I sat in Avery's apartment, lazily watching some show on the television. I've been waiting for her for an hour now since she last messaged me that she's leaving the office. We had about 5 hours here before we had to go to her pack for my initiation. I'm honestly nervous as hell. I want to make a good impression and hopefully, they will like me and accept us. I know Jake and Avery have already told them about me briefly but anything can happen today.

The last few days have been brilliant like I cannot explain what I was feeling. The day after our trip was spent with Avery and I did some interior decorating for her apartment which was now ours. She asked me to move in with her there and I was overjoyed. We were finally living together, just us, all alone. We then continued painting the rooms since she didn't do anything when she first moved in and she made me pick all the colors which made me warm, she made me feel important like it was ours. We got matching mugs with an A and S on it which Avery insisted on and cute little aprons. Everything was perfect, this is our first home.

Then my phone rang. I glanced at it seeing it was Avery.

"Hello?" I said as I picked it up. I heard shuffling and keys.

"Baby, could you open the door." She says with noise in the background and I hear the ding of the elevator.

"Alright, you here?" I asked getting off the couch and walking to the door.

"Yeap, outside." I pulled the door open and there she was, a smile on her pretty face. I cut the call and reached to take the things from her hands.

"Hi, baby." She whispers before kissing my cheek making me blush. Of course, I'd blush.

"Hi," I said closing the door behind her. Just as I was about to turn, she flipped me to her, pressing me against the door, surprising me and plucking the bag from my hands and putting it on the cabinet.

"I missed you." She mutters before she cups my cheeks and kisses me. My chest warmed as I kissed her back, letting my arms wonder to hook around her neck. Her hands moved from my cheeks to my neck and down my sides, like always, not failing to leave a hot trail behind. I'd started to differentiate the kisses Avery would give me, right now it's the "I miss you and possessive mate kiss". It was the way she gripped my hips with one hand while the other held my ass cheek.

My breath hitched as she left her hand glide further down, resting in between my thighs from the back, lightly touching my covered pussy making me whimper into the kiss. How does she do this to me? She touches me and instantly I'm a mess for her.

"Told you these shorts were a good idea." She growled softly under her breath as she nipped against my lips and I flamed. Yeah, a good idea because it barely covers my ass. And she loves it. She doesn't even try to hide her eyes from them. It honestly made me feel confident in how I looked, the way Avery looks at me, makes me feel like I'm this sexy human.

"It's short," I whisper stupidly in a haze and she chuckles and goodness, it's so sexy.

"That's why I like it babygirl." I squirmed as she gripped my ass cheek before placing the last kiss on my lips and pulling away. I look at her from under my lashes and I see the warmth and adoration in her eyes.

"I love you." She says, surprising me and making me feel all gooey on the inside.

"I love you too, babe," I say softly.

"You're so pretty." She says, almost to herself before kissing my forehead and taking my hand in hers and pulling us to the kitchen.

I helped her put the groceries away before she went to change. I sat back on the sofa, hugging the pillow feeling a little nervous about telling Avery about my letters. Yeah, I got my response to the universities I applied to. I wanted to be a math teacher, I know it's nerdy but I liked it. The thing is, I only got accepted to the universities which were a few states over and not the one here. And honestly, I don't know what to do. I've had the whole day to ponder over it. I didn't want to leave Avery and I also knew she couldn't come with me there. I didn't want to do long-distance.

"Do you want a drink, love? Or some bites?" Avery called out from the kitchen.

"Just coke babe!" I hollered back. And soon she approached with it and a bag of chips she bought earlier before sitting next to me.

"Are we watching something?" she asked and I turned to her, wanting to talk about college.

"I uhm, wanna talk to you about something." I started, looking into her eyes and immediately worry flashed in them and she turned to face me.

"What is it?" she asked, putting her hand on my thigh for comfort. I took the letters and passed them to her. She didn't say anything as she read them and then she broke out into a grin, surprising me.

"Babe! You got in! This is huge, I'm so proud of you." She exclaims, excitedly, her eyes bright as she continued reading it. She's happy?

"Thank you but..uh...I don't think I want to go." I whisper looking down and she tensed.

"Why not? It's a good university babe. And it's a part scholarship, that's amazing." Her eyebrows furrow.

"You want me to go?" I croaked softly, my heart beating loudly now. Did she? She was okay being away from me?

"I mean, baby, this is amazing, you don't want to go? What's wrong?" her voice full of concern now, her hand finding my shoulder. I sighed.

"I don't wanna do long distance," I mutter feeling embarrassed.

"Oh, babygirl. I know, me too, but this is a huge deal. You didn't get in the other places, are you sure you don't want to?" I look up into her eyes. I really don't want to. We've just got to be together. I don't want to be away from her anymore. It's not worth it. It's just an education. Anything can happen tomorrow and I'm not ready to lose her.

"No, I don't wanna go away. It's not worth it to me, I'm gonna appeal to the ones here." I say honestly and she nods, her fingers, combing through my hair. I moved closer to her and she lifted me slightly so I was sitting in her lap, making me giggle into her neck. She held me tight.

"I don't want you to go too." She mutters against my hair, she laces our fingers together and I see my ring shine.

"I can't be too selfish, you need to live your life. If you want to, you should go, don't worry about me. I'll come to visit you every week." She continues and my heart tugs. I shook my head.

"No, I don't wanna go. I made my decision." I stated and she nods, kissing my head.

"Alright, babygirl. Try the other universities okay? You definitely will get in somewhere." She says and I nod. I felt a little relief. I didn't like feeling unsure about anything that had to do with Avery. She's a big part of my life now. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be alive. I would have died in that fire.

"You want me to do your hair for tonight, darling?" She asks suddenly making me perk up at her, grinning, in return making her smile.

"Please," I said and she nods.

We then spent the next few hours, on the couch, sharing the bag of chips and watching some comedy show before it was time for us to head to her pack.

I was anxious as hell, my hands were getting clammier by the second. I sat in front of the vanity mirror of our room as Avery braided my hair, letting a few loose strands down and slipping in, gold flower pins into them. She got them for me, a while ago, they're not actually real gold from what she promised me. They're pretty. It made me feel pretty when she did my hair. I was getting more and more used to how I look every day because of Avery. She made me believe that I was beautiful and it was something I never thought would happen.

"It's done, love." She grins. I find her eyes through the mirror, seeing how hot she looked in a silver suit, with a smokey eye and nude lips, like holy fucking damn, that's mine?

"Thank you," I said before standing up. She helped straighten my dress from the back. It was a dark grey one, it was flowy and had some lace on it with no sleeves.

"Gorgeous babygirl, look at you." She says proudly from behind me, making me blush.

"Look at you all sexy," I said back smartly. The thing is with Avery when she's got a suit on, bejeezus, I swear, it's like a whole new level of sexy. She chuckles slightly before we did our final touches and walked out to her car.

We got in and she was prepping me again of what they were gonna do and what will be said and that I don't have to be worried. There was a little garden party thing later to welcome me so we'd have to stay for that.

Then we arrived at her pack. I almost forgot how big this place was since the last time I was here. She drove in passed the gates and to the front, parking alongside the other cars that were there.

"Beta, Ma'am." A man greeted us as he opened my door and helped me out. I smiled and nodded at him, thanking him before Avery took my hand and we walked to the side where the foyer was.

"I'll be here the whole while baby," Avery says to me, her hand tightening over mine just before we joined the crowd. I nodded, not saying anything but returning her hold on my hand. My heart was racing. I tried to put up this front so I didn't look like an insecure, shy kid in front of Avery, I wanted to make her proud today, it was a special day for her.

"Beta." I hear the whole crowd murmur as Avery walked, they separated giving us the way to walk, their eyes glancing towards me, and I try not to flinch at their reactions. Then I saw her. Bianca. Her evil sneers with her groupies as they watched me walk with Avery. I started to shake slightly and immediately looked away. I couldn't have a panic attack now. Not here. I couldn't embarrass Avery like that.

"We're going in to wait for Jake." I hear her say to me in a hushed voice before she continued greeting everyone else. Almost no one else had any disgust or unacceptance in their eyes. They were all really welcoming especially the little kids who waved at me as I walked by. It made me feel a little better.

We walked into the big hall and went to the front to sit by the empty space which I assume is gonna be the stage area. There are easily 300 chairs here, her pack has grown so much and it suddenly dawns me just how much Avery is juggling in her life. Her pack, her job, running our parents' business part-time, and she still had time for me. I've always wanted to ask her to drop something, she's working too hard, she's tired but she never once complained.

"You alright?" I snap to the sound of her voice realizing she was looking at me in concern.

"Yeah." I merely whispered.

"Beta!" We both turned to the voice. I flinched. It was Bianca, followed by her friends. I curled my fingers trying to calm down. I never told Avery that she sent me the video and stuff when I cut myself. I didn't mention any names because she was a pack member and Avery knew them. I didn't want to cause a problem.

"Hi, girls," Avery says, her arm dropping my hand to wrap around my waist as she pulls me close to her.

"You look beautiful Avery," Bianca says with a smirk on her face, her eyes glancing at me shortly.

"Thank you. Everyone looks great today." Avery says nonchalantly as I try not to get jealous of the way Bianca was staring at her as if trying to burn her clothes off.

"You guys know Sam, my mate," Avery says again, giving me a wide smile and I could swear I saw the grin wipe off Bianca's face.

"Yeah, we've met. How's work been? You don't come to the pack that often anymore? Been busy with the extra burden?" Bianca asked again, making her friends stifle laughter as they looked at me. Oh. I'm the burden.

"It's been okay, just wanting to spend time with my mate, she's my priority now." I beam at Avery's words. I know she was reassuring me and at this moment it made me smile. I see their jaw tick. Hah, bitch!

Just then they all tensed and bowed their head making me and Avery turn to the back. Jake.

"Alpha." They greeted and immediately walked away.

"Hey," Avery said to him.

"Hi, you both look great." He says giving me a kind smile. Jake and Avery made up a while ago. He apologized to me and things were fine now. He understood his boundaries and I wasn't mad or jealous any more.

"Thanks, Jake, you too. What time are we starting?" Avery asked and he checked his watch before scanning the area.

"Now I think. I'll mind link them." He says and for a moment his eyes glazed over, flashing to yellow, showing that his wolf was in charge and a few seconds later people starting walking in.

"I don't have to say anything yeah?" I asked Avery again and she shook her head, her fingers rubbing my side to calm me down.

"I'll just say a few words, it'll be over soon okay?" I nod. We walked to sit down in the front, Jake stood, his hands behind his back, his stance strong and full of power. Within minutes the hall was full and everyone was silent, watching their Alpha. It amazes me with the bond they had.

"Good Evening." Jake boomed loudly, woah. My eyes widened. He didn't even need a microphone, he's that loud. His voice echoed throughout the whole place.

"Today is a special day for us, we welcome a new member of our family, your leader, your Beta's mate." His eyes glanced at us and then we stood up, Avery hand clutching mine and we walked beside him and face the crowd. I swallowed, realizing everyone had their eyes on me.

"Hi, everyone. This is my mate, Sam. I would like everyone to accept her into our family and need I remind those with ill thoughts that mates are chosen by the Goddess. Who are we to go against her power? She has chosen Sam for me and I'm eternally grateful to be blessed with a mate. I hope she receives the respect and love from all of you as your leader and family." Avery says, her green eyes bright, piercing through the crowd, shifting once in a while as if to check the emotions behind their eyes. And the way she spoke, beautiful. God, I have never been more in love with her.

Everyone seemed to agree with what Avery said, they bowed their head in respect of us.

"Now, the bonding will take place." Jake turned to me, nodding before his hand gestures for a few people to bring out the necessary items.

The soul-rock.

God, it's even more beautiful than what Avery has described. It's literally glowing. Every new member who wasn't born into the pack has to place their hand on it to bond them to the rest of the pack, it bears their soul to the goddess who will then join the new bond with the pack bond.

"Come," Avery mutters, reaching for my hand, to place it on top of it, on Jake's hand. I looked up finding Jake's eyes before he nods. They flash silver. Avery's flash silver. I turned to the rest of the pack members and saw silver flashes everywhere and then the rock shook in our hands, I heard it crack a little before I was pulled into a dark place. I heard voices and thoughts, faces of the pack members food my head and in a second it was done.

"Welcome, Sam, to our family," Jake exclaimed loudly. I gave him a shy smile, bowing at him slightly before turning to Avery who had a proud smile on her face. She dropped a chaste kiss on my forehead before we both took a step forward as if announcing me to the pack. Everyone cheered and my heart warmed. They accepted us, they accepted me.

"There's food out for everyone thanks to our amazing omegas, please everyone head outside." Jake ushered them out. They bowed once again and the hall cleared.

"Can't believe it's done!" Avery squealed, hugging me to her. I giggled and leaned into her.

"It went pretty good," Jake said a smile on his face, I could see he was worried for us too and I was thankful.

"Come, let's go eat, Jake join us?" Avery asks and I nodded to her question. He grins a little bashful but nods.

"Thanks, guys." He says and Avery chuckles before messing with his hair. He growled and pushed her hands away, God they were like children, it made me smile. Avery wasn't always like this, there were only times where she'd get into this fun, childish mode because most times she's out there adulting and stuff, she's only 21 and she's always so collected.

"It's beautiful," I said in awe as we walked out, I didn't have much time to take in the ambiance just now but damn, they did amazing. There were so many flowers, all around, light drapes and of course lights and lanterns. It's gorgeous.

"We get some food? Do you wanna come with or get us a table, baby?" Avery asked as we walked a little. I looked out for a table.

"Can we sit there?" I asked pointing to one, dim-lit table, in the corner slightly and she nods.

"Sure, go ahead, well be back." I nod and turn to walk to the table. I gave shy smiles and small waves to pack members who watched me. I sat down, my front facing everyone, my eyes finding Avery and Jake. They were talking and laughing with some other pack members. There was so much love in their eyes. They're such a tight unit.

"Well, well, well.." I froze, immediately recognizing the voice. Bianca. I turned to her, my jaw tightened.

"What do you want, Bianca?" I asked my eyes watching her.

"Don't say my name, filthy human. You think you're so great aren't you, being her mate, it's still doesn't change what you are, a whale of a mate who doesn't deserve her." My nails pierced into my palms and those words hit my chest like knives.

"Leave me alone," I mutter, looking away. I'm still so affected by her words. Why? I thought I was stronger than this.

"As if I'm gonna listen to you. You see Sam, she's only with you because of the bond. If that doesn't exist, sorry to say, she isn't gonna pick you. She wouldn't even look at you. Avery's a 10, and you, unfortunately, is just a 1.5 and she should go for someone who's a 10, someone like me." Her voice is completely vile. That's not true, no, no, no. I shook the dark thought coming into my head. I look pretty decent, right? Avery says that I'm beautiful, she says it every day. She told me she ain't one for just looks.

"What's going on here?" I jumped from the sound of Avery's voice as she approached us. I kept my eyes down, I was inches from tearing up, and I didn't want to. Not here. Not now. I'm not weak! I'm not gonna listen to her.

"Nothing Beta, I was just welcoming Sam into our pack," Bianca says sweetly but Avery doesn't reply to her instead she places the food down and walked over to my side, crouching beside me, holding my chin.

"Are you okay?" She whispers and I glanced into her eyes and I saw the anger in them. She knew what happened. Her jaw tightened as she stood up and walked over to where Bianca was. My eyes followed her.

"What did you say to her?" I hear Avery growled, her fists shaking in anger. Oh no.

"I- nothing...nothing, b-beta..." I hear Bianca whisper, her voice was shaky and scared.

"Avery-" I stopped seeing Avery put her hand up to stop me, my heart raced, I saw it coming.

"I asked you, what did you tell my mate, Bianca!" She yelled out now gaining the attention of everyone, it was a pin drop silence. Oh fuck, fuck. I could see Avery's eyes now completely silver, god they were so bright and her canines were out.

"Babe..." I whisper standing up to move to her.

"Was she the one?" Avery asked me, her voice tight as if she's holding back. I knew what she was referring to, I didn't want her to fight, I didn't want to cause a scene.