Hadley's POV

Devin was just standing there staring at me with her mouth open. I could see her brain was turning as she tried to piece everything together.

"Later ok? I'm supposed to go meet Darren," I said as I walked past her. She still didn't say anything.

I made my way down the stairs and asked Jillian where I could find Darren. Apparently he was out training in the backyard.

Darren and Braxton were practicing their combat training. The sweat gleamed off of their shirtless chests. They were both incredibly strong. I didn't know much about fighting but watching them was enough to know that they were good. Really good.

Darren noticed me heading over and the serious focused look on his face broke into a small smile. He nodded at Braxton who headed towards me giving me a tap on the shoulder as he went inside. Darren was throwing his shirt back on as I made my way over to him.

"You guys are impressive," I said.

"We've been training together since we were kids. We can catch you up in Blood Bane," Darren smiled, gesturing us towards the trail, as we walked and talked.

"Darren. I don't think I'm going to come to Blood Bane just yet. This is my home. These people have become my family. I can't just leave them when they might need me," I said. Darren's face didn't reveal anything. "I would like to get to know you though, and come visit soon. But for right now I feel this is where I am meant to be,".

"It's your choice and I will respect that. I won't pretend that I'm not a little disappointed," he said, giving me a gentle smile. "I know you're still learning about our world and new to all of this. I want you to know though you will always have a place in Blood Bane. It's just as much your pack as it is mine. We can be your family too if you let us," Darren said.

"I would like that very much. I never really had much of a family. It was just me and my mom and we aren't exactly close," I said.

"I'm sorry about that. Most of our relatives were killed a few years back so I haven't had much of a family either," Darren said sticking his hands in his pockets. His face seemed much more relaxed then normal.

"Devin told me how you became Alpha at fifteen. I can't imagine what that must have been like," I said.

"I got lucky no one challenged me for the position. Although you could give me a run for my money still if you kept training," He said smiling at me.

I laughed at the thought.

"I'm serious you know. That's why Nolan wants you so bad. You're older than me. Technically the Alpha position is yours, you could challenge me for it if you wanted," Darren said looking at me closely.

"I thought only men could be alpha," I said, still not convinced.

"Most packs do tend to stick to the older ways and only allow males to inherit the title. For our pack though it is usually just the first born. Male or female. If you trained, you and your wolf could be just as strong as me if not stronger," Darren explained.

"Well I will never challenge you for Blood Bane. From everything I know you're an incredible Alpha and well cared for by your pack. Plus I don't think that would make me a very good sister," I said with a smile.

"Yeah well most sisters torture their brothers from what I know so maybe the sisterly thing to do would be to challenge me," Darren said jokingly pushing me on my arm.

We were both cracking up as we kept walking further on the trail. "You're a lot different than what I thought," I said.

"What? That I'm a big stubborn alpha wolf?" he laughed. "You're family, I don't have to be the alpha around you. I can relax a little bit," he said shrugging his shoulders.

"Did Devin invite you to the bonfire tomorrow?" I asked.

"She did. Braxton and I are going to stay but we will probably leave right away in the morning,".

"Good. I'm glad I will get to spend some more time with you. Braxton too," I said.

We continued walking on the trail talking about our lives. Talking about as much as we could, trying to catch up on the lost time. Each new discovery of something in common was celebrated

Darren stopped walking and I could see he was in deep thought. I looked up at him confused. A small smirk spread on his face.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Apparently my beta just found his mate," Darren said.

"Who?!" I asked

"Your packs tracker Jillian," Darren said.

"What! Wait I thought they already knew each other?" I said confused.

"They met when Jillian was seventeen, not old enough to sense the mate bond," Darren explained.

"Now we have two things to celebrate at the bonfire. Who knows maybe you'll meet your mate next," He said nudging me.

"Yeah maybe,".