I stare into the bright, flickering flames contained in the fire pit. The other guys decided to make a bonfire for surviving two days of training.

"She is kind of terrifying." One of the guys states with a shudder. Some of the guys nod in agreement and the others chuckle. My wolf smirks.

"Oakley is smoking hot." My head snaps to the idiot who started speaking. "I have to control myself every time she's around. I think she likes having all us guys around too."

I stand up and walk straight up to the idiot. "I suggest you quit disrespecting the last female werewolf like that."

He raises an eyebrow. "Relax, Core. It's not like I'm actually going to do anything. All of us here can quite obviously tell that she's attractive."

My body starts to shake slightly. "I'm going to tell you this one time and one time only. Shut. Up."

"Dude, you need to shut up. Core will kill you." Someone speaks up.

"No." The idiot defies and takes a step closer to me. "I can talk crap if I want to. If Oakley walked out here right now, I'd whistle at her just because I can. Core, won't do anything. He's all bark and no-."

Before I can stop myself, I jump at him and shift. Everything is chaos. The others guys jump out of the way. The idiot shifts too and I launch myself at him. I aim for his neck, but he deflects. He snarls at me and I bite one of his hind legs. He whines and backs up. I growl and stand up to my full height.

"HEY! BREAK IT UP!"

I immediately back down and lower my head.

"NEITHER ONE OF YOU BETTER SHIFT UNTIL I SAY SO OR SO HELP ME! NOW ONE OF YOU BETTER TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED AND DON'T YOU DARE THINK ABOUT LYING TO ME!" Oakley screams at us.

"Well, he was disrespecting you and um Core stood up for you." One of the guys explains.

"One, I can stand up for myself, but thank you. Two, if anyone else wants to disrespect me, then you can just pack your bags and leave. I'll gladly spend the money you paid to be here for only a few days instead of a few months. Now, you can two can shift and wait for my dad. He will decide your fate." Oakley says and crosses her arms.

I wonder how she's going to take it when I shift.

I shift after one of the guys tosses me a pair of basketball shorts.

"Corbin?" She questions looking at me.

"You know him?" Alpha Thomas, her dad, questions.

"He's part of the group I'm training."

"Okay. Well, he can stay. I like anyone who stands up for my daughter. You can make sure that he is not injured. I'll take care of this one."

Oakley motions me to follow her and we go into the pack house. "I really don't know why my dad wanted me to make sure you weren't hurt. You are one of the best fighters here. I'm just surprised you didn't kill the other guy." She tosses me a water bottle and I take it. "What's your tattoo?"

I glance at my arm and scratch my head. "Well, this is probably the least romantic way to say this, but it's your name. You are my soulmate."

She stares at me for a minute and then she looks confused. She rushes around the counter and grabs my arm. She looks up at me and back at my arm. Suddenly, she drops my arm and runs away. I run after her, but she locks herself in her room. I knock on the door and Sam jogs up to me.

"What happened?" He questions.

"I told her that I'm her mate," I answer.

He nods. "She's probably freaking out. Let me calm her down. I'm not surprised that you two are mates. I could have guessed that when I saw you all eating together yesterday." He knocks on her door. "Oakley?"

"Go away!"

Sam rolls his eyes. "Corbin and I will be hanging out in my room." Sam smirks at me. Shuffling is heard and Oakley opens the door. She glares at Sam and growls. She pulls me in her room and slams the door shut. She sits on her bed and glances at me.

"I don't know how any of this works. Sorry for running away. I had to see if I had one too." She stares out the window.

I sit down in the floor and nod my head. "I don't know how any of this works either."

"I won't go any easier on you in training than the rest of the guys," she states.

"I didn't expect you to," I smile.

She turns to me. "So, why do they call you Core?"

"Because I'm a big bad wolf. Grr."

Oakley laughs and falls back on her bed. "You will forever be Corbin to me."