"Roxie, it's not what you-" Hunter doesn't have time to finish his sentence before I tackle Vanessa to the ground. This time she has over stepped her mark. I start hitting her and slamming her on the ground when Hunter pulls me off of her. Vanessa then sits up with blood coming from her now busted lip.

"Let go of me!" I growl, wrenching myself from his grasp and in my fury I slap him. "You are despicable. I wish we weren't mates." I feel a tinge of pain in my heart as I said this but I don't care.

Running out the front door I shift, my clothes shredding and falling to the ground around me. I quickly run through the woods knowing that Hunter doesn't know this territory like he does his own. I never should have trusted him.

I run till I am at my old hangout. A cave that had formed from the roots of an old oak tree. I look back on all the summer days my brother and I would hide from mom and dad in here. Some of our old play things are still here too.

Laying down on the leaf litter I begin to sulk, ignoring the howls in the distance and ignoring Hunter as he tries to reach me through the link.

"I had a feeling I would find you here." Alex sighs behind me, placing a set of clothes down next to me. He then turns around and looks away as I shift. "Now, what's wrong?"

I can't tell him about Vanessa. It would break him. This is my burden to bare. I decide to remain silent.

"Roxie, you can tell me."

"I'm just not that special to him. I'm just another girl to him." I let my head drop.

"Roxie, your mate is looking frantically for you. If you were nothing but another girl, do you think he would be this worried about you?" Alex places his hand on my head, reassuringly.

"You just don't understand the things I have gone through, the things I have seen."

Alex tilts his head and his eyes show sincerity and a willingness to help. "Just tell me."

I relent. "Someone is after me. First I was poisoned and then after that other girls from Hunter's past have been kidnapped before turned up dead. He brought me here till things settle down at home but today in dad's Trophy Room I........" I trail of, I've already told him too much.

"Roxie, what did you see?"

"I saw Hunter and Vanessa. She was all over him. I didn't want to tell you because I knew it would break your heart." My voice comes out through sobs.

"I'll talk to Vanessa. You need to talk to your-" Alex doesn't get the chance to finish before Hunter comes running over.

"Roxie, I'm sorry. Please listen to me."

"Just stay away. I don't want to talk to you." I growled. I then look at Alex. "You lead him here didn't you?"

Alex gives me a nod. "He was worried sick. And as for Vanessa, Hunter has already explained what happened."

"Just leave me alone. Both of you!" I shift again and run, this time not stopping to observe the relics of my past. I run to the border of the territory with Hunter fast on my tail but I freeze. Standing on the other side of the border looking right at me was a lone wolf with reddish brown fur. It curls it's lips back and growls, inching towards me till it is just a few paces in front of me, never once removed and it's eyes from mine. Deep in my heart I know it's the one who is after me.

My world turns upside down as I am quickly knocked to the ground and pinned by Hunter. I scramble out from under him and look back to the wolf but it was gone.

"Hunter I saw a wolf. Do you think it could be the person behind all of this? Could they have followed me here?" My voice trembles through the link.

"I doubt it. Besides, that is no man's land. It was most likely a rogue and whoever they are, they're gone now." Hunter speaks reassuringly. "Now, will you please just listen to me?"

I sigh and reluctantly walk back with him. What kind of excuse could he possibly use?

Hunter and I arrive back at the house and Hunter shifts back into human form. He pulls on a pair of jeans and hands me a shirt and shorts. I shift and change as Hunter begins to explain what happened.

"I was in the trophy room making a call to Aiden to check on things in the pack when Vanessa walked in. I told her to get lost but she wouldn't listen. She heard you coming down the hall and decided to kiss me to piss you off. You can talk to Aiden yourself if you don't believe me."

Can I believe him? Is he really telling the truth? After all once a playboy, always a playboy. Could he ever truly stay loyal?

"Roxie, say something, please? Tell me you believe me." Hunter wraps me in his arms.

"Okay, I'll believe you this time but... If I see you and another girl like that again, I'll leave."

Hunter seems hurt by my response but his arms wrap tighter around me. Hunter then leads me to my room and shuts the door.

"Roxie, I marked you as my mate. You are the only one I want." He sighs.

Hunter then walks over and pushes me onto the bed. He is on top of me so I can't move. All I can do is lay there and look up at his cobalt eyes which shine mischievously in my dimly lit room.