"Tyler," my voice is a whisper.

I look into the fuming eyes of my mate. All of the air has left my lungs. Suddenly Russell pulls me behind him and straightens his posture.

"Do you know this guy?" He turns his head to whisper at me.

Tyler takes another step towards us, a low growl vibrating through his muscular chest. Tension laces the air around us.

"Wait, stop. It's okay," I say quickly as I move out from behind Russell. My wolf races circles in my stomach at the site of my mate. Russell laces an arm around my waist and pulls me back.

"Are you sure? He looks dangerous."

I brush him off, stepping closer to Tyler.

He stands taller than I remember. His eyes are locked on mine and dark browns swirl through them. His face is cold and intimidating. I slowly walk up to him.

I get close enough to smell his sweet vanilla scent and reach a delicate hand up to place it on his toned cheek.

"Tyler?" I whisper out again. He blinks twice, his neck craning to see me. Then I watch as his eyes change from cold and hard to soft and loving. He pulls me into his embrace.

I let out a happy sob as I hug him back with the same intensity.

"Alex!" He breathes out into my hair as he squeezes me hard.

"I thought you were dead!" He finally releases me, his hands holding onto mine.

"No. I'm okay," I wipe a stray tear from my cheek.

"Did he hurt you?" He furrows his brows, pulling my arms up to search me for any marks.

I shake my head, resting my hand on his cheek again.

"How did you get out? Where were you going? Is Liam looking for you? I'll protect you." He blurted out all at once.

We are disrupted by the loud sound of Russell clearing his throat from behind us. Tyler's eyes snap up to him and his features harden.

"Sorry to ruin the mushy stuff, but we have to be going, Al." Russell states, his arms are crossed over his chest as he leans against a tree.

"You're not going anywhere with her, buddy." Tyler grabs my hand.

"Oh yeah? It's me who got her out of that prison and it's going to be me who makes sure she's safely out of Liam's reach." He pushes off of the tree, stepping closer to Tyler.

Testosterone is thick in these woods.

"Come one step closer and I swear-" Tyler begins.

"Boys!" I cut him off with my hands in between their chests. "I'm not going with anyone until I see Addison!" I harshly say, looking them both in the eye.

"Okay." Russell says cheerfully as he straightens up. He turns and starts down the path, crunching the colorful fallen autumn leaves as he walks.

I start to follow after him but my wrist is grabbed by Tyler.

"How do you know you can trust him?" He furrows his brows. I pause, thinking of the reasons why I should trust this guy that I barely know.

"He got me out of Liam's, didn't he?" I shrug as I start after Russell.

We walk for about thirty more minutes until we finally run into a small grey brick cottage in the woods. Russell walks right up to the front door and pushes it open.

Anticipation builds in my stomach as I place both feet on the creaky porch.

I pause on the doorstep as Tyler grabs my arm again.

"I don't trust him." He whispers, looking behind his shoulder as if someone is watching.

"Well I do," I challenge, shrugging his grip off. As soon as I enter the cabin, my body begins to instantly thaw from the warm fire burning inside.

The cabin is an open floor plan to say the least. A small fireplace is on the far wall with a wooden couch seated in front of it. My eyes land on the figure laying on the couch and my heart skips a beat.

"Addison!" I yell out, running to the figure by the glowing fire.

She hears my voice and immediately shoots up.

"Alex?" She exclaims, instant hot coming to her loving eyes. She and I ram into a large hug that is long overdue. Emotions immediately come rushing back.

"I can't believe you're here!" She breathes out, squeezing me tighter then finally letting me go. She looks around and finds Russell. She gives him a small smile. Then her eyes land on Tyler.

"And this is..?" She questions motioning to Tyler. He stands up straight and clears his throat.

"I'm Tyler." He introduces himself in a smooth voice. His eyes are warm and accepting, different from his usual dark expression.

"Hm. Interesting. You're a rogue too.?" She tilts her head.

"No." he grunts out, his warm expression going dark, "I am the Alpha of the SilverMoon pack." He nods to himself.

I watch as her smile fades, her eyes widening at his news. She was the one who told me all of the rumors about the SilverMoon pack and their ruthless leader.

"That is the pack that I was telling you about," she leans in and whispers to me, "We need to get out of here like now." Then she sits back up straight and shoots Tyler a shy smile.

I hold back a smile as I roll my eyes.

"I could hear every word you were saying." Tyler growles coldly. "And yes, we are very vicious. In fact, I could kill you right now, what's stopping me?" He says inching closer to Addison.

This causes my eyebrows to scrunch together. Who does he think he is talking to?

"I am." I say, standing from the couch. Steam erupts from my ears.

Tyler lifts an eyebrow at me, looking my figure up and down.

"Are you seriously trying to pick a fight? This is my best friend, Tyler. I don't give a damn that you are some alpha. If you try to lay a hand on her I swear, Tyler, I will- I will-" I stammer out, jutting a finger towards his chest.

"You will what, baby?" amusement plays in his cold eyes. "Last I checked, I am twice your size." he says in an evil tone.

His face looks different. He looks different. Something is off about his demeanar and I can't place my finger on it.

"Okay. Well Addison and I are leaving." I say quickly like a wife taking the child away from her husband. I grab Addison by the hand and head for the door.

Russell watches the whole scene unfold from the kitchen as he silently sips on a glass of water.

"Take one step out of that door, Alex!" He yells after me. "I swear. Alex- Get back here." Tyler throws blank threats my way as I slam the door behind me.

I fume as Addison and I walk through the darkness. What the hell just happened? Addison silently begins to chatter from the freezing air as we trudge through the forest.

"Who does he think he is?" Addison finally grumbles, still stomping through the leaves as we continue farther away from the cottage.

"He's my mate." I huff out. Addison stops in her tracks, mouth wide open like a venus flytrap.

Her blonde hair seems to almost glow with the moonlight. She is wearing a thick navy blue jacket and plain blue jeans with small rips in them. Her feet are covered by grey furry boots, much like her wolf's coat.

"He's your what?" She exclaims, a small smile hanging from her lips. "We have to go back!" She shrieks.

"What why?" I shout. He had been a complete idiot towards me. I have no desire to be around him at the moment.

"Because. He's your freaking mate. You can't just leave him. Do you know how long you and I have longed to find our mates? You can't just give that away" She lectures me.

I think about her words and reflect back to when we were pups. We would lie in the summer green grass and stare through the happy trees at the fluffy clouds looming above. We would make up qualities that we wanted our mate to have, then we would compare to see who had the most perfect image. During our younger teen-hood, we would ask 20 questions about the perfect mate and talk about how we would want our first kiss to be.

Maybe she is right. Maybe, maybe he's just overprotective. I haven't seen my beautiful mate in so long. What if he is just anxious from being away from me for so long?

But he threatened Addison. Then when I told him to back off, he snapped at me.

But then again, he doesn't know her. Maybe he is just angry that he wasn't the one to rescue me from Liam.

I look down at my black boots, barely visible through the dark night, only illuminated by the large crescent moonlight.

I hear fast crunching footsteps coming closer. I look up to see a black shadow jog into a clear view. The shadow slowly focuses into Tyler. He jogs up to me and stops two feet in front of me. I am relieved. Just the person I want to see. Addison gives me a small smile and then softly takes a few steps away to give us some space.

"Alex, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me, I-I just haven't seen you- and I couldn't protect you when you were gone- and- and I shouldn't have, with Addison- she seems nice." He sputters out. This is new for his calm and collected self. He is trying to apologize.

"It's okay Tyler." I breathe out, placing my hand on his chest. Sparks shoot through my body. I see a small tear fall from his strong face. I raise my small hand to wipe the fragile tear.

"Tyler, it's okay. I'm here." I coo, rubbing softly under his eye.

"I know. I just- I missed you." He closed his eyes and leans in so that our foreheads are touching.

"I missed you too." I smile into the darkness.

Tyler then pulls me close and places a deep kiss onto my lonely lips. Sparks dance through my body. He pulls away, leaving a chill on my lips from the outside air. My heartbeat picks up as the leftover sparks slowly leave my body.

"There." He smirkes. I giggle a very girly giggle.

I wrap both of my hands around the back of his neck to pull him in for another kiss, but the pad of my finger brushes against a cold surface. I furrow my brows as Tyler immediately jerks away from me.

He scratches the back of his neck fiercely and his expression changes. His eyes begin to glow red as his wolf dares to surface. His face hardens as he blinks hard. He blinks again as if he is trying to fight his inner consciousness that is trying to claw its way out. His eyes then roll back in his head and he falls to his knees.

I let out a deep gasp as I drop to the ground with him. I immediately feel the damp ground stain my knees.

"Tyler what's wrong?" I scream at him as he twitches. He clawes at his neck, leaving bloody gashes in place of what used to be skin.

Then I see it. Beneath the blood that now oozes out of his neck is a small piece of metal lodged deep into his skin. A small neon green light flashes on and off.

What the hell is happening?

Tyler growls loudly as he slams his head into the ground. Tears begin to flow down my face as I yell for him to get up.

"Tyler, stop!" I screech in fear of what is happening.

He pauses his movements. His fingers dig into the soil and the muscles on his back flex. His head snaps up to look at me.

His fangs extend from his jaw as his eyes begin to grow red once again. He slowly stands to his feet until he towers over me.

He finally lets out a final growl as he spots his new prey.

Me.

_______________________________

Updated chapter*

What do you think happened to Tyler? Will Liam ever come back?