In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.

John Muir

"This is my life now. I have climbed this hill and now I will die upon it," Ollie exclaimed dramatically, lifting his arms over his head.

They had decided to go hiking on Sunday morning after Saturday had mostly been spent doing homework and in the evening going for a run in the forest.

Daphne had not been excited about the hike at all. If anything she had and still was a bit snappy at him about it. He hadn't quite known how to take it.

"Shut up, we've only been hiking for twenty minutes," Grace snorted. Everybody knew that it was just theatrics from Ollie because these 20 minutes even up the mountain were nothing for any of them. The only one who's breathing had become harsher was Daphne who had spent the last 20 minutes silently at his side.

Every time he made one step, Daphne needed to take two, her legs not being able to keep up with his much longer once easily.

"How is your knee?" Daphne finally asked, irritation clear in her voice and he turned to see her stare in front of her, stress markers weaved in her scent.

She was...worried? About him?

He couldn't help but feel the warmth in his chest bloom at that.

His mate was worried about him.

And it upset her, which pushed the warmth down just as quickly as it had come.

Damn. He should have thought about it. Any of them should have thought about this, that for her it had looked like Kyle had seriously injuries him and that he was taking that injury lightly.

His knew was still twinging but after spending Saturday mostly sitting down so that he could do homework and spend time with Ollie, Grace and Daphne, it was fine now. The bruise was an ugly yellow colour by now and the swelling had gone down.

"It's just a bruise," Luke said, trying to soothe her. She looked at him then, suddenly, violet eyes boring in his, a fine eyebrow raised.

Apparently, that didn't work.

"It didn't look like just a bruise on Friday," she challenged him. He was taken aback by the sudden bravado that had clearly overcome her and so was she, because she looked down again, her shoulders hunching in on herself.

She nearly flinched, clearly expecting him to get angry and he wanted to tell her that he would never use his anger against her like that.

"Matthew would have never let me go if it was something bad," he told her truthfully. He kept his voice carefully even not wanting her to think that he was angry at her questioning him. Finally, she was starting to give back as good as she got and stopped just taking it.

And that's what he wanted her to do.

Suddenly, he heard her stumble and he reached out reflexively, grabbing the back of her backpack to hold her upright.

She had her school backpack strapped to her back, filled with god knows what, but the thing was full. He had offered to swap with her but she had stared at him like he had grown a second head.

The moment he did that, there came a pained gasp from her, but at least she didn't manage to land face first in the dirt.

There were conifers all around them, and the ground was hard with rocks embedded into it, not the best place to take a tumble.

"Be careful," her warned her, letting her go, even when he didn't want to. He wanted to keep a grip on her, wanted to hold her hand and stake his claim. If he held her hand nobody else would think that she was available. And he had heard the whispers.

She was pretty enough that some boys were interested in her, but most of them were warned away by her always surrounded by either him or Ollie who kept glaring anybody into submission that even seemed like he had the hint of an idea to ask Daphne anything.

Hell, he could understand it. His mate was beautiful. Blonde hair, bright eyes, a heart-shaped face. She looked so sweet, especially when she smiled at him that he wanted to do everything to have her do that again.

"Thank you," she pressed out.

For a moment they were silent again, continuing their trek, Grace and Ollie in front of them, happily holding hands and chatting about school.

They reached a fallen tree and he extended his hand to help her over it.

Never let it be said that he didn't take the opportunity if it presented herself.

She blushed charmingly, her cheeks taking on a bright red colour, but she slipped her much smaller hand in his and he was unable not to grin when she climbed over the tree trunk and then let his hand go.

He didn't want her to let his hand go. He would have done nearly everything to hold it for the rest of that hike, feel her cool skin against his, feel the fragile hand in his own.

"20 questions?" He offered her after a moment of thought and she stared at him surprised but nodded her assent, a slight smile of amusement on her face.

"What do you want to know?" She asked him softly. What did he want to know? The answer was easy.

Everything.

He wanted to know everything.

But he couldn't very well ask her that.

"What do you miss about New York?" He asked her and she was silent for a moment, deeply sunken in thoughts.

Her shoulders were hunching again and he was regretting his question but before he could say something else she was already answering him.

"Nothing." She finally answered, her voice sounding nearly broken. "I don't...I don't want to think about it. Every time I do I just...I just want to aggressively ignore that part of my life," she told him, hiding behind a cynic smile and he wanted nothing else but to hug her.

"That's definitely not going to work," he told her softly and she shrugged.

"If I look back, I am lost, Luke," she told him, looking at him and he understood that.

Looking back at her old life...it was pure agony for her. And if she looked back...then she couldn't stay in the now which was the only thing comforting her.

"If you keep ignoring your feelings like that, you will eventually break down," he warned her softly.

She just shrugged. "How unfortunate." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm and he was unable not to snort at that.

"I didn't cry for days after I found her," she said suddenly and he stared at her. "I couldn't. I was...I was empty. I didn't feel anything."

Her voice sounded nearly disconnected to it all.

He had no idea what he was supposed to say to that.

"It's your turn." He finally said, wanting to get her mind off it.

"Why are you so nice to me?" She asked him, her shoulder hunching in. "You listen to me ramble on and on about stuff that doesn't interest you, you let me cry all over you...Why are you being so nice to me?"

He would happily listen to her talking 24 hours a day. He would happily hold her just as long. She made it sound like it was a chore to be civil to her and Luke wanted to do everything to wipe out that uncertainty in her voice.

He had known before that day that her self-esteem was non-existent, that didn't come as much of a surprise to him. Her eyes were downcast nearly constantly and she seemed to want to do anything and everything to hide away in the background and become invisible. The problem was only that neither of them were willing to let her do that.

She needed family. She needed somebody to tell her that she was worth something, that she deserved everything. And as much as he wanted to do that right now, as much as he wanted to tell her that she was beautiful and kind and brilliant, he didn't.

He looked at her for a moment and then answered with a carefully edited version of the truth.

"You are Ollie's family. And that makes you part of our extended family. Family needs to stick together to survive."

The lone wolf dies, while the pack survives.

***

Part of his extended family. That told her everything she needed to know as what he was seeing her. Namely more like a baby sister that got on his nerves than anything else.

Well, she should probably take what she could get. It wasn't like she had any other option.

"My turn again," he told her with a grin, for a moment seemingly deep in thoughts. She watched him and was careful not to stumble again. Her back was protesting loudly since the first time and the heavy backpack on her back was not making that better in the slightest. Why had she thought that baking him cupcake had been a good idea? She didn't know.

Because he had been nice to you all the time. He built you a bloody desk even when he didn't need to because he knew that you needed one. The last thing you could do was to bake him some terrible cupcakes, filled to the brim with M&Ms, a voice in her head berated her and Daphne agreed silently.

"What's your favourite colour?" He asked her and she actually needed to think about it.

What was her favourite colour? She liked nearly every colour. The cherry red of the scarf that belonged to Caroline that was still wound around her neck. It had stopped smelling like her aunt days ago but it was still...it reminded her off family.

"Daphne?" His voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked up startled.

"I like every colour," she blurted out. "It changes constantly...but right now...Red."

He thought about that for a few moments before he nodded and she was left trying to find another question to ask him. What should she ask him?

"Favourite hobby?" She finally settled on. That was fine, right? Not to intimate?

She didn't want to overstep any boundaries...

"I like to go running," he told her thoughtfully... "Other than that, I like playing football...well, I help to do the taxes for my dad sometimes, does that count?" He asked her and she stared at him for a moment.

"The taxes?" She repeated. Was that some kind of joke?

"I am surprisingly good with numbers," he gave back with a shrug, not showing off but saying it like it was a fact. Of course, she had noticed that by now. They sat next to each other in Math class and he was always the first one who managed to solve whatever equations the teacher had come up with that day. "Always have been."

"You may be the only person in the world who says that taxes are your hobby." Daphne giggled. That was probably the most hilarious thing she had heard in days.

He blustered but she could see that he was just joking, winking at her. "I am a man of many talents," he told her, his voice dropping in pitch and she needed to swallow before she answered.

"I am sure of that." Daphne brought out somehow.

"Wanna take a break? There should be a picnic table up there in a few minutes!" Ollie called from where he and Grace were maybe 20 feet ahead of them.

"Sure!" Luke gave back happily.

They reached the rest stop in just a few minutes, just like Ollie had said they would.

The sun was shining, the sky was blue but it was icy outside already. Everybody was already waiting with bated breath for the next snow that was going to come.

"I made you muffins," Daphne blurted out as she thrust the plastic container at Luke who took it surprised.

"You are the best," he told her, a sunny smile on his face, looking at the cupcakes that looked like a train wreck. "Thank you."

"Tell me that after you have tried them. My baking skills are...questionable," she told him with a snort. Or more exactly...non-existent. She maybe did most of the cooking but that just meant that she had boiled or grilled whatever food she could scrounge up that day. Baking had never even been entertained.

Luke took it for a challenge, happily taking one of the cupcakes and biting into it.

"They are great." He told her still grinning and she was unable not to smile back.

Later that afternoon when they were back home and Daphne was taking a shower she knew one thing:

That hike hadn't been a good idea. At all.

Her back was bright red, the welts standing out sharply. The cuts that had ripped open, courtesy of trying to lift up Talia on Friday were even more open, openly oozing blood now. Her white tank top was drenched in sweat and Daphne was feeling faint now.

She would never do well with blood.

It had only started bleeding when she had pulled the top over her head, the fabric had glued itself to her skin. It was disgusting and it hurt. It hurt so badly.

It would heal. It had always healed before. It was going to be fine.

Daphne repeated the words that evening when even laying on her side hurt too badly to fall asleep easily.

***

"Luke!" Oh god, please no.

His pleading look was ignored by Ollie who just clasped his shoulder and then happily skipped away with a shit-eating grin, leaving Luke alone to be cornered by his ex-girlfriend just before lunch break.

He would have happily ignored her but as Haley came barrelled towards him like a freight train he knew that this wouldn't work.

Well, if a friend train would be wearing bright pink and would happily shove her...assets in his face.

Luke ignored what she was (and wasn't) wearing and concentrated on her face. Maybe she just had a question about their last English lesson...

"Haley," he greeted her, doing his best to not let his annoyance be heard. He could still be civil to Haley. Even when he really didn't want to be.

"I wondered..." Haley said, leaning on the locker next to him, looking at him through her lashes "Kimberley is throwing a party next weekend...do you want to go with me? I am sure we can find something to keep...occupied."

His wolf did not like that Luke needed to take a deep breath and closed his locker door with far more force than necessary when he felt the fury of the beast inside him that was growling and showing his teeth.

Daphne. Mine.

Right, scale back the possessiveness by around 100, he needed to sharply advise himself. Haley didn't know that Daphne was his mate. Haley was human. She was not important enough to make him that upset.

There was no need to snap at her and tell her that he would prefer to shoot himself with a silver bullet than to go out with her. Absolutely no reason.

"I am not interested, Haley," he said, adding a mental not in the slightest. He wanted to tell Haley that there was just one girl he would happily take to Kimberley's party and that wasn't her and would never be her again.

It would be Daphne. It was always Daphne.

"Why not?" Haley challenged him with a raised eyebrow and Luke just stared her down. He didn't need to give her a reason. And then suddenly something akin to horror dawned on her face. "You don't want to ask that girl, do you?" She spit out and his wolf growled again in annoyance. Daphne was so much more than And it was getting on his nerves how Haley was speaking about his mate. With this spiteful tone.

Luke would really enjoy to make himself very clear to Haley about what she was and wasn't allowed to say to his mate, but he couldn't. So he decided to play dumb and let Haley dig a deeper grave for herself.

"Who?" He asked her like he didn't know exactly who she was talking about.

"You know who I am talking about," Haley huffed, clearly annoyed with him but he just shrugged.

"Clearly I don't," he gave back.

"Ollie's cousin," Haley said, the words dripping with disgust. "She isn't even pretty, Luke. You deserve something better than her."

The words registered and Luke was actually shocked for a moment.

Daphne was . Pretty didn't even begin to describe her.

"Haley," he said very carefully, pushing against the rage building in his chest, the wolf that wanted to show that little girl what it meant if their mate was disrespected like that. "I am just going to say this once but this," he gestured between the two of them "...will never, go anywhere ever again."

"So what, you throw our relationship away so you can go chase after some psycho girl that doesn't talk and draws in her weird sketchbook all the time?" Haley snorted and Luke closed his hands to fists, fighting with the precarious hold he was currently having on himself. It was not going well.

"At least she never called my sister a whore," Luke snapped.

"You are going to ruin your reputation if you go out with her," Haley warned him.

Luke couldn't help but snort at that.

"Oh, don't worry about that, Haley. I am no longer your problem." And with that, he turned because if he spoke to her one moment longer, he was going to do something he was going to regret.

He slowed his steps to the cafeteria, doing his best to control his breathing and calm himself until he reached their table. Daphne was already there, blonde hair he could easily pick out from the crowd and was chatting happily with his sister, the chair next to her free.

"Hey," she greeted him with a shy smile and as he breathed in her scent, all sweet and lightly tangy he couldn't help but smile back at her.

The smell of cinnamon and pineapple was there and all was well in Luke's world again.

His mate was safe and happy enough to see him and it took everything in his power not to lean down and drop a kiss to her blonde hair that was piled on top of her head in a messy bun.

She seemed to sense his agitation though because she turned towards him and looked at him, worry obvious in these big lilac eyes.

He had never in his life seen eyes with that colour before. They were as startling as they were beautiful.

"Is everything alright?" She asked him softly, absentmindedly playing with her pen.

Today it was that purple dragon again that was gracing her sketchbook, with big cartoonish eyes and his sidekick, a princess. It was cute and took his mind of anything else.

Daphne's art seemed to be good for that.

"Haley decided that I should come with her to Kimberley's party," he explained to her and Daphne seemed to think about that for a moment.

"She's...pretty?" Daphne finally offered and Luke wanted to growl. Not as pretty as Daphne. Not by a longshot.

"She called my sister a whore. That disqualifies her even as friend material," Luke told her with a raised brow and Daphne smiled softly at that.

"Why don't you ask somebody else?" She finally suggested. "I mean, I am sure there is...somebody who...would like to go out with you." She stuttered the words, her cheek once again turning red at the suggestion.

He wanted to desperately say, Do you want to come with me? But he knew that that was a terrible idea.

And Ollie would kill him.

"I need some excuse so I don't need to come to Kimberley's party, so Haley won't kill me with her glaring. Ideas are welcome," he told the rest of the table, who all more or less laughed at his predicament.

"You don't happen to have some movie you desperately want to see, do you?" He asked Daphne, letting desperation bleed into his voice. "I'll even pay for popcorn."

That seemed to be a far better evening than going to that party...and he would be able to spend it alone with Daphne.

And Ollie would kill him when his growling was any indication.