---Nathan's POV---

The window fitted like a glove and I smiled, happy that this room was now insulated enough to sleep in. Thumping and sawing noises filled the house while I heard the other wolves laugh and jest with each other, occasionally taking a casual sniff of the air.

A smile slipped on my lips as my Lycan growled lowly at the other wolves, telling them to back off. We were working on the room that would be Alec's and sad to say, I hadn't allowed any of the wolves to work on it. I was going to do everything myself, my scent already sinking in the walls and wooden floors as I repaired them.

I shrugged my shirt out and grabbed the cobblestones before jumping back on the scaffolding placed against the stone wall. Alec had picked the room right above the fireplace, the stones of the chimney crawling up on the northern end of the building and would warm the room when the fires were lid.

I fixed the stones in their place, rubbing the excess cement on a rag before jumping back down to admire my work. A shiver coursed through my body as I heard an admiring hum behind me.

Alec had returned after having spent the night in one of the houses offered by the pack, along with his brothers. After a small argument between the brothers, Marcus had agreed that they'd give our community a chance and several wolves and vampires had instantly jumped on the opportunity to get a footing with the three men.

"Damn, this room is coming along nicely." Alec stated, looking at the repaired windows and walls before letting his hands trace the decorated woodworks on the windowsills. He took a deep breath while staring up at the skylight window above him, illuminating the room softly.

I shuffled my weight slightly and stepped closer so I could look up with him. "I added more windows like you asked; the rooms were rather dark before." I admitted, making him turn his eyes on me with a smirk pulling at his lips before he started nibbling the lower one.

"All this trouble for little ol' me?" He asked teasingly, making me smile while I crossed my arms in front of my chest, daring him to continue. Alec's eyes sparked with teasing light, as if accepting the challenge.

A small noise behind us made us turn around to Liam, who took one look at Alec before he halted. "Oh no, why are you looking like that?" Alec snorted and shook his head before crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Like what?" He asked, though his tone betrayed he knew exactly what his brother was suggesting.

The small smirk curving his lips upwards was a slight indication, as well as the way he was brushing his teeth over his lower lip. Liam rolled his eyes and gestured at Alec, "That smug smirk right there and the looks you're throwing at the guy. I'm afraid if I step out of the room he's gonna scream rape in little less than a heartbeat."

Alec grinned at that and glanced at me from under his eyebrows. His eyes were dancing but they held a glint of heat, as if he was asking me, "Would you?" My lycan growled at that, purring softly in his throat while my body shivered at the hunger that lashed through my veins.

"Should I be scared now?" I asked, glancing at the blonde who was eying me with a tempting expression on his features. He spun more in my direction and tilted his head slightly, feigning innocence while he drawled, "Maybe. Should I be afraid of the big, bad wolf?"

I chuckled, ignoring the way Liam was staring between us with slack jaw as I responded, "Maybe." Liam snapped out of his haze and grabbed Alec by his wrist before yanking him along with a growled, "Come on, you're a bad influence for every wolf in this bloody town."

"Am not!" Alec countered while I watched his brother drag him away from me. I felt edgy though couldn't help the wry smile at myself as my Lycan was flooding my thoughts and emotions with chase-needy-possessive-hungry-mine before I growled lowly in my throat.

"Ours." I snarled towards my inner beast, who huffed and shot me a "Duh!" thought before he went back at sniffing the air longingly, claws digging down to stop the urge from chasing our mate down, free him from his sibling and drag him off to do all kinds of things to him.

Instead of reacting on my longings and the lustful growls of my inner beast, I turned my back towards my departing mate with some amount of effort and went about to fix the last of his room.

Hopefully the renovations could distract me enough so I wasn't tempted to kidnap a certain white-haired beauty and drag him of to my own house.

-----

"Have you heard?"

I tilted an eyebrow at Drake, tempted to scowl at him for breaking into my house, again. He leaned against the counter and fingered the prongs of a fork with a bored expression before his eyes shot towards me, waiting for my answer.

Buttoning my jeans up, I drawled sarcastically, "Of course, I've heard the lasted gossip whilst taking a shower. Didn't you know?" Drake shot me an unimpressed look before I smirked and hopped of his seat, lobbing the fork in the cutlery drawer.

"Har har. So you aren't interested in where Alec was today?" Drake sighed while picking at his fingernails, acting totally uninterested as I froze before tilting my head towards the sky in a silent prayer for patience.

Drake might be an ageless vampire and he was one of my best friends but sometimes he could act like a pampered and annoying brat when he was in the mood. I turned towards him and crossed my arms, knowing that my whole demeanor has changed from relaxed to tense and possibly threatening.

"Okay, I'll bite. What happened?"

A shrug was the only answer I got before Drake tried to zip past me. My arm flew out and grabbed his wrist though, since I already expected him to run away when I didn't want to indulge in his little games.

Drake pouted slightly, making me stare at him in surprise as I watched a blush form on his cheeks when he noticed my surprised look. He cleared his throat uncomfortably and ripped his wrist out of my hold, disappearing only to flop down in the comfortable and worn couch in the living room.

"For a powerful vampire that is the leader of his coven and several millennia old, you're really acting like a punnished child Drake." I teased, laughing when he flipped me the bird and groaned in annoyance.

"Now, what happened?"

Drake shuffled in his seat and crossed his arms defensively, "I saw him being dragged to the local school by his siblings. Apparently, they think he's obliged to follow an education since they're in a supernatural town."

I frowned as I took a seat across Drake, tapping my fingers on my knee as I stared at the table in thought. "Where did they get that idea?" I wondered softly, surprised that Drake's expression turned from playful pouting to deadly serious in the blink of an eye.

His eyes were slightly distant before he shook his head. "I can only catch glimpses of their thoughts and you know how I feel about invading someone's mind. Unless it gives me some helpful information that is. But-" he shot his hand up when I went to interrupt him and I scowled, sitting back, just barely.

"From what I gathered, they don't have very good encounters with other shifters like yourself. The last village they were in acted like they were prisoners of war, escorting them in and out of the village in the company of five wolves and three Lycans."

A low snarl escaped my throat. Which pack dared to treat any visitor with that kind of hostility? The thought alone of those wolves possibly charging and attacking the three brothers, especially my mate made me want to vault out of my house and chase them down.

My mind flickered with visions and emotions, the sensations of fangs-tearing-biting-defending-ours along with the growing anger of my Lycan made me snarl again, the muscles of my arms bulging slightly as I edged closer to shifting.

"Uhm...maybe you should take a nice and relaxing walk or something?" Drake asked slowly while sinking in his seat. An angry Lycan was never a pleasant sight and being the one to give him unpleasant news over his mate? Drake knew he had reasons to keep himself as harmless as possible while he murmured, "Don't shoot the messenger."

My nails elongated, digging into the soft fabric underneath my hand and ruining the leather couch before I stood up, effectively vaulting the couch back against the wall. Drake watched on with mild interest and growing curiosity as I took in several deep breaths while struggling to calm my Lycan.

"Soooo...I take it Alec is out of the dating pool?" He asked, biting his lip and raising his palms in surrender when I snarled angrily at him, snapping my teeth. "Don't you fucking dare Drake!" I growled venomously, hearing the angry growls resonate through my head.

"Whoa, whoa! Down boy, I wasn't talking 'bout myself!" He shouted out while throwing himself over the couch and around the dining table when I took a step towards him. "There's a whole village of interested wolves, witches and vampires out there who are all interested in those three gorgeous guys."

"And our mate spent a whole day with hormonal pups trying to charm the pants of him." My Lycan snarled venomously, clawing at me to give him control. I shivered, heat coursing over my whole body and making me feel as if my skin was seconds away from melting off of my form to reveal the Lycan underneath.

Cool air flowed through my lungs as I took deep breaths, my fists shivering beside my body as I tried my best to calm down. "I'm going for a run Drake, and you better inform the covens that Alec isn't out for dating." I gritted out, my voice deeper and taking on a growling undertone, signaling that my Lycan was very close to breaking free.

Drake nodded rapidly, his head a blur from how quickly he moved before he watched as I turned on my heels and walked stiffly out of the room, feeling the change rip through me as soon as I was outside.

My Lycan was going to make sure that the wolves knew Alec was completely out of the question for any of them.

---Alec's POV---

I really, really wanted to bash my face against the desk but that would draw the attention of the whole class. Our teacher was a wolf and she kept going on and on about the behavior and hierarchy of a wolfpack.

"I'm going to get Liam back for this." I muttered angrily to myself while taking the needed notes to get whatever grade I needed to pass this subject. Don't get me wrong, knowing more about wolves was interesting, but not if you were stuck in a room with human girls who sighed and flirted with every wolf they encountered, arguing amongst themselves who was the best catch.

My eyes stared at the sketch I was making of a werewolf, glancing once in a while at the illuminated screen to jut down the telltale signs so you know when you were looking at a werewolf and not at a regular one.

At least it was interesting...Liam could've placed me into one of those other courses for Mates. He dropped me off at school and enrolled me before subtly letting the Lycan principal know that I might have caught a wolves' eye.

Off course, now my whole schedule was made out of subject for Mates only. I didn't mind the humans, but their constant flirting was beginning to grate my nerves. And the flirting didn't come from just the humans, no...

"Alec!"

I looked up, confused before realizing that the teacher was standing besides me with a hand on her hip, glaring down at me. "Yes, Ma'am?" I asked politely, straightening in my seat while feeling the wolves in my class snicker slightly, several of them sniffing the air when I moved.

"Would you care to tell me what kind of shifters there are?" She asked pointedly, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she tapped her feet. I smiled slightly, nodding as I said, "So far only werewolves and Lycans have been known to be able to shift."

"So far?" she said sarcastically, her nostrils flaring while I closed my mouth and disliked the woman even more. It was obvious she thought like everyone else I was like the other mates here, so she thought herself to be better than me.

"There are no other shifters than us, Mister Andrews, and you'd do well to remember it!" she huffed nastily before continuing her lesson on how wolves shifted. I sighed under my breath and nodded.

I was so gonna kick Liam's ass as soon as I got out of this hellhole. As if I conjured it, the bell rang and I shot out of my seat, shoving my belongings in the bag before I was out of the school.

"Hey Alec." A sickly sweet voice coed while one of the female werewolves rubbed herself against me. I smiled politely at her and gave her a hug, cleverly placing more distance between us when I let her go again.

She was beautiful with her dark brown curls and green flecks shimmering in her dark blue eyes but too bad for her, she wasn't the right gender. "Hey...Andrea, right?" She smiled, nodding as she chirped, "You remembered!"

"Alec, how's it going?" A male vampire interrupted as he slyly brushed between me and the wolf, grasping me around the shoulders while he led me away from her. I was starting to feel more and more annoyed with these supernaturals feeling like they could openly prod and touch me, dragging me along to wherever they wished.

I rolled my eyes, already knowing that someone was going to snatch me out of Levi's hold and not a second later, one of the male werewolves passing by shouldered against Levi, making him stumble enough to release his hold on me.

"You don't stand a chance to charm him with your skills, Levi." The wolf sneered while Levi jumped up and stalked towards the jock, flaring his nostrils angrily before punches started flying through the room.

I slowly slid against the wall before running out of the hall and out of the school, breathing a sigh of relief when nobody followed me. I shook my head and ruffled a hand through my hair while I strapped the bag tighter to me.

A hand clasped around my stomach, making me jump with an embarrassing squeak slipping from my lips before a roar of laughter rumbled behind me. "You asshole!" I snarled at Liam, punching him in the stomach when I pivoted around.

He merely shrugged it off and kept laughing while I grumbled under my breath, stalking away from him. Too bad he had such bloody long legs, since he had no problems with keeping up.

"Why do you smell like someone has been trying to rub themselves on you?" Liam asked after several minutes of silence. I shot him a glare while jabbing a finger against his chest. "Cause that's what happened the whole bloody day! I've been grabbed and harassed by everything on legs in that place!"

My brother's eyes darkened slightly before he glanced back at the school with a sneer on his face. "Well, you're not going anymore." He spat while staring down several of the wolves that were leering at my ass.

They lowered their heads in submission and quickly scrambled away while I huffed and threw my hands in the air. "Thank the gods! I've been trying to get rid of them all day long but they can't just take a hint!"

Liam turned back to me and relaxed, chuckling slightly before he flicked my nose. "That's because you're too nice and harmless bro." he patted me on the head and laughed when I glared at him.

"You better run Liam." I stated calmly, watching his eyes widen before he barked a laugh and ran for it, with me close on his heels. Soon I managed to wrestle him on the floor and we were busy to get the other in a headlock.

"Ow, you idiot!" The hiss escaped me when Liam's elbow grazed against my ribs before I kneed him in the stomach, smirking when the air shot out of his body. I laughed at his growl before he wriggled around when I almost had my arms around his throat.

We rolled over and bumped into a pair of legs, making us freeze and look up. Marcus sighed deeply before glancing at the sky, as if asking for strength before he motioned to go home. He walked through the forest and disappeared, while I was busy fighting Liam off of me.

"Ah, you're so cute!" Liam cooed while I tried to scramble out of his headlock, his finger poking at my flushed cheek. Wriggling around, I slipped out of my shirt and tangled it around Liam before tripping him, sending him sailing through the air before he landed in a cluster of nettles.

A shocked laugh escaped me before Liam's fuming eyes fell on me. "Oh fuck!" I murmured before turning tails and running away from my ticked off brother.  The forest flew past and I had to tuck and roll when Liam slipped and grasped for my ancles to drag me with him.

He failed but I tumbled through the forest until I landed face first against a warm surface that was soft and hard at the same time. My nose filled with a sharp and distinct scent, the scent of the forest combined with the freshness of a summer's breeze but underneath all of that, there was something...wild.

It was a scent that made me want to purr while I inhaled deeply and kept my eyes shut. Whatever smelled like this...Hmmm...

A low, rumbling sound echoed through the forest, as if something large was attempting to chuckle. My eyes opened sleepily as I slowly lifted my face out of the soft fur and looked up before gulping in surprise when I stared up at the enormous posture of a Lycan towering over me.

The beast was darkbrown, some shades seemingly black as it moved slightly. My eyes trailed from the pointed ears flickering towards my chest, where my heart was going berserk, down to the muscular chest and down to its abdomen before I cleared my throat uncomfortably.

Unknowingly, I had been rubbing my face against the Lycan's well formed abs and lower stomach. A blush formed on my face, heating my cheeks as I realized I had been nuzzling the fur above his crotch!

"Uhm...yeah....Hi?" I tried, feeling myself flush even more as the Lycan chuckled even deeper, its eyes pools of gold that were flecked with shards of green. Liam stepped out of the woods behind me as I shot to my feet and stared up at the fully-grown Lycan.

Its eyes flickered to Liam for a second before they zipped back to me, making me feel like a doe being cornered by the wolf. Surprisingly, I didn't feel threatened at all, my fingers itching to bury in that fur, to see for myself if it was as soft as it looked.

My eyes roamed from muscle to muscle, heat simmering through my blood as I wondered how the Lycan would look like in his human form. Liam cleared his throat and murmured "Uh, dude, are you going to stare at us or are you going to shift and talk?"

The Lycan assessed him curiously before snorting and with one powerful movement, it was across the clearing. We both snapped our heads around to stare at it and I watched amazed as the silky brown fur seemed to droop before it fell off the man standing there.

The buck-naked hunk of Nathan, who shot me a simmering look over his shoulder before he casually streaked deeper in the woods, as if he didn't give a fuck about who was going to see him.

Liam wrinkled his nose slightly as he stared from me to the disappearing back of Nathan while I was busy staring at those cheeks. "Who the hell is that?" He murmured to himself, making me swallow before looking away when Nathan disappeared completely.

"I don't know but he's gonna streak through several dreams of mine now." I stated before grinning wickedly when Liam shuddered. "Ew, didn't need to get that image! Just-Ugh!" He said in disgust before running off, making me laugh as I shot after him, not before shooting one last look in the direction of Nathan.

Yes, that image was going to roam freely through my dreams.