I slept like a dog that night. When I woke up on the couch then next morning, confusion settled over me. Slowly, I blinked in my surroundings: a dead fireplace, a few blankets thrown across the ground, and the Black Lupis Alpha.

Nolan's impressive body laid on the floor, extended alongside the couch. A soft snore vibrated from his chest every time he exhaled, utterly unaffected by the rising sun. I sat up on the couch and smiled at the memory of the night before.

Nolan and I stayed awake for hours. We spoke of our lives and childhoods. I told him about Lizzie, my troublesome best-friend, and he retold stories of his youth spent training alongside Raegan. We laughed. And when I could no longer fight my exhaustion, I fell asleep with my hand twined in his. At the time, it felt like an intimate gesture. But looking back on our conversation, I had a difficult time comprehending the meaning of the seemingly innocent touch...

Moon goddess, he's out like a light. I considered waking him up with a poke to his rock-hard shoulders, but he looked so peaceful... And honestly, I didn't know how often nightmares plagued his sleep. Maybe he needed to sleep in?

I decided to leave Nolan to his snoring and drooling, and I slipped off of the couch and tiptoed around his hefty body. With my mate in the house, I was painfully aware of my own morning-breath. I'd go to his bathroom and rummage through the drawers for a toothbrush, or mouthwash, or even just a mint. Anything before he woke up.

But a movement in the window caught my eye before I reached his bedroom door, and I paused. A young man, probably only a few years older than myself, walked through the cottage's little garden toward the front door. I'd seen the man a few times before in the pack house, and decided to defer my dental hygiene in hopes of intercepting him before his knocking woke up Nolan.

I opened the front door just as the man arrived. He had dark skin, and tattoos decorating his arms. He blinked, eyebrows high in surprise. "Uh, I'm here to see--"

"Shhh!" I interrupted in a whisper. He obeyed my command and waited until I stepped onto the front step and shut the door with the softest click. "Sleeping alpha," I breathed out and nodded my head toward the cottage, as if that was all the explanation he would need.

"Right..." The poor man looked lost. He ran a hand through his buzzed hair, as if uncomfortable with the situation I'd put him in. I couldn't comprehend why... Is it because I'm a woman? The thought had me fuming. I opened my mouth, intent on asking whether he had forgotten how to speak, but paused when his eyes flickered down my body.

Moon Goddess, I'm only wearing Nolan's t-shirt. My eyes widened, and I instinctively crossed my arms against my chest. The fabric reached the middle of my thigh, which wasn't too scandalous. But I'd taken off my bra for the sake of comfort the night before, and the morning air was a bit chilly...

"Yes?" I tried to ignore the heat pooling in my cheeks.

Before the stunned man could get a word out, the front door swung open and a low growl rumbled from behind. I winced. Within seconds, Nolan had stepped in front of me, and I was dwarfed by his figure. Territorial Alpha male, I rolled my eyes.

"What do you want Eric?" Nolan seethed.

"You missed the meeting this morning, and we tried mind-linking with you but you blocked us off. And Raegan's occupado with Abby, so I came to get the patrols for today." The guy, Eric sounded unsure of himself as he rambled on.

Nolan mumbled something under his breath before sighing, "Same patrols as yesterday. And if I ever see you lay eyes on my mate like that again..." He trialed off, but Eric and I knew that the threat still stood.

I frowned. Poor Eric hadn't known I would answer the door dressed in only a t-shirt.

"Yes, Alpha. I'm sorry, Alpha." Eric rambled, and I was surprised the male did not drop to his knees to kiss the ground that Nolan walked on. Instead, Eric turned away. I couldn't blame him-- I would want to get far away, too.

Nolan turned back toward me, looking a bit frustrated and disheveled from his slumber. He re-entered the cottage and I followed. "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?" I deadpanned.

"Like I was too harsh on him," Nolan replied, and the gruffness in his words made me shiver. He stalked toward the kitchen.

"Well, he didn't do anything wrong. Honestly, it was my fault." I shrugged, but still attempted to stretch the t-shirt a bit further down.

"But that does not excuse Eric's thoughts-- he practically screamed them to the entire pack." Nolan opened the refrigerator and grabbed a carton of juice. He brought the carton to his lips and drank straight from the source.

His thoughts? I wanted to know what Eric said through their mind-link that had Nolan so angry. I reveled in the thought that Nolan could have been jealous, and so I offered up my best, mischievous smirk and placed a hand on my hip. "Oh really? And what did Eric think of me?"

My antics only angered Nolan further. He slammed the juice carton onto the counter, the contents spraying across the marble. His knuckles bleached, and my excitement only grew. The night before we had talked about exploring our relationship as friends-- partners. But we said nothing about grazing the surface of the sexual desires that accompanied the institution of Fate Mates.

Nolan knew of my games, but he anger still flickered in his blue eyes. "He didn't think. He forgot that you are mine!"

The words left his lips, and exhilaration coursed through me in the form of a thousand goosebumps. I knew that this was his inner-wolf speaking. I knew that this protective desire stemmed from a thousand years of Alpha DNA in his bloodstream. But I liked to feel wanted nonetheless.

Content with Nolan's reaction, I tossed a section of my dark brown hair over my shoulder and offered an innocent smile. "Want some help cleaning that up?"

Nolan's eyes flickered to the orange juice mess on the counters, grumbled something beneath his breath, and took a cloth that hung over the oven door to absorb his mess. He was brooding. I almost laughed, but figured that might injure his pride, so I moved across the small kitchen. "How about I make breakfast? I've never been a great cook, but I might be able to manage some toast?"

Nolan looked up from his cleaning, one corner of his lips turned up in a smile. "Whoa, slow down, Gordon Ramsey. Toast might be a bit beyond even my culinary skills."

"Ha, ha, ha." I rolled my eyes, but rummaged through the cabinets for a loaf of bread nonetheless. Everyone has bread, right? And yet, the more that I searched, the more that I became convinced that Nolan must not ever eat carbs. All I could find were packets of trail-mix and protein bars.

When I turned around, I noticed that he was watching me in amusement. "You know, you could just tell me where you keep your bread. That's what friends do," I quipped.

"You could just ask me." He replied with equal speed.

I reached the last cabinet, put my hand on the shiny, metal nob, and opened. A loaf of bread, finally. "Prick," I whispered under my breath.

He chuckled in response. I popped two slices of bread in a nearby toaster and turned to face him. "Speaking of communication... When will you Initiate me into the pack? It'd be a hell of a lot easier to communicate with you and the pack if we were connected by mind link..."

It was a stretch, and potentially a dangerous venture. After our conversation the night before about running the pack together, I knew the topic needed to come up sooner or later. Nolan could name me Luna of the Black Lupis Pack, but I'd always be an outsider until a proper Initiation.

Nolan narrowed his eyes. "You don't need to go through Initiation. You are my mate, so you are the Luna."

"Right, and that would work, except you and I aren't actual mates," I managed through gritted teeth.

"What do you mean?" He crossed his massive arms against his chest. We were both running on short fuzes now. He knew what I meant.

Every incoming wolf had to go through an Initiation process before joining the pack. During the initiation process, the new member had to prove their worth before being able to drink the blood of the pack members. Once the blood was in their system, they were connected to the pack.

Of course, whenever it came to mates, the male only had to mark his mate before she was connected to the pack. Nolan had not marked me yet, and I doubted that it would happen anytime soon.

Before I could snarl at the man's ignorance, the bread popped out of the toaster. I gasped at the surprise, my heart sped up in fright. I thanked the Moon Goddess that she had sent that bread to diffuse the tension in the room, and then I started to laugh . Nolan even chuckled at my skittishness.

The tension of our past conversation dissolved, and Nolan grabbed two plates from a cabinet. It looked like we would get to enjoy our toast civilly after all. And then the alpha paused, in his blue orbs glazed over. He was receiving a message from the pack.

"What's wrong?"

"Dylan needs me. Stay here." He turned from the kitchen, offering no other explanation.

Since my father was the Beta of Golden Walkers, he connected with all of the packs' high ranking officials. At one point, I remembered my father talking about Dylan of the Black Lupis Pack. Dylan was Nolan's third-in-command, and one of the best fighters in all of the packs.

"What's wrong?" I repeated. He wouldn't ignore me again. I would not be brushed aside. "Hey!" I called after Nolan, who was already in the living room. I had to jog to keep up with his long strides. When he still did not answer, I grabbed his wrist and tried to force him to face me.

The Alpha, my Alpha, turned on me. He turned so fast that I nearly fell to the floor. I nearly cowered. He wore the face of an Alpha. "I told you to never do that again," he seethed, exposing his canines in an unspoken threat.

I had grabbed him like that once before. The memory of when he shifted in front of me flashed through my mind. He had almost hurt me then, and I suddenly found myself backing away. Would he do it again? To punish me?

"I-I'm sorry." I whispered, ducking my head in fear and shame. This didn't feel like a partnership.

Nolan did not reply. When I worked up the courage to raise my head, he was gone.

I sat down on the couch. I knew better than to go after him and leaned back against the cushions in defeat. I was lost. How am I supposed to do this? Before tears could prickle my eyes, however, the fire alarm blared from the kitchen. I cursed and shouted and forced myself to go take care of burnt toast.

*****Hi everyone!!! Phew, what do you think of this tentative friendship between Charlie and Nolan? Who else is ready for Charlie to go TOTAL BAD-ASS on this man?!

Anyways, thanks for your patience in waiting for me to get this chapter up! I hope you all enjoyed it! Don't forget to share, comment, and vote! It means the absolute world to me! Expect another update in a few days! I love you all, always!

-- Emily *******