Wolf under an oak tree.

“Iris dear, are you alright?” Laura's voice felt distant, but I know that she was close by and before I could give her an answer, someone wrapped their arms around me.

“Iris, what is it, darling?” Laura was rubbing comforting circles around my back which calmed my nerves a lot.

“I think I saw someone near the forest edge,” I mumbled and pointed my finger towards where I saw Alan, just a few minutes back, she scrunched her nose, but she turned her head to look in the direction that I was pointing at.

“There is no one there. I guess you might have seen one of our patrol wolves or someone else.” Laura said.

“Are you sure that an outsider can't get inside this pack?” I asked, and she looked at me with a comical look.

“Of course not! I mean invaders can come in, but if they do, either, the border patrols will inform us, or the higher-ranking wolves can feel the shift in energy, that way we know that someone has stealthily come in.” Laura explained, but my heart still wouldn't calm down because I know that my eyes weren't playing any tricks, it was Alan.

“I just checked with Jace, and he said that he didn't feel anything,” Laura said, but I can see that she is starting to doubt herself.

“I guess you are right, maybe it was an animal or maybe someone from the pack,” I said, and after that, I quickly changed the subject. Laura was a great person to be around, she can make anyone feel so at home, and I am so happy that the pack has such an awesome Luna, but at the same time, I am starting to doubt myself too. Will I be able to be like her? I didn't know how the time flew by, but it was two hours since Jace and the others went to that meeting.

“Hey, girls can you add me to the party too, since a meeting with two hot-headed alpha for two hours isn't fun at all.” Walter’s cheerful voice made me look up from my fifth cup of tea.

“I don't think I can add you to this fun party since I still have a lot of questions regarding what happened earlier.” Laura’s voice was stern, and when I looked at Walter, I can see the fear clear in his eyes.

“Luna, it was all a huge misunderstanding,” Walter said, and he gave her the puppy eyes, which would have worked on anyone else, but it looks like it's not working on her.

“And, what did you do to set an alpha to literally kill you?” I almost choked on my own laughter, and I was trying very hard to not laugh at the fact that Walter was giving us. He looked like a dear caught in headlights.

“I...um...I kissed Iris.”

“You did what! Oh my God! Summer was right, this insolent boy will never learn his lesson till he finds his mate.” Laura muttered to herself and turned her glare towards him again.

“You did know that Iris was his mate, right?” Laura asked, and her eyes have completely changed their color to brilliant green, let me tell you, if I was there at the receiving end of that glare, I would be a good ten feet underground by now.

Well, rest in pieces, Walter.

“I...um did have a hint that maybe Iris was his mate, and I only did that to prove my point.” Walter defended himself, and now both of us were looking at the luna. Her face still held the disappointment, but the anger now vanished from there.

“I swear Walter, that one day you might seriously die in the hands of Jace due to your stupidity. How many times has your mom told you to not reel, Jace, up.” Laura scolded him, but now her tone was much lighter, and she looked relaxed.

“Oh, come on, aunty, where is the fun in that? Have you ever seen me not reel Jace up?” Walter asked her, and she shook her head before continuing to sip her tea.

“You will never learn,” Laura said with a small smile on her face.

“Who will never learn, what?” Jace asked, coming inside the kitchen, and Laura just shook her head before getting up from the chair.

“I will let you two talk. You two have a lot to sort out,” she said, and she gave us both a warm smile before exiting the kitchen. And as soon as Laura left, Walter took her place and he looked at both of us expectantly, with an excited look on his face.

“Walter, come out from that kitchen this instant!” Laura yelled.

“Urg, you are no fun at all!” Walter said in a dramatic voice and got up from his place before giving us both suggestive looks and leaving the kitchen.

“So, I guess mom must have explained more about mates, right?” Jace asked me, and for some odd reason, I find his deep baritone voice, sexy, and a few impure thoughts crossed my mind.

Get a hang of yourself, Iris!

“Iris?”

“Huh, yeah, she did explain everything,” I said, and I got up from the chair, when I turned around, I noticed that Jace was only a foot away from me, so I backed up a bit to create some space, but apparently that didn't work since my back hit the table and he had a small smirk on his face, looking at me trapped in between him and that damn table.

“And, I think she must have also said that if you have an alpha mate then...” he slowly took a few steps towards me with each word he spoke, and now he was completely pressed up against me with his hands on either side of me. And I was hyper-aware of the sparks and electricity that was spreading through my body which made my mind into a puddle.

“Alpha males are extremely possessive...” I took a deep inhale of his manly scent, and gently placed my hand on his chest. “Protective.” which caused an involuntary shiver from him, and his body started to burn up like a torch under my touch. “And they are very horny,” I slowly got on my tiptoes and placed my lips on his ear. “Urging them to complete the mating process soon,” I whispered, and I didn't know where I got that courage to do that, but for the first time, I felt confident and bold.

“Well, darling, since you have done your homework, then I guess you wouldn't mind if I do this, right?” Jace whispered in my ear, and due to the close proximity that we were in, I didn't have must time to process what he said before he placed both his calloused hands on my cheeks and connected our lips in a gentle and the sweetest kiss that I have ever experienced.

The moment our lips connected, I felt like an entire box of firecrackers just exploded in my mouth, I didn't feel any remorse, all I felt was pure love and want for him, so I wrapped my hands around him and kissed him back, hard.