Avery startles herself awake and feels slightly trapped for some reason.

Slowly, she starts being able to comprehend the world around her, and through her bleary eyes, she can see a massive tree trunk of an arm trapping her to the bed.

She blinks in surprise and looks at the body the arm is attached to, squinting to see the face the body is attached to.

She can't see the face; it's buried in her stomach.

She recognises the curly hair, though, and sits up in irritation, flicking the face as she looks at her phone for the time.

It's 10 am, and Avery raises her eyebrows - she slept for eleven hours.

She usually maybe gets six on a good night; she just isn't a deep sleeper.

"Wake up, you prick," she grunts, wiggling her legs to try to get him off of her.

Roman wakes up slowly, and once he makes eye contact with her, he shakes his head and puts it back down onto her stomach, closing his eyes again.

"Roman, get up," she groans, and he mumbles something under his breath.

At least he's warm, Sonya reasons.

As Avery tries to free herself, a hand slips down and cups her ass, which earns Roman a withering glare.

He squeezes, and she punches his shoulder.

Roman releases her with a grumble, retreating to his side of the bed.

"You think you're a lot cuter than you are," she mutters, sliding out of bed and wandering over to the mirror.

She winces when she notices her hair, and fishes the stray pin that she can spot out of her waves.

He sits up slightly in the bed, his eyes glued to her, a lazy smile on his lips as he watches her move around the room and ready herself for the day.

She can feel his eyes on her, and after a minute, she turns around and folds her arms over her chest.

"What?" She asks, feeling both impatient and insecure.

He's staring at her like he wants to eat her.

I would not complain, not even one little bit, Sonya confesses, we deserve it.

Avery mentally raises her eyebrows at her horny wolf, and Sonya scowls back.

Deprived. You deprived me for almost a year, her wolf reminds her, and Avery tries not to laugh.

She forces herself to pay attention to reality, and Roman is still staring at her.

"What do you want?" She asks again, pulling her shorts down a little to cover more of her.

"You," he simply says, crossing the room and trying to pull her into his arms.

She puts her hand on his chest, and keeps him away, a smirk on her face.

"You don't deserve me, though," she shrugs, pushing him gently a few feet away while she fixes her hair in the mirror.

"But you deserve to feel worshipped," he murmurs into her ear, pulling her hands away from her hair.

"Leave it like that. It's so sexy," he whispers, touching her hair in admiration.

Avery is slightly frozen at what's happening.

Will we give in?, she asks Sonya, already knowing her wolf's answer.

Hate sex is the best sex, xoxo, gossip girl, Sonya quips, and Avery closes her eyes, inhaling deeply.

If she's going to do this, she's going to be the one in control.

"Sit down," she orders him, her eyes darkening slightly.

He complies with ease, strolling over to the bed calmly.

Roman plants himself on the edge of the bed, his eyes never leaving her body.

She slowly pulls off her long t-shirt, her eyes never leaving his.

He makes a move to stand up, and she shakes her head, a smirk growing on her lips.

He scowls slightly.

Avery slowly steps out of her pyjama shorts, and she can see the growing tent in his boxers.

That makes her laugh a little, and she shakes her head.

"You're desperate," she snorts, and he glares at her.

"Only for you," he mutters, crossing the room, and forgetting her little order.

He picks her up, and she wraps her legs around his waist, a devilish grin on her face.

He presses his lips to hers, and she pulls away for a minute.

"This doesn't mean I've forgiven you," she smirks, grabbing his head and pulling him back to her.

He presses her up against the wardrobes, reaching down with one hand to lower his boxers.

She holds his head tighter and presses his lips to hers with more force, and this time, it's her leading the kiss.

She removes her lips from his, and presses her lips to his neck, gently sucking and nipping the sensitive skin there.

She accidentally nips where his mark should be, and his entire body jolts and shivers.

He glares at her slightly, and she bats her eyes at him.

"Sorry, I didn't think," she shrugs, continuing to kiss along the base of his neck.

He brings his hand up to her breast, and she slaps it away, shaking her head.

"You don't get to touch," she smirks.

He stares at her in confusion, and then his eyes flash black and then gold.

Avery rolls her eyes, knowing exactly what's going to happen.

"Don't you dare," she warns immediately and as she says the words, he plunges into her.

"What the fuck," she hisses, digging her nails into his shoulders as she glares at him.

"You can't fuck me on a bed like a normal person, no?" She asks sarcastically, and he gives her a grin.

"That would be boring," he shrugs, thrusting in and out of her.

He adjusts his hold on her, and she suddenly shakes her head.

"Out, you're not wearing a condom," she announces, and he stares at her.

"I wasn't yesterday, either," he reminds her, and she glares at him.

"That was poor planning, I can fix that mistake," she mutters, and he clenches his jaw in frustration.

"Can I move yet, or are you going to keep talking?" He asks irritably, and she gives him another glare.

"You can move, I suppose," she says after a minute, and he breathes out slowly, looking like he'd rather murder her than do anything else.

"Come on, be a good Alpha," she encourages teasingly, and he rolls his eyes.

"I'll show you a good Alpha," he scowls and plunges into her faster and harder than he had before.

"Goddess," she whimpers, one of her claws running down his back in an attempt to lift herself back up.

"Stop attacking me," he mutters, glaring at her claws.

"Excuse you," she grumbles, and he drops her onto the wooden floor ungracefully.

Before she can say anything, he's on top of her and back in her.

After a few minutes, he ejaculates inside of her, and she slaps him across the face.

"You prick," she grumbles, scowling.

"I'm not done, dumbass," he scowls back, and he promptly begins again.

Her phone rings after a while, and she groans aloud, laying on the wooden floor and not wanting to move.

He pops off the bed and peers at the screen, rolling his eyes.

"It's your mother, unless you call someone else 'Mom'," he mutters, throwing the phone to her.

She groans, rubbing her face and answering the call reluctantly.

"Hey Mum, what's wrong?" She sighs, looking at the time.

Her eyes widen when she realises it's past 1, and she quickly sits up.

She immediately lays back down when the world spins.

"Your sister is waiting to be put into the cell," Marie sighs, and Avery raises her eyebrows.

"I'm sure you can lock her in yourself, Alpha Lancaster is on a conference call right now," Avery snaps, knowing her mother doesn't want to be the one to lock her precious baby up.

"Well, why don't you come down and do it?" Marie asks, and Avery clenches her jaw.

"I can't do that," Avery responds calmly, examining her ceiling.

"Why not?" Marie demands.

"Mother, I am the Alpha. I can't just drop everything because of Louisa," Avery replies sharply, and then promptly hangs up the phone, dropping it beside her and rubbing her eyes.

"Your sister?" Roman guesses, typing on his laptop.

"It was about her, surprise, surprise," she mutters, closing her eyes again.

"Do you plan on moving any time soon, because you're very distracting," he sighs, glancing over at her naked form.

"If you're distracted, go somewhere else," she grumbles, "I'm comfortable here, and I'm not getting up just because you can't resist seeing naked breasts."

He rolls his eyes at her dramatics and continues typing, glancing at her in mild concern every so often.

"I need to go visit York, and finish emails, and check in with Kali and Kathleen," she mutters to herself, dreading the thoughts of having to move even an inch.

"Then do it, lazy ass," Roman sighs, shaking his head at her.

"Fine, I will," she snaps, dragging herself off the floor reluctantly.

Her legs vibrate as she moves, and she grimaces as her legs nearly give up.

"I do not like you for this," she grunts, staggering to her dressing table and leaning against it to regain her balance.

He smirks in her direction, feeling pretty proud of himself.

I'll fix this, Sonya snarls, putting all of her energy into strengthening Avery's posture.

Almost instantly, Avery stands up straight, and Avery cocks her head to the side in mock confusion.

"Oh, you thought I meant for the screwing? Oh gosh, no, I meant for the situation you created by lying to me," she sighs dramatically, flashing the middle finger in his direction and storming into the bathroom.

She slams the door behind her, and leans against it as she looks around her bathroom.

Get ready, and then we'll go see York, Sonya encourages, and Avery inhales slowly and deeply, turning the shower on while she brushes her teeth.

She lets the water run while she gargles her mouthwash, wrinkling her nose up at the intense mint flavour.

Hopping into the shower once she clips her hair up again, she resists the temptation to whack her head against the tiled wall and instead shaves her legs.

She scrubs her skin aggressively with a loofa, and she's bright pink by the time she emerges.

She frowns at the vividness of her skin and rolls her eyes irritably.

You are so grumpy today, Sonya mutters.

I'm always grumpy, Avery responds.

Well, Miss Grumpy, you need to figure out who the hell rang you last night, Sonya reminds her.

Avery curses under her breath, moisturising and then unclipping her hair.

Who do I even ask about it? I'm not telling Roman, I'm sending him back to his pack today, Avery sighs, and she can feel her wolf wither a little bit at the mention of Roman being absent.

That's fair, Sonya mumbles, and Avery feels slightly bad.

Her wolf has bonded with his, but Avery doesn't care that much - he lied to her more than once.

Sonya can totally see her human's point of view, and so, she doesn't push the issue, instead electing to remain silent and let Avery deal with the problem at hand.

Wrapping her towel around her body tighter, she walks out of the bathroom, floating over to her wardrobe and pulling out a shirt dress.

She was going to wear skinny jeans that she brought with her, but she doesn't want to feel constrained, so the dress is the best option.

She turns her back to Roman, who's focused so intensely on his laptop that she's slightly shocked that the screen doesn't crack.

Slipping on her undergarments, Avery pops into the shirt dress, securing a belt around her waist to give it some shape.

She squints out the window, and when she realises that it's pretty cloudy, she puts on some thigh-high heeled boots.

Moderately satisfied with her outfit, she puts her earrings in and puts her glasses on.

Today will be a long day; she can just tell.

"I have errands to run," Avery states, packing up her laptop while she occasionally glances at Roman.

"Cool, go do them," he responds, looking at her over the laptop screen with a raised eyebrow.

"I want you gone by the time I come back," she grimaces, and he pauses his incessant typing.

"Oh, you're kicking me out," he mutters, and she stops packing.

"Did you think I'd let you stay forever?" She asks, "you're not a puppy."

He closes the laptop slowly, and nods at her.

"I'll leave now then, I suppose," he murmurs, pulling off her sweatshirt and leaving it on the bed.

"You don't have to leave this second, I'm just telling you that you should be out of here in the next six hours," she drawls, zipping up her bag.

"No, you don't want me here, and even a blind man could see that," he states calmly, standing up and stretching.

"Let your border patrol know that I'll be in wolf form," he mutters, and Avery is surprised into silence.

She didn't expect him to leave so suddenly, and even though it's entirely unreasonable, she feels slightly hurt.

You're the one kicking him out. If you want him to stay, say that, Sonya chimes in.

Avery ignores her wolf because she knows that she's right.

"I'll alert them," Avery nods stiffly, feeling hugely awkward.

"Thank you for letting me stay, and tell your parents thank you for dinner," he responds formally.

He begins to head for the door, and Avery runs a hand through her hair and almost stops herself.

"Roman," she quickly pipes up, and he stops dead in his tracks, looking behind him directly at her.

"I really want to talk about the reason you lied to me. But not today." Avery sighs, and he nods.

"Of course, we can teleconference whenever you want," he replies.

The room is quiet again as the two stare at each other, neither wanting to be the one who looks away.

Eventually, Avery glances away, the tension proving to be too much for her to handle.

Roman nods silently, a slight frown on his face.

"Goodbye, Avery," he finally says, turning, and this time fully leaving the room.

Avery hears her front door shut quietly, and she closes her eyes, finally in complete silence.

I don't think that was our best idea ever, Sonya admits.

I agree with you! But now, he's one less problem to think about, Avery sighs, and Sonya snorts.

You're not that good at ignoring your problems, she replies.

Avery is slightly insulted by that response, so she tunes Sonya out and grabs her stuff, heading downstairs to her kitchen.

When she gets downstairs, she turns on the radio, and some song she vaguely recognises comes on, blaring out of the speakers in her walls.

She gets a little heart attack at the volume, and she turns it down quickly, bopping her head to the music as she scurries around the kitchen, making herself a smoothie.

"What will I use today?" She hums to herself, before Sonya suggests a mango smoothie.

Avery goes with it, pulling her ingredients out of the fridge and freezer, and then throwing them all into a blender.

She raises the music's volume while the blender is on, and she screams the words of the song as she dances around her kitchen.

The best part of being an adult - if you can ignore the loneliness, which she absolutely can.

Once her smoothie is done, she pours it into a travel mug and leaves the blender on the counter-top, quickly linking her maid that there's some slight mess.

Once the lady responds, Avery leaves, locking her doors and setting her alarm system behind her.

Walking down the steps of her house, she looks around intently, squinting in every direction.

She won't lie; she would appreciate a companion in case everything goes arse-ways.

She's on edge.

She climbs into her car quicker than she ever has before, locking the doors as soon as she gets in.

Resting her hands on the steering wheel, she forces herself to breathe calmly.

Being outside for ten seconds made her nervous, so she has no idea how she'll do the rest of the day.

Inhaling sharply, she forces herself to put on her seatbelt and set off, gritting her teeth as she observes the road.

She doesn't usually drive, and she never drives herself, but she has a lot to do, and she doesn't have the time nor patience to wait for somebody to come and get her.

She swerves to avoid some children playing in the road, and they shout quick 'sorry''s to her as she drives on.

She nods to them with a smile, linking their parents that the kids should be kept inside that afternoon.

It's overcast, which means it'll be dark all day. Night will come in minutes rather than hours, and she doesn't know if the thing that phoned her last night is in her territory.

They're too close to the forest for her comfort, and when one of the parents asks if they could bring the children to the playground, she agrees.

The playground is located right beside the training academy for a reason.

Nothing would risk attacking the centre of her pack. Nobody is that dumb.

She pulls into her parking space outside of the hospital, stopping briefly to allow people to cross the area.

As soon as she stops driving, she drops her relaxed mood and is instantly on guard.

Her eyes dance around the area before she gets out, and she only brings her phone and gun, quickly sweeping up to the wing York lays in.

Nobody tries to stop her; they're used to her by now.

Her gun gets some curious stares, especially from children, but their mothers make them look away, which she appreciates - she isn't sure why she has it with her, but she decided it was better to be safe and overly cautious than stupid.

Strolling into York's room, she passes a nurse who looks exhausted.

Giving the woman a nod, she slides into a seat beside the bed and prods York's arm.

"Good afternoon, fuck face," she sighs.

There's no response, obviously, so Avery continues talking.

"A lot has happened in the last twenty-four hours. Roman showed up, and so did Louisa. Louisa is in the cells now for disrespecting myself and Roman. Xavier didn't come with her, and I don't know what's happening there, but there's definitely something weird going on," she begins, cracking her neck and resting her feet on the edge of the bed.

"Roman and I destroyed my office at Mum and Dad's house. He ripped one of my favourite dresses, and I'm bitter about it. We talked, and it was going really well. Then we went to my house, and I found out he lied about not having a mate. Apparently, he's an Unfortunate too. So he lied about having a mate," she sighs, putting her head back and looking at the ceiling.

Sonya, will you poke Ezra and see if he's any closer to waking up?, Avery pleads, and her wolf does as she's asked.

Nothing, he isn't moving any time soon, Sonya sighs sadly.

They sit in silence for a moment until Avery hears rustling.

She puts her hand on her gun, looking around the room.

There's nothing, and she gets to her feet quickly, checking under the bed and outside of the room.

There are no curtains or drapes to hide behind.

"What the fuck?" She mutters, severely creeped out now.

She sits back down cautiously, looking around the room.

She takes her gun out of its holster and rests it on her leg, sniffing the air intently.