Aurora was looking through the clearance section trying to decide between two different jackets. She was very conscious about how much these clothes would cost. She wasn't even sure how she was going to pay for these new items. She assumed that Kole was going to buy them for her but that just didn't feel fair to her. She would have to pay him back, somehow.

"I would go with the purple one." A cheerful voice said behind her. She turned and was shocked to see that it was Georgia.

"What are you doing here?" Aurora asked with a smile. She didn't want to be rude but she was curious.

"We followed you guys, well I followed you. Alex followed me." She clarified.

"Did your brother ask you to come?"

"No, no. He wasn't too happy about us showing up, but I just had to make sure he didn't mess anything up."

"Oh," Aurora nodded relieved. If he was upset that his sister followed them, did that mean that he wanted to spend time with just her? Aurora hopped so.

"Now, I don't know how long he is going to let me stay, so we best make the most of it." Georgia smiled. "What type of clothes are you getting?"

"Just the basics." Aurora shrugged.

"Oh no, a women needs options." Georgia said and with that she slowly took over, pushing her to get more than Aurora ever thought was necessary.

Kole watched the light that filled Aurora's eyes as she shopped. He was glad she was enjoying herself, she needed this experience and he was just happy that she could be the one to give it to her. He didn't even cringe when they were rang up and the cashier told him that it was going to be nearly five hundred dollars.

Slipping his card over to the cashier he looked down at his mate.

"Thank you, Kole." She spoke looking a little pale, her eyes fixated on the total amount.

"You're welcome, Rory." He nodded. They stepped outside of the store, Kole carrying all of the bags except one small one. There was no way, he was going to allow his mate to carry her own bags. His wolf would have had a fit if he had. To him it was just one more way of caring for her and the last thing Kole wanted was her to be weighed down by the multiple bags.

"Well it's almost dinner time, are you getting hungry?" Kole asked, hoping that Georgia would get the hint that she should leave them alone; like they had agreed.

"Yeah sure," Aurora nodded, still looking around the mall. It was an amazing sight to see. The only time she had ever gone shopping was to go to the grocery store for Darren's pack, she had never been shopping for anything that wasn't found at the local food market.

"What are you hungry for?" Kole asked.

"I don't care, what ever you want." Aurora spoke breaking her eyes away from the hair salon and looked to the group.

Kole glared at his sister, she hadn't gotten the picture that he wanted them to leave, and if she had, she was ignoring him. Thankfully Rory didn't notice anything.

"You know you could get your hair cut if you wanted." Georgia spoke noticing where Aurora had been looking.

Kole bit his lip. He loved her long hair, he didn't want her to cut it off. But he would keep his mouth shut, she needed to make the decision for herself.

"No, I don't think I'm ready for that " Aurora shook her head, playing with the ends of her hair.

'Thank the moon!' Kole thought with a inward smile.

"Did you guys want to join us for dinner?" Rory asked trying to get back to the original topic of dinner.

"No we can't, Georgia and I have a couple errands to run. But thanks for the offer." Alex spoke before Georgia had time to open her mouth. For if she had been the one to respond, Akex knew his mate would have agreed.

"Alright." Rory nodded. Kole looked to his best friend and gave him a nod in thanks. He needed time alone with his mate, and Alex got rid of the number one person who would be the problem.

They said their goodbyes and then Kole turned to Aurora, "where would you like to eat?"

"I don't really know of any good places." Aurora spoke.

"That's alright," he smiled before checking the time. "I know the perfect place."

The restaurant they pulled in seemed to be nice, too nice. She felt out of place with her warn jeans and dirty tee shirt. Kole didn't seem bothered by his lack of proper attire, being in only jeans himself. Aurora looked around the fancy restaurant and the people inside. Workers dressed in nice uniform, guests in somewhat nice attire, all dresses and suits. They were standing in the entryway, but the way that the host was looking at them made her want to shrink. It was the type of looks that she would receive from Darren's pack.

"Kole, I don't think this is a good idea." She whispered tugging on her sleeves. They hadn't even gotten sat at a table and she already wished the meal was over.

"Why?" Kole questioned looking down at her a frown on his face.

"I don't exactly fit in." She whished ashamed.

"Says who?" Kole watched as she fidgeted her eyes glancing towards the host. He didn't realize until just now that she was truly that uncomfortable.

"Let's go." He said taking her hand leading her back to the car.

Once in the car he started to drive away, both of them sitting in silence. She was doubting her appearance comparing herself to the other women that she saw. Kole was upset with himself and how oblivious he was to his mate's feelings.

"I'm so sorry Rory, I just wanted to take you somewhere nice."

"I'm sorry I didn't look the best."

"That's not why we left," Kole glanced at her.

"What?" Aurora was confused, she thought for sure that he was embarrassed by her.

"We left because I didn't want you to be uncomfortable. I know you were by the looks that they were giving you. They shouldn't have been staring. It shouldn't matter what we are wearing, we are paying customers."

"Thank you." she responded slowly.

Minutes later they pulled into a diner. As much as he wanted to show her a good meal, he knew he was in the right place by how her face seemed to relax as she took in the new restaurant.

"Come on." He smiled opening her door and her hand. She couldn't believe it was the third time she had held his hand, each time was a spark to her heart.

They sat in the booth away from everyone else and she glanced around the place thinking just how cute it was. It looked brand new but by the pictures on the wall she could tell that it had been around awhile.

"Welcome to Stacy's. My name is Claire and I will be your server for the evening. Can I start you with something to drink?" Claire asked her eyes fixated on Kole-practically undressing him with her eyes.

"Water." Kole demanded.

"Me too." Aurora spoke, her fox not liking the attention the redhead was giving her mate, but the girl in her was comparing Claire to herself; Claire was the perfect choice.

Rory's eyes fell to the menu in front of her, no longer wanting to look at the redhead with her perfect make up, perfect smile, perfect hair, perfect everything.

The menu was foreign to her as she had never ever been out to eat before usually only allowed the scrapes that could be spared.

"Do you know what you are getting?" Kole asked.

"I think I am going to get a cheeseburger. What about you?"

"Probably the same."

He watched as she looked at the menu, her body language changing drastically. She no longer seemed to be enjoying the place, a black cloud hovering over her. Before he could as her what was bother her, their annoying waitress was back.

"Here are your drinks. Are you guys ready to order or do you need a few more minutes?" Claire asked.

Kole spared her a glance noticing that the girl was getting desperate for his attention. Sometime in the time she was away, she had unbuttoned her polo exposing some of her cleavage. Kole rolled his eyes before turning to Rory.

"Aurora?" Kole asked, noticing she wasn't paying attention.

"Oh, sure. I would like a cheeseburger."

"Medium, Rare, Well done?" Claire snipped.

Aurora went blank, she had no idea what that meant.

"She'll have medium." Kole jumped in. "I will have the same."

Aurora watched as the waitress left dejected. The two were waiting for their food to be delivered when Kole decided to try and talk to her.

"I know you didn't have a good youth, but was there anything you liked to do?" Kole asked breaking the silence.

"Um, no." Aurora bit her lip.

"You sure? Nothing?" Kole said reading her. He could tell when he was being lied to, it was the perks of being an Alpha, and her mate.

"Well I liked to draw, but I wasn't very good. I only could draw on the scraps of paper I found laying around."

"What did you draw?" Kole smiled trying to encourage her.

"Usually landscape that I came across as a fox."

"Do you have any of those drawings with you? I would love to see them."

Aurora wanted to beam, her mate mate was interested in her. She frowned when she remembered what happened to her drawings.

"What?" Kole questioned noticing her sudden frown.

"I don't think you want to know."

"You can tell me anything."

"Alec found them and destroyed them all," Aurora paused debating if she should tell the whole truth. "And then Darren punished me." She finished in a whisper.

Well she had been right, he hadn't wanted to know that. He couldn't handle someone touching his mate. He could feel his wolf stir at the thought.

She winced when she saw his eyes flash and crushed the spoon he was holding. She knew she shouldn't have told him, she had just ruined their wonderful night.

"Sorry I shouldn't have said anything." She said glancing at the bent spoon.

"No, I want you to tell me these things. I don't want you to feel like you have to keep anything from me."

"Ok." She nodded, feeling doubtful. Making small talk they ate their meal. She didn't even eat half of the large burger but she took it and the left over fries home with her.

Once they had both finished, they paid the check and went to leave but not before she felt Kole's irritation. Glancing over at him she watched as he glanced down at the receipt and noticed that there was a phone number written on the bottom of it, no doubt their waitress'. Before she had even a second to doubt their night, Kole made it very obvious as to throwing away the number making sure both Claire and Rory saw.

"Would you like to walk around for a little before heading home?" He asked a hopeful smile on his face.

"I would like that." She nodded.

They walked outside and almost immediately he took her hand, and she felt hope. Just his touch was soothing enough to her. She glanced at their connected hands, his covering her petite hand. It was a perfect fit. Aurora glanced back up to his face, curious to see if they were having the same experience, but his face was emotionless. She frowned and wanted to pinch herself. Maybe this was all just a cruel dream. She heard about some wolves trying to let their mates down easy and that's exactly what she thought this night was.

"I'm sorry I've been distant," Kole said suddenly as they walked down the road.

"That's alright." Her throat started to get tight, nervous about where this conversation was heading.

"No it's not," Kole growled. "You've been with us for more than a week and I've done nothing to help you adjust or even spend time with you. I've just had a lot on my mind. Things I needed to work out."

His words did nothing to sooth her worries, she knew where this was heading. He was rejecting her. He planned to take her to a nice restaurant and let her down after she had a nice meal.

Rory stopped abruptly, pulling her hand from his. Her throat was getting tight and she was struggling to breath.

"Aurora?" Kole asked worriedly. He reached out to touch her shoulders, but she wouldn't let him.

"Stop, please." She folded her arms around her waist trying to hold herself together.

"What's the matter?"

"You're going to reject me." She whispered, tears running down her checks. "It's ok, I was expecting it but I didn't think it would take you this long..." she took a step backward preparing to run from a shocked Kole.

She went to turn except she found herself being pulled into a hard chest.

"Is that what you think?" Kole asked running his hand through her hair.

"It's the truth."

"No, no..." Kole pushed her away just enough to be able to look into her green eyes. "I'm sorry I made you doubt our relationship. I should have seen it earlier. I have no intentions; not now, not ever, to reject you Aurora."

"You don't?" She looked up between her wet lashes, scanning his face for any sign of lies.

"No, you are the best things that has ever happened to me. I thank the moon goddess every night that she brought me to you. I just worry that I'm not good enough for you. The things I've done, the people I've killed, you shouldn't have to be with a murder."

"You are good for me. The things you've done, is to protect your family which is something that anyone would have done." Aurora said trying to reassure him. She didn't see him as a killer, she saw him as a protector.

"I'm glad we were able to talk about this."

"Me too." She nodded the smile back on her face.