We'd been looking at pictures for a good long time when a small girl, maybe seventeen years old, stepped up to us. She was petite for a wolf, with long brown hair clear down her back and wearing a ankle length black skirt. She was holding my purple suitcase.

"Elise? Beta Adam?"

I turned to Adam with a playful smile, "Beta?"

He shrugged noncommittally.

She continued, "Alpha Nate is ready for you. He's in hospital room four."

"Thank you," Adam spoke a formal air to his words.

She glanced at me with a tender smile. "I'll take your bag to the Luna Quarters. Someone can show you the way when you're finished."

"Luna Quarters?" I asked in disbelief.

Whoa. I mean I get I was there on Nate's request, but to be in the Alpha female's bedroom? Wait. Was I his mate? I never considered that before, but why else would I be placed in the Luna bedroom? Wolves have a perfect match out there for them, given to them by Moon Goddess, as the legends go. They just know who their mate is the moment they lay eyes on them. Was that what I was to Nate? It felt funny to possibly be Nate's mate, but I guess I never felt interested in anyone before I met him.

"Yes, that's right."

"Huh. Okay then. Thanks, uh...what's your name?" I stammered.

"Danielle," she filled in.

"Thanks Danielle," I gave a hesitant smile.

"It's nice to meet you, Elise." She bowed and then excused herself off down the hallway, disappearing to the left.

I turned to Adam then, a playful fist reaching to the sky. "To hospital room number four!"

"This way." He stoically stepped around me and started walking in his long stride.

"Oh, come on, not even a smirk? That was funny."

His head turned back a pitying half smile to me.

"See? I knew I was funny."

He turned back forward as I finally caught up.

"You shouldn't walk so fast. I'm injured." I pouted.

"Miss Winter's, would you like me to carry you?" He stopped to see me face on, his usual unreadable mask back on.

"No." But it was timid.

"Then keep up." He turned back walking.

"What's your last name?" I wasn't limping, but the sting on my ankle was making it hard to maintain his pace.

"Hunter."

"So should I call you Mr. Hunter?"

"No."

"Oh, what about Beta Hunter!" I giggled. Beta Hunter. He hunts Beta's. Bet he's never gotten that one before.

He gave a shallow snort of a laugh. "No."

"But if you call me Miss Winters, I should be able to call you Beta Hunter. It's just respectful right?"

"No. Adam is fine." He turned and stopped in front of an open door. "We're here."

"Okay," I conceded.

I walked up and peered around the door to catch a sizeable grin slide its way to Nate's human face. "There's my girl."

I smiled back and walked inside shyly. "Hi."

He was lying in a large hospital bed, the kind that folds up to have him in a sitting position. His left arm was carefully bandaged at the shoulder, down to a white sling across his bare chest. A light grey blanket was folded up around his waist. The room triple the size of the doctor room I was in, but similar coloring and shelfing units. This room also had a tan leather couch against the back under a window and a TV screwed to the far wall instead of a photo.

"Did you miss me?" He popped an eyebrow.

"Maaaybe," I said slowly.

"Can I get a hug?" He asked one muscular arm outstretched.

I smirked. "Also maybe."

He chuckled. "Get over here."

I walked to sit at his bedside facing him and leaned into his hug, my arms up to his shoulders. I buried my nose up against his neck and took in a breath. He smelt like fall.

He made a rumbling purr sound. "I like this."

I did too. It was nice and cozy, so I chose to pause and not let go for a moment. I felt a blush creep into my neck when he nuzzled down into my hair.

"Thanks for saving me," he said with a soft voice.

My lips pulled into a smile against his collarbone.

Nate continued, "And Adam. You too." His head came away from mine and turned to the door. "Quick thinking getting me to Elise's."

"No problem, Nate."

"Aaaand," he admitted as I sat back away from him, "I'm glad you didn't stay in the city after all."

I leaned back and winked, "You mean you are glad someone was there that could grab a silver knife?"

He smirked. "Something like that."

"So I'm forgiven for abandoning your hotel?"

"Yes," he chuckled. "Am I forgiven for the kidnapping?"

"Hmm..." I playfully paused. "We'll see about that one."

"That's fair." He tucked my stray hair away. "We'll see about all that kibble talk too."

I giggled. "Did you finally decide how to punish me?"

His face grew dark, and he veered away. He muttered, "there won't be any punishments."

When his mood turned sour, I tried putting my hand on his. Being the initiator of affection felt strange, and I gulped. "Hey, I'm not afraid anymore. Okay?" I tried to lighten the mood and then rubbed over my mummy wrapped arm. "Maybe ten shots in a day is punishment enough?"

His eyes came back to me, concern etched. Then his hand trailed over the bandages. "Does it still hurt?"

"No," I answered softly, waiting for the tattletale behind me to disagree. The pain shot helped sure, but hadn't covered it all. Stupid arm.

At least this time Adam kept his big mouth shut.

I looked at Nate's sling anxiously. "What about you? Are you okay?"

He glanced down. "Yeah. Just haven't got quite enough movement in my arm yet. The doctors want me to keep it stationary today for the rest of the silver effects to fade from the muscles."

"Did you get injections for the wolfsbane?"

"Yes." A bit of a smile, "but I'm not afraid of needles."

I sulked. "Don't be mean." It was embarrassing he knew. At least he really didn't come galloping in there during my show.

"Well, I'm glad Adam got you to go through with it." He stroked a finger over the bandaging at my wrist. "I want you to feel better too."

I smiled at his caring. "I'm doing okay now."

"Good."

Adam spoke from the side. "Well, I'll leave you two to it."

I turned to him and frowned. "Aww, you don't have to leave."

Nate's hand squeezed at mine. "Sweetheart, I already told you Adam doesn't want to join in on our dates."

"Our ...dates?" I asked confused.

"Bye Nate. Miss Winters." And he abandoned the doorway.

"Yes, our dates. Bye Adam."

"I don't understand?" But as I asked, Danielle entered pushing a small cart.

"Hello Elise, Alpha." She stopped the cart at the bedside, uncovered two plates, then bowed out.

Nate smirked. "I told you I'd take you to Thai food today."

But I didn't stay in the city?

He continued. "I know we can't make it clear to South Thai today, so I had the cooks make a boxed mix of Pad Thai we had in the pantry. It's not Pad Sah Ewe, but it'll do."

I tried to hold the smile back as I looked to the plates of orangey rice noodles on the cart.

Cute.

"And then," he reached over to the bedside table and held up a movie. "X-Men."

I couldn't help it. I started to laugh, a blush creeping to my cheeks.

He twisted it in the air. "So? What do you think? Will you go on a date with me?"

He could already see the yes in my face, but I couldn't help playing. "Hmm... I don't know if I should date kidnappers."

"Well that's okay, because you are expert on escaping."

I laughed.

He put the movie down and his free arm then held at his shoulder. He pressed his head back in the cushions and made actions like he was fresh in pain. "Elise, won't you grant a dying man his death bed wish? Just one date!"

I mischievously smacked his uninjured arm. "You're not dying!"

He motioned around, pain now nonexistent. "Hey, I am in a hospital bed."

I laughed and bit my lip. "Alright, you win. It's a date."

He chuckled and moved the show back to the nightstand. "Pull the cart over. There's a lever to make it a table."

Nate pointed at a release lever and I unlocked it. He reached over one handed and guided the entire top of the cart between us.

"Neat," I bent down to see the mechanics and it just had bars underneath to extend the top portion outward.

"Come on," he scolded. "Food's getting cold."

I sat back up and grabbed a fork. "Thanks for this."

"Thanks for saying yes." He swirled orange noodles over his fork and took a bite.

I took my own bite, the sweet and sour fantastic for being just a box mix, and a good crunch from the peanut topping.

After a few mouthfuls, I asked, "Is the fight still going on?"

He nodded while he swallowed. His face showed the worry he had for his pack. "Yes. They've made it closer into Milo's territory now."

"Do you think your pack is winning?"

"It feels that way. We bested them right off. I think most of your smoothie effects are wearing off now, but we're still doing okay."

"Can I ask you something?" I looked at my plate, hesitantly.

"Of course."

"How did you get hit with the knife? How could a werewolf throw it?"

Another bite as he considered the story. "Well, it was a machine, like a crossbow." Another mouthful. "Right at the start of the fight a lot of Milo's pack were still stronger than a normal wolf. Cassandra was angry and thought you had lied to us. But when the other pack saw us way overpowering them, a lot of the men lost that strength. Must have been some placebo affect at first. And then we really started to draw them back. One wolf went rogue from his pack, and he took off in the direction of your house. I knew you were home by then and got preoccupied that maybe he was going after you. I followed him hard. When I wasn't paying attention, someone hit me with the knife. I only had about thirty seconds of consciousness after that, but Adam had followed me and attacked the wolf. Cassandra then told Adam to get me out of there. She meant back to the packhouse, but Adam took me to your place instead."

"Wow," I marveled, then felt ashamed. "And I'm sorry I caused you to get hurt."

"Hey," he made me look up to him. "It wasn't your fault. I should have watched what I was doing. I distracted myself."

I nodded but wasn't convinced. "Why didn't Cassandra want Adam back at the fight? He's your beta right? He probably could have helped a lot."

"Well, he actually never took one of your smoothies. So, yes he was stronger than the average wolf, but others were doing just as good."

I sat up alarmed. "Why didn't he take one? He said they would save him one."

"They did," he answered after another swirl of noodles. "He gave it away."

"He gave it away?" I worried.

Why did that bother me? Did he think I was going to poison him? That's why I took a drink first, to show them there wasn't full on wolfsbane or something in it.

Nate continued. "We had a bunch of packs there to help us. This elderly gentleman, like eighty, came to fight with his pack. Adam gave his drink to help him fight instead."

Oh.

Of course it was something simple like that. Don't blush. Don't blush. Yes, you were stupid to think he just didn't want to drink your disgusting smoothie, but don't blush.

"So, Cassandra said she didn't need him. Plus he was the closest to me at the time. She didn't want anyone else going in to get knifed down."

"Makes sense." I finished my plate and took a sip of water. "Has anyone else gotten hurt?"

He sighed and scraped a chicken chunk around the plate. "Yes, a few. They're in the other hospital rooms right now. Tyler died at the scene."

My hands came to my mouth, I didn't know who he was but any death was awful. "Oh no."

"Yeah, they got the knife right at his heart. No coming back from that."

"That's horrible!"

"The others are in various states. All bad wolfsbane poisonings. I think there's something about your honey cure that we need to look in to."

"The shots don't help?" I wondered aloud.

"No, they work. But it takes days, weeks maybe. And look, my veining is already almost gone." He twisted from the bed, showing just the back of his shoulder. There was a large bandage there, hints of purple seeping in the skin around it, but true, not clear into his neck and stomach like it was last night.

I sat tall. "I have more honey. I brought a container full. It's out in the truck. I can go get it! Maybe the doctors could use it for the other patients?"

"That would be great. But let me have someone else get it." He swirled more pasta and smirked. "We're not done here yet." He closed his eyes briefly and then went back to his last bites.

I took another drink and prayed that it would help his friends.

"You just smooth it on, right? There's nothing special you have to do?" Nate's eyes came back to mine.

"I think so. That's all I've ever done." I grinned. "No magic words."

He gave me an appreciative glance and then blanked out. A moment later he exhaled loud. "They're going to try it. Can't hurt anyway. And they give their thanks."

I smiled. "Welcome."

"So are we ready to start the movie?"

I nodded and he moved the table back into the cart. Danielle came in a few moments later and he handed her the movie. She plugged it in the player and handed Nate the remote.

"Anything else, Alpha?" She asked, grabbing the cart.

He looked to me. "Popcorn?"

"Sure."

"Could you bring us some?"

"Yes, Alpha!" She smiled and wheeled the cart out.

"I could have put the movie in. You didn't have to call her for that," I offered.

"Don't worry about her. It's her job."

I laughed. "It's her job to put a movie in the player?"

He smirked. "And bring us popcorn."

"And bring us popcorn," I echoed.

Nate gave me an affectionate glance and then started clicking to the play screen. "You want to come sit back by me?"

I smiled and twisted around, kicking my shoes off at the side then laying back beside him, our sides touching.

We were only a minute into the movie when Danielle brought in a wolf sized bowl of popcorn. She handed it off without a word and turned the lights out on her way.

I held the bowl between us, and we munched away as we watched. We were both laughing as we made silly comments about the action and characters.

After the popcorn was gone and the movie halfway through, somewhere along the way I got cuddled into Nate with his good arm wrapped around me.

I twisted up to look at him as he watched the movie intently.

It felt so easy to be there with him. It was nice and I felt safe and happy. I smiled to myself at the pad thai and movie date. He was cute and creative to be so thoughtful to do my favorite things.

He finally noticed me gazing at him. "What?"

I shrugged. "Just the date. This is super sweet. I actually love it."

A grin back, then a slight turn serious.

He studied me for a moment, eyes searching. "Can I kiss you?"

My breath hitched and a tingly feeling struck my stomach. Moments past as we stared deep into each other. His dark eyes inviting an answer. I pressed my lips together in a moistening line. A slight nod and a quiet, "okay."

He leaned forward and I closed my eyes leaning up.

His lips met mine in a gentle and slow movement.

Soft presses.

Lovely presses.

The seconds blurring together with the nice flying feeling.

Then he pulled away, his face alight with a smile.

"That was amazing," his voice was deep and husky.

"Mmhmm," I agreed.

We stared sweetly at each other for a minute before the tickle in the back of my throat demanded I speak again. "But I think I'm going to ruin it."

"Ruin it?" His face turned questioning.

"Like this." I bent my face down the bed away from him and started to cough loudly. I sat up and held my face in my elbow. Somewhere in the middle my cough attack it became half cough, half laugh. "I'm so sorry!"

He started to laugh and patted my back. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," I tried to get out through coughing laughs.

When I finally could breathe again, he asked roughly. "Wolfsbane?"

I took deep breaths, leaning back against his chest. "Probably. Sorry."

"No," he sighed. "I'm sorry. It was my fault you got poisoned." His pats at my back turned into soft swirls.

I closed my eyes and enjoyed his warm hands soothing my back.

After a few minutes, I twisted back to face him. "Nate?"

He looked down to me, eyes lit. "Hm?"

I bit my lip in pause, and then questioned. "Am I your mate?"

A quick widening to his eyes, before norming again. "I keep forgetting how much you know about werewolves." His hand started rubbing at my back again while he looked back to the tv in thought. "Well, no." He caught my eye again and winked. "But I am falling for you the old-fashioned way."

I smiled bashfully. "But you have me in the Luna room? Shouldn't you keep it for her then?"

He exhaled. "Maybe. But I haven't found her so far, and most wolves find their mate in their eighteenth year. I'm ten years into that. Maybe I'll never find her. Some wolves don't. I can't be alone forever."

"No, I guess not." My brows came down. "That's sad."

"It's truth."

We went back to watching the movie a few more minutes.

I breathed in my courage and asked, "am I Adam's mate?"

He looked down to me with a chuckle. "Adam? Really?"

"He's been protective and stuff. Always knows where I'm hurting. He knew how to calm me down with those needles."

"No, definitely not."

"Why not?" I asked, annoyed at his laughing tone. It was a truthful question.

"Because he would have told me, and it would have been obvious. He's been protective of you for me, and Adam's just good at reading people. He's intuitive. It's what makes him a good beta. And well, if you know about mates, I'm guessing you know werewolves have a pretty possessive streak. Adam knew I intended to, er, well I wanted to kiss you today and he still brought you right here. Do you really think he'd, or let's say anyone who's mated you, would be alright with you in my bed? Especially wrapped into me like this?" He winked at my hand resting on his chest.

I considered it. "No. I guess not."

I did know that werewolves were possessive. I mean Nate had a guard put on a house for just a random girl's phone number. I could only imagine how possessive a truly mated wolf could be.

"We wolves can still choose partners."

"So... you choose me until your real Luna comes along?"

"Don't think of it like that. Think of it as I choose you, because I want to. Because you're sweet," he leaned forward and touched soft down my cheek, "you're beautiful," a touch at the other cheek, "and you're fun to be around." A flick across my nose.

I smiled bashful. "Okay."

He then leaned back, and I watched as something went through his mind. His face edging in stone.

When he finally figured out what he wanted to say, he glanced back to the tv, though wasn't really watching. "I have wondered if Timothy is your mate though."

"Timothy?" I asked, eyes widening.