I held the phone to my ear, letting out a sigh as it continued ringing. It had been a mistake to call Nora instead of my mom since she rarely ever answered the phone. I hadn't called my mom directly because every time I did she panicked, thinking it would be me telling her the Alpha had done something terrible.

"Athena?" Nora asked as she picked up the call and I couldn't help but snort.

"Yes, don't worry it's me calling from his phone." I reassured, although it unfortunately wasn't too farfetched an assumption that the Alpha may call her. He seemed quite hell bent on forming a proper brotherly bond with her.

"Have you guys left?" I asked.

"No, but we should soon. I think we'll be there in about two hours."

"Okay take your time, no rush. Have a safe drive." I said before hanging up.

"Why haven't they left yet?" A voice asked from right next to my other ear making me nearly jump out of my skin in fright.

"Don't do that." I exclaimed, whirling around to look at the Alpha who was staring back at me as though I were the strange one.

I was only more bewildered when I caught sight of him. He looked as he usually did, impossibly poreless and perfect except for one blaring detail. The white dress shirt he wore was clearly custom tailored and ironed to perfection paired with well-fitting black slacks but tied over his clothes was a light grey apron with a frill along the sides. The innocent apron looking incredibly out of place on his hulking, intimidating visage. He raised his brow expectantly as though reminding me that he were still waiting for a response.

"I don't know, I've been here all morning. They're probably just running a little late." I answered dazedly, still unable to believe what I was seeing.

"I've already put the quiche in the oven, if they're late it's gonna be cold and not taste the same." The Alpha grumbled and I blinked at him in incredulity.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." I said, for lack of anything else to say when a beast of a man was complaining about his baking not being served at its freshest.

"You're right, that's not the star of the show anyway." He responded and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at how insane this situation was. If you had told me a couple months ago that the Alpha would be fretting over his baking I would have thought you to be a bigger lunatic than the man himself and yet here we were.

He seemed to catch on to my amusement and looked horribly torn between being offended or happy but settled on turning his back on me and walking out of the bedroom. He turned back at the door, cocking his head outwards as though asking well aren't you coming?

I really didn't want to but trudged after him anyway. He had been fretting and obsessing over the lunch since last night. Going so far as to call one of his pack members and forcing them to do a late night run to the grocery store to switch out some of the ingredients that did not meet his impossible standards.

The bell rang just as we had made it down the stairs with yet another delivery. Though the shadowy glass pane on the door I could see the person leaving something at our doorstep before turning to leave. I walked ahead with a sigh, assuming it was another insanely expensive meat cut or exotic fruit.

I put on the kettle to make myself a cup of tea, turning to see what the Alpha was bringing in only to see him carrying in what looked to be at least 4 giant bouquets of flowers.

"I think we'll put the carnations in the kitchen, the peonies in the hallway and the chrysanthemums in the living room." The Alpha said, his tone indicating he was waiting for my approval.

"Why?" I asked, unable to help myself.

"Well I've heard older human women are very into flowers so I thought I would get some to impress your mother." He said, setting the bouquets down on the table and getting started on setting the carnations into a vase. I didn't know what sort of guide to wooing your human in-laws had led to this particular round of batty behaviour but I really hoped he would get it out of his system before my family got here.

"And the roses?" I asked, regretting it immediately as he turned to look at me, a smirk forming at the corner of his lips.

"Well those are for you." He said, grabbing the giant bouquet of lush red roses and walking towards me, offering them up. I grabbed onto it gingerly, unable to stop myself from admiring them. The vibrant red flowers were in full bloom with not a spot in sight, they were some of the most beautiful flowers I had ever seen.

He leaned in to press a soft deep kiss to my cheek, pulling away with a smile. "You can put those wherever you'd like."

"T-thanks." I stuttered, feeling foolish for being uncomfortable at such a gesture when I was living with him. I turned my back on him as I poured myself a cup of tea, mixing some honey in about to grab the bouquet I had set down and make my escape when he caught my elbow.

"Taste this." He said, blowing on a spoon before bringing it to my lips. I grimaced at it, not wanting to eat something he had blown on but he gave me a blank look at my obvious hesitation that had me giving in. It wasn't like he had never kissed me. 

Leaning forward I opened my mouth and was rewarded with the fragrant taste of basil and lime along with some spices I couldn't recognize in the form of a buttery sauce. The taste of it had my stomach rumbling as I pulled away and the Alpha suppressed a smile, raising a brow at me questioningly.

"It's good." I answered shortly, unable to turn my nose up at his cooking when it was admittedly delicious.

"It's for the grilled prawns." He said and I nodded along as though I had paid any attention when he had been talking about what he was going to make today.

"Want me to make you a quick bite to eat if you're hungry?" He asked, stirring flour into something on the stove.

"No, I'll just grab a snack from the pantry." I said, opening up the cabinet and staring at the ridiculous amount of snacks neatly aligned on the shelves. I tucked a box of crackers under my arm as I grabbed the bouquet and tea, intending to head to my reading room when my guilty conscience caught up with me. I stood still a moment, battling with myself and wanting to just walk away but knowing I would feel bad if I did.

"Do you need any help?" I asked stiffly. My back was to him but I could feel his eyes on me making my shoulders tense up.

"No, but thank you for asking mate." The Alpha said, husky voice softening in a way that made me regret asking. I walked out of the kitchen as quick as I could without letting the tea slosh over the rim of the cup.

I set my tea and snack down on the side table next to the armchair and dropped the roses down on the other armchair before picking up my book from where I had left it. Curling up and opening the book up to my bookmarked page, keeping one hand free to dig into the crackers as I read.

I glanced at the box of crackers as I finished chewing one, surprised by how good they were and wondering why I had never had them before. But then I had never even felt hungry enough to eat all my meals let alone snacks.

My appetite had steadily been returning in the past couple weeks. The blurred reflection I could see in the china of my teacup no longer had sallow cheeks or dull hair. Hope could do wonders for a person and despite the odds being stacked against me, I had faith that one day I would get to leave this all behind.

I didn't know how long had passed as I read my book when the sudden appearance of the Alpha startled me. "It's your mom" he said, holding his phone out. His expression grave making my heart drop. I scrambled up to grab the phone from him, a million terrible thoughts passing through my mind in the span of time it took me to raise the phone to my ear and speak.

"Athena you have to come here, bring the Alpha. It's Nora she-." My mom said, sounding breathless and hoarse as though she had been crying.

"What is it? What's wrong with Nora?" I asked, wringing my fingers into the sweater I wore as I waited with baited breath for her to respond.

"A werewolf has claimed her as his mate." My mom answered and I felt my head go light, fingers slackening and the phone nearly slipped from my grasp but the Alpha caught it and secured it to my ear. I glanced up at him, looking into those eyes that always seemed to be on me. My heart constricting at the thought of my little sister having to go through what I did.

"Hurry Athena, we're at a gas station, I'll send the Alpha the address, make sure you bring him." She said again, and I didn't even know what I answered as I hung up.

My ears were ringing as I struggled to process what my mom had just told me. A warm hand on my shoulder broke me out of the reverie I had fallen into. Adrenaline seemed to surge through my body and I grabbed onto the Alpha's arm.

"We have to go. She-my mom sent you an address." I said, not even waiting for him to respond and trying to pull him out of the room. Accidentally knocking into the side table and spilling the tea with a crash that had me jumping but in no state to care.

"Jesus Athena are you okay?" The Alpha asked, bringing me to a stop as he tugged back the arm I was holding, grabbing onto my shoulder to turn me around so he could get a look at me.

"I'm fine, let's go." I answered brusquely.

"Take a second to breathe, you're panicking. Your sister found her mate, it's nothing to stress about. A wolf would never hurt their mate."

"I don't have the time to argue with you about human-werewolf relationships right now. I have to get to my sister, are you coming with me or not?" I asked impatiently.

"Of course I'm coming with you." He said, fortunately letting it rest at that and following me out the room and into his. For the first time I was grateful for his supernatural speed as he grabbed his keys and wallet before I could so much as think to tell him to hurry.

I rushed down the stairs, snatching the coat he held out to me in exasperation before tugging on my shoes and unlocking the door. Heading straight for his car, I made my way to the driver's side but he caught me with an arm around my waist from behind.

"I'm driving." I said sternly.

"No you're not. I'm not letting you drive in this state." He said and I scoffed about to retort when he grabbed one of my hands and held it up before my face so I could see the way it shook. Despite wanting to, I found myself unable to argue when I wasn't able to still my hands even as I became aware of the way they trembled. Conceding, I pushed away from him and made my way to the passenger seat. Getting in quickly as he held the door open for me and buckling myself in as he got in on the driver's side.

The moment we were both buckled in, he set the car into drive and peeled out of the driveway. Seeming to sense my urgency and driving faster than he normally did. It wasn't nearly fast enough when the GPS on the system was telling me we wouldn't get to my family for another thirty minutes. A lot could happen in thirty minutes.

Even regular pack wolves were much stronger than humans. I had no doubt my parents would be trying to keep the wolf away from Nora but it wasn't easy to get a wolf who had just found their mate to let go of them. They were all beastly instinct when they found their mates, seeing anything that tried to get in their way as a threat.

There was no consideration of age in that moment. If a mate were human, the wolf was not supposed to touch them until they turned 18 but wolves were never held to that standard when they first found their mate.

I couldn't imagine how scared Nora was, or what the wolf may do to her. My heart clenched as I realized they could even try to take her away. Memories of red eyes and restraining hands forcing me into a car surfacing and making everything I had eaten today threaten to make a reappearance.

"Drive faster." I said breathily, trying to push down the nausea. A cold sweat breaking out on my body as I looked at the car's GPS to see we had barely covered any of the distance.

"I'm already above speed-limit Athena." The Alpha responded.

"I know you can drive faster than this. You weren't too concerned about road safety the day you took me." I bit out, seeing him tense at my words.

"I didn't take you. I brought you home." He spoke through gritted teeth.

"Whatever you want to call it, drive like that or we'll never make it in time." I said, relieved when he sped up until we were zooming past the other cars.

"I don't understand why you're reacting like this, it's a blessing to find your mate. Besides, Nora has another 2 years before she'll have to leave home to live with her mate."

"Don't fucking call her that. She's not any wolf's anything and she's not going anywhere but university in 2 years." I said.

"If she wants to go to university, a wolf wouldn't stop her. Not only is that illegal but they would never do anything to displease their mate. As soon as you find your mate, a wolf's sole purpose becomes to keep them happy and safe by your side."

"You'll have to forgive me if I can't quite take your word for it." I retorted, seeing him clench his fists tightly around the steering wheel in a clear effort to try to reign in his temper from the corner of my eye as I watched the GPS like a hawk.

My legs bounced, fists banging atop them in a rhythm that was driving me insane but I couldn't bring myself to stop as I waited for us to get there. Mumbling curses at every slow car until the Alpha overtook them.

Unable to take it any longer, I demanded the Alpha's phone. Worrying my bottom lip as I called my mom back and waited as it rang, going to voicemail after nearly a minute. In quick succession I dialed my dad and then Nora's phones only to be directed to their voicemails as well.

"For fate's sake Athena, calm down. Your anxiety is making my wolf try to claw its way out of my skin." The Alpha said, resting a giant heated hand on my knee but I slapped it away. Unable to bring myself to care as he growled at me in warning.

At long last the Alpha finally turned into the gas station and I scanned the span of it in an attempt to catch sight of Nora and my parents.

"There." I yelled, pointing at one of the pumps where I could see my parents' car with the nozzle still inserted into their gas tank.

The Alpha parked right behind them and I was out the second the car came to a stop. My heart skipping a beat as I turned towards the commotion at another one of the pumps and saw a young werewolf barely out of his teens growling at my mom and dad with his fangs out and eyes glowing gold.

I raced towards them as I saw Nora peek her head out from around behind his arm. He had her caged in against his car and barely seemed to notice as she fought desperately to free herself. I pushed at the wolf the moment I was close enough, getting snarled at in response as the werewolf turned his attention on me. A deafening growl was heard from behind me and suddenly I was shoved behind the Alpha, the wolf cowering as Onyx towered over him.

"Step aside." Onyx ordered, and the wolf waivered. His arms trembling at the effort of refusing an Alpha's command but unable to bring himself to let Nora go. I made a move to step out from behind Onyx but he caught my arm in a vice-like grip.

"Let me go." I said through gritted teeth.

"I'm not letting you confront a feral werewolf. Let me handle this."

"The feral werewolf is holding my little sister hostage, either get him off of her or let me go so I can."

"Vincent now." The Alpha growled, and I didn't need to see his face to tell he had dropped his fangs and his eyes were glowing.

I watched as the werewolf finally stepped aside, his entire body jerking as though he wanted with every fiber of his body to stop her as Nora ran out from behind him. I caught her as she ran straight into my arms, tucking her head under my chin and holding her trembling body close as she cried into my chest. My own eyes filling with tears but I clenched my jaw to keep them from falling, keeping my gaze trained intently on the werewolf over Nora's head even as my mom and dad crowded us both.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to lose control." The werewolf said, staring guiltily at Nora. His gaze wanting and I twisted my body so he couldn't see my little sister. My stomach turning to see such a look directed at Nora. 

I gasped as I finally got a proper look at my dad, his lip split and a bruise forming on his temple. I untangled myself from Nora, guiding her gently to my mom, who swept her up into a hug the moment she could. Her hands shaking as she clutched Nora tightly to her.

"How dare you fucking touch them?" I asked the wolf, fingers twitching with the urge to dig into him and tear the wolf to shreds as I approached the wolf where Onyx had him cornered and was talking to him lowly.

"Athena calm down, I've got it handled." The Alpha said, holding his palm out towards me which I brushed past but was caught around the waist.

"You're never going near my sister again. You hear me?" I said, clawing at Onyx's arm as he dragged me back to his side.

"She's mine." The werewolf snarled and Onyx growled at him warningly. My own body jolting at the sound. I had always thought it to be terrifying when he growled or snarled at me but it was nothing compared to the menacing, downright beastly sound that ripped from his chest when trying to intimidate another.

"I fucking told you once, that is your Alpha's mate. You so much as lift an eye at my mate again and I'll disown you from this pack sooner than you can say sorry." The Alpha snarled.

"I'm sorry Alpha, I'm sorry Alpha mate. Please just let me see my mate again, I can't hold my wolf back much longer." The boy pleaded.

"Athena bring your sister here." The Alpha said and I whirled in his hold to look at him.

"Are you out of your mind? He hit my dad and traumatized Nora, the girl hasn't stopped shaking. She's going home and this insolent mutt is going to prison where he belongs for assault."

I watched with satisfaction as the boy flinched at my words, keeping his gaze downcast and wringing his hands anxiously in front of him as he shifted from foot to foot.

"Alpha mate I didn't mean to hurt your father. He tried to take my mate away from me and I unthinkingly pushed him. I would never intentionally hurt any of you, you're my family too now. It'll never happen again, I swear by the fates." 

"I don't care what your excuse is. You're violent and have no regard for consent. You frightened my sister and hurt my dad, rest assured we will be pressing charges."

"Athena he's Nora's mate, we can't call the police on him." The Alpha said, seemingly hell bent on making me hate him even more today.

"Both of you are delusional if you think he is Nora's anything. You may not call the police on him, but I certainly will."

"I'm the Alpha and I say there is no need to involve the police. No wolf can control themselves when they meet their mate for the first time and that will not be held against him in a court."

"A court of wolves." I spat in disgust, feeling nearly blind with rage at the unfairness of it all.

"There are no separate courts for wolves and humans. Had your father not intervened, this never would have happened."

"Any parent would try to protect their child but that is a concept beyond the understanding of beasts like you." I said, the Alpha's eyes bleeding red and his nostrils flaring as he leaned down so we were eye level.

"I have been trying very hard to be patient with you Athena but there is a limit to my patience. I will not tolerate you disrespecting me in public." He muttered lowly.

"Shall I continue once we're home then?" I asked making him snarl.

"That is enough mate." He growled, yanking me closer by the arm he had around my waist and I heard my mom gasp from behind us.

"Please Alpha we appreciate your help." My mom said placatingly, and I could see her approaching us from the corner of my eye. I dropped my gaze from the Alpha's, going as limp as I could in his hold in a clear display of surrender and he released a slow exhale. Nudging his nose against my temple making me have to clench my jaw to withstand it.

"You all should head to our home as planned, it is no use to continue making a scene here. Vincent as you are now family I would have invited you too but I cannot let you threatening my mate go unpunished." Onyx said.

"Alpha please-" The wolf began but was silenced immediately as Onyx levelled him with a stern look.

"You will return to your home and wait for Nora to contact you, that is my order as your Alpha."

The boy looked so distraught you may have thought Onyx had sentenced him to life in prison but bowed his head in submission. Casting a puppy-eyed look Nora's way and bidding her farewell. Only after expressing how eagerly he would be waiting to hear from her, did he finally get into his car and leave.

I felt like I could finally drag in a breath as his car drove out of view, having the insane urge to toss Nora into our family car and drive as far as we could possibly go. I returned to her side, cupping her face in my hands so I could get a good look at her.

Her hazel eyes were red and swollen, silvery tear tracks running down her round cheeks that had yet to lose their baby fat. Lips downturned as her eyes began watering again and I pulled her in for another hug, my heart breaking at how small she felt in my embrace. I promised myself then that I would never let her go through what I did. No matter what it took, my sister would never be entrapped by a beast.

A/N

Hi lovelies!

I'm so sorry for the late chapter. It is no excuse but work has been draining so I haven't quite been in the mood to create, although I did not push myself as I should have. All of you who continue to read this book despite the long waits between chapters mean the world to me. Thank you so much for your patience! I know I do test it.

You may have noticed this chapter is a bit shorter than usual and that is because I had to split it into 2. It was getting entirely too long and I wanted to make sure I updated. I am going to try to get the next chapter out soon to make up for it.

I hope all of you are doing well and have a great night!