In the morning, I woke alone. Again. The bed space beside me was faintly warm, telling me Alpha Alexander left only a little while ago. I dressed and quickly brushed my hair, not bothering with makeup. Today was Friday; Tommy had a soccer game after school and I was hellbent on making sure I was there to cheer him on in his first game as a forward.

I grabbed my backpack and skipped downstairs. I fell into the morning routine easily, grabbing a bowl of cereal and talking to Kellan until Julie shuffled into the kitchen, grimacing. I rode with Jason to school, just as the Alpha ordered.

What the Alpha didn't know was that I was a teacher's aide for a geometry teacher sixth period who let me leave early everyday. I went through the day without a hitch. As I made my way toward the cafeteria for lunch, I noticed McKinley standing with my old group of friends, all of them staring at me with icy glares. An arm came around my shoulders and Jason pulled me into his side, leading me to the buzzing cafeteria to meet up with Julie and Kellan and the rest of the pack. Kellan took one look at my pale face and immediately jumped up, asking what was wrong. I brushed it off, but Jason told the whole table that McKinley and her crew were giving me evil eyes. Julie casually mentioned egging their house, but I declined gently, laughing as she tried to persuade me to change my answer. The rest of lunch went by with my new friends planning attacks on my old ones. I laughed with them, but told them to forget about McKinley. She wasn't a threat and I knew there'd be a day when she'd swallow her pride and I was determined to see it.

I went through my classes smoothly. In Señor's class, he apologized to me profusely. I assured him that it was fine and that he did nothing wrong, because he didn't. It was law to allow a werewolf to meet their mate, and I wasn't miserable, so he shouldn't have been blamed for following the law. I sat next to Julie, conjugating verbs with her until I had to make my way to sixth period.

I hurried into the class and got to work grading worksheets and homework, finishing with a half hour left of class. I informed my teacher that I was heading out and she waved at me from a student's desk. I hurried out to the parking lot, finding the cab I had called before class pulling up to the curb.

I gave him directions to my house and he pulled out of the parking lot. I called my mom, telling her that I was picking Tommy up to drive him directly to the game. She was surprised, but sounded happy. I paid the driver the whole ten dollars it cost for him to drive barely five miles, hitting every red light on the way. I was relieved to find my car still in the driveway. I unlocked the door and hopped in, throwing my backpack into the backseat.

I drove to Tommy's school. It let out a half-hour after mine did, so I still had about twenty minutes. I parked behind another waiting vehicle in the pick-up zone and played on my cell phone until I heard the bell ring. I got out of the car, searching for Tommy's superhero backpack. He spotted me before I spotted him. He came barreling toward me, wrapping his arms around me tightly.

"Hey, booger. Ready to go play soccer?"

He brightened. "Yeah! Mom has my bag in her car."

"We're meeting her at the fields. You want to grab anything to eat?"

He shook his head. "Coach brings us snacks."

"All right, then. Let's get going."

If he noticed my rush to get to the fields, Tommy didn't say anything. He animately talked about school and some girl who kept teasing him, calling him names and following him around during recess.

"Dude, she likes you!" I insisted as I pulled into the fields' parking lot.

"No, she doesn't!"

"If she picks on you, she likes you. What do they teach you in school?"

"Reading, long division, and the state capitals."

I laughed. "I guess that is important."

He paused. "Do you and Alpha Alexander do that?"

I froze mid-parking. I blinked at Tommy in the rearview mirror. "Who told you about Alpha Alexander?"

Tommy shifted, looking at his lap. "Some girl said her sister said you and Alpha Alexander are mates." He looked up at me, meeting my eyes in the mirror. "Is that true?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, Tommy. It's true."

"Is he mean?"

I hesitated. "He's not as mean as I thought he would be." He's just a bossy asshat.

"So do you and him do that?"

"What? Study state capitals?"

He sighed dramatically, like only a nine-year-old could. "No. Pick on each other 'cuz you like each other. Do you?"

I smiled ruefully. "You could say that." I finished parking the car and turned off the engine. "Ready to kick some butt?"

"Yeah!" he hollered, jumping out of the car. I followed him over to field six, where the opponent team was already warming up. Tommy's team was just arriving, mothers chasing after their kids, holding bags of soccer equipment. Tommy greeted his friends on the team with big smiles. Mom arrived after a few minutes, lugging a duffle bag. She handed it to Tommy, who raced off to change into his uniform.

"Hey, baby girl," Mom cooed, rubbing my back as she pulled me into a side hug. "How you holding up?"

I smiled at her, trying to think of a way to assure her that I wasn't being treated as badly as she feared. "It's better. He's not so bad. In fact, I've rarely seen him since I was last home."

Minus the heated moment last night in bed, the dinner delivery and tender moment, and the passionate kiss in my bedroom after glass flew across the room. Oh! And let's not forget to mention the doctor session on the living room couch.

Was that really all in one day?

"He hasn't . . . you know . . . ?"

I shake my head. "Like I said, I haven't really seen him around."

"That's . . . good, I guess. Right?"

I shrugged, trying to look indifferent. "I've gotten to know pack members my age. They're pretty cool."

"What about McKinley and Alice? Do they like your new friends as well?"

I made a face. "We had a falling out."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Sure. They're hateful hags. The end."

Mom gave me a knowing smile. "So that's why your room's in ruins."

I gave her a sheepish look. "I forgot about that."

"You have time to clean it up this weekend, I'm sure."

"Yeah, I will." If Alpha Alexander doesn't chain me to the wall in the basement for disobeying him yet again.

I hoped Jason wouldn't get into trouble. Oops.

The game started and parents went a little too wild for a youth soccer league game, but I was cheering right along with them. Tommy went for a goal, but the goalie reached out and snatched it before it could make it into the net. Mom and I booed—unsportsmanlike, but whatever. Someone called my mother's name; she turned and brightened into her professional "you think I'm your friend" smile that she broke out whenever someone she didn't particularly like called for her attention. She walked over to the woman waving at her, telling me she'll be back in a moment. She whispered, "Come save me in five minutes."

I laughed, but nodded anyway. I was alone for barely a minute when I felt someone standing directly behind me. My body tensed and I was about to turn around when I noticed the mixed looks of surprise, appreciation, and a little fear in the eyes of the soccer moms around me. Without glancing away from the game in progress, I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed. "For the love of chocolate, please tell me you didn't install a tracker in my arm while I slept."

"It's in your phone, actually," his voice purred into my ear.

I flinched away, stepping forward to escape his dominating presence that seemed to swallow me up whenever I was near him. "There's a word for your obsessive tendency to follow me around, Alpha Alexander. It's called stalking. Google it."

"I told you not to drive."

"And look, I'm still alive. Amazing, isn't it?" The referee called a foul on a little seven-year-old on Tommy's team. "Oh, come on! They're just kids, for christ's sake!"

The ref glanced over at me because my voice was actually louder than the parents' in my attempt to steer my attention away from Alpha Alexander. His eyes narrowed at me, his mouth opened and was about to say something to me. Then a hand came around my waist, pulling me into a solid chest. The referee glanced over my head at Alpha Alexander then back at me before looking to the ground and continuing with the game. I pushed against the Alpha's side. "I don't need you scaring off strangers. I could have handled it."

"I have no doubt about that, Phoebe." His arm held me against him until half-time.

I glanced over at Mom, who was standing with the woman who had called her over, both of them staring at me and Alpha Alexander.

"I kind of have to go rescue my mom." I moved out from under his arm and made my way toward my mother. I tried to smile as I reached her. "Hey, Mom."

"You're mated to Alpha Alexander?" the woman gushed.

My mom's smile faltered. She put an arm around me and tried to change the subject. "Honey, meet Valeria. Val, this is my daughter, Phoebe."

"What's it like?" Valeria asked, eyes brightening at the thought of gossip. "I heard they're like actual animals in bed. Totally wild and rough."

I stared at her, astonished at the woman's lack of propriety. My mom bristled at the thought of me having sex with Alpha Alexander, and I shuddered thinking about it myself. I snapped, "That's a little personal."

She glanced at my neck. "You're not marked like the others. Ooh!" she squealed. "Is it somewhere else? I heard this one girl had it on her—"

"It was great talking to you, Val. Good-bye," Mom cut her off abruptly, taking my arm and leading me away from her irritating friend.

Once we were out of earshot, I sneered, "If you hadn't interfered I would have ripped her a new one."

"I know." She glanced behind me, an amused smile creeping on her face. "I think your mate's about to, though."

I looked over my shoulder in time to see Alpha Alexander approaching the woman. "Uh-oh." I hustled over to him, stepping right in his path a few feet from Valeria. "Hi, let's go get hot dogs," I blurted, grabbing his hand. The touch sent electricity firing up my arm, but I ignored it, tugging him away from the mindless blonde woman.

"She insulted you." His eyes were pinned on the oblivious woman, a murderous glare taking over his pupils.

"Yeah, she insults the human race by breathing, but it's not that big of a deal." I dragged him to the small concession stand. They didn't have any hot dogs, so I grabbed a chocolate bar and had pulled a dollar from my wallet when a large hand handed the cashier a five dollar bill before I could pay myself. I looked up to Alpha Alexander, who glared at me, as if daring me to argue with him. I shrugged and put my dollar back into my wallet. "Thanks," I said softly. He took his change from the cashier and unhesitatingly dropped the four dollars into the tip jar. As I led him back to the field, Alpha Alexander kept staring at Valeria. I poked his arm. "Let. It. Go," I said strongly, but in a low voice.

He grunted, but made no move to go strangle the woman to death. I turned back to the field. The game had continued after a brief half time. I cheered and booed with the rest of the parents, nibbling on my candy bar all the while. My mother had come up to my other side, greeting Alpha Alexander with a brief, but not unkind, "Hello." The game ended and Tommy sulked over to the three of us. He stopped in front of me, kicking the grass.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I kneeled so I was eye-to-eye with my brother.

"I missed the goal," he grumbled.

"But your team won the game, bud."

"If I made the goal, then it would have been even better."

"What does Dad always say when we fail at something?"

"If at first you don't succeed, try again because practice makes perfect," he recited.

"And there you go. We'll practice some goals this weekend okay?"

He nodded weakly before he suddenly perked up, "You're coming home this weekend?"

I hesitated. "Actually, you, Mom and Dad have been invited for dinner tomorrow."

I felt my mother shift from one foot to the other, but she didn't object. At least, she wouldn't in front of Alpha Alexander.

"Really?" Tommy got excited. "I always wanted to see the wolf house! Everyone says it's probably big and really cool."

"It sure is, booger." Warmth spread over my body as Alpha Alexander stepped closer to me. I could practically feel the command in my bones. "Well, I have to get going, Tommy. I have a stack of homework to get gone. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? And we'll work on some of those goals."

Tommy nodded excitedly. "Thanks for coming, Fee!"

I wrapped him in a bear hug. "I wouldn't miss it for the world, booger."

I was walking back to my car, twirling the lanyard around my finger when a hand caught the end of it, tugging me sideways. "The car is this way," he said, leading me away from my own car.

I yanked on the lanyard, pulling it out of his hands. "I've already got a ride, thanks."

"I will drag you to the car if necessary, Phoebe, and I do not care who is watching."

The parking lot was full of people leaving some of the other games. Mom had already left with Tommy, thankfully, or she would have made an even bigger scene.

"There's an exciting challenge," I mumbled. Louder, I said, "How about I make you a deal?"

His eyebrow quirked upward, "A deal?"

"If I drive home safely, you let me drive myself to school."

His eyes narrowed. "No deal."

"If I run a red light, go over the speed limit, etcetera, etcetera," I continued like I didn't hear him, "you drive me to school. Not Jason, not Kellan—they're way too easy to fool—you, Alpha Alexander. Deal?"

He glared at me for a full minute before his eyes suddenly lightened and his face relaxed. "All right, deal."

I blinked. I wasn't expecting him to agree this easily. I was fully prepared for a little fight and some encouraging, but him agreeing so readily scared me a little.

"If you break any traffic law, I will drive you and," he continued, "you will not complain or try to fool me." He looked at me expectantly.

"Fine," I huffed. "Deal." I turned around and unlocked my car.

I flinched when the passenger door opened. "What are you—"

"You really think I'd believe you if you said you didn't break a single traffic law?"

"What about your car? Oh, wait," I smiled cheekily, "Vance will probably fetch it, huh?"

He glared at me, "Just drive, Phoebe."

I rolled my eyes. Clicking my seatbelt over my chest, I glanced over at him. "Buckle up."

He gave me a look that would have been a sarcastic "are you kidding me?" sort of look, but his gorgeous features were too distracting. "I hardly need a seatbelt, Phoebe."

"Buckle. Up." I smiled sweetly, "Or I automatically win the deal."

He glared at me for a moment before reaching over his shoulder and buckling the seatbelt into place. I started the car. "Now, was that so hard?"