The Mating Rules

Lauren’s POV

I trudge out of the pack house my happy mood from this morning long gone after running into that tramp Ellie. As I cross the grass, heading toward the Elite training group that is huddled around Caden who it seems is leading our session today, my gaze drifts to the right where two very muscular and very shirtless men are fighting in human form whilst a third stands to the side, acting as referee.

I immediately know that the fighter facing me is my brother-in-law Hadley, the man refereeing is Tyler’s father, Elite Warrior Frederick. My feet stumble as I realise that the muscular back that I’m gawking at belongs to my best friend. My gaze runs over the taut muscles that flex as he moves, and as he turns slightly, an intricate ink design comes into view across his right side.

I didn’t know Tyler had a tattoo, he didn’t have it five months ago when we went swimming in the nearby lake, when did he get that, and why didn’t he tell me?

I can’t help but feel a little hurt that he kept something like that from me, and a growl of anger rolls out of me as Ellie’s words wing through my mind. If her bra is in his room, (not that I could find it, though I searched, merely to help my friend out, save him a job) she must have seen his ink. The thought of Ellie tracing her fingers over the design when I hadn’t even seen it, sends an erratic rage through my veins.

Turning on my heel I storm over to the training group, stopping next to my brother-in-law just as he turns to me with relief, ‘Lauren! Thank Goddess, we have one without a partner’ he breathes out, waving a hand toward one of the she-wolf warriors who gives me a nervous smile as I tighten my hands into fists.

‘OK, stand opposite your partner, let’s do some hand-to-hand take-down moves’ Caden orders, stepping out of the way my partner moves across to stand in front of me.

I take my stance, eyeing the slightly older girl across from me, when Caden says go, I lunge for her, grabbing her wrists, turning slightly, and using my weight to throw her over my body to land on the ground on her back.

She g****s in shock, rolling to her right and rubbing her back as I step back, blowing a strand of hair out of my face.

Climbing to her feet, the she-wolf gives me a wary look but takes her stance again, attacking me first this time as I easily evade her, turning with her and slamming my linked fists into her back as I hook my foot around her ankle, so she loses her footing and faceplants into the ground.

Pushing up from the grass, I notice b***d running down her face from her nose and have the smallest twinge of guilt that I might have broken her nose.

Shaking off the feeling, I wait for her to climb to her feet before I attack again, this time sweeping her legs from under her and bringing down my elbow into the centre of her ribs when she’s on the ground, winding her.

‘Lauren!’ Our Alpha’s voice cuts through the grunts and g****s of people training and every head swivels in my direction as Caden storms toward us, bending to help my partner to her feet as she whimpers, gasping for breath.

‘Are you OK Janine?’ he asks in concern, the older girl nodding before mumbling about sitting out for a minute.

Beckoning to one of the other warriors to help her, he barks out an order for everyone to continue before rounding on me.

‘What the hell was that Lauren?’ he demands, glaring down at me as I shrug, avoiding his gaze. I can get away with more than most being his Mate’s sister and all, but I’m pretty sure that this isn’t one of those times.

‘I was doing takedowns like you said’ I reply, kicking at the grass under my feet.

I feel a hand wrap around my arm before I’m marched away from the other warriors by my brother-in-law who says nothing until we are out of earshot.

‘That wasn’t take-down practice’ he growls when we stop at the edge of the training ground, ‘Dammit Lauren, this isn’t like you, you hurt Janine! She’s a strong fighter but she’s not as strong as you are! You are supposed to be honing your skills not putting my warriors in the damn clinic!’

I stare at the ground, shame washing over me, ‘I’m sorry’ I whisper, ‘I don’t know what came over me, I swear, I didn’t mean to hurt her like that.’

Caden blows out a breath, grabbing my shoulders and making me face him, ‘it’s not me you need to apologise to Lauren’ he grumbles, ‘I think you know that.’

Nodding dumbly, I wait for my brother-in-law to release me before I move back toward Janine who is pinching her nose as another warrior holds a shirt underneath to try and contain the b***d.

Seeing me approach, the helper stands up backing away as Janine watches me with apprehension.

Flopping down beside her, I pick up the shirt and hold it to her nose, ‘I’m sorry’ I mumble, ‘I shouldn’t have been so rough, I didn’t mean to hurt you.’

The brown-haired woman gives a small shrug, ‘it’s OK’ she replies thickly, ‘I’ll heal and now I know that the best way to survive a fight with you is to run away.’

I can’t help the chuckle that bubbles out of me as Janine bumps my shoulder, ‘honestly, it’s fine Lauren, we all get carried away sometimes’ she adds.

I nod, ‘yeah, but I should know better, my sister is the Luna’ I mumble sadly, ‘man, she’s going to be so pissed when Caden tells her what I did.’

Janine laughs, reaching up to pull my hand away, releasing her nose, and giving a tentative sniff. ‘Ahh if she asks me, I’ll just say it was an accident’ she promises, ‘but next time, maybe give me a chance to defend myself?’

Nodding I laugh, standing up and holding out my hand to her, ‘I promise’ I reply, ‘I’ll even let you go first.’

Janine nods, letting me pull her to her feet before brushing down her clothes and grimacing, ‘I think I’ve had enough training for one day’ she admits, ‘I’m going up to take a shower.’

Letting her go, I watch the older woman walk over to Caden, and speak to him briefly before heading back toward the pack house.

I stand nervously, waiting, as the Alpha heads toward me again, ‘I think maybe you’ve had enough training too Lauren’ he mutters sternly.

I nod in agreement, not wanting to hurt anyone else today. As I go to take a step toward the pack house, Caden stops me, waiting for me to face him before he heads toward his bag at the side of the training field and rummages quickly before heading back to me and pressing a small key into my palm.

‘It’s time you move into the pack house’ he states, ‘I’ve spoken to Mary-Anne and Greg, and they agree with me. I let you stay with your Mum because she was really struggling with Bailee leaving the pack and then Philip found his mate quickly too. I knew she was hurting, but you can’t live at home forever, you need to be at the pack house, training and bonding with everyone else. I don’t want to be harsh here kid, but it’s time to grow up and you can’t do that with your mum still making your breakfast for you and ironing your clothes.’

I look down at the key, turning it over to see the number 27 written on the keyring attached to it, six doors down from Tyler’s room.

‘Sorry kid’ Caden adds, grabbing my shoulder and giving it an affectionate squeeze.

I just nod, closing my fingers around the silver-coloured metal, ‘I’ll go home and start packing’ I murmur, ‘I’ll get myself into the packhouse tonight.’

The Alpha nods, giving my shoulder one last squeeze before releasing me and heading back toward the other Elite warriors who are still trying to get each other to the ground.

Turning my back on the group, I look over at Tyler, his dad, and Hadley for a second, watching as my best friend grabs a towel from on top of his bag and wipes his face as Hadley says something to him.

Averting my gaze, I focus instead on my parent’s house and start to jog my way toward it, I’ll pick up my bag from Tyler’s room later, no real point taking it back home to haul it back to my new room again.

Reaching the front door, I push it open, slipping inside as the sound of my mother singing along to the radio reaches me. Peeking around the door, a small smile tilts up my lips at the sight of my mother unloading the dishwasher, her h**s swaying to the music as she reaches up to place plates in the rack on the wall.

I creep past the door, holding my breath, trying not to alert her to my presence.

‘Why are you back so soon Lauren’ my mother’s voice demands from behind me and I turn, one foot on the stairs to find the matriarch of our family glaring at me, hands on her h**s.

‘Caden let me go early’ I reply quickly, ‘so I can start packing, you know, to move up to the pack house?’

I hold up the key in my hand, showing it to my mother as her frown turns to sadness, her arms wrapping around her body.

‘He gave you that already?’ she asks quietly, ‘Oh, I thought he would do it in a few days . . ‘

‘No, he decided to give it to me now’ I say, moving my foot off the step and walking back toward my mother, wrapping my arms around her waist.

‘Hey’ I chide gently, ‘I’m only going to the pack house, you can literally see my bedroom window from the living room. I’ll still come by all the time, and I expect my Sunday dinner every weekend, two o’clock on the dot old lady.’

My mother chokes out a laugh, wiping at her eyes as she shakes her head at me. ‘You cheeky mare’ she grumbles, ‘I’ve a good mind to refuse you a seat at my table again after calling me old.’

I giggle, hugging her tighter, ‘you know you look good for an old gal’ I retort, ‘you still got some sass in those pants, and just think, with me finally out of your hair, Dad can chase you around the kitchen without any chance of me walking in.’ I wink at my mother as she blushes, covering her face with her hands at the memory of the day I came home early from class as I was sick to find them both half naked on the kitchen table. I don’t know who was more mortified, me or mum.

‘I know it’s time’ Mum mumbles, patting my cheek, ‘I’m just really going to miss you.’

I nod, leaning my head against hers, ‘I know, I’ll miss you too but I need to start standing on my own two feet, heck I could be Mated in six days!’

I see the light return to my mother’s eyes at the mention of my Claiming ceremony.

‘Oh, you’ll have to come here for the night so I can help you get ready, I haven’t even bought your dress yet! I can’t believe I’m so disorganised!’

I smile down at the woman, pressing a k**s to her cheek, ‘you have time mum’ I soothe, ‘and of course, I’m coming here, I need my mama to doll me up ready for the love of my life!’

Smiling once again, Mum steps back, shooing me with her hands, ‘go’ she orders, ‘go and pack up your things, I have to make desserts for your birthday dinner.’

As I head back to the stairs, Mum calls after me again, ‘is Tyler coming? Do I need to make a peach cobbler?’

I roll my eyes, turning back toward her again with a smirk, ‘yes he’ll be here, and no, you don’t have to keep making his favourite dessert Mum. It’s MY birthday! He can have what I like and be grateful he’s allowed to come over here to eat.’

My mum just waves me off, heading back toward the kitchen where I know she’ll be making that damn cobbler along with chocolate cake for me and an Apple pie for my dad.

Shaking my head, I finally start up the stairs, groaning softly when I think about just how much stuff I have that I need to somehow pack into the two suitcases that I own.