Avery finds herself back in her room with no recollection of walking back to it.

Sonya is baffled, sitting silently while Avery's mind is blank.

"It was a good kiss for me not kissing back," she mutters out loud, laying on her bed.

She puts Roman's sweatshirt down beside her, not sure what to do with it - she took it because she didn't know where to put it if she didn't.

Sniffing at the hoodie, she still can't find a scent on it; it's as though Roman uses a scent-blocker.

Laying there for a few minutes, Sonya starts getting restless, forcing Avery to get up.

Can we go for a run?, Sonya pleads, and Avery silently consents, walking down the stairs to the main door.

"Hey, Avery," a voice shouts, and she spins around to see Carolyn floating out of a room she hasn't been in yet, a glass of wine in her hand.

"Do you want to come drink with us? Please say yes!" The coffee-skinned woman beams, bouncing over to her with surprisingly steady feet.

"I was gonna go on a run-" Avery starts, but Carolyn cuts her off, grabbing her hand and tugging her into the room she came out of.

Inside are a group of women, all holding glasses or bottles with big smiles.

"Hello!" They all echo eagerly, moving to make space for Avery where Carolyn must have been sitting.

"Hello," Avery responds weakly, her mind still fuzzy from earlier.

"Sooo! We hear you're a Deputy Alpha! What's that like?" One lady, with pin-straight black hair down to her hips, asks, leaning forward eagerly, almost tipping her bottle of beer.

The lady beside her pulls her back into her seat, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry about her, she's about four shots and three bottles ahead of the rest of us. Can we get you anything to drink?" A redhead smiles, her dimples prominent on her childlike face, almost making Avery want to say 'aww'.

"Um, just some water or soda if you have it," Avery smiles politely.

"You don't drink?" Carolyn asks quietly, and Avery shakes her head slowly.

"I do sometimes, but not while training," she responds softly, receiving her glass of Sprite with a smile and a 'thank you'.

They all sit in silence for a moment, all of them staring at Avery with massive smiles on their faces.

"So what happened with the Alpha?" Carolyn finally asks, with a mischievous smile on her face.

Avery blanks, her mouth opening and closing with no words coming out.

"What do you know?" She finally asks, deciding it's probably safer to figure out what Roman let slip, probably to his Beta.

"Well we know you two had a massive argument," one woman smirks, "my son was there, he heard it. So did you two have scorching, sweaty makeup sex?"

Avery stares at her in horror, her eyes bulging.

"We know you two talked in the gym," the slightly drunk lady with black hair beams, "but I don't know after that, I wasn't there!"

"I was," one lady mutters, and Avery spins around to stare at her.

"What?" She groans, and the lady freezes in alarm.

The room is full of excitement, but also nervous tension.

Carolyn quickly clears her throat, sitting up straight and raising her glass.

"To our weekly Lady Thursday, and all of you lovely ladies. May we always welcome new members, and may we drink so much wine that our mates have to come to find us," she laughs, and everyone raises their glass, Avery weakly doing the same.

"So, Deputy, tell us about yourself," one lady starts curiously, her eyes wide and probing.

"Uh, call me Avery, please. I'm Avery Wilcott, Deputy Alpha of Rapid Rock. I'm twenty-eight, and I'm not a natural blonde," she declares, drawing a giggle at her statement of fake hair colouring.

"My husband is training in your pack - what's it like?" One asks, looking at her inquiringly.

"Very different from here. It's warm here, but it's much colder and damp over in my pack. We don't have a beach anywhere near us, so they won't be working on their tans," Avery responds ruefully, rubbing her own ghostly arms.

"So did you two have sex?" The same woman from earlier blurts out, sitting on the edge of her chair.

"She won't stop asking until you answer," Carolyn mutters, her tone irritated.

"No. And I'm not lying, you'd be able to smell it on me," Avery shrugs, and Carolyn's eyes twitch a little, as does her nose.

"Well, you two did something, I can smell his scent on you," one smirks, and Avery's cheeks turn red.

"Oh my god, what did you guys do?!" One younger woman shrieks and Avery feels awkward.

She doesn't know these women, except Carolyn, but she feels connected with them.

"We kissed. Well, he kissed me, and I pushed him off because I was trying to speak," she grumbles, running a hand through her wavy hair.

Her response splits the reactions.

Carolyn's face, and a few others, twist into disapproval and irritation. Others look overjoyed.

"He didn't even ask?" One woman asks with scorn, and Avery widens her eyes.

She didn't want his pack to turn on him; it was only a kiss.

"He apologised. He had the wrong idea," she quickly explains, and Carolyn's face still isn't back to normal. Her eyes flash black, and it's obvious she is mindlinking her mate to fill him in.

Shit, Sonya hisses, if Ryan knows, Roman will know you told someone.

Avery suddenly feels slightly uncomfortable. She wasn't sure if this was supposed to be some secret, illicit affair. It probably was, because he wasn't very polite to her in front of his pack or his family.

The women look remarkably irritated, and Avery notices this.

"We're not angry at you, dear," a white-haired middle-aged woman quickly assures her, shaking her head, "we just thought that sort of out-dated crap was gone from this pack."

Most of the women nod along in agreement, rolling their eyes.

"Oh, well, he apologised," Avery repeats awkwardly, rubbing her neck, "I'd kiss him back if I hadn't been talking."

Her eyes widen as she admits that, and Sonya is howling with laughter in her head.

She hadn't admitted it to herself yet, and she had managed to just tell the members of the pack that would inform everybody else of her misdemeanour.

The women are all aflutter, bouncing and beaming at each other, some rapidly mindlinking.

"Could we keep this a secret, though? I don't want him to think I broke his privacy," she cringes, and the white-haired lady walks over and puts an arm over her shoulder.

"He lost his right to privacy and secrecy the moment he kissed you," she smirks, patting the younger girl on the arm.