Avery stands up, her face going white.

Her legs are numb, and her entire body is trembling as she moves.

She feels like she's going to faint.

"What do you mean?" She asks, trying to keep her tone level, but she fails, her voice rising as she reaches the end of her question.

What the fuck did he just say, Sonya snarls, and Avery is struggling to keep her in.

"Do you think this is all some sort of joke?" Avery snarls, her eyes flashing rapidly as she begins pacing the room.

She's trying and failing to calm herself down, her canines descending and her bones beginning to crack as they prepare to shift.

Roman stays silent, which is possibly the worst thing he could do.

"Has this all been a funny little play-pretend game to you?" She growls, her face slowly shifting, her bone structure changing quickly.

"It was never a joke," he murmurs, standing up and running both hands through his hair.

If we're lucky, at this rate of running his hands through his hair, he'll go bald, Sonya grumbles.

Baldness will be a blessing when I get my hands on him, Avery responds sadistically.

"Then what was it, please, tell me," she roars at him, her spine cracking.

She's livid, and her face is red with anger.

Avery barely has a hold on Sonya. Her wolf is trying to surge forward to force a shift, and Avery is clenching every bone and muscle in her body to prevent it because she has no idea what Sonya will try.

"I just didn't tell you the whole truth," he snaps, his defensive side coming out.

Sonya doesn't like this.

She forces Avery down, and she turns to Roman angrily.

"No, Roman, you didn't tell us any of the truth," she snarls, her tone far more guttural than usual.

Her wolf has almost entirely taken over.

"Was it all a lie?" She asks quietly, her tone full of potential for anger.

Roman stays quiet, and Avery storms up the stairs, at a total loss for words.

She and Sonya need time to calm down, and she closes her bedroom door as soon as she reaches the room, sinking down along the all and putting her head into her hands.

"What the hell is going on," she whispers, shaking her head and staring at her wooden floors.

You need to finish that conversation, Sonya urges, and she grimaces at the thought of it,

She knows she has to, but she feels extremely betrayed by his lies.

So much could have been prevented if he hadn't lied.

If his mate isn't dead - or, he didn't have one, as he claimed - then how is he not an Unfortunate?

Avery leaps to her feet, her anger levels rising yet again.

She flies down the stairs, her silent movements allowing her to appear directly behind Roman.

She uses her claws to rip his shirt open from the back, running her hands over his shoulder blades.

"What are you?" She growls, squinting at his skin.

He removes her hands from his body, glaring down at her.

"I'm an Unfortunate, just like you," he hisses, stalking off into the corner and leaning against the wall, forcing himself to breathe steadily.

Tempers are flying high, and Avery knows she'll snap if he doesn't start explaining himself.

"So you're the Unfortunate Alpha?" She accuses, pointing a finger at him abruptly.

"Well, I'm one of them," he scowls, Booker trying to make his human calm down.

"What do you mean one of them? Goddess, is everything that comes out of your mouth a lie?" She snarls, flinging her arms into the air.

"Well there's more than one, especially since you're one," he mutters awkwardly, and Avery glares harshly at him.

"If you're an Unfortunate, where's your brand?" She demands, scowling at him darkly.

He stays silent, and Avery lets out a cold laugh.

"Of course, you don't have one. Conveniently, you have no evidence to back up your little story. What a surprise," she spits in his direction, storming into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"You felt my back, it's there," he insists, following closely behind her with his face set in a stubborn state.

His jaw is clenched, his brow hard, and his lips pursed.

"I felt nothing," she barks, slamming her glass onto her countertops.

He grabs her free hand, and she shakes him off aggressively, scowling at him.

"Don't you dare touch me right now," she warns, and he grits his teeth.

"Feel my back again," he insists, lowering himself down a few inches for her convenience.

She stares out of her window, one hand still on her glass and one clenched into a fist as she inhales slowly.

After a moment of silence, bar their breathing, Avery turns around and runs her fingers over his shoulderblade, the movement making him shiver.

She stares at his tattoo as she traces the outline of his bone, squinting at the dark ink of the wings.

She feels a slightly raised patch of skin, and her eyebrows shoot up.

"How did you cover it?" She questions dubiously, pulling her hand back almost immediately and turning back to her glass, filling it up with water from her jug.

"I found a witch," he mutters.

"So did I, and she couldn't cover mine," she sharply responds, looking at him at of the corner of her eyes.

"She used a special ink, I don't know what it was," he grunts, spinning around to lean against the kitchen island, looking around the spacious kitchen.

"Why didn't you tell me this at the start?" She asks, scowling.

"Because it's embarrassing," he explodes, tugging on his hair angrily.

"I was literally paraded in front of you like a cow going to market," she fires back, "do you know how much guilt I felt at the idea of taking you from a dead mate?"

He flinches a little bit, rubbing his neck as he reels back his anger.

"I shouldn't have acted like I had a mate," he mutters.

"If you're so ashamed to be branded, how could you ever want to be with one?" She asks coldly, sweeping by him with her glass of water.

He stays where he is, his eyes widened and his mouth slightly open at what she said.

"I'm going to be in my room, whenever you decide on what defence you want to use," she scowls over her shoulder, sloping up the stairs.

She pulls her laptop out and brings it to bed, angrily typing out emails.

Her phone rings and she picks it up immediately, furrowing her brows when she looks at the time and notices that it's almost 10 pm.

Who the hell needs our attention, Sonya hisses, still extremely irritated.

Avery debates on not answering it because it doesn't come up with a name.

If we don't have them in contacts, are they that important?, Sonya reasons.

Avery is inclined to agree and puts the phone down.

As soon as the ringing stops the first time, and Avery has a moment of silence to return an email, it begins ringing again, and Avery snatches up the phone.

"What?" She barks as soon as she answers, and she hears a laugh on the other end of it.

"What do you want?" She asks in a similarly sharp tone, standing up from her bed and going over to the floor to ceiling window, looking out intently.

"Come and find me," a child-like voice sings, and Avery pulls her phone away from her ear in vague horror.

"Who is this?" She demands, quickly hurrying down the stairs to find Roman.

She doesn't like him very much at the moment, but he is her best protection.

The voice starts singing a nursery rhyme, and as Avery bursts into the kitchen, Roman opens his mouth to question her entrance.

Avery shakes her head frantically, putting her phone on speaker and putting her finger over her lips.

"Who is this?" She repeats, putting the phone down on the island in front of them.

Her and Roman both stare at the device.

The singing gets louder and louder until it becomes a relentless scream, causing Avery to immediately end the call.

"What the fuck was that?" Roman asks, his face ashen.

Avery is spooked.

"I have no idea, they rang twice," she murmurs, looking through her call logs to see if she's ever had that number ring before.

"Okay, we need to call the Council. This is getting ridiculous," he mutters, and she raises her brows.

"Call and tell them what?" She asks, running her hands through her hair nervously.

"This is a direct threat to your life now," he states grimly, his eyes flashing as he mindlinks his pack.

"How?" She sighs, shaking her head.

"They've tried to contact you twice in the last three hours," he mutters, "I'm staying in your room tonight, I'm not risking anything happening to you."

Avery isn't happy or unhappy with this solution. She doesn't particularly want him in her room, but she will feel safer this way.

"Perfect," she responds calmly, "do you need anything or can we move upstairs, I have work to finish."

He stares at her for a minute, before slowly nodding.

"I'm ready, unless you can think of anything we might need?" He asks, pouring himself a glass of water.

He spills a little bit of it and doesn't do anything until he can feel an intense glare directed at him, which makes him pick up some paper towels from their holder and dry up the spillage.

I'd never leave a mess in his house, did he think I'd let him leave a puddle on my countertop?, Sonya huffs, thoroughly irritated by the nights events.

Avery reluctantly leads the way up the stairs, regretting having such a tall house as the stairs seem endless.

"You decorated this beautifully," Roman compliments, and Avery forces herself not to snap at him.

She has to put up with him for at least that night, so politeness is essential.

"Thank you, I have some small touches to add whenever I have time," she responds pleasantly, shooting him a tight smile over her shoulder.

"It's very bare compared to your room," he nods, and Avery continues walking.

He clears his throat, wondering if she heard him.

As he's about to repeat himself, she sighs.

"Yeah, well I've only had this place a year, I've had my room for twenty-eight," she shrugs, finally reaching her bedroom and flinging open the door, sliding along the wood in her fluffy socks.

Roman peers in cautiously as if he was expecting to be attacked by something.

Avery rolls her eyes at his nervousness, folding her arms over her chest and scowling at him.

"Nobody is in here, just get in and close the door," she mutters, and he rolls his eyes.

"If you frown anymore, you'll get wrinkles," he grumbles, looking around the room and his eyes landing on her massive bed.

His mouth opens and his eyebrows raise in surprise as he blinks at it, shaking his head.

Avery rolls her eyes, used to this reaction from her family when they came individually to inspect her home.

She likes working from her bed, which means she needs to be comfortable. She would also sleep for a year if she could, so she needs space and layers to ensure temperature regulation.

Her bed is ridiculously big.

We could do so much on that, Booker sighs wistfully, scowling at his missed chance.

If you hadn't upset her, we would be doing something right now, he adds irritably, and then shuts his link off with Roman.

Roman is exasperated with his snarky wolf, but he knows he should have been truthful from the start.

Roman awkwardly perches on the edge of the bed, looking around the room uncomfortably.

Avery rolls her eyes yet again.

"You look like a twelve year old girl being in a boy's room for the first time. Nothing in here will hurt you," she mutters, opening one of her wardrobes and flinging a hoodie at him.

He catches it in confusion, staring between it and her.

"I sleep with the air conditioning on," she states primly, settling herself back into her side of the bed with her laptop on her lap again.

"Who's hoodie is this?" He asks curiously, staring at the university logo.

"Mine," she responds, raising a brow, "problem?"

He shakes his head quickly, feeling slightly jealous before slipping the hoodie on over the shirt he's wearing.

She stares at him in horror, shaking her head.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asks, gaping at him.

"Putting on the hoodie?" He replies, his tone portraying how baffled he is.

"You put it on over a collared shirt, you horrible monster," she gasps, unable to tear her eyes away from him in horror.

He slowly pulls off the hoodie he had almost entirely put on, and unbuttons his shirt quickly, never taking his eyes off her.

Avery gets a glimpse of his chest and tries to remain unaffected, watching as he pulls off his shirt and deposits in on the bed behind him.

He slowly slides himself into the hoodie, pulling it down inch by inch, and then yanking it down once it gets to his abs.

"Did you notice something?" He asks, rolling his eyes and trying to hide a smirk that crawled it's way onto his face.

"Nothing good," she responds huffily, going back to her emails.

Her phone rings, and they both turn and stare at it, the nervous tension in the room rising rapidly.

The name flashes up on the screen, and Avery breathes a sigh of relief, snatching the phone up and answering it quickly.

"Hey Lil," she chirps, trying to push every ounce of enthusiasm she has left into her voice.

"How are you?" Lilith asks, sounding extremely irritated.

"I'm okay, what's up?" She quickly asks her friend, closing her laptop and giving her full attention to their conversation.

"I'll be at your pack in two days," the girl says abruptly, "and I'm not happy, so be prepared for a big, huge ranting session."

Avery raises her brows, glancing at Roman to make sure he isn't listening.

He's staring at his borrowed laptop, squinting at the screen.

Avery momentarily wishes he had his glasses - but she probably would have forgiven him if had them on, so thank Goddess he doesn't have them.

"What's wrong?" Avery queries, settling herself into her mountain of pillows and blankets.

"I hate this pack," Lilith confesses, sounding rather upset.

"What happened?" Avery asks, sitting up again.

Roman turns to look at her when he hears those words, his brows furrowing in concern.

Avery shakes her head at him, pointing to her phone, and he slowly looks away.

"Some of the pack members hanged up on me today at the pack meetings," she mumbles into the phone, and Avery furrows her brows.

"Over what?" Avery asks softly.

"Me going to your pack with the prisoner," she sighs sadly.

"What did they say, Lil?" Avery quickly asks, hearing the girl's tone waver.

"They said I'm not a proper Luna, so I shouldn't be going to any packs," she mumbles, and Avery grimaces.

"I suggested to Zeph he say you were coming for training. Don't you dare let them make you think you aren't a real Luna," she warns angrily.

Lilith sniffles, and Avery pinches her nose.

"I'm guessing most of those people are women," she grumbles, and Lilith makes a noise of confirmation.

"Ignore them, I bet they're just jealous," Avery reassures her, her heart aching for her friend.

"I don't believe you at all," Lilith laughs shakily, and Avery can hear her sniffling.

"That's okay. But if you don't come with the prisoner, I'll be coming to see you. Let that pack see their Rogue Luna," Avery smirks, and Lilith laughs nervously.

"I'm not so much of a rogue anymore," she mumbles, and Avery scowls a little.

"You have that spirit, and if they try corner you or give out, let loose on it," Avery snarls, and Lilith giggles a little at her friend's tone.

"I have to go, thank you Ave," Lilith murmurs, and Avery nods firmly.

"Okay, honey. Please ring me if you need anything," Avery responds softly, and Lilith sighs audibly.

"I will, but hopefully I won't need to. I need to get them to respect me," Lilith groans, and Avery smiles slightly.

"Trust me, spread the word that you're coming to train under me. We can figure the rest out when you get here," she grins, and Lilith laughs.

"I'll see you soon," she smiles, hanging up on her phone.

Roman raises an eyebrow inquiringly, and Avery scowls at him.

He raises his hands in the air in a surrender position, shaking his head and rolling his eyes as he goes back to his work.

Avery stabs her keyboard aggressively as she continues replying to emails, shooting glances at Roman as she works.

"I should be done in about twenty minutes, if that works for you," he mutters, and she nods stiffly.

Maybe we should just sleep outside, like a dog, because you got us put into the dog house, Booker snarls, causing Roman to relief a puff of laughter that makes Avery turn and stare at him.

"What's so funny?" She demands, and he shakes his head quickly.

"Nothing, Booker just being ridiculous about a meeting we have to go to," Roman mutters, cursing at his wolf and threatening him with the silent treatment.

"Sure," Avery drawls, her tone making it clear that she doesn't believe a word that he says.

Sonya is equally disbelieving, and she doesn't want to spend an entire night beside the guy.

I'd rather go and find those creepy singing children than be here tonight, she grumbles, and Avery rolls her eyes.

The twenty minutes pass in a flash, and Avery only has ten emails to reply to tomorrow, instead of the four hundred it had been before she got through some of them today.

Satisfied, she nods and closes her laptop, putting it on charge beside her bed.

"You shouldn't leave things charging overnight, they could burn the house down," Roman states matter-of-factly, placing his laptop down the side of the bed too.

Avery glares at him.

"I'm not that lucky," she grunts, taking her glasses off and starting to get comfortable.

Roman silently mimics her, rolling his eyes and turning off the lights before sliding into the bed beside her.

"Move over," she snarls, "I can feel how warm you are."

He glares at her through the dark, his eyes shining golden as he looks for her.

He wiggles out of his trousers and kicks them off, leaving them laying on the floor which bothers Avery a lot, but not enough to get up and properly put them away.

"Goodnight," he sighs.

"I hope you choke in your sleep," she spits in his direction, the scowl on her face prominent.