I had been pretending to be Cecilia's dog for a month. Eli was getting impatient, but he was letting me be, trusting that I would return to the pack soon to resume my beta duties. I'd left Mason in charge of my job while I sorted things out here.

Eli had taken the first conversation relatively well, although he had laughed at the fact that someone actually bought me.

Eli, I might be a little late coming home, I sent through our connection as I leaned up against my mate. We were still outside and she was scratching my ears. It felt so amazing that I was willing to ignore the baby talk she was adding on top of it. Not only was it like getting a massage, but the tingles from my mate's touch were even more amazing.

What did you do now? Eli asked, sounding slightly distracted. There can't be much that you can get up to in a dog pound. I just sent Mason after you.

I found my mate, I replied, pride soaring through me as Cecilia leaned down to kiss the top of my head without stopping her consistent massage.

You can't bring her here? Eli asked in confusion.

I tackled Cecilia, making her giggle and I smiled inside at the sound. Licking her face, I climbed off her and replied to Eli. Not right now. Man, she's human and she thinks that I'm her new dog.

Are you telling me that not only did you get caught by animal control, but someone adopted your ass? Eli asked me, the disbelief and beginnings of laughter clear in his voice.

I sighed, not wanting to growl at him and scare Cecilia. Yes.

I could feel Eli's obvious amusement through the link and I got a quick picture of him rolling on the floor in his office in laughter. He had found his mate a year ago and she was the perfect Luna. She was raised for it after all, being the daughter of an alpha that ran a pack nearby us. We had an alliance with them now, Eli meeting Alice when he went to set it all up. She's really sweet, but she's definitely got a temper when someone messes with Eli or the pack.

Shut up! I growled, making sure the sound wasn't legible to Cecilia. I'm going to wait for the right time to show her and tell her about us. See if Mason can fill in for me for a little while.

Mason was a good friend of mine and Eli's and I trusted him to take over my position for a little while until I could bring Cecilia home.

Alright, Eli conceded. I'll call him now and tell him that you're out of the pound so he can get back here. Don't stay gone too long, Jackson. Mason doesn't have the skill to hold your position for more than a few weeks.

*End Flashback*

The month had been enlightening when it came to learning about Cecilia. She's seventeen, not sixteen like I had originally thought when I first saw her. She had a heart of gold and cared a lot about her friends. She was always looking out for them, even though they're some pretty strange characters. She also has an amazing sense of humor and loves to laugh and play.

She wasn't afraid to tell me all kinds of things, thinking that I'm just her dog. When we lay down to sleep at night, she talked until she fell asleep. It helps to relax her and I have learned a great portion of what I know about her in those thirty minutes or so each night before she falls asleep. She has told me all kinds of things about her childhood, her parents, and her friends. I loved getting to know her this way, how open she was, but I also felt slightly guilty. Would she be this forthcoming if she knew the truth?

I didn't want to take advantage of her, but I did want to get to know her. Maybe I should tell her everything. She's probably going to be angry for a while, but I knew she would forgive me eventually. That's just the kind of person she is.

While she was getting ready for the beach, I was just standing by her bedroom door, waiting for Kayla to arrive and for Cecilia to find the cover up she was frantically searching for. I was going to be good and sit patiently until she found it, but she looked so damn delicious in the yellow bikini she was wearing that I had to touch her. Her tan skin glowed against the bright material as she moved gracefully around the room and Rafe was urging me on.

So, I tackled her to the ground, making sure that she landed on the soft rug in front of her closet so that she wasn't injured. I licked her face all over while she squealed and tried to push me away. She didn't have any luck. I'm a werewolf and she wasn't going to get me off her until I was ready to get off.

My mate is a smart girl, though. When she threatened to leave me here and go to the beach without me, I knew I would have to stop. There was no way that she was leaving the house looking as scrumptious as she did, flaunting her sexy body on the beach, without me there to keep the stupid human boys away from her. It just wasn't happening.

I ceased my licking, but gave her my best pouting face. She always gave in to the face and I knew that it was getting to her today because she looked up at the ceiling, avoiding my eyes before ordering me to get off her. "I've got to get ready, Rafe," she told me. "Kayla's probably already in the driveway waiting for me."

She wasn't, I would have heard her car approach, but I huffed and climbed off her, doing as she had told me. I stalked over to her bed, leaping up and laying down with my head on my paws and my eyes trained on her. She smiled at me a little, rolled her eyes and returned to her search for her cover up.

"Yes!" she shouted victoriously, only a couple minutes later, holding up a little yellow sundress that matched her bikini. I barked happily as well, glad that she would have something over the bikini of hers.

When Kayla arrived, Cecilia ran down the stairs and I stayed right on her heels to make sure she didn't follow through with her threat of leaving me here. I had done as she asked when she made the threat. I was going to the beach!

I needn't have worried. She said goodbye to her parents and held the door open for me before closing it behind us. The ride to the beach was spent in the backseat, trying to ignore Kayla complaining about her latest boy toy. I swear she chews them up and spits them back out better than most guys I know. On top of that, I hate the backseat. When it's just me and Cecilia, I ride up front, but Kayla had been driving a lot lately and this is where I tend to end up.

At the beach, I ran straight to Aiden when I noticed that he had a bag of Doritos in front of him. I did not get nearly enough to eat when Cecilia and her parents kept trying to feed me dog food. I was not going anywhere near that disgusting stuff and they soon figured that out. The hamburger and beans was plenty to satisfy Rafe, but I wanted some good food again. Yet another reason to buck up and tell Cecilia who and what I really was.

Aiden was considerate enough to toss me a chip when I approached and I ate it quickly. I saw an opportunity for more when Cecilia ordered him to go get the cooler from Kayla's trunk. I glanced at Cecilia as I inched closer to the bag that Aiden had left abandoned and she just smiled as she watched. After a moment, I just lunged for the bag and started eating chips as fast as I could, loving the taste of Doritos after days of hamburger and scraps from Cecilia.

I looked up when I heard the sound of her beautiful laughter and gave her my best doggy grin. She was relaxed on the blankets, a wide grin on her face as she still chuckled slightly, the sun shining down on her beautiful form.

Aiden interrupted my moment of staring. "Rafe!" he exclaimed, looking down at the nearly empty bag of chips with a clearly disappointed look on his face. "Celia, control your dog!"

I wanted to laugh so bad when Cecilia called me over and proceeded to praise me for eating Aiden's chips. She was absolutely hilarious. Although, I don't think Aiden agreed with me if the way he was staring at her was any indication. After his threat, she leaped to her feet, taking off down the beach, her laughter trailing behind her as Aiden gave chase.

I chased after them, barking my support of Aiden. I would want revenge too if someone let their dog eat my chips. As much as I enjoyed them, I had to take Aiden's side on this one. I knew that he wouldn't hurt her.

He caught her not too long after the chase had begun and threw her over his shoulder. He started walking towards the dock with her and she yelled and pleaded for him to put her down. When none of that worked, she told me to get him, so I sat down right before the dock and gave her another doggy grin, showing that I wasn't going to be of any help on this one.

Aiden wouldn't throw her in the water anyway. The air might be warm, but we were only a couple weeks into spring and the water was still freezing. He was just teasing her.

I stayed and watched while Aiden walked down the dock and all the people moved aside with amused smiles on their faces. Cecilia continued to plead with Aiden not to throw her into the water. He paused and they had a small conversation. Aiden was probably going to stop teasing her now and set her down.

I was shocked when she suddenly went sailing from his shoulder towards the water, leaping to my feet with a worried bark. I raced closer to the water, ready to jump in if she didn't surface soon. The water was cold enough to shock someone that was thrown in. I sighed in relief when her head popped above the surface and she started yelling at Aiden as she swam back.

I waited anxiously until she was walking out of the water, goose bumps covering her body as her hands rubbed her arms for warmth. I leaped up to give her the best hug I could, trying to apologize for not helping her. She couldn't stay mad at me for long and she kissed my nose, admitting that I was forgiven.

She headed back to the blankets with me on one side of her and Aiden on the other. She stripped out of her soaking wet sundress and started to dry off with a towel while the girls started getting things around for food.

The sound of a few human guys a little way down the beach distracted me from watching Cecilia to be sure that she was warming up.

"Dude, throw the ball towards those girls!" one of the suggested, excitement coating his words. "I want a reason to go over and talk to them."

The other guys chortled, obviously thinking their friend was a genius. The guy with the ball let it fly, straight at Cecilia. Anger filled me as I prepared myself to intercept it. Cecilia is very athletic with her fighting and running, but I'd quickly learned that she can't catch anything that was thrown at her. The ball was heading right for her face and she was going to try to catch it.

That wasn't necessary. I leaped into the air, snatching the ball in my jaws with a low growl before sitting down in front of Cecilia as one of the guys started over to retrieve the ball. Asshole kids, I thought to myself. Rafe agreed.

The boy smiled and apologized for the ball, trying to be charming as his eyes skated over all of Cecilia's exposed skin, making me growl and shift to try to block her from view. I'd obviously surprised the guy and Cecilia rested a hand on my back, making me stop growling.

Lisa became my favorite as she told the guy off, not buying any of his charm. The guy was taken aback by her attitude and apologized again. I was happy with the way things were going until Cecilia took over the conversation. She was way more polite than the situation called for. I growled when she told me to give the ball back. He was the idiot that told his friend to throw the stupid thing over here in the first place.

When Cecilia insisted I drop it, I did so with a growl before moving back and sitting right in her lap, trying once again to hide her from view. The guy's wandering eyes were beginning to piss me off.

I was happy when the kid finally walked away and I relaxed, moving out of Cecilia's lap while she finished giving strawberries to Aiden and Lisa picked up the ones that had spilled in the fiasco with the football.

I hummed happily when she gave me the crust from her sandwich and a strawberry. Content that everything was fine now, I laid down, resting my head on her leg. The sun was warm and Cecilia was by my side; it was nap time.