With Haley holding my left hand in her right, we rounded the corner into the dining room. Looking up, I estimated around 20 other wolves sitting at the table, all with grins on their faces and laughing with eachother; except Tiberius, who was sitting at the head of the table and staring at the placemat infront of him, an anxious look on his face.

As soon as Haley and I made our appearance, the conversations and laughing stopped, each one of the pack members staring at me. Instead of them pointing at me or whispering like I thought the would, though, they did something I never would've thought they would:

They started clapping.

Everyone sitting at the table stood up, cheering and clapping with warm smiles on their faces. Haley let go of my hand and smiled down at me.

'See?', she asked me mentally. Rolling my eyes, I blushed and made my way to my seat beside Tiberius and an unknown man to my right, and Haley sat beside a man directly infront of me.

Finally, the clapping and hollers died down, but the grins were still on everybody's faces. Smiling sheepishly, I took a moment to glance around the table.

Many different men and women sat around the table, some sitting beside their mates, it looked like, while others sat in small groups with friends. The man to Haley's right had dirty blonde hair spiked into a quiff, straight white teeth, and seemed to be pretty muscular under his cotton T-shirt.

Tiberius suddenly stood, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"As you all have been told, this is my mate, your Luna, Elenore Burns."

Clapping erupted again, resulting in my face to flush. "This is Elenore's 2nd day here, and she knows no one. I expect all of you to greet her with kindness and respect and introduce yourselves as the day goes on, since most of you will be here in the mansion today anyway."

Murmurs of agreements and a few 'Of course, Alpha's sounded from the pack members. "Good. Now, lets eat!" Tiberius' voice boomed. Laughter filled the air once again as 7 women brought out trays of food. I saw the same woman from last night, and smiled kindly at her from across the table. She did the same, and I graciously thanked a different woman for bringing me my food; eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, and a glass of milk. She seemed shocked at first, but quickly replaced it with a gleaming white smile.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Haley nudge the man infront of me. Clearing his throat, he looked up to me. "Hello Luna Elenore," he started bowing his head."My name is Gail Moore, Alpha Connall's beta." Smiling at his formal introduction, I replied.

"Hello, Gail! It's so great to finally meet you! Haley hasn't stopped talking about you," I smiled innocently and sent a wink towards Haley, who was blushing madly. Gail chuckled and turned to start a conversation with his mate.

"Hello, Luna Elenore," I hear to my right. Swiveling my head to see who spoke to me, I looked up to see the smiling male face of a pack member. He seemed to be around 18, and had short blonde hair with gleaming blue eyes. "I'm Jacob Knight Luna, it's a pleasure to finally meet you!"

Smiling, I blushed and said thank you, and that it was a pleasure to meet him too. After finding out he was one of the packs fighters, I started a friendly conversation with him, and the people around us. Everyone seemed very social towards me, and I could've sworn a few of them said "I'm so glad Alpha Connall finally got a mate. Maybe now he won't be so vicious."

Turning to Tiberius once Jacob, the others and I were through talking, I turned towards Tiberius. Realizing he was already looking at me, I saw an amused expression on his face.

"What?" I asked, laughing lightly at his face. He chuckled and looked down at his plate.

'I've never met anyone quite like you, Elenore. You're..special', he spoke to me in my mind. At first I was surprised, both because he spoke to me through mind link for the first time and because he said I was special.

'Wait, a good special or bad special?', I asked curiously. Out loud he laughed, it sounding like a deep melody. Not noticing the awe-struck stares we were getting, Tiberius and I continued eating in comfortable silence, listening to others' conversations.

After another 15 minutes, the 7 women came and took our plates and glasses away. Tiberius stood up from his chair, and the rest of the table followed, including me.

"I will see most of you in the meeting room at 3 o'clock this afternoon. Thank you all for coming, you are now excused," Tiberius voiced, authority ringing through the air. Everyone bowed their heads and said 'Yes Alpha' before turning and walking out with their friends or mates. Waiting behind for Tiberius, Haley and Gail passed me along with the crowd, their hands intertwined and eyes shining brightly with love. Awww!

"What are you waiting for, love?" a husky voice whispers in my ear, sending pleasant shivers down my spine.

Turning around, I see the attractive face of my mate merely a foot away.

Blushing slightly, I responded with a small "You" before wrapping my arms around his waist. Why am I doing this? I have no idea. Do I care? Not really.

Tiberius stiffened, obviously shocked that I would hug him for no reason. After a moment, though, he relaxed and wrapped his thick arms around my shoulders, his hands grazing the small of my back. Sighing deeply, I smiled small and let go, planning on going to call my family. Tiberius, though, had other ideas and growled lowly, upset that I wasn't still hugging him.

Rolling my eyes, I watched as he gladly walked in to my waiting arms, this time picking my up by my waist and throwing me over his right shoulder. I squealed happily, enjoying the feeling of his upper body shake with his laughter. Holding my thighs in place, he began walking up the stairs and into the 'Alpha Hall', as I call it, stopping infront of the very last door and opening it. With my face pointed into his back, I couldn't see where he was going next, only feeling my stomach drop and wind rush past my neck and arms.

Landing on something soft, I realized he had thrown me back off his shoulder and onto his bed. Fake gasping like I was shocked he would do such a thing, I stood up on the bed and grabbed a nearby pillow, smacking him on his left shoulder. In turn, he grabbed a pillow as well, hitting me back-but not hard- on the arm. This is how we we ended up trashing his room, feathers and pillow cases littering his once creme floors.His room held a cozy feel, with the fireplace beneath the mantle and wood layered low beside it.

Breathing heavily and lying on my back with Tiberius beside me, my mind started to wonder back to the Running.

"Tiberius?" I asked, staring at the ceiling.

"Yes, princess?" he said, leaning on his elbow propped up on the bed.

"Why did you even notice me at all during the Running? Or come talk to me about it in my family's stand?" I've wondered that ever since it happened.

At first he didn't reply, and I thought he wasn't going to. But after a few minutes, he explained. "I don't know what made you catch my attention, but the day I came to you in the Stands, I smelt something really sweet, really good, when I was running in the woods in my wolf form. So naturally, I went to see what it was. You and Haley were walking down the street just laughing and talking, oblivious that I was there. As I watched you, I saw your face and.." I waited for him to finish.

"And wow," he chuckled. "You were probably the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen, Elenore." I blushed as he leaned closer to me. "And you still are."

Giggling, I gently pushed him away and sat up in the bed, crossing in legs Indian style. "What happened next?"

"Well once I saw you that first time, I knew I couldn't stay away, so I grabbed some clothes and followed you. When I found out you were going to this years Running, I was beyond ecstatic." I smiled shyly, secretly loving he felt that way. "I knew I would get you, one way or another. But who would've thought you could run like that! I mean damn! You're like a Cheetah out there!" he ended, a joking grin showing off his perfect teeth. Laughing, I nudged him in his shoulder.

"Hey, you weren't too bad yourself," I replied, hoping I would sound flirty and not like I have something caught in my throat.

Picking up on my attitude, Tiberius raised his eyebrow, an excited look on his face. Running one of his fingers down my arm, making my skin get goosebumps, he said quietly, "And when I saw you in that dress at the Running, I wanted to mate you right then and there; I knew you were the one who I needed as my mate. Those other males that surrounded you, making you uncomfortable, they made me so jealous. I knew I had to protect you from other wolves, and that's what I plan on doing for the rest of my life."

Touched by his heartfelt speech, my eyes started to tear up. I knew all he was saying was true; you could practically feel the honesty and truth from his words.

Gathering me up in his arms, he pulled me into his chest and wrapped his powerful arms around me. Laying my head under his chin, he kissed the top of my head, beginning to rock us back and forth slowly.

How could people think he's vicious or cruel? He's been nothing but sweet to me!

Feeling my eyes grow heavy as he pulled the covers over both of us, I asked Tiberius a question.

"Hey, you wanna know something Ti?", I yawned sleepily.

"Sure, babe."

"I want you to protect me too," I say as I snuggled into his chest feeling his arms tighten around me, embracing the sleep drawing me in.