Klepto POV

"If you're coming with us, you need to hurry up!" Reid's booming voice fills the small house as he yells up at Stacey, fury coloring his words.

We are planning on a meeting, a strategy meeting, and Stacey insists on being involved, just like the rest of us.

But the thing is, she has been in the bathroom for over an hour getting ready.

"I'll be down soon! Jeez, don't be an ass." She says dramatically, and I can't help but laugh. Reid shoots me a glare. I sit lazily on the couch with a smirk, draping myself across the cushions. I'm just admiring how adorable they were.

Ezra plops down on the couch right next to me, a big bowl of cereal in his hands. It's Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I carefully take his spoon and dip it in, taking a big bite without permission.

I casually drop the spoon and chew while Ezra smiles at me. Part of me thought he'd be pissed, but he isn't even bothered by me sharing his food. Damn him! That's a perfect quality.

"Two days! It's been two days and I'm already about to pull my hair out." Reid rants while he makes his way back into the living room. Then he begins pacing the floorboards. Back and forth, back and forth.

In the light, I notice the fresh mark peeking out from under his shirt, the scar clear on his neck. It isn't the first time we've seen it, like he'd said, it's been two days since they got here.

The first morning after Stacey arrived, she strolled downstairs in a very revealing tank top to show off the pink mating mark on her skin. She looked for any opportunity to draw attention to it. She would touch it, fiddle with her short hair, even pull her shirt off of her shoulder at times just so everyone would see who she belonged to.

I can't say I'm not jealous. I mean, they were mated the first night they knew each other. Stacey is nothing if not persistent.

But I just can't imagine how different my life would have turned out if Ezra acted like Reid or Alpha Veiler that first day we met. Instead of ignoring me, instead of insisting it wouldn't work out, to just love me and take care of me.

Protect me from my evil enemies.

My pack, my Mom, Nathan Green, Alpha Green.

It would've nice, but I wouldn't change it. If I did, I never would've become a rogue. Never would've come to see how strong I really am on my own.

I can protect myself just fine, and now that I have that confidence, I won't let anyone walk all over me again.

Having that weapon in my armory is enough to make me hold my head high without faking it.

I look over to spot Ezra shaking his head with a goofy smile. He really is genuinely happy for Reid, and it's sweet.

Stupid, stupid Ezra. Why does he have to be so sweet?

When Stacey finally appears in the living room, I can't help but be amused at the sight of her. Every day is like a new art exhibit, her outfits and makeup are always something spectacular to look at.

Today she has her hair in two little pig tails at the nape of her neck. Her shoes are pink doc boots with amazing rainbow laces, and she wears a tule skirt with constellations splattered across it. Not to mention her eyeshadow is bright orange.

Well, she's definitely bold, I'll give her that.

Stacey doesn't waste a second before jumping in Reid's arms.

"I'm sowwy for making you wait so long." She kisses his cheek and then the other before placing a big, loud kiss on his mouth.

"It's fine, doll. We need to go now though."

So, off we go.

I open the basement door, peering down the dark stairs and frowning, suddenly nervous knowing that the vampires will be there. They give me the heebie jeebies.

"I'll hold your hand if you want." I shove Stacey when she makes the remark, and she sticks her tongue out at me.

We don't have all day, so I start down the stairs, swallowing my fear. When I get to the bottom step, the sight in the basement makes me trip over it and nearly collapse before I catch myself on the railing.

A table is in the middle of the main room, a small chandelier hanging from above. The light casts gloomy shadows in the spooky basement. The unpleasant smell of dust and mildew makes me scrunch up my nose.

The two vampires, Fraser and Ailsa, stand side by side, murmuring to each other softly. Savannah and Miranda are there as well, both sitting at the table silently. Hyrum and Ace sit at the table, but they seem to be engrossed in a battle of arm wrestling.

And then there's Alpha Veiler. He's perched at the head of the table, his eyes practically glowing as they watch us.

"It's about time." Says Savannah, looking towards Veiler. He nods without even looking at her, and we all file into the room and take a seat. I don't miss the fact that Ezra pulls the chair out for me before taking the seat beside me.

"The rogues will come." We all silently look up at the King, the light highlighted the high planes of his scarred face. "I guarantee it. The Red Alpha may or may not be with them, but we must treat it as if he will be. It's far too high a risk."

"What exactly do we know about this Red Alpha?" It's Fraser, the vampire with a thick brown beard. His bright fangs are once again hidden when he closes his full mouth.

"He has magic, dark magic, and he's probably been studying it for decades. He's powerful, and it'll take a few of us to try and take him down depending on how long he's been practicing. We need to assume the worst so we're prepared."

I look down, suddenly having the feeling that I didn't belong here. I don't know about fighting, I've never killed someone before. I hold my own with fighting the rogues when I was helping Ezra in the woods, but that was different.

I was running on pure adrenaline then, and if I don't have that to help out, I don't know how helpful I would be.

My fingers touch the map sprawled across the table. It's an immense, green covered map, and the longer I stare at it, I realize it's a map of the pack grounds.

It has everything from the library, to the pack house. I glance at the winding border of the pack, the line thick sprawled in bright red.

"We have a semi-plan. I mean it's not set in stone, it could use some tweaking for sure, but I think we can make it work." Savannah pipes up, once again watching her Alpha with interest. He doesn't acknowledge her.

"What is this plan exactly?" Asks Stacey, twirling a finger around a lock of Reid's hair absently, sitting in his lap with her knees to her chest.

"Draw them in. Make our border patrol scarce, spread our forces thinner to make it seem like we don't have enough defenses, but once the rogues attack, we pull back. If we retreat, were bringing the rogues inside the pack grounds to the real fight. That's when we'll surround them." Savannah explains, and I cock my head in interest.

"Won't that be a bit risky?" Everyone's eyes are suddenly on me, but I keep going, "I mean, you're using members of the pack as bate with no backup. We should have a second line of defense behind the first, that way if they're in trouble, we'll have a quick response. We won't know where they'll attack, so it's best to prepare every side, right?"

Everybody is quiet, and a shiver rolls up my spine. Did I say something wrong? Just before I hide my head in shame, someone speaks up.

"That's not a bad idea. Two line of defenses, the first a fake to draw them in, and the second with the strongest of us." Hyrum says, and when he smiles at me, I suddenly feel a lot better.

"You're mate is a smart one, Blackmore. Don't take her for granted." It's Alpha Veiler that spoke up this time, and Ezra's yellow eyes are on me, admiration filling them.

I look away, remembering the words that the King said to me. His advice has been on my mind a lot these past few days, and I want to make a move to show Ezra I'm ready to make us work, but I'm too anxious about the whole thing.

"So, anything else we need to know? The plan can't be this one dimensional. What about the women and children? What of them?" Reid asks, pulling Stacey closer, if that's even possible.

"We'll make it clear that if there is an attack, someone needs to send the message we'd under attack so the the warning sirens can be set off. The women and children need to get to the safety bunker quickly. It will need to be stocked with excess blankets, clothes, food, medical supplies, any equipment they might need." Says Alpha Veiler, his authoritative voice leaving no room for discussion.

It makes sense, those who can't fight need to be hidden and protected. I wonder if I will be one of those who'll be stuffed away to wait out the fight. Of course I want to help, but I don't know if I will be useful.

I peak over at Ezra. He's still focused on King Veiler, my mate is silent as if he's lost in thought just like me.

What if Ezra teaches me how to fight? I'm sure he has experience with it, but would he take it seriously? I'll have to ask him.

That is, after we talk and hopefully make up fully. I shudder at the reminder. It's going to be an interesting night, that's for sure.

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"Holy shit! This is supercalifragilisticexpialadocious." Stacey says, nearly collapsing as she gobbles up every bite of pumpkin bread. Hyrum grins, still not use to people fawning over his culinary skills quite yet.

"What exactly does that mean?" I ask, and Stacey's mouth drops open, still filled with chewed pumpkin bread.

"You've never seen Mary Poppins?" She demands, incredulous.

"What's Mary Poppins?" I ask, and her dark eyes nearly pop out of the sockets.

"One of these days me and you will be having a major movie marathon, little Miss sheltered." Stacy states simply, going back to her many slices of pumpkin bread and focusing fully on them.

She spends a lot of time in her own little world.

"We're going on patrol. I'll see you soon." Reid bends down and kisses Stacey on the head. She beams up at him, leaning into his body with a giggle.

I glance over at Ezra, he finishes tying his boots before standing to full height. He starts when he sees me watching him, smiling at me even though he can tell I feel somewhat uneasy.

"Ezra, can I... have a word with you? You know, before you leave?" I ask, rubbing the back of my neck nervously, darting my eyes to the ground and back up.

He seems surprised for a moment, then his eyes crinkle a bit when he smiles at me.

"Sure." He turns to Reid, who is still hugging his mate, "I'll be down in a minute."

Ezra strides over to me, and I take a tense step back. He holds out his hand, and I take it, looking down at our intertwined fingers. A spark of excitement jolts through me, I am really going to do this.

We make our way up to his room, I mean our room, silently. Neither of us make a sound until the door squeaks shut behind me.

I stare at the doorknob longingly. All I have to do is push the door open and make a break for it. I'd be home free. No confrontation, no awkward pauses, I could just find a quiet place to be by myself.

Deep, deep down I know that I need to this. It's long overdue.

"So, what's up?" He asks, his stance and expression tense with anticipation. I guess I should just come out and just say it, end his suffering, but the words seem to be lodged in my throat.

They do not want to come out.

"Well, I uh, I forgive you." I murmur, settling down on the bed awkwardly, not wanting to look at him, "I want to take a chance. I want to be with you."

It's silent now, so silent you could hear a fly fart. I steal a timid glance up at my mate, and he's as still as a statue.

Dread flushes right through my system. What if he changed his mind? Am I just making a fool of myself all over again? I squeeze my eyes closed, not able to bear the sight of Ezra's undoubtable rejection of me.

Of course he still doesn't want me! That jerk!

My eyelids spring open when a soft touch brushes my wrist. He's right in front of me, crouching low to the ground so we're eye to eye.

"I'd love for you to be with me." He says, his voice reverent and humble, irises the shade of fire, ablaze with light. "What's brought on this sudden change, may I ask?" I can tell he's trying not get his hopes up.

The corners of my lips lift of their own accord.

"Let's just say I got some good advice that pushed me in the right direction. I've wanted to be with you for awhile now, but I was terrified."

He shakes his head in amusements, gripping my hand in his once more and squeezing my fingers.

"And why is that?" He inquires, and I hesitate. Ezra raises his eyebrows and I sigh.

"You've rejected me before. And how was I to know that it would work between us?"

"Well, the Moon Goddess chose us to be together. Don't you think She would know what works best?" His question makes so much sense, I choose to ignore it.

As he waits for my answer, he brushes a lock of my hair from my line of sight, tucking it behind my ear gently. The subtle show of affection has my heart reeling.

"I'm a psycho at the bottom of the pack, and you're a warrior built to kill. Isn't it a weird mix?"

He shrugs, a wicked grin plastered to his face.

"I think it's the perfect mix."

And then his lips are on mine, and they're better than I remember. Soft, gentle, and yet oh so demanding and rough.

His mouth is a contradiction.

He kissed me more, and more, and my breath is coming faster as we share this small moment. A moment of celebration, a moment to ourselves.

A moment I will remember forever.

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If you're reading this, I love you:)