Picture of Blake on top.

I bolted out of the living room as fast as I could and dashed straight out the front door. Tears cascading down my face like an unending waterfall. I stumbled as I ran, tears blurring my vision as I ran. I ran until I could not anymore, my legs giving out, I felt my whole body fall in a heap on the hard ground. I laid there, motionless, too drained both physically and mentally to do anything else. I missed my parents, I missed them so much. There is nothing I would not do to have the chance to see them again. Tell them how much I love them and that I am doing okay. I want them to see how much I have grown and how strong I have gotten. My heart arched for my mom's overflowing affection and tender touches. It arched for my dad's proud smile and welcoming and warm teddy bear hugs.

All of the emotions that have been brewing and bottled up in me for all these years finally burst out of me like a strong current destroying a dam. The hurt and yearn finally surfacing, my tears were unending as I finally allowed myself to mourn for the first time the loss of my beloved parents. "Oh my sweet human, Evangeline, it is going to be okay love, I promise you." Winter tried to comfort me. I was inconsolable, her words made me cry even harder. I knew that I needed to let all this out so I cried and cried until I had no more tears left to shed. As I laid on the group, hiccuping and sniffling, I felt nothing else but numbness. I slowly closed my eyes, exhausted from all the crying, and let sleep be my escape and take me away. "Stay strong Evangeline." I heard Winter whisper before I fully lost consciousness.

I felt someone 's warm hand gently shake my shoulder, "Evangeline, little one, are you okay?" The familiar male voice spoke again after he heard no answer back, "I am going to carry you okay little one? Everything is okay, you are safe." Too tired to move or speak, I let my body be picked up and cradled close to his chest. I instinctively snuggled closer to the person and focus on the sole sound of his heartbeat. The stable and constant beats gave me some peace and lulled me back to sleep.

When my eyes fluttered open, I looked around in confusion, completely disoriented from my surroundings. I blinked a few times, for my blurred vision to clear up before finally realizing that I was back in my bedroom. I did not remember how I got here. "Winter? How did I get here? What happened whilst I was asleep?" I asked my wolf. "I'm not surprised that you don't remember human, you were barely conscious. Blake carried you back to the house after he found you asleep on the forest floor. You slept through all of yesterday, it is now the next morning. How are you feeling?" Winter responded. I let out a deep sigh, "I see, I need to go thank him then. I am feeling a tad better thanks." I got up and made my way to the bathroom to freshen up. I brushed my hair, picking out stray leaves from it, brushed my teeth, and washed my tear-stained face. Feeling refreshed, I then changed out of yesterday's clothes and put on a pair of comfortable black leggings and a loose plain sky blue t-shirt. Once I was ready and looked more presentable to be face to face with people, I took a breath in to calm myself before making my way downstairs, ready to face everyone.

Blake was the first to spot me, "Little one! How are you feeling" he asked, as he approached me slowly. I gave him a small smile to reassuring him, "I am feeling much better Blake, just a little hungry." Blake nodded, "Well then come on little one, I'll be your personal chef and make you whatever you are craving." I followed him close behind as he headed towards the kitchen. I could feel everyone else's eyes on us as we walked, however, I kept my head down and never looked up to meet anyone's eyes, too afraid that they hate me for running away so abruptly without any explanation and completely ruined the game of truth or dare. I slightly used Blake's broad back to shield me from view. "Wait! Evangeline, please sweetie, look at us." Charlotte's voice rang out. Blake and I both stopped in our tracks. Blake stepped aside, and finally, I looked up and was surprised to see that there was no trace of anger or disappointment on their faces. Instead, everyone gave me soft and genuine smiles, their face holding no other emotions except for worry and concern for me.

"How are you doing Evangeline? We were so worried about you." Charlotte spoke up again. She came closer to me and placed a gentle and comforting hand on my shoulder. I placed my hand over hers and gave her a smile, "I am doing better Charlotte, thank you." Sydney then got up and rushed over to me, pulling me into a warm hug, burying her face into my neck, "Oh, Evangeline! I'm so sorry, you have no idea how sorry I am for asking such a personal question. I feel just awful, I should have been more aware and considerate towards your feelings."Her tone was filled with nothing else but regret and pain. I felt tears drip onto my shoulder as she hugged me tightly.

At first, I was surprised by the sudden hug, but I slowly wrapped my own arms around her and patted her back in a rhythmic manner, in hopes to comfort and calm her down. "Ssh Sydney, it is okay. I knew you had no bad intentions. You did not do anything wrong. As for me, I'm sorry for bolting like that, I should have said something." Sydney let out a few more heartbreaking sobs before slowly pulling away, wiping away few tears before saying, "Thank you, Evangeline, you are too kind and forgiving. You, however, have nothing to be sorry for. I shouldn't have been so intrusive." I smiled at her, to which she returned with one of her own, "It's okay Sydney, I knew you meant no harm at all." Blake smiled at our interaction, "Well, now that that is settled, we need to get some food into you, little one, you must be hungry. Let us have breakfast everyone!" He pulled out a chair for me at the dining table and ushered me to sit. I smiled gratefully at everyone in the room as I sat, "Thank you, Blake, thank you, everyone, for caring this much about me."

A plate of stacked pancakes and bacon on the side was placed in front of me, the aroma of sweet syrup and crisp bacon filled the air. Everyone joined me with their own plates and we all made small talks whilst we ate. After breakfast, Charlotte decided that the girls deserved a spa day and the rest of us could not agree more. It was going to be my first spa day, so I was excited to experience it. The males protested at the fact that they were going to be far from their mates for some time but they finished by accepting after their respective mates all promised them a fun night tonight.

We all gathered in my room and took out everything we needed for the perfect spa day. The first thing we did was painted each others' nails. I picked a white polish, Jamiee picked baby pink, Syndey picked sky blue and Charlotte picked sunshine yellow polish. After our nails were dried, we exfoliated our faces and then put on a mud face mask. We enjoyed homemade BLT (bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes) sandwiches and strawberry smoothies for lunch and watched a chick flick together as we ate. All throughout the spa day, we gossiped and talked about a lot of different topics. By the end of it, I felt much closer to all of the girls.

The guys found us all cozied and cuddled up together on my bed, we were playing a game of Dream Phone. "Girls, it is dinner time, we ordered pizza so come down and eat before us guys devour it all! said Maxwell in a loud voice. Blake smirked, "We are for sure going to leave no pieces left for you guys. What a shame you will miss out on some bomb pizza." The girls all looked at each other and we gathered up in a circle to discuss this very important matter. "Come on girls, as comfortable as we are right now, it is pizza!" said Sydney. Charlotte groaned, "We just started this game and I am practically sinking into this comfy bed. I really do not want to get up." Jamie sighed, "I agree...but, it is pizza though." I nodded, "I am hungry again, no way we are missing pizza." We mutually agreed to leave the nest of blankets, all looking like a bunch of zombies rising from the grave.

We headed downstairs and instantly squealed when we were ambushed and pelted with Nerf guns amos. The guys had headed back down without any of us noticing to prepare for this attack while we contemplated whether we wanted to go down or not. They all had their fully loaded weapons aimed at us and were laughing like hyenas as they continuously shot us. We sprinted as quickly as we could into the kitchen while dodging flying amos and covering our heads.

Charlotte slammed the door behind us and locked it while the rest of us caught our breaths, hands on our knees, and panting as if we just ran for twenty years across the vast land in Antarctica. "What the heck just happened?" Jamie gasped out. "I think we just got ambushed," I answered, just out of breath as well. "We will get our revenge girls, that's a guarantee, the boys are going down," Charlotte said while smiling evilly. Evil smiles soon creepily appeared one by one on the rest of our faces, our dear boys needed to learn to never mess with a woman or in their case women.

"Hey! Look at that! At least we can eat the pizza in peace!" said Sydney in glee as she pointed out the boxes of pizza on the kitchen counter. I got out four plates while Charlotte grabbed four cups for our coca-cola drinks. "Pizza party!" screamed Jamie, excitedly as she took a slice of pizza from the box. I took a bite of the pepperoni pizza and immediately felt a painful burn spreading all over my mouth. "Spicy! Spicy! Spicy!" Winter and I both screamed in agony. Soon the kitchen was filled with screams of pain and red-faced women. We all rushed to the fridge at the same time to get milk and after taking turns chugging the huge jug of milk, the stinging pain of the spice subsided enough for us to be able to talk.

"What did the guys tho to this thoor pitha!" exclaimed Charlotte, with a lisp. "I thon't know," I answered while holding my poor numb tongue. Even our wolves: Winter, Violet, Aura, and Charm were suffering, howling, and whining, causing havoc in all of our minds. We heard hysterical laughing behind the locked door and instantly knew that it was another one of the guys' pranks. Sydney ran to the door and unlocked it, swinging it open and we all instantly glared at the guys, who at that point were rolling around on the floor laughing their asses off.

"So girls, how was the pizza?" wheezed out Blake, while holding his stomach. Charlotte sneered, "Why thon't you have a thaste yourself you thittle pup." Sydney crossed the arms, "Yeah! You guys are therrible, ifth I was a bird, you guys will be the firsth humans I'd poopth on!" The guys laughed even harder at Sydney's insult, "Nice one Syd. Very mature." said Tae whilst chuckling. The glare she gave her mate made him stop laughing immediately, instead, he now looked seconds away from peeing his pants. The numbing feeling on our tongues disappeared completely and so did our lisp. "What did you even put in the pizza? Tell us now," demanded Jamie. "Put in a little bit of Carolina Reaper peppers I believe," Jake casually replied. Our eyeballs popped out of their sockets. "What? Are you guys out of your minds?" screamed Sydney. The rest of us girls stayed speechless, our eyeballs have yet to return to their sockets.

We, the girls all huddled up in a circle and agreed that we should punish the guys by doing something that every guy hates: giving them the silent treatment. "Come on girls, let's go finish our movie," Jamie said once wee broke up the circle. We all marched out of the kitchen without a glance or saying anything to any of the guys. "What are you girls doing?" wondered Blake as he stared at our departing figures. No one answered him, we just kept on walking. We all knew that it will not be long before the guys with mates start to crack. The guys followed close behind, all looking as lost as ever. "Hello? Sydney, babe? Talk to me please, I can't handle the silence." begged Tae. "Come on Char! Don't give me the silent treatment! It is the worst! Don't do this to us, to me." whimpered Maxwell. "Jamie, my sweet sugar darling baby girl, please talk to me. Please? You know that I can't stand the silent treatment, do anything to me but that." Jake cried out. Blake whined out, "Evangeline, little one, you are not my mate but please talk to me, do not ignore me!" None of us cracked, we just kept on making our way to my room. Once we entered, we locked the door behind us before the guys could slip in.

Charlotte let out a huge breath, "Ignoring mate was by far the hardest thing I have ever done in my life." Jamie and Sydney agreed, letting out huge breaths of their own. "Well, now that we are here without our mate for the night, let's have a sleepover!" suggested Jamie to which all the girls agreed to immediately. "Since we found our mates, we have not done a sleepover since! We used to do them at least once a week." Charlotte told me with a grin.

We all did our night-time routine, the girls all borrowing extra toothbrushes, my skincare products, and my pajamas and then all squished ourselves on my decent size bed and turned on the TV. We agreed to watch a classic Disney movie: The Lion King. Towards the middle of the movie, I started to feel drowsy, my eyelids slowly shutting and then reopening again as I struggled to stay awake. I looked over to my left to see that Sydney and Jamie were already in dreamland. "Goodnight chica," mumbled Charlotte, before drifting off the sleep herself. "Goodnight," I mumbled before following soon after, unable to stay awake for any longer.

I opened my eyes slightly after hearing the lock on the door jiggle before there was a loud click. The door slowly creaked opened and the faint source light from the moon illuminated the familiar faces of Blake, Maxwell, Tae, and Jake. "What are you guys doing," I whispered, making all of them all jump in fright. "Jeez Evangeline, don't scare us like that." Blake whispered-shouted, holding a hand over his heart. "We are here to take our mates back to our rooms," Jake informed me. "Yeah, we could not sleep without them snug and safe in our arms," said Maxwell and Tae in sync.

Jake carefully picked up Jamie and cradled her in his arms, "I missed you, Jamie, I'm so sorry for causing you pain. I won't ever do that again baby girl." Jamie smiled in her sleep and cuddled closer to him. Maxwell then bent down and picked up Charlotte, bridal style, "Hey Char, I'm sorry babe, I love you. Sleeping without you is not the same." he whispered sweetly in her ear. Finally, Tae picked Sydney up and snuggled her tightly to his chest, "Syd, I love you so much baby hotcakes and there's no way I'm going to sleep without you being my little spoon." he said as he looked lovingly down at his mate. All three of them smiled at me and whispered goodnight before heading out of my room, bringing their mates back to their respective shared rooms.

Blake smiled at me, leaning down to affectionately caress my hair and to place a kiss on my forehead, "I'm really sorry for pranking you and for waking you up Evangeline. You should get some sleep now. Goodnight little one, sweet dreams." He walked out, shutting the door softly behind him, leaving me with a tingling feeling on my forehead and in my heart. I let out a happy and content sigh before falling into a blissful, dreamless sleep.