After we made it back to the pack house and after two hours of just watching Ares calmly pace back and forth in his room--wondering if he was going to explode again--I hopped off of the bed and grabbed my backpack.

Ruffles had to be starving.

I needed cat litter, cat treats, cat toys, and chips for her. A growing list to keep this cat happy, but I wouldn't trade her for the world. I grabbed my backpack and swung it over my shoulder.

"You're not leaving me, are you?" Mars asked, jaw clenched tightly.

"No," I said, walking out the door. "Well, not yet." I threw him a smirk, listening to him growl and ran out of the room. "I'm going to the store. Why don't you go talk about the next pack that you're going to try to take or that stone that you're looking for while I'm out? I know you've been aching to talk to your beta about it since this morning."

He walked to the door, arching a brow at me while I walked down the hall. "The next pack is the Firegazers. Four days. And that stone... we're going to find that stone."

I pressed my lips together. "And if you do, then what?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Go shopping," he said, ignoring me. "I'll be waiting for you to return. I have a surprise for you tonight."

A surprise? My stomach filled with butterflies. I hadn't felt like this in so long, and I didn't know how I felt about it. Happy. Overjoyed. Terrified.

The god of war had a surprise for me.

"Go," he said, a smile on his lips.

I waved my hand in his direction, trying to brush off that sinful look he was giving me, and walked out the door. After I navigated grocery store--with some gracious help of the pack members who looked scared beyond belief to see me--I opened the backpack and Ruffles peeked her head out.

She gave me a loud, drawn out meow, and I nodded my head. "Yeah, yeah, I know. We're out of chips." She meowed again, climbing up onto my shoulder and licking the back of my neck. "Girl, I'm getting you some now. Settle down."

I walked down the aisle, gazing at how much food was stocked here. The grocery store back home was one-fifth this size and was never this crowded. People smiled at me and stepped out of my way, eyeing the cat on my shoulder.

When I made it to the chips, Ruffles sighed in my ear. Moon Goddess, I needed to stop feeding her addiction. It was quite unhealthy. I gazed at the large variety. Ruffles Flaming Hot. Ruffles Double Crunch Hot wings. Ruffles Loaded Chili and Cheese. Ahh, this one would do. I picked up the Ruffles Reduced Fat.

Ruffles meowed loudly and hissed when I put it in the cart. "Ruffles, come on. You can't be eating the fatty stuff all the time." She swatted my chin with her paw. "Ruffles..." Meow.

I rolled my eyes and put the Reduced Fat chips back on the shelf, getting her favorite original Ruffles chips instead. She purred delightfully, rubbing her face against mine.

"Now, get back into the backpack," I said. She hopped into the backpack, her purrs vibrating through it. Moon Goddess, this girl was more addicted to chips than Ares was to violence.

Tapping my fingers against the cart, I hummed and continued walking.

Ares. Mars. They were the same person, but so different. The eerie silence that ensued after Ares grabbed Marcell, the way he flung Marcell around so easily, the pure dominance dripping off of him that whole fucking time.

Woo, it was enough to get me going. And by going I mean, pussy clenching, heart racing, toe curling going. He was--

Someone bumped into my cart as I turned the corner. Charolette stared at me with wide blue eyes. "I'm sorry!" Her lips softened into a smile. "Oh, it's you."

My cheeks flushed. I still couldn't believe that she was his sister. Not his lover. Not his trophy. His sister. Stupid, jealous me had made a fool out of myself.

"I'm Charolette, by the way!" She held out her hand, her smile widening. I took her hand in mine and inhaled, smelling roses. Her hair was braided down the side, and she had a cute little blue bow in it. "Sorry about earlier. If I knew that Mars didn't tell you about me, I wouldn't have been so close to him."

I shook my head. "No, it's my fault. Don't apologize. My wolf... I..." I gave her a smile. "I let Marcell talk me into getting jealous."

She rolled her eyes and walked down the aisle with me. "Moon Goddess, Marcell. Don't listen to a word he says unless it has to do with fighting. He's a manwhore and will probably try to get into your pants more than once. Just avoid him at all costs--trust me."

"I'm sure Mars will make sure of that."

She giggled, picked up some Fruit Loops, and put them into her cart. "I'm glad Mars found you. You're going to be good for his psychotic ass."

I laughed. Charolette seemed fun, like she'd be a good friend. And, damn, did I need a friend right now. "Amen to that," I said. "I just don't know if he's going to be good for me."

"He'll drive you insane, but..." She quieted down. "... but it's because he cares about you." We were silent for a few moments, then Charolette gazed in my cart full of cat litter, cat treats, cat toys, and chips "You know I didn't think he'd ever find someone he'd like enough to let her bring a cat into his house."

"Why's that?"

"He didn't tell you?" she asked, brow arched. "He's allergic."

"Allergic?" My heart clenched. He didn't want me to bring Ruffles because he was allergic to cats, and I brought her anyway. I thought he was just being heartless, but I was the heartless one. I needed to find another place to keep her. Maybe I could store her away in one of the spare rooms that he never went into, play with her when he was off taking over some pack and trying to find that stone.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash. A window near the front of the store shattered into a million pieces. Mothers pulled their pups to their chest, leaving their carts and hurrying to the back entrance. People were yelling and screaming. I gazed around, confused.

When a vicious growl echoed throughout the store, I clutched my backpack and Charolette's hand, sprinting toward the rear exit. I had heard that sound before. That wasn't the growl of an average wolf. That was the growl of a Hound.

I swung my backpack off of my shoulders, grabbed the silver knife from the side pocket, and told Charolette to guard Ruffles with her life. She shook her head. "What are you doing?" she asked. "We need to get out of here. Mars will be here to stop--"

Another growl and a Hound turned down the aisle that we were at the end of. He stared at me, forgoing all other wolves around him. His mouth was dripping with drool, canines sharper than I had seen any from a Hound, and his eyes were a piercing yellow.

There was no escaping these things. For years, I had tried. But they always seemed to find me, and they always fought to the very end.