Lena's POV

The day flew by as we began to head back to the pack with a few squirrels. James and I were finished with the hunt for the day, getting ready to train the warriors in their fighting stances.

"Lena," James called for me,

I turned my head to the side as we walked alongside one another leading the warriors back to the Woods Pack. He cleared his throat wanting to say something,

"I just wanted to say that-how do I say it? Okay, Lena, I wanted to say...I didn't mean to hurt you, you know how much I love you and I would do anything to make sure you are happy. What I am doing is for you, for your well being-"

"James, it's okay. I get it," I placed my hand inside of his moving closer to his tall figure, "I love you more," I whispered.

He sighed giving my hand a gentle squeeze of comfort. I smiled warmly towards him as the energy changed when we entered our pack territory. He let go of my hand placing an arm over my shoulders bringing me into a tight side hug. James kissed the top of my head, rubbing a hand up and down my arm.

"I'll talk to Alpha when I get the chance to figure out a better way to do this. I can't keep having you wake up earlier every day. Maybe, he will let you rest while I continue to work."

I shook my head at his reckless response, hating the idea of throwing both of our jobs onto him. He already did more for this pack than anyone I knew, and to be honest even more than the Betas. James didn't deserve to work harder than needed. He out of all wolves deserved a damn break.

"No, I won't let you do everything on your own," I said.

He just kept quiet, thinking I didn't know about the plans he was coming up within his mind. I stopped in my tracks, watching all of the warriors disperse back to their loved ones while James and I stood near the Packhouse. I rested my palms on the sides of his cheeks, gently bringing his forehead against mine.

"Look, I know you want to take care of me more than anything else in the world, but watching you burn yourself out does the exact opposite. When I see you not taking care of yourself, it hurts me. So please, let us figure this out together," I asked of him.

James squeezed his eyes shut slowly nodding at my answer. I was about to lean in, preparing to give my mate the first kiss we've had in what seemed like years, until...

"Lena. My office. Now."

I groaned slamming my head into James' chest in frustration. I continued to crave for him never fully becoming fulfilled with his touch. My head snapped to the side seeing Diana infuriated with smoke nearly coming out of her ears.

I let go of James folding my arms while giving her a look.

"Diana, can we please do this later?"

She shook her head pointing to the Packhouse where we all lived at least once in our lifetime. I knew what this was about, preparing for the worst that could happen. Diana was never mad, in fact, she was always the opposite. Luca was always the bad guy in everything while Diana made sure we would get out of trouble.

It surprised me to see her this angry, but I bowed down in respect leaving my mate to face the wrath of the Luna Queen. She followed after me as we both went into the Packhouse observing every little move I made.

Diana began to trot upstairs while I stayed behind looking around to see nothing had changed in the last eighteen years. A small giggle left me when I saw the hazard poster hanging from the room Daniel and Aiden used to share.

I slowly moved up the stairs seeing Luca's office door completely open. Diana rested her weight on the messy table rubbing her face with distress trying to come up with something to say.

"Why? Why couldn't you have just listened to Blake? If you had any concerns, you should have come to me." Diana stated.

"Diana, we have been doing the same route for the past 6 weeks and have arrived with very little to nothing for our members. The whole area by King's Lake is picked clean by the other packs as well. We need to widen our search,"

"Okay, okay. So what's your idea? What do you think we should be doing differently?" She asked.

"Our pack warriors are famished, they aren't getting the rest they need. What we need is a new schedule. Diana, I'm not even able to spend any quality time with James anymore because of these new arrangements," I pointed myself, "I feel like we should get together and create a new proposition,"

She frowned when I spoke about James, realizing how much of a toll it had been taking on us. Her feet were soon planted onto the ground making their way into Luca's large chair. She took a seat in it grabbing a pen and sticky note.

"Alright, I'll let Luca know and we can all work something out. Believe me, I understand what it feels like not being able to spend one on one time with your mate. Why don't you both stop by for dinner so we can go over new ideas?"

I didn't think Diana could be more reasonable. She always wanted what was best for all of us, I appreciated her for that. I gave her a small smile with a quick nod exiting the office before leaving the Packhouse.

It didn't take long for me to make it outside to see James still waiting for me. He noticed my presence, relieved to see I was okay.

"How was it? Please tell me it was just Luna Queen you had to deal with,"

I gave him a small peck on the lips, happy to give him some sort of affection after a long time. James held my hand, waiting for a response,

"We are coming here tonight for dinner. Diana has agreed to make arrangements to help us. So, for now, let's go train those warriors, then get ready for Dinner with the Alpha King and Luna Queen,"

James nodded, leading us towards the training centers.

*****

The night quickly came as I smoothed out the red romper giving myself one last check over before heading to the Packhouse. James wore a black shirt with a leather jacket, pairing it with blue jeans. He wore heavy boots tying the laces as I slid on some sandals. He stood tall turning to stare at me.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

I nodded grabbing a hold of his bicep as we left our small home. James kept giving me glances on the way there, hiding a small grin that was forming its way onto his irresistible lips. The blood rushed my cheeks at his inappropriate glances, knowing his dirty thoughts were beginning to surface.

"What?" I asked, my voice becoming hoarse rather quickly.

James hummed, continuing to walk us through the pack towards the Packhouse. I could feel my legs wanting to turn into jello, preparing to give out on me at any moment. James swiped me off the ground carrying me all the way to the front door. I let out a small laugh at his actions, feeling a bit closer to him since the first time in months.

It was amazing to feel this way again as if we were back in our teenage years, or at last when I was a teen. He set me down gently, ringing the doorbell to the large house. We waited for a moment or two until the door opened revealing someone I didn't expect.

Jade answered with a large grin, "Oh my! Lena, James! It is so good to see you both!"

She pulled me into a tight hug kissing my cheek then James'. Jade moved to the side to let us in leaving us both wondering why she was here. I took off my sandals, using James for balance. He held onto my waist, giving it a slight pat.

"You never told me we'd have more company." He spoke up.

I scoffed, "I didn't even know we'd be having more company,"

He chuckled with his eyes closed rubbing my bareback with his calloused hands. I held onto his torso leading us into the kitchen. James swung to the door open to Hayden pouring himself a drink while having a conversation with Luca. Diana saw us smiling at our presence.

"You made it! Tonight Luca and I made some pot roast with a spring salad. I hope you don't mind," She covers the side of her mouth with the back of her hand, "I had to tone down the spice levels for him, or else he gets grumpier than usual," She whispered the last part.

I giggled when Luca turned his head to her, "Honey, you do know I can hear you,"

Diana looked around as if nothing happened giving him.a look of curiosity.

"Please, sit!" She offered.

I took a seat next to Jade who was next to Hayden, Diana was across from me while James was seated at my right. Luca sat a seat away from his mate. I took a plate from the middle stacking it up with food.

Diana placed a cup to my side filling it to the brim with champagne. We all began dinner with grace, digging in quietly into our own separate meals.

"So, what brings you both here? It's been nearly a month since we've last seen each other!" James asked Hayden and Jade.

They smiled preparing to speak until Diana cut them off, "Why don't we begin with fixing the arrangements? Luca, would you mind telling them what you thought about?"

Luca swallowed the food he had in his mouth licking his lips. Diana wiped the side of his mouth that had some dressing, quietly giggling to herself at him. He smiled towards her, loving the way she smiled around him.

"So, I've decided that we are going to stop the hunts until further notice. Diana and I will continue to look over other opportunities to avoid struggling to ration when the winter comes. For now, you both are to only train the warriors from noon until 6:00 pm. This way, you are able to rest while allowing warriors to take scheduled shifts to guard the borders."

"Alpha, thank you. I just couldn't stand to see Lena losing sleep from these new times."

Luca agreed, giving me a small wink, "Don't mention it. I understand how it feels to want what is best for your mate."

James gave him a small nod in agreement, continuing the conversation.

"Where are Blake and Monica? I thought they would be here as well," He was curious to know where the Betas had gone off too,

"Oh, right. The Betas went to go visit their son to see how he is doing."

Frankie had become Brady and Mia's Beta leaving his parents to be both proud along with concern. I understood why they would feel that way. This time, I asked Jade what they were doing at our pack rather than their daughter's.

"Great. Now that we've got that out of the way if you don't mind me asking, what are you two doing here? Not that we hate you being here or anything, just wondering out of curiosity," I asked them.

Hayden let out a booming laugh answering my question, "We decided to stay here for the week to make sure we are making the right choice to sell the house in Utah. I mean we still don't know if we'd be staying at the Woods Pack or the Moon's Pack."

"Actually, we were also hoping that Blake and Monica would be willing to house sit for us, but I guess they are a little busy," Jade added.

I took a bite of my salad, chomping on it quietly.

"Hey, why don't  we have you two house sit for them?" Diana suggested

The fork clattered out of my hands making a loud noise to ring through the kitchen. James placed a hand on my thigh as a reassuring gesture. I gave them an awkward smile with a small chuckle not wanting to house sit.

"I don't think that's a good idea..." James mumbled.

Diana scoffed, resting her head on Luca's shoulder.

"Why not? You two have been complaining about not getting enough time with one another. This might be a good way to give you both some time off work. What do you think, babe?" She asked her mate.

"I agree. It's only a week. I mean, what harm can it do? I can have Diana finish off the rest of my paperwork while I train the warriors. We can survive 7 days without you both working your asses off." He answered.

"Then it's settled! Tomorrow morning we will drop you both off at the airport back to Utah! Ooh, I am so excited!" Jade squealed, clapping her hands quietly.

Great, we were assigned to house sit instead of kicking ass.