"Are you ready?" Calum asked after I stepped out of the bathroom.

"Almost."

This morning I woke up to see Calum still in the room with me. He was allowing me to go back to my pack today to get my stuff. I could tell he was really nervous about me going back. Either he worried that I would try to stay there or that someone would try to hurt me on the way.

I sat on the bed while putting on my shoes for the day. There was a knock on the door and Calum quickly jumped to answer it. No matter how much I assured him that I would be fine, he stayed jittery all morning.

The girl from the nursery, Ashlyn, walked in to our room then. I wondered what she was doing in here.

"Hi, Morgan." She greeted me with a smile.

"Hi."

"You two know each other?" Calum asked surprised.

"Of course. I watched Lilian while Morgan was in the infirmary." Ashlyn said this lightly but Calum couldn't hold in a grimace, no doubt still embarrassed about making the wrong assumptions about Lilian. It was still a sore spot for us to talk about the circumstances we were in when we first met but we were trying our best to move past it.

"I see. Morgan, Ashlyn is not only the director of child's program, but she's also my sister."

"And I'll be coming with you today."

"Alright, cool." I said.

I was definitely shocked to hear that Ashlyn was actually Calum's sister. He had never talked much about his family. I was also surprised to hear that she would be coming with me, though I looked forward to spending the day with her now.

I still hadn't been able to make any female friends at the pack and it would be nice to get closer to members of Calum's family. I might even get to learn more about him today. He hasn't told me a whole lot about himself yet.

"It's time to go. Would you like a quick bite to eat for breakfast?" Ashlyn asked me.

"Sure. I can just grab a bagel from downstairs before we head out." I told her.

"Sounds good."

Ashlyn turned to leave and I was about to follow suit, but I was pulled back into the arms of my mate. He leaned down so that he could whisper in my ear.

"Be safe out there today."

"I'm visiting home, not going out to the battlefield."

"I know but bad things can always happen. I'm sending some guards with you so if anything seems wrong you need to let them know. Stay near them the whole time you're gone." He told me.

"I will. Everything is going to be fine. I'm not as fragile as you think I am." It's true. I may be smaller than most men, but I have gone through training like every other member of my old pack. I knew how to defend myself if I needed to.

"No, but you're still precious to me and I couldn't stand it if I let something bad happen to you. I mean it, Morgan. I can't lose you now and I'm still not sure this is a good idea. Maybe I should come with you."

"No. We will be fine with the guards. They can mindlink you to give you updates on how we're doing while you stay here. I know you've got important work to do and I can't keep you from it like this. I promise that I'll be back later today." I assured him.

"Ok. Have fun." With that, he gave me a kiss on the forehead and finally let me go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Good morning, Luna Barrens." One of my old pack members greeted me. His name was Peter and I had known him since we went to middle school together.

"Peter, I'm not the luna of the Blood Moon pack yet. I'm still just Morgan."

"Of course. The guards had me thinking you weren't too far off from becoming their luna."

Peter was one of the guards near the front of the pack house and had looked very intimidated ever since he saw how many guards were with me. Calum hadn't been very straight forward about how many guards he would send with me. Ashlyn and I rode here with ten guards. We took five cars so that we could be well protected from the front and back while driving.

I tried to argue knowing that only two or three guards would be needed but no one else would question the alpha's orders. Ashlyn told me that we were two most important women in Calum's life now and we would have deal with his attempts to protect us no matter how excessive.

"That's true."

Together, Ashlyn and I walked into the pack house with four of our guards. The other six stayed outside to watch the perimeter of the house.

Leo and Erin were waiting inside for us. I hugged the both of them and introduced them to Ashlyn.

"Where's Lilian?" I asked.

"She's in her room sleeping right now." Erin told me.

"Even though she's constantly crying, it's really good to have her back here and know that she's safe. Thank you for taking care of her during the attack." Leo thanked me.

"I was more than happy to do it. We're going to head up to my room now to get my things."

"Ok."

After walking through the house, we reached the door.

"Welcome to my old bedroom, Ashlyn. This is where I used to stay before your brother held me against my will at your pack."

"I truly am sorry for my brother's behavior. I told him not to treat you like that as soon as I found out what was going on."

"It's ok, Ashlyn. I was just joking." I told her.

"Call me Ash."

"Alright. Will you help me pack, Ash?"

"Of course."

Together we began filling boxes with various clothes, necessities, and personal items. Once the boxes were filled, we handed them off to a guard to take them to the car.

Ash also helped me decide on what I would really need so that I didn't bring more than necessary. I ended up throwing out a lot of useless things I never used. It was nice to have ash there to help. We were able to learn a lot about each other in that time.

After finishing up, I said my goodbyes to leo and Erin once again. Tears welled up in my eyes as it was always difficult to know I wouldn't see them for a while. Erin did however promise me when Thanksgiving came in a couple of months all of us would have dinner together.

Ash and I had just stepped out of the house when I stopped. "Ash, you go ahead. I forgot something inside. I have to run in and get it but I'll meet you at the car in a minute."

"Alright." She shrugged and continued walking towards the cars.

Sprinting back to the kitchen, I went to search for a recipe in the cabinets. This recipe in particular was from my grandma. She used to bake a lot for me when she was still.

There, right where I had last seen it, laid the recipe I had been looking for. It was a recipe for double chocolate fudge brownies.