It was around three in the morning when I was woken from my peaceful slumber. The urgency in Michael's voice, the one who had woken me, told me this wasn't something that could wait for morning.

I knew immediately that it had something to do with Joshua. Call it Alpha's intuition, but it has been a while since we've dealt with him. It was only a matter of time before he returned to his usual schemes.

I have the ability to see through the eyes of my pack members, and I use that ability to see what Michael sees.

He's running along side Drake, chasing what I can make out to be two grey wolves. I retreat back in to my own mind when Michael and Drake attack them.

Macy is still asleep, curled up against me. Seeing her sleep so peacefully only made me want to get to Michael faster and deal with this situation, because I knew I had to stop Joshua from ever getting near her again. I couldn't, wouldn't let that happen.

So I slipped out of bed as quietly as I could. It wasn't quiet enough though, because she stirred before opening her tired eyes.

"Cayton? Where're you going?" she says sleepily, rubbing her eyes before sitting up with a yawn.

"There's an emergency, I'll be back soon. Just go back to sleep Princess," I murmur, kissing the top of her head. At the mention of an emergency, she becomes alert.

"What kind of emergency?" she asks.

Are you on your way? I hear Carter's voice in my mind.

Yes, I reply. "We'll talk later. Just go back to sleep." She looks at me wearily, before the idea of sleep wins out. She nods and falls back on her pillow.

"I love you, please be careful," she whispers.

"I will. I love you too," I reply.

Sleep never comes. As tired as I am, and as much as I try to fall back asleep, my mind is on full alert and won't allow it.

Cayton looked angry. Angry, and worried. I knew it was because of whatever was happening, but what was happening is what I want to know. And now I can't go to sleep because I'm thinking about it so much. I'm more worried about Cayton's safety than anything, even though I know he can handle himself. I can't help it though.

When the sun starts rising around six, I get out of bed and abandon my mission of sleep. It reminds me of Christmas as a child, when I couldn't sleep no matter what, and shot out of bed at exactly six. Except this time, there weren't presents waiting under the tree.

To my surprise, Hunter, Tami, and Bethany are all waiting down stairs. Hunter and Tami are both carefree as usual, but Bethany shares the same look of worry that I do. Most likely concerned for Carter as I am for Cayton.

"And it has awaken," Hunter jokes. I smile slightly.

"Good to see you too, Hunter," I say groggily. "I'm assuming you're here because of this emergency?" He nods. "And you're here because...?" I direct my words to Tami, and she cocks an eyebrow. "I mean, not that I'm glad you're here, but..."

"Trenton is with them," she says dismissively, not even an ounce of worry in her voice.

"Oh." I take the open seat next to Bethany.

A silence settles between all of us, which I might add, is a rare occurrence when Hunter and I are in the same room.

During this silence, I'm aware of a tedious tapping next to me. I glance over at Bethany from the corner of my eye, noticing she is continuously drumming her fingers on the edge of the sofa, her eyes studying the wall as if she's deep in thought. I can tell she's worried alright, but there's something else there. Fear, possibly?

"Bethany," I say. When it doesn't catch her attention, I try saying it louder. This time, her eyes snap to me and she ceases her drumming. "Are you ok?" I get that she's worried about Carter, but I'm afraid she's about to have a panic attack.

I guess her protectiveness is coming out. Cayton told me that it's something that comes with mates, but it's especially worse with mates because their wolf or whatever intensifies those feelings. This explains Cayton's sometimes unreasonable jealousy.

"I'm fine," she says, trying to force a smile on her face. "Thank you." I nod in response.

"You know what you two need?" Tami says after a moment. "A distraction."

I have to hand it to Tami; she really does know how to distract a girl.

Her distraction was planning. Lots of planning.

We've come to the conclusion that Trenton, bless his heart, is completely clueless. Therefore, Tami wants to make this surprise a big surprise. We were easily distracted with the planning. Even Bethany got into it, and I swear it's the most I've heard her talk. We enlisted Hunter as well, which was completely hilarious by the way.

He didn't know Tami has a bun in the oven, and was promptly threatened with unimaginable pain and torture if he so much as uttered the word baby around Trenton.

As usual, we are all sitting at the island in the stools. This time though, all four are filled as Bethany is occupying the usually empty seat.

It didn't take long for her to break out of her shell. Once she got accustomed to mine and Hunter's random bickering and teasing, Tami's sarcastic remarks, and my tendency to blurt out random things, she fit right in, though she's still a bit of a recluse when it comes to our nosey selves asking her questions. She also has this amazing gift of patience.

Somewhere around three is when Cayton, Carter, and Trenton arrived.

All of them were in shorts, barefoot and shirtless. They looked worn out, which I guess is a result of running and being up since three in the morning. My eyes immediately scan all over Cayton's body. Not that I was checking him out—completely—I'm checking for any signs of injuries. He's clear.

And still nicely chiseled.

No one said anything. We're waiting for them to say something, and they're acting like nothing is going on. Finally, Carter breaks the silence.

"Hello, it's nice to see you guys. How are we doing? Well we're doing great. Thanks," he says sarcastically, before steeping over to Bethany and giving her a kiss. I swear that a tidal wave of relief washes over her.

I roll my eyes at Carter and his oh-so joyous presence, before directing my gaze to Cayton, who was coming over to me.

"You, mister, have to tell me what was going on," I say.

"Nothing, everything is taken cared of," he says, lifting me out of my seat and sliding in, forcing me to sit on his lap. I swear, this boy never lets me sit anywhere but on him.

"Mhmm." I'm going to press the issue later, but for now, it can wait. Besides, I guess he might need a few more hours sleep beforehand.

"So what have you guys been up to all day?" Trenton asks.

"Oh nothing, just the usual. Dealing with these two idiots and such," Tami answers, pointing to both Hunter and I. We both give her a look that says 'We know your secret. Don't test us.'

She gives us an apologetic smile.

"You know Tami, I was just thinking about making you a nice bowl of-" I was just about to make a remark on fish, a food that she says makes her sick just by it's name, when I feel a pair of lips on my neck.

I forget exactly what I was about to say, and instead I find myself tilting my head to give him better access. I feel him smile against my skin. Then of course, I remember that we're still in the presence of everyone else. I clear my throat and give Cayton a nudge with my elbow, telling him to knock it off.

"What was that you were saying?" Tami snickers.

"I, uh..." Dammit. Everyone else snickers as well, and I can feel Cayton's laugh rumbling through his chest pressed against my back. I shake my head, trying to get back on track. Damn distractions, I swear. "I was going to say-"

Again, I'm cut off when Cayton decides now would be the time to start feeling me up. His hand rests on my thigh, slowly moving upwards. At first, I jump in surprise, causing everyone to look at me funny. "I was going to say that-" His hand gets closer to places they shouldn't be, at least not in a room full of people, and his fingers lightly squeeze my inner thigh. What the hell is he doing?!

His hands get dangerously close, and finally I jump off his lap. There is no way I am letting him seduce me. Fair enough, I did it once, but that was a completely different situation.

Then again, I could work with this...

"Excuse us for a moment," I say hurriedly, grabbing Cayton's hand and practically dragging him out of the room. But before I go, I poke my head back into the kitchen. Now that I have a second to think straight, I say, "Tami, I wanted to say this. Fish, fish sticks, sushi, fish, fish, fish!"

"Oh god," she mutters, her hand going to cover her mouth immediately. Hunter laughs, and Bethany tries to hide a smile, while Carter and Trenton just look confused.

Smiling in victory, I continue pulling Cayton's hand, who I'm guessing finally put two and two together as we started climbing the stairs. He got us up there faster than I could.

In two seconds flat, he has the bedroom door shut and locked, with me pressed up against it. I don't think we can get any closer than we are now.

I think I literally melt when he kisses me. It's the kind of kiss that makes you think your knees were created from a package of jell-o, and your heartbeat might be a little too high to do you any good. If I thought I felt fireworks before, then this time I feel a full on Fourth of July display.

His hands were firmly against my hips, holding me against him as if he was afraid I would walk away from him any moment. I could feel every inch of him against me, and I felt myself slowly loosing the control I thought I could maintain.

Well this isn't going as planned...

I squeak a bit when I feel him lifting me from my spot, and my legs instantly wrap themselves around his waist like it was the most natural thing in the world. Cayton nibbles on my bottom lip, and being my stubborn and teasing self I kept my mouth shut, and I could hear him groan.

I don't realize we've moved our position until I feel my head hit a pillow.

Yes, definitely not going as planned.

When he realizes I'm going to keep up the stubborn act, he kisses down my neck, to that accursed mark that is most definitely working in his favor, because I involuntarily moan at the contact. One of his hands starts inching up my shirt, until a good portion of my stomach is exposed. I grab his hand to stop it from moving up any further, partly because—sue me—I'm still a bit insecure, and partly because if this escalates any further I won't be able to stop myself.

I use his distraction to flip us over, so I'm now on top straddling his waist.

I start peppering kisses up his jaw, stopping right at his ear. I can feel his hands squeeze my thighs in anticipation. Smirking, I put my lips right next to his ear, and whisper, "Trust me Cayton, seducing doesn't work on me like it does you."

And with that said, I peck his cheek and hop off of him. Standing on the side of the bed, I contain my laughter as I see his bemused and highly disappointed expression.

He doesn't say anything. He just scowls and pushes himself off the bed, muttering "Tease," under his breath as he trudges to the bathroom.

I lose it when I hear the shower running.

"T-they're real?" I ask horrified.

"Yes," he says, trying to hide his amusement at my horror.

I have just found out that, much to my dismay, vampires exist. I guess it would make sense, seeing as Cayton is a werewolf, which means that logically, vampires would exist as well. Nevertheless, to actually know that there are people out there that feed on human blood is terrifying.

I regret watching the Vampire Diaries now. I couldn't help it though; I've loved it since it was a book series. Plus, Nina Dobrev is my favorite actress. So maybe I shouldn't have watched it with Cayton. Apparently, the rivalry between vampires and werewolves is real, which Cayton brought up, which is now making me want to go buy a crucifix and some wooden stakes.

"Does that mean things like witches, and mermaids, and ghosts, are real? And-and are there any were-monkeys?"

"Yes, yes, yes, and what?" he confirms. I don't even care to explain my were-monkey theory; I'm too busy freaking out over the fact that my worst childhood nightmares are coming true.

"HOW ARE HUMANS STILL ALIVE?!"

Cayton laughs at my expense, while I clutch a pillow to my chest, eyeing the room suspiciously for any ghosts that might pop out.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from all the scary monsters," he laughs, slinging a protective arm around my shoulders.

"That is until a ghost possesses you to kill me," I point out, but I still find safety in his arms. Just when you think you know all there is about reality, you're life suddenly becomes an episode of the Twilight Zone.

I lean my head on Cayton's shoulder, sighing in content and closing my eyes, still holding my pillow tightly against my chest.

As if that's going to save me from some blood-sucking demon...

Suddenly, there is frantic knocking on the front door, and my eyes shoot open.

"IT'S THE VAMPIRES!" I screech in a whisper, abandoning my pillow and settling for squeezing the life out of Cayton instead.

"Princess, calm down," he says, slightly wheezing from my amazing hold. "And let go before I burst." I loosen my arms some, but refuse to let go when he tries to stand up.

"Don't invite them into your house! They can't suck our blood if you don't invite them in!" Is that the rule? I hope.

"It's not a vampire," he assures me, chuckling slightly. He stands up, but I refuse to let go. I hobble behind him, my arms still around his waist. I can feel his laugh reverberating through his back as my cheek is pressed against it.

When he opens the door, I can feel his back tensing.

Oh god, they're after my delicious blood!

"Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to invite us in?" I hear Lisa ask.

Oh good, it's only another werewolf. Never thought I would be relieved by that phrase...

I poke my head out from under Cayton's arm, giving my best award-winning smile to Lisa, and, ugh, Warren.

Lisa smiles back, and Warren simply ignores me. Of course. Lisa has a green gift bag in her hand, and curiosity gets the best of me. I pull Cayton's tense form to the side to make way for them to come in.

"Glad to see you two again," I say.

There was a lot of tension. I think if it hadn't been for mine and Lisa's easygoing conversation, I would have ripped my hair out from the strain in the air. It wasn't even the fact that Warren and Cayton were having one of their famous stare-downs, it was the fact that neither of them were saying anything. And I'll admit to feeling uneasy around Warren since I found out his preferences for a Luna and his solutions to fixing it, but I could at least fake some sort of hospitality.

Cayton is dead set on not speaking to him, and he is dead set on keeping me within reach every second. Even when I went to get drinks for Lisa and Warren, he followed me. He didn't say anything, and neither did I. He's in one of his 'I don't want to talk' moods, and I don't exactly feel like bringing him out of it.

"I almost forgot, I brought you something," Lisa says, smiling brightly as she holds out the small green gift bag.

"For me?" She nods, and I gratefully take it.

I open up the top of the bag, only to quickly close it again, my eyes wide at what is in that bag.

"Uh..." I'm at a complete loss for words. I can feel my cheeks heating up to a color that closely resembles a fire truck.

"Now I'm not trying to be pushy, but I can sense that you two aren't fully mated yet. Well, I figured it's going to happen soon enough, and so I thought you would be needing this in the future." She smiles at me like she's completely proud.

Alright, all earlier assumptions about Lisa are gone. This woman might be a bit crazy. Don't get me wrong, I still love her to pieces, but she's definitely crazy if she thinks I'll need this any time soon.

"Um... thanks?" I set the bag on the side table. I don't want to come across as rude, but... There's a freaking pregnancy test in there! I mean, talk about subtle messages!

"It was no problem," she waves it off, as if she had just given me a casual gift.

"What is it?" Cayton asks, reaching over to grab the bag. I slap his hand away, to which he cocks an eyebrow. When he notices my cheeks, he suddenly looks curious.

"Touch it, and you die," I warn. I don't want him getting any ideas. I'm only nineteen for Christ sakes! Besides, I still have four years of school to worry about. Not to mention the fact that I've kind of taken the position as Luna of a werewolf pack... What a life.

He looks at the bag for a second, then to his mother, before looking at me and smirking. My cheeks get impossibly redder as I realize he can put two and two together.

"I'm going to go get some water," I say in a rush. Cayton starts to stand up, and I glare at him, pointing a finger at him. "You. Stay."

I get out of that room faster than a bomb technician after a failed attempt at diffusing a bomb.

"Wow, that couldn't have been more embarrassing," I mutter to myself as I get a glass down from the cabinet. I fill it with water and down it in one go. Yea, when I get embarrassed, I get thirsty. I don't get it, but whatever.

After contemplating whether or not I should actually go back in there, and two more glasses of water later, I head back into the living room. At the entrance to the kitchen, I again start debating on whether or not to make a break for the stairs.

I actually get into position to dash up the stairs, when I see Warren heading down the hall out of the corner of my eye.

Now, my next decision is not one I'm particularly proud of. One of my more stupid decisions to be honest. No doubt that I'll be killed by Warren, or Cayton'll kill me for doing it. But as it is, my curiosity hasn't gotten me killed yet, so I decide to take a chance. Besides, there are no promises to stay away now that the party is long over. And I still have a thing or two to say.

Hmm... You only live once, I think as I start down the hall Warren just went down, fully intending to confront him about this little dispute.