I walked right up to Alaric. He still had a hold on Amelia. It irked me that he thought he was so privileged just because he was the alpha's son. Spoiled brats, liked him, deserved whatever they asked for. Right now, he was asking for my hand.

"You're not deaf, Alaric." I glanced at his hand, which was still wrapped around Amelia's upper arm. 

Alaric chuckled and looked at Amelia as if he couldn't believe the request I set before him. I already saw his next move coming. He released her arm, only to threw a punch aimed at my face. Unfortunately, his fist didn't make the right connection. Instead, I blocked his fist with the back of my fist. My eyes never left his face. 

"Your punch had no force behind it. You're still fighting in the little league, huh?" Shoving his fist away, I stepped forward. At the same time, I delivered a punch to his gut. 

He fell to his knees, clenching his stomach. He heaved and gasped a moment before spilling the contents of stomach onto the sidewalk. Amelia had swiftly moved back. I turned around just in time to see the other four advancing on me. 

They looked like they had been in a few fights, but nothing that was too intense. I was quite sure of that. Meeting them halfway, I easily dodged the first punch thrown my way by moving my head to the side. Then I threw one. A fake hit in order to kick the second werewolf that came at me. The third had grabbed me from the back, trapping my arms. As the fourth and first advanced on me, I used my legs to push the two back.

 Breaking free from the third, I spinned on my feet and punched him in the face. Spinning back around, I quickly approached the other two. Grabbing them by the heads, I slammed them against each other. Watching them fall to the ground, I looked around me in case anyone else decided to take a swing at me. When I saw no one was making a move, I relaxed. 

These boys were going to cause trouble for me. I knew their kind. Getting back at me in sly ways, so they could show they had the upper hand. I'll just have to deal with whatever happens when the time comes. 

Walking over to Alaric on his right side, I lowered myself down to his level. He was trying to catch his breath still. "Next time you think about forcing Amelia to go with you, I want you to remember this moment. Because next time, I'm going to hit you harder. And you're not going to like it." 

He groaned again, and I rose to my full height. Turning to Amelia, I looked at her arm. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No, I'm ok." There was an astonished look face as she looked at her fallen classmates. 

They weren't dead or badly hurt, but they would be feeling sore tomorrow morning even if their blows had healed by then. 

"Good." I looked back at the boys. 

"Can you take me home?" Amelia's question had me looking back at her.

I studied her for a moment. She might look ok, but she might have been frightened. I'd be a terrible person if I did leave her like this. Despite it being daylight still, I didn't think it was a good idea that she should walk home by herself either. Anything was possible.

"Sure. Come on," I said and led her in the direction of my car. 

Once we reached it, we got inside and I headed in the direction of her house. When we arrived, I waited until she got out. I already knew I would be in for it once that brat got back to his father, but there was no way I was going to sit around and let him bully Amelia into doing what he wanted. 

"Um," she said quietly.

"Yeah?" 

"Do you mind -- I mean, can you come in and help me tell my mom about, well, everything? I tried several times, but…" she trailed off.

I looked at her. She hasn't told her mom or at least asked her about anything. I mean I guess I could understand why she hasn't. Humans didn't take the unusual well, but surely, her mother had to have some type of idea about the man she knew intimately. Then I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. 

"Ok, I'll do it." Against my better judgment, I followed her inside her house.

Upon entering her house, I noticed the baked sweet smell first. As I looked around, the house looked like any other house. It held things a home held. Nevertheless, it looked cozy and safe. 

"It doesn't look like Mom is here yet," she said while placing her things on the floor beside the small end table that held pictures featuring her mother or herself.

"That's ok." My gaze had settled on a picture of Amelia when she looked to be around three or four years old. She was wearing a yellow sundress and was obviously giggling at something or someone. Whoever caught the picture had taken it at just the right moment. "I'll catch Mrs. O'Connell another time." 

As I turned to take my leave, my mate had moved so fast, closing the small distance between us and had grabbed my left wrist. "Wait, don't go." 

She wasn't looking at me as she said this. In fact, there was a shyness in the expression on her face. A cuteness that melted my heart and had a smile trying to form on my face. Even the air around her shifted to something I was familiar with. "I don't think it's a good idea for me to stay, Amelia. Not without your mother being present."

Her cheeks had become light pink. That in itself did nothing to calm the desire in me to kiss her. Ever since she surprised me in the car, I wanted nothing but to claim her mouth once more. I wanted to savor the feeling of her mouth against mine, but I knew that would be wrong. 

I had to go through Miller first. 

"I just want to know," she said as she brought her brown eyes up to meet mine. "Why have you been avoiding me? Did I do the wrong thing by kissing you?"

She averted her gaze at her last question. I felt an overpowering desire to soothe her. "You did do the wrong thing by kissing me." I couldn't stop a smile from forming on my face when she looked back at me with widened eyes. "But that's not it. That kiss only makes me want to kiss you again if I'm being honest."

I noticed she still hasn't let go of me. Her touch felt good like being approved for doing something right.

"So you felt the difference too." 

"Kissing your mate does that," I said.

"I was just seeing if it was like in the books. I mean this mate bond thing — it's not what I thought. I mean the kiss was so good. Better than anything I've experienced." She explained her reasoning behind kissing me. "And when you avoided me these days, I thought you didn't feel anything." 

She was cute when she tried justifying herself. From her rambling, I could she had me to come in under the impression her mother would be here just to confront me. She must have felt guilty. I didn't want her to feel that way because there was nothing to feel guilty about.

Placing my hand against her warm cheek,  I leaned down at the same time. She had been still talking, but what she was saying I didn't know at the time. I did know she had stopped talking the second she felt my palm against her cheek and seconds later my lips against hers. 

I was gentle as I kissed her. She soon responded back and we were moving in sync. Her eyelids had closed halfway, and I took that as my cue to end the kiss. Pulling back, I smiled. "Now we're even. See." 

She didn't say a word. My guess was that my little stunt had surprised her, which was my intention. With a chuckle, I started to lean back, but Amelia had pulled me back to her by gripping my shirt with one hand. The other was at the back of my neck. Just before we kissed again, I saw the change in her eyes. Her wolf was surfacing.

As much as I wanted to show her this, I couldn't. I was too engrossed in the passionate kiss. I met her passion with my own. I deepened the kiss, earning a soft moan from her. My hands went to her bottom, easily lifting her up. She wrapped her legs around my waist as I turned us, pressing her back gently as I could against the door. 

"We should stop," I said against her mouth.

"No." The word came out in a growl. Her wolf definitely was in control here. Her hands were around my neck, but that didn't stop her from pressing and rubbing her body against mine. She wanted me just as much as I wanted her. 

I felt my resolve to stop crumbling quickly. 

A low growl left me. "Your room?" I couldn't be bothered with complete sentences. I was torn between wanting her and keeping us connected by our lips. 

"Upstairs, on the right." She managed to get out. 

With a growl, I carried her from the door and up to her room.