*Annabelle's POV*

When Adam had told me he couldn't sleep without me by his side I figured he was just being dramatic, but when I entered the kitchen this morning and saw a zombie sitting at the breakfast table, I realized that he was being dead serious.

"I thought you were kidding about the sleep thing." I told him.

Adam grumbled, "I clearly wasn't."

I wanted to be supportive and caring, but honestly this was really funny. Poor big bad Alpha can't sleep without me in his arms. That is adorable. "Have you had breakfast yet?"

Adam shook his head. His wild hair tumbling in front of his eyes, "Just coffee."

I smiled and got some pans out to make breakfast. I hate cooking, but breakfast is doable. After a bit I felt two arms around my waist and a heavy Alpha dumbed his weight on me as he nuzzled my neck.

"Adam, I'm cooking."

"And I'm making up for lost time." He grumbled in response.

I rolled my eyes and continued, this time with added difficulty. When Adam suddenly released me I was about to comment when my mother entered the kitchen.

"Good morning. Oh, Anna let me, I know you don't like cooking!" she immediately stepped in. Adam, the good boyfriend he is, started setting the table.

A few minutes later we were eating breakfast. Dad had joined us too, being surprisingly happy this morning.

"Did you sleep well, Adam?" mom asked.

Adam glanced at me before putting on a smile, "Yes, slept great." He forced out.

I had to bite back a smile when my father narrowed his eyes at him, "Good to know you are able to sleep without my daughter present."

I couldn't contain my laughter this time. And both mom and dad looked at me weirdly. I didn't even dare to look at Adam, "Adam and I aren't inseparable."

"Wouldn't be surprised. You and your sister used to be glued together by the hip! You can get pretty attached to someone." Dad argued.

I rolled my eyes. If only he knew how clingy Alpha's get. Isa and I were nothing compared to Adam.

Thankfully, we dropped the subject after that. Adam and I were going to fly back to Maine tomorrow morning, so we decided to spend today as a lazy family day. We usually didn't spend Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family. They all lived further away from us and they weren't that close. There was some argument between two of my aunts and my mom liked to stay out of it. My grandparents on that side had both passed away as well, so it was usually just the aunts and uncles anyway.

Isa ended up coming over, surprisingly without Will. Speaking of clingy couples, Will and Isa are pretty attached too. Apparently, Will had Beta duties though, and couldn't come over. We watched some movies in the living room, first an action movie that my dad and Adam convinced us to watch. We were now watching a romance, which us girls had voted majority vote for. Dad had grumbled but also laughed at every joke made in the movie. He was clearly enjoying it, but had too much pride to admit it.

Adam had been slumped against my shoulder as he watched. He was clearly tired from a sleepless night. He told me he'd be fine, since Alpha's apparently could handle living on less sleep, but I could slowly feel him falling asleep next to me, which I thought was adorable.

In the end I softly grabbed Adam and placed his head on my lap. Dad had given me a disapproving look but I had glared back at him and mom had pulled him closer to snuggle.

It wasn't long before Adam was soundlessly asleep on my lap, with me softly running a hand through his hair.

Dad had grumbled about it for a while but he ended up being more focused on the movie. After it ended, mom and dad went out to do their own things. Isa and I stayed on the couch and watched another movie. We didn't get off the couch until dinner was finished.

I gently woke Adam up but received a heart attack when a much rougher voice greeted me, "Mate." Cade spoke gruffly.

'Cade, why are you in control?' I asked him through the link.

Cade shrugged, 'Because I want to be. Besides, I haven't been out in two days. I want to shift.'

I panicked, 'We'll go out after dinner, but you'll have to give Adam back control now.'

'Why?' Cade replied with a raised eyebrow.

'Because we're about to have dinner!'

Cade seemed confused by my worries, 'I'll be fine.'

I frantically looked for arguments. I found plenty, but didn't want to seem rude to Cade. He is a lot more silent than Adam. Except for me, he rarely talks to people. Cade is also a lot wilder than his human counterpart. He gets angry easier and is overall more rude.

In the end, I couldn't find a valid argument that wouldn't offend my mate, so I allowed him to stay in control as long as he wasn't rude to my parents.

'Don't worry, Adam and I don't want to get kicked out.' Cade had replied.

"Did you sleep well Adam?" Was dad's first snarky remark.

Oh dear, this is going to be a problem.

"Fine." Came Cade's short reply.

Isa started choking on her food at Cade's rough voice. She looked at me and after she managed to swallow her food she mouthed a 'Cade' in question. I nodded and when Isa mouthed a 'why' I just shrugged.

"Does your throat hurt? It's kind of rough." Mom asked concerned.

"He's fine. Just his voice after waking up." I spoke up.

"He hasn't had it the past few mornings? Are you sure you're ok?" Mom continued much to my dismay.

"I'm fine." Cade grumbled and I kicked him in the chin. Cade let out a low rumble that sounded suspiciously like a growl.

'What was that for?' he scolded.

'Can you say anything besides the word 'fine'?'I asked him.

Cade cleared his throat, "Maybe it's the cold weather. I did spend some time outside last evening."

Both Isa and I dropped our jaws. That must be the most he's ever spoken to anyone besides me.

"Oh you poor dear! I'll make you some tea and honey later. That will surely help." Mom exclaimed.

Cade grunted but after another kick he forced a smile, something I've also never seen on Cade's face when anyone other than me is present. "I'd appreciate that."

I swear Adam must be telling him what to say because I wouldn't ever imagine Cade to say something like that.

"When are we going on our run?" Cade then asked me.

Now that is something I'd imagine Cade to say.

"When the kitchen is cleaned up." I responded softly, hoping mom and dad wouldn't question us.

My wishes weren't heard, "Run?" Dad asked.

"Adam and I often like to go on runs in the forest together. We wanted to go on a run after dinner." I explained.

"It's already dark out and he has a sore throat. You two are staying indoors." Dad firmly spoke.

I had already flinched before the growl that echoed through the room. 'We'll sneak out later tonight or something!' I quickly did some damage control.

'I haven't shifted in two days! And before that I only got thirty minutes on the road.' Cade whined.

'I promise we'll run tonight. Please!' I begged.

Cade grumbled in my mind and I looked back at mom and dad, who looked around in worry.

"Sorry, I'm really hungry." Isa said with a shrug.

This really wasn't a good idea.

---

In the end, we survived dinner without a 'my boyfriend is a werewolf' talk and Cade snuck out on his own that night. He told me he didn't want me getting ill or something, so he jumped from the window and returned sometime last night. We got up early morning to head to the airport and said goodbye to my parents.

Mom invited Adam back over for Christmas and dad had told Adam to take care of me. The trip itself went fairly fast. We had a direct flight this time so no wandering airports on connecting flights. Adam had slept during most of the flight as well so he wasn't as grumpy as he was the way to Oregon.

By the time we reached the apartment, I was exhausted. I hadn't slept at all on the flight, and since Adam was incredibly sleep deprived, I didn't let him drive during the four hour drive to the airport and the short drive back to the apartment. I don't even remember if Adam had joined me in the bed, I just flopped down and fell asleep.

When I woke up, Adam wasn't next to me, but I could smell dinner being prepared. I let out a content sigh.

Things in Oregon went really well. Adam didn't have much trouble with my dad, if you look over the fact that he caught the two of us in the same bed one morning. I met another Luna and Thanksgiving was super fun. I looked around my bedroom in content. Life was going pretty well.

Of course it couldn't last.

A piercing scream echoed the apartment as I ran for my life. I hadn't even reached the safe room yet when Adam had me in his arms, pushing me behind him to protect me.

"What's wrong? What did you see?" he asked calmly, looking at the bedroom door prepared for anything to come out and face him.

"I-I... i-it's go-nna... it a-almo-st..." I let out shakily.

Adam glanced at me in concern. "Do you have your necklace?"

I frowned and shakily grabbed it, "Y-yes why?"

"Stay here. I'll take care of it." Adam spoke firmly before heading towards the bedroom.

I waited patiently for a minute. No sound had come from the room so far. A minute later Adam walked out of the room again. "Anna?" I nodded, telling him to continue, "Were you talking about the spider on the ceiling?"

I frantically nodded again, "Please don't tell me it disappeared. I will burn the house down if that's the case."

Adam let out a sigh before engulfing me in a hug, "Anna, I thought someone managed to make their way inside. I thought you were in genuine danger."

"I was! It was right above me!" I told him.

Adam dragged his hand down his face. "Sure... Listen, how about you go check on dinner and I'll fight the spider for you?"

I gave a weak smile, "Thank you. Be careful!" I pecked his cheek before skipping past him into the safety of the kitchen.

Not even a minute later Adam entered the kitchen again. "I killed it."

I let out a sigh of relief while Adam just stared at me like I was crazy. "You know, sometimes I think it's for the better we never ended up living in my old pack. That place was in the middle of the forest, and we often dealt with insects."

"I would have never survived." I spoke honestly.

Adam shook his head with a chuckle, "Don't worry, I would have protected you from them."

I smiled and hugged my mate, "Thank you."

Adam remained silent as he took over dinner once again. I set the table in the meantime but noticed that Adam was deep in thought. Even during dinner Adam wasn't talkative. I eventually asked him about it when we sat down on the couch.

"Are you ok?"

Adam looked at me slightly confused, "Yeah, why?"

"You seem lost in thought." I pointed out.

Adam hummed, "I guess I am."

"Want to talk about it?" I asked as I tilted my head slightly.

"It's nothing really. Just thinking about my old pack." Adam got a far off look on his face, "I still remember the entire place so vividly. Where everything was located and stuff. All the memories I had there. The people that used to live there. I guess I miss it at times."

I nodded in understanding, "I can only imagine."

Adam gave me a soft smile, "I'm ok though."

I softly grabbed Adam's face and pulled him towards me until he was laying against my chest. "It's ok to miss them you know."

Adam let out a deep sigh, "I know. I do miss them. But they wouldn't have wanted me to wallow in grief. I'm here now, with you. I hope they're proud I managed to get this far."

"I know they are." I kissed the crown of Adam's head, "I wish I could have seen the pack too. Meet your parents and friends." I confess.

"Me too." Adam says with a sigh. The then seems to think of something, "You could still see some things."

"What?"

Adam seemed to think for a moment before looking in my eyes, "The pack lands are still there. Abandoned, but I could still show you them if you want?"

My eyes widened slightly, "Wouldn't that hurt? For you to be there?"

Adam shook his head, "When I reached the pack after it all happened I stayed there for a bit before living in the forest. I know what it's like there. I'll be fine."

I try to search his face for any doubt or pain but can't see any. Instead, I see a strange sense of excitement, "Do you want to show me?"

Adam nods immediately, "I've seen the place where you've grown up, I'd love to show you mine."

I hum in response, "Ok... well, if you really want to show me you can. I'd be honored."

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