"Flour and water, what a deadly mess."

"Punch harder Everest!" William shouted at me. My hands were giving out, he was pushing me harder like he was supposed to do but for my first day, this is too much. After running three laps around the trail in the woods and now self-defense practices. My body needs food and sleep.

But however, I still tried. My hand punched right where I aimed and everything was fine, I was proud of myself for hitting that so hard, until my wrist bend and I screamed out in pain. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry," I apologized, my knees falling to the ground as I cradled my aching wrist.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, I'm sorry for pushing you too hard, it's okay, look at me," William blurted out and suddenly I felt his presence kneeling before me. His voice was soft, filled with worry and care. He had his hand on my cheek and the other pulled me to his chest and off the dirty floor.

I felt his thumb slide under my chin and he tipped my face up to look into his eyes. "Let's get some ice on that," he suggested. I gave him a short nod and forced away my tears. William stood with my legs around him and his hand on my back. "What the fuck are you looking at!?" William shouted with so much authority. I hid my face in his neck, afraid to see off his curious pack members.

He walked away and stormed into the packhouse. He placed me down on a cold marble countertop. We were now in an empty kitchen. Not the main kitchen but a smaller one. I observed him in his angry glory as he retrieved an ice pack from the freezer. William looked so angry. So utterly pissed off. But yet he touched me with so much cautiousness and care.

"I don't want you training anymore. You're gonna hurt yourself," William frowned, taking the ice pack from the freezer and placing it on my wrist. "You don't get to control that. I'm fine, The first day was hard, that's all," I shrugged my shoulders. He didn't seem to agree with what I was saying but yet he remained silent. Be pain went away, and I tried pulling away my hand but he wouldn't let me. "It doesn't hurt anymore, Will," I objected.

"Let's just make sure you didn't sprain it," he mumbled and held the ice over my inner wrist longer. "It's healed," I repeated and pull my hand away harder and unexpectedly so he couldn't hold my hand back. It was the truth, my hand felt better. "I'm sorry I pushed you. It's my fault you hurt your wrist," William apologized, his eyes looking deep into mine, beyond exterior.

"I told you I'm fine and you are supposed to go hard on your pack," I objected again. "You're not officially in the pack yet though," he mumbled softly. He's right. We haven't been cut with the special knife under the moonlight and then joined our hands. That way I would be connected with all of the pack and would be officially part of the Royal pack. "Well..." I dragged, not knowing what to say to that.

"Soon, when you're ready or whatever," he dismissed the topic. Shockingly, William slid his hand into my hair from the side of my face and tilted my head down so he could press a lingering kiss to my forehead. My eyes widened in shock when I felt the amount of electricity pulsing through my veins. When he pulled away, he made it look like it was just a normal thing.

"I'll try and find you later if I'm not busy," he told me and I nod my head, unable to speak at this moment. Without other words, William left the kitchen, leaving me completely stunned. After recovering minutes, I jumped off the countertop and returned to my room where I got a very needed shower and then took a very needed nap.

When I woke up, I realized that I wanted to be with William and it was horrible because the mate bond was intensifying and I couldn't handle that. I'm not ready for that and I don't think William is either. I changed into something longer before leaving my room with a mission to get something to eat.

I can't ignore my hunger any longer.

"We haven't heard from Luis in a bit," Alaska told me as I walked out of the elevator. "True," I recalled and stepped into the smaller kitchen I was in before. It wasn't empty this time, there was a boy around my age standing behind the counter with flour on his cheeks and an apron around his waist.

"Oh hello there. Sorry for interrupting I was looking for Luis," I apologized and my eyes wandered around the kitchen to see the spices and ingredients laying messily around the kitchen counters and some on the floor. Most of the cupboard doors were open and the pipe was running. The kitchen looks like a mess. "No, no it's fine um...sorry for the mess. I'm cooking and when I'm alone I get um...messy," he guy laughed.

I nod my head to confirm that theory since the room was a mess. "Well if you wanna be like that why don't you help me out? I'm struggling without Mary's help," the guy huffed. I didn't think he was expecting me to agree to the offer but I did. "Sure, you look like you need it anyway," I agree. "What are we making?" I asked, forgetting all about my hunger in the hope make something delicious. "I'm Everest by the way," I blurted out when I realized I haven't before.

His eyes widened, probably realizing he didn't say his name either. "I'm Zaire, sorry I forgot we're strangers, and we're making apple cherry pie," he returned. Apple cherry pie? That sounds easy. We got to work easily, our personalities fit like puzzle pieces because it was easy for us to communicate and work together. I didn't know what to think of it but I started to realize small things in the time we shared. Like how bright his smile is, he's very humorous, he has a lot of questions, and definitely, he knows a lot about being in the kitchen.

The pie was in the oven and we finally got time to just lean back. "How about we wash up the dishes while we wait," he suggested. I nod my head and mentally groaned when I saw the mess of dishes in the sink. He rinsed the dishes while I soaped them and put them into the dishwasher.

"Shit," Zaire cursed and reached for the measuring cup from the ground and in the process, the hose sprayed directly in my face. "You son of a beehive!" I screamed, punching him in the arm. Not fully content, I grabbed a fist full of the flour and dumped it all over him. He stared jaw drop in place, shocked that I did that. I'm surprised I did that. Flour and water, what a deadly mess.

"You're going to regret that," he ordered and that's when I bolted. I laughed as he chased me around the kitchen. When I thought he wasn't going to catch me, he surprised me by wrapping his hand around my waist from behind. "Got you!" He snickered and that's when the doors flew open.

William stood with wide raging eyes. This doesn't look good. "What the fuck are you doing? Get away from her!" William stormed, marching into the room and pulling me away from Zaire by my wrist. "Let go of me! You're overreacting!" I demanded, tugging my hand away from his harsh grip. Instead of letting me go, he tightened it. His eyes glared holes through Zaire's face.

"Overreacting! What the fuck are you doing with him? How could you do this to me," he spat in anger. "It isn't like that! We just got carried away but nothing happened! I promise. I'm sorry!" I blurted out with the hope that he would calm down but that failed. Zaire was fully confused as he observed us, of course, he would be.

William's face was red with anger, even how tightly he was holding me told me that he was extremely angry. "Will, you're hurting me," I blurted out, still trying to get my hand out of his grip. His eyes snapped to mine and they visibly softened and he instantly let go of my arm. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"Can we leave please?" He questioned, his eyes pleading with me. "What? Our pie isn't done yet. I promise you have nothing to be worried about. You can stay if you want, right Zaire?" I look over to Zaire for confirmation and he immediately nods his head.

"No. We're not staying here. Please let us go," he repeated with a clenched jaw. "But I wanna stay," I frowned. "Please Everest. I'm really trying to control myself here and you're not helping. So please can we leave," William begged with his eyes tightly shut. He kept clenching and unclenching his hands in hope of calming down. It was his natural instinct to get angry.

It was part of our werewolf sides that we had to deal with. Especially, with being mates and because of the mate bond stringing so high recently. We get jealous and possessive easily. Right now, William is trying to hold himself back and prevent himself from creating havoc that I most definitely didn't want. So I appreciate him for that.

"O-Okay," I finally agreed and took his hand with mine, instantly locking our fingers. "Goodbye, Zaire. Sorry about the mess," I apologized, hoping he would understand the circumstances. "It's okay. Go," he permitted and we walked out of the kitchen, heading straight to the elevator. "Thank you," I hear William say softly. I nod my head shortly, silently letting him know I was still upset yet I understood.

I'm one hundred percent sure I'd react way worse if the roles were reversed.