My eyes slowly opened. It was too early. Rolling over, I was surprised to find Titus watching me.

"Hey," I brushed my finger against his cheek. "What's wrong? You look worried."

His ears splayed out. "I just can't protect you like I want too."

"God, Titus," I breathed, hugging him. "I'm not going to break just because your dad demoted me. No one is stupid enough to piss you off. Once the three weeks are up, you'd just kick their ass."

"I'd rather kick their ass now," he muttered.

I grabbed his muzzle and gave it a shack. "No one has touched me. Hell, no one's even talked to me but Darius, your parents, and River."

He whined like a hurt pup and rolled on top of me. I rubbed his back, enjoying the feeling of his fur between my fingers. It was funny to see such a terrify creature acting so pathetic.

"I'll be fine. I promise," I assured him. "I'll obey all the rules and stay clear of everyone. Alright?"

He let out a deep breath and climbed off me. "I have patrol with Darius, but Rupert will be around if you can't find my dad."

I arched a brow. "You've gone on patrol before, and I've survived without you. Stop worrying. Nothing is going to happen, nothing ever does."

Nodding, he climbed out of bed and stretched out. I sat up and drapped my arm over my knees. River hadn't shown up. I guess I was going hungry since I was too lazy to wake up by myself.

"I missed breakfast."

Titus glanced at the cooler. "Hurry and eat, before you go."

"What if Darius comes by?"

My mated gritted his teeth. "If he turns me in, I'll beat the shit out of him."

"Then I guess I have nothing to worry about." I climbed out of bed and went to my dresser. I pulled on some shorts and lifted out a blue t-shirt."

Titus pressed up behind me, startling me. "Why do you need that?" He laid his muzzle on my shoulder.

I glanced back at him. "I always wear one."

"Why do you want to cover this up, though?" He squeezed my upper arms.

Putting the shirt back, I went for a tank top. "Better."

"I guess," he breathed, wandered off across the room.

I eyed him. "You're acting kind of weird."

"I'm just worried about you that's all. My mark is meant to keep other werewolves away, and it can't do that if no one can see it." He put his hands on his hips and peered up at a skylight. "It smells like rain."

Pulling the tank top over my head, I went to him. "Boost me up, and I'll close it."

Titus lifted me onto his shoulder, and I reached up and pulled the cover over. We did it the other one as well. He set me down, and I smiled at him. His expression remained blank.

"Well, be careful," I hugged him. "Hopefully the weather isn't too awful for you."

He nodded.

"I'll be sure to stay in the cave if it does start raining."

After kissing the side of my head, he left the room. Something really wasn't right with that werewolf.

***

I snuck outside through the hot pool exit and hurried down to the river with my stash of food. I stopped a gold werewolf sitting by the bank.

"Hey." I climbed up the boulder and sat beside him.

He kept his head down, staring at his hands in his lap.

"What's wrong?"

River shrugged. "Bad day."

"Well, I'm going to make it better." I showed him the goodies hiding in my shirt. "Hungry?"

His eyes grew wide. "But if we're caught?"

"Let's hurry and eat, so we won't be." I unwrapped the sandwich I had made and handed half of it to him.

River finished it in four bites and was licking the crumbs off his fur.

"Do you like fruit?" I offered him an apple.

He nodded. "I don't get to have it often." Taking it from me, he turned it around and around, examining every angle. "Thank you."

"Titus will never eat it. You know after all this is over, you can always come to me if you're hungry. I won't be able to get premium meat or anything, but they order a lot of fruit and some of it always goes bad before it gets eaten. I'd be happy to share it with you."

He smiled and took a bite. I rubbed mine on my shirt, before digging my teeth into it.

"About yesterday."

River froze.

"I'm not mad."

He let out the breath he was holding.

"I knew Titus had other options. He was far from being a virgin when we met."

River bowed his head, trying not to smile.

"I'm sorry, though, if he hurt your feelings."

He shook his head. "It's fine. He's just your mate, and I said some stuff I shouldn't have."

I looped my arm around his shoulders. "You know, I'm going to have a word with Titus after all this is over."

"About what?" He gnawed on the core to his apple, spitting out seeds occasionally.

I put the grapes in his lap. "Letting us hang out."

He popped a few of the purple marbles into his mouth. "He won't let you."

"I'm pretty persuasive. Anyways, you're a sub, I'm a sub," I pressed a hand into my chest. "Peter a sub, and you need more friends desperately. I actually think you two would get along really well. You're a lot alike."

River sighed. "He so pretty." He let out a groan, which surprised me. "Why does he have to be so perfect?" He gazed off downstream.

I started to laugh and patted his leg. "Well, Peter has many fans. Glad to know you're one of them."

***

I tossed the last of the flat rocks I had found across the river and watch it instantly sink. I still sucked at skipping rocks. After I served my final week of punishment, I was going to have Titus show me how it was done, because this was embarrassing. My werewolf skill had not improved.

Squatting down on the rock bar, I started picking through them.

"Aden!" The gold werewolf waved at me as he weaved through the trees.

I smiled. "Hey, where have you been?"

He gave me a big grin. "The alpha arranged a meeting for me. I might get a mate."

"Have you met the guy?" I raised a brow.

River shook his head. "No."

"How do you know if you're even going to like them, then?" I attempted to skip a rock.

It hit the water and went straight to the bottom.

"I don't." He raised up on his toes. "But a lot of werewolf have arrange engagement. Darius had one. He knew Storm beforehand, but it was still arranged."

There was so much excitement in his voice, I didn't want to ruin it by trying to be the voice of reason. This world was different. I needed to accept that.

"Well, I hope it works out for you." I chucked another rock and got the same result.

"Yeah." River looked up at the parting clouds. "There's a rainbow."

"Hmmm..." I inched over closer to him. "Where? I don't see it."

"Come on." He grabbed my wrist and dragged me up the path. "Before it's gone."

I jogged after him. "River, where are we going?"

"Come on." He motioned for me to hurry.

"Why can't we just wait until the next rain storm?" I stepped into a patch of thick mud. "That's all it's been doing this week."

"Aden hurry!" The gold werewolf had already darted across the hot pool bridge and heading to the far wall of the cave.

I followed at a much slower pace and spotted him climbing up the rocks to get onto the roof. "I don't think this is a good idea." I folded my arms.

He pulled himself up and looked down at me. "Come on. You can really see it from up here."

With a sigh, I shed my clothes and shifted. "It's too early for climbing," I muttered as I started up the side of the cave. I lifted my upper body over the ledge and wiggled the rest of the way on.

"Made it." I sat on my knees beside River, smiling at the view. "Wow."

The rainbow seemed to reached from one side of the forest to the other.

"Hey look, there's another." He pointed off to the mountain range.

"It's a double." I motioned toward the second.

We sat quietly just taking in the sight of the forest. The recent rains had filled the air with a fresh scent, and all the plants were a lush green.

"I always like to come up here after it rains," said River softly. "I guess that one perk to being an omega. I don't have any responsibilities, so I can do stuff like this."

"If you get a mate, that might change." I flashed him a smirk.

"That would be a change I'd be okay with," he said with a smile.

I nodded. "I'm going to sneak into my room and grab some stuff. I'll be right back so don't go anywhere."

"'kay, just don't let Darius caught you."

I lowered myself over the edge. "I have an inside word that he's on western border patrol," I gave him a thumbs up, "so we're good."

***

It was starting to get dark when we finally climbed down. Shifting back to human, I pulled on my clothes and check my drawing bag to make sure I hadn't left anything behind. Taking out my sketch pad, I looked over the image I had done of River.

"You're really good at drawing," he said, looking over my shoulder.

"A lot of practice." I flipped the cover over to protect the image.

He gave me a small smile. "It looks a lot like me."

"You were a good model. You barely moved at all, and I didn't even tell you to sit still," I laughed.

River bowed his head. "When you're alone a lot, it kind of happens naturally."

I bumped into his shoulder. "My punishment might be almost over, but you're not getting rid of me. Stop trying." I started down the path.

The werewolf jogged to catch up and fell in step behind me. We reached the hot pool bridge.

"See you tomorrow."

River nodded. "I'll come wake you up early."

"And I'll sneak out some food."

He smiled. "Bye."

I gave him a wave. "Seeya later." Adjusting the strap on my shoulder, I head inside.

I poked my head into the room to find it empty. Titus was probably at dinner, and I was really hoping he brought something back. The few snacks I had found had not been enough.

Setting my bag on the desk, I started unpacking. Lightening cracked in the distance, startling me. Yet another storm blowing in. I grabbed the lanterns and wound them up before placing them around the room. Voice sounded down the hall.

Titus parted the curtains. "Hey."

"Hi." I went to him and gave him a hug. Pulling his muzzle down to my level, I kissed his cheek. "How was your day?"

He shrugged. "Alright. Pretty uneventful."

"It didn't rain where you were at?"

My mate shook his head. "No, but plenty of mud."

"Sounds like your kind of thing."

He rolled his eyes and sat down in one of the armchairs. "What have you been doing?"

"Spent the day with River, as usual. He told me your dad arranged a date for him, so that's exciting. I drew a bit, so yeah, rather uneventful," I chuckled.

"What did you draw?" he motioned to my sketch book on the desk.

"Just a few sketches." I passed it to him. "I might turn one into a painting later."

Titus flipped it open, and I glanced at the image. My chest seized. I stood frozen at his side, watching him from the corner of my eye. Titus was just starting. He knew as well as I did that it was clear we had been on the roof.

"Aden." He let out heated breath. He tapped his claw on River before tracing the outline of the ledge.

"Titus, we were safe," I exclaimed. "We didn't do anything. We just sat there and talk. It was no big deal."

He flung the sketchbook across the room.

I jumped back, frowning at him. "Why would you do that?" I hurried to retrieve it. "You could have tore one of them."

"And what about you?" he snapped, rising from the seat. "Why would you go up there? What if you had fallen through a skylight or part of the cave collapsed?"

I held the book to my chest. "River goes up there all the time. He's never gotten hurt."

"River is not my mate!" He clenched my fist. "You are. I work my ass off everyday trying to protect you, to give you everything, and you do something so stupid." He turned his back to me.

Placing the book on the desk, I slowly approached him. "Titus, I'm sorry." I reached out a hand and touched his arm. "I won't do it again, I promise. I didn't mean to upset you."

"What? You thought putting your life at risk, wouldn't upset me?" He pulled away. "You're not a child anymore, Aden. This thing you do, by coherently making horrible decision, isn't going to work."

"I didn't do it to upset, okay," I breathed, feeling my chest tighten. "River just wanted to show me. We were careful. We stayed away from the skylights."

"River," he gritted his teeth. "River is an omega. I don't care what he does. I will never care. But you?" He shook his head. "Why Aden? I just don't understand why." Titus staggered back to the armchair and sunk into it. My mated rested his elbow on the armrest and block his face from my view.

Taking in a deep breath, I sucked in my lips and moved closer. "I know this demotion has been hard, and I'm sorry." I reached out hesitantly to him. "I just wanted to make the most of it. River doesn't have anyone. I'm sorry. I really am." My fingertips brushed against his fur.

"Don't." He twisted his body away from me.

"Please, Titus." I shuffled closer. "Look at me." I cupped his cheek. "I'm sorry."

"Go away!"

I retracted my hand. "Why are you acting like this? I said I'm sorry. It was a bad choice on my part, and I'll never go up there again."

"Leave me alone, Aden," he growled.

Swallowing hard, I stood my ground. "No, we're going to fix this now, because that what's mate do. We... we figure things out together."

"Go away," he said firmly, his body shaking.

"No," I stated. "I won't go. I won't leave you. I'm staying right here."

Titus didn't move, but the tension in his body was growing.

I slowly inched closer and sat down on the armrest he wasn't using. Grabbing his free hand, I clasped it in mine and gave it a squeeze. "It was a stupid thing to do. I wasn't thinking. River and I-"

"I don't want to hear his name!" He swung his arm. His elbow collided with my chest and as I tried to regain my balance I felt my skin tear open as his claws sliced into it. Falling to the floor, I stared at the blood running from the cuts on my chest and shoulder. He hit me.

Gasping for air, I sat up and scooted back. Titus's ears swiveled to the side. His hardened expression turned to panic when he saw the blood.

"Aden?"

Shaking my head, I crawled into the bed to get away from him.

"Aden, oh my god." He came at me, a giant dog with claws and fangs, and touched my shoulder.

"No." I pushed his hands off.

"Aden, let me help." The werewolf wrestled my arms to my sides and tried to pin me down. "I can heal it. I'll fix it. I can fix this."

"No!" I screamed, throwing back my head. "No!"

The black wolf released me and backed away. I climbed to my feet and ran. Throwing the curtains to the side, I raced outside, to the ATV travel, and down the road.

He hit me, Titus really hit me.