Mary's eyes shot open. Almost immediately, the blinding afternoon sunlight that filled the bedroom stung her eyes, and she squinted her eyes. Groaning and rolling over into her pillow, but a muscular arm stopped her. Her eyes shot open once again, and she looked down at waist.

She was sleeping in Ryker's bed. She could feel his deep breathing on her skin. He nestled his face into the crook of her neck. Her backside pressed his entire front. Every part of their skin that they touched was humming with the mate tingles.

Mary could also feel a part of his soul inside of her. It warmed and comforted her like nothing she had ever felt before. She also felt it filled her heart with an unfamiliar, powerful aura. She knew that it was Ryker and his wolf. In some kind of weird way, she also felt their confidence rubbing off on her.

Slowly, she turned in his arms till she was facing him. His eyes were still closed, and he was still deeply breathing. Mary still couldn't believe it. Ryker was her mate. He was strong, confident, and handsome. Muscular everywhere—her eyes traveled from his handsome face down his neck to his body. With him asleep, she could take her time in checking him out in sunlight.

Her eyes traveled down the hard, muscular chest planes to his abs. Her mate was hard all over. She lifted the covers a little to shed some sunlight lower, and when her eyes landed on what she was searching for, Mary blushed all over again.

Geez, it was... she noticed the change in his breathing pattern.

Her eyes slid up to find him staring at her already.

His hazel eyes glazed over with sleep and tiredness, but he eyed her with an interest. For a moment, neither moved from their position, almost comfortable with just holding each other and avoiding the world.

Ryker was the first to move. He removed the arm from around her waist to take hold of her hand. Slowly intertwining their fingers together. Almost marveling at how the mate tingles were spreading through their palms. It was such a powerful feeling.

"Good morning, Luna," he said. His voice was sleepy and husky.

Luna!

Mary couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face. Immediately, she bit the inside of her cheek to stop her from making a fool of herself, but when she saw that one corner of his lips lifted into a half smile, she couldn't stop the smile from growing.

"Good morning," she said shyly.

In the romantic human novels that Mary had read in the past, she noticed that the Authors would often describe how beautiful the male character looked. Sometimes, Mary would find herself a little cynical and scoff at the description.

No man alive would be that perfect.

But now that she was staring at Ryker, she realized why the Authors were so intent on describing the main characters' features. It wasn't to capture the hearts of the readers, nor was it to make the main male characters appealing at all.

No, it was simply put out there to allow the readers a chance to see through a glass prism and see what the main female character was feeling. The missing pieces fall into place for the readers—love and infatuation for the main male character without them realizing that even though the character had flaws, they were beautiful through their loved ones' eyes.

Ryker's black hair fell over his forehead with a carelessness that added to his sexy bad boy persona. Although he had slight bags underneath his eyes from the lack of sleep, he looked handsome either way.

This male chose her as his. She was his mate. His Luna.

Suddenly, frightened at the idea that this might be a little too much for her to handle. She pushed against him a little too hard. Ryker wasn't prepared for that reaction at all. He flipped harshly onto his back with a grunt just as she rolled off the bed and fell onto the ground. Her body covered with the sheets as it slid off Ryker's body.

Mary landed with a thump.

"Ow," she groaned.

"Are you okay?" Ryker asked as his head popped over the edge of the bed to look at her.

Mary had hit her elbows on the hard bedroom floor, but she wasn't injured anywhere else.

"I'm fine." Mary rolled onto her back and looked up at Ryker.

There was mirth lingering in those gorgeous hazel eyes. His half smile turned into a full blown smile and she could see the whites of his teeth. He began chuckling and laughing. A pout appeared on her face.

"This is not funny."

Ryker nodded his head, "It's funny."

Mary fought with the sheets to stand up. When she stood up completely, Ryker was sitting on the ends of the bed, completely oblivious to his nakedness. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, burying his face into her breasts.

"Are you regretting last night?" he asked.

Something strange stirred in her stomach. Mary felt an edge of insecurity and realized it was coming from Ryker. Her heart softened immediately and without thinking, she ran her fingers through his hair.

"No, I'm not," she replied.

Ryker pulled back to look at her.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "I am yours."

He broke into a confident half-grin again. Their emotions were all over the place. She knew it was because both of them were still getting used to the mate bond and distinguishing their own emotions from each other.

"What are your plans today?" Ryker asked.

"I was thinking about going back to work," she replied.

Ryker frowned.

"Why?" he asked. "You don't have to work."

"I do have to work," she replied almost immediately.

Although Mary was his Luna and would love to enjoy the pampering of her Alpha, she didn't want to entirely depend on him.

"Are you doubting my ability to take care of you?"

"Of course not." Mary thought her words carefully because obviously she didn't want to wound Ryker's ego. "Although I would enjoy your pampering—I still want to continue doing what I do best."

Ryker was silent for a minute as he debated over letting Mary work with Easton or keeping her home all to himself. The jealous and selfish part of him wanted Mary all to himself. However, the logical part of him knew that this was important to Mary.

"Besides, who said I can't have both? Your pampering and doing what I love?"

Ryker smirked when he heard what she said. Mary had a point. On another note, Mary was no longer available. His mark on her neck was proof. Ryker agreed with Mary and allow her to continue working with Easton. With that decision, he made use of whatever little time they had left before he meeting everyone. Ryker spent his time worshiping her body and making love to her repeatedly until she fell asleep.

It was late into the afternoon when Ryker finally opened his mind to his pack. They couldn't hear him, but they could feel his emotions. Mary was still sleeping upstairs, and he was downstairs cooking up some late breakfast—something he doesn't do very often.

Ryker's guard was down, but as soon as he let down his guard there was a knock at his front door. Turning off the stove, he unwrapped his apron and tossed it on the kitchen counter before going to answer.

When the door opened, he saw that it was Ethan, the enforcer that went hunting with him that night and also tracked down Ava's body. Although Ethan was younger than Ryker and the least inexperienced amongst his enforcers, Ethan was loyal, dedicated, and ambitious.

"Alpha," he greeted immediately, but his expression made Ryker's blood run cold.

Something has happened. Ethan's face was white as a sheet of paper. His eyes were wide and frantic.

"What happened?" Ryker asked.

"Something happened when we were patrolling the south border."

Ryker heard movement behind him. He knew that Mary was awake and walking his way. He listened to see if she would move closer, but she must have got the idea that it wasn't a good time. She remained far back enough to not get notice, but near enough to hear what was being said.

"They attacked us. It happened so quickly, none of us were prepared."

"By rogues?"

"A fog blinded us. We couldn't see anything and the weird thing was when we inhaled the mist, it numbed around strength. All of us were getting light-headed. They severely injured Beta Abraham and Gary, Alpha. They are in the hospital right now."

Ethan's words sent a knife through Ryker's gut. They hurt his brother, and Ryker was home with Mary. Familiar disgust and anger pulsed through him. Ryker hasn't changed. He was still the same old irresponsible fool. He couldn't even protect his family.

Immediately, Mary was by his side. She grabbed on his arm. Ethan looked at her in surprise, not expecting her to be in the Alpha's home. As soon as his eyes slid down to the mark on her neck, his eyeballs were about to pop out of their socket. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came.

"Ryker, we need to go see your brother and Gary." Mary hoped to redirect his inner turmoil away from the trail of darkness and focus on what was important. She watched Ryker's throat worked with emotions. His jaw ticking with clear anger. She could feel her guts churning with so much pain and anguish.

Ethan still looked lost. His mouth was still gaping open and his eyes were still wide as saucers. Obviously, this came at a shock. He knew that Mary was someone special to Ryker and heard rumors about their budding relationship, but to witness this with his own eyes—it was unbelievable.

Mary turned to look at Ethan.

Ethan couldn't believe it. Mary looked plain at first glance, but any sensible male who took their time to really look at her would know there was more to her than what meets the eyes. Mary's left hand moved to cover the mark on her neck, but Ryker's hand stopped her from covering it.

"She's your Luna. You will give her your loyalty and protection the same way you would for me," Ryker said.

Ethan's mouth snapped shut. He half nodded, half shook his head as if to clear his mind.

"Yes, of course." Ethan was about to kneel and pledge his loyalty—slightly dramatic, he was. Ryker grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

"A simple yes would suffice, Ethan."

"Oh, yes, yes, always." Ethan clearly looked embarrassed.

"Take me to them."

They ran in their wolf forms to get there faster. Mary following between Ethan and Ryker.

When they reached the small medical center, Ethan showed them to the medical rooms of Abraham and Gary. In front of the door, stood Bruno. When he saw Ryker come in, he moved to open the door for them to enter.

Mary and Ryker entered first. Ethan and Bruno followed in Anger was rising quickly inside of Ryker as he took in the sight of Abraham and Gary. They were both unconscious and severely injured. Bruises on their arms and head.

"How did you make it out alive?" Ryker asked Ethan.

"Abraham and Gary told me to run back and get enforcements. When I came back with them, they were already bleeding heavily on the ground. We lost a few more border patrols last night," Ethan explained while moving to stand next to Ryker and Mary.

Ryker had moved to stand by his brother's side. Mary rarely saw blood. While in her pack, her brother kept her sheltered and away from the fighting fields. When he was injured, he would clean himself up really well before seeing her. He was afraid, she'll get worried and upset because she had no one left but him.

Now, seeing Abraham and Gary, she was afraid for them. She adored and cared for them deeply. Her eyes slid from Abraham to Gary who was sleeping on the other bed. Bruno had moved to stand on the other side of Abraham's bed when he saw her move.

She walked over to touch the stitched wound on Gary's forehead.

"What did the doctor-" Mary stopped midsentence because in the middle of turning around to ask Ethan the question, she saw the back of Bruno.

Memories flashed before her. The male who poured gasoline on the packhouse.

His back—it was Bruno.