"Amara, are you ok?" Drew asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"You're just acting off today."

"Come with me," I said, taking his hand and pulling him with me to the back porch.

Once we were on the back porch, I looked around to make sure there was no one out here, before I turned towards Drew. Today is my birthday, which also means my parents threw me a big birthday party. The house was crowded with people I knew, not a safe place to be discussing what I was about to tell Drew.

"What is it?" He asked, looking concerned.

"What I'm about to tell you has to stay between us and only us."

"Amara you're starting to scare me a little bit."

"Promise me you won't say anything," I said, holding out my pinky to him.

When Drew and I were kids we used to pinky promise all the time, even over stupid shit. Most kids grow out of it, but for us. We saw it as the ultimate secret, the highest level of trust.

"Of course, I promise. Whatever is said between us stays between us," Drew said as he intertwined his pinky with mine.

I looked past his shoulder to where the screen door was, making sure that I had closed the main door as well. I turned my attention back to Drew before I let go of his pinky.

"I found my mate," I said in a hushed tone, just for added precaution. There was a house full of werewolves on the other side of the back door, can't be too careful.

Drew's eyes widened at my words. He stood there silently staring at me.

"Well say something," I said, well more like snapped at him.

"Are you sure? Wait who is it? When?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm sure, and last night," I said, feeling my cheeks heat up as I remembered what we did last night in the kitchen.

"Why are you blushing? Wait you never told me who it was."

"It's Joel," I whispered to him.

His eyes widened once more as his mouth fell open.

"No. No way dude. Really?"

"I know. It shocked the hell out of me as well," I admitted.

"Does anyone else know?" He asked.

"No, you're the first person I've said anything to. Please don't say anything," I all but begged him.

"I swear I won't say anything. Why are you being so quiet about it though?"

"Well, we haven't discussed it much, so I want to talk to Joel first, kind of get an understanding of what it is we're doing. That and my dad will probably try to kill him."

I couldn't help but start to bite on my already short-to-the-nub nail. My nerves were so bad right now; I was too scared to look at Joel for too long because I was worried someone would figure out that he was my mate. Drew reached up, gently removing my finger from between my teeth. He held my hand in his, his thumb rubbing the back of my hand, his way of trying to soothe me.

"You shouldn't chew your nails; the last time you did, you wore them down, so far they were bleeding."

"Sorry," I sighed, the knot in my stomach getting tighter.

"Come here," Drew said, pulling me into a tight hug. I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close to me as I tried to take some calming breaths.

"It's going to be ok. If your dad gets mad then he gets mad. All that matters is that you're happy and he treats you right. He does treat you right. Right?"

I shrugged my shoulders, not knowing how to answer that question. I mean, yeah, he was nice to me, but he was a pretty big ass to me the first time I met him. So who's to say that he won't be an ass again. Drew pulled me back enough to look down at me.

"Did he do something to you? I swear to God if he did I'll-,"

I couldn't help but laugh at how protective Drew was being right now. I pulled him back to me, smiling as Drew's arms tightened around me.

"If he ever does anything at all you let me know. That way I can kill him," Drew said, muttering the last part.

"I will, that is if I haven't killed him first," I said causing Drew to laugh.

"Congratulations Amara. I'm happy for you."

"Thank you, Drew," I said before Drew separated us abruptly.

"Why did you-" but my sentence was cut short by a possessive growl coming from behind me.

I could feel someone grab my upper right arm before I was roughly pulled back into someone's chest. I looked up to see Joel giving Drew a death glare as his chest continued to rumble. I looked behind me to see Drew holding his hands up.

"I was just trying to comfort her that's all," Drew said.

"I don't care what you were trying to do. Keep your hands off of her, I'm not particularly keen on sharing what's mine," Joel said, his tone threatening.

I couldn't help the shiver that ran down my spine. Most women would've been offended or even repulsed by what he just said, but me. It was the complete opposite, it made my stomach flutter.

"Look I can assure you, I have no intention of anything like that with her. She's like a sister to me and I know Scott feels the same way."

"Can't say the same for Leo," Joel grumbled.

"I can't disagree with you there," Drew said before he started towards the back door.

"I'm going to give you two some space before your boyfriend decides to change his mind about ripping my head off," Drew said, smiling as he headed back into the house.

"You didn't have to be so rude to him you know," I said.

"He shouldn't have been touching you."

I looked up at Joel to see his eyes had darkened. His eyes held mine with this possessiveness to them, a look that said I was his and only his.

"He's just a friend, well more like a brother."

"He better be," he grumbled under his breath, causing me to chuckle at him.

"He is, and so are Scott and Leo," I said, instantly regretting my decision to bring up Leo around him.

Joel's eyes darkened again, but this time for a whole other reason. His eyes were a slightly different color than they had been, signaling that his wolf was close to the surface.

"He's not a bad guy you know."

"I don't care."

"Why don't you like him?" I asked.

"I don't like the way he looks at you," Joel growled out.

"Oh and how does he look at me?" I asked.

"You're not stupid Amara. You know what I mean," he said causing me to sigh out.

"Trust me I know," I confirmed, hoping that Leo never decides to confess his love for me.

"Your dad is looking for you, by the way," Joel said, catching me by surprise.

"Huh?" I asked.

"It's the whole reason I even came out here, he asked me to come find you."

"What does he want?" I asked.

"Hell if I know," Joel said as we entered the house.

"Oh good, you found her," my dad said as he walked over to us with a big smile on his face.

"Joel said that you needed me?" I asked.

"I do. I have a surprise for you."

"What is it?" I asked excitedly.

"It's a surprise," he said, as his face wore a smile that didn't quite meet his eyes.

"Everything ok?" I asked.

"Of course. Now let's go, I'll be stealing you away for a little bit."

"We're leaving?" I asked as I followed him to the front door.

"Just for a little bit. We won't be gone for long," he said as he closed the door behind us.

I followed him out to where his truck was at, before climbing into the passenger seat. If I was being honest I was a little nervous right now. The way he was acting, was putting me on edge.

"Are you sure everything is ok?" I asked after he started the truck.

"Yes, I'm sure. Why do you keep asking me?"

"I don't know, you just seem off, I guess."

"Well, I appreciate you being concerned, but I'm fine, so you can quit asking," he said as we pulled out onto the main road.

I didn't believe him, but it was better to just let it go before he got irritated with me.

"Have I ever been to where we are going before?" I asked.

"Twice," he said.

Great that didn't help at all, I thought as I groaned out, feeling frustrated. My dad laughing at me wasn't helping either. We drove a good hour away from our house before my dad pulled into a dirt road that led far off into the woods.

I looked around feeling confused. When had I been here before? It sure didn't look familiar, I thought as a clearing came into view. It didn't take long before my eyes fell on what looked like a foundation to what used to be a house, and judging by the size of it, it had been a very large house at that. We drove past the foundation, continuing down a narrow road until we finally came to a stop.

Looking around I couldn't recognize anything around me. The only thing around us that was trees was what looked to be an old iron fence a few feet ahead of us.

"Uh, Dad. Where are we exactly?" I asked, only for him to ignore me as he got out of the truck.

He walked around the front of the truck before walking over to my door, opening it for me as I exited the truck. He moved to the back seat pulling out two bouquets, one being sunflowers and the other being roses. I gave him a confused look as he handed me the bouquet of roses, I reached down and grabbed my hand as we started to walk toward the old iron fence.

I could feel my heart hammering in my chest as we neared the fence and I was finally able to see that there was a sign above the fence.

                         Cemetery

That's all it said. One simple word, cemetery. Why were we here? My birthday surprise was going to some random cemetery in the middle of nowhere. Knowing my dad, we were here for a reason, but right now, I was having trouble figuring out why. My dad opened the gate as he led me past several graves before we came to a stop in front of two headstones. One bore the name Emma and the other Baron, my body tensed up after reading their names.

This was the first time I've ever been here. My parents have been trying to get me to come out here ever since I found out about my biological parents, but I never could bring myself to do it. One part of me just never wanted to see their graves because then it made all of the stories I heard growing up too real. Then the other part of me was just scared.

I could feel my bottom lip begin to quiver as I stared down at their headstones. My dad's hand tightened around mine as I looked up at him. My eyes widened at the sight, my father was crying. In eighteen years, I had never seen my father cry, and if I was being honest, I'm glad I hadn't seen him cry before because right now, my heart felt like it was being shredded to pieces watching him cry.

"Dad?"

"I'm so sorry I couldn't save your parents, sweetie. I hope you know just how much they loved you," he said, his voice quivering as he cupped my left cheek with his hand. "You were their entire world sweetheart."

And that was all it took for me to finally break down. I dropped the bouquet and I hugged my dad. He held me close to him as I cried my eyes out. I was always scared to talk to my family about my other parents because I was scared that they'd get upset with me for asking questions. I was scared that they'd think that I didn't want them to be my parents or that I'd rather have my biological parents instead of them.

"I wish I could've met them," I sobbed out.

"Me too baby girl. God me too."

That was the last thing he said to me as we stood there. Him comforting me as I completely lost my shit in his arms. I had been suppressing so much when it concerned my parents that today was my breaking point.

"How come you wouldn't let us take you out here to see them in the past?" My dad asked after I had calmed down. We were now sitting on a bench that was in front of their graves.

"I was scared."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't want you or Mom to be mad at me I guess."

"Mad at you for what sweetie?'

"I was just worried that you guys would feel like I didn't want you to be my parents. Or get annoyed with me for asking too much about them."

"Of course not Amara. I mean, they are your parents, after all. You're going to be curious, you're going to want to know them. We know that you love us, we both know that we're your parents and you're our child. Nothing will ever change that, raising you and your brother has been the best thing in our lives. You saved my life, Amara, you and your father."

"You're the best father I ever could have asked for. I hope you know that."

My dad smiled at me before turning his attention to Baron's headstone.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

When I was younger, all my dad and Uncle Jesse would ever tell me was that my parents died after I was born, and that was it. They never went into detail, said that was all I needed to know for now.

My dad sighed before turning to me, I could tell he was uncomfortable right now. I knew this was a hard subject for him, but I was finally old enough to be told the entire truth and I desperately wanted to know.

"It happened when we were all about your age. If not a little older. We were getting ready for our beta and alpha ceremony. Your father was so excited that we were finally taking over the pack; it was all he ever really wanted. Well, besides one day finding his mate and having kids, of course." My father cleared his throat before continuing. "It started when Jesse came running up to us, covered in blood and exhausted. Rogues had attacked the pack while they were setting up for the ceremony."

"How awful."

"I honestly can't remember too much after that. I had been shot by an arrow that was poisoned with wolfsbane. I woke up hours later, then left the pack to find help. That's when I found Katie."

"Who's Katie? Leo and I heard you and Calum talking about her as well."

"She was my mate," my dad said, causing my mouth to fly open.

"Wait what? But I thought Mom was your mate?" I asked feeling confused.

"I met your mother after I had Micah removed," my father clarified.

"What happened then? Don't most mates usually stay together?"

"Usually yes, but it was complicated."

"Complicated how?"

"We'll see Katie is human and has been since birth. I was born a werewolf as you know. Well, I knew she was my mate, and I later told her we had feelings for each other, but after I had Micah removed and the mating pill was gone, there was just nothing between us anymore. We're still really good friends, but she loved off after she found her husband, and barely comes down here anymore."

"How come she doesn't visit?" I asked.

"Life happened. Hell, she's got like four or six kids now, then her husband is an Alpha as well, so she's just too busy."

"That sucks."

"Yeah, you're telling me. You're not the one who has to listen to Trenton whining about it all the time," my father groaned out.

"Wait why would he be upset about it?"

"Katie is his daughter."

"Oh," I said. "So what happened after you met Katie?"

"I met Trenton, and he called Calum to help our pack, and that's really about it. We combined our packs because, if I was being honest, by the time the Rogues got done with our pack, there just weren't enough members left to start over from. It was just simpler to combine the packs than it was to start over."

"What happened to my mom and dad then?" I asked.

"From what I was told by other people. Your mom went into labor while under lockdown during the fight. The other pack members helped her while she delivered you, but she lost too much blood. They tried everything they could but she was just bleeding too much."

I couldn't help but feel sad. Hearing that your mom died giving birth to you was heartbreaking.

"Is it stupid that I feel kind of guilty after hearing that?" I asked.

"I don't think so, but she wouldn't want you to feel guilty. She would do it all over again; I knew your mom pretty well. She wouldn't have changed having you for anything in this world."

I smiled as I stared down at the bouquet of sunflowers that later on her grave.

"And my dad?" I asked.

"He got injured pretty badly in the fight. The hospital tried everything they could but his wolf was dying as well. I even offered to give him Micah if it meant it would keep him alive, but he refused. Your dad knew he was dying, I was the one who was in denial." My dad paused as a sad smile appeared on his face. "You looked so tiny that night. Baron was bigger than me, but I mean, he was an Alpha, after all. I don't think I've ever seen him so happy as I had that night."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I took you to see him the night he died. It was sadly the first and last time he would ever see you, but he was truly so happy when he realized you were in his arms. I kept telling him that he had to fight because he had you waiting for him. He was just too weak sadly."

I leaned over, laying my head down on my dad's shoulder as he wrapped his arm around me.

"Do you think they'd be proud of me?" I asked.

"Definitely."

I smiled as my dad gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"Hey, Dad."

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you about something?" I asked

"What is it?" He asked as we pulled away from each other.

"Since you've been so honest with me today. I want to be honest with you as well."

"About?"

"I found my mate."

My dad gave me a surprised look as the knot in my stomach grew.

"Already? Who is it?" Is it one of Jesse's boys?"

"It's not one of them."

"Then who?"

"Promise me you won't get mad," I said, starting to regret my decision to tell him now.

"Amara you're starting to make me nervous. Who is it?"

"It's Joel," I said, well more like yelled out.

I watched as my dad's mouth opened and closed several times before he turned his attention toward my parent's graves. I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could his phone started ringing. My dad pulled his phone out of his coat pocket, answering it before bringing it to his ear.

"Hello?"

It went quiet for a few seconds before he replied.

"Ok, we'll be on our way then. I love you too baby, bye."

Hanging up, he put his phone back in his coat pocket.

"Your mom wants us back home," he said as he stood from the bench.

"Dad?"

"We'll talk about this on the way home. For now, let's just go," he said, not sounding too happy as we made our way back to the truck.

God help me I thought as I entered the truck. Because this was going to be one hell of a long ride home.