, for now at least. I start walking toward the front door. I set my jaw, I will not cry again. I have said my peace and I can only hope she believes my words. This is for Jeremiah to explain and fix if he wants to keep me in his life. He has to make her see what he and I are, and she has to believe it’s not romantic. “Wait, don’t go.” Her voice is sweet but confident and I don’t know if I can do this. I shake my head and keep moving. “Please, we should talk.” I keep looking at the door. “I really do need to try and sleep, that wasn’t a line. Don’t make this any harder for me. Please. I need to go.” My plea came out barely audible to my own ears, but I know they can hear me. It is getting harder to breathe. “But you live here…” She’s right behind me whispering. I know the guys can hear us though. I keep my eyes locked in the door. Each breath is controlled in and then out. “Yep… for now… and soon you will too. I need to learn how to work through the nightmares and bullsh*t on my own anyway, but this was kind of a shock.” I bend over and grab my bags, my hands still sore from my impromptu workout earlier. She stops me, her hand on mine. The first tear falls. I shake my head side to side, my heart is breaking. “Let’s go put these away and we can get to know each other. It seems like we will be spending a lot of time together.” She pulls on my hand holding the strap to my duffel bag. It wasn’t anything harsh or controlling, but something in me just snapped, and I don’t have the energy to fight her anymore. There go my tears again, stupid emotions. She takes my bag and slides her gentle hand on my upper arm turning me around. I sling my backpack on my shoulder, eyes down just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. We both walk up the stairs to head back to my room, Rayna right behind me without a backwards glance at the guys. “Ken…” Jeremiah breathes. I just shake my head and keep walking. “I think your girls just left you hanging, I hope you finished whatever you started in here brother otherwise you’re going to sleep with some blue balls.” Tommy is always the charmer. But the rest of the guys laugh as well. We get to my room and I drop my bag by my desk and take a deep breath before I turn around. I move to take my duffle from her and drop it next to my school bag. “Were you really just going to leave? No fight at all?” She seems appalled. “He’s my brother, not my boyfriend.” I’m kind of getting tired of saying that. “There’s never been anything like that between us. I understand how mates work, how integral they are. So yes, I was going to leave, because you don’t want me near him.” I rub my face and go to sit on my bed and pat the place next to me. “I have never once run at my brother like that. I’m usually more inclined to throw something at him.” This has the effect of breaking the tension as I let out a strangled laugh. “But how close are you and your brother? In age, I mean?” “Six years difference. He’s 26, I’m 20” I nod. “ Jer and I are the same age, literally. We were born on the same day in the same hospital. That’s how close our mom’s were. My mom was visiting and they both went into labor at the same time. We are more like twins, basically raised that way.” She nods. “That explains a few things then. Not why he sleeps in your room, but we’ll get to that. What about the other guys?” “What about them?” I am trying to get my breathing under control now that she isn’t growling at me. I have a headache from all the crying too. “Oh, come on. There’s no way you left all of them alone! That much hotness and no mate yet. And they are all so protective over you. You are close with all of them, anyone can see it.” “What are you talking about ‘no mate yet?’ I’m human, do you know the odds of me being mated to someone? I can’t even be inducted into the pack, because the elders think it will kill me. I’m sure being marked would be just as bad.” I chose to skip her other statement. I don’t know her that well. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before. We don’t have any humans in our pack right now though, so I’m not sure how that works.” “No idea, but Aunt Beth won’t even entertain the idea. So I’m a human in a werewolf pack with no actual connection to the pack, living with the Alpha’s family, but not blood related.” I say darkly. “So…I believe you’ve never had any romantic interest in Jeremiah. It’s written all over your face.” She giggles, like an actual little girl. “Knock, knock! Is it safe? I would like to be able to have kids someday, Ken.” My door cracks open and my best friend stands in the frame, but waits for me to give him the okay. “We’re fine Jer. We just had to fill in some gaps you missed because you are a moron and let your d*ck take over thinking for you.” He huffed a laugh and walked in with two mugs, set them down on the side table and climbed on my bed behind Rayna. “I brought tea, thought it might help. We have an early start tomorrow, we all need to sleep.” He can’t keep his hands to himself either and it’s really cute watching him wrap her up in his arms. Her dark hair frames her heart shaped face contrasting with his light blonde hair. She leans back into his embrace. “What’s tomorrow?” I ask, confused, grabbing for the cup of tea. It’s a blend that the healer made when I told her I was still having nightmares and nothing else is working. “We are traveling to my pack so Jeremiah can meet my brother. He’s the Alpha, but was dealing with another urgent matter so my dad and I went to the meeting in his place.” “I'm glad you did.” He nuzzles her neck and I can hear his wolf purr. “Okay please don’t have s*x in my room. You have your own for those extra curricular activities. Jer,” I slap his leg. “Thank you for the tea, I should be good. Did the guys leave already? I didn’t even think to say goodbye.” I’m trying to rush them out. As cute as it is, I have heard that new mates escalate from light touching to f*cking quickly. And that isn’t something I want to see, no matter how hot my best friend and his new mate are. “Nah, they're all in the Media room. We figured it would be easier for everyone if we all just left from here in the morning.” “Why do you all have to go?” I’m still learning all the nuances of pack politics, but the thought of all of them being gone makes my heart sink. “We are all going, you included. When an Alpha travels for more than just a couple days, usually his team goes as well as long as someone is here to run the pack and Beta Daniel is still here and my parents will be back tomorrow too.” “What does any of that have to do with me?” “I’m sure that Rayna would like to have another female along. Besides, you’re one of my warriors and my best friend, I would like you there when I have to meet Rayna’s brother.” “Is that code for you’re afraid of my brother?!” Rayna laughs at him. “Umm, yes Luna!” He growls in her ear. “No sass from you. She’s really good with all the small talk and she remembers everything. It’s very handy. It doesn't hurt that she's beautiful and typically earns attention quickly. And your brother has the biggest pack territory and is one of the most notoriously dangerous Alphas, not to mention I’m about to take his sister away. I need all the help I can get.” I ignore the backhanded distraction comment and ask, “Wait, what pack are you from?” “Dark Moon.” My eyebrows shoot up. Even I have heard of them. I can’t remember the Alpha’s name, but he is ruthless from what I have heard. He takes over weak packs and eliminates Alphas like I go to school and turn in assignments. “Relax, He’s not that scary.” “Maybe for you, he loves you, for the rest of the world he’s intimidating. If the situation was reversed and someone came and told me they were Kennedy's mate and she’s packing her stuff and leaving today. I would probably try to beat the sh*t out of them. Mate bond or not.” I laugh with Rayna and then stop and stare at him. A thought just occurred to me, “Is that why no one here tries to date me? Cause you told them you’d beat the sh*t out of them?” “Uh…no…not exactly.” “But pretty close to being accurate?” “We may have insinuated that you could handle yourself and we would take care of whatever was left over.” “Good to know there’s a ‘we’ to yell at.” I look at Rayna. “How far is the drive to your pack? I need to make sure I have enough topics to yell at them for over the whole drive.” She giggles again and Jeremiah blanches, knowing I’m not lying. He only calms when she turns her head and gives him a kiss on the cheek. “Okay go, you two are making me nauseous. I will see you in the morning.” They both get up to leave and make it to the door when Jer turns, “Do you need a shirt? I can grab one.” “I still have the one you gave me a couple days ago, I should be good. I have to start weaning sometime.” And just like that, we’re back to being weird. Even with a little history I don’t know how Rayna will feel about him giving clothes that smell like him to me. “Let me know if you need me, alright?” I just nod my head. There’s no way I’m yelling for him with his mate here. I fall asleep more quickly than I have in the last 3 nights. But, I’m not sure if that’s from him being back in the packhouse or being so tired I had no choice. That was where the good night ended though. Screeching tires rattle my ears, acrid burning rubber singes my nose, blood slicked everywhere, screams from all around me… This time it’s not my parents with me though. It’s Jeremiah and Ben and Tommy and Jason. I’m screaming for them, but no one is answering, they are all looking at me, eyes wide open, but not seeing me. Then I’m screaming, I’ve lost them. They shouldn’t even be here. They weren’t supposed to be in the car. Why were they here? “Kennedy!! Wake up! Ken!! Come on girl, come back to me! KENNEDY!!” My eyes fly open and I blink slowly to focus. It feels like I’m moving through wet sand, my whole body is limp and I can’t seem to control my muscles. “Kennedy, we’re here, you’re safe now, stop fighting.” A calm washes over me the familiar sandalwood scent registers. Jeremiah. I breathe deep again, this time a sweet floral note mixes with the sandalwood making the calm feeling deepen, until I realize it’s not familiar.. Who else is with me?