I stood in the mirror, staring at my bare body. It was covered in bruises of all colors. My hips had fingerprints embedded in the skin, the color a disgusting blue. My thighs were caked in fingerprint bruises that were fading brown. My arms also had fingerprints bruises, but they were black and blue. I turned around and stared at my bum, which was red all over, and a clear hand print on the right cheek.

I lightly ghosted my fingers over every single bruise, wincing when it hurt. I don't know why, but I didn't feel scared of Grey and Ryker. No matter how much they bruised up my body I don't think I will ever fear them. I have known them for so long, and I just know that they would never intentionally try and hurt me. Which is also why I don't think I will ever really fear Levi and Odin.

Most of the time that I am with them is when they are taking control over Grey and Ryker, so I correlate the two as the same people. The whole situation between us and what happened when they marked me, I don't really fear them. If anything I am thankful for what they did. I finally feel so full, and content. If they hadn't of marked me, I don't think I would have felt this way at least for a while.

There was a light knock on the bathroom door.

"Come in." I said. The door opened and Ryker's head popped in.

"Hey." He smiled at me, coming into the bathroom. A frown settled on his face as he wrapped his arms around my waist, my back pressed against his chest. He rested his chin on my shoulder.

"Look at these bruises." He whispered, lightly tracing over them. I winced when he touched my hips and he mumbled an apology.

"Beautiful, I am so sorry. We are so sorry. I didn't think we were that rough." I brought a hand up to his face and cradled his cheek.

"Hey. I liked it, don't worry." I said, placing a kiss to his cheek. He closed his eyes and sighed. He gently put his arms around my waist, holding me close to him.

"And all I want is to feel true love." He quietly sang into my ear. I smiled, the song floating and swirling in my head.

"Mmm, what day is it?" I asked, turning around and snuggling myself into Ryker.

"I think it is Thursday, the seventeenth." He mumbled. I stiffened in his arms.

I have been in heat for seven freaking days! Oh god, how many times did I get knotted?

"Relax, beautiful. You can go back to school on Monday. We told the school that we all had the flu." He explained, holding me at arms length to look in my eyes.

But seven freaking days! That is far too long.

"What about my birth control?" I whispered. He pressed another kiss to my nose as he chuckled.

"We gave it to you. But you were too far gone to remember it, beautiful." I nodded my head, relieved. I love children, but I don't know what I would do if I was pregnant.

But when I go back to school, how do I act around Kali after that whole fiasco last Wednesday? Oh my gosh, I am so embarrassed. But wait a second, if Theo is a werewolf, an Alpha I think, then does that mean Kali is also a werewolf? What in the actual fúck!? Who isn't a werewolf, then? I feel like that would be a better question to ask.

"Mmm, beautiful. Let's get you dressed, and some more water in your body. We need to keep down your fever from your heat." He said, placing a kiss to my forehead. I just mindlessly followed him, my brain too focused on what was to come.

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Monday

I hadn't seen my parents all weekend, and I kind of miss them. I mean I guess I understand why they did what they did. They were trying to protect me. But why do I have no memory of this? Well, I guess if they can take away a wolf from within someone, I'm pretty sure memories aren't that hard to extract.

I was twiddling my thumbs, thinking of Kali, and Theo, and my parents when I heard someone sit down next to me.

"How was the flu?" I turned to see Kali smirking at me. She was staring at the marks on my neck, and I swear I saw a flash of anger or some emotion flash in her eyes. I shrugged it off, and smiled at her. My smile quickly dropped, and I did a quick look to see if anyone was paying attention to us. I saw Ryker and Grey wave at me from across the room. I waved at them before turning back to Kali.

"Okay...so um...are you a, you know...werewolf?" I asked, my eyebrows raised. Please say no, please say no...

She imitated my sweep of the area before leaning in. "Um...yeah." And she sat back, laughing. I laughed along with her, but something within me was frightened of her now. I don't know why I felt this way, but a huge wave of uneasiness and nausea washed over me as she laughed.

The bell rang and I tried to focus on my notes for this class, I mean I did miss a whole week of school.

The whole day of school, I was on edge. I don't know why I felt like this. It started immediately after Kali had told me that she was indeed a werewolf. But why does that make me feel anxious? I mean, I guess I should be happy. But I think it was her laugh that set me off. And the way she looked at my marks. Why would she be angry? Shouldn't she be happy about something like that? About someone finding their true mate?

I looked up at Ryker and saw a huge smile on his face. I looked out the windshield and saw that his parents' car was in the driveway. I smiled as well; I love his parents.

We all hopped out of the car, Grey carrying my backpack, and walked into the house. I heard his parents, Nolan and Eleanor, singing at the top of their lungs in the kitchen. I heard the soft thud of footsteps before a small body collided with my legs. I looked down and saw Ryker's little brother, Max.

"Holland! Holland! I miss you!" He said, trying to climb up my legs. I laughed and dropped down to pick him up. I placed kisses all over his face. He covered his face and giggled, trying to squirm away from me.

"And I missed you little buddy." I settled him on my hip. "How old are you again, little buddy?" I asked, prancing to the kitchen with him.

"I, um....three." He said, holding up three fingers. I plopped him down on the counter, and smiled at Nolan and Eleanor. They rushed over to me and wrapped their arms around me.

"We have missed you sweetheart." Eleanor said, squeezing me. I just laughed and hugged them back.

"Where were you guys this time?" I asked when they pulled away. Nolan wrapped his arms around his wife, snuggling into her neck. Ryker and Grey finally entered the kitchen. Ryker wrapped his arms around his parents as Grey cuddled me.

"We were in Bermuda, darling. It was such a beautiful trip. Warm waters, pink sand, ugh I wish we could go back." Eleanor said, kissing Ryker on the forehead. He sighed and wiped it off of his forehead.

"Yeah yeah yeah. Can you please make us something to eat, mom? We're starving." Ryker whined. Grey mumbled in agreement. I laughed as they acted like little children.

His mom sighed and pulled away from their embrace, scurrying around the kitchen to make us something to eat. I sat down at the island in the kitchen on a stool. Ryker and Grey sat down next to me as Max scurried over to where I was. He climbed down into my lap and snuggled into me. I smiled and wrapped my arms around him, holding him there.

"Hey guys, I have a few questions." I said, looking between Grey and Ryker. They placed a hand on my thigh and rubbed soothing circles.

"What's wrong, baby doll?" Grey asked. Nolan kneeled on the other side of the island, listening in on our conversation.

"Is pasta okay, everyone?" Eleanor asked. I nodded, excited to eat pasta.

"Okay so...I know you explained to me what Alpha's are, but like...Theo said to me a while ago that he was an Alpha. How can he be an Alpha when you guys are already the Alpha's of the only pack in this town?" I asked, looking down at Max who was playing with my necklace.

"Well...we aren't quite Alpha's yet. We are not of age, which is eighteen. Right now, my father is Alpha." Grey said. "But Theo is also an Alpha because he probably carries the gene. He may have been Alpha of his own pack before he moved here." I nodded my head in understanding, but still a little confused.

"But why would someone want to leave their own pack? I mean, isn't it like your family or something? And why would the Alpha leave? Aren't leaders always supposed to be there for their followers?" I asked. Like honestly, why would someone even want to leave that many people behind with no other leader in place for them?

"I don't know, beautiful. Alpha's are supposed to have a natural feeling of wanting to protect what is theirs. But I don't know what happened with Theo, beautiful." Ryker explained. It still doesn't make sense to me, though.

"And, um, Kali? Would she also be an Alpha because her and Theo are twins?" I asked.

"Not usually, no. She doesn't have the smell of an Alpha, so no she is not." I nodded my head. The smell of parma rosa sauce filled the air, and my stomach growled.

"Food's ready!" Eleanor shouted, making plates for us. I smiled, pushing all of this nonsense in the back of my mind.

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Tuesday

I was strolling the halls, sick and tired of sitting at the desk. I wanted to walk around, and just do nothing in particular. I also wanted to get out of English class, but the teacher wouldn't let Ryker and Grey come with me again. For once, I didn't feel uneasy about not being with them. It's weird, but I feel like they are with me.

I felt a dark presence behind me. I quickly spun around and was pushed into a bank of lockers. The locks dug into my back as the person breathed down my neck.

"Hello, Holly." He was breathing down my neck, and his hands were placed gently on my waist, brushing against my bruises. I gasped in pain and he just smirked at me.

"How was your heat?" He asked, dragging his nose up and down the column of my throat. I was absolutely repulsed by his actions. I wanted to crawl out this skin and hide under so many rocks. Anything to get away from this insane man.

"Good thing I wasn't there, or it would have lasted so much longer than seven days." He kissed my mark, causing waves of pain to roll throughout my body. I cried out, and he clapped a hand over my mouth.

"Shh, shh, shh." He cooed in my ear. "Mmm, baby girl. Do you feel what you've done to me?" He pressed his crotch against my thigh, and I squeezed my eyes shut, tears rolling down my cheeks.

"Oh, baby girl. I've waited so many lifetimes for you. It's okay. I'll get you, don't worry. Ryker and Grey can't protect you for forever. Even if it means I have to take them out myself." He said, and more tears rolled down my cheeks. I tried screaming out, but his hand muffled them.

"We will be together soon, baby girl." He removed his hand, and quickly placed a kiss to my lips. With that he walked away.

I crumpled to the ground, bringing my knees to my chest. And I cried.

I cried because I was alone. I cried because my parents and basically everyone around me kept a secret from me my entire life. I cried because I felt so dirty. I cried because I knew too many things. I cried because I let him touch me. I cried because I took that drink from him.

But most importantly, I cried because he was going to kill Ryker and Grey.

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-abbey