After my visit to my mother I felt drained. I took no notice of what was going on around me and my feet walked aimlessly around the castle. Until I walked into a broad chest which stopped me in my tracks.

"Adrian?" he asked with a gentle voice, "you look like you've seen a ghost, love."

I peered up at Mathew and gave him a weak smile."A ghost from the past maybe," I sighed. "I visited my mother, and it wasn't very pleasant."

Without asking me further about it he took my hand and gently escorted me through a door and out into the castle gardens. "Sunshine always helps when I'm in a bad mood," he said.

"She thought I was my dead brother," I continued, "she loved him dearly and she was openly disappointed when she realized it was just me."

"Sounds like you had a tough upbringing," he said and guided me towards the few flowers who were still in bloom. He picked a red one and placed it behind my ear and smiled.

"I found a mother in someone else," I muttered, "Miss Abbey raised me," I explained, realizing I had never really spoken about these things with him before.

"So that's why you are so close with the commoners," he said with a gentle smile. "You were raised around them and not your parents?"

"Something like that," I said with a shrug as we sat down on the edge of a fountain displaying three women each holding a jar in their arms, the water flowing down gently from them. After a moment of hesitation I moved from the cold stone to sit myself down in his lap, to his great pleasure, and started to twine his long hair around my fingers. "What's your family like?"

He chuckled and bent down to kiss my forehead. "My father Skarde was never Alpha, he's a simple man with simple ideas. He can be strict, but he had to be with two adventurous sons on his hands," he told me with a smile on his lips.

"You fought for your title, right?" I asked and instantly wondered why he'd want that obligation in the first place.

"I did." He placed his arms around me and leaned in to my touch. "The leader before me was old, and he got lazy. It must be around five years ago," he continued thoughtfully. "He sent me and his son to help our pack at the border, but he sent too few warriors with us and we barely survived." He pulled me a little closer, " I lost my best friend, his son, fighting your fathers soldiers. And when I came back he accused me of getting his son killed."

"So you got tired of his leadership?" I asked curiously.

"Not really, I never planned to become Alpha, I fought him because I was furious at him for blaming me for my friend's death."

I kept twirling his hair as I listened to his story, trying to memorize it all. "And you won the fight and he stepped down?"

"I killed him," he corrected, "and the one who kills the Alpha is usually the one who takes his place, but the pack can vote against it if they don't see the person fit."

I stopped to look up at him and meet his eyes, "did you plan to kill him?"

"No," he muttered and I could see his eyes change, suddenly it was Alpha who watched me.

"It was you," I concluded and I felt the wolf's attempt to answer me. It was a weird sensation, like someone was poking on my thoughts, being asked to be let in. I took a deep breath and relaxed my mind and I could instantly hear him inside my head.

"I was protecting Mathew, the old Alpha would have killed him, so I forced him to shift and I took over."

I nodded once and leaned closer to rest my head on his shoulder, "I'm glad you did," I whispered and felt an instant rush of joy coming from him as his emotions entered my mind.

"I'm glad too," Mathew chuckled, "but it took a while before the pack accepted us, it worked out in the end though."

"So, you have a brother?" I asked, changing the subject to something less gruesome.

"I have a younger brother, his name is Eric and we get along pretty well," he said, with a shrug. "He's quite the ladies man, charming and witty."

"Sounds like a younger copy of you," I teased.

"Oh, I've never found any interest in girls," he said and winked at me, "maybe that's why we get along, there was never much competition between us."

"Lucky you," I snickered, "I can't wait to meet them all and see your home and where you grew up."

"I've told them everything about you already," he said with that unusual shyness he showed me now and then, as if he was worried what I'd think.

"He wouldn't shut up about you," Alpha snickered inside my head. My eyes widened as I stared at Mathew for a while, his eyes looked normal this time. I would never get used to hearing the wolf's voice in my head.

"You heard him too?" Mat asked carefully and I only nodded. "That's great news, it means your bond is growing stronger," he said with a smile. "He was a bit worried things would be different, since you are human."

I nodded in understanding, but suddenly I felt sorry for the wolf, he wouldn't have a mate to run and do wolf thighs with. Whatever they did. But he soon invaded my mind again.

"I was the one who chose you, remember," he said firmly. "From the moment we lay our eyes on you at the banquet I knew we needed you, so stop thinking thoughts like that."

"I was not available at that time," I teased.

"We didn't know that," Mathew said and winked at me, "we were quite honored to be invited to your head table."

"And miserable when that traitor of a knight called you love the day after," the wolf growled.

"You still think he's a traitor?" I asked low, it was almost a whisper and peered into the sky blue eyes.

"His actions tell me he is trying to prove himself, but there's something off about him," Mathew said with a much harder tone in his voice.

"I feel it too," I said and moved closer to his warm skin, which reminded me of my next question. "You're much warmer than any human I've ever met. Is that a lycan thing?"

"I think so," he said, amused by my innocent questions.

I fiddled with his hair once more, "can I ask you something else?"

"Anything, love," he said and kissed my forehead.

I felt my cheeks flush but I decided to ask anyway, "am I your first partner?"

His body tensed up slightly and I instantly regretted my question, but after a moment of silence he shook his head. "No, I was in love with the Alpha's son. We were childhood friends and when we got into puberty we started to look at each other differently," he chuckled. "He died in my arms, Adrian, and that's why I can promise you I won't let anything bad happen to you. I won't make the same mistakes again."

"I'm sorry," I whispered, "I didn't mean to tear up old wounds."

He gently removed me from his lap and stood up tall in front of me, taking my hand to walk me back to our room. "It's alright, Adrian, We're about to get married. We're supposed to know these things about each other."

"I was in love with Joseph, but he is," I sighed and corrected myself, "was, never into men."

"I'm sure he's alive and healthy somewhere darling," the tall lycan said comfortingly as we stepped out of the garden and into the dim corridors. "He sits on a lot of valuable information and our enemies would be idiots if they killed him."

"I hope you're right," I said and sighed.

"So no secret boyfriends in town? No other crushes I should know about?" he teased.

"There was a stable boy," I said with a light blush on my cheeks and he started laughing. "What?" I asked, feeling annoyed at his reaction.

"That's a bit cliché, don't you think?"

I shrugged and peered up at him with a playful grin, "and falling for the enemy is not?"

"I was never your enemy," he stated calmly. "When you sent us the invitation to your castle I knew things would change for me and my pack. My mother pleaded with me not to go, saying I would be killed instantly. But here I was, greeted like any other ambassador, and under your protection." He squeezed my hand, "that meant a lot to me."

"I hate my father for what he did to you," I sighed, "and I promise you, when this war is over we will change things over here."