Gia threw a large sweatshirt to me, shaking her head to me and chuckling before making her way back to the kitchen. I turned to my mate, gazing at him innocently, feeling slightly awkward that he had seen me act so out of control.

Dylan dropped his gaze, turning around as I shifted and pulled on the oversized navy blue sweatshirt, thankful that it fell to just above my knees, saving me some modesty.

"That was quite a show," laughed Dylan, biting down on his bottom lip; his hands stuffed into the pocket of his grey sweatpants.

I sighed, running my hands through my dark hair, shaking my head. "It really isn't like me to do something like that, she just makes me so mad and I couldn't take it anymore."

"You stand up for yourself. I like that," said Dylan, shrugging, taking a few steps closer to me, pulling me to his chest, rubbing my back soothingly. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine. I'm just a little tired, but luckily I slept through most of the heat," I replied, gazing up at my mate before he planted a quick kiss on my lips, sending tingles erupting all over them, causing me to blush.

"Well, I'm glad you're feeling better, because I want to take you out."

I raised my brows, pulling away from the hug. "Where?"

"I don't know, you can choose. I just want to get away from pack life for just a few hours."

I laughed, causing Dylan to smile. "You mean you want to go and act human for a bit?"

Dylan nodded. "Yeah, sure, if you want to call it that."

"Okay," I chuckled. "Let me just grab some breakfast and then I'll get dressed."

Dylan nodded, leading me into the house. I sat down, munching on the jam on toast that Gia had prepared me as quickly as I could, the flavours exploding in my mouth, instantly causing pure bliss to radiate throughout me.

"My girl can eat," laughed my mate, causing Gia to nod in agreement, causing me to roll my eyes.

"I'm going to go and shower," I said, dropping the crusts back down on the plate, quickly making my way up the stairs, stripping off the sweatshirt, and jumping into the steaming hot shower. The boiling hot water cascaded down my body, washing off all of the sweat I had produced from the heat, and it felt amazing to have clean smooth skin again.

I washed my hair, allowing my mind to wander back to Jen's pathetic attempt to fight, laughing to myself as I replayed the scenario back in my head, picturing Jen's panicked little face. I didn't think I was overly experienced when it came to fighting, but clearly I had some natural talent. I felt powerful watching Jen struggle beneath me, squirming against my grip as I pinned her down effortlessly.

I knew she had learned her lesson, and I hoped she would no longer speak down to me like I was a little child, but I couldn't be sure, knowing that she would probably do anything to get my mate.

I stepped out of the shower, wrapping a fluffy white towel around me, grabbing Gia's paddle brush and raking it through my long hair. Opening the cabinet, I pulled out some of Gia's makeup, applying just a little bit to my face, not wanting to over do it.

After I was satisfied with the way I looked, I quickly dressed myself, knowing Gia wouldn't mind me borrowing her clothes. Butterflies fluttered throughout my stomach, the nerves rising quickly as I padded down the stairs, noticing the way Dylan stopped mid conversation with Gia, admiring me lovingly.

He smiled at me, and I studied his all black outfit, loving the way his top fitted him around his muscles perfectly.

"I went home and got ready whilst you were showering," said Dylan, running his hands through his freshly washed dark hair, scratching at his stubble.

"Wow, nice denim jacket Clara! Where have I seen that before?" teased Gia, smiling at me, causing me to laugh.

"I promise you'll get it back," I said as I pulled on my shoes.

"It's fine, have fun!" called Gia as Dylan and I made our way out of the house, walking towards the gates of the territory.

"How was training?" I asked, attempting to make casual conversation and not sound too awkward.

"It was okay. Alpha Paul was watching, so I tried to make it one of my best sessions yet."

"When did he get back?" I asked as we turned the corner, pushing the large iron gates open, making our way down the path towards the nearest town centre.

"This morning."

I nodded, admiring Dylan's jawline as he walked, enjoying the way the muscle tensed every time he spoke.

"You like to stare, don't you?" teased Dylan, turning to me.

I widened my eyes, dropping my gaze, feeling Dylan slide his hand into mine, holding it as strolled.

"So, Gia told me you're going to be staying for a little bit longer?"

Dylan nodded, leading me down a road, gesturing in a few directions. "What kind of food do you want? We need to get some more fuel back into that body."

I shrugged, pointing over to a small diner, my stomach growling as the aroma of burgers and fries wafted up my nostrils.

"So, yeah, I'm staying a little bit longer. The deal with Paul was that I stay until I'm satisfied with the progress of the fighters anyway. They need a little more work, but they're all catching on pretty quickly. Overall, I'm impressed," said Dylan as we crossed the street, making our way into the diner.

"Hi, a table for two today?" asked a young blonde woman, leading us over to a table by the window, her eyes fixated on my mate, causing me to roll my eyes. "My name is Lydia and I'll be your waitress today. Can I get you any drinks?"

"Clara, you can go first," said my mate, gesturing over to me as he avoided the gaze of our server, who was smiling down at him, standing a little too close for my liking.

"Yeah, I'll have a lemonade please," I replied, squinting my eyes at the blonde waitress as she scribbled down my order on her notepad.

"What can I get for you?" Lydia asked, twiddling with the end of her long ponytail as she gazed into Dylan's ocean blue eyes.

"A coffee will do," replied Dylan, nodding at the waitress, ignoring her as she babbled on how much she loved coffee, before she turned and walked away after she got no response from him.

"Are girls always like that with you?" I asked, shaking my head.

Dylan smirked, chuckling to himself. "Are you jealous?"

"Well, it's not that fun when all women just seem to pretend like I don't exist when we're together," I said, rolling my eyes, a smile playing at the corner of my glossy lips.

"I don't take much notice."

"I'm sure you used to," I mumbled, shrugging my shoulders.

"Clara," sighed Dylan, reaching across the table to hold one of my hands in his. "Yes, I won't lie, maybe in the past I would have given her my number or whatever, but I don't pay attention to any women since I found you."

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" I asked, gazing at the beautiful man in front of me.

"No. I didn't do relationships."

I chewed on my bottom lip awkwardly, nodding.

"But, that's obviously changed now. I want to be your mate for life Clara."

I widened my eyes, smiling at Dylan as he studied me, squeezing my hand before leaning backwards, moving out of the way as Lydia placed our drinks down on the table in front of us.

"Are you ready to order?" she asked, batting her long eyelashes, causing me to internally groan. The waitress was gorgeous with her silky long blonde hair and bold brown eyes, and jealousy bubbled up inside of me, causing me to wonder if she was Dylan's usual type.

"Well, we haven't looked at the menus yet, but I'll just have a regular burger and fries," said Dylan, keeping his face emotionless.

"I'll have a hot dog," I said, avoiding eye contact with the waitress as she smiled before grabbing the menus from the table, her hand slightly brushing Dylan's as she did so. I attempted to hold back a growl, coughing to try and cover it up, causing Lydia to raise her eyebrows at me in concern, before strolling away, her wide hips swaying as she did so.

"Maybe we can continue with the training sessions with Jared, since I kind of ruined the first one," I said with a tensed jaw, trying to change the subject in order to calm my wolf. She was begging me to race over to our waitress and demand her to stop eyeing up our mate, before slapping her across the face, but I didn't want to make a scene, and I certainly did not want Dylan thinking I was some over jealous psychopath.

"Yeah of course," said Dylan, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Thank you, because I feel bad that-"

Suddenly, my attention was drawn to a man that was sitting at a booth on the other side of the diner, his gaze fixated on me, a scowl plastered across his face. His eyes were pitch black, almost staring into my soul, and he slowly shook his head, causing me to shift in my seat uncomfortably. I cleared my throat awkwardly, dropping my head so I could no longer see him, but after a couple of seconds, I looked up again, but the booth was empty and he was gone.

I rubbed at my eyes, trying not to smudge my mascara, squinting as I stared over at the booth again, confusion overwhelming me as I convinced myself that I was tired and hadn't eaten nearly enough, so I was probably seeing things.

"Clara, are you okay?" asked Dylan, his brows furrowed as he turned around, scanning the diner before turning back to me with worry masking his face.

"Oh, yeah, I just thought I saw someone. Never mind," I replied, waving away his worry as I forced a smile upon my face, attempting not to ruin the date.

"Oh, okay, well, my Beta called me last night and said that someone was hanging around our territory, so I might have to go and check up on them if they call and update me."

"Really?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "Do they know who it was?"

Dylan shook his head, taking another sip of his coffee. "No, they were in wolf form, and they retreated anytime they heard or saw anyone. My guess is that it was just a curious rogue."

"Probably, are you going to go and visit?" I asked, taking a slurp of my lemonade, my eyes still wandering the diner, paranoia overwhelming me.

"I don't think I'll need to. They said they'll call me if anything goes wrong."

"That's good," I mumbled, swallowing harshly.

"Clara, are you sure you're okay?" asked Dylan, cocking his head as he watched me.

"Yeah, I think my blood sugar is just a little low," I replied, shaking my head.

"I'll go and ask how long our food is going to be," said Dylan, quickly getting up and walking away to find our server, causing me to sigh to myself, dragging my hands down my face, not caring if I smudged my makeup.

I scanned the diner, my brows furrowed, dropping my head once I confirmed that nobody was watching me. The man had seemed so real, but he had disappeared in the blink of an eye. I was starting to doubt his existence, wondering if I was suffering with some bad after effects of my heat.

I blinked a few times, attempting to shake away the paranoia, just wanting to enjoy my date with my mate.

However, the image of his furious face seemed to take over my mind, my mind replaying it again and again, fear lacing through my veins...

................................................................................

You guys were really excited for the next update, so I didn't want to leave it too long! I hope you enjoyed it!

Please vote and comment if you can as it really helps me out.

How are you finding the book so far? I'd love to know.

Lots of love xxx