I followed Mildred into the building and stopped right before entering the main dining area. I had to say, I was a little nervous, I was used to fighting monsters, not dressing to the nine and dinning with lycans at a fancy gathering.

"Oh damn!" I heard Leo say, I turned to look his way just as he ducked into another room.

My mind couldn't process what was happening before Rook was in front of me and pinning me to a nearby wall. His breathing was labored and his eyes glowing.

"Mine." He growled, marking me with his scent again after I had bathed.

This "mine" crap was getting old, but I knew better than to try to fight him when he was like this. I let him run his face across the sensitive part of my neck and brush his scruffy cheek against mine. The sensation sent an electrical jolt all the way down to my toes.

Once he was satisfied that I smelled like him again, he pulled his face away from mine, but did not let me go. I grabbed his face between my palms and forced him to look at me.

"Rook, breathe. I can't have you going all crazy, not here."

He growled again, this time, my reassurance was not helping calm his wolf. In a drastic attempt to gain back some control of the situation, I pulled his face down to mine and crashed his lips into mine.

I felt some of the tension leave his body, the longer our lips were locked together. When I was on the verge of exploding, I pulled away from him. His glowing eyes had dimmed considerably. He blinked a few times, brought me closer to his chest, and rested his chin on top of my head.

"I'm sorry." He said in a husky voice. "I wasn't prepared to see you looking like that."

He pulled away slightly and let his eyes travel down the length of my body. I was pretty sure my body temperature heated one hundred degrees underneath his scorching gaze.

"I don't think I can handle you going in there looking like that for all to see."

"I'm not particularly thrilled with the situation myself, but we don't have much choice in the matter. Besides, as my mate, you should feel proud to show me off in front of other males." I smiled, trying to convince him.

"Yes, but you're not mine, not yet anyway." His baritone voice grew even deeper, making my toes curl.

"You know that and I know that, but no one else in this pack needs to know that. Be the big strong alpha I know you are and get your wolf under control. I have a feeling we are in the right place to find some answers to our werewolf problem."

I purposely left out the fact that a werewolf was in the house with me earlier. In his current state, one more incident might push him over the edge and this was neither the time nor the place for that.

He nodded his head once and offered me is elbow with a smile. He straightened up, looking every bit the dashing, macho alpha I knew he was. I gripped his arm a little tighter once we entered the room and all eyes turned our way.

He bent closer to me and whispered in my ear.

"Now it's your turn to calm down. I hear your little heart, it sounds like a sparrow trying to escape a cage."

My eyes cut to him, I was once again angered that he could so easily tell when I was nervous or upset. That was a feeling I did not particularly care for anyone else to know.

Rook lead me to the head of one of the larger tables in the room and pulled out a chair for me at his right side. After being seated, he took his seat and food was instantly placed in front of us. My mouth watered at the delectable meats and vegetables. I took a bite and sighed, it was as good as it looked.

"Little human! I have a surprise for you. I hope it makes you feel more at home!"

Keller yelled at me from the other end of the table and held up his glass to me, in a mock toast. The delicious food in my mouth suddenly soured just at the mere sound of his voice. I didn't know what kind of surprise he was talking about, but I was sure I wasn't going to like it.

Keller clapped his hands and several young girls were herded into the room by two large lycans. My breath caught in my throat when I realized that these were not lycans, but humans and they could be no more than sixteen years old.

Keller growled in annoyance and the girls slowly started to dance and sway in their flimsy harem costumes.

"That bastard." I hissed.

I grabbed the carving knife that was stuck in a hunk of meat and started to stand up. Thankfully, Rook gripped the hand that was holding the knife and forced me back into my seat.

"Careful. He's trying to get you riled." Rook warned.

"Well he's doing a bang up job. I hope you do not expect me to sit here while he forces these sweet, innocent girls to parade themselves around the room like harlots."

The grip of the knife in my hand tightened and so did Rook's grip on my hand.

"Did he kidnap these girls?" I asked as angry tears gathered in my eyes.

"Very likely." Rook said, his eyes never leaving mine.

"I'm going to carve out his heart." I promised as a tear slid down my cheek.

"You'll have to get in line." Rook growled. "We'll get them out of here, I promise, but right now, I need you to put the knife down."

I breathed deep a few times, trying my best to cool the raging, angry fire burning a path in my veins. I finally dropped the knife, Rook took it and put it out of my reach and then brought my hand up to his mouth and placed a tender kiss on my knuckles.

"Ignore them. Act like it is boring you. It will make him end the fiasco much quicker." Rook whisper against my knuckles.

I pulled my hand out of his grasp. Oh he was going to end this fiasco and it was going to end right now. I pushed my chair back and stood up, clapping my hands loudly as all eyes turned towards me.

The music instantly faded and the girls stopped dancing. Their eyes looked to me with thanks. I was just getting started.

"You dare to interrupt my performance?" Keller growled.

Rook was on his feet in a matter of seconds, but I placed my hand upon his chest, holding him back.

"I just wanted to commend you on a job well done. It's not every alpha who would provide dinner and a dance show in the midst of a werewolf crisis." My voice dripped with sarcasm and by the look on Keller's face, he knew it.

"Which makes me wonder. Are you trying to hide something?"

My eyes challenged him as the room erupted into gasps. Keller's face redden with anger as he jumped to his feet. So much for keeping my cool.