A/N: Hello readers. I hope you enjoyed Chapter Seventeen. Thank you all for reading and I know I said I'd post of picture of both Greg and Kenny but I have no clue how to do two pics at a time. So I'm posting one of Kenny Dauplin. Let me know what you all think. I will post a picture of Greg Burns in the next one. Hopefully I'll have all the pictures for every character (Main or Co) characters in the book. Enjoy!

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

{Connor's POV}

          Instead of being in Northen Cambria, the town where my pack resides in, I stayed in my dorm  on campus. I thought it was only the town the Rouges were checking out but I've sensed them in the area of the campus. Checking in with C'aine every minute of the day just to see how Eryn was doing, I told him to let her know that it was only once a day and that it would be longer then expected for my return, I wanted to surprise her when I arrived back to New York on Friday. Since the Rogues weren't attacking and it was pretty much useless to kill them since they took off before we even thought of going after them, I didn;t think anything was going on. Maybe they were just curious of our stay. Rougues never worked together, that was weird but there was nothing going on. I was going to stay until Friday night just to make sure then I'd return to Eryn to help control her powers. 

          My mind was on her ever since I left her house. That look she gave me and I knew we were just going to put the whole her being my mate aside because there was bigger things to go after. One thing for sure, I had a bad feeling about the message that was left by Penelope. It was three years ago so why now. 

[Flash Back[]

          The beach of California is a great vacation for Dante and I, since today was his birthday, we took trip for the amazing beaches. Drayden, Kenny and Greg were all here with us and a few of Dantes friends were here with him. 

                    "Alright boys, lets have some fun." Can screamed, running for the water. Greg and Drayden quickly undressed to there swim trunks and followed the lead. Dante did the same but I sat on the sand, looking about. 

                           "Yo little bro . . . What's the hold up?" he asked.

                           "I'm going to wait for Maria." I said. We've been dating since last year and she was part of the Jaded Moon Pack. She was Dante's mate's sister and since I knew her from school, we decided to give the whole dating thing a chance, before we knew who our mate were. She was a really cool girl, even though her looks weren't what most guys would call attractive, she was still an amazing friend. She was part of the drama club and I was the football stud so you could imagine the womens faces when they found out I was dating Maria. Not to mention the head cheerleader, she begged to date me but she was known to be with most of my friends, including Drayden. Maria was herself, she was one of the girls attracted to me but since I knew her personally, I liked her. Dante chuckled, "Oh man . . . Come on, thr girls will be here later. Right now, we need to get in that water." He grabbed my arm and forced me to my feet,

                   "Alright, if you don't drag your behind, I will just toss you in it." he said, staring down at me. He was tall, taller then me and one of the biggest guys in our pack. He was for sure the strongest, next to our father. Being the son of an Alpha, you had to be strong because you had to take over the pack once you were call to the duty. People say we looked almost identcal only he had the older man look to him, his stubble and his green eyes were the only difference. Women in the pack wished to be his mate but when he was mated with Santana, an Alphas daughter from another pack, jealousy erupted in the pack. Not only was Santana from another pack, she was nothing but beautiful.

          Santana out ranked most of the women in our pack by beauty, strength and agility. She wasn't messing around when she said she was the daughter of an alpha. Once the both of them met, they were inseperable. I was actually surprised that he wasn't too worried about her coming this way with the rest of the girls. 

                   "Alright man. I'll go." I said, taking my shirt off. He cheered in victory and raced to the ocean. This was a day I didn't dare forget. When the girls arrived, Dante was already out of the ocean as I followed him out. The rest of the guys didn't bother. Santana ran over to Dante, kissing him automatically. No doubt she inhereted the beatuty of the family. Her short black hair and petite figure.Her sun kissed skin topped off her look. She had dark brown eyes the size of the moon and plump in the right places. No one dared talked about how hot she was in front of Dante or even thought it, Dante would erupt. She was his and only his. Dante had his arm around Santana,

                           "Hey Connor. Maria's in the car still, grabbing some things. Wanna go help her?" Santana asked, noticing I was looking for her. I thanked her and ran across the sandy beach and up the stairs to where I found Maria carrying a yellow bag. She was in wife beater and had her bikin underneath it. Her short hair was put up in a pony tail and she was a little lighter then Santana but still darker then my skin tone. 

                                  "Need help with that?" I asked, grabbing it away from her anyways. When she caught site of me with no shirt on, she blushed, 'Thanks." she said. We started down the stairs where the other guys had already got out of the water and joined the other girls. In total, there was 8 guys and 8 girls, three of my friends and three of Dante's friends. Santana had brought some girls from her old pack and Maria had some of her friends. 

          Dante and Santana sat down when Maria and I arrived. Drayden sat next to a pretty italian girl with sand blond hair and long legs to go with it. Greg and Kenny sat across from Maria and I while the other guys sat across from Dante Santana.

                                "So birthday boy, what are we going to do?" Dante's friend, Andrew asked. Dante looked at me for a bit and then back at the guys, "Hell . . . I'm ready to have one hell of a night. We've got a whole week guys and were going to spend it having nothing but fun." cheers erupted from the guys, including me. That only meant beers and drinks all night while making a total fool of ourselves. I set my arm around Maria as she suggled in close to me. She smelled good, jasmin sort of. Dante stood up now, "But lets have some fun in the water, I'm too damn dried." he said, running towards the water now. We all got up and followed his lead, most of us racing against each other.

          Night had fallen and we were one of two other groups on the beach for the night. We had a bon fire going, beers already dranken up and having a good time. Dante was telling us a story about a time he took down a Rogue, a big one and he was 18. I remember him telling me the story. He and my father went out for patrol and a three rogues attacked, two of them were taken down by our father while he took the last one, ripping his head off clean. Everyone in the village heard about it and that's what made him even more popular.

          After his story he sat down and let Santana snuggle up to him. Maria did the same thing and I enjoyed the comfort. Drayden then got up, thinking it would be a good idea to tell one of his high school story about him vandalizing the principals car. He thought it was funny, we all thought he was on something. The moon had been out bright and we were the last group on the beach as the time hit near midnight. The girls were drunk and tired and the guys were still rowdy and drunk. They wanted to stay up and party all the way until the sun came up. So that's what the guys did as the women went back to the hotel, Maria driving because the rest were wasted.

          Dante and Andrew raced against eachother on the sandy beach in wolf form. Of course, Dante won but they looked like stumbling fools because of how wasted they were. The ocean was music to my ears as I downed another beer.  The moon was out bright, like a light to the sky.

                    "Dude . . . Do you think Maria's your Mate?" Drayden all of a sudden asked. He had a whole case of beer to himself and I raised an eyebrow, "I don't know. She's from a line of Alphas so I wouldn't doubt it if she is. I know o' ne thing, I really like her."

                        "Yeah, shes pretty cool. Man, I can't wait for my mate. I know one thing, she's going to be a strong beta type or sexy, either one." I chuckled. But let the thought of Maria being my mate sink in. At the age of 18, you would know who your mate is. I would be 18 next year and couldn't wait. Being the next Alpha in line after my brother was my next goal. I was in thought until a big howl was heard in the distance and we all perked up, Dante was in the distance but from where I sat, I could see he had become tense. We all looked towards the west end of the beach and Dante looked over at us, "Drayden and Connor, come with me and Andrew, the rest stay here with our things." They nodded as Drayden and I got up and followed Dante and Andrew.

          Just about three miles away from where we were camped out at, a beach house had noise, laughter and music howling from it's windows. From the looks of all the people out towards the beach from the stumbling of them being drunk, it was a house party. From the smell of alcohol and sweat, the scent of wolves was very known and that howl was from an Alpha. Dante stared ahead at a couple making out. We all knew that the whole house was full of werewolves, a pack more likely. Dante told us not to move any further, we might be treading in another packs territory. We were about to turn back around but someone grabbed my from the back,

                                   "Woah there kid." A deep voice came. Dante was quick as he hit the man hand away and got into a protective stance, growling. The man, a tall muscualr bronze colored man, backed up a bit. 

                                     "Sorry man, didn;t mean to scare you all. Just was wondering what pack you were from?" Dante relaxed a bit and I noticed the guy was bronze because of the fake tan he wore. Dude, seriously, your skin needed a rest from the sun. Dante had his defenses up but answered,

                                          "Where not from a pack around here. We were just visiting for a week. Sorry for stepping in wolf territory." he said about to turn away but the guy stopped him,

                                         "Alright . . . That's totally awesome. Why don't you guys join us then. Look, I know the whole don't cross my territory hoo ha but this is my party and I invite you guys to join." he said. One thing, he was drunk. Second, he wasn;t the Alpha so he had no right to invite us to a part, even if it is his party. 

                                            "Thank you but we're going to be eading back to our hotel. Enjoy your party." This time, we followed Dante back to the camp ground. The noise faded once we could see the fire we had built blazing in the distance. 

                                              "Do you know the pack?" I asked Dante. Dante nodded, he did. Since we were one of the many stronger packs. Dante went with our father hunting and partolling. It was his duty to know every pack in the united states, Then he would have to know every pack out side the states. His goal was to make our pack the strongest of all, out rank any other pack once he was Alpha. Who ever that pack was, he didn't want to associate us with them. He ordered us to get our things together and head back to the hotel. We got to the hotel and seperated into rooms, Dante and I went to our room while Drayden and Andrew went to theirs. Kenny and Greg seperated into theirs and Steven and Victor went into their rooms. The girls were already fast asleep and Dante wanted to sleep with Santana but since Maria was here and we weren;t to be in the same room together, Santana had to sleep in the same room with her. 

          Dante was already in bed but I was staring up at the ceiling,

                             "Hey Dante, you still awak man?" I asked and he grunted but answered yes.

                            "That guy didnt know you. What pack is he from."

          He at first was silent and then he answered, "I know the Alpha of the pack. He and I aren't on good terms. Their pack is weaker then ours and they hate us for it." I knew there was something about Dante not wanting to stay for the party. He would have just to have fun. 

                           "So the Alpha probably would have know it was you then?" I asked.

                          "Yeah. I'm stronger then him and he's already an Alpha. Look, get some sleep, I'm too tired to explain." I sighed because I couldn't sleep. I was too awake now. About ten minutes, Dantes snoring filled the  room. Instead of falling asleep, I stayed up thinking about Maria. 

 [Present]

          A knock at the door brought me out of my thoughts and I could smell the person's scent, it was Drayden. I told him he could come in and when he entered, he had a smile, "Guess who I just bumped into?" he said and I raised an eyebrow as he answered anyways,

                               "Maria Lopez. She's visiting for Spring Break and she wanted to know where you were." he said. I grunted. That was the last person I wanted to see. He walked over to the desk that was set up near the window. My roommate was part of our pack. The dean of the University was also part of the pack, that's why it was easier for our pack to get into Penn State. 

                                 "What did you tell her?" I asked, curious. 

                                "You were here in your dorm." he had a suspicious smile on his face. 

                                  "And?" I asked. 

                                 "And she's on her way up." he started to laugh. I stood up, "Damnit. I don't want to. . ." before I could say anything, Maria walked into the open door and she looked at me with a smile. She looked the same, short black hair, dark brown eyes, still petite and she wore a ASU sweater. She had left for ASU, after the incident with her family. She smiled big at me, "Oh my . . ." she said, running over to me and throwing her arms around me, give me a hug. I hugged her back, "It's good to see your well." I told her. She pulled me away at a distance, "You too. You look even more handsome. You look like . . . Dante." she said. I pulled away from our hug as she stepped back, giving me a confused look. 

                                '   "What brings you ba' ck here?" I asked. She gave a small pouty face, "Visiting. My mother wanted to see me." she said. 

                                    "Hows life at ASU?" I asked. She shrugged her shoulder, "It's pretty cool. I miss it here though. How about you? Doing okay?"  

                                   "Yeah. Very well, I've found my mate." I said and a hint of surprise with a mix of something else masked her face and then she smiled, "Wow, I'm happy for you. Which wolf is lucky to be your mate?" I smiled back at her big with a wider spread, "Not a wolf. A sorceress." I said and her eyes widened, "A what?" she asked. I was going to answer but she held her hand up, "How is that possible. You were mated with a witch. How are you to carry your bloodline of wolves?" her tone in her voice was a strained anger.

                               "Not a witch, sorceress. She's pretty powerful. And as for the bloodline, I don't have to worry until the time comes."

                             "Have you marked her?" she asked, her voice now a bit sad. Our relationship was long ago and we both agreed on just being friends. I shook my head, "No." She seemed to be happy as she smiled, "Oh . . . Well that's good I guess." she mumbled the last part but I pretended not to hear it. She then asked, "Where is she?" I looked over at Drayden, who was texting on his phone but I knew he was listening. 

                                "She's back in New York. That's where she lives." I said and she nodded, "You traveled to New York for your mate?" she asked. 

                              "No. We went to a bar where only creatures went. I happen to bump into her and she's the bartender there." She nodded and looked over at Drayden, "He got a mate?" Drayden looked up and raised an eyebrow, "Nope. Right now, swimming in the water for fishes. Lots to go through." he said, winking at her. She laughed, "Same old Drayden. Alright then. I've gotta head back to the town. How long are you staying?" she asked. 

                               "Til Friday."

                               "What about the Rogues."

                               "From what I'm gathering, I believe their just curious. They aren't harming the pack so I'm sure their just curious." About what, I wasn;t sure but I've got a few days to figure things out. She sighed, "Alright. When you come back to the town, stop by for dinner. I don't want to miss you when you leave." She moved in for another hug and I let her hug me, "Alright, I will. I miss your mothers cooking. Let Drayden walk you back." I said. We pulled away from eachother as she huffed, "I can handle going to my car. I'll see you later, bye Dray." She said and Dray waved goodbye as she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. I knew she didn't find her mate, the way she was acting. She wouldn't have sounded so jealous when I told her I found my mate. Drayden spoke up, "Man, she still has it for you."

                            "Not now Dray. Lets get back to figuring things out. I don't want to be here as long as I have to." I said and he just smiled but did as I asked. I sent him back to the town as I stayed in my dorm. It was getting late and I made sure to check in with Caine. See how Eryn was doing. He said she was in her room working on finding the Swope family. She's been at it pretty hard and I wondered if she thought of me because I couldn't stop thinking of her. Those lips. That smile. Those eyes. Everything about her was impossible. I laid in bed and fell asleep to her face in my thoughts.