"Everything is ready. You can go in, Luna," Liam says, walking out of the dungeons.

He just finished chaining Nate to prevent him from going on a killing spree. All day, I've been praying his wolf won't lose control and kill anyone during the full moon.

"Thank you, Liam," I say before entering the dungeons.

Entering, I hear Nate struggling with the chains. His wolf must be fighting him to shift. I walk closer, and see Nate struggling to stop the shift. His eyes keep changing from their original color to golden. If he can keep his wolf from forcing the transition, it would help.

"Nate," I say, walking closer to him, hoping to calm him down. He snarls at me, and I stop moving.

"Nate is gone Mate. I'm Xavier," a deep voice says. I look at Nate's eyes and they're golden. His wolf has taken control. Before I can talk Xavier out of shifting, he transforms, and a black wolf stands in front of me.

His wolf struggles to remove the chains from his paws, and I watch him almost break free. I start sweating and panicking as I realize Nate was wrong. My presence here isn't helping his wolf calm down. I'm terrified that I'm still in the room with Xavier almost on the loose. Then again, I know deep down, Nate's wolf would never hurt me.

I take a deep breath and try to walk closer to Xavier. I think perhaps if my hand touches him, he'll calm down. I'm almost successful when Nate's wolf snarls at me. He doesn't recognize me right now. The only thing he sees is a human to kill.

'Shift,' Eva says. 'Let me take control. I can calm Xavier down.'

'Are you sure? He almost bit me.'

'I know, but he won't harm us if we're in wolf form, trust me.'

'Okay,' I say.

I take off my clothes and shift, letting Eva take control. Right now, I don't know what else to do to calm Nate's wolf. Eva walks closer to Xavier, and I watch in the back of her head as she doesn't flinch even with him snarling at her. With every step Eva takes closer to Xavier, our death flashes before my eyes. Then I notice Xavier stops struggling to free himself from the chains. His eyes are watching Eva as she gets closer.

Eva is able to calm him with just her presence. That brings a smile to my face. She buries her neck in his shoulders, and Xavier rubs his nose on her body, sniffing her scent. He licks Eva, and a giggle escapes her. An adorable little wolf giggle I'd never heard her do before. This must be a very intimate moment between them. I wonder if Nate is happy to witness this moment like I am. She drops on her fours beside him, Xavier does the same and rests his head on her. I think we're covered for the night. I don't think Xavier's going on a killing spree tonight. Eva has him sufficiently occupied.

***

I open my eyes when I feel the sun on my face then scream the second I see the position I'm in.

"Why are you screaming?" Nate says, rubbing his eyes as he wakes up. He's about to stand up until I scream again.

"Don't move," I say, even though his weight is killing me. It'd be worse if he saw me naked. I can't believe Eva shifted back and didn't wake me up. I slept while Eva and Xavier were enjoying each other's company. Eva wasn't ready to leave Xavier, so I decided to get some rest.

Nate opens his eyes properly and takes in our situation. Xavier also shifted back to human form leaving him much the same. Xavier was on top of Eva, so Nate is on top of me—naked. I can feel his knees poking my belly, and as much as I'd love to get him off me, I can't have him see me naked.

"I have to move so we can get out of here," he says.

"I know, but—"

"You don't want me to see you naked."

"Yes."

"We're mates. It's only natural that I see you naked," he says, getting up from me, but I quickly follow him and pull him back to the ground.

"We're not that type of mates!" I screech. My face must be as red as a tomato right now because his knee, or what I would like to believe is his knee, keeps poking my stomach. It's not because of me, it must be his morning wood. But it's the first time I've been so close to one.

"I'm going to close my eyes and wait for you to get dressed. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes, but—"

"But what?" he asks, annoyed.

"I'll get to see you." Even if he closes his eyes, he'll still be naked. If he stands up I'll see everything!

"I don't care. I'm going to close my eyes in three and stand up," he says and does it.

I don't move because I'm shocked at what I see in front of me.

"I don't hear you moving," he says, which snaps me back to earth.

"Sorry," I say, quickly standing up. I got lost taking all of him in. He's enormous. I was freaked thinking about how he'd fit in me.

"I'm dressed," I say once I'm done putting on my clothes.

"Good, now go and get me something to put on. Xavier ripped my clothes when he shifted by force."

"Alright, I'll be back," I say and quickly leave the room.

I look for Liam and tell him to get clothes for his brother. My heated cheeks and hot body temperature are enough to tell me that being around my naked mate isn't good for me.

***

Later in the day, Chloe and Ana come over to the house to visit me.

"So, tell me," Chloe says with a sheepish look on her face.

"Tell you what?" I ask, confused.

"Liam told me you came out of the dungeon looking disarranged, and he could smell arousal coming off you," Chloe says, smiling.

"Oh."

"Tell us what happened," Ana adds.

"It's not what you guys think."

"We know you didn't mate, but something must have happened."

"Nothing happened. I just saw him," I say, hiding my face from them. I feel shy to be talking about what happened.

"Saw him?" Chloe asks, confused.

"Yes, I saw him," I say, putting emphasis on 'him.' Hoping they'll get the hint.

"Him, in which way?" Ana asks, also confused.

"Him," I say, pointing to my own private area.

"Oh, that him," Chloe says, finally understanding me.

"Yes, that him."

"If Liam could smell your arousal, that means you liked what you saw," Ana says, smirking. I just nod my head to answer her. This discussion is making me uncomfortable. They may both be mated with experience, but I was not.

"I didn't hear you," Chloe says, and I know she's saying this intentionally because she knows how it's making me feel.

"You know the answer to that, Chloe, and can we talk about something other than my mate's member?"

"Sure, we can," Chloe says, giggling.

"How are things between you two?" Ana asks.

"The same, why do you ask?"

"We were hoping things changed a little."

"Maybe not exactly the same. I haven't cried because of him since I've beenb ack."

"That's a good thing, I guess."

"It's a sad standard to go by, but I guess so. Why were you hoping things changed between us?"

"I was hoping with how he's possessive over you, maybe he likes you. Or to avoid you running away again, he'll start treating you better."

"Oh, I understand." I understand why she'd think things would improve between us but it's yet to be seen.

"Yeah, and have you ever wondered why the king never rejected you, even though he claims to not want you?" Ava asked.

"It's odd. And anytime you run away he always brings you back. If he didn't want you, he wouldn't get you back, so it doesn't add up," Chloe adds in.

"I've wondered the same because one minute he's telling me he'd never make me queen, and the next minute he's breaking down Ana's guest room door to bring me back to his house. I can't figure him out. It drives me crazy," I say.

"I think there's something we don't know. Something important," Ana says.

"I don't know if I'm ever going to find out with the way Nate is."

"You will; I have a feeling at some point everything is going to make sense," Chloe says.

"I hope so. At some point I won't be able to take his bullshit anymore."

"Hopefully, that time won't come," Ana says.

"I hope so too." Chloe says. "Any luck getting information about your Mom?"

"Nothing yet. Since I helped Nate calm down during the full moon, I'm going to ask him to let me look for her. I don't want to run away and just get dragged back again."