I would not go quietly.

I began trying to squirm and kick, but the hold around me was rock solid. Not even a finger loosened.

The woman from the hallway came into my view. She was tall and slender, but arms muscular and sharp. Her hair was dark almost black and curved flowing down her back. "Quiet girl. Alpha Eric just has some questions."

I still bent and moved trying to escape, but nothing I did helped budge me at all.

The man at my ear spoke again, almost a hum with the husky blown air. "Careful princess. We don't want to hurt you. Just yet anyway."

My joints froze in panic.

"There you go," he purred. "Now keep quiet." And the two turned us back to the lodge. I hovered above the ground as he walked. My eyes went wide when he turned and the bulky Garrett was with them. I hadn't noticed before.

The walk was quiet all to the lodge and the receptionist eyed me still trapped in the person's arms, but allowed the group to walk me back behind her without a fuss. I had hoped she would say something or call police when I was clearly going against my will.

The group followed my same footpath to the tapestry and down a flight of stairs and around a hallway, but went beyond Beta William's door. My eyes watched it as it came in and out of view. They stopped another handful of steps beyond it. The door plaque read:

Alpha Eric

The woman with us knocked and then entered a moment later. The door opened to another office space. This one double the size of the one next door, and well furnished. The desk front and center had a very handsome dark-haired man with neatly trimmed beard, maybe late twenties. His eyes were murky and glared at me. My heartrate immediately picked up in fright.

His sight never left from mine, even when the man who carried me dropped me into a wingback chair in front of the desk. I moved to run back for the door, but before I got half an inch a hand clamped down on my shoulder holding me to the spot. I looked up to who had carried me there and it was a man I had saw at the rehearsal. He was muscular and blonde with long hair in loose curls hanging around his temples. At the rehearsal I had thought he and all the others were extremely attractive, but in this situation he just seemed daunting.

"Who are you?" A strong deep voice. Heavy and commanding.

I turned to the bearded man at the desk. His fingers threaded on the desktop leaning a curious demanding glance to me. His hands and arms held many straight edged scars that carried up his neck and chin. I stared at them curiously until the hand on my shoulder tightened to the point of painful and I cringed away from it. "Caroline."

"You're a party guest?"

I nodded.

"Where are you from?" Voice still powerful.

"Seattle," I swallowed harshly.

"What pack?"

"What... pack?" I asked unsurely. My eyes darted around the room to Garrett and the woman as if they'd have the answer.

"Yes. What pack are you from?"

"Pack... pack.. pack..." I breathed to myself. That didn't even make sense. "I wasn't ever in a sorority?" Maybe he meant at college.

"You're a spy. And I want to know for which pack." He wasn't yelling but his heavy aura threatened.

I flicked my head in shock. "I'm not a spy. I'm a vet. I work for Wellsworth RF Veterinary Services. My fiancé owns it."

He stared at me, eyes ablaze with quiet tension. After a minute he relented. "I believe you."

I let out a heavy breath.

"So how did you get down to this floor."

"I..." but I was unsure how to answer. How do you tell some threatening police figure that you just felt like you should? "It was an accident. I didn't know what I was doing."

He tilted his head. "Now that I don't believe."

I bit my lip worried and he turned in his chair and grabbed his laptop. He pressed a few buttons and then slid the laptop around the desk for me to see. It was a surveillance video and showed me from different angles walking straight to the tapestry door and going clear to that office. I moved with extreme conviction.

"Do you want to change your answer now?" He insisted.

I shook my head in fear. No.

"No? Well Caroline. It looked like you knew exactly where you were going."

It did to me too.

"What did you want with Beta William?"

I stuttered, "I... I don't ... even know who that is."

His eyes folded me with power. "Beta William Merris! The owner of the office who you snuck into!"

I cowered back. "I don't know. I don't know why I went in there."

"You took something."

My eyes widened. Yes. I had. And it was in my purse right now. He just needed to open it to find out.

"What did you steal?" He growled.

My stance softened. Had I stolen it? No. I hadn't stolen anything. Even the inscription said it was mine. "I didn't steal anything."

Anger started seeping in his voice. "What did you take that belongs to Beta William!"

I let a hint of anger pull into my own voice as I stared him back down. "I took nothing that belongs to anyone at this community!"

He paused at the challenge. Then he sat back in his chair, rocking and eyeing me carefully. "You're telling the truth."

"I am."

His fingers threaded and pointer fingers touched at his lips as he thought through something to himself. "But you did take something. So what did you take that you believe you have ownership over?"

I stayed quiet and glared back.

"Answer me!" He yelled, sitting back against his desk, a fist hitting the top.

The grip at my shoulder tightened and I pulled away from it only hurting myself worse. "No!" I screamed back.

"You will answer me!" In a flash he was in front of me and ripping my head back by my hair. My face tugged up, throat open and wide. "I will have your respect! Now answer..." He stopped, anger suddenly dissipating. He breathed in a deep breath. Then his nose was at my jaw line, smelling me.

What the!?

I recoiled as much as I could with his hands still stinging into my hair.

"Unmask your scent!"

"What are you talking about!?" I yelled back at him.

He stepped back to look in my eyes. His voice was devilishly clear and eyes shining a bright gold. "Caroline. Unmask your scent. Right now."

My breath stopped and the air became heavy. The room got suddenly clearer, my senses zooming in.

"Yes. Good." He bent back to my throat and took a deep breath again. I could hear the others in the room taking their lungfuls too. Then he grabbed my hand from the chair arm and put his nose at my wrist. "That's what I thought. I know you."

The room blurred back to normal and I withdrew into the chair cushions. "What? I don't know you."

"Caroline. I know your scent. Who are you?"

He stared, but I just watched him shocked. My scent? Freak.

"Who are you!" He yelled, arms on either side of my head caging me into the chair.

"Caroline Elaine Peters? I'm twenty-eight years old. I'm from Seattle? I went to SPU? Maybe we met at Disneyland? I've never been to Utah before! What do you want me to say?!"

"Did you go to Alpha training?"

"Alpha training? I told you I'm a vet!"

He sat back on his desk. His air studied me carefully for a few silent moments. "You've masked your scent again."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I shook my head. This situation was so weird.

My ridiculous ringtone then sounded from my purse. The silly music completely embarrassed me in the middle of these four scary people.

"You going to get that?" He asked patiently.

I couldn't answer it. If I dug around my purse, he'd see the book. "It's ..uh...um... probably Catherine. I'm the designated driver tonight. So yeah... I better get going." I stood to leave, the hand on my shoulder loosening.

"Like hell you are," said the mean Garrett to the side and he stepped forward.

The man on the desk's hand shot out against Garrett and stopped his steps. "Let her go. I want to see how this plays out."

"But Alpha?" Garrett asked in confusion.

He didn't answer him, but instead looked gentle to me. "We'll see each other again Caroline. You're free to go."

I stepped around the man at the chair back in confusion. Was this some sort of trick? I began to back out of the room but Mr. Alpha did look genuine. So I breathed a deep breath and stepped to the door poised to run, but it opened in my face almost perfectly missing my nose.

A new man was filling the doorway and I lost myself as his clear blue eyes met mine.

Completely love at first sight.

He was more handsome than anyone I could have ever imagined. Any brilliant movie star or super singer had nothing on him, filled with perfectly built muscles and piercing bright eyes. Short brown hair and a scruffy stubble around his chin. Thick full lips parted in the same fashion mine were and his were filling out words I couldn't hear.

Mate.

We stared at each other and I felt like a bubble built up around us. The world didn't matter, it was like we were in a completely bleached room. His eyes bore into mine, unblinking and breathtaking.

My hand moved on its own and I touched his chest, my fingers skimming over where his heart pounded in time with mine.

Heart

Then my fingers glided to his neck.

Word

and then to his temple

Thought

and finally, down his shoulder and over the full muscles of his arm, my hand slid around his fingers, holding in the warmth and pleasurable tingles that flowed through them.

Deed

All the while, our eyes connected. His cobalt color started shifting and gold pierced through. My breath left me in an audible long sound, clearing my lungs. It was at that that my head tilted slightly, and I bent my chin to my shoulder, my hand again doing what it wanted and lifting to pull the collar away from my neck.

Suddenly shocking terrible pain was at my shoulder and teeth were being bit into me! My eyes and mouth flew open wide in dread and burning, but as a second bite struck deep into my neck I collapsed into bliss, being held up by the man's strong arms. I felt so at peace. As if everything was now right in the world. I breathed a deep beautiful sigh and I faintly registered that a tongue was being swept against my throat, but instead of being horrified I was perfectly allowing it, even craving it. My mind somehow knowing that he was healing the marks. I knew with more surety than I'd ever had about anything in my life that I was exactly where I had always meant to be.

A moment later his nose ran up my neck, inhaling and sighing and I finally blinked myself back in life.

What the eff?

I stepped back and breathed in deep surprise, took another quick look around the room and then ducked his arms and ran the hallway. My hand raised to feel the new sets of ridges at my neck. I had no idea what just happened.

But I liked it.