"why?"

Tanner shook his head "Because I think we should at least make an effort to see them."

"Effort?" she threw her hands in the air "Caroline said herself to never come back!"

"I know-"

"I SAID NO!" Jade hissed.

"Do you honestly have no good memories?"

Jade paused for a moment.

The Divisions was where she still had her parents by her side. It was the time where she could still remember what her brother looked like when he was genuinely happy — it was the time she still had her two best-friends by her side.

...Cora...Bash...

Of course she had good memories. 

"Why now?" Jade voiced

"Four years" He took a step closer "it's been four years Jadeline. I think it's time we see the family we left behind," he used her full name for the first time in all the years they had left.

He wasn't  going to budge

Her fists clenched by her side "Caroline and Klaus-"

"I wasn't talking about them." he interrupted her "I mean the people we didn't tell that we were leaving"

"Why now?" Jade asked again

Tanner had already turned and headed out the door. Her question forever lingered in the air. Whether he had heard her or not, she'd never know. 

* * *

"Are we almost there?"

"We're ten minutes away." Tanner glanced in her direction "don't be afraid"

She clasped her fidgeting hands together "I'm not afraid. I'm just nervous."

"For what?"

Jade raised an eyebrow "Seriously? What makes you think they won't hate us after they heard we left them with no word or even a flimsy letter!"

"They won't hate us,'' he sighed as she rolled her eyes " — and if they do hate us then we can always go back home."

"Home" Jade muttered with a distant look on her face. In truth she hoped they hated her. She hoped that they would yell because if they didn't the pain in her heart would only grow. In her mind hatred was better than heartache. 

Tanner hated seeing his sister like this.

Hated seeing her sad and tried his best to push anything about the Divisions away. The real reason he wanted to come back would just have to stay hidden, at least for now.

He needed to come back to the place where it all started.

He needed answers and it seemed that the only people he left behind had those answers.

"Here we are," He drove through the gates of a massive wall that seemed to go on forever.

* * *

"Time." 

Blake stopped looking at his phone and glanced up "The same time I told you 10 minutes ago..."

Slate growled "It's been too long. I need her back now"

"why don't you just call her?" he asked while walking into the kitchen "It'll take the edge off if you just hear her"

"I don't have her number" Slate sighed ruefully

Blake shut the fridge and turned around to face his Alpha "Are you telling me that you, Slate Parker, the Alpha, the sneaky bastard doesn't have his own mates number?"

"Not another word." Slate hissed through grit teeth

He raised his hands in mock-surrender "...just saying...If you claim her maybe you'd be more comfortable with her not being so close to you at all times."

The both of them sat down on stools in front of a large kitchen island "She's human, she may know about our kind but I can't afford to lose her" Slate had heard many horror stories about humans rejecting their mates...

"I get it, I get it" Blake relented "Humans are complicated beings"

He ran a hand through his jet black hair "We're sticking with the deal I made with her brother. Until then you keep your mouth shut. Same goes for everyone else in this Pack."

"I think what you're doing is great Alpha Parker" Bentley smiled, entering the kitchen silently. 

He nodded his head once before turning to Blake "I could feel your eyes drilling holes in the back of my head, spit it out.''

"Nothing," Blake attempted to hide the smile that played on his lips "...it's just that even though Jade hasn't even been marked or mated, she's already changing you.''

Slate raised an eyebrow "I don't know what you're talking about"

"I don't expect you to see any different" Blake chuckled. 

For a minute he paused and just looked at the Beta that stood proudly before him "...I don't know what it is Blake, my instincts are telling me I need to be careful with her and my instincts have never been wrong..."

* * *

"Here we are," Tanner stood outside an apartment door in Division Headquarters.

"What if they don't live here?" Jade muttered. 

"I called them last week, they said they still lived here." he replied, adjusting the bag on his back

"You called them?" Jade asked "how long have you been planning this?"

"The less you know, the more time I have on this earth." he knocked on the door

Jade narrowed her eyes at him "What's that supposed to mean-" before she could finish her sentence the door opened causing her to stop and stare at the women that looked awfully familiar.

"Can I help you?" the women asked.

She had short white hair and seemed to be in her late 40's.

Tanner cleared his throat "I called you last week to tell you that we were coming-" but before the both of them could register what was happening the women engulfed the both of them into a big hug.

"You don't know how much I've wanted to see the both of you!" she gushed

He straightened his jacket before taking a step back "are you Mary?"

A smile stretched across her aged face "Yes. That would be me" and just like that Jade couldn't help the grin that spread on her face as recognition settled into her features.