MIA

I looked around at the people surrounding me at the dinner table. My best friend Elizabeth Jones, her husband Ian, and Elizabeth's parents Diana and Phil West. I should be happy to be surrounded by people I loved but I was anything but happy. The only thing I wanted to do was to go back to the studio and record new music. And that was the plan, or at least, I thought it was the plan. See, I was poised and ready to go back in the studio as soon as I finished my world tour until Beth surprised me by pulling up to her parents bed and breakfast someplace in South Dakota. I've been trapped here a week and I am beyond ready to get back to work. Problem was, Beth was my manager as well as my best friend so she held my schedule in the palm of her hands and my schedule was clear for the next month.

"Mia honey. Are you ok?" Mrs. West asked. I hadn't realized I was zoning out a little bit. I wasn't even sure what the conversation had been about.

"I'm fine but...you know what I am not really hungry. I think I am going to go outside for a bit and then call it a night."

I excused myself from the table and made my way outside to the porch and plopped down in one of the huge rocking chairs. No sooner than I got comfortable I heard the screen door slam. I glanced over to see Beth in the chair next to me.

"Are you still upset, Mia?"

I sighed, "I don't know what I am right now."

"You know I did this for you, right?"

"Beth, I have my own ideas about how to run my life. I know what I need and I just wish you would have told me what was going on instead of ambushing me like this."

"You need to heal Mia..."

"Music is how I heal Beth and you took that away from me for the moment."

"Stop being dramatic Mia. I scheduled you a few intimae lounge engagements so you still have your music. You just finished a world tour. You have been going a mile a minute since your CD released and you need to rest otherwise you will burn out. I am not going to apologize for looking out for you as a friend and manager. You will thank me sooner or later."

"I am just going to take a walk." I said getting up from the chair and heading towards the trail that circled around the house. I am not sure how long I walked the path until I saw a small clearing in the bushes just off to the side of the trail. I decided to venture off the path and follow the clearing. Soon enough it opened up to a small clearing on the edge of a cliff. The view was breathtaking and I sat down on a log to admire the view.

"Who are you?" I heard a voice behind me after I had been sitting there for a while. I turned around and saw a tall, well built, blonde man staring at me curiously. "Who are you?" I asked back.

"Shawn, I am...security. So, again who are you?"

"A friend of Elizabeth Jones."

"A friend with no name?" He said as he stepped closer and plopped down on the log next to me.

"Mia Kane."

Shawn looked thoughtful for a moment, "Your name sounds familiar but I am sure we haven't met before."

"You've never heard of me before?" I asked genuinely surprised, it was rare for me to meet someone who hadn't heard of me and my music. But it was definitely refreshing to be anonymous. "I'm sorry that sounded a big arrogant, huh?" I said after Shawn gave me a curious look.

"A little bit, so how should I know you?"

"I'm a singer."

"Really...lets hear."

"Right now?" I asked.

"Yeah don't tell me you are shy." He said chuckling.

Honestly, performing still made me nervous especially when it was in small crowds. It was a little easier in large venues. I was further away from the audience and that made it easier to distance myself. I wasn't able to see each individual person on a large stage because of the distance and the bright lights. I smiled, "Maybe just a little bit."

"So you are a singer who is too shy to sing. That's a first."

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and sang the beginning of a song off my album.

"Boy if you ever left my

My side

It'd be like taking the sun from

The sky

I'd probably die without

You in

My life

'Cause I need you to

Shine, shine

Your Light

You're everything to me, hey

The air that I breathe, oh

I sigh so I see, oh, Lord, hey

You're everything to me"*

I opened my eyes to find Shawn staring at me in what I assumed to be awe.

"Amazing." he said smiling.

I shrugged, "I do ok."

"What brings you out here to the middle of nowhere?"

"Elizabeth made me. See seems to think fresh air and trees will help me get over....everything."

"Well, fresh air and peace and quiet can be good for the soul, if you let it." Shawn said.

I rolled my eyes, he sounded just like Beth and it was annoying. Thankfully, we sat in silence after that just taking in the view and the stupid fresh air that everyone kept raving about. As the sun started to set Shawn stood up. "I think we should call it a night, its getting late."

"We? I'm fine, I'll head back in a few."

He shook his head and reached out a hand to me, "Nope, there are wolves in the woods and I don't want you out here alone in the dark. You are the perfect prey." He said looking me up and down as I took his hand and stood up. Once he said wolves that was enough for me. As we walked through the trees back towards the house we laughed and talked. Shawn seemed like a pretty good guy and I hadn't smiled so much since I arrived at the bed and breakfast.

"We made it back safe and sound." Shawn said as we stepped onto the porch.

"Yes, we did. Thank you for keeping me from getting eaten by wild wolves."

"Anytime." Shawn said flashing a killer smile my way.

Maybe this place wont be that bad after all, I thought to myself as I made my way inside and upto my room.

***********

ETHAN

I sighed as I waited for my luggage in the baggage claim area. There were a lot of things I hated about being an Alpha and going to the yearly Alpha conference was one of them. It was day after day of meetings and seminars and boredom. Even thought my pack was small, that didn't exempt me from being forced to attend the conference. Truth be told having a small pack was fine by me. Being in charge of one hundred people was hard so I could only imagine being in change of hundreds or even thousands. Most Alphas craved that power and attention but I was the opposite. I wanted to run my small pack effectively, find my mate, and have one or two pups.

Finally my bag came around on the carousel and a snatched it up and headed outside. My second in command Shawn was picking me up from the airport. He had been running the pack while I was away. Unfortunately my work wasn't over, I still needed to get updates from Shawn on all the pack happenings since I had been away for the last month.

As soon as I got into Shawn's car my wolf was on edge, something smelled off but I couldn't quite place it. I was unlike other wolves in the fact that I didn't try to suppress my wolf at all. He was part of me so unless I was around humans I was apt to give in to what ever he wanted. His instincts had yet to lead me astray.  Tonight however, my level of exhaustion made me in no mood for his antics instinct or not.  "What are you listening to?" I asked as he pulled away from the curb. I leaned my chair back a little and closed my eyes trying to calm the anxiousness I felt.

"Mia Kane, she's Elizabeth's client and friend. Remember she's staying at the bed and breakfast for he month."

I rolled my eyes, I had a dislike for humans they were the worst species I had ever come across. Humans had no tolerance for their own kind, they were racist, sexist, homophobic, and the list goes one. Most species has a strong loyalty to each other but humans for some reason didn't have that at all. And celebrity humans seemed even worse than normal ones. "Just take me to the pack house instead of the bed and breakfast. I am not in the mood to deal with a human." I said. As we drove, strangely, I found the music to be relaxing and most of my anxiousness was melting away as I listed to the voice on the radio.

I will cross the ocean for you

I will go and bring you the moon

I will be your hero, your strength

Anything you need

I will be the sun in your sky

I will light your way for all time

Promise you, for you I will

Shawn started rambling on about the happenings of the pack and I tried to focus on what he was saying but between the voice on the radio and my wolf acting a fool. I could hardly focus. The only thing I was interested in was getting home, taking a shower and going to sleep in my own bed.

MIA

A few days after meeting Shawn, Beth and her mom convinced them to help me make apple pies. Apparently, the pies were sold in town to bring in a bit of extra money from tourists.  So, here I was in the kitchen peeling and slicing apples for pies. I had to admit that once I stopped being stubborn I was starting to enjoy my time here. I started running again which is something I use to enjoy doing before my career took off and I got so busy. It was easy to run here because no one was around, which meant to paparazzi to harass me.

I watched Mrs. West and Beth interact and my heart clinched with memories of my mom, and sister and me doing things just like this. A sudden wave of crushing sadness overcame me and suddenly I wasn't feeling up to baking anymore. I quietly excused myself and ventured out to my spot on the cliff. For some reason that little log had become a safe haven to me. Once I made it out there I plopped down on the log and stared out and the trees stretching across the horizon. If someone had told me a two years ago this would be my life I never would have believed them. Back then I was a struggling artist, with a fiancé and a family who loved me. Now amazingly the only thing I had left was my music. I twirled my engagement ring around on my finger, I was trying to continue to make them proud, so their deaths wouldn't be in vain, but it was hard.

I turned around when I heard a rustling in the trees behind me. A few seconds later Shawn emerged. He walked over and sat down next to me. In the few days since I had met him, he was becoming a friend. He was so easy to talk to and since he hadn't known who I was beforehand he didn't have any preconceived notions about me or my situation. He also wasn't constantly looking at me with pity in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked as soon as he got close to me.

"Would you believe me if I said nothing?" I asked trying to avoid the question.

"No, so spill."

I sighed, "About a year and a half ago I was invited to perform at the Grammy's and I was also nominated as best new artist. My whole family was coming to see it, mon, dad, my sister Sara, and my fiancé Theo. On the way there, the plane crashed. All of them died. I was at the Grammy's having the night of my live, winning an award performing for millions of people and my family was dying."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Shawn said gently rubbing my shoulder. I glanced over at him, thankful not to see pity in his eyes. He seems sad for me but there was no pity.

I sighed, "I just threw myself into my work and the tour. Working helped me so much."

"So, Elizabeth brought you our here to rest and relax...and mourn?" He said still rubbing my shoulder.

I nodded. The grieving process was hard, and working was my way of avoiding it all and now that all I had around me was quietness I had no choice but to face everything head on. I leaned on Shawn's shoulder while I let tears flow.

ETHAN

I sat at my desk looking over a few pieces of paperwork, my pack had 4 different bed and breakfast and a bar in the immediate area, but our big cash cow was a night club we had in the city. The income we generated was enough to give us all a pretty nice life we weren't super rich but none of my pack ever wanted for anything. Shawn handled everything exceptionally well when I was away so thankfully I didn't have any extra work to do.

Just then Shawn came in wearing that stupid grin he had been wearing ever since I got back from my trip. Along with the grin came that strange smell and the agitation of my wolf. It was starting to get to a point where I couldn't ignore it any more. Something was up and somehow Shawn was involved.

"Where have you been?" I asked I figured I would start there and hopefully determine why he smelled weird.

"At your parent's house." He said plopping on the chair across from my desk.

"Again?" His new obsession with my parents' house was weird he, he usually spend his time around the back house or at the bar or night club.

"Yeah, I went to see Mia."

Mia, Shawn had mentioned that name on more than one occasion and I failed to see how a human could be that interesting that he had to visit her practically every day. But my curiosity was peaked. "What's so special about her?"

"I don't know man. I feel this weird connection to her."

"She's your mate?" I asked slightly horrified at the thought of a weak human for a mate. He frowned.

"I don't think so. I don't have the same feelings that have been described to me by people who have met their mates. But I do like her a lot. I mean she is sexy and she has the voice of an angel. She's black, which is different for me. I have never been attracted to black girls but.... damn."

"I can't believe I am about to say this, but...let go back to my parents' house. I need to see this human for myself."

The drive to my parents' house was quick, Shawn and I discussed some pack matters on the way. When we finally got to the house my wolf started acting up again and I knew what ever was going on most likely had something to do with the human. When entered the house and went to the top floor to my parent's suite. The had an apartment that spanned the top floor while the bed and breakfast took up the rest of the building.

"Hey mom, hey dad." I said as we entered their kitchen.

"Alpha, Luna." Shawn said bowing slightly. Even though my parents were no longer in charge most of the pack still referred to them by their titles. I figured it would remain that way at least until I found a Luna to rule by myside. I leaned against the counter with my arms folder across my chest as I caught my father up on all of the pack happenings.

As we talked my wolf started to get worked up again. This whole situation was starting to irritate me I started sniffing the air trying to determine what was happening. Just then the door opened, and the most amazing smell hit my nose. If you asked me to identify it in that moment I couldn't. All I knew was that it was intoxicating. My sister walked in the room with a gorgeous black girl trailing behind her. She must have been Mia and I had to agree with Shawn she was gorgeous. Her long hair was tied up in a ponytail. She had dark brown eyes that were so intense I swear I could feel her staring at me. A deep growl came from within me and everyone in the room turned to look at me, Mia's gaze was confused. Before I knew it or had the chance to stop it my wolf surged forward causing me to shift in the middle of the kitchen. 

MIA

I have seen a lot of things in my short 30 years on the planet but a man changing into a full-grown dog...wolf was a new one. The man who I assumed to be Beth's brother changed right before my eyes and was currently growling at me. After my initial shock I did what any sane person would do. I turned and ran. I heard shouting behind me Beth and Shawn were yelling at me to stop but there was no way in hell that was gonna happen.

Once I hit the hallway I took a right towards the stairs. I heard a loud grown behind me and before I knew it I hit the ground. I tried to crawl away but was flipped over and came face to face with the wolf who was currently growling in my face. I tried to slide away backwards when a large paw landed on my shoulder pinning me down to the ground. He lowered his face towards me and I couldn't help the scream that escaped my lips. "Please no." I whimpered as he drew closer.

A searing pain ripped through my neck right around the area where my neck and shoulder met. I was struggling when Beth crawled next to me. My shoulder was on fire and each time I moved I swore I could feel muscles tearing. "Mia, stop struggling. The wolf wants you to submit so just lay still and turn your head towards me." I looked at her like she was crazy. Stop struggling? Was she insane?

"Beth..."

"Trust me Mia, please just stop struggling and it will be ok I promise." Beth said.

I did my best to stop struggling and turn my heads towards her as instructed. It didn't seem to be working because it felt like the wolfs jaws were clamping down harder than ever. To make matters worse I felt like I was starting to pass out probably from losing blood due to the bite. I laid there for what seemed like an eternity with the wolf still clamped down on my shoulder. Beth was next to me the whole time altering between comforting me and bargaining with her brother to release me.

ETHAN

Seriously! A fucking human was my mate. How could this happen. I wondered to my self as I ran through the forest. I was finally able to get my wolf under control and let Mia go. And once that happened I took off towards the forest. Unfortunately, it was too late my wolf marked her and now she was officially claimed as mine. I always wanted a mate but I had no interest in a human.

I usually always agreed with the decisions my wolf made but this was unforgivable. The further I got from my parents house the more irritated the wolf got. I ignored it and pressed forward until I reached the pack house. Once there I threw some clothes in a bag and hoped in my car. What I needed was time to think about what happened and the best place to think was  at Jenny's house. Jenny is a friend from a neighboring pack, we hooked up from time to time to have sex. It was casual and over the years we have developed a friendship.

"I'm surprised to see you." Jenny said once she opened her front door and found me standing there. Her house wasn't far from my pack lands and it only took me a couple of hours to get there. She lived in the city which was considered neutral territory in the wolf world so I didn't have to worry about any one noticing an Alpha roaming around on their territory.

"Yeah, I needed an escape for a couple of days if that's ok."

Jenny frowned, "Yeah that's fine I guess. What's going on?"

"I found my mate." I said walking into the house and dropping down on her living room couch.

"Um, that's a good thing isn't it?" She sat down next to me folding her legs under her twisting a lock of her long brown hair around her fingers.

"She's human." I said simply. Jenny knew of my distain for humans, the nature of our relationship means we know a lot about each other. Pillow talk usually does that to people. Its funny how you are your most vulnerable after having sex. I wouldn't consider myself to be a cruel leader. My pack has access to me when they need it and I try to be friendly and relatable but there aren't a lot of people that I allow to know my innermost thoughts.

"Ok, lets take a step back. Is she nice? What is she like?"

"I don't know. She's a friend of Beths and I hadn't met her until today. Shawn interacted with her on more than one occasion and he is definitely smitten with her. So today when I finally met her, I lost control and shifted and marked her." I sighed and leaned back on the chair.

"Wait a minute...this all happened today? Is she ok?" Jenny asked genuinely concerned.

I shrugged, "I don't know. As soon as I got enough control back over my wolf I ran out of there and came straight here."

Jenny was clearly horrified, "Ethan! You didn't even make sure she was ok? Are you kidding me?"

I got up from the couch and started pacing, "Its not that simple!"

"It is that simple Ethan. I know you are a better man than this to just leave like that. I understand that you don't like humans but this is your mate."

"Jenny you are the only person who knows what those humans did to me. You know this is not simple for me. I don't trust humans and I don't want anything to do with them."

"Your mate wasn't involved in any of that th-"

"Just stop, Jenny. I don't want to talk about this. Can I stay here or not?" I said cutting her off. I definitely didn't want to relive the past with her right now. All I wanted was a place to try and sort out my thoughts.

She sighed, " Yeah, you can stay.  You know where the bed room is."

MIA

I had been laying still on the ground with my neck bared for what seemed like forever until finally he left go and took off running. As soon as he was gone Shawn ran up to me and the look on his face pretty much said it all.

"Shit, what the hell was he thinking." He moved out of my line of sight and I felt myself being lifted up. "We are gonna get you to a hospital. You're going to be fine." He reassured me. I wanted to believe him but the pain I felt in my neck and the fact that my whole body started to feel cold had me thinking differently. I felt my eyes starting to close until I felt Shawn gently shake me.

"No sleeping ok. Try to say awake if you can."

"Ok," I said weakly trying to comply with his wishes even though against my will I felt myself falling.

"If you sleep I am going to sing to you." Shawn teased.

"Oh God no, anything but that." I teased back. Shawn had tried to sing to me once and bless his heart he was the worst singer I had even come across. He slid into a car with me and I felt a pressure against my neck and I winced.

"I'm sorry Mia but we have to slow down the blood flow." 

Shawn talked to me the whole car ride to the hospital and I tried my best to focus on his words and respond appropriately but it was hard. Once we finally got to the hospital and I got a room, there was a flurry of activity around me but I couldn't keep up with what has being said or what was happening. A nurse finally came up to me and I saw a large needle in her hand, I started to freak-out a little but I felt several pairs of hands holding me down so I couldn't move. I felt the pain of the needle and soon after found myself slipping into a deep sleep.

***

"This is not good Beth." Shawn's voice filtered into my sleep.

"I know Shawn. You need to find him and get him back here. He fucked up the mating process and I have a feeling that when her change starts to happen its going to be very painful for her." I couldn't concern myself with what they meant by change because at that moment a sharp pain shot through my neck causing me to groan out loud.

I heard shuffling in the room and just as I was able to pry my eyes opened. I looked around the bed and found Shawn, Beth, Ian, and Mr. and Mrs. West all surrounding my bed. Thankfully, Ethan was no where around. "So who is going to explain all of this?" I asked, the anger was evident in my voice.

Shawn rubbed my shoulder, "Maybe we shouldn't do this right now. Your shoulder probably hurts so how about we give you some pain medicine and we can talk about this in the morning."

I glared at him, "Are you fucking kidding me? I just got half of my neck ripped out by a man who turned into a wolf and you want to talk about it later? I don't think so! I deserver some answers and I want them now."

Everyone standing around my bed looked guilty and I had a feeling that I wasn't going to like anything that was going to be said from this point forward.

"Mia, everyone in this room has the same abilities as Ethan. All of us are werewolves, except Ian." Beth explained.

"All except Ian...because Ian is...." I trailed off waiting for Beth to fill in the blanks. Somehow I didn't think she was going to say human.

"Ian is a vampire."

I  felt my eyes pop out of my head, "What...he's a what?"  I was slowly coming to the realization that I was in a room full of predators and that thought definitely didn't sit well with me. Frustrated tears started to roll down my cheeks. "Am I in a regular hospital?"

"This is a hospital on our pack lands." Phil, Beth's dad spoke up, "I assure you the hospital is fully functional and you will receive the same treatment if not better than a human hospital."

"The bed and breakfast?" It was becoming clear to me that I had been surrounded by supernatural beings ever since I stepped food on this land.

"Mostly werewolves but occasionally we get human guests." I stared at my best friend for a moment trying to formulate my thoughts. Her blue eyes were red and puffy.

"So you brought me here knowing I could be in danger? Why would you do that? And on top of all of that you lied to me." To say I was hurt would be an understatement. I lost a lot of friends on my path to stardom people automatically assumed you changed or became stuck up once success starts to happen. And making new friends is nearly impossible because you can never be sure who is using you for status or money. I found or at least I thought I found a true friend in Beth. I shared everything with her and our bond only became tighter after my family died.

"I would never put you in danger this is my family-"

"Your family just tried to eat me Elizabeth! You should have told me before you brought me here and given me the choice for if I even wanted to come!" I was full blown sobbing by now and probably getting slightly hysterical if the increased beeping on the heart rate monitor was any indication.

"There are rules in my world. I cant just go around and tell any and everybody that I am a wolf."

"Wow...wow... any and everybody! Is that what you think of me? Here my dumb ass thought we were friends.  You literally walked me right into a den of wolves! I had every fucking right to know what I was getting into!" I took a deep breath and switched gears, "What is the change, what does that mean?" Everyone glanced around nervously. "I heard you talking about it before I woke up."

"Maybe we should talk about that later, its been a long day." Diana, Beth's mother said.

"What does it mean?" I asked. I wasn't going to let this go. The way I see it this is my body and I have the right to know what is going to happen to it now.

Shawn signed and sat down on a chair next to my bed and grabbed my hand. "Wolves have mates, which is basically like having a husband or wife. For us a mate is found by scent and once you find your mate there is this instant attraction and a need to be with that person. Once you decide to accept your mate you do so by marking them with a bite on the neck. Now for wolves, the process is simple meet, get to know each other and mate. It becomes more difficult when one mate is a human. The human doesn't feel the attraction as strongly and the mating bite is more than just a bite. It also initiates the process for the human to become a werewolf."

I started shaking my head, "No, no, no, no, no I don't want to change I want to stay human. Make it stop."

"I can't. Once you're bitten there's nothing that can be done."

"I didn't ask for this." I sobbed.

"There's more that you should know." Ian spoke up for the first time. Looking at him I still couldn't believe he was a vampire. He reminded me of the guy who played Thor in those movies. Not at all pale like vampires are usually depicted.

"Ian..." Elizabeth warned. It instantly irritated me that she was still hiding things.

"She deserves to know sweetheart."

I turned to Shawn figuring he could fill in the last few blanks.

He sighed, "mating is usually done when the couple is having sex. It's highly important when dealing with a human because once you reach climax and bite your mate a sort of....pain killer is released with the bite. Making the change pain free for the human. With out that chemical....your change is going to be painful."

"Exactly how painful?"

"We've never seem a human changed this way in our pack so we really can't say. Dr. Anderson is researching it now but we predict you'll start feeling the effects of the change within the next 48 hours."

By now my shoulder and neck were hurting so bad that I could barely concentrate. How do you process the fact that in less than two days you would be changing into another species?

Ethan

I let out a deep sigh and rolled off of Jenny, we’d been going at it for 20 minutes, but it just wasn’t working for me. My dick and my brain wouldn’t cooperate with me.  I fell on my back and tossed an arm across my sweaty face. “Sorry Jenny I’m not sure what’s wrong.” I'd been at her place for two days and we had sex since I arrived, so I wasn’t sure what was going on with me tonight. I knew I was acting like a child, abandoning my pack and hiding out wasn’t the most mature thing to do. I guess I just had too much on my mind.

She rolled on her side propping her head up with one hand and clutching the sheet to her with the other. “You need to stop being so dense, Ethan. You and I both know what the problem is you’re just trying to ignore it.” I was silent which I guess to her meant she should keep talking. “You’ve been achy all day and we know you aren’t sick because wolves don’t get sick. It’s your mate. She’s going through the change ALONE and it’s effecting you.” 

“Jenny…”

“Don’t Jenny me. You are being ridiculous your mate is in pain and alone. You shouldn’t be here with me. I’m not gonna lie I’m only human…. well…mostly and I have a hard time turning you down for sex, so I shouldn’t be doing this either. It’s wrong.”

“She’s not alone. She has my sister, my parents, and Shawn.” I said even though the thought of Shawn being around my mate at a time when she was extremely vulnerable caused an involuntary growl to escape my lips. 

"Ethan, you know I care deeply for you. I am not trying to upset you. I am trying to help you come to your senses before it’s too late. A mate is a gift…a precious gift and you shouldn’t just throw it away like you are."

I didn’t need or want Jenny's advice right at this moment, if I wanted to be nagged then I would have stayed at home and let my mom and sister do that. Right now, all I wanted and needed was to get in a good fuck and go to sleep. But since that wasn't going to happen I guess I had to at least work on putting Jenny to sleep. I ignored her final statement and dipped my head under the covers. There was more than one way to go about this. 

MIA

It had been two days since Ethan had bitten me and things were already starting to change for me. I woke up 24 hours ago and my sight and hearing were enhanced. I could hardly stand the slightest amount of light and couldn’t listen to people talk if they were speaking above a whisper. Fortunately, after a day I was already starting to adjust to it but there was still a learning curve. After that passed I started to get body aches, almost like I was coming down with a cold, but everyone was sure that the change was starting. They moved me back to the hospital to a room I could only assume they kept mental patients in. The entire room was padded including the floors which was strange and there were no windows. 

Beth came by a couple of times to talk to me but honestly, I was still mad at her and didn’t really have much to say to her. Part of me felt like I was being unreasonable but there was a bigger part who felt justified. We were supposed to be close, she could have trusted me with her secret or she could have just taken me somewhere else to unwind. And it further irritated me that I felt like she was still hiding things from me. When I saw her last I asked her what the doctor had found out about humans being changed in the manner that I was. She claimed that the doctor hadn't found anything, but I didn't believe her. Especially not after Shawn showed up this morning with liquor, board games and movies. I had a feeling he was trying to distract me, now it was late afternoon and we were trying to finish a never-ending game of monopoly. 

"It is going to be bad isn't' it?" I asked seemingly out of nowhere but changing had been on my mind constantly.

He sighed, "Yes, I think it is." He said reluctantly.

"Beth knows, doesn’t she?" I asked as I rolled the dice and took my turn.

He sighed, "She is just trying to protect you. She feels like its best if you don’t know how bad it could potentially be. She doesn’t want to worry you.” 

“It’s too late for that, Shawn. I’m changing into a fucking werewolf! Do none of you get that?  I’m worried about everything.”

"I understand that, but she just thought if we told you too much it would stress you out and make the whole thing much worse for you." I stood up to stretch, sitting on the floor was starting to hurt. 

"I don’t accept that. I don’t accept that she thinks its ok to decide what information I get to know and what information gets withheld from me. Please just tell me what I am up against."

Shawn stared at me for a moment as if trying to determine if he wanted to tell me, then he stood up and walked over towards me. "There is no easy way to say this so I'll just get straight to the point. This is going to be painful for you. We aren't even sure if the pain killers we have will help you. The human painkillers won’t be strong enough and the wolf ones will be too strong and would probably kill you. Dr. Anderson is doing everything she can do find something that we can give you but…" He shrugged, "…we aren't very hopeful."

I felt tears starting to well up again, I swear all I had been doing lately was crying. So much for getting to relax out here. I am the most stressed I've ever been. "And you thought bringing liquor would help?" I asked.

He smiled, "Well if you get drunk enough that you don’t remember anything I think we could count that as a win." 

I gave him a weak smile, I was scared and based on what he had just told me all the alcohol in the world probably wasn’t going to help me. He reached over and gave me a tight hug. "Don’t worry about anything I am going to be right here with you through the whole thing I promise." Right at that moment the door opened, and Beth and Ian entered carrying two large pizzas and two 1 liter cokes and some water. Beth frowned at me and Shawn causing him to quickly release me and take a couple of steps away from me.

"We thought you guys might be hungry." Beth said setting her items down on a table. I couldn’t lie I was starving so I dug right in. After we stuffed our faces we started playing some of the games. Although I was still upset with Beth I was also scared so having a few more people in my corner was comforting. We played and drank for a while and the whole time I started to feel worse and worse. Eventually the headache I started with turned into a migraine but it was like a migraine that I could feel over my entire body.

I picked myself up off the floor where I was sitting and drug myself over to the bed to lay down. "Are you ok?" Shawn asked once I laid down. 

I shook my head, "No, I don’t think I am."

Although I appreciated Shawn's efforts the drinks I had didn’t do anything to take away any of the pain I was feeling. Things just went from bad to worse for me after that. It’s one thing to have pain but a totally different thing to have intense pain in every part of your body at the same time. It got to the point where I was sure my bones were hurting.

For a while I was able to still laugh and talk with everyone as a distraction but soon I found myself unable to concentrate on anything but the pain. Shawn walked over and brushed some hair from my sweaty forehead. "What can I do to make you more comfortable?"

"Nothing." I groaned, "Just don’t touch me it hurts. Everything hurts."

Breathing hurt at this point and all of my clothes felt extremely restrictive and were just making me hotter. Before I even thought about it I took off everything. It helped but only a little bit and I was hot and dehydrated. The more time passed the hotter and more uncomfortable I became I was sweating buckets and was so thirsty I could hardly stand it. I must have asked for water because at one point someone held a straw up to my lips.

I started to cry because there was nothing else I really could do. I was no longer focused on anything else in the room the only thing I could think was pain. I couldn’t say how long I laid there crying. I was vaguely aware of Shawn trying to comfort me and trying to cool me off with a cold towel and giving me sips of water every now and then.

Just when I thought things couldn’t possibly get worse I felt an extremely intense pain in my foot. I screamed out in agony. I was pretty positive that my foot had just broken on its own.

“Oh shit!” I heard someone say in the background. I know that there was commotion and conversation around me, but I couldn’t follow it. 

“Please Shawn make it stop I don’t want this.” My voice sounded strange to my ears. I didn’t care what he had to do I just wanted the torture to stop. “Just kill me. Just let me die…please.”  I managed to beg between screams. I’d never broken a bone before but I was more than making up for it now. It felt like everything was happening in slow motion. The sensation of bones and muscles rearranging themselves was like a fire that was lit from within, everything burned. 

“Don’t give up Mia…I promise you it’s almost over. You are stronger than this don’t let it beat you.” Shawn said. 

“I can’t Shawn. Please…I can’t. Just make it stop I want it to be over.”

I was alternating between screaming, crying and begging Shawn to put me out of my misery. I don’t know how long I was in that state but eventually all of the pain started to die down. It didn’t leave completely but I could feel it easing up. Things still didn’t feel right, I didn’t feel like I had full control over my body because despite the fact that I was exhausted, I could feel myself trying to stand against my will. 

I after a couple of failed attempts which involved me falling flat on my butt I was able to stand. But once I was standing everything looked off I wasn’t seeing things at the same eye level that I normally would. I attempted to take a step and promptly fell over.  Shawn, who I hadn’t even realized was still there, scooted next to me and ran his fingers through my hair. 

“It’s ok Mia. You just need to rest now and get use to everything. You’re fine.” He sounded completely drained. 

I opened my mouth to speak but the sound that came out was a high-pitched whine. I kept trying to speak and instead of words I could only whine. Everything was confusing, and I was starting to panic. 

“Shhh…Mia I promise you you’re ok.” He shifted so he was eye level with me. “Calm down. Don’t try to move or speak right now. It’s been a long day and an even longer night just lay here and rest. Please. I promise you the hard part is over.” He pulled my head into his lap and gently rubbed my head. “I’ll stay right here with you while you sleep, and we’ll figure everything out in the morning.” 

I trusted Shawn and despite my utter confusion I did my best to comply with his wishes. After I calmed down I was able to drift off to sleep wondering what my life had in store for me next. 

MIA

I woke up the next day in bed with no memory of how I got there. I was extremely sore but I felt a million times better than I did the day prior. I turned to the right and found Shawn laying next to me he was on top of the covers while I was laying under them.

I sat up pulling the sheets along with me because I realized I was completely naked. I glanced around the room and noticed all my clothes on the floor across the room. Shawn shifted next to me, "You're awake." He said smiling. "How do you feel."

"Sore. Hungry. Thirsty." I managed to say. My throat was sore and raw making talking difficult. Shawn stretched and got out of the bed. He bent down and picked up a folded pile of clothes off the floor. A tank top and some yoga pants. "I had someone bring these in. I figured they would be more comfortable than the jeans you had on yesterday. I'm going to leave so you can change. And I'll be back in a little while with food, ok?" I nodded and he walked out the door.

I slowly got out of bed to stand up and get dressed. I really wished I could get a quick shower but there wasn't one in the room plus I wasn't sure I could stand long enough to take one. After I was dressed I walked around the room to try and stretch my muscles. By the time I took one extremely slow lap around the room Shawn was back with another person I didn't recognize. They each carried a tray with a picture of water and huge stacks of meat. They sat everything down on the table and the girl walked out.

Shawn poured me a glass of water and handed it to me. It wasn't extremely cold so it helped to soothe my dry scratchy throat. Next he brought over one of the trays of meat. I frowned. No way I could eat all that!

"Trust me. You need every bit of this."  He said as if reading my mind. We sat on the bed next to each other in silence and to my surprise I ate all of my food and some of his. With no tv in the room to keep me occupied all I could do is think while I ate. Something in me felt different. Not necessarily good or bad. Just different.

After we ate, the same girl from earlier materialized to take our dirty dishes. I hadn't been awake long at all but I already felt exhausted. I climbed back under the covers to get some more sleep. "What happens now, Shawn?" I whispered since my voice was still out of service.

"Now you rest and once your energy is back up we will start getting you use to life as a werewolf." He said standing back up.

"Leaving?" I asked.

"Yeah. I have some pack business to handle but I'll be back to check on you."

"Shawn!" I called out just as he reached the door. He turned around expectantly. "Thank you so much for everything."

He smiled, "Anytime Mia."

Shawn had only been gone a few minutes and I was starting to doze off when there was a knock at the door. My voice was still too hoarse to yell for the person to come in but after a second knock the door opened and Beth popped her head in.

"I know you are upset with me but I really wanted to come see you and make sure you're ok." She said once she realized I was awake.

"I don't think mad quite describes it." I replied quietly.

"Mia...I couldn't tell you about being a werewolf. We have rules to abide by and rule number one is don't tell humans."

"I would probably be ok with that under any other set of circumstances except the ones we are currently in. First, you forced me to come here. After my tour was over I wanted to go back to making music but as my manager YOU made the decision that I needed a vacation and scheduled this whole thing. Now, had you schedule us a trip to Cancun and I was bitten by some random werewolf I wouldn't be mad, however, you brought me to a place where I would be completely and utterly surrounded by wolves. Oh! Let's not forget the vampire. How can you not understand that I'm pissed that you brought me to a place where I am surrounded by predators? I get that your family is here but the bed and breakfast caters to wolves so you really have no idea what type of person will show up on your door step looking for a room. If it wasn't Ethan it could have been someone else. AND not to mention I got Shawn to confess and tell me what you all had learned about my change. Why was he the one to tell me? I asked you point blank and you lied to my face, Beth! That's not how friends act." My throat was on fire but I had to tell her what my feelings were on this whole situation.

"Listen. I would have never brought you if I though harm would come to you. True, we never know who is going to arrive at the bed and breakfast so you have a point but...I guess I didn't think of any of that because that's not something I've ever had to worry about before. Honestly, you are my first close human friend. And I didn't schedule this retreat as your manager I did it as your friend. After the accident it killed me to see you so depressed. Being on tour lifted your spirits but I didn't want to sit back and watch you slid back into that dark place again once it was all over. I wanted you to have a chance to heal."

"You could have talked to me about how you felt and what you wanted to do regarding this trip. My family is..." I could barely get it out with our getting choked up "...dead, Beth. My mom, dad, sister, fiancé all dead so yeah I'm gonna be in a dark place every now and then." I closed my eyes. "Thanks for checking on me but can you just go? I'm tired and my body hurts and my throat is killing me right now."

She nodded, "Sure no problem." She said sadly and left the room.

ETHAN

After three days at Jenny's house I returned to my pack. My first stop was the pack house. I knew there were things that I needed to take care of. I walked in my office and tossed my phone on my desk. Between my parents, Beth and Ian I had at least 75 messages. Curiously, I had nothing from Shawn except a couple messages from the first two days related to the pack.  All the other messages were in  relation to my mate which wasn't something I wanted to deal with. The pack business needed to come first.

I sat down at the desk and started looking through my emails but I was having trouble concentrating. My wolf was acting up making it near impossible for me to concentrate. Now that I was back on pack lands the pull to find my mate was stronger.

I managed to work for two hours, in spite of my wolf. I sighed and decided to go out for a run. No sooner than I stepped outside I shifted and took off towards the trees. I ran for what seemed like hours and before I knew it I realized my wolf had brought me straight to he hospital. I didn't know for sure but I assumed that since he directed me here that my mate was here or at least he assumed she was. I briefly wondered why she would be here but I wasn't about to go in there. Since I refused to go inside, my wolf decided to do a through check of the perimeter checking for any signs of danger. Once satisfied I managed to head back towards the pack house to shower and get back to work.

After my shower I made my way back to my office and was surprised to see Shawn in my office. "What are you going in here?"

"Just dropping off some paperwork for you to review." He said. He sounded and looked like hell. He walked past me and I was instantly alert, he reeked of my mate putting me on edge.

"You smell like her."

He was almost at the door and he turned around to look at me. For a moment he didn't say anything, "Is there anything you need me to do right now? If not I'm going to finish my work, shower, and take a quick nap."

"Why do you smell like her?" I asked sniffing again. Her sent was so strong on him I couldn't help but wonder what the hell they had been up to.

"If you were handling your responsibilities like a man then maybe you would smell like her." He replied instead of answering my question. " You don't have the right to question me about anything when it comes to a mate you abandoned like yesterday's trash."

I narrowed my eyes at him. Shawn and I were best friends and had been ever since I could remember. We disagreed all the time over pack matters but he had never challenged me in the way he was a this moment. "What did you just say to me, Shawn?"

He stepped closer to me, "You heard exactly what I said and I meant every word of it."

"I suggest you back up Shawn, you are treading on thin ice."

He opened his mouth to respond but before he could the door swung opened and my family walked in. I groaned.

"You better have a good fucking explanation for what you did, Ethan." My dad said, although he was no longer the alpha in title he was still an alpha and my dad so my initial instinct was to back down.

"Listen, I don't want to discuss this with any of you. I have my reasons for doing what I did and I am not obligated to share." I said, I knew standing there looking at my family that I couldn't admit to them what caused my dislike of humans. I had been carrying the burden for so long...how could I admit to my family...to my father...that I let humans violate me all those years ago. I'm supposed to be an Alpha and an Alpha wouldn't allow that to happen to him.

"I shouldnt have givent you the Alpha title at all. You clearly aren't man enough for the challenge." My dad said shaking his head.

"You don't have to discuss with us but you need to discuss with your Mate." Beth said stepping close to me. "Do you have any idea what she went through when you were gone? Any idea at all?"

"I'm not discussing this!"

"Son," My mother said stepping forward with tears in her eyes, "I don't know what is going on with you lately but your father and I didn't raise you this way and I have never been more disappointed in your than I am right now." She said, she turned and walked out and my father and sister followed behind her. Shawn followed as well after giving me one more dirty look.

"Fuck." I muttered and went back to my desk to sit down.

MIA

MIA

"Don't you think you're pushing yourself a bit too hard?" Neil asked me.

It had been a month since my last encounter with Ethan in Shawn's office. Since then I spent my time training and studying. Neil was a Gamma in the pack and my official bodyguard, apparently most Luna's had one. When he wasn't following me around like a lost puppy he was helping me train two sometimes three times a day.

I was serious when I said I wasn't going to be victimized again. Ethan could cancel that. I'd seen him around the pack house and despite my training I still felt fear when I saw him but having some fighting knowledge gave me a small bit of comfort.

I glared at him from my position on the ground, we were going over self defense and he pulled a move on me that I knewhow to counter but somehow I ended up on the ground anyway. "Fine," I said pulling myself up, "where's my water I'm hot."

"That's because you need to take off that stupid shirt. It's to hot for long sleeves and a mock turtle neck." He said frowning. I chose to ignore him. I knew it was hot but it was either this or a scarf those were the only two things that covered my scar and I was stubborn so the fact that it was now May and pretty warm outside didn't stop me from covering it. Neil was a nice guy and so was his wife Dawn, they were the couple I had spied from Shawn's office saying their goodbyes. I liked them both but neither of them knew the details around my changing or the fact that my mark is hideous.

I knew from my reading that a mating mark was super important in wolf culture and it should be worn with pride. I hated to step on anyone's culture but the mark wasn't something I was proud of and I most definitely wasn't proud to "belong" to Ethan. So for now I kept it covered with a thin infinity scarf 90% of the time. Only myself, my doctor, and Shawn (purely on accident) have seen it and I intended to keep it that way.

"Stop worrying about my clothes and help me up." I said rolling my eyes. I took his outstretched hand and he pulled me to my feet.

"So can we at least agree that we are finished for today?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes and started back towards the pack house, "Fine. I guess I've had enough for today anyway."

"I have to say I'm impressed by the amount of progress you've made this past month. Even considering the fact that you are an Alpha your stronger and faster than I expected."

"Thanks," I said smiling. It was nice to hear because I'd been working really hard and one of the good things about being a werewolf was that my body was banging now. I was toned in places I didn't know could get toned!

Just as we were getting close to the pack house his mate Dawn ran up and jumped in his arms kissing him like she hadn't seen him in a year causing me to roll my eyes. They were so cute it made me sick.

"So, Luna are you coming tonight?" Dawn was trying to convince me to join a few of the women from the pack for a girls night in. Apparently each month they commandeer the basement for their gathering.

"I don't know Dawn."

"Come on. I will be fun. The girls are dying to meet you and you need friends." Dawn said. "Plus, with all due respect Luna you owe me." She was right, I needed help taking my weave out and she graciously assisted me and helped me put mini twists in my hair. Technically as the only sista around she was obligated, it had to be part of the sista code somewhere.

"And you're gonna waste your favor from the great and powerful Luna on this?" I asked teasing her.

She nodded her head furiously, her dreads swinging around her face.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. I'll come for a little while." I said reluctantly. Another thing I'd discovered through my reading was how important a Luna was to the pack. Luna was a leader like a queen but also a protector of the pack...like a mother. So it was natural for the pack to want to be in my presence and get to know me. I understood why I attacked Ethan that day in Shawn's office, I felt the urge to protect my pack member even from his own Alpha, my mate.

I parted ways with them and headed into the house heading towards my room to shower and change and get ready for girls night. I was irritated that I could smell Ethan in the house and based on how strong his scent was he had been through the front door recently and might be close by.  

I silently cursed and started to walk faster I didn't want to see him. Unfortunately, luck was not on my side and I practically ran into him as I rounded the corner to go up the stairs. I quickly stepped back a few steps to create distance between us. Based on the look in his face he wasn't super happy to see me either.

Neither of us moved for a moment we just stood there staring at each other. The atmosphere around us felt electric and intense. Once again I felt myself longing to reach out to him and wishing that his cold stare would soften. I knew why I felt this way. It was the bonds way of drawing us closer to each other so we would mate. And the more time that passed without the bond being completed the stronger these feelings would be.

I shook myself out of the fog I was in and made a mad dash up the stairs. "Not today Satan." I said entering my room and closing my door.

********

After my encounter with Ethan I hung out in my room the rest of the night until it was time to head to the basement. I wasn't thrilled about this meeting at all. Not that I had anything against the people in the pack. Everyone well mostly everyone, had been pretty nice to me but a lot of people were curious about their Alpha and Luna and asked me questions I couldn't answer or didn't want to answer. Others hadn't been so nice and really didn't like me at all for reasons I really couldn't understand.

I entered the basement and saw a multitude of snacks, drinks and a stack of movies. This was going to be a long night. As I entered all heads turned towards me and all conversation stopped. I felt awkward until Dawn jumped up and ran over to me, "Luna, you came!" She gave me a hug and pulled me further into the room.

"Ladies, if you haven't had the pleasure I'd like to introduce you to our Luna, Mia."

I nervously adjusted the scarf around my neck making sure it was covering my neck entirely. Five pairs of eyes, including Beth's, were focused on me, "Hi everyone." I said waiving.

Immediately I was bombarded with a chorus of questions as they drug me over to the couch to sit in the middle of them. To my relieve they mostly wanted to know what it was like to be famous which was simply enough to answer. A couple of the girls wanted to know about some of the famous men I had met and what they were like in real life.

I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy myself, Beth and I even managed to have a couple of fun moments together.  I hadn't really spoken to Beth much since I moved into the pack house. I know she was back and forth to L.A. to help manage some of her other artists. 

"Can we talked?" She asked after every one had left and it was just me, her and Dawn finished up some cleaning.

I nodded and sat down on the couch next to her.  

"I have been thinking about everything you said and...I know you are still upset with me and I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am. I never ever meant you any harm, Mia. I love you like a sister and I would never intentionally bring you somewhere that I didn't think you would be safe. I'm sorry that your life has changed." She started to cry, "I'm so sorry that you are being sucked into a life that you don't want and I wish I could take everything back and never bring you here." She took a deep breath, "I want us to be friends again and I know we probably can't go back to how things use to be but I'd like to try. I guess I just had a hard time seeing everything from your pint of view, aside from the way you were changed, mating and all of that are given in our community. A she-wolf would have accepted the mating for what it was and stepped up to her responsibilities but I can't expect you to act that way and it was unfair of me to even think you could just shake it off and rise to our demands."

I had tears in my eyes by the time she finished speaking, maybe I was irrational in my original anger for her. I wasn't quite sure but I was happy she apologized and at least thought about what I said and how I feel. That's all I really want and need throughout this journey.

I leaned forward and hugged her, "Thank you." Tears were streaming down my face, "I just need someone to be on my side and understand that this is not easy."

"I promise from now on that's me. No more secrets. No more trying to do what I think is best for you."

"Good." I said smiling at her. Now, lets finish cleaning up this mess so we can go to bed.

ETHAN

Mia had been in the pack house for four weeks now and it was driving me completely insane. My wolf, that traitorous bastard, wouldn't let me rest at night unless I was curled up in wolf form outside her damn door. So despite the fact that I have been able to avoid her for the most part I woke up outside her door every morning. Thankfully, I was always up earlier than her or the rest of the pack so I was able to sneak off back to my own room before anyone would notice.

I was in the gym taking out my frustration on the punching bag when Shawn came in. In my quest to avoid Mia I had also been avoiding my childhood friend. There was a crazy amount of tension between us since that day in his office when he punched me. "I think we should talk." He said from behind me.

"I don't think that's a good idea." I said not taking my focus off of the punching bag in front of me.

"You cant keep walking around acting like an asshole, Ethan." He said.

I turned around to face him and was surprised when he was a little closer to me than I thought, I started to take off my boxing gloves because I already knew this wasn't going to turn out well. "You cant keep minding mine and my mates business." I shot back. I tossed my gloves on the ground and walked towards him.

"As long as you keep leaving your mate in situations where I need to look out for her I guess I will continue to be in your business." Shawn said. He was starting to agitate me and the closer I got to him the more apparent it was that he had been with my mate sometime today because I could smell her on him. "Do you realize how scared that girl is? You changed her into a wolf and then left her all alone. Do you  know how many nights a week I have to comfort her because she's up at night crying? What the hell is wrong with you? She is your mate, Ethan. She deserves better than this from you. I don't give a damn what you think your reasoning is there is no excuse for treating her this way. She is supposed to lead the pack, how is the pack going to respect her when her own Alpha and mate has nothing but contempt for her? You are screwing over the entire pack with your actions. There are already pack members starting to shun her because if their Alpha isn't claiming her then she isn't worthy of respect. Your father would have been better off making Beth Alpha than --"

Before he could finish I punched him, honestly I had been itching to punch him since the first day he disrespected me in my office when I asked him why he smelled like my mate. This fight was long overdue. He was shocked but he recovered quickly and punched me back, I was slightly quicker than him so I moved and he missed my face and caught me on my ear. The fighting only got more intense from there. A couple of people came in the gym but quickly left when they noticed the Alpha and Beta fighting. I wasn't sure how long we fought, we were both sporting black eyes, Shawn had a cut on his head that was dripping blood and I think we were both had a couple of broken ribs.

We were starting to run out of steam, "You are a real ass hole you know that right?" Shawn said breathing heavily while still circling me waiting on me to attack.

"You know how I feel about humans Shawn. I don't want to be with her."

"That would have been fine had you not marked her. But you did, she is marked now so what is your plan?" He asked he stopped circling me and took a step back winching and grabbing on to his side as he did. "So how are you going to fix this? You cant just keep her at arms length? Do you want her to leave? Will your wolf be able to handle her leaving? Because I can tell you right now that she is already planning on leaving here and going back to her life in L.A."

I paused, the thought of her leaving didn't sit well with my wolf at all yet I really didn't want her to stay. I sighed, "I don't know what to do Shawn. I am not sure that I can let her go but I am also not sure that I can be a mate to her."

"When are you going to realize that being a good mate and leader isn't always about you? Who cares if you don't like humans? What ever was done to you wasn't done to you by Mia. She is innocent in this."

"I just need some time to figure things out."

"Times up, Ethan. Its been almost 6 weeks and she needs you so figure it out already." With that Shawn turned and left the gym albeit at a much slower pace than when he entered. It had been a while since we fought like that.  Its hard to say when we first started resolving all of our conflicts with actual fights but it seemed to work for us. It was an unspoken rule that we never shifted and we never tried to severely injure the other person. We mostly just took out our frustrations on each other until we were calm enough and level headed enough to actually talk.

I turned to walk over to collect my gym bag, both of my sides were killing me and I was sure I had a couple of broken ribs, the side of my face also felt like it was swelling up. That bum was able to get the best of me today and I am sure it had a lot to do with the fact that I haven't been myself since I bit Mia. Everything has been turned on its head.

I slowly made my way back to the pack house. My pack members gave me questioning looks along the way but no one asked me what happened. I thought about what Shawn said, he was probably right although I hated to admit it. If I was miserable and I had been a wolf all my life and knew what to expect and what was happening to me, Mia must have been equally if not more miserable than I was. Maybe we could come to a compromise, I still didn't want her as a mate but maybe we could at least work together until we could figure out how to get out of this situation. I wasn't entirely sure that a mate bond could be broken but I was holding out hope that since the bond was only halfway completed there had to be some options out there for us.

ETHAN

A week after our fight and things have been marginally better between me and Shawn. I guess kicking my ass made him feel better. Meanwhile, I was still in the same funk. My wolf was STILL sleeping outside Mia's door and I was still miserable and moody. Somehow I found myself wandering around in the woods I was pretty sure that my wolf was on a quest to lead me to Mia as he was prone to do.

I hoped I didn't find Shawn and Mia together again, it seemed any time I wouldn't find Shawn, which was often, I could find them somewhere together. Usually at this spot in the forest overlooking a cliff.

I slowed to a stop as I started to hear voices on the path up ahead of me. I ducked into the trees and crept closer to the voices. I found Mia surrounded by 3 females from my pack and it didn't look like they were having a friendly conversation.

"You really should just pack your shit and leave." The red head who was mated to one of my lower ranked warriors said to Mia.

Kelly, who was mated to one of my Gamma's spoke next. "Alpha doesn't even want you and no wonder why, who would want a weak human for a mate anyway."

The three females were circling her as if getting ready to attack. But Mia seemed unfazed by the whole thing. Her training must have been going well. "And why is it your concern what the Alpha thinks or feels about me?" Mia questioned?

"We're his pack and as such that makes it our concern." The blonde third girl said taking a threatening step forward.

"The Alpha doesn't need you 3 skanks speaking for him."

"We could kill you right now and he would probably be relieved to have this burden lifted off of him."

I heard enough and I was about to step out from my hiding spot when Mia swung on the blonde girl standing in front of her who dropped pretty much instantly. Kelly, who was behind her at this point grabbed her by the arm but Mia swung around and hit her too. Kelly was a bit harder for her to take down but after a short scuffle, Mia had her on the ground. The red head hesitated but decided to attack and swiftly hit the ground next to her friends.

I was impressed, she had some skills. It appeared Neil was teaching her well.

"The next time any of you approach me I expect a real challenge for my Luna position otherwise keep your asses away from me." I heard Mia say before she walked away from them.

Since she was coming in my direction I stepped out of my hiding place.

She came to a stop in front of me, I fully expected her to back away from me like she normally did but she must have been high off adrenaline because I didn't notice the usual fear coming from her.

"That was impressive." I said.

"Yeah thanks." She mumbled after a moments hesitation.

"Shawn seemed to think that you were having issues with some of the pack members who didn't like you."

"Yeah well, I grew up in a small town and my family was one of only 4 black families so I know how to handle bullies. Apparently wolves are no different from humans."

She made a move to pass me and I stepped in front of her blocking her path.

"Is there something you want?" She asked clearly annoyed with me.

"Based on my conversation with Shawn I think we should talk."

"I don't have a damn thing to say to you." She said folding her arms across her chest.

"Fine. Just listen....this distance between us is effecting my pack and I would like to come to some sort of...arrangement in order to ensure my pack stays intact."

"And what makes you think I care whether or not your pack falls apart at the seams?"

I shrugged, "You care about Beth, my parents, Neil, Dawn....need I go on?"

"You are such a bastard. You'll use my feelings for your family to get what you want?"

"Listen, I don't want to do this any more than you do. However, I need to keep my pack together long enough for us to break this bond?"

She perked up a bit ad I could tell I had her undivided attention. "I was told it couldn't be done."

I shrugged, "I haven't heard of a way but I fully intend to explore every possibility before I give up."

She seemed was silent for a moment, "Let me think about it."

"What's there to think about? Don't you want to get rid of the bond?"

"Yes, and so do you so you will work on removing it regardless of whether or not I put up this charade with you. So I don't see what the benefit is to me here. The more time I spend with you the more this stupid bond is going to grow. Honestly this plan is kind of counter productive to what we both want.

Besides your pack isn't stupid. Once we carry on with this for awhile and I never mark you they are gonna know something is up."

She did have a point and I didn't think of that. "Do you have any better ideas?"

"I'll come up with something." She said finally pushing past me and heading back towards the pack house.

MIA

I tossed and turned all night thinking about Ethan's idea. It was stupid to say the least and I wanted no parts of any plan that was going to put me in constant close proximity to him.

The werewolf world was tricky and really I'd had about enough. I wanted to get away from it all. Maybe clear my head and come up with a game plan.

I glanced at my phone and noticed it was almost three a.m. everyone should be sleep so this was the perfect time to make a break for it. I'd done it everyone else's way long enough. 

I grabbed my phone, charger and purse and headed towards my bedroom door. I briefly considered packing a bag but honestly it would just slow me down and anything I needed I could just repurchased once I got to L.A. I didn't even  bother changing sine I was wearing sweat pants and a tank top. I did however grab my scarf and some flip flops. I almost screamed bloody murder when I opened the door and noticed a wolf curled up sleeping in my doorway. 

After I calmed down I realized the wolf I was looking at was Ethan and I couldn't help but wonder why he was asleep here and how often he did this. I didn't let the thought linger too long though. I closed the door and went to the window. I had a first floor room so it was easy for me to push the screen out and crawl out of the window. I rushed towards the garage. I knew I would be able to get a vehicle because the keys for any community cars were kept in the garage on hooks.

I grabbed the first pair of keys within reach and pressed the unlock button so the lights would flash and I could find it. Once located I slid behind the wheel of the Jeep Cherokee and started it up. When the engine roared to life it sounded like the loudest noise ever but the garage was a fair distance from the house so I hoped that no one heard the car start.

I pulled out of the drive way and stared up my GPS I needed to find the airport so I could get on the first thing smoking out of town. As much as I wanted to go I didn't feel 100% happy at the thought of leaving. Part of me wanted to stay and I knew that part was the wolf who wasn't going to be too happy about me leaving Ethan. But I couldn't stay any longer. I was my own person use to doing my own thing and being a wolf and a Luna didn't seem like it was going to allow me that freedom any more.  So ignored the ache in my chest and pushed forward. 

The drive to the airport was uneventful but I couldn't help being on pins and needles the whole time. I just knew Ethan and Shawn were going to pop up and drag me back to the pack. By the time I got to the airport they were just opening the ticket counter. The woman who I purchase I ticket from recognized me right away but I think she could tell by the look in my eyes that I didn't want a scene to be made over me. She quietly whispered how much she loved my music though. I thanked her and continued on my way through security. I made sure to purchase a hat to hopefully disguise me a little bit. I didn't relax the whole time I was waiting to board the plane my leg was shaking and my eyes were darting around the airport nervously. I am kind of surprised that now one called security on me because I was sure I looked pretty suspicious.

My nerves literally didn't calm down until the wheels of the plane left solid ground. After that I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes. In only a few short hours I would be back at home where I belonged. And maybe I could finally make sense of this mess.

ETHAN

I woke up in my usual spot on the floor outside of Mia's room and shifted to my human form. I had given up and decided to keep a change of clothes and my cell phone near by in the hallway for easy access in the mornings. I changed clothes and started down the hall but I was  extremely agitated and for some reason my wolf was urging me to turn around and open her bedroom door. I had given up on ignoring my basic instincts so I went ahead and followed his lead. When I opened the door I immediately knew something wasn't right. Her bed was empty and her bathroom door was open and the light was out. I sniffed the air and realized that her scent was pretty faint which meant she had been gone for a few hours. I entered the room fully and it was then that I noticed her window was opened and the screen was kicked out. 

"Shawn wake up NOW!" I yelled through the mind link.

"What the hell is your problem?"

"It's Mia, I think she left last night. I'm in her room now and her scent is faint and the bedroom window is wide open. Her purse is missing." I said as I rushed out the front door and towards the garage. Even though Mia was a wolf now I knew that her main mode of transportation was still going to be a car.

"Maybe she just ran an errand and opened her window for fresh air." Shawn said.

"I know for a fact that's not what happened." I said not wanting to get into it any further. I still didn't want anyone to know that I slept outside her door at night. "Meet me at the garage."

I ran to the garage and tried to pick up Mia's scent. It was faint in here as well. I immediately noticed one of the Jeeps was missing and figured it was used as her escape vehicle. I picked up my cell phone and called Beth.

"You better have a good reason for calling so early." She said sleepily.

"Mia is missing." I said. I could feel panic rising and it was an unfamiliar feeling, one that I did not like.

"What? What do you mean missing?" She said. Ethan could hear Ian in the background asking her what was wrong.

"I woke up this morning and went to her room. Her bedroom window was opened she was gone and one of the Jeeps is missing from the garage. Call her and find out where she is." I demanded.

Beth hesitated, "I promised her I wouldn't interfere in her life anymore. You're going to have to find her on your own, brother. The most I will do is call to check on her to make sure she is ok. Because of your actions our friendship was almost ruined once. I wont let it happen again."

"Beth..."

"No Ethan."

Before I could say anything else I realized she hung up on me. It was at that moment Shawn finally walked into the garage.

"Took you long enough." I said.

"I tried calling Mia. She answered, but refused to tell me where she was." He said.

I was furious, I had just spoken with her yesterday about trying to work out our issues and she wanted to pull this crap. She was not going to get away that easily.

"Get us plane tickets right now to L.A." I said storming out of the garage and heading towards my room to pack a bag.

******

Four hours later Shawn and I arrived at LAX.  My wolf was on hyper drive and I was anxious. It was like I could feel him pacing around in my mind begging to be released so he could search the whole city for her scent. I managed to control myself as we checked in to get our rental car and head to a hotel.

Once in the car I called Alpha Luis Plata, part of his territory was in the city and I wanted to let him know that myself, Shawn, and my mate were going to be wandering around. I had known him for years and knew he wouldn't mind. Out of all the Alphas around, I was closest to him.

"I'm sorry you did what?" Alex asked as I relayed the story of my mate to him.

"I bit her and forced the change but it was purely on accident."

After a moment I heard laughter on the other end of the phone, "Moon Goddess gave you a human mate? And a strong willed one too!" I was irritated that so many were finding joy in my situation. "Is there anything I can do to assist you guys."

"Maybe, I think her building is heavily secured since it is full of celebrities. Any ideas on how we can get in. Do you have any connections on the police force that could help?"

"Let me make some calls and I'll get back to you. In the meantime please try not to destroy my territory while you are on your hunt."

We said our good byes just as Shawn and I pulled up at the hotel. I called my parents to check in on everything with the pack. With Shawn and I both gone Id asked them to look after things. I wasn't sure how long I was going to be gone and they were the next best suited ones to run things. And considering I was chasing after my mate they were more than willing to help out. After checking in and putting away our luggage we went down to the restaurant to eat. I was calm on the outside but on the inside I was going crazy.

This feeling I felt was something new, I never felt the level of fear and worry for another human being that I felt for Mia. I knew it was the bond working overtime but I couldn't just ignore the feeling.

"I think I am losing my mind." I said to Shawn as we were seated.

"You aren't, the bond is just working its magic on you." Shawn replied nonchalantly.

"I hate it." I grumbled.

"Most people are so excited for this time in their lives. I cant believe you are fighting this so much. Mia is a great girl you are missing out on a lot." He said, not looking at me browsing his menu.

I was starting to wonder if he was right. Maybe all this fighting wasn't worth it in the end.

*******

Two days later Luis finally came through with his contact to get us into Mia's condo building. Apparently there was a secret underground entrance that the celebrities used to exit when they were trying to avoid fans and it could also be used in emergency situations.

The officer, who was also a were, led us into the building and to Mia's door. I knocked a couple of time but didn't receive an answer. After glancing up and down the hall to make sure we were alone I motioned for Shawn to pick the lock so we could get in.

Once we entered the apartment my heart sank, her scent was barely detectable which meant either she didn't come here after she left the pack or she had come for a moment and moved on to somewhere else. A quick walk around her apartment confirmed my fears, in her bedroom there was a discarded outfit on the bed that I recognized from her last day at the pack. Her closet doors and dresser drawers were left opened and some clothes were scattered about. It looked like she packed in a hurry.

"Where do you think she could have gone?" I asked Shawn. I hated to look to him for guidance but he knew her better than I did.

"I am not sure. If she packed a bag then I am sure she is not even in Cali anymore, at least she is definitely not in L.A." He said looking worried. I frowned, now I had no clue what to do. I hadn't slept at all the past two nights and barely ate anything and was sure that was effecting my thinking at this point. My sister is the only person whom I thought would be able to help me but she had already expressed she wasn't about to help me with locating her.

I sighed, "Ok, its obvious she isn't here so lets to back to the hotel and regroup." I said to Shawn.

We were both quiet in the car both in our own worlds trying to think of what our next move would be. Shawn was trying to get ahold of Mia via text message but he wasn't having any luck. Just the fact that he was able to reach out to her in that way was pissing me off. I found myself gripping the steering wheel so tight that my knuckles were turning white.

"Maybe we can use social media to our advantage." I said.

"How so?"

"Well, if she is out and about someone had to have spotted her and tweeted, or Facebooked or Instagramed about it.  If we can get a location from a post then we can at lease find out what city she is in." 

"Hmm..That's a good idea." He said already picking his phone back up and tapping away at the screen. The rest of the ride was spent in silence but my mind was running a mile per minute.

"No luck." he stated as we pulled up to the hotel. He looked about as defeated as I felt.

"I guess we can call Luis back and see if there is a way to track her credit cards. Where ever she is she has to use money. Maybe she used one to purchase a plane ticket to her next destination." I said. At this point being able to track her credit cards was probably our only hope. So hopefully Luis would be able to help us. In the meantime I tried to prepare myself for more sleepless anxious nights.

Ethan

A month passed and there was still no sign of Mia. I had to admit I was impressed with her ability to hid out. After some further digging we discovered she took a huge lump sum of money out of her account. There would be no reason for her to use credit cards for a while. And if she did, there was a chance she put her money on a pre-paid card. Shawn was still keeping any eye out on social media, but no one had posted about spotting her out and about either. She also stopped answering her phone, for any one Shawn and Beth included.

Meanwhile, everything with me was getting worse, in addition to my anxiety, sleepless nights and loss of appetite, I was currently experiencing a feeling I couldn't quite place. I had summoned the pack doctor to my room to examine me and figure out what was happening.

"Hi, Alpha." Dr. Anderson said after she entered the room. "What seems to be the trouble today."

"I think I might be running a fever or something. I'm hot and I can't get comfortable no matter what I do." I said pacing around my bedroom.

"Hmhm..." she said feeling my forehead.

"You don't feel like you have a fever. Alpha forgive me for asking but have you and Luna Mia...consummated your relationship?" She asked hesitantly.

"No. We haven't and what does that have to do with anything?" I asked my patience running thin. I really had no patience for anything now a days.

"Well, if you haven't consummated the relationship and..." she glanced at my neck, "I see she still hasn't marked you yet. You're going through heat. "

"What!"

"Think of it as nature's way of speeding up the mating process."

"How long is this going to last?" I knew a female heat could last anywhere from 2-7 days. And if I was going to feel like this and increasingly worse for that amount of time I was not looking forward to it.

She shrugged, "It depends on how long Mia's heat cycles usually last. The heat is designed to happen to both of you at the same time."

"Shit." I muttered as I tried to recall everything I learned in school related to heat. I knew I was going to be horny to the point of uncomfortableness and have a sever urge to mate with Mia. However, since she wasn't nearby I wasn't sure how I was going to be affected.

I briefly wondered if Jenny would be able to help me with this but quickly dismissed that thought as my wolf was not having it. I had no clue how long Mia's heat was going to last, maybe about the same amount of time as a human heat? But I didn't know that time frame either. So basically, I was in for a few days of torture and there was nothing I could do about it.

***********

MIA

When I first left my wolf was on edge and I felt anxious and I spent a couple of restless nights. As time went on the anxious remained and I didn't have much of an appetite and I wasn't sleeping very well.

Once I landed in L.A. I made a total of 3 stops, I went to the bank to withdraw as much money as possible, I went to my condo to gather some clothes, and I went back to the airport and immediately hopped on a flight to Georgia. As much as I missed my house I didn't want to spend too much time in L.A. because I knew that would be the first place everyone would look.

My family was from a small town in South Georgia and that's where I was headed. Even though it had been a year since my family passed I still had yet to clean out my parents' house and put it on the market. I made the mortgage payment each month and the other household bills but hadn't stepped foot back in the house. Now was the perfect time.

When I got to the house I sat outside for what seem like hours trying to prepare myself to go in. When I went inside all of that preparation I did in the car went out the window. I almost felt physically crushed by the silence in the house. I didn't allow the feeling to linger and I got right to work cleaning the thick layer of dust that had settled all around the house. It kept my mind occupied so I wouldn't think about my family or my situation with Ethan. But once the cleaning was finished it all came crashing down on me and I sunk to the floor near in hysterics crying. I must have cried myself to sleep because next think I know I was waking up. I guess Beth was only partially right, I definitely needed to heal but the healing needed to be done at home, not in the woods.

I pulled myself together and started the long and difficult task of cleaning out my parents' house. Having to sort through the belongings of my parents and my sister has to be the hardest thing I've done in my life. Going through the change ranked second compared to this. It took me two weeks to get through it all. I had things packed up in boxes to donate. I didn't want to sell anything I didn't need the money and I know my family would be happy to have their belongings go to people in need. I also packed up some sentimental items to hold on to.

I think that my wolf somehow knew I needed time the anxiousness a had been feeling wasn't so bad and I was able to eat and sleep like a normal person. I wondered if morning my family would ever get easier. They say time heals all wounds, but this wound was massive, and I wasn't sure there was enough time on Earth that could make me feel better.

"Mia! Are you ok?" Beth's voice rang in my ear after she picked up the phone. I had been away from the pack house for just about a month and I kept my contact with Beth and Shawn limited since I knew Ethan was probably grilling them for information the less they knew the easier it was to avoid answering him.

"I'm ok. I have been at my parents' place packing up the house. I was going to put it on the market, but I think instead I am going to donate it to a local women's shelter. Maybe the woman can use it to transaction to their new lives."

"That's a great idea. So, does that mean you are on your way back here?"

"No. I am going to take a vacation...a real one. I am not sure where I plan on going just yet, but I will call and let you know when I get there." I was lying I knew exactly where I was going. I always wanted to go to Jamaica. In fact, my honeymoon was going to be there. Unfortunately, I would now be making the trip alone, but I felt like some sand and sun would do me good. I made reservations at a beach house for 3 weeks. I wasn't sure how long I was truly going to say or when my wolf might reappear and make my life hell again, but 3 weeks seemed like a reasonable amount of time to get some rest. "I was calling because I wanted to let you know I am having a few boxes shipped to the pack house. I was hoping you could grab them and put them in my room? It's some of the things from my parents' house that I wanted to keep."

"Sure, but you know that as soon as Ethan gets wind of the boxes he is going to be on your door step." Beth warned.

"I know. And I am not worried. As soon as I hang up with you I am off to FedEx to ship and then straight to the airport. I'll be long gone by the time he gets here."

*****

I sighed as I sipped my rum and coke and leaned back on my beach chair to soak up the sun. I had made it to Jamaica three days ago and had done nothing but be a bum and lay on the beach in my bikini. The house I rented had a private beach, so I wasn't concerned about running into any fans who might blow my cover. I could admit though that I was starting to get a little lonely. It had been over a month since I left the pack and most of that time I had spent alone. In addition to that I think I was going through heat. I was restless, and hot and horny. It was so bad I could hardly stand myself.

Trying to ignore it wasn't working, masturbating only worked for a moment and I was at the point where I was ready to see if I could find someone to get my groove back with and satisfy this craving. I remember reading in the books that if I did sleep with someone else Ethan would be able to feel it in some way. I am pretty sure I felt the pain of him sleeping with someone, but it was so close to my change that I am not sure if it was pain from the change I was feeling or pain from his betrayal.

I sighed and sipped some more of my drink. There was a fine brotha who kept flirting with me any time I went to the neighborhood market to pick up groceries. He didn't seem to know who I was, although he could just be pretending, that didn't stop me from being tempted. He'd asked me out a couple of times but I kept turning him down. There was a mutual attraction between us but I wasn't sure if I wanted to take that next step. Truth be told, Theo was the only man I'd ever slept with and even though he was gone, I still felt like I would be cheating on him.

Before I left I had been reading up on all things Were, unfortunately I couldn't remember all the details. I decided to text Shawn to ask him some advice. "Hypothetically, if I wanted to sleep with someone other than my mate. Would I be able to and would it be satisfying?"

It took him almost a full hour to respond, "Well, hello to you too. I haven't spoken to you in ages and this is what you send? My feelings are hurt."

"Sorry! You know I love you, Shawn. Now answer my question. lol"

"I am going to assume you are going through heat? Ethan is too."

I rolled my eyes, I could care less about Ethan. "I really don't care."

"I know you don't. You can sleep with someone else, it won't take away the ache as thoroughly as a mate would."

I sighed and rolled my eyes, Ethan has doomed me to a life of being single? Would I never be able to fall in love and have a family? It seemed like I was destined to be stuck with someone who didn't want me and that was a depressing thought.

"Where are you, Mia? I am worried about you."

I smiled, I missed Shawn he is a great person, but I couldn't tell him anything that might get back to Ethan.

"I miss you to Shawn. But you know I can't tell you anything."

"When do you plan on coming back?"

"Soon.... maybe." 

"Ethan is not doing well at all without you. He's not eating, not sleeping and he is so moody that everyone is trying to avoid him at all costs. I hope you are faring better than him."

Reading this made the wolf in me upset and even more anxious. I was tempted to ask more questions about his condition. Instead I turned my phone off and tossed it in my bag. I was determined to enjoy the rest of my time on the island without interference.

MIA

"So, when are you going to put me out of my misery and say yes and go on a date with me?" The Jamaican, who I learned was named James asked me. I was at the market attempting to mind my own business but James was turning out to be very determined. He was a nice guy. I often say and chatted with him after purchasing my groceries. 

I sighed, "James...."

"What are you scared of?" He asked looking at my with a curious look on his face. 

"I don't want to cheat on my fiancé." I said quietly. 

He stepped from around the counter, "Your fiancé passed away over a year ago. You don't think he would want you to move on?"

My eyes went wide. No one around had given the slightest hint of knowing who I was. "Don't worry, Mia. We know how to keep a secret in this town. Celebrities come here all the time for rest and relaxation and we give it to them."

He walked closer to me and brushed my hair away from my shoulder, "We're good at keeping secrets.  I lost my mate two years ago so I know how you feel about thinking you would be cheating. I didn't know him but I know he would want you happy eventually. Whether it's a date with me or something else with another man don't keep your heart shut down forever." He said as his fingers gently brushed against my scar. 

"You're a..." I let my sentence drift off. 

He nodded.

I took of running back to my beach house. I know it was probably useless because I'm sure he was going to follow me but I did it any way. Damn werewolves!  It wasn't long after I got back to the house that I heard a knock on the door. I knew it was James. 

I took a deep breath and opened the door for him. He held his hands up in a surrender position. "I don't want to hurt you Mia. I can tell someone has already done that." He motioned to my neck. I just want to be a friendly ear or shoulder. Whatever you need."

"Why do you care?"

"I was human once about 20 years ago. I know how hard it is to make the change. And I won't lie to you. I'm extremely attracted to you and it's rare that me and my wolf are sexually attracted to anyone. Considering you aren't my mate."

"Can I come in so we can talk?"

I moved out of the way so he could enter and noticed he has a bag in his hands. "What's that?" 

"A piece offering in the form of food."

I led him over to the dinning room table and we unloaded the food and sat down to eat. I must admit I enjoyed James' company. I was able to open up and talk to him about everything and he listened without trying to tell me what I should do or how I should feel. It was nice. In turn he told me about his life and his mate. The only other man I have ever been this comfortable with was Theo. And Shawn but only to a point since his view was slightly skewed because he had a strong loyalty to his pack. 

After dinner we moved over to the couch after I poured us a couple glasses of wine. I have to admit that I don't know if it was the wine or the heat or the good conversation but I wanted James and I wanted him bad. 

"Your mate is a fool." James said after a lull in the conversation. 

"I agree." I laughed and took another sip of wine. 

He moved closer to me on the couch, "After listening to your story...you have to be one of the strongest people I have ever met."

"I'm no more special than anyone else. You do what you have to do to survive and that's all I'm doing." I shrugged. 

Silence settles over us for a few moments and it was not a comfortable silence. The sexual tension in the room was so thick I think we could have cut it with a knife. 

"I really want to kiss you right now." Maybe it was my imagination but I swear his voice got about four octaves deeper. 

"What's stopping you?" I asked. Never mind his voice. What the hell was up with mine?since when did I sound...sexy? Was I really about to do this? It had been over a year since I had sex with anyone was I really ready for this? 

Before I could have any more thoughts about the situation James, in one swift motion, had relieved me of my wine glass and had me laying down on the sofa. 

He trailed hot kisses along my jaw, down to my neck. Avoiding the side with my scar. He was so gentle and so sweet and it just felt good to be close to a man in that way again. His soft lips pressed against mine, he was definitely a good kisser. I could spend the rest of the night like this and be happy. 

"Maybe we should move to the bedroom and get more comfortable." He suggested. 

"I agree." 

He picked me up and carried me to the bedroom and I knew this would be a night to remember. 

**********

ETHAN

I woke up in the middle of the night to intense pain in my chest. Once I surveyed the room and determined I was here alone I flipped on the light. I looked down at my chest to find myself injury free. Despite that the pain continued and I was having a hard time catching my breath. I stumbled out onto my balcony hoping the fresh night air would make me feel better. 

The pain continued and I was beginning to panic slightly.  I leaned against the rail and took a deep breath. I was just about to reach out to Dr. Anderson when it hit me. Mia was having sex with someone and that was the pain I was feeling.

"FUCK!" My scream turned into a howl as I shifted and jumped over the balcony. I didn't know where I was going but I needed to let off some stream. 

"Alpha, what's wrong?" Shawn linked me sounding worried. 

"She's fucking somebody else."

I didn't wait for his response before I shut down the link and continued on my run. I flew across the forest floor with speed I didn't even know I possessed. My wolf was mad at Mia but most of all he was furious with me for letting her get away. For pushing her away.  

No sooner than I finished my run and returned to my room the pain started up again. AGAIN! Wasn't once enough? The rage I felt was evident was I tossed furniture and punched several holes on the walls.

The pain I felt literally felt like someone was attempting to rip my heart out. I hate the bond. Hated it because right at this moment I wasn't sure if I cared that she was cheating or if all of my emotions could be blamed on the bond. She was supposed to be here helping me rule until we could figure out a solution. It was in the best interest of the pack but instead she was out screwing some fuck boy. 

Shawn bursted into my room disrupting my thoughts. He silently took in the scene before him. 

"Are you sure that's what you were feeling?" He asked as he entered the room. He surveyed the damage around him, "Nice handiwork for someone who really doesn't care."

I responded with a growl. 

"Ok ok." He said holding up his hands in surrender. 

"She's out there fucking some other guy and there is nothing that I can do about it."

"Karma is a bitch."

"Fuck you, Shawn."

"You did this to yourself. You weren't there for her change. What you are going through now is nothing compared to what she had to endure." He walked out of the room and left me to my thoughts. 

A few minutes later he returned with a DVD in his hand. 

"What's this?" I asked catching it as he tossed it to me. 

"Security footage of Mia's change. We kept her in the hospital room usually used for injured rouges so we just so happen to have video of her night."

"Why would you keep her there?"

 "Because it is sound proof and padded. We didn't want the pack to hear their Luna like that and we didn't want her to hurt herself. You should watch it before you decide to continue to cry over some damn heartburn." 

**********

After a couple of hours the pain I felt finally subsided. I could only assume that with Mia experiencing her first heat she sought out relieve. And I couldn't wait to find out who from so I could beat them to a pulp. 

I attempted to fall asleep but the DVD of Mia's change kept calling to me. I needed to know what was on it. I grabbed my laptop and popped the disk inside. 

The first images that came up were of Shawn and Mia drinking and they were discussing the change and how painful it may or may not be for her. Their conversation ended with a hug just as Beth and Ian walked in with food and sodas. I watched as the foursome played board games and had a few drinks until Mia excused herself to lay down in the bed and told Shawn that she wasn't feeling good. 

I clicked on the video to check the length and my mouth dripped it was 10 hours long! A change normally didn't last that long, the last one I had heard about it took 3 hours max, though in fairness the human was bitten the proper way by their mate and the mate was with them through the whole process.  Inducing a change the way that Mia's was induced was really rare, most wolves have no interest in claiming and connecting them selves to someone who is unwilling.

I focused my attention back on the video, it was clear that Mia was extremely uncomfortable and she started yanking at her clothing as if it was irritating her. The next think I knew she had completely stripped naked. She was sweating profusely and asked for water which Shawn, of course, brought over to her. As time progressed she started crying and moaning due to the pain, all the while Shawn was fussing around her like a mother hen. All of his efforts to soothe her and comfort her with a cool cloth were not working. 

Suddenly a loud crack, followed by a scream was heard in the room and I noticed everyone focus on Mia's foot. It was twisted at an unnatural angle. It was hard to watch. To actually see the change in slow motion was something I had never experienced and honestly didn't want to experience again. 

As the events continued to unfold, I heard something that completely broke me AND my wolf. Mia was begging for death. She repeatedly asked Shawn to kill her. The agony on his face let me know how hard this whole situation was for him. He was attempting to be encouraging but I could see in his face that he was emotionally and physically exhausted. My sister and Ian had left the room a while ago because my sister wasn't able to keep it together and in a situation like this you cant have someone breaking down. 

Night turned into morning as I continued to watch the DVD, Shawn didn't contact me and neither did anyone else so I assumed that he knew I was going to watch the DVD so he's been taking care of pack duties and asked everyone to leave me be. I had to admit I was grateful. My pack has never seen me weak and I didn't want any one to come in and actually see their Alpha crying, whether it was over my mate or not a show of weakness was unacceptable.

Finally, after hours, the change was complete and the pain must have been subsiding because Mia's screams and cries died down. Her wolf was a gorgeous dark grey color, and the tip of one of her ears had a white patch. I watched as she attempted to stand and after a couple of attempts she managed it but I could tell she was disoriented and confused. She must not have realized she was in wolf form. 

"It's ok Mia. You just need to rest now and get use to everything. You're fine." Shawn said quietly attempting to soothe her.

Mia whined a couple of times which I assume may have been her attempts at speaking. 

"Shh...Mia I promise you you're ok." He shifted to eye level with her. "Calm down. Don't try to move or speak right now. Its been a long day and an even longer night just lay here and rest. Please. I promise the hard part is over." He gently coaxed her into lying down and pulled her head into his lap as he leaned his back up against the wall. I watched as he ran his fingers through my mates fur, rubbing her head to reassure her. "I'll stay here with you while you sleep and we'll figure everything out in the morning." They stayed there like that for a while, him rubbing his fingers through her fur while she drifted off to sleep.

At some point Beth and Ian walked back in, "Shawn, let me help you put her in the bed so you can rest." Ian said. "You should go back to your room and get some sleep and a shower."

Shawn shook his head, "I cant. I promised I would sit here with her so that is what I am going to do. I'll be fine."

"Shawn don't be stubborn." Beth said. 

"You skipped out on most of the night so you don't understand how disoriented she was once everything was over. I am not going to leave her so she can wake up alone in wolf form. If she shifts back to her human form in her sleep then I'll put her in the bed. If not I'm staying like this." Shawn said his tone leaving no further room for argument. 

Beth and Ian decided to leave the room and Shawn rested his head back against the wall and closed his eyes still comforting my mate. I slammed my laptop shut and placed it on my night stand. I was so furious I was shaking but who was I really mad at? Shawn didn't do anything but take care of my mate while I was out fucking Jenny. He was by her side comforting her the whole time. After watching everything she went through, I had to admit I had a new appreciation for her especially as a human. Humans had a lower tolerance for pain then wolves did.

"I am going on a run." I mind linked to Shawn, "I don't know where I am going to or how long I will be gone but I need time to think about some things. I'm putting a block on the link so I can have some privacy. I'll contact you when I am on the way back."

*********

MIA

I had been gone from the pack a total of five months.  Jamaica was awesome, James was awesome, the sex was awesome, but something was still missing for me. "Mia, you are going to wear a hole in the floor with all that pacing." James said. We were at my house and we were supposed to be watching a movie but halfway through my wolf was so agitated that I couldn't sit still any more. 

"I know...I just...I can't be still something is wrong with me."

James paused the movie, stood up and walked over to me, "Sweetie, nothing is wrong with you. Your wolf is missing her mate and I keep telling you, you haveto shift. I must say I am impressed that you have held out this long."

He stopped me and grabbed me by my shoulders, "If we try and shift, we might be able to ease your wolf a little bit." 

I shook my head, "I can't...I...just the thought of changing again terrifies me to the core, James. It hurt so bad. I begged Shawn for death, that's how bad it was I can't."

He sighed and pulled me in for a hug. We had already tried shifting, twice in fact, and I had such terrible panic attacks that I wasn't able to complete the shift.

"Why would the Mood Goddess do this to me? Why would God do this to me? They are supposed to look out for me. Why pair me with a mate who doesn't want me?" I pulled away from him and felt tears starting to fall. Over the past couple of weeks James has been telling me everything there is to know about wolves. Not about being a Luna or a leader, just about being a wolf, which has been helpful. The Moon Goddess was one of the things I learned about, she was the all-knowing deity that wolves believed in very similar to God.

"It's hard, Mia, I know. But these things always work out for the best. I have seen couples go through worse and they have come out on the other side."

"I don't want to come out on the other side, James. I want to be able to make my own choices! The mate bond took my choice away, Ethan took my choice away, his family and his pack are trying to take my choice away! Its not fair. Do you know how hard I worked on my career to finally, finally get a break? I was just getting everything I wanted, and it ALL came crashing down. My family, my career just gone in an instant. If I have to be a wolf, then fine but I don't want to be mated to Ethan. Isn't there anyway for me to break this?"

He sighed and scratched the back of his neck, "If the bond isn't complete then you can have your partner of choice bite over the original bite mark. You have to do two separate bites each on the full moon. The first directly over the old bite and the second on the opposite side of the neck. I also don't know who you would find crazy enough to take an Alpha's mate away from them. Aside from taking a new mate, I don't know if there is a way to just break the bond."

He touched the scar on my neck. I didn't wear my scarf very often around him. He asked me why I was ashamed of something that was done to me without my consent. He said that the scar was Ethan's shame not mine. Maybe he had a point, but I felt there had to be some shame in having a mate who doesn't care for you, right? Considering how important mates are in the wolf world.

"I'm sorry this happened to you. I wish I could do something to make it better."

"You said a couple of weeks ago that I was strong, but I think you are the strong one. You managed to accept your new life as a wolf and be happy."

"My situation was different I met my mate, who was a wolf, and she eased me into the idea of it all. It was difficult after the change happened, but I managed with her help. You didn't have the same help that I had." He said quietly.

"If I don't go back, will things just get worse for me?" I asked already knowing the answer to my question.

James sighed, "The only cases I have seen of a wolf not shifting for a long period of time have eventually caused a forced shit."

"That does not sound good."

He shook his head, "It's not. A forced shift means that you will change into your wolf whether you want to or not and you won't be able to stop it like you have been. It can result in you being stuck as your wolf from a few weeks to.... forever."

"FOREVER!!" I shrieked. I felt tears welling up again. Damn the only thing I had been doing was crying lately. Wolves were powerful creatures, I had heightened eyesight, sense of smell, strength, night vision, I mean the list goes one, but I had never felt weaker in my whole life.

"So, I have to shift?"

"Yes."

"And I have to go back to the pack?"

"Yes. Unless you get permission to switch packs which I highly doubt will happen."

Unfortunately, in the wolf world you weren't about to just pick up and move when you wanted to unless you moved to a neutral area like a large city but considering I was for all intents and purposes a baby wolf, James explained being in a city would not be best for me. Especially since I had been refusing to shift. Per usual the added fact of Ethan being an Alpha was complicating my life even further. Apparently the possessive nature of Alpha's meant that as long as we were mated, or partially mated, he would not be willing to get me go.

I sighed, "Can't you come back with me?" I pouted. 

"Ethan would rip my head off once he figured out the two of us have been sleeping together and I kind of like my head." he said chuckling. "Besides, as much as we care for each other, its not the same as being mates and I don't think I would improve your situation."

I sighed, I knew he was right. I cared about him and again the sex was bomb but I didn't have a love connection with him. I guess it was time to put my big girl panties on.

**************

SHAWN

Mia had been gone from the pack for months and although I have always known the importance of a Luna to see how the pack has reacted to having our Luna leave....well its been eye opening. There was a sadness flowing through the pack bond that the West Pack had never felt before, I mean, we feel collective sadness when a pack member dies but this was different.

A Luna is like the mother fort the whole pack, she keeps the pack running, she's the back bone of the Alpha. Although he is in control of the pack a Luna is still important to him and the pack. The Luna is his closest confident along with the Beta, she's his peace and soft place to land when things get hard. 

Aside from the general sadness I felt as a pack member, I was missing my friend. Mia and I had spent so much time together and been through so much that I felt her loss more than I would have thought I would.

Adding to my stress was the fact that Ethan was falling apart at the seams. He was hold up in his room or office most of the time. He did not want to be bothered with many of his responsibilities and so it all fell on me as his Beta. So in addition to trying to work out all of my own emotions, I was doing twice the work that I normally would. 

Currently I was in Ethan's office going over some pack paperwork when my phone dinged signaling a text message. I smiled to myself when I saw it was a message from Mia. I heard from her once every couple of weeks, which drove Ethan crazy and made our relationship more tense than it already was. Regardless, I was always happy to hear from her because it meant that she was alive and safe. I had to admit I had been worried sick knowing she was out there somewhere on her own.

"Hi. :)"

"Hey. How are you?"

"Not to good actually." This caught my attention and I switched my focus from paperwork to my phone. 

"What's wrong?" 

It seemed like hours before she responded to me which was putting my wolf on edge.

"I haven't shifted since that first time."

I looked at my phone confused, that couldn't be right. Not shifting was detrimental to werewolves. She needed to shift and give her wolf some freedom. Before I could respond I got another message from her. 

"I have been so restless lately and James says its because I haven't shifted and because I am so far away from the pack."

I rolled my eyes, I wasn't sure who this James person was, but she mentioned him way to often for my or my wolfs liking. But he did seem to be taking good care of her. If I could only figure out where she was, I would have been there to at least scope him out.  But she was very careful about covering her tracks. 

"Mia, you have to shift. Its not healthy for you not to. And James is right your wolf is a little on edge because you aren't with the pack. But the most important thing is that you need to shift, whether that is here with us or there where you are with James."

"I have tried. James has tried to help but its not working. I keep panicking. I am not sure I can do it without you."

The last sentence of her text caught me off guard. But I guess I would understand it. When a human was changed the first shift was usually something intimate and private between the couple. It was a position Ethan should have held instead it fell to me.

"You can do anything you put your mind to, Mia."

":( It really doesn't feel that way, Shawn."

My fingers hovered over the keyboard trying to come up with the appropriate response, but I didn't know what to say to her. I couldn't imagine what I would do if I was forced to become human against my will and had to assimilate to human life. 

"All you have to do is say the word, Mia and will be on the first flight out to you. Wherever you are I can be there to help you."

"I know, but if you come then he will come with you and I can't put James in danger like that or cause any issues for his pack."

I felt my wolf get agitated at the fact that she was more interested in protecting James than her own health. And I would be lying if I said that I wasn't irritated by the fact that I knew she was sleeping with him, however, those weren't feelings I was eager to analyze. She was my friend and my Alpha's mate. I shouldn't be feeling anything about who she may or may not be sleeping with.

"I'm sorry to make you worry. I just...I don't know I had an urge to reach out to you. You seem to usually be able to make me feel better."

I smiled at that, I was glad that I could help in anyway possible. "You know I am always here for you."

The door of the office slamming caught my attention. "What's got you so happy?" I looked up to see Ethan standing there with a frown on his face. I sighed, It was sad to see my friend, my Alpha the way he was now. He hadn't shaved in days, and who knows when the last time he actually bathed was. Ever since he watched the DVD of Mia's change he hadn't been the same. I would like to say I regretted giving him the DVD but I didn't. He was the cause of everything that was wrong right now and he needed something to open his eyes to the suffering that everyone was going through.

"Nothing, I just got a text from Mia."

He paused, for a moment and gave me a funny look. "Did you convince her to come home yet?"

I rolled my eyes, we had this argument any time I heard from Mia. "She will come back when she is ready Ethan. We pushed her too hard as it is which is what caused her to run in the first place. The only thing you need to be focused on is pulling yourself together so you can run your pack."

Ethan sighed, "You don't think I want to? My wolf is just- You know what, you wouldn't understand." he said snatching some papers off his desk and leaving the room. Slamming the door behind him.

"Goddess help me get through this." I sighed turning back to my work.

*******

ETHAN

After I left my office I went on a run, I had been doing more running in the weeks since Mia had been missing than I had in my entire life. It seemed to be the only thing that calmed me down. It also gave me way too much time to think about things.  Resisting Mia seemed to be doing more harm than good. My wolf was upset with me and we hadn't been as in sync as we normally were I felt like my instincts were off when it came to everything. What was the worst that could happen if I gave in and tried my best to make things work?

MIA

"You'll be fine, Mia. I know you will." James said as we sat outside the airport. My flight was scheduled to leave in less than an hour and I had procrastinated getting out of the car.

I shook my head, "I doubt it."

He reached into the back seat and produced a gift bag, "Here, Maybe this will help."

I grabbed the bag from him and removed the tissue paper. What I found inside made me smile. Inside the bag was a small stuffed wolf. "Oh my goodness, he is so cute how did you get a wolf that looks just like you?" I asked admiring the jet black fur and patch of gray on the chest.

"I have my ways," he said smiling back at me. He gently grabbed my chin, "You are going to go back and retake control of your life." He wiped away a tear that I didn’t realize had fallen. "I am confident you will be fine. You have all those books I leant you so you can keep learning about yourself. I am only a phone call away. Plus you have this little guy." he says motioning to the stuffed wolf.

I leaned over and kissed him, "Thank you for everything, James." I summoned the courage to finally get out of the car. Through checking my bags, boarding the flight, the flight itself, renting my car, I mean everything felt like I was having an out of body experience. I was really just going through the motions and where normally I would be fighting off fans I think that my general look kept most of them far away.

I was in a fog all the way up until I was about 15 minutes from pack lands. Even though it was dark outside by that time, I pulled over to the side of the road and took a deep breath. "You can do this, Mia," I whispered to myself. "You'll be fine." However, I don’t feel fine so I called the only person I knew that could help me.

*******
SHAWN

I plopped down on the log where Mia and I use to sit together and chat before she left. I was worn out. I wasn’t sure how much longer I was going to be able to keep up with being Alpha and Beta. My phone rang, and I was tempted to not answer it at all but it seemed like it was a day that everything that could be going wrong did go wrong and on the one hand I couldn’t take any more bad news. On the other hand, I knew I couldn’t let a potential emergency go unanswered.

I closed my eyes and signed deeply, "Hello." I answered my phone without looking at the caller ID.

"Shawn."

"Mia?," I perked up a bit, while she contacted me often enough she usually didn’t call me it was only a text message.

"Shawn, I'm…I’m back in South Dakota."

"Really? Where?"

She sighed, "Maybe fifteen minutes outside of the pack border."

"Ok? But you sound like something is wrong."

"How fast can your wolf get you out here? After the way I left the pack, I am not sure it’s a good idea for me to come back alone. I just pulled over on the side of the road"

"Yeah, of course, I'll be there soon." The though of her sitting on the side of the road in the dark didn’t sit well with me.

"Don't bring him." Every time I talked to her she refused to mention Ethan by name. Not that I blamed her.

"I wont," I promised.

The phone hung up and I made my way back to the pack house, knowing she was coming from the airport I knew she would be almost on the complete opposite side of the pack lands from where I was currently at. I stopped by my room to drop off my cell phone and change clothes and head towards Mia. I managed to make it in and out of the house without being stopped by any pack members.

As soon as I made it to the tree line I shifted and grabbed my sweat pants in between my teeth. I raced to the border as fast as I could, ignoring just how eager I was to see her again. I finally reached my destination and quickly shifted and dressed before emerging from the woods. I approached the car from the front so she could see me in the cars headlights and avoid scaring her. When I was almost at the car, the drivers side door flew open and she jumped out and ran towards me.

"Shawn!" She caught me off guard and almost knocked me over when she rushed me for a hug.

"Mia," I said, gently wrapping my arms around her, "I am so happy to see you."

We broke apart and started walking back towards the car, "Hop on the passenger side, I'll drive the rest of the way."

"So, how is the pack doing?" She asked as I pulled away from the curb.

"Not good at all honestly." I said not feeling the need to hide anything else from her since she was about to walk back into it.

"I had a feeling, you sounded tense on the rare occasion that we did talk."

"I didn’t want to tell you about what was happening because I didn’t want you to feel like there was pressure to come back."

I saw her nod out of the corner of my eye. "So how bad are things?" She asked.

"Well, Ethan's wolf hasn’t been right ever since you left so he hasn’t been able to really manage the pack like he should. So I have been doing his job and my job. The pack is also going through a tough time…missing their Luna." I said not wanting to make her feel bad.

"It’s a weird feeling that a whole group of people love and depend on me and I haven’t personally met most of them. The mating bond is so strong its honestly a little scary." She said.

"I can only imagine," I sighed, "I am sorry about how things went down before you left. I've been thinking about it and we were so wrong for how we tried to push you. I am glad, kind of, that you were able to find James and take some time to learn about wolf life without the added pressure we were trying to put on you."

"Thank you for saying that." She said.

"You know I am going to have to tell him you are here as soon as we reach the gate, the guards are going to alert them anyway." I glance over at her.

"I know."

I mind linked Ethan, "Mia is back."

"What?"

"Mia is back, we are crossing into the pack lands now.

"Meet me in my office." He growled shutting off the link.

We pulled up to the pack house and once we got out of the car I instructed an Omega to take Mia's things to her room. She hesitated on the front steps and I gently place my hand on the small of her back and led her towards Ethan's office. When we got there Ethan was sitting at his desk, a position I haven't seen him take in nearly four months. He looked like he’d attempted to clean up a little. He hair was combed, he had on some fresh looking clothes but he still looked worn down.

He got up from his desk and walked towards Mia. In a move that I think surprised all three of us he pulled her into a hug, burying his nose in her neck. She was still covering up her mark but I think his wolf was too preoccupied to notice. At that point I realized his wolf was mostly in control and needed that closeness with her. She loosely wrapped her arms around him too, her wolf probably needing the same thing.

"Leave," Ethan said to me after they pulled apart.

I looked over at Mia for confirmation. I wasn’t sure that she would want to be left alone with him so soon.

"I'll be ok, Shawn." She said quietly.

I nodded and left the couple to their reunion with my wolf protesting the whole way back to my room.

*********
MIA

After Shawn left the room there was an extremely long silence between Ethan and I. I wasn’t sure what to say to him. Sorry for running away? I wasn't. Was I supposed to ask how he had been? I didn’t really care.

"How have you been?" He asked walking back to the other side of the desk.

"Fine." I said.

"You look good."

"You don’t."

He chuckled, "Yeah, my wolf has been in a funk since you left."

"What did you want to see me for?" I asked, it was late and I was tired and I really didn’t want to argue. Or at the least we needed to go ahead and get the arguing out of the way so I could go to bed.

“My wolf…” he trailed off.

“Right,” I sighed, “I feel better than I have in weeks being near you. Even after just these few minutes.” I admitted reluctantly. “And I hate it.”

He silently regarded me for a few minutes not saying anything. His gaze lingered in my neck and I knew he wanted to see his mark. I also knew he probably had questions about why I kept it covered. I almost thought he was going to ask but he didn’t say anything.

“You can go now.” He said cooly dismissing me.

I rolled my eyes but left the room without a word. I was thrown off by the whole interaction. I expected yelling and cussing not the gentleness that I got. He must have really been going through a rough time. I text Shawn when I got back to my room to let him know I was in one piece still. I could tell he was worried by the look on his face when he left the room. I didn’t bother to unpack anything. I quickly undressed and slid under the covers drifting off to a dreamless sleep.

*****
The next morning after showering and getting dressed, I was hanging out, or hiding depending on how you looked at it, in my room dreading whatever was to come from my return. However, in my quiet time I made a promise to myself that I wasn’t going to cry anymore. I had to be stronger than this situation and find a way out of this and being a crying blubbering mess wasn’t going to help. So, I decided to do whatever I could to help the situation and the pack while I figured out how to get out of this.

I was mindlessly flipping through television channels when there was a knock at that door but figured there was no need to avoid the inevitable. I was surprised to open the door and find Beth standing there. She immediately hugged me, "I missed you so much! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back?" she asked as she came into the room and I closed the door behind her.

“I’ve missed you too. I didn’t tell anyone, Beth. There was a real chance I was gonna get right up to the gate and change my mind.” I said as we sat on the edge of my bed.

She grabbed my hand, “You have no idea how happy I am to have you back. I’ve been so worried. You have to tell me everything, including everything about this James character.” She said wiggling her eyebrows at me. Another surprise, Beth actually wanted to hear about me and another man even though her brother was my mate? Confusion must have been evident on my face, “I know it’s weird that I’m asking but my brother has screwed up everything and if you were able to find comfort in someone else I think I can understand that. And I was serious about what I said before you left. I want my friend back and I’m not going to mess things up like last time.”

Before I could answer a news story on TV caught my attention. "Breaking News, it is confirmed singer Mia Kane has been killed in a car crash early this morning. The singer had taken a few months vacation after her world tour and was on the way to the airport to return to her home in California. Unfortunately, her car collided with an 18-wheeler and burst into flames." As the reporter spoke an aerial shot was shown of what I assumed to be a car, it had been burned so bad that it was unrecognizable.

"What is happening?" I asked, shocked as the reporter kept talking and launched into discussing my career and my personal life.

My phone rang and I quickly answered it when I saw that James was calling, "I'm alive." I said right away.

"Thank God! I was so worried when I saw the news. What's going on?"

"I…I have no idea. I am just as surprised as you are."

"You should talk to Ethan." he said.

"Ethan?" I asked clearly confused.

"Werewolves have a long reach. How do you think we have remained hidden for so long? We've infiltrated most of the human world in one way or another so its possible staging a death wasn’t even difficult for him if he didn’t want you leave again."

"He better not have…I'll call you back later."

I turned and rushed out of the room yelling for Ethan at the top of my lungs as I went. How could he! As if he hadn't don’t enough to me he took my life and career too. After attracting the attention of half the pack with my yelling, I finally found him in his office with Shawn.

"Tell me you didn’t do this." I said.

"Mia, what's wrong?" Shawn asked.

I ignored him and walked right up to Ethan's desk, "Tell me you DID NOT DO THIS!" I repeated.

He regarded me for a second before he spoke, "I had to ensure that you couldn’t leave me again." he said nonchalantly.

That smug look on his face took me over the edge and before I knew it I leaped over his desk trying to get to him knocking his computer and some other items off of his desk. I was so furious my whole body was shaking I had never felt so angry in my life. I managed to swipe at him and leave some pretty deep scratches on his face which started bleeding immediately. The size of the scratches caused me to look down at my hand and I realized my hand has shifted into a large paw. No wonder my swipe at him had made such an impact. I froze in my tracks which allowed Shawn to pull me down from Ethan's desk.

"Mia…" he stopped mid sentence when he noticed my hand. "Shit, Mia." He placed a hand on each of my shoulders, "Just calm down, ok? Once you get your emotions under control it should shift back to normal on its own."

I didn’t respond because I was still looking at my hand in shock. He gently grabbed my chin so I was looking him in the eyes. "Hey, its ok. You lost control of your emotions and your wolf came out, not the end of the world ok?"

I nodded slowly and closed my eyes. I took a few deep breaths trying to calm the rage inside of me. After a while I could feel my hand shift back, an uncomfortable feeling but not as painful as I would expect.

"Now tell me what's going on?" Shawn asked after my hand returned to normal.

I silently picked my phone which had fallen to the floor during the commotion, and pulled up a video from CNN.com and turned my phone towards him. As the reporter repeated the same information I had heard in my room, Shawn turned to Ethan.

"Ethan, you didn’t."

"She can't leave again. I can't go through that again, my wolf can't go through that again." he said almost sounding desperate.

"You are a sick, selfish bastard." I said before leaving the room. Everything in my life just got 10 times more complicated. Something I didn’t think was possible.