Basking in the morning sun that slipped through the cracks of the curtain, I absentmindedly ran my fingers through Malia's golden hair. Long, steady breaths fanned against my neck and I could feel her small smile against my skin as she slept. Trailing my fingers down her spine,tracing the scars that laid underneath her shirt. She shifted in my arms and her long eyelashes tickled my skin as she blinked them open.

"Good morning, Sweetheart." I greeted her and planted a kiss to her hair.

"What time is it?" She groaned and tucked her head further into my neck, her hands resting on my torso. Turning my head to the side, I glanced at the alarm clock resting on the nightstand.

"It's almost 10, why?" She tried to sit up quickly but my arms constricted her of the movement.

"What are you doing?" She asked and tried to pull away from me again. "We're late." Gently pulling her back, I rested her on my chest once more.

"It's fine." I assured her. "Today is an off day for all of the hard training." Trying to smooth her down by rubbing her back and pulling her closer. "Plus, I just want to cuddle with you longer." She didn't respond as I buried my nose into her hair, imprinting her scent into my mind. It was peaceful and comforting; being able to hold her close, taking in the warmth from the sun.

How long are we going to say here?" She finally asked.

"How ever long we want." I responded, placing another kiss to her hair.

As the afternoon sky was sitting high, we became to hungry to stay in bed. During lunch, Orion had been summoned to a meeting and I got the pleasure to spend the afternoon with his mother.

The kitchen was in a bit of a disarray as we gather all the ingredients to bake cookies; something in which we wanted to do to pass the time. The small talk at the beginning was a bit awkward and I wasn't really sure what to talk about as I whisked together all of the dry materials. As we furthered our progress of baking, the conversation became easier and the air around us no longer feel heavy.

As the sweet aroma of the cookies filled the air, we sat together at the table. She hugged her cup of coffee between her hands and the conversation suddenly dies off as I noticed her discomfort. I didn't find it rude that she was no longer paying attention but rather I was confused because she seemed off. No longer did her eyes crinkle as her smile lit up her face, as her eyes became dull as her mind became focused on the mug sitting in front of her.

"You know, I used to think about you every single day." The change of topic refrained me from speaking of moving, completely immobilized me. "Every night, I would open up the sliding glass door and look up at the moon, asking the Moon Goddess to keep you safe and pray that you were alright."

"Really?" I gaped, eyes wide with curiosity.

"Yes, it's true." She nodded. "That night I met you, I knew somethings was wrong, I could feel it. But then," she paused and pulled her mug closer as if it were a source of comfort. "then while I was cleaning you, I noticed the marks. I could easily see the fingerprints and the handprints and that is when I knew how much of a monster that Alpha was."

The sound of the timer on the oven and she hurried her way over. Turning off the stove, she wrapped a tea towel around her hand and pulled the pan out, setting it on top the stove to cool. Leaning herself against the counter, she began to speak again.

"We were actually there to settle a business deal we made. Since he was in debt, we gave him a sum of money to help get him back on his feet. He was supposed to pay it back about a year before we came but we hadn't seen any of it. As soon as my mate and I saw the condition you and the pack were in, we knew that he was going to loose everything." She pushed herself off and sat back down in her seat.

"I tried everything I could to try and take you back here with us but by the time we woke up, you were gone." A tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away with a napkin. "Before we left, I bought you clothes and tried to find you, too see if you would come with us, but you were gone. So, I left you as much stuff as we could and then left. Every since that day, I felt horrible knowing that you were still there, living in those kinds of conditions. " I reached across the table and grasped her one of her hands in both of mine.

"Thank you. I appreciate everything you had done for me but I never got to say it."

"It's no problem, Dear. We actually went back there a few years ago but you weren't there so I thought the worst; that you had died in their care."

"I'm fine." I spoke quickly, trying to reassure her as more tears flowed.

"I'm just so happy that my son has you as a mate." She squeezed my hand. "I know that he'll never harm you, that he will only love you with everything he is capable of." I nodded my head, confirming her statements.

"How do you know if you love someone?"

"You'll just know." She spoke, a gentle but knowing smile on her lips. "You'll feel all warm inside when they look at you or when you are around them. You'll start to notice the little thinks about them or start appreciating them more, want to spend more time around them. Then, it just kind of hits you all at once. You'll just know when the time is right."