•Mara's POV•

"Happy birthday Finn!" Ryder and I yell as he comes bounding down the stairs.

Ryder takles him into a big hug and I laugh, giving him a more gental one.

I hand him a present and Ryder wraps an arm around my waist, "From both of us."

Finn beams and unwraps it, "No way! I've wanted this forever!" He shouts as he sees the Lego box.

It was currently eight o'clock in the morning, we're going to take Finn out for breakfast and then meet everyone at the pack house at eleven.

"Come on," I ruffle his hair, "Lets go get breakfast."

He nods egerly and follows me outside, Ryder locks the house and we get into Mandy's car that I still have.

"I was thinking Sal's?" I ask once we start driving.

"Sounds great!" Finn says from the back seat.

Five minutes later, I pull into the carpark and we scramble out, licking our lips at the sight of breakfast.

When we get in, there are few people scattered around the room. We take a booth and sit down, scanning the menu.

The waitress takes our order, not before sending a flirtatious look in Ryder's direction. It's obvious that she's human, our she wouldn't even think about looking at my mate like that.

Just to make sure she knows, I gentally kiss Ryder's cheek and give him a look of adoration. When she rolls her eyes and turns her back, I scoff in her direction.

"Jealous much?" Ryder raises his eyebrows.

"Only with you babe." I wink.

He chuckles and pulls me close.

"Come on guys! Teenager here." Finn rolls his eyes.

I laugh, "Finn, we're teenagers too."

"Whatever." He scoffs.

I look at Ryder and see he's intently looking in the direction of the glass windows.

"Ryder? Are you okay?" I ask, bringing back his attention.

He smiles, "Yeah, sorry. I just thought I saw someone."

I eye him suspiciously but let it go.

We eat quickly and talk for most of the time, when I look at the time again, I see it's already 10:45.

"Okay, why don't we go see what your mum and dad have for you Finn?" I ask as I stand up.

"Are we not doing anything else?" He asks, a little bit of disapointment in his voice.

"You got to see the parents bro." Ryder says, patting his back and sending a discrete wink in my direction.

He huffs but doesn't protest.

I pull up and see there are lots of cars here, for the party.

"What are all these cars here for?" I ask as we get out.

Ryder shrugs, "I think dad ordered a meeting."

I quickly look at Finn, who looks disappointed.

We walk up to the door and twist the knob, only to find it's locked as planned.

"It's locked." I say to Ryder.

He gives me a fake confused look, "We'll just have to go around the back."

I nod and Ryder leads the way around the back of the house. He opens the gate and ushers Finn through first, I quickly follow and Ryder comes and shuts the gate.

When we get around to the backyard, it's full of people and they all turn around.

"Happy birthday Finn!" Everyone yells.

He looks estastic.

"Finn, there's no way that would be all we're doing with you." I smile.

He gives me a big hug, "Thank you! This is awesome!" He beams.

"I told you I would be a part of this birthday party." I say.

He gives Ryder a hug and then spots his parents who he runs to.

I look to Ryder and see he looks distant, "Hey, you sure you're okay?" I ask.

He looks at me and smiles, one I can tell is fake. There is definitely something on his mind, "Yeah I'm fine. I'm just going to find Trent and Josh."

Before I can say anything else, he has already walked away from me.

•Ryder's POV•

"I'm telling you! I swear it was him!" I say as I bang my fist on the table.

"Ryder, calm down." Trent puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Firstly, you can tell us who the hell you're talking about." Josh says.

I take a deep breath and talk out of my clenched jaw, "Cam."

"Cam Winters?" I hear a voice behind me, I whip around and see Cole leaning against the doorframe.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" I sneer.

He holds his hands up, "I walked by and heard the name Cam."

I drop into my office chair and lean my forehead on my hand, "Yeah, Cam Winters."

"I worked with him, maybe a year ago." Cole replies.

"So, you've seen him kind of recently?" Josh asks.

"I guess." Cole shrugs.

"Do you think you would be able to recognise him if you saw him again?" Trent asks.

"Probably, why? Is he in town?" Cole asks.

Trent and Josh look at me, I roll my eyes, "We're not sure, we can't smell anything different but Josh and I seem to think we have seen him."

Cole nods, "I'll help you."

"No, you won't." I stand up, "We have it under control."

Cole scoffs, "Doesn't really look like it Alpha. A distressed Alpha leads to a distressed pack."

I'm clentching my jaw so hard I think my teeth my break.

"Get the hell out of my office." I hiss.

"Look, Ryder-"

"Now!" I feel Caleb take over.

Josh and Trent come in front of me, Josh puts his hands up,

"Caleb, chill. We got this, bring Ryder back."

"And leave this douche to keep threating my pack? I don't think so."

Trent steps forward, "Caleb, bring Ryder back." He demands.

I feel myself regaining power and sense my eyes are back to my normal colour.

"Next time, there's no second chances." Caleb sneers.

"I'll go on a run later, just try to calm down." I reply and drown him out.

I sigh and look to Cole.

He averts my eye contact, "Can I, uh, talk to you for a second Ryder?" He asks.

I nod, "Five minutes."

I give a look to Josh and Trent saying 'get out', they recieve it and walk out the door.

Cole steps forward a little and I slump into my chair.

"Look, Ryder. I want to apologise." He starts.

I look up, "Sorry?"

He laughs, "That's what I'm trying to say."

"Why? What for?" I ask.

He raises an eyebrow, "Do you really have to ask that? I threatened your mate and your pack, and also for just being a jerk this whole time."

I just nod.

"But something changed when I met Mandy. It's like everything is complete now, she everything to me and I also know how much you mean to her."

I smile, "She's more like my sister than my cousin."

"Which is why I want us to be friends again." He says, holding out a hand.

I look at his hand and then back up to his eyes, slowly reaching my hand out too and meeting in a formal handshake.

"I don't have your full trust back yet Cole, you'll have to take it easy on me." I say.

He nods, "Understood."

He turns to walk out.

"And Cole?" I ask.

He stops and turns his head, "Yeah?"

"It'd be great if you could help with the Cam problem, if we have one." I say.

He smirks, "Happy to be of service."

After he walks out, I call Josh and Trent back in. We need a plan if Cam is here.

•Mara's POV•

Guests start to leave as the sun has just finished setting. The orange, purples and pinks now vanishing from the sky, leaving a black canvas with stattered stars.

I round up the people that are left, being Ryder, Mandy, Layla, Cole, Josh, Trent, Finn, Taliah, Harry, and some of Finn's friends.

I explain the rules of spotlight to everyone and hand the torch to Finn.

"Oh! And no shifting." I add.

"Okay, I'm counting now!" Finn says.

We run into the forest and I look for a good spot to hide. I spot a big bush a few metres away and see an opening I'm pretty sure I can fit in.

I crouch in and stay still.

"Spotlight!" I hear Finn in the distance, after that there is another person talking.

After about ten minutes Finn finally finds everyone.

••••*••••

"Okay, last game." Harry says.

Finn rolls his eyes, "Fine dad. Ryder you're it." He hands the torch to Ryder.

I'm not sure how long we've been out here for, but I'm pretty sure it's been a while.

"Okay, look out, the Alpha's coming to get you all." Ryder smirks.

I scoff and roll my eyes, I had a plan to get away from Ryder being able to smell me. I put it into action about twenty minutes ago and got all of Finn and his friends, oh and Josh, and we put mud on our faces in Indian patterns. Enough to mask my scent.

I run into the forest with everyone else and spot a large tree in the distance, I smile and go up to it. When I get close, I notice a big rock behind it and think that may be a better option.

Just as I pass the tree, something grabs hold of me and pushes my back against the tree. Before I can protest, a hand comes up and covers my mouth.

I feel warm breath on my neck and look up to see Cam.

His voice berely a whisper.

"Make a sound and pay the consequences."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Hello lovelies!

Can I just mention for the hundredth time how amazing you people are? Thank you for all the reads, votes, and comments!!!

I just want to say that spotlight is an awesome game and my friends and I play it now and then. It kind of makes you feel hell ninja.

Please keep voting and commenting!

Thank you! xx