I let the cold, icy rain tap my skin gently. My arms stretched out wide and my face tilted up towards the light grey clouds in the sky. I could not help the small smile that pulled at the corners of my mouth. Goosebumps rose on my skin. Being a werewolf meant I did not really ever get cold but my human skin is more senstive.

I felt alive in this moment. Truly alive.

Then I felt soft tendrils of anger reach out. Small at first. Gradually increasing. I knew it was the man that was my mate that moved closer to me. It felt like the longer that I was in his presence the more aware I was of him. The more I felt a pull. An almost physical pull. The anger was radiating from his large form as he came closer to me. I did not turn around. I kept my position with my face pointed towards the sky. The heat of his body reached my skin before he even made contact. His warm finger traveled from the base of my neck, just at my hairline, down my spine to the base of my lowerback. My little, tiny ballon of happiness deflated slowly. I lowered my hands and my head. It is not as if I can hide the scars that covered me. Not just one or two or three even.

"Werewolfs heal too quickly for surgeries. Special steps have to be taken to ensure that the body does not heal its self too quickly." I expalined in a matter of fact voice. "The silver scapel is coated in wolfsbane. IVs are injected with a silver/wolfbane/belladonna mixture." There was no way that I was going to tell him my whole story yet. I do not think I can fully trust this man. This Mate. This Wolf. I have learned, in my life, that new is rarely a good thing. I have been conditioned to distrust.

That is just ridiculous Charlotte. He is our mate. He is our equal. He will give us family. Lyra faulted at the end. Avery and Maddie were our family.

I turned to face him. This Alpha. His black hair was now wet and shiny from the rain. Steam rose from his body. The tendrils of anger had now turned into waves of rage. Bright, hot rage that burns my senstive energy. I have never been around strong emotions before. Avery and Maddie. The slight emotions that I would feel from the doctors during experiments and different phases of my growth and development. Dr. Korbin. His glee everytime he broke one of us open. I could feel it from my 6 by 6 white walled room even if it was not me on the table. Every creature that has every lain on that table I have lived through their pain with them. Sometimes I took my last breath with them. I took an involuntary step back from him. My arms coming up slightly in front of me with my palms facing up and out. Maybe my subconsious way of toning down the angry energy spiraling out.

My heart rate picked up and my breaths became shorter. Fear starting spilling out of the pores of my skin. I could not contain the emotion all this red energy was causing. Almost immediatly the anger rolled back and disappeared. I looked into his dark eyes swirling with regret. "I did not mean to scare you my mate. I don't like the things that you're telling me. My wolf does not like the thought of sharp things slicing through our mates skin." He stepped close to me and slowly reached up to cupped my face in his hands. Looking into my eyes he said, "I will never hurt you."

BISHOP

My finger traced the white line that traveled the perfect curve of her spine. I could also see white lines that followed the outline of each rib. The thin white lines crossed and intesected and bisected her entire body. From the tips of her toes to the top of her head. Two perfect whtie lines cut right through the center of her eybrows, through her eyelids and disappeared under the curve of her chin. It did not distract from her beauty. Her skin was fair and soft. Despite the lines on her body, the scars, she did not act like a victim. She looked like a survivor. A warrior.

I could not control the anger that appeared when she explained to me the methods used to aquire the scars lining her body. Kane rose to the surface and demanded that we go and find the scum that touched our mate. That hurt our mate. The anger amplified ten fold. Thinking of the pain that was inflicited on what was ours. Then suddenly a bolt of fear shot into my heart. The anger rolled its self back into me and I saw my little mate back up with her hands out defensivly. I felt intant regret. I stepped forward and cradled her perfect face gently between my hands. As I told her that I would never hurt her I felt Kane push energy to her wolf. After a moment of hesitantion I felt the push back. But she was slow in giving it. They were both slightly weary of me. Her crystal blue eyes looked into mine and searched for the truth. She saw what she needed to see because she nodded her head in agreement and smiled slightly at me. I released her and backed up. Thomas exited the mouth of the cave. I turned toward him and noticed that his nose had stopped bleeding. In a few hours the bone would hurt like hell as it mended its self. Both his eyes were brusied but the swelling had already lessended. It would be a few days more before his cheekbones healed.

"What was that...energy that I felt?" His voice was nasal sounding from his injury. His hand was rubbing absently at his chest. I noticed the sharp sting that still lingered. The spike of fear had shot right into me. I looked at my mate and wondered. What interesting things were about to happen in my life?