'Many have fallen from the Old Kingdom, hunted for their uniqueness but there was a time when there were more than 20 types of canine and feline shifters. Even rarer were the shifters who descended from the amphibian line. If Shifters are continued to be hunted, they will fall extinct in less than a hundred years...'

Rory scowled at the paragraph that she just read, she hadn't known that there are others like her. It didn't make sense, people were surprised by her ability to shift into something that wasn't a wolf. This was something that she would have to talk to Edna about, but she couldn't help but continue reading.

'... there used to be meetings which all of the Animal Houses were invited to attend. The location was changed, so we can't be sure of where they're being held but we know they are. How else would they keep track of the members of the House?...'

"Are you feeling better?" Kole asked running his fingers down her injured side, drawing a purr of content from her.

"Much better," she nodded.

"Good." He said his hand falling to rest on the curve of her side slipping to her stomach.

"Have you read this book before?" She asked playing with the edge of the book.

"I have not, Edna doesn't typically share her library with others."

"Really, why would she share with me then?" Rory frowned.

"This may be a shock, but she probably likes you." Kole teased causing her to chuckle.

"Do you know a lot about the Old Kingdom?"

"Not as much as I should, why?"

"I'm just finding this interesting. There are other's like me...or there were others like me." Rory corrected herself. "They are.. uh... were being hunted."

Kole let out a little growl, at a thought of his mate being hunted.

"Do you think there are any others left?"

"I don't know," He sighed, "I've never came across anyone else, only you."

"What if there are others like me? How would I find out?" Rory asked out loud, knowing neither of them had the answers.

"Maybe Edna knows?" Kole suggested, "She probably has connections to other packs."

"That's a good idea."

They sat there for a moment of silence before Rory asked the question weighing on her mind, "Do you think there are other rouges around?"

She felt him tense at the question before he answered her with a slight snarl. "There better not be. They will not injure you again."

"I know, I know. It was my own fault. I saw you fall and them turn on you, I had to help." Rory said running her hand over his arms, loving the feel of his smooth skin.

"Next time I want you to leave."

"I can't do that." Rory denied.

"You can and you will." Kole pressed. "I can handle myself and I don't want you to be hurt again. Promise me you will leave next time."

Rory was silent, the thought made her uncomfortable but she knew that Kole would not leave the issue to rest until she agreed to.

"Ok." She said still unsure if she would be able to.

"Thank you." Kole smiled down at her. "Do you want to watch TV?" He suggested after a moment of silence.

"Yeah."

He grabbed the remote off the side table, before handing it down to her and allowing her to channel surf. He took her distraction as a chance to play with her hair, mindlessly braiding it.

"This looks good." Rory stopped on the HGTV, her attention immediately turning to the house that was being renovated.

"You like this?" Kole asked in thought.

"Yeah, I was able to watch it a couple times, while doing chores in my old pack. It was a way to dream about an escape, a dream home." Rory answered absent mindedly not noticing that Kole stopped his braiding to look at the side of her head.

As if a light bulb went off in his head, he smiled, the perfect gift he could give his mate. Sitting there watching the TV show, he was slowly making plans in his mind.

He had been sitting there for nearly two hours, Rory long having fallen asleep. Steps coming up the stairs alerted him to company, his attention immediately snapping to the doorway, questioning who would dare interrupt time with his mate. Peter entered the room, knocking on the door on his way in, his eyes searching the room before falling on the duo in the chair.

"How is she?" Peter asked, his wolf worried about the Luna, while he was just worried about his friend.

"She's better."

"Oh, good." Peter smiled with relief. "Do you want help moving her to the bed?"

"No, she fine." Kole denied. His eyes flashed at the thought of the other male taking his mate away from him. He instinctively tightened his hold on her, causing her to stir. Kole cursed himself for waking her from sleep.

"How'd you sleep?" Peter asked with a smile as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Good." Rory spoke as she stretched her limbs out. She laid back against Kole, not believing how well rested she was. It had to have been the best sleep she had gotten in years, the feel of his strong arms around her, his presence, just made her feel protected.

"Gather the patrol, I want a meeting." Kole instructed Peter wanting to get him out of the room. Something about his relationship with Rory, made the wolf in Kole always on the defense, it was unsettling.

"Of course," Peter nodded, standing and leaving.

Rory moved off of Kole and returned to sit on the couch, book in hand.

"Do you have paper or something I can use to write all my questions on?" She asked frowning at another portion of the text she read.

"Let me find you something." Kole nodded, moving to the bedside table and rummaging through its drawers, only to return to her with a journal and pen in hand.

"Thank you."

"Of course, it's a good idea to write down all questions and thoughts you have so we can make sure that they get answered."

"How long is your meeting going to be?"

"Hopefully no longer than an hour, hour and a half, why?"

"I was wondering if we could get something to eat, just you and me?"

"We can." Kole smiled at her suggestion. It was a clear sign that they were moving in the right direction and that she was getting more comfortable with their relationship. "I'll be back in a little bit, will you be ok or should I send someone up here?"

"I'm fine, I am just going to continue reading these books."

"Ok." He nodded before exiting the room, taking one last glance back at her to assure himself that she was fine. He smiled at the sight of her with her head in the book, clearly taking in all the information and understanding how serious its content was.

Kole's good mood started to sour, as he started to the study, where he would have to discipline his pack. He walked into the room, not caring at the fact that the door slammed into the wall.

"Report." He demanded.

"Sir, we apologies about the rouges, they slipped through our radar." Trevor, one of the patrol said, his voice wavering at the uncomfortable topic.

"Slipped through your radar." Kole hissed, his wolf immediately taking over his mind. "Do you understand that the Luna was injured; that my MATE was injured. You allowed for this to occur."

"Yes Alpha." The men echoed bowing their heads in shame.

"Are we at least sure that they are all gone?" Kole demanded. Clenching his fist, he worked to restrain his rage, but the silence was deafening.

"Kole, we're not sure. We have scouts searching the area, but we can't be positive." Alex spoke, the only one willing to speak to the Alpha.

Kole growled in rage, grabbing the first thing he could reach and hurled it at the wall, the paperweight shattering, glass falling to the floor.

His anger didn't last long due to a soft knock at the door, and watched as Peter opened the door for Rory to enter. He felt ashamed as he watched her eyes flicker to the mess, before falling on him.

"Is everything alright?" She asked glancing to the four other men in the room, frowning at the way their eyes immediately fell to the floor.

"Yes, they were just leaving." Kole said, tightening and relaxing his fist. No one had to be told twice, many were out of the door before he even finished dismissing them.

"What's going on Kole?" She asked grabbing the wastebasket beside his desk and went to the mess and started to clean it up with her bare hands. Rory had only been able to pick up two of the larger pieces of glass before her wrists were caught in his gentle hands.

"Leave it, you could be hurt." Kole said taking over her task and cleaning up the shards. He barely had any notice of the sharp sting in his palm, as he caught it on one of the edges.

"Kole," Rory gasped before grabbing his injured hand, and started to clean it up. She had always been a caring women, even in Darren's pack. Being a Luna made sense even if she didn't fully believe it, she had all the characteristics of the Luna; mother of the pack.

"It's ok, all healed." He showed her his newly healed hand, no sign of the injure but a faint pink mark that was fading by the seconds.

"Good, now do you want to tell me what that was all about?"

"Not really." He shrugged helping her stand before explaining the details; he couldn't keep anything from her; it was not a healthy foundation to a relationship and he wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize it. "I was just trying to understand how the patrol allowed rouges to get into the pack."

"You shouldn't blame them for it. Accidents happen."

"An accident that nearly cost me, you." Kole whispered.

"But it didn't, I'm fine and no one is at fault." She glanced into his eyes and could still see the fury that was building inside.

"Please, I don't know the pack and the last thing I want to do is make them dislike me before they get to know me." She said. Just when she had thought that she pulled her mate's strings a little too far, Kole responded with a smile, "Well played love, well played."