"Do not protect yourself by a fence, but rather by your friends."
~Proverb

Josilyn

"Hi, Arya!" I chirped, entering the Laroche house. Mrs. Laroche was arranging opulently-colored flowers in a vase, but turned around and smiled at me upon hearing my voice.

"Hello, Josie, how are you?" she replied.

"I'm good. Are the girls almost ready?"

"Ember and Anna are. Elsa's behind, though."

"Is she okay? She's been kind of down the past few days, and she won't tell me anything. I even asked Anna if she knew anything, but Elsa's shutting her out too."

Worry briefly flashed across Arya's face. "She won't talk to anyone about what's bothering her, so as long as it's not affecting her health, I'm willing to leave her be and let her handle it herself, whatever it may be. She'll be ready though for tonight. She was looking forward to it."

"Oh, good! Maybe tonight will get her out of the funk she's in."

"Hey Josilyn," Hunter greeted, leaping to the ground from five steps up. "How are you?"

"Hunter Donovan Laroche, why must you do that?" Arya upgraded, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Just because you're a shapeshifter with excelled healing does not mean you can't break anything."

"Mom, I'm fine." My boyfriend raised his hands in a gesture of peace. "At least I'm not in socks this time."

"Don't even tell me. Josilyn, if you'll excuse me, I need to talk to Ren about some pack business. Hunter, sweetie, keep her company, would you? And tell your sisters that she's here."

"TWINS! EMBER! JOSILYN IS HERE!" Hunter shouted at the top of his lungs. Both Arya and I flinched from the abrupt loudness.

Arya shook her head. "I meant for you to go up and tell them, but I'm pretty sure they heard that, along with everyone else within a twenty-mile radius. I'll see you later, Josie."

Mrs. Laroche left the room, leaving me alone with the future alpha. Sometimes I wondered how I'd managed to get such an incredible boyfriend, let alone a guy like Hunter: strong, athletic, powerful...

And then there was me. The weakling of the group. The one who could barely keep up on hunts because of my heart condition. I had it under control, and the doctor said my heart wouldn't kill me, but still, I felt helpless a little too often. Not by any doing of the pack, just one of my insecurities.

"So, where are you going tonight?" Hunter asked, taking his hands in mine.

"We're going to see that new chick-flick. We figured none of the guys would want to see it."

"Hey, I like chick flicks. Like The Proposal, and... and Deadpool."

"Deadpool was not a chick-flick!"

"Romantic comedy?"

I shook my head. "I hardly call it romantic."

"Hey!" Ember said, leaping down to the ground from the fifth step just like her brother.

"I see that runs in the family," I mused. "You ready?"

"Yep. The twins will be down in a moment. Anna is just checking on Elsa."

"She doing better?" Hunter asked.

"She's been quiet, but I think whatever it is, she wants to deal with it herself. If something ever got too serious, she'd come to one of us. I know she would."

"We're ready," Anna informed. Elsa trailed behind her a couple of steps, but even with her flawless makeup, I could see the tiredness etched on her face.

"Are you even up to going out tonight, Ice Princess?" Hunter asked.

"If one more person comments about how tired I look, I will punch them," she said, barely containing her anger.

"I'd kind of like to see you take me down," my boyfriend joked.

"I already took down a Stark alpha so I'm pretty sure I could-"

"When did that happen?" Hunter demanded sharply.

Elsa blanched. "A few months ago."

"What happened?"

"Jack started messing with me, and he grabbed me, which I shook him off. Then he said something, I snapped and kicked him in the shin, and then backhanded him across the face. Spencer grabbed me from behind, preventing me from using my arms to hit him or Jack, and then ordered his packmate to leave before I attacked him anymore."

"So, how did you take Spencer down?" Ember queried.

"I thrust my legs up and then down and used the force to flip him over my shoulder. He let me go after that and helped me pick up my belongings."

"He shouldn't be touching you at all!" Hunter growled, his expression livid. "He better have apologized to you for that."

"No, but I also didn't apologize for flipping him onto the ground. Besides, he was telling his packmate to leave me alone. He didn't want a fight, believe it or not."

"What's going on?" Caleb inquired.

"Elsa fought Spencer and one of his pack mates," Hunter explained.

Elsa rolled her eyes, obviously aggravated, before recounting the story. She finished with, "This happened ages ago, so I say you let it go just like I did, and then I can go see this movie with the girls without worrying about you two doing something rash."

"You don't get to tell alphas what to do," Hunter pointed out.

"I wasn't telling you what to do. I was strongly suggesting it. I'm not fussed about it. His pack hasn't bothered me since because of it, so obviously that sent a message to them that I'm not to be messed with, even if I am an omega."

"Omega by title, not by power," Caleb stated, giving her the slightest of smiles.

"If he came at you again at full power, would you be able to take him?" Hunter asked seriously.

"I certainly would have a fighting chance. Can we please go now? Promise me you won't do anything stupid?" Elsa begged.

"Promise. At least for now. He comes near you again, and we're going to have a different approach. Go have fun." Turning to me, my boyfriend kissed me and said, "I'll see you after the movie. The boys and I are going out to eat."

"I'll see you later, then! Love you!"

"Love you!" Hunter called out after me as the Laroches and I ran out the door to our cars. The rest of the girls were waiting for us. It didn't take long to get down to the cinema, but the line to get in was. Out of boredom, I rested my chin on Elsa's shoulder.

"What's up?" she asked.

"This line is long," I replied.

She smiled. "Think if one of us shifted, it'd scare everyone else away, and we could get tickets faster?"

"Don't tempt me. I might just ask one of you to do it."

"Ask Thea. She loves scaring humans."

"No, she likes scaring everyone."

"She tries to scare us, but it doesn't work, so that's why I'm saying she likes scaring humans."

At that moment, Diana made a noise of disgust and announced, "Looks like we weren't the only ones with the idea to come here."

Elsa and I turned around, along with some of the other girls, to see what she meant. The Stark girls strutted in with Callie O'Connor leading the way. She was supposedly the future mate of Spencer Stark, or so rumor had it, but even if the rumor wasn't true, Callie acted like the leader of the pack with her head held high, her burnt auburn hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail, and her killer high heel boots.

"What are you looking at, Fray?" A girl snarled. I recognized her as Maya Wilson. She wasn't Beta or anything, but she was one of their toughest members.

"Ignore them," Elsa said. "They want to start a fight, and we're better than that."

"I don't know, I'd love a good fight right about now," Thea mused.

"Girls, we're in public," I admonished. "Behave yourselves."

"You're Hunter's mate, aren't you?" Callie queried. The tone of her voice was off, but I couldn't place why.

"Yes," I answered.

"Why did he choose a weakling like you?" she asked with a smile. In a high-pitched mocking tone, she added, "Behave yourself, girls. We're in public."

"At least she's not a bitch like you," Anna retorted.

"Better a bitch than a wimp. At least I can fend for myself if need be."

"Our brother is a handful, so the fact that she's dating him says she's a far cry from a 'wimp.' Lay off," Ember warned.

"There's nine of you and nine of us, but you have a huge weak link in your group, so if we fight, who do you think is going to win?"

"Us," Elsa said.

Callie's glare turned on her. "And why would that be? Enlighten me."

"Scarlet is tall and lanky, but she's not near as strong as the rest of you. She's your weak link, so that makes us even. But then Anna and I have black belts in more than one martial arts form, so I think that gives us an edge."

"You're an Omega, sweetheart. That alone makes you weaker than the rest."

Elsa smiled, but I could see the venom in her eyes. "Right, right. So does that mean Spencer is weaker than me? Considering how I took him down after I kicked Jack's ass a few months ago?"

"Spencer isn't weak," a girl growled. It was Rey, Callie's younger sister, and Spencer's Beta.

"No, he's not," Elsa agreed, surprisingly gentle. "I'm just trying to illustrate to your sister here that I am not one to be messed with, neither is my sister, and neither is my pack. We're here peacefully, and we want to see a movie. Not start a bitch fight with the rest of you."

"One day, your pack won't be here to protect you. And when they aren't, I'm going to have your throat. I always get what I want."

"Are you threatening my sister?" Ember demanded in an eerily calm voice. Her blue eyes bore into Callie, and I saw a few of the Stark members shift uneasily on their feet. Either they disagreed with what their future alpha was saying, or they were terrified of the look on my best friend's face.

"It's okay if she is because I know for a fact she doesn't always get what she wants," Elsa said, placing a placating hand on Ember's shoulder.

Callie smiled smugly. "Name one."

"Spencer. You'd be dating by now if you had your way. Now, if you'll excuse us, the ticket line has finally cleared, and we're going to go see a movie." With that said, Elsa turned around and went up to the ticket counter while the rest of my pack followed, laughing at Callie's furious expression.

"How do you know they're not dating yet?" Laurel queried, voicing what had been on all our minds.

"Because I have classes with the Starks, and I've overheard Spencer mention that he doesn't want to date her. It's funny what you learn when people don't realize you're there," My friend answered. She paid the clerk and handed us our tickets. "Let's forget all about them and go watch a movie. Agreed?"

"Agreed!"