---Kale's POV---

I was fuming; looking through the pile of paperwork that my fellow hunters thought was useful information. They all brought in observations about Paige, but they couldn't give me what I wanted. I wanted, needed, to know her past.

Glaring back at the four useless men, I flung the papers towards them before I smacked one of them in the face with the pommel of a dagger.

"I don't need to know where she walks when she's at school! You FOOLS!" I bellowed while a growl rumbled through my throat. At times like these, I truly missed my wolf. I would have torn these idiots to pieces.

"I can use my own eyes and ears at school! I asked you to get me more information about herself and her PAST!" snarling, I punched the idiot that brought me the information in his face, knocking him out cold. I scoffed with disgust and threw him out of my office. I wouldn't allow myself to waste any more time on a weakling.

Stalking towards my desk, I growled and cursed under my breath. Maybe I had to push Damon again, use his mate to my advantage. A grin pulled at one end of my lips, curling it in a cruel version of a smile; I could make Damon do my bidding, because when he would refuse, I'd simply order him to bring his mate to me.

My mood was slightly improved, but I still threw the remaining hunters in the room a murderous glare before I growled, "You better pray you won't disappoint me. I'm in no mood to deal with any more disappointments." One of the men swallowed harshly and I smirked, moving my attention on him.

"You have something to say, Carl?" I hissed, causing the man to freeze and slowly look up, making sure that he didn't stare me in my eyes. Smart man.

He took a deep breath before he explained, "I've only found out that the orphanage where Paige was collected from wasn't far from here. Her adoptive mother left for her alone and came back the same day." He paled slightly before he lowered his head again, whispering, "That's all I can provide you with."

I leaned on the back off my heels while I filled the room with silence. The fear waved of Carl, making the other men nervous as well. Allowing myself to think back about our past, I knew that the reason that I loved to see them cower from me was the fact that I was born from a former Alpha-line.

Turning my attention back to the cowering men in front of me, I smiled lightly before I lifted the man's head with the dagger, forcing him to look me in the eyes. I leaned slightly closer to his face and said in a slow, deadly tone "The only reason why you can leave this room alive, is because I find your information mildly useful."

I slowly pulled the blade over his cheek, leaving a long gash behind before I gestured towards the door with my chin. "Get out of my sight!" I hissed, my voice full with venom. Carl kept his head low while he scurried out of the room. Before the door could close, however, one of the messengers walked in.

One look on the man showed me he brought me bad news; his face was pale with little droplets of sweat beading of him and he wobbled on his knees. I growled slightly, turning towards him while he bowed "M-m-my lord, o-one of the s-scouts had some n-news." He stuttered, shaking as a leaf.

My nose scrunched up when fear clung to the air. Whatever he was going to tell me, I knew what the outcome would be. "Speak up!" I snarled and the man jolted slightly before he rushed out "My lord, Damon and his mate are under pack-protection-"

I interrupted the man with a roar, making him and the two hunters jump. One of them made the mistake to let his fear take over; he tried to run out of the room. A snarl erupted from my throat and the man froze, listening to the warning it carried...but he was too late.

The dagger that I had thrown after him had slipped in between a couple of ribs, sinking deep into his vitals and sending him plummeting to the floor. I took deep breaths to calm my instincts. Killing off all of my servants wouldn't do me any good. Or that's what I was thinking, trying to convince myself.

I waved the messenger away and turned towards the last hunter, cooling my anger on him with my fists. Each punch was followed with another, stronger punch until the sounds of flesh against flesh was accompanied by the cracking of bones. I kicked the man out of the room and slammed the door shut.

My eyes snapped to my cellphone when the tune filled the air and I snarled before I ran towards the small device and roared "WHAT?"

A dry chuckle answered me. "Brother dearest, I would think that you are slightly irritated, given the tone of your voice." I growled warningly, brushing a hand through my hair before I held it firmly.

"I'm not in the mood, Daniel." I snapped, moving my hand over my face before I sighed; my brother never failed to grate my last remaining nerves.

"Kale, Kale, Kale..." my brother teased in a parenting tone before he laughed slightly. "When are you ever in a good mood?" I smirked slightly when I thought of the answer.

"When I get what I want, when I want it." My tone completely serious while I sagged down in the comfortable armchair standing at my desk and I closed my eyes when Daniel replied "Well, I'm guessing that I made your day, little brother."

I smirked slightly; Daniel knew of my predicament and had traveled to Rio in an attempt to search for the information himself. Suddenly I moved up when it dawned me: if he would make my day, which means....

"What did you find?!" I said, excited to know what I needed. I could practically hear Daniel smile while he said, "Well, I found the orphanage where Paige had lived. It is located a few hours of Luke's pack."

I nodded to myself while I murmured "Yes, of course. That might explain why that other Alpha-mutt is here." referring to the Jackson Alpha. My brother hummed in agreement before he continued "It seems that Paige was brought to the orphanage by her neighbors but there's no information found over her parents."

Confusion clouded my thoughts for a moment. "And why is that?" I asked. Standing up, I walked towards the balcony, my fingers trailing over the marble. The sound of papers being shifted sounded from the phone before he replied, "Apparently, they gave up false names. We assume that they had something to hide."

I grunted, letting him know that I heard him while I thought about ways to get a hold on Paige. I wanted her here; partially because it would weaken that pack of mutts and partially for my own benefit.

My brother sighed before he spoke up. "There is one other thing Kale." I blinked, surprised by the seriousness in his tone before I slowly said "And that would be...." Trailing of in the hope that he would finish the sentence. His next words shocked me slightly.

"We found some tracks of her parents, leading us away. But the scent contained traces of shifter-blood." I froze in my seat, my hand suspended mid-air while I swallowed. "Is it the girl?"

My brother scoffed. "Unlikely; we had killed off the other shifters. You know as well as I do that a soul-shifter can only be born from two others. Besides, there are no known records of interbreeding." I smirked at myself while I was planning ahead. A chuckle escaped my throat and I heard my brother respond with one of his own.

"Told you I would make your day." He joked before he tiredly asked, "do you need anything else?"

I sat up straight in my chair while I looked at the paperwork on my desk. A smile crept on my face and I answered "I need some of your best men over here Daniel. I'm going to get what I want." Before I shut the phone off, I commented "And send our other friend over too. He would be quite useful."

----Jacob's POV----

It was hard, seeing Paige breaking down like that. When she shifted in my arms and started crying, I was slightly shocked. Paige always seemed so sure, full of self-confidence; a girl who wouldn't cry that easily.

But then I remembered Nick saying that he had watched Paige cry herself to sleep when... I ignored her. When I bullied her. I couldn't say that I rejected her completely because I hadn't. I wanted her to be with me but at the time, it makes me feel weak, falling over a human like that.

The wolf had fought my resentment and hate as much as it could and knew I had to thank my shift for that. If it had surrendered, our mating bond would've been long gone by now.

I sighed, brushing the tears of Paige's cheek with the pad of my thumb. Her eyes were red and puffy, her breath sporadically caught in her throat. Looking at her, my hand slid under her chin and I lifted her head up, making it possible to look in her eyes.

"Please Paige. I can't help you when you shut me out. It pains me to see you like this." I whispered at the end. It was the truth; seeing my mate in pain made me feel more then uneasy. My wolf wanted out, to snarl at those who caused the tears, to hover around Paige to protect her.

"Mate." He whined softly in my head, trying to connect with Paige. Although she hasn't got an inner wolf that mine could call to, he could still touch her soul. Judging by the pained look in her eyes, she felt the pull, the pull to tell me what was bothering her. But she was fighting an internal battle.

"You harmed her." My wolf whispered again, pain in his voice. I was about to point out that Tyler caused this when he snapped "She doesn't trust us anymore. Our mate should be able to trust us!"

I had to agree with him; I had fucked up, big time. I knew that Paige needed to know why I ended up ignoring her and going after anything with a skirt on. I looked back down when Paige sighed, slightly confused.

"It's just hard Jacob. My past still haunts me; I mean, who would suspect that your parents suddenly take off, leaving you behind in an orphanage with no explanation? I've waited six years for them to come back Jacob! Six YEARS!"

I hugged her closer to my chest whilst speaking in a soothing tone "They left to protect you Paige. They wouldn't have left you otherwise." She scoffed and pulled back, an angry frown between her eyes. "If I wasn't born then they would never have to leave Jacob. They could have had a normal family. If-"

I interrupted her with a growl, "Don't! You don't know what could have happened. Nobody knows." Paige tried to look away, hiding her face against my chest but I wasn't having it. Gently gripping her chin, I pulled her face up until our noses were almost touching.

"Listen very carefully, my love. This is not YOUR fault." I said, willing her to believe the truth in that statement while I allowed the emotions to fill my eyes. Her face softened while she sighed, nodding slowly before she closed her eyes.

Silence surrounded us, but it was a calm, soothing one. I closed my eyes while Paige leaned into my embrace. At times like this, I could almost imagine what it would be like if I had accepted her from the start. God, how I regretted my past choices now.

"Being a shifter isn't easy." Paige muttered and I moved slightly, placing my chin on her head while we both looked at the packhouse.

"What do you mean?"

She took a breath and slowly let it out. I moved slightly back to take a look at her face. She was contemplating whether or not she would tell me, and how much she would tell. It gave me a sharp jolt of pain but I deserved it.

"Being able to shift into all kinds of animals, I learn everything about them. Their strengths but also their weaknesses. Some of those animal instincts are very strong and hard to ignore." Paige swallowed and looked up at me, observing my expression.

"So..." I said, stretching the word cautiously, "You're saying that you have to struggle against the animal instincts that you learn?" Paige tilted her head to the side, narrowing her eyes in concentration.

"More or less. Say that my viper instincts kick up.... They have an amazing sense of smell; they can literally taste the air. Every smell that your werewolf nose picks up is intensified by tenfold, even more. What happens if there's a foul scent that halts your kind for a moment?" she asked, looking at me seriously and I nodded.

I understood; the strengths of her animal forms could also be their weakness. In the situation that she had explained, she would have been paralyzed by the scent. Improved senses could become a great weakness when you knew how to use the situation. Frowning in concentration, I gazed over the lands and thought about it.

Paige's voice broke the silence while I continued to look at our surroundings. "Shifting can also leave me vulnerable. If I had shifted back from a bird form and was attacked at that moment..." she trailed off, shivering slightly. She must have noticed my confused stare because she quickly explained.

"Bird bones are hollow, Jacob. When shifting back, the bones in my body become solid again. But when I'm attacked mid-shift.... Even the slightest punch from your kind could break a bone then." I swallowed harshly and noticed that we had company; the others had stalked closer and probably heard our conversation.

Nick stepped closer and pulled Paige up in a hug, which she immediately returned. I couldn't help the slight sting of jealousy and Nick's grin wasn't helping the situation. He pulled Paige back, holding her shoulders before he murmured, "Are you okay, sis?"

---Paige's POV---

I gave Nick a shaky smile, wiping away some stray tears while I said "Yeah, everything's fine Bro'." He tried to look me in the eyes, but I looked at the moss between my feet. "You don't need to hide Paige" Nick whispered while another set of arms hugged me.

Emilie smiled at me when I looked up, and I gave a smile back at her. " I know, it's just reflex, I guess. It was better, safer for me if I hid my true emotions at the orphanage, so that they wouldn't pick on me that easily."

Several growls ran through the air and Amy was cracking her knuckles, mumbling something about teaching those brats a lesson. I chuckled at that and they seemed relieved that I smiled again.

"Sorry if I have acted like a brat you guys." I said sincerely, "I tried to be as perfect as possible, kind of a self-defense mechanism, so that I would be easily accepted." Grace and Amy gave me a side-ways hug while Jack remarked, "Hey, after that second music lesson, I just knew you weren't perfect. Remember the violin?"

I moaned in embarrassment, making the mischievously grinning Jack even more excited. He wiggled his brows before he continued, "You wanted to learn how to use that instrument so badly, and dad eventually gave in." he shook his head with a smirk.

"That bad?" Nick asked, glancing between Jack's grin and my crimson red cheeks. Jack laughed whilst nodding and said, "Seriously, it sounded like she was torturing a dying cat! It was the first time that Dad used is wolf-speed at school, just to snatch that violin out of her arms."

The group erupted in laughter and I growled slightly at Jack, who playfully winked at me. "I hate you." I said half-hearted. Jack noticed and winked again, teasing me "Nah, you love me."

I rolled my eyes at him while the others laughed again. "You wish, boy." Trying to keep a straight face, but a smile broke through. Although it was hard for me to confess it, I was glad that I found the trust to keep my friends.

I blinked when someone stepped in front of me. Tyler was fidgeting, looking embarrassed before he muttered an apology. He looked up at me when I let out a dry chuckle. "Oh, don't you worry Tyler. I'm getting you back on that one. And I think," I said, eying my brother and Jacob, "That I might have some help with that."

Jacob and Nick gained an identical smirk while Tyler cursed under his breath. The others laughed again and padded him on his back before we all walked inside. Looking at Tyler's retreating back, I found myself laughing silently.

I knew just the prank to win this game.

A.n. Sorry it took so long, health is jumping all over the place. I'm basically on a fluids diet, as anything solid upsets my stomach too much. Next thursday will have my gastroscopy to see if I have a stomach ulcer, infection or hernia. Plus an appointment with a cardiologist, though they think the heart palpitations is due to the surplus of stomach acid.