Lucy's POV-

My heart sank in my chest as I watched the scene in front of me unfold. She was beautiful with long strawberry blonde hair, soft smiling eyes, long legs, and a voluptuous strong body. She was everything I wasn't. She was the type of person that you'd expect to be mated with my handsome Alpha mate. The type of person that should be his mate, not me, a broken down nobody.

They weren't doing anything. Hell, he was even backing away from her cautiously anytime she got too near him. I saw it though, the way her eyes shone in adoration and need. She wanted him, and my mate deserved her. I wasn't good enough for him; I wasn't good enough for anyone. I had been constantly reminded of that over the span of my life.

I stood there frozen in place as I watched the scene play out. She spoke to him easily with no stutters and issues like I had. She stood there confidently and commanded his attention in a beautiful way. Her short running shorts and tank top showed off her great build and soft tan. I looked down at Kale's borrowed shirt and sweatpants that I had on, they swallowed me whole making me almost unnoticeable underneath the clothing. Her smile was not forced or unpracticed like mine, it was genuine and sweet. Her movements were purposefully maneuvered to show him her femininity and grace. She captivated him with her charm and beauty, something that I could never possess. The way her fingertips sometimes brushed over parts of his arms softly as he spoke told me that she knew exactly what she was doing. I felt so utterly inferior at that moment.

She wanted him, there was no denying that. My wolf-side wanted to rip her arms off her body for even thinking of him in that light, but I stayed rooted in place. I couldn't do that without hurting her and she was a part of the pack, so I didn't actually want to hurt her. I couldn't bear to hurt one of my fellow pack members, one of my new family members. I knew that my jealousy was heightened because Kale was an Alpha so I would have to work extra hard to control that part of me, my animalistic side.

It wasn't the girl's fault; no one even knew that I was his mate. Heck, he wasn't even sure of it. I needed to calm down and function like a normal person to get through the day. I didn't want a jealous rage to take over and make a fool out of myself. That would be even worse than my first impression had been.

I finally left my hiding spot from around the corner and sighed. I couldn't stay there all day, no matter how much I wanted to.

"Luce!" Kale said with a bit of enthusiasm in his voice and a smile that graced his lips for a few seconds. I liked that smile on him. I liked the way he said my name too.

He looked sideways at the she-wolf who had stepped up far too close to him. He took a tentative step back to put some distance between them before he looked back at me with worried eyes.

I stiffened slightly at her obvious yet also subtle move to show me that she felt she had claim over him. Instead of freaking out or running away like how I wanted to, I forced myself forward to greet my mate. My wolf-side wanted to rip her to shreds, but obviously I couldn't do that. In fact, most of me didn't want to hurt her at all. I just wanted peace. I just wanted to be a part of a pack finally. I didn't want power struggles and fighting. I had enough of that at Fleming's pack.

When I got to Kale's side, I couldn't help but lean into his intoxicating scent. He did the same thing immediately, and it made me giddy to think that I had the same effect on him that he had on me. I closed my eyes to savor the goodness for just a few more moments.

I was acting like I hadn't just seen him an hour before when I had been released from the hospital. He never left my side the whole time I was there, and he even walked me back to my room afterwards. I was happy that he wasn't leaving me to fend for myself because I was sure that I would have already had another psychotic break by now if I was left to navigate integrating myself into his pack all on my own.

I reopened my eyes when I heard a throat clear across from me. "Hello..." the girl said.

I was instantly put off by her tone; it seemed so condescending. Instead of lashing out, I reigned in my frigid feelings towards her. I knew I partially felt that way because I was angry at her pursuit of my mate. Truly, I didn't even know the girl, I couldn't dislike her yet. She could've been the nicest girl in the world for all I knew, and I figured that I'd have to give her at least a chance.

"Lucy, this is Renee. Renee, this is Lucy," Kale introduced cautiously as he looked at me.

I was pretty sure that he was trying to see if I was going to rip the girl's head off. He knew how jealous the wolf-side could get, especially due to his Alpha status. Renee took a purposeful step towards my mate; she was trying to show me that she thought that she had some sort of claim over him. Kale went rigid at the move and took a sharp inhale when a slight rumble started in my chest. I was pissed. I knew that he thought that he was going to have to step in to keep me from starting a fight, but I was determined to not let jealousy take over. I was trying to show Kale that I could be a good person to have as a mate, someone he deserved. I wanted to feel worthy.

I coughed slightly as I was trying to cover up my small slipup. "Hi," I said as light as possible. My wolf-side was trying to break through the carefully constructed wall that I built up in my mind to contain my animal instincts. It was a good thing I couldn't fully shift in that moment or else I would have probably killed the girl.

"Oh, you're the new girl that had a breakdown in the kitchen after your introduction..." Renee said as if I had to be reminded of the incident. Obviously, it was me, there were no other new people who joined the pack. It was my first day out of the hospital, I knew that I'd be the talk of the pack.

"Yes, I am..." I said through gritted teeth.

Kale took a step towards me as he saw my slight waiver in self-control, it calmed me slightly. Renee's face faltered as she saw the subtle move.

"I am okay, thank you," I said to her with a slight smirk, feeling a bit smug. "Kale took very good care of me."

Her eyes flashed with her wolf's and Kale growled slightly letting her know to calm herself. She bowed her head in submission right away. I felt a little bit foolish in the stupid territorial battle. Kale was a man, not an object. I reminded myself that he was my mate, and he was obviously not interested in the pretty girl. I took a breath and reigned in my wolf, who felt disrespected by the girl. I was going to have to just get over it. She didn't know anything about me or my connection with Kale, so I had no real reason to feel angry at the girl for trying to stake a claim to him.

"Have you eaten yet?" I asked Renee with a forced smile that made Kale raise an eyebrow at me. She shook her head 'no' silently as she studied me, surely trying to figure out my game. "Have you yet... Alpha?" I asked Kale making sure to call him by the name I was supposed to; regular pack members were definitely not supposed to call superiors by their given name unless asked to. He shook his head too as he was trying to figure me out.

I, honestly, had no game. I was simply trying to make peace with the woman. I knew that I was going to have to deal with her since she was a part of the pack, and I really didn't want to have an enemy there.

"Okay, well, why don't you two go sit and I will get us all some breakfast?" I suggested calmly. Kale's eyes went extra wide with confusion.

"That sounds great!" Renee said enthusiastically but kept a worried glint in her eyes. She was probably concerned that I was going to poison her.

"How are you planning on carrying three plates at once? Doc told you to take it easy at first. You know, ease into things..." Kale said with narrowed eyes.

"Ka- Alpha, they're plates not weights. Besides, I can make more than one trip," I said with a shrug and began to turn. I was just trying to make nice and not start a fight. He had other plans though....

"I will help you," Kale said and began walking after me.

I stopped in my tracks at his statement and Renee scoffed. "Alpha, I cannot have you serve me. That is not right, it should be the other way around," she said and took a step towards the breakfast bar.

"No, its fine. Besides, I'm merely helping Lucy; I'm definitely not serving you," he stated and pulled her backwards by barely even touching her elbow. "Go sit down."

I looked at him skeptically as we both went to the counter that contained the food. It held a bunch of regular breakfast foods buffet style so people could eat at their leisure.

"You know I could handle three plates, right?" I said to Kale.

"I know, but I don't mind helping," he answered with a shrug. "Besides, you were going to leave me over there, alone, with her," he said with an eyebrow raised as if to ask me if I was crazy.

"If you don't like her that much then just tell her to leave you alone," I said with a shrug as my wolf-side loved that idea. "It is not my place to tell anyone who can and cannot sit with you, no matter if you're my mate or not. I don't like that she was all over you, but I can control my feelings." I paused and looked him in the eyes. "It is not her fault that no one knows we are mates," I said with a bit of accusation in my voice; he definitely didn't miss the slight dig.

"I can't tell a pack member to just leave me alone, Lucy," he said in a sharp tone and picked up a plate.

I nodded my head in understanding, I knew that he couldn't do that. Besides, my rational side didn't want him to do that either. His pack should feel free to some to him with anything. I just didn't like unmated females around him, but that's a 'me' problem.

"You can get mine and Renee's while I get yours," he told me.

"That doesn't make any sense... If you get yours-" he looked at me with his eyes narrowed effectively silencing me.

"I'm getting your plate, Luce..." he said and went to the first dish. I secretly liked him getting my food, it was a big sign of affection if your mate serves you. "I like everything here, what about you?" he asked and gestured to the food.

"Eggs, yes... everything else?" I paused and looked at all the food.

It was so much food, and I felt very overwhelmed. I hadn't had most of the food on the counter before. I never really had many different foods in general. I survived on very little scraps for most of my life. I hardly got to eat anything good; I hardly got to eat. Kale looked at me with wide eyes as he waited patiently for me to answer. No one was in line to rush me, so I just stared at everything wide eyed, not sure what to get.

"I-I," I looked around and furrowed my eyebrows in realization that I had no idea what type of foods I actually liked or anything.

"Lucy... what's wrong?" He asked softly as he steadied one of my hands that was shaking with an empty plate in it. His small touch made me look at him and calm down a little.

"I... I don't know what I like. I've never actually had most of these foods before; I've only ever made them for everyone else," I answered truthfully.

He let out a low growl from his chest that gained a few close people's attention and gritted his teeth. "They never fed you... breakfast?" he asked incredulously in a low voice.

I shook my head. "Sometimes they'd let me eat eggs."

He sighed and gritted his teeth harder. "We'll get you a little of everything to try, okay?" He asked me as if I was going to say no. "You can do the same for her since we don't know what she likes."

I nodded and followed his lead. My mouth was practically watering at the thoughts of the food. In the hospital I was fed through a feeding tube, so I didn't get to actually eat. I was quite excited, my first real meal with my new pack.

We filled the plates up with the different foods and Kale walked behind me to the table. She chose to sit at the head of the first table which I assumed, due to pack etiquette, was always Kale's seat. She was seated in the chair to the left of the Alpha's chair- that should be the Luna's spot. I held in an angry growl at her seating choices and bit my tongue. Kale put a hand in the middle of my back to guide me to the table. I knew that it was just to calm me down, so that I didn't attack her. Luckily the gesture worked like a charm and I basked in his touch. Too soon though, he pulled away as we approached the table.

Renee perked up when we got to the table and smiled at Kale, completely ignoring me. I quickly made my way around the table and gently put Kale's food where his seat was and put hers where she was seated with no comments; I even fake smiled at the girl. I knew that the chair to the right of Kale was the Beta's chair, so I didn't even think about sitting in it. I stood to the side of Renee's spot and was about to sit down next to her, when Kale looked at me with a head shake.

"Luce, you can sit here..." Kale said and gestured to the Beta's seat with a slight smile.

I said nothing as I walked over to the chair. I felt like everyone's eyes were on me. Renee's mouth was even hanging open. He pulled the chair out for me after placing my plate of food down for me and then quickly sat down in his own chair. I smiled widely at my mate for his nice gesture; for all of his nice gestures. He was being very sweet.

"Thank you..." I said and trailed off.

"Thank you for getting my food. It was very nice of you, wasn't it Renee?" he asked pushing her to say thank you. I didn't mind; back at Flemings pack I was never told thank you, so I was used to it.

"Extremely," she said with a fake smile. I couldn't help but enjoy the way Kale was subtly defending me.

"Hey, Kale," Natalie said with a big smile on her face as her mate carried both of their plates. She sat in the chair next to Renee and Alpha Rodriguez sat down next to her, setting the plates down for them.

"Natalie, hey!" he said with a small bit of affection in his voice. "Alpha Rodriguez..." he said with a respectful tone.

"Alpha Burke," he greeted nicely. "I told you, you can call me Cory," Rodriguez said with a single nod.

"Right, you may call me Kale since we're basically family now," Kale said with a bit of discomfort. "You're still good with making the announcement tonight?" Kale asked the other Alpha slowly.

"Yes." Cory said, eyeing Renee distrustfully. "Lucy... how are you feeling?" he asked me as he looked at me.

"Yes, Lucy, Hi! I'm Natalie, I'm sorry we never got an official meeting before with all the excitement..." Natalie said gesturing to her mate. "How are you feeling? Better, I hope." She asked with genuine concern in her voice.

"I am okay," I answered with a small nod and looked away. I wasn't used to people caring about how I felt. It was a bit overwhelming.

"Good, I hope my brother is taking it easy on you and not putting too much strain on you with pack chores and hard training," she said looking pointedly at Kale.

"Of course I'm not over working her!" Kale said in defense. By the way they were acting, I had assumed that Kale must have told them about our mate bond because they were both being very nice.

"Oh no, that's okay. I want to help, and I really want to work hard to get up to par with my training," I said with a vigorous nod. I wanted to be good and work on my powers to be an asset to the pack. I wanted to prove myself.

"Lucy, you have to start slow if you're going to get good. You have to recover from what all of those...." He cut himself off before he finished looking at everybody around us. "From everything," he corrected.

There were footsteps approaching us and I saw Beta Sam stop next to me. His hard eyes looked over me with slight anger and distaste; I realized instantly that I was in his seat. "I- I, I'm sorry!" I said with haste and started to get up. I suddenly saw a hand coming at me from my peripheral vision and ducked without thinking trying to block my face from an attacker. I felt extremely terrified as I squeezed my eyes shut waiting for the blow.

"Lucy..." Kale said softly and touched my shoulder cautiously. I realized that it was my mate's hand coming towards me and not an attacker. I freaked out over nothing...

I opened my eyes to see Kale's wolf's black eyes looking at me. I straightened up hesitantly and let out an awkward forced laugh. "Sorry..." I said feeling my cheeks burn as I looked at everyone's bewildered gazes on me.

I started to move away from the chair to let Sam sit, but Kale's firm but gentle grip prevented me from moving. "You can sit there Luce, Sam will sit in that chair," Kale said with a strain in his voice. He was obviously fighting down his wolf. I hadn't meant to make him angry.

"Oh... okay," I said slowly and sat back in the chair with a nod. "Thank you... A-Alpha," I said with a wince and a swallow at my embarrassing behavior. "Beta," I greeted with a respectful bow of my head to the guy who sat next to me.

"Lucine," he greeted me with an unreadable expression.

"Speaking of training," Kale changed the subject. "Sam and I will be training you in combat and defense after you recover a bit more and get some strength," he informed.

"Y-you two will train m-me?" I asked feeling a bit intimidated.

"Yes, who else would?" Kale asked me, staring at me in the eyes for a moment. His had changed back to his beautiful hazel.

"Um I don't know... I thought that the lower ranked warriors trained. At least that's how it was back at..." I trailed off not wanting to think of Harrow or Fleming.

"Yes, well, I want to train you personally since you haven't really had much training before," Kale expanded.

I nodded and shoved some eggs in my mouth to not embarrass myself anymore with my stupid words.

"I can help too," Rodriguez said with a nod as well. "Us three can get you up to level very quickly," he said with a laugh. His youthfulness shone through making me smile. Sometimes I forget how young I am, and Rodriguez reminded me of that right then.

"Yeah, and I can help too because these three will push you way too damn hard if there is no female influence there. Besides, I'd like to really get to know you," Natalie said with a smile and an obvious underlying meaning. I nodded and genuinely smiled back at her.

Renee sat in her seat with a frown, she obviously felt neglected in the conversation. "Renee, are you trained? Are you in the ranks?" I asked, trying to make her feel included. I was trying to be nice; I didn't want her to feel bad. Plus, I already knew that she had to be in the ranks with how fit she looked. Kale looked at me with his head tilted to the side and then shared an odd look with Natalie.

"I am. I am a lead Guardian," she said with smug smile.

"Wow! That is impressive! You must be very strong," I complimented. I was very impressed; she was strong and very pretty... She was everything I wasn't.

Her face faltered for a moment and then regained its smug look. "Yes, well my father was a lead warrior," she explained. "He always thought that Kale and I were going to be mates since he was the highest-ranking pack member that had a daughter," she said as she looked me in the eyes trying to convey her silent message.

I could feel my wolf trying to clamber its way out of me at the disrespect and tightened my grip on my fork while bending it slightly. I clenched my teeth while trying to control my anger. She didn't know... I had to remind myself once again.

I smiled at her and nodded. "Right... but you aren't," I stated while looking at her with an easy expression and added a shrug. Sam laughed from beside me. "Just because you are in the chair that is supposed to belong to Kale's mate, doesn't make it you." She growled softly at me making me stiffen slightly but I shrugged it off and continued, "It's a little disrespectful to not only whoever Kale's mate is but also yours."

Natalie let out a sound of agreement at my statement. Renee was fuming, and her wolf was trying to take over. I hadn't meant to piss her off that bad. I was simply just stating.

Kale looked at her with a hard glare, obviously conveying the message to knock it off. She calmed down quickly. "Right..." she said through gritted teeth. She very obviously wanted to hurt me. She also had more to say but didn't due to the Alpha's hard glare.

I averted my attention to my plate and took a bite of the bacon that was on it. I couldn't help the loud moan that came from my mouth. Kale laughed with a short snort, and everyone looked at him as if he had grown three heads.

"It's so good, isn't it?" Kale inquired with a grin.

"Oh, my Goddess, my life was so empty before," I said dramatically making Kale chuckle. I quickly shoved the rest of the piece in my mouth. My new favorite food: Bacon.

I ate the rest of my food on my too-big plate, and I felt satisfied with the way my mate beamed at me. Even if I was over-full, I was so happy that he was proud of me. Who knew food was so good? His plate was cleared off as well, making me smile at him, happy that he liked what I had gotten him.

"Is there something wrong with yours?" I asked Renee when I realized that she only ate eggs, sausage, and biscuits from her plate.

"Yeah, I don't like any of this stuff," she said pointedly to me.

"Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't kn-" I started feeling a little bad for not giving her a lot of stuff she liked, but Kale cut me off.

"I told her to get a bit of everything. Next time you should specify what you'd like for us to get you," he told her firmly. I really liked the way he said us- meaning him and I.

"Right, I'm sorry. I don't usually get served so next time she serves me, I surely will," Renee said making the room fill with tension.

I knew she was implying that I was basically a lowly servant. To be fair, it used to be true.

Kale didn't like the way she said that, and his eyes turned into his wolf's quickly. He was obviously still touchy about the fact that I was a slave before. "Do not talk to her like that," he commanded in a very aggressive tone making her whimper slightly. He rose from his seat slightly as he narrowed his eyes at the poor girl.

A vision of him lashing out at her flashed through my mind. I instantly put my hand on Kale's bicep. "Kale..." I said, trying to get him to look at me. He stayed in a rigid position, staring Renee down, but his muscles relaxed slightly. I stood up and stepped towards him. He looked at me finally and I shook my head. "Kale... It's okay," I told him calmly with a shrug.

"But she-" He started but I cut him off when his claws began to extend.

"Doesn't know anything," I finished for him making him look at me with softer eyes. "It's okay," I whispered softly and ran my hand from his bicep to his hand making his claws retract instantly.

He took a deep breath and then looked at Renee. "Do not act like that," he said forcefully. "I specifically told everyone to make her feel welcomed and all you have done so far is try to make her feel belittled. You will have dish duty for the next month due to this outburst. We are a pack, and I do not like even one of its members feeling unsafe or unwanted. Do you understand me?" He growled at Renee.

"Yes, Alpha, I am sorry," she said with her head down.

"Good, apologize to Lucy now." He spoke.

Her eyes flashed with hurt, but she did quickly apologized to me. She ran off afterwards before I even sat back down in my seat.

"You have excellent self-control and a lot of compassion, Lucy. Most people would have tried to kill her for acting that way to them," Alpha Rodriguez said, studying me for a few moments.

I shrugged and sighed. "She doesn't know anything about me; she doesn't understand. I can't fault her for trying to scare me away from him when she doesn't know anything. Besides, she is part of the pack, I wouldn't want to ever kill her. There have been far too many deaths and injuries already. I definitely don't want to add to them."

He seemed surprised by my answer but accepted it easily with a thoughtful expression.

"Well, that was eventful," Sam said with a laugh and looked at me. "Maybe you aren't too bad."

"Sorry for growling at you when you brought me here; I was a bit on edge..." I said with a shrug. I wanted to start over.

"You growled at him?!" Natalie said with a laugh.

"To be fair, I was being a dick. So, I'm sorry that I was trying to make you feel overpowered, I should have realized that you were feeling overwhelmed and not trying to be disrespectful." He paused and sighed. "And... I guess thank you for not letting him kill me," he said and looked at me sheepishly with a nod at Kale.

"You almost killed him?" Rodriguez inquired.

"His scent was on her neck," Kale stated with gritted teeth.

"Why?" Natalie asked in confusion.

"I was trying to show dominance over her. She was being..." he wasn't sure what to say.

"Disrespectful." I answered with a nod. "At least to his wolf..." I added and shrugged.

Just then, I saw one of the only other pack members that I knew pass by our table and smiled. "Rita!" I said and stood up quickly to talk to her.

"Lucy! I'm glad you are okay. I was worried about you," she said as I embraced her to everyone's, including mine, surprise.

"Thank you, I am okay." I nodded. "How are you? Is cooking easier now for you? Do you need anything else? Breakfast was absolutely wonderful," I said with a big smile and waited for her answers.

She glanced at the people around me and then looked at me. "Yes, cooking is way easier now. I am good," she said and looked between me and Kale. "You are very sweet, Lucy!"

"Good, I'm glad it's easier. Hopefully I'll have kitchen duty with you soon!" I said with a smile and hugged her again. When I let her go, she bowed to me and left, making me furrow my eyebrows. People don't bow to me.

Kale and everyone else were looking at me with surprised expressions as I looked back at them. I shifted uncomfortably under their gazes.

"So... Training," I trailed off thoughtfully, wanting to make them quit looking at me like that. I had no idea what they were all staring at me for, but I was thoroughly uncomfortable.

"Yes," Kale said clearing his throat and our plates. "Training..."