Matei held my hand and I squeezed it tightly as he led me to the apartment Jana and Katrina shared. Part of me was still scared of him...what he was, what he could do. And I couldn't shake the memory of those amber eyes in the moonlight... But I trusted him. Even after finding out. And I needed that sense of peace he gave me, now more than ever.

Don't get me wrong, I was excited to meet these friends of his. Even though some of them, I was sure I'd met before. But knowing what they were? Well, that just made me just want to stick closer to Matei. He led me through the winding hallways until we came upon a red door. He rapped on it with his knuckles lightly, one hand still tightly holding onto mine.

I sucked in a deep breath as the door swung open, revealing the girl I'd seen before - the one with fiery red hair. Unlike the previous day, she smiled over at me. There was still a hint of uneasiness in her gray eyes. I could tell she was holding back a tongue-lashing for Matei for my sake. Wordlessly, she held the door open for us and Matei pulled me inside behind him. T.J. and Selina were already here.

Along with the blonde cashier girl from the Kafe. Furrowing my eyebrows in confusion, she came up to me, smiling.

"Hi, we haven't formally met. I'm Katrina!" she told me cheerfully, holding her hand out for me to shake, "It's so nice to have another human in the group now!"

Trying to hide my cringe at the obvious way-too-niceness, I shook her hand briefly before letting my hand fall back to my side. She took no notice of it apparently since she just kept on smiling at me. Sickening, I thought to myself with a deep frown. T.J. waved at me from his perch on the couch and I smiled.

"Hey, Jemma." he greeted me, green eyes shining brightly.

Selina sat next to him, a pretty pink hajib wrapped around her hair. Her dark doe eyes blinked out at me and she smiled hesitantly, like she was unsure of me like Jana was. Unsure I was trustworthy enough to keep the secret, I suppose. Matei went over to sit down beside them, pulling me along. Gingerly, I sat down onto the red leather cushion and glanced up at Jana who held her hands clasped together as she stood in front of us.

"Okay, first things first, it's nice to meet you, Jemma," she told me, "But there's a few things you need to know now that you...know about us,"

"Matei's told me the basics already," I informed her, a bit irritated at her sudden bossiness.

She frowned slightly, shooting Matei a pointed look to which he just shrugged. She rolled her gray eyes and turned to me.

"Yes, but did he tell you about Segolia?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

Pursing my lips, I shook my head 'no'. We had never made it to that particular subject yet. She sighed, rubbing her temples slightly like having to explain all this was exhausting for her. And I guess, in part, it was. After all, I was just a dumb kid that got sucked into this world. And I knew nothing about it.

Any of it.

"Segolia is a corporation designed by Wolfbloods for Wolfbloods," she explained to me, her Welsh accent sticking to her words like magnets, "They focus on medical and scientific research, finding cures for different diseases,"

"Then why did that were - I mean, Wolfblood attack me that night?" I shot back, crossing my arms.

"One attacked you?" she asked in confusion, shooting Matei a questioning look.

He frowned, creases forming on his forehead.

"I think it was a Segolia wolf but I'm not sure," he shrugged at her.

She rolled her eyes and huffed, "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?!"

"Uh, it just happened a few nights ago. Besides, I've been a bit distracted by the current situation!" he snapped, making her frown deepen.

I sighed. This was all my fault. Maybe I didn't even need to be here. I got up from the couch and began to stride towards the door when Jana's hand closed around my wrist, spinning me back around forcefully.

"And just where do you think you're going? You're apart of this too now!" she snarled and I insticintevely ripped my wrist from her tight grip.

Rubbing at the pink lines that formed on my skin from her grasp, I glared daggers up at her.

"And I never asked to be!" I lashed out, my voice reverbating in the quiet that ensued, "I never wanted to be apart of this at all!"

"Well, it's much too late for that now, isn't it?! You just had to follow Matei! You should've just left him alone!" she shot back, her gray eyes turning amber-colored with her growing anger.

I took a step back, slightly afraid of what she could do to me. No! I told myself, No, this isn't my fault! She can't pin this on me! I don't need to fear her!

"Just shut up, Jana! I didn't do anything! Yes, I followed Matei! And yes, you know what? Maybe I messed up by doing that. But I will never listen to you or follow your orders!" I shouted, my face reddening slightly in anger.

She got in my face then and a growl welled up from her throat, those amber eyes boring into mine. But I didn't back down. I had nothing to be sorry for and she was sadly mistaken if she thought I was going to apologize for following Matei last night. It was wrong of me, I know but I didn't regret it. Not one bit. Not even now.

"I am the Alpha! You will listen to me!" she snarled, baring her fangs at me.

I scoffed, "You might be the Alpha of this pack. But you're not mine!"

I heaved my hand back then and slapped her right across the cheek. Her head snapped to the side and she let out a louder growl. I turned around and sped out the door then. Slamming it closed behind me, I didn't stop until I reached the Kafe downstairs and pressed my back against the wall, panting heavily from the run. My eyes widened then and I sucked in a deep breath. What had I just done?!