"You're a proper idiot! Now what are we going to eat?" Libra states as she smacks Leo on the back of his head as she moves quickly to open the windows in the small kitchen that is filling up with smoke. I am leaning against the island watching as the two of them squabble with each other over the burnt mess that was supposed to be dinner. Bunny walks into the room and jumps up onto the island settling herself next to me, "Ignore them—they are always at each other's throats like that." I turn my attention to her and she gives me a friendly smile before she reaches over and grabs an apple out of the fruit basket.

"Have all you known each other for a long time?" I ask curious. Bunny shrugs her shoulder a bit as she take a bite of her apple, "I've only known them for a couple of months honestly. I was the new girl around here—well until you showed up."

"Did you come here with your mate?"

She chokes a bit on the apple in her mouth and her cheeks turn a bright shade of red, "Uh—no. I didn't know Marshall before I came here..." She whispered in a barely audible voice. I tried not to smile at her shyness over her relationship with Marshall. It was easy to see why these people had accepted her into their pack. She was sweet and innocent, the perfect submissive wolf. She cleared her throat, "Do you have a mate Grace?" I felt my own cheeks heat at her question and I quickly looked away from her curious gaze.

Luckily for me I was able to avoid that question because Marshall came strolling into the room, "How many times have I told you not to let Leo anywhere near the kitchen Lib? He has the cooking skills of a blind ape with no thumbs." Leo spins quickly to face Marshall with a heated glare and Libra cracks a smile of amusement, trying to hold back laughter at the expense of her brother. Marshall comes up Bunny placing his hand on the counter, caging her in and sneaking a bite out of her apple. Bunny frowns at him, "Hey—this is mine! Get your own!" She whines. He shoots her a cheeky smile, "And you are mine—so what's yours is actually ours. So this apple is ours, baby..." He says with his mouth full of food. She doesn't look amused by his reasoning and playfully pushes him but he doesn't budge.

"So Grace where did you come from before you wound up here?" Marshall asks as he turns his attention to me. I figured this question was going to come up eventually, "I was staying with some friends—Alpha Noah—Perhaps you've heard of him." I say with a shrug of my shoulders not really sure if Noah was that well known. Marshall's eyes widen in surprise and someone chokes behind me before the room falls into an awkward silence.

"You are telling us you are friends with that reformed rogue alpha?" Marshall stumbles over his words. I narrow my eyes a bit before rolling them with pretend disinterest, "Rogue alpha? Is that what people call him?" I push myself forward away from the island the ache in my leg making itself known, "I can assure you that he is not nearly as roguish as you probably believe him to be. If theres anyone people should be afraid of it's probably his mate—now she is scary when you piss her off."

"Who are you?" Marshall questions still looking like he's shocked by what I've told them. I smile at him with amusement, "I'm Grace—just a normal girl who sometime changes into a wolf." I tease trying to keep the questioning from going to a serious place because the less they know about me at the moment the better for them.

"You know when I found you—I thought I smelled an alpha—I thought maybe you were Silver in danger." Bunny comments with a small shrug of her shoulders. I feel my smile drop a little at her words and force out a small chuckle.

"A female alpha? That a ridiculous notion even for you Bunny." Leo comments with a small laugh. Marshall lets out a low warning growl in his direction and Bunny pouts her lips, "I know what I smelled Leo but obviously my nose was off a bit or something. Now that I can actually smell her—she smells much sweeter than Silver." I relax a bit and thank the goddess that during those two years locked up I had learned to mask my alpha scent though clearly not quite well enough.

"Why couldn't a female be an alpha?" Libra jumps in, "Valerie is a female and she's a beta. So what is so ridiculous about a female being an alpha? Just because male wolves are chauvinistic pigs and think we're only breeding machines..." I glance towards the two siblings who are back to glaring at each other. I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth to speak but shut it at the sound of the front door banging open.

I glanced over my shoulder to see Valerie marching into the house with her face red with anger. She looked like she was on the war path clearly her time searching for Silver had not gone well. Her attention turned toward the kitchen and her gaze narrowed when it focused on me. I felt a wave of confusion rush through me as she marched her way towards me.Valerie brought herself almost chest to chest with me, "Just who the hell are you? And where did you come from?" Everyone in the kitchen was staring at us unsure what was going on. Even I was having trouble trying to grasp the sudden change. Something definitely had prompted this outburst.

When I didn't answer her she let out a growl and shoved me back a bit, "Answer me!"

I snapped out of my daze as I stared back at her challenging gaze. I felt my wolf rush towards the surface but I held her back, "That was mistake but I'm going to overlook it for everyones sake..." I say firmly as my muscles tense up under my skin as I assess the threat level she was offering me. Valerie's lips peeled back into a sneer, "No the mistake is that you waltzed up in here like you owned the place. Now answer my question or I'll assume that you have something to hide which means you're a threat to me and my pack."

"Val, calm down—" Leo comes to my defense or maybe it's to hers I couldn't tell at the moment. All I knew is I felt like I two seconds away from wolfing out on her.

"Valerie!" A deep voice boomed behind her and it sent shivers through my body. I looked up to see Silver standing there in only his tight fitted jeans. His hair was windblown and damp with sweat, his green eyes had a wild look in them. My sudden anger completely dissipated at the sight of my mate and I stood there almost in stunned disbelief that he was in fact real. Valerie stood stiffly before me not venturing to look back at her alpha. The room was so silent that you could probably hear a pin drop, "Move away from her now!" He commanded and Valerie begrudgingly took a step away from me.

Silver walked towards us and with every step that brought him closer I felt my heart speed up tenfold. His eyes scanned the room, "Everyone leave us—I need to have a chat with my beta." He orders stiffly. They don't need to be told twice. I watch as they all practically flee the kitchen with there tails tucked between there legs. I on the other hand stood frozen in place staring at my mate like a simple minded fool. His eyes locked with mine and I sucked in a breath as a torrent of butterflies assaulted my stomach.

"You're still here, because?" He questions with a lifted brow. I feel myself slam back into reality as his words reach my ears. My wolf snarls in my head at his rude and oddly cold behavior. I straighten my back and keep my eyes focused on his, "Clearly whatever is happening involves me, correct? Or else your beta wouldn't have stormed in here practically biting my head off—Therefore I think I have a right to be here." I cross my arms over my chest as if to prove that I am not backing down.

His eyes roam down my body as if they're going a leisurely stroll and I can't help the blush that rushes to my cheeks no matter how hard I try. When his eyes meet mine again there is a somewhat cocky grin on his lips, "Whose the alpha around here?"

I bite the inside of my cheek to hold back a snide remark that bubbled on the tip of my tongue. His brows shoot up expectantly as he waits for me to answer him. I grit my teeth, "You are..." I mumble out. Though I wanted to point out that only a couple hours ago he was saying he didn't want to be anyones alpha, but I decided to keep my mouth shut about that.

"Exactly, So that means I get to decide who has a right to be here and who doesn't..." His words make me want to punch him in his perfectly tone stomach, "And I say that you need to leave this room. I want to talk to my beta alone." I can't stop the small growl that bubbles out of my chest. My wolf is anything but happy about the way our mate is treating us. His eyes sparkle with amusement at my response but he doesn't say anything. I peel my eyes away from him to look at Valerie who is looking at the ground with a look of annoyance.

I smile to myself and lean forward so that I am crowding in on her space, "You should consider yourself lucky that your alpha showed up when he did. I'm not as kind as him—I don't take disrespect lightly. Remember that next time you feel like challenging me, beta..." I whisper as I pat her cheek lightly with my hand, taking out some of my frustration on her before I let my eyes find Silver's again. The look in his eyes is not one that I was expecting, because it looks almost like desire. My face rushes with heat and I pull back away from them before I strut out of the room with my head held high not venturing to look back even though my wolf wants me too.

I don't get very far before Silver calls out to me, "Oh Grace..."

My body freezes and I almost growl at myself for the reaction, "What?" I don't look back to him because I know it's going to cause the strange stirring in my stomach to return.

"Don't wander too far. When I'm done here, you and I are going to have a little chat." I can hear the amusement in his voice and it makes me feel almost like he might have some private joke on my behalf. I grit my teeth and against my better judgement look back over my shoulder at him. He is standing proudly with his arms crossed in front, making his muscles pop out more. My wolf is practically dancing with how proud and strong our mate appears but I'm growing angrier by the second. My lips pull back into a sneer, "Don't worry alpha--I'll still be here when your done playing with your pup." His amusement seems to drop and I see his eyes darken at my mocking. This makes me smile proudly before I turn away to go find where the others have run off too. My wolf isn't pleased with my behavior at all but I couldn't care less at the moment. Serves him right, I guess we're going to find out whose alpha soon enough.

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Song: 'Warm Water(snake hips Remix)' -Banks