They had just reached Avery's bedroom in her parent's house when they could hear the front door opening.

"Thank the Goddess you're quick," she mutters, and he looks at her, feigning hurt until she realises the possible double meaning of her words.

"Oh shit, we left the clothes downstairs," she whispers, and Roman tries to hide his smirk.

"It isn't funny, this is my parent's house," Avery hisses, flinging a pillow from her bed at him.

"Well, they'll be able to smell it anyway," Roman shrugs, "so just relax."

Avery cringes a little, sniffing the air around them.

Richard is soooo gonna know, Sonya chortles, and she grimaces a little.

"I don't know why I let that happen," she mutters as she walks into the bathroom, turning the hot water on.

He comes up behind her and rests his hand on her hip, his erection pressing into her spine.

"Get that thing away from me before I chop it off," she commands primly, and he steps back with a chuckle.

"That isn't what you said ten minutes ago," he snickers, and she glares at him as she steps into the shower.

"I wasn't thinking ten minutes ago," she responds, and Roman feels a little hurt by her words.

"At least we won't have a kid," he suddenly comments, and Avery raises a brow as she turns to face him.

"What do you mean by that?" She asks, "Because I know you didn't use a condom."

"Well, everyone knows that Unfortunates have a really hard time conceiving, and that's when they're mated. We stand no chance," he chuckles, shaking his head.

Avery rolls her eyes, and clips up her hair, not wanting to get it wet.

Roman notices her uncharacteristic silence and stands up from where he's sitting on the edge of the clawfoot tub and leans against the shower door.

"It wouldn't be bad if we had a kid, though," he sighs, trying to make things better.

"I don't have time for one, and I highly doubt you do either," Avery rolls her eyes, "trust me, a kid is the last thing on my mind right now."

"Then what is on your mind? You need to communicate with me," he stresses, turning her back around to face him gently.

"I'm thinking how absolutely insane it is that we just had sex in my home office," she grits out, "I'm thinking that you're crazy for making up a lie to get my attention, and that you're absolutely insane for coming here after I hung up that phone."

"I came because I wanted to see you. We don't talk, and that's our main problem. If we tried communicating more, I think we could have a real shot at making this work," he reasons.

Sonya is on his side, and it takes a lot of effort for Avery not to cuss out her wolf.

"'This'? Is there a 'this' now?" She asks coldly, and he rolls his eyes.

"Don't do this; you're trying to shut me out. I actually want to have a conversation, and I'm not letting you leave this room until you start talking," he sighs, his eyes wide and pleading.

She makes eye contact with him and feels herself getting sucked in as she gets closer to him, wiping an eyelash off his cheek gently.

"You always get so distant or upset when I try to actually talk to you. I've known you two months, but I barely know anything about you," he continues.

"I have no idea how you lost your Alpha title five years ago. I don't know your middle name, or what you want to do in the future. I don't know why you pull away every time I try to get close," he pleads, taking one of her hands.

"I don't know anything about you, but I know I want to," he whispers, drawing her into his chest.

"Rose," she mumbles, and he pulls his head back a little to try make eye contact with her as he looks down at her.

"What?" He asks, slightly confused.

"My middle name," she grumbles, putting her head back against his chest.

He smiles slightly, rubbing her back before he moves them closer to the stream of water.

"Are you going to answer the rest of the questions?" He asks gently, adjusting the temperature of the water.

"I have no idea what I want to do in the future. I like being Alpha, but it's York's position, and I won't take it from him," she sighs, reaching for her shower gels.

"Would the Luna position be of any interest to you?" He asks curiously, and she shrugs.

"I've never wanted to be one. I practically was Luna of Scott's pack before he found Kali. They had all accepted me as theirs, so I know the role. I just never planned on being one, which was really cemented when I was branded," she responds quietly, her tone a lot quieter and calmer than it would usually be.

"I remember actually hearing about that. You two were the talk of the conferences," he chuckles, shaking his head.

"It was a scandal - an Alpha not being with his actual mate was a shocker to a lot of the others," she giggles at the end of her sentence, and Roman grins at her.

"It took the attention off me nicely, so I appreciated it a lot," he laughs, rolling his eyes playfully.

"Do you want to smell like a happy coconut or energising passionfruit?" She asks mockingly, holding the two body washes in her hands and weighing them as if she was a scales.

He considers them so seriously that Avery releases a hoot of laughter, his face scrunched up in thought.

"I'll have to say the happy coconut fits today's mood," he finally responds, and Avery grins at him, handing him the white bottle, and putting the yellow one back on her shelf.

"So you're happy?" She asks, her cheeks slightly red once she does.

"You could say that," he shrugs teasingly, a grin on his face.

"Shut up," she mutters in response, nudging him with her shoulder as she swipes the bottle out of his hands.

The moment is tender and soft until the bathroom door bangs open.

Roman instantly leaps in front of Avery, covering her entire form with his canines descended and claws out, his face beginning to morph.

"Oh, that's a site you could get used to," Louisa cackles, and Avery tenses, her fists clenching.

"Louisa, get out," she growls, forcing herself to stay where she is.

"Or what? You won't do anything," she taunts, and Avery releases air from between her teeth slowly.

"You never actually do anything, you just say you will," she drawls, and Avery grabs a towel from the railing beside the shower, wrapping it around herself and then handing Roman one.

Roman is still furious, Booker having been disturbed.

They had been having a relaxing and intimate moment until the interruption, and Booker had been enjoying himself too - the unwelcome visitor had read as an attacker to him.

Avery steps out from behind Roman, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"You can't hurt me, I'm pregnant," Louisa states, her confidence faltering as her sister steps closer to her slowly.

"I can do whatever I want, I'm the Alpha, bitch," Avery snarls menacingly, and Roman puts a hand on her hip as he stands behind her.

Richard, having heard the commotion, appears in the doorway too.

"Oh, Roman," he mutters, taking in the scene in front of him, and nodding approvingly.

His middle child tries to stand behind him, and Richard steps to the side, shaking his head.

"She warned you earlier," he sighs, leaning against Avery's chest of drawers.

The two Alphas are both furious, and their eyes are flashing quickly between their natural colours and black.

The power they're emitting forces Louisa to drop to her knees, much to her disgust.

"Let me up," she cries out, and Avery walks closer to her, bending down in front of her and lifting her sister's chin with one of her claws.

"You've disrespected not just me, but Alpha Lancaster as well," she whispers, her voice colder than Roman had ever heard from her before.

"You won't get out of this by batting your eyelashes at mum or your mate," she snarls, and Roman pulls her back, his eyes never leaving Louisa.

"Get up," he commands, and she quickly gets up, her hands instantly going over her stomach.

"I expect you to come back here at 9 pm with your mate. Then, I will tell you what your punishment will be," he drawls, his eyes cold and empty.

Louisa gapes at him, rolling her eyes.

"Avery won't let you punish me," she says cockily, and Avery can't stop herself from snorting.

"You have far too much confidence in my powers of forgiveness," she quips, shooing her sister out of her room irritably.

Richard releases a short peal of laughter once Louisa is gone, shaking his head.

"Maybe that'll teach her to knock," he mutters, walking out after her with a massive smile on his face.

Roman releases a heavy breath, and Avery tries to relax her muscles.

"That was interesting," she grumbles, "I was having such a nice time too."

"It was going a bit too well," Roman grunts, Booker still on attack mode.

Sonya is used to constant interruptions in everything and anything since she came back to the pack, so she isn't as distressed by the situation.

She isn't happy, but she isn't ready to rip a man's head off.

"I'll get some clothes for you from York's room," she sighs, sliding another silk slip dress over her head, glaring at him when she's finished.

"You owe me a green one of these," she states, pointing at him aggressively.

"I'll get you whatever colour you want," he sighs, rolling his eyes as he plants himself onto her bed.

Avery wanders into York's room, and picks up the first shirt and pair of dress pants she can find, along with new underwear and socks.

When she returns to her room, she notices Roman staring at all of the picture frames on her wall with raises eyebrows.

"You have a lot of friends," he observes, and she nods.

"Yeah, I get along with everyone. The girl with the curls - yep, that one - is my best friend Kathleen. In those pictures, you can see Meredith, Luna McConaghy. I have so many more to put up, but I just haven't had time with everything going on," she sighs, unclipping her hair once she lays out the clothes for him.

"We could do it now if you like? I took it as an assumption that we would both take the rest of the day off," he shrugs, and Avery bites her lip.

"I think that sounds like a good plan," she finally says, smiling.

"Get the pictures and the frames, I'll get your dad to help me find some nails and a hammer," he grins, quickly getting dressed.

As usual, the shirt isn't a great fit, and it's straining over Roman's arms, which makes Avery absolutely obliged to stare at them.

We'd stare even if he was in a cloak. Scratch a cloak, even a mumu, Sonya sighs dreamily, he's so strong.

Avery has to hide a smile at her wolf's thoughts and the damsel in distress mentality Sonya seems to harbour. It always makes things interesting.

Avery walks over to her chest of drawers and opens the bottom one, grabbing a pile of assorted frames out of it, and then picking up a stack on her bedside table.

She lays them out on the bed, and wiggles excitedly as she sits down, a wide grin on her face.

"You're excited about this, huh?" He asks with a smile, and she nods.

"I haven't had a chance to do this in so long - I'm usually always busy, I never have an afternoon off when I'm at home," she shrugs, tucking her feet under her as she settles into her spot.

"Anyone who wants to disturb you tonight will have me to deal with," he chuckles, settling on the other side of the bed.

"The first and only time we shared a bed was when you were so blackout drunk that you could barely walk," he chuckles, shaking his head at her as he takes the back off one of the frames.

"Oh, I remember it very well, thank you very much," she cringes, slotting a picture into the frame and examining it closely.

"I think this works perfectly with the shape," she mutters to herself, and he watches her with a small smile on his face.

"The way your mind works is so interesting to me," he grins, leaning back on the mountain of pillows under him.

"Are you making fun of me?" She asks, playfully glaring at him.

"No," he laughs, "I wouldn't think a certain picture wouldn't work with a particular shape."

Avery gives him a toothy smile and a wink.

"I'm certainly unique," she chuckles, and he grins again.

"I know that. I've never chased a girl before, but here I am with you, like a puppy with its tail between its legs," he mutters, shaking his head in disbelief while his smile stays on his face.

He squints at one of the pictures, and Avery notices and frowns.

"You should have brought your glasses," she comments, and he looks at her with an eye roll.

"I should have brought a condom too, and probably my phone and some clothes. I wasn't working off a list on my way here," he laughs, shaking his head at her.

"For all I know, this could have been some crazy master plan all along!" She shrieks indignantly, sitting up on her knees and swatting him with one of the pictures.

The one in her hand is one of her, Zephyr, and Lilith, all grinning at the camera in their formal clothes.

"This is a lovely photo," he comments truthfully, and she smiles at him.

"I thought so, they're a really great couple, I talk to them literally every day," she laughs, slotting it into a rectangular frame and putting it into a pile.

The next one shows her and Kali, covered in flour from when they tried a new recipe for bread out, and Kathleen accidentally scared them by appearing out of nowhere.

She notices Roman's questioning look, and she shakes her head with a slight grimace.

"We got a fright," she merely responds, looking at the next photo.

It's of her, York, and Roman, and she doesn't remember it being taken.

"Your brother looks so happy in that," he notes, and Avery bites her lip, her jovial mood suddenly squashed a little.

"Yeah, it's a good one of us too," she manages to get out, and he gently rubs the palm of her hand with his thumb.

"He'll be okay, we'll figure it out," he nods, and Avery bites her lip again.

"I really hope you're right, because I won't be able to survive if Louisa is my only sibling again," she grumbles light-heartedly, rolling her eyes a little.

"We should take a nice photograph for your wall," he decides, standing up suddenly.

"What are you doing?" She asks unsurely, and he pulls her to her feet.

He sets the phone on the dresser and sets the camera on a timer, pulling her a few feet away and wrapping his hands around her waist, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

She grins just as the camera flashes, and she eagerly rushes to the phone, excited to see the result.

The result is a slightly blurry portrait of the two of them, both looking giddy and excited.

"Perfect," she winks, "when we get it printed, it can go on the wall as a reminder that you owe me a new dress."

He groans at the mention of her dress again, and shoots her a look, rolling his eyes.

"I've already said I'll get you a new dress, and I stick to my word! No reminders are needed, I promise," he soothes, sitting back onto the bed.

"Avery, dinner!" Marie screams, and Sonya hears her, alerting Avery.

"Oh, shit," she mutters, standing up abruptly.

She quickly puts on a jumper, and stretches her back a little bit, hopping around the room as she straps her heels back on.

"Roman, you need to be on your best behaviour," she notes, "because my mum might be on the warpath because of the Louisa thing."

Roman wrinkles up his nose and rolls his eyes.

"Are you for real? She was the one at fault, and I'll tell her that if she tries to blame you," he warns, taking her hand and gently kissing it as she leads him out of the room with her phone.

"Just watch what you say, okay?" She sighs, biting her lip.

He gently pulls her lip from between her teeth and slaps her ass a moment later, grinning at her quickly before the descend the stairs.

Before she can say anything in response, Richard appears and grins at them, nodding to Roman and hugging his daughter.

"She's going to kill you," he mutters into her ear, and Avery rolls her eyes.

"Louisa can suck my cock," Avery responds sweetly, and Richard tries not to laugh as the three of them walk into the dining room.

As soon as the enter, Louisa is glaring at them, a large plaster covering the bottom half of her face.

Sympathy vote, I barely touched her, Sonya snarls, none too happy with her sister.

If we wanted to hurt her, she'd be dead, Avery responds nonchalantly, and Sonya settles down near the surface in case she's needed.

Roman and Avery take their seats across from Louisa and Marie, while Richard sits at the head of the table.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion, Luna Wilcott," Roman says sincerely, and Avery's eyes widen.

"Marie," Marie responds bluntly, her eyes scanning this man.

I think his arms grew, she links to Avery, who rests her forehead in her hands and shakes her head.

Roman fidgets uncomfortably with all of the eyes resting on him, and Avery clears her throat pointedly, glaring at her sister.

"Do you have anything to tell us?" Louisa sneers, and Avery smirks.

"Yeah, before you interrupted us, we had sex in my office. If you want the details, I'm happy to tell you, but it was really hot," Avery breathes, her eyes flashing.

"Ave, that's not dinner conversation," Richard reprimands, and Avery rolls her eyes a little.

"Don't be such a prude, dad," she sighs, and he gives her a quick look.

"I'm not being a prude, I just don't want to hear about my eldest daughter being banged into next week," he replies, looking around the room.

"Louisa, where's Xavier?" He asks impatiently, and Louisa freezes momentarily.

Nobody else seems to notice it, but Avery does, and so does Roman by the look on his face.

She's never wanted to be marked more than the current moment so she could mindlink with somebody outside her pack.

"He's supposed to be arriving next week," she coughs out, and Avery raises a brow.

"So you're staying a week? You were too busy to come for a day last month," Avery comments offhandedly, examining her painted nails and looking around the room while they wait for dinner.

Two of the maids dish it up immediately after, and Avery relaxes back into her seat, her eyes boring into her sister.

"Well, things change," Louisa snaps, and Avery chuckles.

"I'll bet," she laughs, rolling her eyes and taking Roman's hand under the table.

He smiles a little at the gesture, squeezing her hand lightly.

"Mom, make her stop," Louisa whines, and Marie sighs.

"Louisa, she isn't doing anything," she mutters, examining her dinner plate intensely.

She's worried Roman will explode if she isn't fair, Richard comments to Avery, seemingly engrossed in eating his jacket potato.

He said he'd be standing up for me if she tried to blame me for Louisa's punishment later, Avery responds calmly, and Richard nods.

He would be fully entitled to punish your mother then, too, for trying to get her out of trouble, he replies.

Avery eats her dinner one-handed, her other hand secured within Roman's, who eats with a smile on his face as he glances down at her every so often.