My stomach growled lightly as we ran hand in hand through the pack territory, and Arlis turned to cringe. "Food. Don't worry, there's a bunch at the pack house. And some in our house."

Our house.

Butterflies erupted in my stomach although in that moment it also could have been hunger, but who knew for sure?

We stopped in front of a medium sized log cabin, a set of stairs led up to the porch where chairs were seated and two glass doors led into a living room. It was an A frame and it looked old, but I could tell some remodeling had been done.

I couldn't help but marvel at the house, my mouth dropping to the ground.

There was a blacktop driveway with a basketball hoop at the end, Sampson and another boy that looked his age were playing basketball.

Both the boys stopped when Arlis and I got to them.

"You must be Luna Barron." The kid next to Sam held his hand out. "My name's Leif." I shake his hand and Arlis growls lowly. Leif pulls his hand back wildly. "I'm nineteen, calm down Alpha A, I'm too young for her." He says, but looks at me apologetically. He probably thought I was Arlis's age, or a hundred and something.

If we were being technical, Leif is closer to my age than Arlis ever was.

"Why are you two boys here?" Arlis asked. "Where's Seymour and your parents?"

Sam and Leif shrugged. "I think Yoda is off training with Leif's parents."

"Training?" I asked.

Leif nodded. "Yeah my mom is the lead trainer here at Sovereign, best trainer there is."

Sam and Arlis nodded in agreement. "Very true." Arlis said. "So why don't you two skidaddle on out of here, yeah?"

Sam bounced the ball one more time. "Only if Luna Barron can make a basket from here." Sam smirked.

Arlis started to reject the request but I held my head high. "Deal!" I yelled, and Arlis gave me a worried look.

"You sure you can do it? We're at like... half court if this was an actual basketball court." He said.

I nodded. "Hell yeah, my high school team went to state three years in a row, would've been four if I stayed."

He looked skeptical but trusted me to make the shot.

"And if Luna Barron misses, we get to stay here." Sam said, smiling to himself smugly.

I ripped the ball from his hands and winked at Arlis. "I got this."

I tossed the ball, jumping up and watched it soar through the air. The ball hit the backboard just right, and went into the net.

I looked back to the gaping group of boys. Even Arlis seemed shocked.

"Did she just..." Sam looked like he couldn't believe it.

Leif grinned. "Luna Barron might be cooler than you, Alpha A."

"Just Kate." I said, proud of myself and my shot.

"Yeah... maybe. A deal is a deal, scam!" Arlis laughed, and the boys rolled their eyes heavily, walking away, pushing and shoving each other.

Arlis swooped me up into his arms, causing me to giggle and scream as he walked up the steps effortlessly like I weighed nothing.

To him I probably didn't.

He held me with one arm as he opened the door, stumbling in and slamming it behind him.

"Here. Now there's no Constance." He said as he dropped me onto my own two feet and pushed me against the wall, his eyes hungry and prowling.

I gulped down a breath, shaking under his gaze in a good way.

He pressed his mouth over mine, our mouths moving in sync as he pushed me harder against the wall, my back arching into him.

I looped my arms around his neck, groaning into his mouth. He picked me up by my thighs and wrapped my legs around his hips.

He nipped at my lip, softly biting and pulling it away.

I pulled back, looking at the hungry gaze he held like a flame.

I barely knew him. I wasn't offering myself up this easily.

I kissed his cheek and hopped down from his hips, but my arms were still loose around him. "Maybe we should wait."

He set his forehead against mine, wincing. "Yeah. Totally." He seethed out through clenched teeth, sarcasm dripping like silvery mercury. "Excuse me while I go take... a very cold... shower." He said walking slowly to a door while I giggled into my hands. "It's not funny!" He yelled.

"It is for me!" I yelled back, taking the time to look around the inside of the cabin.

It was really nice, a silver chandelier hung from the ceiling, which surprised me considering he put a huge emphasis that werewolves couldn't touch silver. So how did the chandelier get there?

I continued looking around, noticing that there was more silver in here than I expected. A glass case of silverware was on show hung up in the modern kitchen.

Now that I was paying attention, I realized just how much silver I was used to using at my house.

I used it everyday. Saw it every day. And here it's true there was less of it, but there was still too much for werewolves.

I walked to the kitchen and figured Arlis wouldn't mind if I grabbed something to eat.

I looked in the fridge and frowned to find very little in it. There was stuff for a peanut butter jelly though, and one of those didn't sound too bad.

I grabbed bread from the counter and opened it up, grabbing four pieces because honestly I could eat two sandwiches right now and not regret it.

After making them I bit into it and all but moaned at the taste. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I started eating it.

I searched the kitchen for a glass and when I filled it with water I opened the freezer to grab some ice.

However, when I pulled the freezer drawer (yes he had one of those freezers) it wasn't ice at all.

I screamed, throwing the glass down and turned away from the red freezer.

The door to the bathroom burst open as a giant wet wolf bounded into the room, growling and crouching low.

I knew it was Arlis but I couldn't help but to feel scared of the animal that obviously did the destruction in the freezer.

The wolf relaxed upon seeing me and shut the bloody freezer, the deer head still chilling in it.

The wolf shook his head, his tale between his legs.

He tried to walk up to me and I took a step back, running into the cabinets.

The black and brown wolf stopped walking, a paw still raised and then backed up, finally running into the bathroom, ears pushed back.

Bones popped in and out of place, a groaning noise came from the bathroom and when Arlis stepped through he looked guilty.

Water trickled down his chest to his hips, where a white towel sat lazily. He stood in the doorway, steam pouring from behind him and making the room warmer. He was like a Greek god, standing with a solemn expression.

"I'm sorry." He said softly. "I forgot that was in there." He added, looking up through his lashes.

I grew up in Montana, I knew what a deer head looked like. I was just shocked to see one half eaten in the freezer next to a tub of vanilla ice cream.

I took a deep breath. "Do you always bring your leftovers home?"

He nodded slowly. "Check any freezer here and you're bound to find raw meet. I told you... it's a werewolf thing."

I couldn't agree with the tactic of bringing home a deer head, halfway eating it, and shoving it in the freezer, but then again, I wasn't a werewolf... yet.

Would I be forced to do things like that? I thought about Melloni, shoving a deer head into the daycare's freezer. Grace finding it as a wolf and ripping into it.

I shut my eyes and took a steadying breath. Humans don't do that type of thing. "If you could be a human... would you?" I ask.

Arlis shakes his head. "No. Sure being a human has its ups, and it's probably less stressful, but no. I'd take this pain over again every day rather than be a human that destroys their planet."

Talk about destroying the planet. At least we don't keep half eaten deer heads in our freezers. "But don't you hate having to watch your loved ones die?"

He shrugged. "Yeah. Of course I do. I've had some good human friends that turned down the power of the wolf. But I mean... humans face it the same as we do. They have to watch their loved ones die too. Do they not?"

He wasn't wrong. No matter what you were, death was inescapable. One day you would die. Today. Tomorrow. Six centuries later if you're a Supernatural.

"If you didn't have any influence at all, what would you do?" He asked a question that I haven't really brought myself to answer yet.

"Haven't thought about it. I'm not sure. I'd probably turn just because." I shrugged. "But I'm glad I decided to change." Kind of. I like the pack. I liked Melloni and I liked Iris, Chleo was cool. Sam and Seymour too. I met Arlis, and I get to stay with him.

He perked up just the slightest. "Really?"

I nodded. "Yeah... yeah I am."

He smiled and walked slowly to me. "I'll get rid of the deer head. We have a ceremony tonight, if you're up for it."

I looked down at my clothes, the jeans that I came in (a pair of black skinny jeans) and a shirt that I had never seen before (a plain white one that was too big).

As if reading my mind he said, "I can have Melloni bring over a dress."

I scoffed, shaking my head at him. "Melloni is a lot smaller than me, Arlis."

He bit the corner of his lip and then looked up. "What about Dalia!?"

Oh right! His sister. I forgot she existed. My bad. "Well... yeah that might work."

"Alright, she said she'll do it. Do you have a color preference? Dalia has a lot of dresses." He said, and I don't understand how he already asked her but I roll with it.

Did I have color preference? "Maybe... blue?" I asked, thinking that blue always went with my eyes.

He nods. "Blue would bring out your eyes."

I blushed hard, realizing that he said what I was thinking. "Yeah... yeah you're right."

He ran a hand through his hair and looked up. "I'm going to go get dressed... we can go get you some clothes tomorrow, yeah?"

I don't know which fact was more surprising, that he was willing to spend money to go buy a bunch of clothes, or that werewolves went shopping.

"You guys go shopping!?" I asked.

Arlis gave me a weird look. "Well yeah... we're werewolves not wolves. Do you know how much money we spend on clothes?"

No. "How much?"

"However much too much is, and then double it." He said, smiling. "I'll be back. Yell if you need anything."

I sat on the couch and grabbed the remote, flipping on the TV. I was shocked to see a picture of me, my yearbook photo to be exact, on the news.

"And on brighter terms, one of the missing victims from the wolf attack just days ago has been declared safe and found. Staying at a hospital, Kadelyn Summers is fine." The news woman smiled. "However, Michael Porter, Tristan Great, Denver Nickels, and Vix Hedgewood are still missing."

My heart sunk, the name meaning everything to me even though it hadn't crossed my mind in a day.

Vix. I turned the volume up.

"With four deaths, nineteen injuries, and 5 now 4 missing kids the wolf attack has been brought to Montana State Wildlife Agency. The wolf population is now much greater than anyone thought and all wolves have now been ordered to be shot on sight if seen too close to human territory." The woman looks sad, too sad. "If you see any of the missing kids, please call the number below."

I turned the TV off, shaking as her name wandered through my head.

Vix. My best friend Vix. The Vix that once got me to eat a mud-pie when I was drunk.  the same Vix that helped me whenever my parents argued.

Someone walked into the house, but I couldn't of been bothered to see who who it was.

"OH MY GOSH! I brought like six dresses and they're all— what's wrong?" Dalia sat next to me, frowning.

I turned to look at her. "My best friend is still missing after the wolf attack." I wiped my eyes as I started to cry. I hated crying but somethings are worth crying over.

My best friend being missing? Probably dead? Definitely worth crying over.

Dalia leaned over and brought me into a hug, running her fingers through my hair. "Shh... shhh. It's okay."

I wiped my tears, pulling back and sniffling. "Is it though?" I asked. "What if Damarion has her!? What if— What if—"

"Kate, you'll drive yourself crazy if you keep thinking about the what-ifs." She wiped away a stray tear off my face. "Arlis will talk to Damarion. We'll find her."

I nodded, realizing that I had all the best trackers sitting around me. These were werewolves. I knew wolves had a strong sense of smell. "I hope so."

Arlis came down the stairs and kneeled in front of me on the ground. "Are you okay?"

I smiled at him. "Yeah. Definitely. Let's look at those dresses, yeah!?"

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Liar. You're not fine. But if you don't want to talk about it right now, that's fine." He stood up. "It's only customary that the Alpha doesn't see his Luna the night of the reception until he's ready to take her in so... goodbye ladies. I'm going to go see Chleo and Timothy." He grabbed a jacket off the back of the couch, tossing it over him. He kissed my forehead and then Dalia's. "Please don't over do it, Dalia." He gave her a pointed look as he walked out the door.

I raised an eyebrow at Dalia. "Timothy?"

She nodded. "Mmhm, Timothy Weiss. The pack trainer's mate. They have a son around Sam's age, Leif."

Oh. "Oh, I met Leif earlier!" I said. "He was a sweet kid."

She snorted. "You weren't there when he and Sam set off stink bombs in the Pack House."

"They did what!?" I laughed, imagining Sam and Leif setting off stink bombs in the pack house.

Dalia nodded. "Oooh yeah. Seymour, Arlis, and Leif's parents were so angry, they made the two boys stay in the pack house until the smell went away. God the smell was terrible, like burnt sulfur and rotten eggs."

We laughed even harder, and it felt like I had known her forever.

"Okay so, I brought six dresses. Five of them are blue and the last one is red. Where do you wanna start!?" She asked excitedly, clapping her hands together.

I wasn't used to wearing dresses. Especially not when I knew absolutely nothing about what kind of event I was going to. "What happens at the ceremony?" I ask, eyeing the pile of dresses like they might just attack me.

Dalia gives me a confused look. "You'll be accepted into the pack? You'll cut your palm and shake hands with Arlis... it's just the normal stuff." She seemed so dumbfounded about how I didn't know what happened at the ceremony.

I eyed the dresses and grab the first one off the pile, internally groaning. I wish Vix was here to help. Or my mom.

I clear off my thoughts as I walk into the bathroom. When I shut the door I take a deep breath of the room, realizing that it smelled just like Arlis.

I basked in the smell for a moment and then shook my head, deciding that that was in fact creepy, and then put on the dress.

It was a navy blue cocktail dress that made me wanna puke. It wasn't ugly, it was just ugly on me. It was too tight and yeah it'd be an awesome party dress, the lace added a little elegance to it, but not something I wanted to present myself in.

I walked out and Dalia hoot and hollered, clapping her hands. "That is HOT! Take it off and try the next one, Arlis would kill me if you wore that." She bit her nails, looking worriedly at the dresses.

She tossed me the red dress and I mentally whined. Please not red.

I slipped off the strapless cocktail dress and slipped on the red dress that I realized halfway would not work. It had a slit in the front that draped down the middle of my chest, ending just above my belly button. It was even tighter than the last one. Nice party dress that I would totally wear if I was looking for some trouble.

But not to introduce myself.

I walked out and again Dalia whistled and then cringed, telling me to go take it off.

***

We were at the last dress, and I swore to myself that if this one didn't work that I was just going to stay home and cry. Not actually cry, but definitely not be happy.

I grabbed it and walked to the bathroom, changing out of the dress that was apparently made in 1734 by some French guy who's name I didn't care to try and pronounce.

I pulled on the last option and sighed with relief in the mirror. "Thank god." I muttered and smiled at myself.

It was a long dress, it ended at my heels in white trimming. The dress was a dark blue with a see-through fabric that covered my stomach, a white top that covered my chest, and a darker skirt that covered my hips down.

It was cute, definitely my style, and it was comfortable.

I walked out and saw Dalia's smiling face.

She nodded, giving me a thumbs up. "Here, toss your hair in a bun and let's go, Arlis just pathed me, we need to leave."

I walked outside and shivered in the colder Montana air, but at the same time I welcomed it. August always was my favorite season.

We got inside a nice Dodge Challenger and Dalia laughed. "My brother is going to hate me." She sang, slowly driving down a dirt road.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"I'm driving his Challenger. He hates when people drive his car. I mean technically it's Melloni's, she got it for their fifth anniversary." Dalia stopped the car after a whole two minutes of driving.

What a waste of gas.

I hopped out of the car and was met with Leif's grey eyes. "Hey Alpha Kate." He smiled. He looked behind me and saw Dalia. "Gross. It's you." He said.

She rolled her eyes, groaning. "Go away you little tree wanna-be."

He laughed sarcastically. "Oh I get it, because my name is Leif and to someone who doesn't know how to pronounce it, it looks like Leaf. Haha funny. Why do you make fun of my name, at least it's spelled right."

She gasped, looking at him angrily. "My name is spelled right, Caterpillar Food!"

He smirked at her, happy with himself that he ruffled her feathers. "Last I checked the flower is D-A-H-L-I-A. Not however you spell it."

She glared at him. "You're not even Norse. Why is your name Leif!? It's outdated and this isn't a Marvel movie, sorry."

He shrugged, her comebacks didn't even effect him, while his obviously had an effect on her.

"Dalia, I am so sorry." He said sincerely, and for a second I thought he was for real apologizing. And then I realized he was just being a jerk. "So sorry that you have to pick on someone else's name because you ran out of insults for your own."

She smiled at him sweetly. "It works out in my favor. I ran out of insults for mine, but there's endless ways to make fun of yours."

They were both silent for a second before they both busted out laughing, pointing at the other one with joyful expressions.

"That was a good one, Flower." Leif said, wiping his eyes. "Nice one."

They stood looking at each other for a couple moments, as if I wasn't even there. I hated to break up the moment these two were having, but Arlis (however he did it) told Dalia we were late.

I cleared my throat. "Can we get going?" I asked politely.

Leif shook his head, snapping himself into reality. "Yes! That's what I'm here for. Escorting the Luna. Bye, Wrongly Spelled Flower!" Leif said, chuckling as Dalia pouted.

"Bye Wrongly Spelled Tree Part!" She walked away, heading the opposite direction of us.

I took a deep breath as we walked on a trail, my heart beat growing faster with each second.

I looked to Leif for help, and he noticed my discontent. "You'll be fine. You're just spilling some blood and repeating some lines. Nothing out of the ordinary, right?" He asked.

I reluctantly nodded. "Right."

Wrong. So wrong. This was completely out of the ordinary.