Mason herded me into the garage of the main house. I didn't change until I was alone.

The change back to human was just as painful as the change to my wolf.

At least when I changed into a wolf it was okay to be naked. Now that I was human again, I didn't want to be naked, especially when Mason was lurking around somewhere. As soon as I was able to get to my feet, I found a blanket and wrapped it around my body. The blanket looked baby soft, but it felt like a burlap sack. That probably had something to do with the change back to human.  I was sure Mason would have something I could wear until he took me back to the compound.

Mason was waiting for me when I walked through the door connecting the garage to the house. He was in some basketball shorts that hung loosely around his hips.

He handed me some clothes. "Put these on. Use that bathroom." He pointed to the bathroom 5 feet from us.

I took the clothes and went into the bathroom. The clothes weren't very comfortable, but at least I didn't have to hold them on. I folded up the blanket before walking out of the bathroom.

"You should buy some fabric softener." I muttered as I handed the blanket to him.

He just looked at the blanket, "What am I going to do with that?"

"Put it where it belongs." I said.

He nodded his head towards the door to the garage. "Go put it where you found it."

I couldn't take it right now. He should be a better host. I was at his home. I threw the blanket at his head and walked to the kitchen. If I stuck around to see his reaction he'd order me to put the blanket back, but since I left as soon as I threw it, he couldn't order me around.

I was starving, so I followed the smell to the kitchen.

Casey smiled at me when I walked in. "How did the change go? Good?"

I nodded, "I stayed awake through it, so that's an improvement."

She smiled and looked back at the pot of boiling water while she stood at a sauce pan.

"Can I help?"

She nodded, "Yes please." She opened a drawer and got out pot holders.

"There's a strainer in that cabinet, get that out and strain those noodles."

When I reached for the pot, Casey stopped me by grabbing my forearm.

"Use the pot holders. This soon after a change your skin is super sensitive. Every sensation is heightened."

"That's why the blanket felt scratchy." I solved the blanket mystery out loud.

She nodded with a smile, "Yeah."

I saw Mason peek in a few minutes later, but he didn't bother us while we were cooking.

Mason's POV

She was coping with the changes much better than I expected. Usually there would be a lot more fight to avoid the truth, but she was doing well.

Since she was with Casey, I didn't have to worry about her running around without any supervision.

While we were out I noticed Grayson spying on us. He had been trying to get me to listen to him for the past few hours. Grayson coming out to find me told me something was wrong.

I had to meet up with him. I tracked him for a few miles and I found him on the outskirts of our territory, which happened to be a steep drop off the mountain. He changed back to human as he looked down at something. I kept a buffer of a yard from him. I didn't want to be near him while he was in the nude. 

"What are you looking at?"

"Millender's latest victim." He said simply, looking down.

"And we're not down there because?" I looked in the direction. "Cops."

He nodded. "Someone called it in before I found it."

"So am I going to have to go steal blood work?"

He shook his head, "He wasn't that new. His blood work should be close to normal."

"They'll think someone messed up." I agreed.

"Yeah."

"Can you see what killed him?"

Grayson shook his head. "No. But I'd bet it's just like all the rest."

"This is the fourth pack member. We have to do something about this."

Grayson nodded. "Mikko will be here in a day or two. Then we'll hunt Millender down."

"He thinks he's smarter than us." I reminded my brother. "He's going to have traps set up for us."

Grayson nodded. "He thinks he's smarter than us. He's not." Grayson rolled his shoulder as he stood up. He usually did that just before he started his shift.

"We'll show him what it means to fuck with us, then we'll kill him."

I nodded. "I'll meet you at the house."

"Aren't you supposed to be training Alexia to shift?"

I shrugged, "She completed a change today. She's at the house helping Casey with dinner."

"You think she has enough control to stay at the house?"

I shook my head, "Maybe after four or five more changes without losing or giving up control." I started my way back to the house. I needed a head start otherwise Grayson would catch me and grind me into the dirt. He liked to remind me that I'm the younger brother. "See you at the house."

He nodded and sunk to the ground. One perk of being an alpha wolf is that they can change a lot faster than normal wolves.

Lexi's POV

There was a ferocious growl from the backyard. It sounded like bad news. Casey gave an annoyed huff before stopping the water to the sink. The kids were all fed and playing in the living room.

Well, they had been playing in the living room until they heard the growl.

They ran out the back sliding door as quickly as they could file out. Michael led the way, followed by Matt, who pushed his sister on her butt so she couldn't beat him to the door.

Willow huffed and got to her feet with a determined look. She'd beat her brother someday, she just needed some height.

"Is it safe for them to be out there?" I was concerned for the kids to be outside with werewolves around. Surely they had to think it wasn't normal for their parents to turn into werewolves.

Casey nodded and made her way to the window. "It's not very often that they get to wrestle with Grayson when he's a wolf. He'll be gentle." She watched the kids play with the werewolf. "Plus Mason's there. If Grayson miscalculates, Mason will pull the kid out of danger."

The wolf was taller than the 10 year olds that we're trying to attack it. The wolf looked normal; this wasn't the Grayson that I met when he kidnapped me.

"For being such a big, scary man, Grayson looks normal."

Casey chuckled. "He's a good at his job, but he's a big teddy bear when there's no one there to witness it."

I glanced at Mason. He was staring at the kids with a soft expression on his face, his eyes watching every move, probably anticipating every move before the kids knew where they were even going.

He looked normal too. Maybe these guys had a soft spot somewhere below that stony exterior.

I couldn't help but notice that Mason was shirtless...still. He really needed to put a shirt on. I couldn't be clear headed about anything while he was shirtless. When I looked back at his face, his eyes met mine for a second before looking back at the kids with a smirk on his face. He was going to tease me because he caught me checking him out. 

"What do you think about joining one of the groups for training instead of training with Mason?" Casey asked, finally taking her eyes off of the kids.

"I don't know. It makes me a little nervous."

She nodded, "They won't be unsupervised or anything. It's just a more consistent thing than dealing with Mason's mood swings."

I nodded, "Sounds good. When do you think that would start?"

"You could start tomorrow if you feel comfortable enough."

I wasn't sure I was ready to shake off the guys who made me feel so uncomfortable the first time I went through the compound. "Sure."

"You sound a bit unsure."

"Those guys wanted to jump my bones last time I saw them."

She glanced at the kids, keeping an eye on them. "The group I'm thinking about has a bit more control to them."