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Prologue:

"What do you mean, 'he saw us'?" She snapped, her tone so biting and cold that it gave the man on the other end chills.

"T-That man s-saw us shifting, Alpha. He's demanding a ransom to keep our secret safe." The man blubbered, and She could almost visualize him fidgeting and nervously prancing around the hotel room he and his family were most likely staying in.

"Fúck," She cursed, the word slipping out of her mouth so easily.

Some Elders might chide her for being so crude and open, but she liked to pay them no heed. She was loud and opinionated, and she wasn't afraid to voice her thoughts. Being grown by her parents to become a Leader, had shaped her to be a good Alpha, and she wasn't going to change herself because some old bag thought she should.

"We're sorry, Alpha." The man pleaded, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She knew it was a big mistake on their part, but no matter what, being the minority species in the world had forced them to be very cautious and careful.

But a person can only look over his shoulder for so long, before he lets his guard down. She understood that her Pack members were feeling the same way, and they had just wanted to be free for once in their lives, on their vacation to the Dominica Island. They hadn't done it intentionally and she was compassionate enough to get that.

She sighed.

"Okay, Derrick. I'll deal with it." She replied in a tired voice and placed the receiver on the phone, cutting the call. She rolled her upper lip in her mouth as she leaned back on the huge Italian leather chair, stretching her arms and folding them behind her neck to rest her head on them. Her legs automatically went up as they rested themselves on the desk in front of her, letting her lean further back into the chair.

She was the picture of tired.

And that's exactly how her Beta found her, when he opened the door to her office, entering without even a cursory knock.

"Put a leash on your emotions, will you? I can practically feel the anger and weariness you're projecting," He commented, as he stepped inside, shutting the wooden door silently behind him.

Ah, He's talking about the Telelink, She mused, as her lips tugged up in a smile. All Pack members were linked to each other telepathically, and they could send their thoughts to one another. But the problem here was, their emotions were usually hard to control and so, they mostly flowed through the link without their knowledge.

He sauntered over to one of the cushion chairs in front of the matt black desk, and made himself comfortable on one of them. He either wasn't surprised at her behavior or he hid it very well. But, She suspected that it was the former, because he had walked in on her emotion fests one too many times to make a big deal out of it.

Having your best-friend — or at least the one who tops the list of best-friends — as your Beta and close confidant does have it's perks.

"You won't guess what happened this time," She said resignedly, as she rubbed a hand over her face in exhaustion. A yawn escaped her mouth before she could reign it, and she internally cringed when she noticed her best-friend's face hardening considerably.

"I don't know what happened and honestly? I just don't care, Alarice." He snapped, glaring daggers with his chocolate brown eyes. "All I know is that, no matter what, you shouldn't be over-working yourself like this! You need some rest goddamnit! Tell me, when was the last time you slept?" He quirked a challenging brow, crossing his huge, well-built arms across his muscular chest.

Alarice scratched the back of her head sheepishly as she tried to come up with a lie. "Um, two days back?" She prompted, trying hard to not show the 'Kid-caught-with-cookie-jar' expression on her face. But she knew her efforts were futile, because her best-friend read her like an open book.

"I'm not sure if you slept even then!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. Suddenly, he stood up, pushing his chair back. He walked around the table and when Alarice realized that he was in fact heading to her and not to the book shelf behind her, she let her legs drop down from the table to the floor. She straightened up and leaned forward, when suddenly, she was violently pulled to a stand by a grip on her arm.

She tried protesting, but the damned man pulled her to the huge black leather couch; the one that compliments the desk arrangements in the room. He used his free hand to pull a throw pillow and place it near the armrest, before shoving her face down onto it.

"Ow!" She exclaimed when her nose hit the leather. Luckily, it was soft, so it didn't do much damage.

If it had caused even the smallest bruise on her face, Alarice would've beaten her best friend's ass to next Monday.

"Now sleep. I'll check on you every five minutes. If I see you doing anything, and I mean anything at all, except lying down with your eyes closed, I'll send you on a vacation for 2 months." He threatened, and she, in fear, nodded in response.

Don't get her wrong. She loved vacations. She loved seeing new places and enjoying the view of new forests and sceneries. But the part she hated the most was being away from her duties.

Call her a workaholic, but she was one among the few Female Alphas in the history of Weres, ranking as one of the best, and She wanted to keep it the way it was. She didn't want to give the chance to let anyone point an accusing finger in her direction.

"You can wake up in two hours." He ordered, being the bossy idiot he is, and left the office, slamming the door shut behind him.

Gah, He didn't let me tell him about the problem in hand!

She sighed and closed her drooping eyelids, falling back comfortably into the open arms of Hypnos.

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Exactly two hours later, Alarice stirred awake, as if her body had responded to an invisible alarm clock. She jumped out of the couch with new energy, feeling rejuvenated after that short nap. She went straight to her Beta's room, already having guessed what he might be doing.

His expression when she told him the issue was a splitting mirror image of her own.

"Say what?" His head snapped up from the cleaning he was doing.

"I said, 'A human saw The Derricks shifting', Kade." She repeated, shoving her hands into her dark, untamed, curly hair.

The broom in Kade's hand dropped with a thud, as he gaped at her. "Are you shitting me?" He gasped, looking at her almost as if he was hoping she would end the act soon and shout, 'Just Kidding!'

"No, and that's what I was worried about earlier. Now, enough with cleaning your already clean room. Just hurry, we've gotta a man to bribe." She called over her shoulder, as she hurried back to her office. Just as she expected, Kade followed close behind, and the two of them like always, devised a strategy to solve the impending problem.

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"Something's not right," Alarice proclaimed as they exited the dining room of Le Meridien Hotel. She turned back and stole one last glance at the plump, mocha-skinned man who was devouring the steak he'd ordered with zero table manners, and couldn't help but feel uneasy.

"Yeah, I think he's onto something," Kade replied, as he glanced back at the man as well.

"No, This man doesn't seem like the culprit here. I think there's someone behind it," Alarice commented, staring into nothing as her brows furrowed in concentration. Kade knew that look very well, and he didn't dare disturb her, for fear of getting chewed out.

The duo had earlier planned to meet up the man who'd threatened the Derricks to disclose the existence of Weres, and when they'd made the call, he'd sounded more than ready to accept the offer.

This had led them to conclude that he is indeed after money, but, during the meeting with the middle-aged human in the Hotel, the man had announced that he didn't want money, but would keep their secret for now. He'd let them know when he wanted something.

That part sounded fishy.

And it disarmed them to know that they owed something to another person.

A human at that.

"We're here all the way over to Boston. Let's drop by The McIntire Pack and visit Alpha Sirius, shall we? I think it's a few miles from here," Alarice stated as they neared the car. Kade nodded in approval of the idea and shoved his hand into his jean's pocket, rummaging around for his keys.

Alarice tapped her foot impatiently, sighing when Kade seemed to have no luck finding his keys. He was now rifling through the contents of the shoulder bag he'd decided to use for carrying the money they'd brought to offer the human, bending down to do so.

She shook her head in evident displeasure and turned around, taking in her surroundings. The human city was so different from the city her Pack was situated on, but she was now used to it, as she was going to college in one of these busy towns. At first it had been kind of hard for them; 'them' being the batch of guys and girls who, like her, had decided that the BYU was ideal for their higher education.

The company of the other Wolves had soothed her agitated beast, and she'd been able to slowly get accustomed to the never-ending stream of traffic and the constant noise that never seemed to cease.

Her eyes landed on a Barnes&Noble store, and she felt a soft smile tug at her lips as memories of her freshman year resurfaced.

She remembered the time when she'd first visited one of these, and how she'd felt when she'd been surrounded by so many books at a time. It had truly felt like a dream to her.

Just then, the glass door opens, and someone walks out. She normally never noticed or cared enough to pay enough attention to a human, but something about this particular one drew her in.

The guy that walked out had a huge beanie covering his head, with tufts of dark chocolate hair peeking out adorably. His dark grey sweater fitted his sleek and muscular form perfectly, emphasizing that he might be a human who specializes in physical activity. He had a brown bag of something clutched close to his chest, and he looked around nervously, as if he was checking if someone had seen him.

Ha.

He sighed in relief and turned around, but when his sparkling emerald eyes met her amused hazel ones, her Wolf let out a howl of happiness, making her heart do a retarded flip. Her insides churned and she felt her stomach drop like she just rode the rollercoaster and right then, right there, she knew she was in big trouble.

Because this adorkable human who was now staring at her with open shock was her Soulmate.

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Pronunciation of Alarice: Al - uh - reece.

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