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I'm a human girl living in a wolf pack and my best friend is the next Alpha. When a tragic accident claimed my parents, my mom's best firend, Aunt Alpha Beth, was the only one willing to raise me. From that day on, I was taught the pack’s ways and values. And from that same day, Jeremiah and I were inseparable. But I always knew I would never be a wolf’s mate, so I had everything planned out. I would leave the pack and return to the human world, taking over the fitness studio her mom started with Jeremiah's mom. My college applications were submitted, my room and board arranged, and my business courses mapped out to graduate in three years. All I had to do was survive one more year of high school. Meanwhile, Jeremiah would begin training to take over his pack. This was our last hurrah before our lives followed their predetermined paths. Then Ryker appeared — the young, well-known, and feared Alpha of Dark Moon pack — and forced me to make choices I had never planned for... *** 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. I have had the same dream every night since the crash. It has been for two years. Usually, Jeremiah would rush into my room and pull me into his arms. His heartbeat and smell is comforting enough for me to fall back into a dreamless sleep. But not tonight. As the future Alpha, he was meeting with the alphas of other packs this weekend. I clung to the shirt he left to me, inhaling the scent that has faded over the last two days. 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 Beta 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 adopted his persona and made it silently through our morning workout and my first class. "Hey, Ken. We gotta go. Now.” Our blonde surfer boy Gamma Jason suddenly shows up as I’m swapping books at my locker for second period. “Wait, what? We just got here and class is about to start.” He completely ignores me and stands up grabbing his backpack and mine. The f*ck? “Mr. Jones, sorry to interrupt. Alpha needs us. It’s urgent.” He gestures his head to me, not breaking eye contact with our teacher. “I will need confirmation of that Jason, by the end of the day.” “Yes, sir.” Is his only reply as he pulls me up by the arm and basically drags me out of the school. “What the hell Jason? Where’s the fire?” “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. “Jason, talk to me,what’s going on? I’m freaking out over here.” He finally looks at me. “What happened?” I’m on the verge of tears and I don’t even know what happened. “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 and we need to get there quickly. That’s it, I swear.” I look out the window, willing my tears not to fall until I know what is going on. 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 trample through the house and straight toward the voices I hear in the common room. Then I see him and I have eyes for no one else. “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. His smile isn’t for me, it’s for her. 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 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. Then I go to the gym and start pounding the heavy bag like a madwoman, not stopping until my limbs go numb. Unable to tell whether the moisture on my face is sweat or tears, I stumble back home in a mess. 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. Let’s be honest, you are my best friend and should be able to guess where I would go to blow off some steam.” I let my irritation bleed into my words. "Now I need to shower.” 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. “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 may be human, but I’ve known him my whole life and we are tight. I understand how mates work, how integral they are. He’s an Alpha and an Alpha needs his Luna. There is nothing more important than that for the future of the pack. I’m not getting in the way of that out of selfishness. So yes, I was going to leave, because you don’t want me near him. You don't want me here.” 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. “But, you avoided my other question, that means you have given the other guys a test drive.” She winks and I look at the door, sure someone is probably listening. “Test drive is a strong phrase.” I try to dodge. “Oh give it up! I need to know these guys and I will get some of that in my own time here, but I want to know what kind of team the Goddess put around my Alpha. How they treat a woman can be a big indicator of the type of people they are.” She giggles again. ‘My Alpha.’ Her brain has already made the switch. “They are all great, but I might be biased.” I shrug and smile. “So which one are you dating right now? I feel like each one would bring something different. Who was your first?” My eyes go wide. “First what?” Still dodging, I’m sure they all talk but it’s not something we talk about out loud as a group. “Yes!! I knew it! Who was your first kiss?” “Huh?!” “Don’t play dumb, any red blooded non-mated woman would be a complete moron for not taking whatever they were offering. And you are beautiful, and they have definitely noticed. Who. Was. Your. First. Kiss?” “Jason.” I covered my face. I don’t know why I was embarrassed to tell her. It was nice and he was so sweet with me and everyone was around for that one. “But just the one, during a game of spin the bottle. Not something any of us talk about really.” “What about Tommy? He doesn’t seem like the type to stop at kissing. But I also don’t get the feeling you slept with him.” I shake my head no. And she smiles like the Cheshire Cat. “Yes! How far did you let it go?” “What are you, a mind reader?” I sit there and she just looks at me expectantly. It must be the alpha blood, she’s just used to getting her way. I finally cave. “Far enough. Look, the guys and I really don’t talk about this stuff. I don’t know how much they’ve said to Jer, and I don’t want him to get weird with me if he doesn’t know and finds out. Or getting in a fight with them, he’s super protective, if you haven’t noticed.” I stare again at her and she just stares back, lifting an eyebrow. She just waits, damn patience. “Fine. It was during a seven minutes in heaven game and didn’t mean anything…” I look down at my lap, twisting my fingers together. “Oh, but it did! Look at your face!! How many times did he make you orgasm? He seems like a more-than-one kind of guy. Were they your first ever?” “Seriously, this is so weird.” I scrub my hands over my face. She shoves me playfully and I almost fall off my bed. “How many times?” Her smile is infectious. I can see why Jeremiah would love her even without the mate bond. “Twice…” “In seven minutes? Using what?!” “Just his hand.” I shrug again, giving up on holding out on her. She’s clearly going to push for information until I give up anyway and it’s nice to have a girl to talk to. “Also my first from someone who is not myself. And yes I had s*x with Ben. I didn’t want to give my ‘V’ card to just anyone and I wanted to have some kind of idea of how it all worked. He was super gentle and patient with me. He’s not a small guy. And again, I don’t know if Jer knows. He probably does, but it’s not something I discuss.” “So hot!” She rubs her hands together. “Not nearly as hot as what I walked into downstairs a little bit ago. Did he forget other people live here or is that like a mate bond thing where you get horny all of a sudden and have to f*ck right where you are?” I was kind of joking, but it’s her turn to blush. “Maybe a little of both. I mean I didn’t know you lived here and his parents are still at the meeting. They'll be back in the morning so I didn’t see anything wrong with it. And it is kind of hard to keep my hands to myself when he’s around, you’ve seen him. Do you really talk to him everyday?” She’s blushing, but there’s a little tone of disbelief in her voice. “Yeah we have for as long as I can remember. Always checking in before school and before bed back, well before. Now we are at the same school and I train with them, so I’m with almost all the guys everyday.” “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. Traveling with all males all the time, can’t be fun. 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 always the buffer when there’s too much testosterone in the room. Kennedy has actually been to several meets with me. 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? No one can see me like this. It’s bad enough Ben was subjected to it. A part of my brain is being logical, but then it’s all foggy and slow. “Mmmokay!” I slur out. “Be okay. Go bed.” “Why does she sound drunk this time? She’s never sounded like that before.” Ben, I think. “Jus tire, Ben. Back sleep.” I can’t move my body but I can feel myself collapsing backwards. I think arms are trying to hold onto me. “Kennedy, wake up for us, please. Just for a few minutes, then you can sleep.” It’s that soft voice again. Someone is brushing hair out of my face. The floral scent is really nice. The hands are gentle, like my moms. “Nice hands.” I mumble. I can feel my brain working, but everything is all disjointed and confusing. I try to blink and I think I can feel something moving. There’s tightness around my arms, but it doesn’t hurt. I breathe in again, it seems to be the only thing I have control over. I feel a squeeze on my hands and my eyes finally open. I’m groggy but I can tell Jeremiah is holding me, my head is tucked into his massive hard chest. Another breath, another hand squeeze. I look over and Rayna, sitting next to Jer, is looking at me with sympathy and I can feel the tears prick behind my eyes. I try to blink them away, but it’s no use. They fall in slow streams from my eyes. I squeeze them shut trying to stem the flow. “Hey, don’t fight it. Let the sadness go. It will help.” Her voice is so soothing, but I let the tears just flow. “It doesn’t make it any less embarrassing.” I sniffle and pull my hands from hers to rub them over my face. “There’s something that makes sense.” I look over and see Ben at the foot of my bed. Even better. “What happened this time? Was there something different about your dream? You yelled for all of us.” He points and I see Tommy and Jason too. “You’ve never done that before.” “Huh? I don’t know. I don’t really remember.” I lied and closed my eyes again but opened them back up quickly, the image of their dead eyes and bleeding forms is still burned in the back of my eyelids. “Jer, are you sure you want me on this trip? I can’t imagine it’s going to make any kind of good impression on your in-laws to have you running into my room in the middle of the night. I’m a liability that no one will want around.” I lean away from him when I realize I’m in his lap still curled up with his mate right next to us. I slide to sit next to him bringing my knees to my chest, a massive headache starting. “With mom gone, absolutely, no question you need to be with me.” I just look at him for a second disbelieving and roll my eyes, then move to get off my bed. “Where are you going?” He shoots up next to me. “I’m awake and I won’t be able to go back to sleep. I’m going to go down to the Alpha’s gym. I promise I won’t leave the packhouse. It’s the middle of the night, get some sleep guys, we have a long drive tomorrow. I should be able to sleep in the car.” I didn’t wait for them to argue. _ Apparently the only thing that gets rid of the dreams is a three hour workout. It is six when I finally come up to get food before my stomach eats itself from the inside out. "We leave in an hour, make sure you’re packed for a week and bring some nice things too. I expect parties and dinners a few times.” Jer kisses the crown of my head. I just nod and head up. Rayna’s in my room, going through my closet like we are long time friends. I’m amazed at how quickly her attitude towards me changed. It was instant once she heard me say I wasn’t attracted to Jer. She must be able to detect lies, I know Uncle James can too. Some crazy alpha blood thing. We found out that we are the same size, so she had me all packed in no time and said I could borrow anything we forgot. Once everything was loaded, we all jumped into one of the Alpha’s seven passenger SUVs. Two more warriors followed us in Rayna’s white SUV. I can feel myself slowly pulling towards consciousness. I definitely slept well, but I think that was because all the guys were in the car with me and something about Rayna is calming too. The guys are my safe space, something about them as a group has always kept me settled and focused. I have never had another female settle me enough to sleep though, not even Aunt Beth. Maybe it’s because she’s a part of Jer, an extension of our connection is in her too because of the mate bond. Who knows. When I think I understand werewolf nature something always throws a wrench that makes me question the things that really should make sense, like mates. “I think you finally got the sleep you needed Ken. We’ve been driving for almost 4 hours. We’ve each taken a turn being your pillow and you didn’t move an inch.” Ben gives me a rare smile. “Even Rayna sat with you.” I look at the seat diagonal from me and she smiles. "Thanks. Where are we now?” “We are getting ready to cross into my brother’s territory.” I look forward and my jaw drops. “Holy Sh*t Rayna. Your pack is beautiful!” I exclaim. The hill we were going up didn’t dip back into a valley like I thought. It leveled out and the trees were full and lush, some of them even starting to change colors with the season. The path we were driving on was well maintained and the larger trees made a sort of canopy over us. Once we got past the long entry drive the path opened up to a large town that looked so classic and from a different era. It was something people would put on Christmas cards with red brick buildings and large shop windows. Everything is cozy and inviting. It looks like there are blocks of buildings that stretch into neighborhoods of homes. I knew this pack was big, but I didn't realize it was this big. We drive past a center square where a roundabout circles a central gazebo that is decorated for some special occasion. Off to one end there is a large park. I can see the top of a jungle gym in the distance. I’m going to have fun exploring here. As we drive further into the pack territory I can see the first industrial looking building and just beyond it looks like stadium seating. I wonder if that is part of their school. “Hey, Rayna. What is that over there?” I point to the building and seating. “Oh, that’s our training ground. My brother has built our pack so big that we have groups of warriors that come from all over to train, so the building is a dorm for them to stay in while they are here.” “When do they train? I would love to go watch.” “Evening training starts in a couple hours. Why don’t we all go to the packhouse and drop off our stuff, change and grab a bite to eat and then we can join. I’m sure the guys would love to move around after being your pillow the whole trip.” She laughs at me. “Food sounds amazing!” Tommy chirps from next to her and the rest of us laugh. She guides Jeremiah through the town pointing things out as we go and I can’t keep my jaw off the floor. This is nothing like the rumors say. Everything is classically timeless and gorgeous. We get to the pack house which is very grand and has a touch of the old world look to it too, but I don’t have time to admire for long, my boys are hungry and in a hurry. After dropping off our stuff, we go to what Rayna calls the breakfast room. There are enough rooms in this mansion to dedicate one to just breakfast. This place is nuts. There is a tray of sandwiches and another with fruit and veggies and bottles of water for us to grab. We all eat quickly and thank the Omegas who took care of us. For all the rumors I have heard about this pack and it’s Alpha, no one looks beat down or unhappy. I have heard that this Alpha is a tyrant and takes over packs because he loves power. He needs to kill five people before he can even have breakfast. That he basically enslaves his pack and abuses them, but I have no idea where any of those rumors came from. This pack is beautiful and all the people we have met so far have been kind and welcoming. It’s actually interesting to not get weird looks from people. I know they can smell that I’m human, but it doesn’t seem to bother anyone here like it does at home. Maybe it’s because I am a guest of Rayna’s and they don’t want to offend her. I’ll have to stay on my guard just in case, especially when I am alone. We drive the ten or so minutes to the training ground and it looks like a ton of people are gathered already as we pull in. We all jump out of the SUV and follow Rayna into the training grounds. One of their female warriors, Greta, has me learn with her and then pairs me with other female warriors so I can learn to adapt to each person's movement and tells. I have totally lost track of my pack members, I am fully engrossed in working with Greta and loving every second. “Damn, girl, you are good. You’re fast without the added speed a wolf gives, you have clearly put the time in. This is going to be fun. Are you going to join us in the morning?” Greta asks as I dodge another swipe from her arms. I don’t think she’s really trying her hardest, but I am getting a workout so I won’t complain. I would like to see her spar with one of the guys though and just let loose. “What’s in the morning?” I pant, she’s not letting me distract her at all. “The Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and a select team of warriors train together. We work the closest with the Alpha and are usually his detail when he travels. It also gives him a chance to train without prying eyes and drooling females.” She rolls her eyes. “I mean, I see the appeal. He's an alpha and he’s hot, but I don’t understand the girls who would gladly give up their mate for a ranked member even if it’s not their Goddess given mate.” “I always wondered that too. I watched a lot of girls go after Jeremiah and even tried to target me, thinking I was c*ckblocking them.” I shrug, shaking out my arm after a hold. “Can we go one more round?” I ask, noticing for the first time that the warriors had started to thin out. “I’m just starting to get the hang of this arm release.” “Do you ever stop?” She laughs at me, but gets into position. “Danny, come check this out.” She hollers over my shoulder. But I don’t turn around, it could be a trick to get my guard down. She lunges for me like she has been for however long we’ve been here. I seem to go time blind when I train. I counter and start to spin, but she anticipates the movement and follows me, grabbing an arm. I keep twisting and duck so I spin under my own arm, locking hers behind her back and then shoving her forward. She turns quickly and comes at me again, swinging with her arm as she turns and catches me in the shoulder. I take the blow but use the momentum to wind up and send a backhanded punch to her face and then an uppercut into her ribs, getting an ‘oof’ out of her. We continue to move, each getting in hits and taking them equally. Ryker “Josh, Danny, Bennet. Is my sister and her mate still at training?” I link my guys. “Yeah, boss. They’re still here.” Josh is always ‘on.’ “You coming down to check out the fresh meat?” Danny laughs. “Danny, don’t be a d*ck, they actually aren’t bad. They’ve all kept up with us.” Bennet, always looking for the positive. “Even the human is decent, boss. She’s actually training with Greta…and keeping up. I was worried about her getting hurt until she threw Tanya about ten minutes ago.” Josh is less easily impressed. “You should come take a look. Like I said, she’s hot and if she’s single I call dibs over all you f*ckers.” “I still think you’re trying too hard. Did you really have to stop them and shift when they got here? Don’t think Josh and I missed that little d*ck swinging stunt.” Bennet laughs through the link. “It is my job as the head warrior to check out all incoming visitors and welcome them. If they happen to notice what I’m packing, that’s on them.” “Unless any of them are gay, the only people who would have looked were Rayna and Kennedy, you jackass. How do you think your Alpha is going to feel knowing you were swinging your d*ck around in front of his little sister and her mate?” Bennet continues to fight with Danny. If it was anyone else, Bennet is right, and I probably would rip his balls off, but they’ve known my sister her whole life and they feel the same way about her as I do. Unfortunately she’s the only girl amongst the ranked members, so we may have gone overboard with being protective. “Yeah, well dibs on Kennedy. But you really should come check them out. In all seriousness I’m impressed with all of them. Rayna is in good hands.” Why does her name give me butterflies? Kennedy. I’ve met impressive female warriors before, hell I have one as a close friend. Just a name should not make me want to run at Danny’s command to go watch them, and yet, that’s exactly what I am going to do. I have a few phone calls to make to get things moving for the other packs that made requests at our monthly meeting, so I head to my office first and to save time I get changed into the spare workout gear I keep in here. I might as well be prepared to join in if I am going to go observe. I decided to jog to the training grounds. I still have pent up energy for some reason, like a current under my skin. Anticipation of something that’s coming. My wolf isn’t agitated, but even he knows something’s up. By the time we get there I am nice and warm with a light sheen of sweat. I decided to observe from the uppermost seats in the arena. Of course I find Rayna easily, she is easy to spot in the crowd as the female version of me. We have been mistaken as twins many times. Her mate is tall and confident like an Alpha should be. I can tell who he is just by the fact that he doesn’t let Rayna get more than about three steps from him. He’s staking his claim without restraining or holding on to her in any way. He’s letting her be her own person, but making it clear that she has a barrier that begins and ends with him. He is smiling and seems to engage with anyone who approaches. The rest of his guys seem to be the same. They are all interacting with my warriors and working on different skills. Sometimes teaching and other times being taught. It doesn’t take me long to see why Danny was so adamant about calling dibs on Kennedy. It took me about five minutes to assess Rayna’s mate and his male team members and then my attention was immediately drawn to the other side of the training grounds by a tornado of dark blonde hair flying around the most gorgeous body I have ever seen. My whole world freezes. A tan lean body that is clearly earned wrapped in only a sports bra and leggings that hug every single curve she has. I can feel my d*ck twitching at the thought of wrapping my hand in that ponytail and… I shake my head of the thought. It’s been eight years, and I still haven’t found my fated mate. So I only f*ck around with brunettes. It allows me to separate when I am just getting my rocks off. But somehow, I find myself just sitting there, watching her lithe movements far longer than I should. Every twist and turn gives me a new vantage point of her feminine curves and I am packing all of these images away to live rent free in my brain. ...

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