"Micah slow down or I swear to god I'm going to jump out.  I'll tell mom and Nina you pushed me out because you thought it would be funny." I threatened, clinging to my seat tightly with both hands. Lucky I had such a good grip or I would have gone flying through the windshield despite the seatbelt with how hard Micah slammed the break. I looked through the rear view mirror to see the poor car driving behind us had had to steer there car onto the ramp to keep from ramming into us.

"You wouldn't." Micah hissed looking absolutely scandalized.

"Yeah, well why don't you go over 80 again and find out for yourself whether or not I would." I said with the most phonily angelic smile I could muster while panting. He looked like he was really thinking about it for a moment but before he could get too far with that I interrupted him.

"They would believe me too you know, just a few scratches on my arms and they'd be too angry to even think straight, let alone the fact that you're not known for making the best decisions." His face paled at my words and he started the car up again grumbling under his breath about manipulative evil little omegas. Throwing me the stink eye as he ranted about how no one should be fooled by their size because the smaller a person was, the more compact the evil in them was.

"Why don't your dumb friends just pick you up?" My brother complained.

"You're just mad because I don't let you hangout with us." I said making him scoff.

"You're 6 years younger than me, I do not want to hangout with your friends, you guys are babies." My brother said, sounding far too bitter for someone who didn't actually want to hangout with us.

"Sure you don't." I replied keeping my eyes on the odometer to make sure he wasn't speeding too much.

"Well it's not my fault Zeenat can't stand to be around me, I don't even know what I did to her. I'm always perfectly polite." My brother complained which was an exaggeration, neither did Zeenat hate him, and neither was he perfectly polite to anyone really. Micah was a nice guy but he couldn't maintain composure for more than ten minutes so he usually offended people because they thought he was laughing at them when he was probably just laughing at something completely unrelated that no one else could ever perceive as even remotely humorous.

Zeenat didn't hate him, but he was a potential to her. Potentials were the wolves who's smells attracted us, although it wasn't necessary that your smell would attract the other as well, it usually did. Micah and Zeenat however were that one in fifty chance where only one of the two were attracted to the other's scent.

Zeenat couldn't help but be a little standoffish, she was a really nice girl, she just didn't want to get attached when she wasn't even a potential of Micah's. Not that wolves only mated potentials, but most did, that was considered a stronger pair because wolves had a very strong sense of smell, other than Micah of course. But Micah had had potentials in the past, all taken because such was his luck, so his sniffer wasn't broken enough to not be able to differentiate between good and neutral.

"It's your personality." I said and he turned to give me a dirty look, stopping the car in front of the library, taking the parking space a lady was clearly trying to back into. I gave her what I hoped she saw as an apologetic wave as she flipped Micah the bird. I looked closer groaning slightly as I realized it was Margaret, one of my managers at the library.

"Get out of my car you little miscreant." My brother grumbled and I smiled at him, shoving his shoulder lightly making his expression soften.

"Make sure you eat something at work, and do you need cash?" My brother asked making me scowl.

"I'm a grown woman and I have a job." I growled.

"Yeah well then why are you as tall as a middle schooler?" My brother asked, leaning forward and pulling the passenger door shut, leaving me there yelling after him that I was 5'7, earning me a strange look from Margaret who was crossing the street.

"Was that your brother?" She asked.

"Yeah, sorry about that, he's a little scatter-brained he probably didn't notice you were parking there." I apologized.

"It's fine, he's hot." She said making me grimace in disgust.

"Is he single?" She asked.

"No and gay." I said even though really wolves didn't care about gender much, most of us had a preference, some didn't care at all.

"That's fine, I have Chen anyways." She shrugged as we walked into the library, and I gave an uneasy smile. Saying she had Chen was an overstatement considering Chen really didn't seem as though he was into her and was quite oblivious towards all her flirting attempts. Granted she sucked at it, her idea of flirting was sidling up real close to him and whispering about whatever book he was holding.

"I'll just be over there." I said, gesturing towards the breakroom as she turned into the office where the managers put their stuff.

"Aspen are you feeling better?" I asked as I walked in to see him texting someone on his phone feverishly.

"Yeah, sorry I was gone for two weeks. We don't get sick often, but we take forever to recover." He said, and I nodded sympathetically, I could still smell the lingering scent of illness on him, it smelled absolutely horrible like a mix of snot and sulfur.

"Don't worry about it, I'm glad you're feeling better." I said making him smile.

"Margaret thinks Chen likes her?" He whispered.

"Apparently, perhaps it was the way he acts the exact same way he does with others that tipped her off." I said sarcastically making him giggle. A slight dimple popping into his cheek as it did only when he laughed. It was faint enough to remain invisible when he was smiling, unlike Alpha Mrow's which popped out every time he smiled even slightly. But then again Alpha Mrow had at least a decade on Aspen so his face had lost any and all baby fat, leaving his face more chiselled so that any lines were more visible, including dimples. I blinked deliberately for a moment trying to clear up thoughts of the Alpha. I was just a little overwhelmed because I had never had a potential before.

"You alright?" Aspen asked seeing as I had stopped midway unwrapping my scarf.

"Fine, completely fine." I said forcing a smile, Aspen didn't look convinced but he let it go.

Raj came tumbling into the breakroom moments after, panting heavily as he bent down, resting his hands on his knees.

"You okay Raj?" I asked.

"I was supposed to start at 8:30." He panted out, it was nearly nine and yet he was only coming now.

"Raj dear I told you your bus would be late, I told you to leave home early didn't I?" Josephine said as she walked into the breakroom smiling my way and giving Aspen a short nod.

"Right sorry Josephine, tomorrow I'll leave early." Raj said a charming smile on his face making Josephine shake her head fondly at him, patting his cheek as she left.

"I've been driving to work for the past year." Raj said as soon as Josephine had left, which a normal wolf would've heard but considering due to her hearing impairment Josephine's hearing was about as good as a human's she probably didn't. Her excuse to humans for constantly making predictions was that she was psychic, which rightfully humans did not believe, since the only thing Josephine was, was crazy. Aspen and I shrugged at Raj as we walked out to the library.

"Why don't you do the counter today? It's less strenuous, you still smell a little sick." I said and Aspen nodded, self-consciously sniffing at himself when I turned to check the container of returns.

I checked through the shelves, ensuring the books were shelved properly until the morning patrons started piling in. In the morning it was mostly elderly people and they always had questions, mostly about the use of the computers, some of them just wanted to make casual conversation. Some smelled so horribly lonely, no scents of other people on them it broke my heart and I made it a point to remember their names and address them by such every time they came in. Purposely squeezing their shoulder as I passed, humans weren't as tactile as wolves but they needed touch too. I just wished I could get the cute little old people adopted.

Werewolves were pack people, you interacted with many members of the pack, but you absolutely needed to see family members. Our elderly never grew so lonely because family and pack members never allowed them to. They chose to live together in a separate house dedicated for the elders since in most packs the elders were like advisors, so it was seen as a prestige thing for them to live in a house just for them, vibing on each other's wisdom or whatever it was they did.

My paternal grandparents never really specified what it was they all did in that house. My maternal grandfather loved me but he had trouble looking at me considering how much I looked like my grandmother, and since my mother had decided to name me after her. He made up for it by writing me letters and cards all the time though. He travelled a lot too as most elderly wolves did, especially those whose mates had died, so it was his main form of communication with us.

Although my mother did often consult the elders, they didn't hold as much power as they do in most packs. My mother wasn't opposed to doing things in new ways, and elders often didn't agree with change so she just kept them happy with trips and cool human-made trinkets. Currently the elderly of our pack were positively enthralled with the Nintendo Wii, we chose not to tell them it was intended for the entertainment of human children.

The day passed by relatively slowly with only so many people coming in on weekdays mornings, but things picked up after lunch when more people were awake and bringing their toddlers to get books or participate in various activities. My favourite thing was Wednesday afternoons when I got to lead the toddler story time hour. They were just so cute with their gigantic bright eyes and chubby cheeks, so easily entertained by the use of silly voices and gestures. My favourite thing was reading them books with wolves and hearing their little growls, they were surprisingly effective, a growl that cute was sure to shame an invader into retreating.

As the day ended I walked into the breakroom, rotating my neck around to get rid of the stiffness of constantly looking down to shelve books and help people with the computers.

"Going home?" Aspen asked as he walked into the breakroom.

"To a friend's house actually, you should come out with us one day. We'll plan something, let me know when you have time. My friends have pretty flexible schedules so whatever works for you will probably work for them too." I said, getting only a short nod in response as Aspen fiddled with something in the pocket of his coat, facing away from me.

Aspen never really smelt like other pack members, he was a bit shy, very hesitant around alphas I was guessing, as some omegas were. He was a transferred member, he had been apart of another pack up till just a few years ago which explained why I didn't know him even though he was only a year younger than me and should've gone to school with me.

My mother refused to tell me too much saying it wasn't her place but had told me that he had left the pack due to an unpleasant alpha. Although she refused to elaborate so I had let it go, mom never talked about the personal matters of other pack members to us, occasionally Nina if she thought Nina needed to know as future pack Alpha, but otherwise mom was great at keeping secret what pack members trusted her with.

Although I was positive she told dad, mom could never refuse dad, but he wasn't much of a gossip, so it was possible he didn't ask. Neither of my parents were really, so none of us were, but Lola just somehow knew things, things about people who hadn't even consulted her as a mental health specialist. Lola was just scary like that.

I walked out of the breakroom, waving to Josephine and Margaret who were clearly trying to collectively make some frightened teenager admit he had stolen a book. The boy had done it before, he peeled off the barcodes and ripped the stamps off. We knew because we always found them wherever he had been sitting once he left.

They waved back at me distractedly, the boy giving me big pleading puppy eyes and I shrugged at him. He really shouldn't have been stealing.

I walked out, having to cross the street to get to the girls' black ford focus. I climbed into the backseat, both sisters turning around to greet me. They were identical twins but you could tell them apart, even identical twins looked a tad bit different, and their scents helped differentiate between the two.

Nora was usually dressed in colour and always did something elegant with her hair, her pretty hazel eyes always coated with a fine layer of mascara and she always wore a soft peach or pink coloured lipstick. Elliya usually had bags under her eyes because she refused to sleep. She'd much rather stay up watching anime or reading fanfiction. She also never bothered with makeup of any kind and her hair was either loose on her shoulders or tied up into a bun with a pencil. They were both absolute sweethearts though, although out of the two I got along better with Elliya because she too loved reading, and had been in the same program as me at university.

"Who's that?" Nora asked as Aspen stepped out of the library, burrowing his face into his coat.

"That's Aspen, I invited him to hang out with us some time, I hope he will." I said, craning my neck to look at Aspen through the window.

"I've seen him at the library quite a bit, he's really nice and not to mention just Parisa's type." Elliya said making me turn to shake my head at her.

"Parisa loves her omegas." Nora said smirking at me through the rear view mirror. Nora was an omega, while Elliya was a beta.

"It's not like that, he's sweet but admittedly he does have a very nice butt." I added on as an afterthought making the sisters giggle.

"He does doesn't he?" Elliya asked with a smile of her own, batting her lashes at me playfully.

"Okay now enough talking about my coworkers, I feel like a total creep." I said.

"Nora why don't you have hot coworkers?" Elliya asked her as if that were something she could control.

"I work at a school. I'm surrounded by children all day, trust me attraction would be the furthest thing from anyone's mind in that situation." Nora said making Elliya shake her head forlornly. Elliya wasn't working yet, she wanted a year off after completing her masters. As far as I knew she lay in bed reading fanfiction until one of her family members dragged her out and forced her to go out. Safe to say Elliya was living the life.

"If you want to see attractive people just leave the house once in a while." Nora teased as she put the car into drive, pulling onto the road without checking making the car behind us honk and the driver within it yell some truly awful things. Why they were getting so incredibly personal with their profanity was beyond me, but that person could use a session with someone like Lola.

Nora played some music as we drove and I was content to listen to that on our way to Zeenat's house, the sisters bickering back and forth as they always did. Nora finally pulled up to Zeenat's house who was waiting at the door, shivering in her cropped pullover sweater and sweatpants having probably heard the car pull up.

We got out of the car, Zeenat grabbing me into a hug as soon as I was within reach, she gave the best hugs, well other than family members of course. Nina would positively murder someone if she found out I thought someone else gave better hugs than her. Zeenat was an alpha so she was a bit taller and she kind of just wrapped herself around you, her hugs just firm enough but still soft since she was a woman and most women had soft chests. Letting go of me she grabbed the two sisters into a hug, wrapping an arm around each of them.

"Hello girls." Zeenat's older brother Saad said as he came down the stairs. I offered him a small smile, squeezing his shoulder as I passed by him to get to the kitchen. Hopefully Zeenat's mom had baked, she was the best baker in the pack and probably country, she also knew it which was why their family had a little bakery in the city.

"Girls how are you all doing? I heard you two got sick." Zeenat's mother said, cupping my face in her hand as she passed by me affectionately, walking to the two sisters, resting her hand on their foreheads to check if they had a fever while I snooped around the kitchen, the smell of peanut butter leading me to the batch of peanut butter white chocolate cookies sitting on the counter in a jar.

I pulled it open, pulling one out and biting into it, my eyes falling shut at how good it was. The sweet white chocolate tasted so good against the slightly more savoury flavour of the peanut butter, and although they weren't exactly soft, they were chewy which was just as good.

"These are so good." I said around a mouthful of cookie, a husky laugh sounding close by me, and I realized Saad was standing right behind me. Saad was a beta and he was one of the pack's accountants so he only went in when needed, otherwise he helped out at their family's bakery, taking care of all their financial needs.

"I prefer the red velvet." He said and I nodded.

"Those are really good too but everything your mom makes is." I answered, holding the jar away from Elliya when she tried to grab one.

"Mine." I growled, snapping my teeth at her making Zeenat's mom laugh.

"Share please girls, Saad order them a pizza or whatever they want, I'm going to go help your dad at the bakery." Zeenat's mom said, grabbing her keys from the counter, kissing Zeenat and Saad's cheeks as she left, waving to the rest of us who waved back. Elliya using the distraction to grab a cookie too.

"Saad go away." Zeenat said as soon as her mom left the house. He frowned at his younger sister, and she crossed her arms in front of her chest glaring at him expectantly making the rest of us shuffle around awkwardly.

"I'll be in my room, let me know when you girls want to eat something." He said flicking his sister's ear as he passed making her grumble about annoying older brothers. The two almost looked like twins. Since Zeenat was an alpha and Saad a beta, despite their genders they were the same height. Both had dark chocolate coloured hair, Zeenat's was curly however and long while Saad's was short and looked to be straight. They had coffee coloured eyes with dark eyebrows that made them both look quite intense. Long straight noses, and thin shapely lips. Both of them also worked out quite a bit, so both had muscles.

Most wolves worked out at least a little, we got restless if we didn't. Most of us were content with just going for a run, but some actually did strenuous exercise, like Zeenat and Saad. Nora and Elliya were the laziest wolves I'd ever met, neither ever felt the need to partake in any physical activity although Nora at least bothered to join the land of the living on a daily basis. On days where Elliya got really into a book or show, we'd actually have to join her in her bed if we wanted to see her. Once in university we had completed an entire assignment we were paired together for while laying in her bed since she refused to get out and as the saying goes, if you can't beat them, join them.

We grabbed sodas from the fridge, before splaying ourselves out onto the couches, Elliya somehow having wedged herself behind me, curling her arm around me while Nora and Zeenat were outright spooning as they looked for a movie to watch.

"Doritos?" Elliya asked me and I nodded, getting up to grab a pack from their pantry, debating between the jalapeno and spicy nacho before deciding on jalapeno, and bringing my find back to our couch, settling against Elliya as I ripped them open.

"Don't get crumbs in my hair, I don't want to smell like doritos for the rest of the night." I warned Elliya only getting a wolfish grin in response. We sat there stuffing our faces with doritos as Nora and Zeenat argued over which movie to watch. Nora wanting to watch a horror movie while Zeenat wanted to watch her favourite comedy. The same comedy we had watched around fifty times, so I would much rather Nora won the argument, but I was too tired to contribute.

"How's work at the library going?" Elliya asked me, her voice muffled by the half chewed dorito in her mouth making me wrinkle my nose at her. She kissed the side of my head as she finished chewing, definitely getting jalapeno cheese dust into it making me bat at her with my hands, to which she only chuckled loudly in response like the goon she was.

"It's good, I've always liked the library, it's peaceful." I said to which she nodded.

"I'm thinking I should get a job." She said very lowly to ensure the others wouldn't hear.

"Where?" I asked, turning around to look at her.

"I don't know honestly, not the library, that opens up too early. I want to try working as a journalist, but it's so hard to find work." She grumbled.

"You're one of the best writers I know, I've read your non-fiction pieces, they're amazing, if you can't get a job, no one can." I told her making her cheeks pink and her lips turn up into a shy smile.

"Thanks Par." She said making me smile as I twisted back around to see the other two looking at us suspiciously.

"We were discussing which one of you we'd eat first if all four of us ever got lost in the woods." Elliya said making the other two nod as though to say that checked out.

"So what are we watching?" I asked, accidentally elbowing Elliya in the gut as I leaned back into her after setting the nearly empty bag of Doritos onto the table.

"The Nun's Demons." Nora answered brightly making my brows furrow. That didn't sound very pleasant.

Unfortunately instead of the movie being about actual demons it turned out it was about the undiscovered kinky side of the protagonist nun, which in itself was worse then any hell creature could ever be. We totally should've just watched Zeenat's comedy film.

"I feel extremely uncomfortable in my own skin." Elliya said as the movie finally finished. Nora wouldn't let us turn it off since she was convinced actual demons would show up at some point, what the nun was doing to those men did seem a little ritualistic but no little creatures with horns showed up at any point during the movie.

"I just realized I put on the wrong The Nun's Demons. This is an erotic film, god save whoever gets turned on by that, and the one I wanted to watch was a horror." Nora explained, looking a little green. Nora was the most innocent out of all of us, our little angel really, the most appropriate out of all of us and she worked with little kids.

"It was whatever, definitely not erotic though." Zeenat said just as Saad came down the stairs, earning her a very disgusted look from her brother.

"What do you girls want to eat?" Saad asked, leaning against the wall facing us, the credits of the movie still rolling beside him on the TV.

"Pizza." Elliya suggested and I nodded, looking to the other two for confirmation.

"I want a panzerotti." Zeenat declared and her brother shrugged.

"Meat lovers okay girls?" He asked the rest of us and we nodded.

"Can we get wings?" Nora asked with the most angelic smile I had ever seen, and I read stories to toddlers.

"Sure." Saad said, pulling out his phone and walking out of the living room to order.

"Elliya are you braiding my hair with your Dorito cheese coated fingers?" I asked her, trying my best to stay calm.

"No I licked that off, see?" She said, holding her clean looking hand out for me and I grimaced in disgust. I loved Elliya but no amount of love meant I was okay with having her saliva in my hair. Nora was shaking with laughter at the look on my face as Elliya innocently continued her braiding, humming to herself not noticing that I was much less than pleased.

The harm was done though so I just let her continue, resolving to take a shower as soon as I went home.

I listened to Saad question Nora about her job as Elliya continued playing with my hair, Zeenat texting somebody on her phone. She was the only one of the three of us who had actual friends outside of our group, the twins and I deemed this to be more than big enough of a social circle.

"I'm bored." Nora mouthed to me when Saad left to attend to a call and I shrugged, pointedly looking at the Dorito bag, because what could quell boredom better than food? She scrunched her nose up at them mouthing 'wings' back to me with a gleeful smile.

"Parisa stop moving." Elliya said slapping my shoulder and I pouted rubbing at the spot with my other hand.

"Seriously Elliya what are you doing to my hair?" I asked, and she simply pushed me up, urging me to get onto my feet, I looked into the mirror to see my hair in a surprisingly elegant updo, two braids formed on both sides, running along the side of my head, meeting at the back where they were somehow fastened by a single pin, despite how thick my hair was. Elliya was amazing with hair, she did all of Nora's fancy updos for her but just could not be bothered to do anything to her own hair. It was fine though, Elliya was a beautiful girl and even with just air dried hair she looked great.

"You look like Nora." Saad said as he came back, twisting his nose up as though that were a bad thing, even though truthfully that was a compliment, Nora was beautiful.

"Thank you." I said making Nora smile at me, her eyes crinkling adorably as her blushy cheeks puffed up making her smile look cherubic.

"Zeenat stop texting." I said, resting back against Elliya, being more careful with where I was putting my elbows this time. She looked up from her phone throwing me an apologetic glance as she slid her phone under her thigh.

"Zeenat is trying to offer courtship to some beta." Saad informed us, making Nora gasp as she whirled around to look at Zeenat glaring at her for not telling us sooner.

"Is it who I think it is?" Elliya asked, referring to Chad a beta from another pack who had been a potential of Zeenat's she met at university although both were reluctant to start anything seeing as they were from different packs. He was actually quite good looking with his smooth mocha coloured skin, bright brown eyes, wild curly hair and a near constant grin on his face. The lunatic even smiled during finals time.

"Yeah but he won't accept my courtship and I really like him, I want to talk to his pack Alpha about it. I've heard Alpha Mrow is nothing like his mother and has let one of his pack members mate with someone from another pack." Zeenat said making my eyes widen, I'd known Chad was from a different pack but not which one. It made sense considering the university was on the no man's land between our and his pack.

"He actually came to speak to my mother a few days ago, he seemed really nice." I offered.

"Young too isn't he for a pack Alpha? I've heard he's the youngest alpha of the century." Nora said. Which was true, most pack alphas didn't pass down the title until their intended to be alpha was at least in their late thirties. You needed to be very mature and well-trained to be the pack alpha, being mated was also considered good for a pack alpha.

"His parents separated, so he got the title early on, like most wolves who lose their mate I'm guessing his mother wanted to travel too to get away from it all. It's really difficult losing a mate even if it is a mutually agreed upon separation." Saad added, returning to the room, phone in hand.

"He was 32 when he got the title apparently, there hasn't been a pack alpha that young since the 1700's when the life expectancy was less than it is now. Chad says the Alpha has made the pack much more informal in the two years since he's been alpha." Zeenat said.

"Although compared to us they still have a serious stick up their asses." Elliya said making me snort.

"That's mean Elliya, they're just more traditional." Nora reprimanded and I could practically feel Elliya roll her eyes at her twin.

"Aka stick up the ass." Saad said making Nora huff knowing those two were lost causes.

The doorbell rang indicating the pizza had arrived and Saad got up to answer it, reminding all of us to act human before he went.

"I'd fuck a wolf." Elliya yelled as soon as the door was opened making the four of us burst into fits of giggles, hearing Saad facepalm audibly from here. The poor pizza deliverer stuttering a bit uneasily as he told Saad the total, probably thinking he was delivering pizza to some weird cult considering how we were located pretty far in the woods.

Saad came back holding three boxes of large pizzas, the box of wings and Zeenat's bagged panzerotti which he threw at her, Nora having to duck to ensure it didn't hit her in the face. Not mentioning it though as she immediately attacked the box of wings as it was set down. I got up off of Elliya, grabbing a slice of pizza and cracking open my soda that was slightly warm now.

"Extra pepperoni, good call." I said to Saad after swallowing my first bite, chasing down the grease with a sip of soda.

"I'm going to take a box for mom and dad. Zeenat you wanna come with? I'm sure they can use the help." Saad asked to which Zeenat made a face but nodded nonetheless.

"Don't go." Elliya said as Zeenat got up, Nora dramatically clinging to her arm making Zeenat laugh.

"I'm leaving a housekey on the counter for whenever you girls want to leave." Saad said, grabbing up a box of the pizza, each of the siblings holding a slice of pizza in a hand as they left. Zeenat using her free hand to squeeze Elliya's and my arms as she left. Saad offering us a smile and a wave. 

We had all been friends since childhood having gone to the same school, and Zeenat's house had always been where we hung out since her mom usually baked awesome things for us to have as a snack. We came here so much that it was fine for us to stay over even if the people who actually lived here weren't home. Nora actually had a key to the house as well, but then Nora had a key to my house as well, although I didn't recall ever giving her one.

Nora joined us on the couch Elliya and I were on after we had all washed our hands, and gotten the leftover food put away. She leaned back onto me splaying her legs out in front of her making Elliya huff since she now had the weight of both of us squishing her against the back of the couch, but she didn't complain. I wrapped my arm around Nora tugging her close, making her hum in content. The three of us dozing off after the greasy meal we had all cuddled up on the couch.

We woke up only when Zeenat and her family returned, her mom cooing at how adorable we were, begging us to let her take a photo as we came to, checking our mouths self-consciously for drool.

"We should be getting home." I said, seeing the twins nod as we all sat up.

"Just sleepover." Zeenat said but I shook my head.

"I would if I'd told mom beforehand, they're gonna be worried if I do now." I said and Zeenat nodded.

The three of us got up, hugging Zeenat and her mother before trying to find our coats, finding her dad standing in the kitchen who patted all of our heads in greeting. My braids having come out as I slept, leaving my normally relatively straight hair in oddly formed plaited waves. We finally managed to locate our coats, calling out goodbyes to Saad who had gone up to his room.

We piled into the twin's car, the twins both fighting over who had to drive, both just wanting to nap in the backseat while I took advantage of the fact that it wasn't my car so I didn't have to drive. The cold waking me up as I stood behind the twins, waiting for them to finish their bickering, Elliya getting stuck with the job since she was the older by three minutes and according to Nora that meant she had to take care of her.

"Do you think we'll ever find love?" Nora asked quietly when I had almost dozed off in the backseat. I jerked awake at her question, looking at her in confusion to see her mouth in a slight pout as she stared down at her hands in her lap. Nora had always been the most sensitive out of all of us, and the most romantic. Growing up she had been the only pup to need braces in our pack and although no one dared tease her knowing either Elliya would hurt them or I would have one of my siblings beat them up, she still felt bad about them.

It wasn't the first time Nora had gotten into one of these funks, anytime any of us were in a bad mood we would drive or walk further down the trail where no houses were, close to my house out of wolf earshot to have a talk. We were werewolves so we had more of an attachment to the outdoors, being outside made us feel slightly better when in a bad mood. This was a custom between us three only though, I wasn't sure why Zeenat wasn't a part of it but I'd never really thought to question it.

"Don't stop here Elliya." I said and knowing exactly what I meant she drove a little further down from my home on the trail. I reached to the front squeezing Nora's shoulders empathetically as we drove.

As soon as Elliya stopped the car we got out, leaning up against the doors. Staying silent for a moment staring out into the dark forest as we tried to look for the right words.

"Of course we'll find love Nora, we're still young, it's not strange that we haven't found someone yet." I said finally and Elliya immediately nodded looking even more confused than I felt as to why Nora would be bringing this up right now.

"I'm just scared you know, I always thought I'd have found someone by now, and I have yet to meet a potential. What if I don't have any?" Nora asked looking heartbreakingly vulnerable as she looked up at me with her big hazel eyes.

"Of course you do Nora. They could be from a different pack or maybe someone who's older or younger in this pack who you haven't met yet." I said.

"You're right, you've never had a potential yet either but you're not worrying so neither should I." Nora said with a small smile which I tried to return but it felt forced even to me.

"Oh my god you have." Elliya said suddenly and I glared at her.

"So have you." I snapped back at her.

"Yeah but mine was a douche canoe unworthy of being mentioned. Spill, who is it?" Elliya demanded, Nora blinking up at me with pleading eyes leaving me unable to not tell them especially if it would distract Nora.

"It was Alpha Mrow." I said making both of the sisters gasp dramatically.

"Is he hot?" Elliya asked after a moment of silence and I nodded, grinning a little making Nora squeal. Apparently all her earlier dilemma had been forgotten.

"Jump him for all of us that have no one to jump." Elliya said making me glare at her and Nora smack her arm.

"Pack Alphas don't just go jumping people or letting others jump them, they court and they mate. Do you want Parisa to leave us?" Nora asked her twin angrily making Elliya flinch back slightly.

"I'm probably not even his potential, it's nothing to get worked up over. I'd never go for somebody from a different pack. I don't want to lose you guys or my family." I reassured them, Nora giggled suddenly making me look at her wearily, I hoped the cold wasn't getting to her. She was wearing a coat but she only had a thin jumper and leggings on underneath it.

"Plus Nina would decapitate anyone from some other pack who tried to court her little Pari." Nora said giggling madly, almost unable to get the words out.

"Nina would decapitate anyone who tried to court Parisa period." Elliya said, both twins giggling manically now, leaving me bemused with a giggling twin leaning on each of my shoulders.

"I'm going to walk home, you two stop laughing and get home safely." I said, pressing a kiss to each of their heads even though their giggling had yet to cease as I turned to make the short walk home.

They made weird what I was guessing were supposed to be decapitating noises behind me making me shake my head as I walked, grumbling to myself about how I was stuck with morons as friends only making them laugh harder. Despite my irritation I couldn't suppress my smile as their laughter faded the further I got from them, no matter how irritating they could be, I wouldn't trade them for the world, let alone a potential.