The following morning, Nya was getting a glass from the kitchen cabinet when Vince walked in. Intentionally, she doesn't make eye contact but she could feel his eyes on her. She opens the fridge and reaches for some milk, at the same time he widens the door and while grabbing a bottle of water, grazes her shoulder. It tingled. Why God, did it tingle? She takes the carton over to the island and pours milk into her glass and still, she could feel his gaze. It travels down to her legs and back up.

She clears her throat uncomfortably just wanting to break the silence.

"Why do you keep wearing the same clothes?"

She looks down at her outfit. "I didn't think about clothes when we fled. This, and a couple other things is all I have."

"Were you going to say anything? or do you want others to feel sorry for you?"

Ouch... "No sir, Lee and I are actually headed shopping as soon as she comes down." She takes a sip of her milk.

"Where?"

She wipes a white mustache off. "A mall..."

He rolls his eyes. "Malina!"

"Coming!" She hollers back and comes flying in. "What is it?" Her hair was wet from a fresh shower and her makeup was half done.

He folds his arms and leans back on the counter. "Where are you taking her with her issues?"

"She already told you. We'll be careful. I promise."

"I want to pick out my own things." Nya inserts.

His powerful glare shifted to her and he gritted his teeth. " I'll take you."

"Are you sure?" Malina doesn't hide her shock. "Don't you have stuff to do?"

"Yes, so the two of you have a time limit."

"I have to drop in at Spike's."

"Fine."

She grins. "Wow!" She gives him a quick kiss and heads back up the stairs to finish getting dressed.

Nya puts the milk back in the fridge and gets out of his vicinity fast.

A bit later, she leaned back in the comfy seat of his luxury car enjoying the smooth ride. Her sister was pretty glum earlier but now seemed much happier. Her and Alpha Vince were holding hands and a smile was plastered on her face "Thank you." She gazes at him lovingly.

"There's no need." He doesn't move his concentration from the road.

"It means a lot that you're taking time out of your day for me."

He rolls his eyes. "Stop..."

"Why? Am I making you blush?"

Nya giggles and regrets it right away because his heavy glare shifts to the rearview mirror and lands on her like boulders. Pinned, she was underneath them. She bites back laughing more and snaps her neck toward the window.

After a few minutes, they reach the parking lot of the bar. Malina gets out and she was about to follow her. She makes one move to grab the door handle when Alpha Vince turns to her. . "Where are you going?"

"With..."

"Nowhere." He cuts her off.

She places her hand back on her lap. "Yes sir." He was even worse than her sister. She turns her focus out the window looking at Lee as she walks to the entrance. There was a guy there who sweetly pulled the door open for her.

"How did you get that scar?"

She looked back at him and he wasn't looking at her directly, he was watching in the mirror again. Her fingers trace over a circular scar on her collarbone. She was surprised he noticed or even cared to ask. "I don't know. I was told it might be a burn mark, maybe from a cigarette."

His glare darts away from the mirror, visually looking pissed. She didn't think much about it, she was going right back to her view of the parking lot when, another question.

"What happened to you?" He turns his body and sets his real gaze her way.

She felt flutters suddenly, like butterflies or something. That never happened before. She blinks and her lips part. "So much..."

"Tell me..."

She releases a breath. She hated remembering and she never spoke about it. Maybe it was how interested he seemed that made her feel like she could tell him. "I went from foster home to foster home. Every time I would settle in with one family my eyes would flash and I would be outta there in a flash." She doesn't laugh at her own corny joke. "Some of the families were abusive even before seeing. I remember this one time I guess I sleepwalked into my foster mother's son's room. I woke up to a beating and-" she realizes how much she has said. She never went into detail.

"Go on..."

"No, I don't want to."

He nods, accepting that response. "Your birth mother?"

She shrugs lightly. "I don't know. I heard once she was a junkie. Someone else told me she died." She takes a long breath and blows it out. "My theory is that maybe she didn't know my father was a werewolf, and when that side of me came out she dumped me off." She has never told anyone that before. "I don't like to think about it." She smiles but it wasn't a real smile.

"Let it make you stronger."

She nods.

"If you feel sorry for yourself then you're allowing yourself to be weak. If you wonder why you, then you get weaker. When you think about your past, I want you to gain strength from it. Are you understanding me?"

"Yes, Alpha sir."

He rolls his eyes.

She didn't know what she did to get him annoyed but she wished she could take it back. He turned around and soon her sister was back.

~~~

At the mall, Nya ran her fingers through the clothes on the racks. Alpha Greyson was so protective over her, he never allowed her to go down to mingle with the humans. He was always afraid the worst would happen so she never shopped on her own. Malina would buy things for her or she would order them online. Now she could actually feel the material.

They spent about twenty minutes looking around and all she picked out was two pairs of jeans and a tank top. The store was a bit on the pricey side and all that was left in her account was a few hundred bucks that Alpha Greyson had given her. She claimed she didn't like much and they cash out.

When they came out Vince was sitting on the nearest bench like he was the last store. He looks up from his phone "Is that all you're getting?" He looks at the one bag in Nya's hand vs the four in Malina's.

She looks down at her bag unsurely. "Yeah...I."

Malina cuts her off. "I picked up a few things for her. She feels bad taking my money. But I already told her." She puts her arm around Nya's neck. "What's mine is yours."

Vince pulls out his wallet and extends a glossy black card to Nya. "Buy whatever you need."

Her eyes widened. "No sir." No way. She was enough trouble as it is. Letting her stay with them was more than enough.

He shifts the card in front of Malina. "Buy her and yourself whatever you need."

Her eyes light up. "Seriously?"

"Hurry up."

She takes the card with excitement.

They went to a few more stores after and there was no stopping Malina from picking out anything that caught her eyes.

Nya couldn't believe the sight of Alpha Vince carrying the um-teen amount of bags as he walked behind them to the next store. On the other hand, he held up his phone, absorbed in it. He didn't seem like the type at all. A big strong alpha carrying shopping bags. She giggles to herself. It was in that moment she felt a sneeze coming, and strong.

It was going to happen; she just knew it. She did a 180 out of panic and squeezed her eyes shut. Colliding into her was Vince's unmoveable chest. Her eyes opened and were shiny gold as they beamed up at him.

He didn't seem phased, staring down at her so keenly. Her heart soared.

In a soft tone, he reassures her. "You're okay..." it was the soft humming tone that made her weak in the knees. She blinks and her eyes return to normal.

"You okay?" Malina touches her shoulder, snapping her out of wherever she was.

"She's fine," Vince answers but doesn't take his attention off Nya. "When that happens, don't panic. You're not a kid anymore. You can handle the situation."

She nods. He made a lot of sense.

"I think those are the only stores I wanted to go to.

Come on, let's go home." Malina hugs her shoulders and guides her to the exit.

~~~~~~

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