"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it."

― Helen Keller

Nate's fist slammed onto the hardwood desk in front of him. The loud bang had both Marie and Theresa jumping. "How could this happen?" Anger churned in his stomach and traveled up his throat, making his words snap like fire.

Punish, his wolf urged him.

How dare they?

He paced back and forth in front of the tall picture window. "We've assimilated the family into the pack." He said, "This shouldn't be a problem."

"They were teenagers, Nate," Claire said. "If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's that teens don't like to follow rules."

Nate shook his head. Surely by now he'd worn a path into the gray patterned carpet. "Not in packs. This is a direct slap against their Alpha. It's beyond disrespectful."

Punish, his wolf said again. The teens needed to learn their place. Insulting and embarrassing their Luna, their Alpha Female, was one of the highest crimes within a pack.

Banishment.

His wolf wanted them gone.

Gabe, arms crossed, shifted to one foot. "Order needs to be restored. If a line isn't drawn—and drawn clearly—the wolves will lose sight of their place. Ranking will become nothing but a word."

Theresa stepped forward. "This is obviously something you two need to discuss. Marie, why don't we go start on dinner?"

Marie, who'd stayed quiet and absentmindedly petted Charlie's hair the whole time, slowly stood. She held Charlie's hand tight in hers. "Yes...that sounds like a good idea."

Theresa placed a comforting hand on Marie's arm. "Food will make it better."

The door closed softly behind them.

Nate paced, tracing his thumb over his bottom lip. He couldn't have a meeting about this. The situation wasn't something that could be settled with a few stern words.

They had harmed his mate. It wasn't a light offense.

No, action had to be taken. People needed to be made an example of.

Damn it, but banishing pack members, making them leave, would not unify the pack. If anything, more members would be pissed. Angry that he'd thrown out their friends. Beyond furious that he punished their children.

But what they'd done... Goddess, his blood boiled just thinking about it.

"Aaricia..." Gabe sounded alarmed.

From the corner of his eye, Nate watched Claire's body straighten.

He turned.

And met golden eyes.

"Mate." Claire's voice took on a more gravelly, guttural tone. Her lips curved into a smile not quite her usual style.

Nate snapped to attention. Claire's wolf was a bit...unpredictable.

Claire tilted her head. "Hello."

Nate fought the urge to keep pacing. "Hi."

This wasn't the first time Claire's wolf had made an appearance. Usually it happened when Claire slept, though her wolf had made it to the surface every once in a while. Since last year when Claire had killed Justin, her wolf had been free to roam and reveal herself at will. Claire had a good handle on her beast side, yet sometimes her wolf took over. Never in a violent mood, thank Goddess. It still put him on edge, though.

Claire's wolf liked to flirt with the line Claire drew for her. She pushed at Claire to follow her more animal instincts. And always protect, protect, protect.

"Claire needs help, mate," her wolf said. Not having much experience with human language, her wolf usually struggled with grammar. "Caveman talk" was a more accurate term for what she sounded like.

"I understand," he told her. "I'm figuring out how to help her."

"She don't need your help," her wolf said. Slowly, the yellow eyes turned to Gabe. "My warrior understand."

Gabe bowed deeply at the waist. "I do understand, Prinzessin."

Nate made himself sink into the leather chair behind the desk. He was getting twitchy with all the waves of dominance seeping through the room. It was a pressure, pushing at his chest, pushing him to submit.

"If Claire doesn't assert her position in the pack order, people will keep nudging the line until they step all over her. Part of her job as Alpha Female is keeping control of the pack, like how you would, Nate," Gabe said. "If you do this for her, not only will the pack stop respecting her, but they will think she is weak."

"A Royal is not weak," Claire's wolf growled.

Gabe lowered his head. "I intended no offense, Prinzessin."

"I help Claire," her wolf said with a cunning smile. As if whatever she had planned greatly amused her.

Nate's eyes widened. Sending Claire's wolf into the pack to reassert her position didn't seem like a good idea. He met Gabe's gaze. The other man only looked resigned.

"I think she has a point," Gabe said.

"I mean no disrespect, but how are we going to do that? You can't just go tearing through the pack."

Claire's wolf bared her teeth. "Not vengeance. Dominance."

"Interesting..." Gabe murmured. He crossed his arms in front of him. "I think I know where you're going."

"Reminder," her wolf assured. "My wolves need reminding."

Then he got it. But it didn't make him feel much better. His brain kept firing back images of the last time Claire's wolf had wanted to dish out punishment. And boy, that one had been a doozy. He'd had to send Ashley, the bratty teenage wolf determined to make Claire's life go to hell-in-a-handbasket, off to another pack in Alaska. He hadn't wanted her anywhere near Claire after that.

His internal battle raged. On the one hand, it would be best for Claire to assert her dominance. By far, her people would need to respect her no matter the cost. A pack needed to be willing to fight for their home and their Alphas at the drop of a hat. However, on the other hand, the idea of Claire wrestling with pack members and possibly getting hurt made his chest ache.

He felt like a parent. He didn't want his loved one getting hurt, but he knew she had to do this.

"I can't set anything up," Nate said, running a hand over his face. His wolf whined inside him—his beast also hated the thought of his mate getting injured. "You'll have to take it upon yourself."

If he set the stage, the pack would think he was helping Claire keep them in line. And if that happened, they wouldn't see her as strong and capable. Which meant it would be for nothing and they'd be back at square one.

"I get job done."

Nate knew his eyes showed his distress at the situation. "You take care of Claire, you hear me?"

Claire's wolf stepped forward, into Nate's space, and nuzzled his cheek with her temple. "I take care, mate."

His own wolf purred with satisfaction at having his destined so close. He wrapped his arms around her and held tight. Mate.

Which meant he knew the exact moment her wolf retreated. Claire's body sagged in his arms. "Whoa." She put a hand to his chest. "Sorry about that."

He smiled into her neck, enjoying her soft smell as it washed over him. "Glad to have you back."

"Nate, it's not like I ceased to exist."

He knew that. But it was rare for a wolf to completely take over someone like that. He and Gabe had had a conversation about it once. Gabe mentioned that with Royals, the wolf's personality was stronger than most. It meant that when the wolf needed to take over, he or she would take over. "I know that." He pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "We'll figure this out, Claire."

She slumped further into his arms. Love swarmed his heart at her trust in him. There were days where he felt he hadn't quite gotten all the way through to Claire. But then there were times like these when he knew that, eventually, they would get there. With her issues with Ashley and her emotional distress at losing Shane and battling Justin, he knew that the road to recovery would be a hard one.

All he could do was continue to show her each day how much she meant to him.