"Lyn... talk to me," Gaius spoke gently as he grabbed her arm and brought her to a halt right before they got to the house. Lyn kept her eyes turned away. The moment she walked out of the chamber she hadn't said a word to him. He didn't push her, especially with the look on her face.

She just wanted to get out of there, and the majority of the walk home was in uncomfortable silence. She hadn't thought it possible, but she was even more disgusted with Vitor than before.

She knew Gaius hadn't heard any of it. The chamber was sound proof. She wanted to tell him all the horrible things that his own father had said about him, the male whose actions he so valiantly defended, but she'd never do that.

She'd never hurt him like that, despite the pain he caused her.

On the walk home, Lyndis had already decided she would never tell him. She'd just hate him enough for the both of them...

Lyndis glanced back at him. She didn't miss his constant attempts to inspect her without her noticing. She had no doubt he was trying to make sure she was unharmed. He really was horrible at hiding concern. Their eyes met then. His expression was one of expectation.

"I'm expected at the pack house every day and I'm to see him again in a month," Lyndis said. Gaius' expression fell. She hated the look in his eyes.

"Did he say anything else?" Gaius asked.

"I'm to have an audience with him every month from here on out," Lyndis said. Gaius' expression hardened. His hand trailed down along her arm before he let her go. Lyn turned and headed into the house. He followed close behind.

She went about their typical bedtime routine. Each of the girls got a turn on the phone before she tucked them in. She even let the toddlers talk for a little while. It no longer confused them so much.

Lyn hated that they had become accustomed to only hearing their parents' voices on the phone...

Afterward, she couldn't bring herself to talk much. Her mood was sour. She spoke to her mother mostly, and briefly to her father before saying goodnight.

When she climbed into bed, Gaius joined her. He pulled her into his arms. They said nothing else to each other.

Sleep did not come easy.

_

Gaius walked her to the packhouse the following morning after they got the girls ready and dropped them off. They spoke very little. Lyndis felt the odd tension between them, and she didn't even fully understand why. Could he sense that she wasn't telling him everything? She had no idea.

"I'll be back to get you later," Gaius said in a neutral tone. It had lost some of the warmth she was used to hearing from him.

"Okay," Lyndis said. An awkward moment of silence passed between them. Lyn fiddled for a moment before she turned to go. Gaius sighed deeply and reached out to catch her arm. She paused and glanced back. He leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"Don't get into any trouble." Gaius murmured quietly in French against her skin. Lyndis frowned and studied his eyes when he pulled away from her. He gave her a small smile before he turned and left.

Lyndis found Lipha and spent the day cleaning beside her.

Lipha was nearing the end of her pregnancy now, she only had just over a month to go, even though she looked like she'd pop any day now. Lyndis tried to do the more daunting tasks for her but Lipha insisted they each do their share.

Lyn couldn't help but admire her for that. She was clearly a tough female. Though Lyn was happy that Lipha would have time off with her new pup, especially as hard a worker as Lipha was, Lyn found she was dreading her absence.

Lyndis preferred Lipha's company over all others. She liked her, she seemed genuine, albeit a bit guarded. Lyn knew it was to be expected.

Trust took time to build.

But even so, Lyn realized Lipha was was the closest thing she had to a friend.

It was quiet between them, and the air felt strangely tense. Lyn wasn't sure why, but those at the pack house seemed to be in a somber mood.

She began to wonder if the border issues were getting worse again. Over the months they seemed to ebb and wane.

But whatever it was, the caretakers were clearly restless. And it was usually because Vitor was in a bad mood over something.

Her meeting the day before immediately came to her mind. Maybe it was her fault...

But could Vitor really be that affected by one female defying him? It seemed pathetic for an Alpha if that was the case... even as poorly as she thought of him, she couldn't imagine any Alpha would be that petty.

It had to be the border issues.

When it was time for her to go to Gita's, Lyndis reluctantly began to put all the cleaning supplies back into the cupboards. It was only she and Lipha in the large kitchen. The other caretakers would be in soon to start dinner.

"What are you doing?" Lipha asked her curiously in Portuguese. She was sweeping the floor nearby. Lyn frowned over at her and glanced to the clock in the kitchen.

"It's nearly three," Lyndis commented. Lipha stared at her for a moment. She seemed confused.

"Did they not tell you?" Lipha asked as an uncomfortable expression crept onto her face.

"Tell me what?" Lyndis asked. Lipha nervously licked her lips a bit and glanced to the large double doors that led into the main foyer off the kitchen. All the windows around them were open and a refreshing breeze was filtering through the kitchen. There was no one nearby in the massive house.

It was almost uncomfortably quiet.

"You aren't to attend anymore. You have to stay and finish the day here... I'm sorry..." Lipha said with an almost nervous tone. Lyndis stared at her for a moment as she let her words sink in.

No more lessons?

No more Gita or Yara...

A small smile crept onto her face. It was almost ironic. Every time Vitor thought he was 'taking' something from her, Lyndis found it a relief. Lipha was staring at her with a strange look.

"Are you not upset?" Lipha asked with confusion. Lyndis shook her head and quickly wiped the smile off her face. She knew it likely looked inappropriate.

"No, I'm relieved. I feel like I'm doing better on my own anyway." Lyndis continued. Lipha studied her face. Lyndis gave her a genuine smile. Lipha returned it.

"You are doing very well," Lipha said with a smile as she went back to sweeping the floors. Lyndis glanced around the clean kitchen, everything was nearly done there.

"What else do we need to do?" Lyndis asked as she returned to cleaning what was left of the counters. Now that she had another three hours to kill, she wanted to keep busy. Lipha glanced up at her.

"I usually help prep dinner. We feed the children first in here at five then the Alphas eat alone in the back dining room around five-thirty. We leave at six, the live-in caretakers take care of the dinner clean up." Lipha said. Lyndis couldn't help the expression on her face.

Gaius' younger brothers and sisters were an annoyance she didn't want to deal with. Especially his sisters. Lipha had been an angel and given her other tasks to do at lunchtime the last few weeks rather than feed the little monsters.

Lyn was grateful for the break from them since those first few weeks had been a nightmare. Thankfully, she'd managed to avoid them since... but it was as if the universe heard her griping because Nori came sauntering into the kitchen.

She said nothing to either of them. Aside from a disgusted glance, she didn't even acknowledge their presence. It angered her wolf, but Lyn kept herself in check.

Nori went to the fridge and pulled out a pitcher of the fresh guava juice Lipha had just made and set it on the kitchen island to get herself a glass. Lipha glanced at Lyndis as she continued sweeping. Lyndis avoided looking at the female lest she say or do something stupid.

She was reaching some kind of breaking point when it came to dealing with them and Nori had been the worst with her snide comments in passing. Lyn's wolf bristled just being in her presence.

None of the caretakers had outright said it, but Lyndis could tell none of them liked the Alpha's eldest daughter either. She figured she must be a nuisance to them as well.

Lyn went back to what she was doing and just hoped Nori would keep her awful little mouth shut.

"My mother will be having Marcia over tomorrow for a special lunch," Nori spoke in her typical bratty fashion as she poured herself some juice. Dammit... Lyndis felt her eyes shift to her. She grit her teeth a bit and refrained from looking at her. She just stayed intent on her task.

"Not that you'd know," Nori said with her annoying voice before taking a slow drink. She was talking with a light-happy tone. Lyndis ignored her.

"Yara and I will be joining them. I think its only fitting that you serve us, considering your station now." Nori continued. Lyndis felt the full fury of her wolf. She paused in her task and only with extreme restraint did she keep herself controlled.

"Did you know Yara and my brother were supposed to be mates? But you ruined it. My brother is regretting his decision to mate with you now I'm sure, especially with what you're putting him through." Nori continued.

Lyndis took a slow breath. She tried to remind herself the female was spoiled, misguided and young. Lyn knew the brat was trying to goad her. Lyndis said nothing and forced herself to continue her task.

"You really don't deserve him." Nori continued. Lyndis tried desperately to tune her out despite her annoying voice.

It worked, but only for a brief time.

"LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!!" Nori suddenly snarled. Lyndis paused again. She felt the wolf-glaze take over her eyes. The animal in her was ready to show this female who was truly the superior of the two, no matter what 'status' she was assigned by her worthless pathetic father.

Lyndis was practically shaking now. Don't she warned herself... she didn't care about herself, but she thought of her sisters. Still... Lyndis couldn't make herself look at her. There was only so much she could take.

A tense moment of silence followed.

The quiet was suddenly harshly broken by the sound of a glass shattering. Lyndis immediately looked back. Nori was smirking now as she faced her. The glass she'd been drinking from was shattered into a million pieces all over the recently cleaned tiled-floor, the juice splashed everywhere. Nori kept her eyes on Lyndis as she delicately put a finger on the large full pitcher and shoved it over the countertop to join it.

"Oops." The female said as the pitcher loudly shattered and spilled the red liquid everywhere. Both Lyndis and Lipha's pants were splashed. Lipha's quick movement to stand between them was the only thing keeping Lyndis from lunging. She was breathing heavy now. The girl's throat looked ripe for ripping out.

"You should be more careful. That was quite careless. Alipha... you know how much my siblings like that. You better make some more before dinner or my father will hear about your carelessness." Nori said brattily. Lipha backed up a bit. She kept her body between the two Alpha daughters.

"I apologize, it won't happen again," Lipha said quickly with a shaky voice. Lyndis' gaze was heavy on Lipha's back. Was everyone here terrified of their Alpha? Nori's gaze lingered on Lyndis before she turned and left the kitchen.

"Go calm down. I'll clean it up." Lipha said quickly as she spun around to face her. Lyndis could barely contain the rage. She was shaking.

"No... I'll help you." Lyndis said shakily. She was trying to force her emotions in check. Lyndis immediately forced her thoughts to her sisters. She was doing this for them...

And she kept repeating that over and over in her head.

It calmed her down.

"I'm sorry... thank you..." Lyndis said quickly as she took several deep breaths. She had never been so glad to be stopped in her entire life. Lipha was watching her curiously.

"It's okay, I'm sorry about that..." Lipha said. Lyndis frowned at her. Why was she apologizing?

"She's an insufferable litt-" Lyndis growled. Lipha quickly put a hand over her mouth and leaned into her ear.

"Don't. Speak. Badly. Of. Any. Of. Them." Lipha whispered quietly, emphasizing each word in her ear. Lyndis watched her strangely.

A tense moment of silence followed before Lipha pushed away from her and started sweeping up the glass. Lyn stood still for a moment more, before she took one more shaky breath and retrieved the mop.

As they worked to clean the mess, Lyndis almost didn't notice the two smaller forms standing in the hallway between the kitchen and dining area. She glanced over.

Balei and Rute stood there. Two more of Gaius' sisters, littermates... well technically they were triplets if she remembered correctly. The third was Gaius' youngest brother, not that she could remember his name. He never hung around them anyway, not that she noticed from what she'd seen of them.

In fact, most of Gauis' brothers didn't even show up for lunch. It was the females that did. Both girls were dark-haired like Vitor but they got their mother's green eyes. Lipha told her they were thirteen. Out of all Gaius' sisters, those two were the only ones who hadn't said much to Lyndis.

Not that she got a friendly vibe from them...

Neither of them said anything, and Lyndis wondered how long they'd been there. Both girls just turned and walked away a moment later. Lyn furrowed her brow as she watched them leave. Lyndis turned back to cleaning up the mess...

She needed to get her sisters out of here...