I watched as Kai made her way through the doorframe and shut the front door behind her and Malia. More than anything, I wanted to pull Malia close to me, to feel her hand on my chest and hold her close. The desire to bury my face in her neck to smell her sweet scent burned from within me. The touch from when I pulled her hand on top of my chest still sent tingles throughout my hand and arm. I wanted her. I craved her. There is nothing I desired more than for her to trust me, to find solace and comfort when she was around me, in my arms.

"What the hell was that?" Cole blurted out. "What the hell is wrong with her?"

"I beg your pardon?"I asked lowly, almost challenging him to repeat what he said.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about, Ryan!" He pointed at the ground with emphasis and then to the door in which they had just exited out of. "She does not deem fit to be our Luna! She completely unstable and out of her mind! One of these days she is going to end up seriously injuring someone!"

My patience was wearing thin as his little speak went on. At first, it was only my hand twitching but it then spread throughout my being, my whole body shaking with fury, threatening to shift. My wolf was clawing and snarling in the back of my mind. His possessive nature to words his mate was coming out. He wanted to shift, to let Cole know he was talking to and who he was insulting, belittling. Cole opened his mouth again, about to say some other harsh thing about my mate, but I cut him off before he could.

"Cole.." I growled out lowly, threatening him to stay quite.

"Oh come on! You can't be seri-" I growled loudly, cutting him and making the windows shake. Storming over, I grabbed the back of his neck and forced him to bend down, like one would do with a misbehaving pup.

"Say one more thing, one more, and I won't hesitate to use severe forms of punishment." I squeezed his neck a bit harder, until he winced. Forcefully, I shoved him forward as I released my grasp on his neck. He stumbled, taking a few unstable steps before he finally regain his balance. Straightening himself, his rubbed his sore neck and kept his gaze to the ground.

Malia's POV

The serenity of my bedroom that sheltered me from the world relaxed my body. As a wolf's nature, we tend to hate people going into our bedroom, as it would be considered out den, our territory. My wolf didn't even bat an eye as Kai's scent filled the room. In fact, it seemed as if my wolf enjoyed it, loving that her smell was marking this den as hers. She plopped down onto the bed and made herself comfy, leaning on the headboard and stretching her feet out.

"Are you okay, Lia?" Kai asked, tilted her head off to the side.

"Yes, I'm quite alright, Little one."

"No." She shook her head. "You know what I meant."

"I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about. I am fine." I played it off.

"You are most certainly not fine!" She raised her voice a little and sat up on the bed. Silence filled the room after her sudden outburst. I kept my gaze on my bare feet. I guess I forgot to put on a pair of shoes, I'm just not accustomed to having to wear them anymore. She finally sighed and slumped her shoulders. "I know what your going through, Malia. I used to do the same thing." Kai spoke quietly.

"And what exactly am I going through, then?" I asked with the same hushed voice. Kai stood up from the bed and began to slowly make her way towards me as she responded.

"You're scared, Malia. You're scared to trust anyone. You are scared that everyone out to get you, out to harm you all the time." She took a few more steps and reached for my hands, grasping then gently. " You are scared that if you open up you will only get hurt again." I lowered my head in completely shame as he words, as true as day, washed over me. "It's okay now, Malia, I promise. No one can hurt you here."

I gently pulled my hands from her grasped and walked away, turning my back to her. "That's not true. I brought them here, I am the one they want. Even if they don't hurt me, they will be hurting someone else. Then, they will eventually get me."

"No, Malia." She walked forward until she was standing behind me. I felt her hand settle on my shoulder as a form of comfort. "They will not be hurting anyone and they especially not be hurting you."

"Yes they will!" I spun around and looked her in the eyes. "They will."

"No. I will protect you like you protected me. The pack won't stand for anyone threatening their Luna." She shook her head again and looked me dead in the eye. "Orion will ensure your safety. He will not let any harm come your way."

"You don't know that. They could be just like him, like Master."

"I do know, I really do. Orion won't hurt you because he can't ever bring himself to. Because that's what mates do. Mates protect each other, love each other. They physically can't being themselves to harm their other half."

"Little one-"

"I know. I know it's hard to believe but it's true. It was hard for me to, for me to trust Cole at first. I kept my distance, panicked when he came near me. But then, one day, I needed his help and he saved me. That day, slowly but surely, I began to open up to him. It took months but now I love him. I trust him with everything I have. I only wish that I could have opened up sooner." She grabbed my hands again and rubs her thumb across the top of my hands. "I told him. I told him everything, about what happened, about him, about you. He was disgusted. He wanted to kill every single one of them for harming us. And Orion will feel the same way."