The kids had all fallen asleep on the plane ride, which was in our favor because then we did not need to occupy them and keep them quiet. Honestly it was a relief and something that I had been worried about as we boarded our flight earlier. Yet, even though things were going smoothly on the flight and nothing seemed amiss I could not help this gnawing feeling that I had, something just felt off.

I was trying to watch the inflight movie but couldn't focus. "You alright?" Missy asked from across the aisle. "Looks like he is good." Pointing toward a sleeping and drooling Tim.

"Yeah, not many places he can not fall asleep. But I am alright. " I answered her.

"Allison, you are bouncing your leg and I have seen you chew off 2 of your nails. What's wrong? " Missy was an observant one.

"I honestly do not know Missy. Something just feels off. Call it woman's intuition, something big is going to happen. "

Missy chuckled a bit and shook her head, "Of course something big is going to happen. You are all going to meet my family for the first time. And my cousin's mate, you know I have never even seen a picture of her. How strange is that ?! And a wedding! A wedding is a big thing! "

Missy was trying to brush off my anxiety as just meeting new people, which in my defense I do not particularly like to do, but I have not felt like this in a long time. Each time I had; I had always wished that I had listened to my gut. And here I was again, not listening, which was putting me even more on edge.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Stepping out of the airport we were greeted by the hot Georgia air, there was a weight to the air that the cooler New England air didn't hold. We only had to wrangle the pups for a few minutes before the rental cars, driven by Tim and Linc pulled up. Taking the car seats that we had checked off the luggage carts, we loaded up and got out of the airport.

"Hungry! Mommy, I hungry!" Came little chants from the back seat of our rented Yukon.

"Yeah, you want food, huh?" I said, looking back at my pups, they were nodding their little heads, their curls bouncing as they did.

"Okay, I hear ya! Next stop McDonald's." I didn't particularly care for the fast food chain, but I knew it was familiar to the pups, so it was the easy choice to make.

"Yay! Nuggets!" Again, they cheered together, it was cute and scary to see how alike they really were. Eli and Emma shared a connection that I could not begin to truly understand. Ever since they were born, they were inseparable, often times refusing to sleep unless they were in the same bed together. It made happy to see that they were so close, I only hoped that as they grew up, they never lost the connection that they had.

"What are you thinking about, Nemo?" Tim grabbed my hand with his right one, lacing our fingers together as she navigated the Yukon out of the McDonald's parking lot. The pups now quiet as they munched on their Happy Meals.

"I feel like something is going to happen. Lily is antsy, my gut is just saying that something big is going to happen." Finally confessing to my husband.

"Well, what does Lily think?"

"She has no idea, she just on guard." I shrugged, "Maybe it is just the fact that we are going to a new pack, a pack that we have never had any dealings with before that has me on edge?" I said, pushing aside my own trepidations.

Tim kissed the back of my hand in his typical fashion, I simply smiled back at my adoring husband, words no longer being needed to continue the reassurance that he was giving me. Before long we were pulling up to the unfamiliar pack lands, as we made our way up the dirt road, covering the road was a tree tunnel of live oaks, draped in Spanish moss. Providing an elegant, romantic, yet eerie feeling as we traveled toward the pack house of Joshuen Heights Pack.

The old plantation style pack house came into view, taking my breath away at its grandeur. Pillars wrapped around three sides of the house with both a bottom and top porch that wrapped around the home. Well-groomed gardens surrounded the home, bringing you back in time to the days of southern belles and debutants in regal gowns.

"This place is stunning." I looked around trying to take it all in, but there is no way only mere seconds of looking around would allow me to absorb the beauty that surrounded me. Tim parked the Yukon in the front of the home, and we began to climb out.

"Mommy, I want out!" Eli hollered; Emma sat quietly taking in her new surroundings.

I opened the back door, reaching for the buckles on Eli's seat, "I know you want out; you want to explore." A big grin graced his face as he nodded his head in excitement. I set him on the ground and looked at him, "You stand right here, do not move. I need to get Edison." I knew if I did not directly tell him to stay standing there he would take off in an instant.

Once we were all out of the car, Eddie secured on my hip and Tim holding the hands of the twins we made our way over to our awaiting hosts. Missy was jumping up and down, "Oh Jason it is so good to see you!" Giving him what I was sure what his tenth hug in the last thirty seconds.

"Greetings!" Came a booming voice, "Welcome to the Joshuen Heights Pack, I am Alpha Joshuen, but please everyone call me Nick." The Alpha offered his hand to each of us to shake, Linc introducing us as he went. Nick had a kind face; he was slightly older his hair peppered gray. "Sorry, my Luna couldn't be here to greet us today, she is with this one's mate." He pointed toward Jason.

After Jason introduced himself to everyone as well, "Yeah, sorry about that that my mate, had to go for her last dress fitting today, she will be back later today to meet all of you."

"No worries, Jason!" Missy chimed in, "It will give us time to unpack and settle in." She reassured him. Jason offered a smile, but there was something in his eyes, sadness, guilt? I wasn't sure but it told me that he was up to something, I just wasn't sure what.

I looked around at my family and no one else seemed to be skeptical of the Jason, so I tucked my thoughts away. Jason is Missy's family, she would know if something was off and would tell us, right? And by the way she was animatedly chatting away, there was no way anything was amiss.

"If you would all follow me, I will take you to your apartments, for your stay." Jason said, "And if there is anything you would like to do at all please feel free, you are welcome to enjoy everything here on the pack lands."

"Hey Jase, when is dinner?" Missy asked.

"Really Miss, food? You always loved food." He was picking on his cousin, bumping her in the shoulder with his.

Rubbing her belly, Missy said, "Don't you know it." We all chuckled at the comedy routine unfolding before us.

"Dinner will be at six. We have plenty of time." It was sweet to see their easy banter, Missy coming to life at being with her cousin again.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

We settled into the apartment that they provided us. It was amazing, just like the living quarters at our pack house for the higher ranked pack members. When you first walk in there is a large living, dining room area and then the kitchen off to the right. It had a farmhouse feel to it with the warm wood floors and butcher block counters. Off of the kitchen on the left there was a hallway leading to two bedrooms and a full bath. On the right side of the living room was a master suite with a bathroom.

The master suite took my breath away, it too had a farmhouse feel, but kicked up a notch with a canopy bed, with sheer curtains draped around the top. There was a set of French doors that opened onto the wrap around deck, facing the back of the property.

"This place is gorgeous." I said, more to myself than anything as I continued to explore. Walking into the master suite I noticed the jacuzzi tub, "Oh yeah, Mamma is gonna enjoy that!"

Tim came stumbling into the bedroom hauling our suite cases behind him, "What are you going to enjoy?" He set the bags down and came over to where I was standing admiring the bathroom.

"The jacuzzi." I winked, giving him a kiss on the edge of his lips. Giving him hope for later with the wink. I turned and walked away to my pups, who were tearing through the apartment. "Okay Pups! Listen up!" I called to them. They all turned to me, "Let's go outside and play. I see a playground just outback."

"YAY!" I could hear the little squeals of delight. "Daddy, train! Daddy, train!" Emma and Eli said lining up at the door, "CHOO! CHOO!" Watching the happiness in front of me, I felt the need to record it, so I pulled out my phone and quickly hit the record button.

Tim taking the chants of the twins as his cue, he lined up in front of them, me playing caboose, holding Edison. "All aboard the Daddy Express!" He called out.

"Miss Meg too!" Emma called, making Missy join us for our playground trip. Although Meghan never minded, she was our Nanny and had been with us since the twins were a year old. McKenna found that it was really hard taking care of three babies at the same time, so we needed to find some help.

"All Aboard!" Meghan called out, letting everyone know the last of the passengers were ready. In train formation we chugged along to the playground, winding ourselves through the unfamiliar packhouse. Me recording everything, all the happy giggles and smiles, Tim looking back to make sure we were all still in line. This was a perfect moment, a moment I could live in forever.

Once we had gotten out to the playground, I noticed that we had picked up a couple of new passengers, mainly because one pup ran right into the back of me when I stopped suddenly. "Oh, I am sorry little one." I crouched down, helping the little girl up. "I didn't know you were behind me."

"Thank you," She said, "And it is okay. My name is Sam."

"Well, hi Sam, my name is Allison. And this here is Eddie." Then I pointed to the twins, "These are my oldest pups, Emma and Eli." A big grin appeared on her face.

"Hi" the twins chorused to her.

"Want to play?" Eli asked, Sam nodded her head then the three of them took off together. Tim and I sat on the bench by the structure watching the Eli and Emma play. Eddie sitting in my lap after refusing to get down.

A few minutes later a woman came running out, "SAM! SAM WHERE ARE YOU?!?" I could hear the panic in her voice.

"Hi!" I hollered to her, standing up, waving my arms. "She is over here!" The woman came running over, hand resting over her heart.

"Oh, thank the Goddess. I turned my back for one second and she took off!" Relief in her words.

"I am so sorry, she followed us out here, but I didn't know until she bumped into me. I didn't realize she had run off." I apologized, "My name is Allison Andrews. This is my husband Tim." Who stood up and shook the woman's hand.

"Oh, hi. My name is Jenna, and Sam is my escape artist. The Third in Command is my mate." She smiled.

"I have one of those too. That little blonde-haired boy up there, Eli is an escape artist as well. His twin, Emma is always having to keep him in check." Tim said, pointing out the twins. "Then we have Eddie here, that seems to just love his Mommy today."

"Would you like to join us?" I asked, pushing over on the bench.

"Yes, thank you. That would be wonderful. Some adult conversation would be a blessing after today." Jenna sat down next to us. "You are here for Jason and Kim's wedding, right?" Internally I scrunched my nose at the name Kim, as it instantly gave me an uneasy feeling, bringing back my earlier nervousness.

I nodded my head trying to mask the inner turmoil that was brewing in the pit of my stomach, "Yes, we are here for the wedding. Although I must say we have never met the bride."

"Oh, she is lovely. We could not ask for a better Beta Female. How do you know them?" She questioned.

"Well actually Jason's cousin Missy is our Third's mate." Tim responded. "Her and Jason were really close growing up and so he invited all of us to the wedding, to meet all of us. I am sure to make sure we are all taking care of Missy." He jested at the end.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tim had finally coaxed Eddie away from me and was now swinging him in the toddler swing. The gleeful hollers of delight sounding through the playground making me smile. Jenna still sat with me as we watched the older pups playing tag in the open area off the side of the play structure, with Meghan joining in on their fun. We really lucked out when we found her, she was a great Nanny and teacher for the pups.

Jenna jumped up, waving to someone that was now standing on the back patio of the pack house. "Hey, Kim! Over here!" She hollered, catching the attention of her friend. Her friend started walking over to us, but I was paying little attention, until I caught her scent on the breeze.

"Lily? Why do I know that scent?" I asked my wolf. I could not place it, but I knew I knew it from somewhere.

Lily was growling, I quickly stood up and whipped around, "Kimber." Lily growled instantly taking a defensive stance, "Pups!"

"Eli, Emma!" I called, "Get over here now." Tim had stopped Edison's swing and was standing my me in only a few moments. I pulled the pups behind Tim and me, blocking them from Kimber.

Meghan came over a look of concern on her face, "Everything okay?"

"Can you take the pups back to our apartment, please?" I asked. "Don't let them out of your sight."

"Yes, of course." She said, without a second thought. "Come on pups, let's go get cleaned up for dinner." Meghan reached over and took Edison from Tim.

"Thank you." I mouthed to her. She just nodded her head to me and pulled the pups in close, them knowing not to argue about the abrupt change in their activity.

**Are you okay, Allison?** Tim questioned through our mind link as I stood watching the approaching figure of Kimber.

**No, that is Kimber.** I replied, forcing Tim to look to the person that I was glaring at.

**You mean, Tate's Kimber? What is she doing here?** Tim was just as confused as I was.

**I don't know, but I have a feeling we are going to find out.**