The next morning, I decided to sleep in a bit, I was still a little sore from running around with the girls. When I finally did come down for breakfast everyone was already up eating and chatting at the table. I was happy to see the girls were still here, after making up yesterday they wanted some alone time, so I didn't see them for the rest of the night. When I sat down at my usual seat between to mom and Lucas I noticed Shawn and Linda seemed to be in a particularly good mood, probably because they got to make breakfast instead of me.

"Morning, how did things go last night?"

The table went quite making me look up from the food I was serving myself, well that's not good. Lucas was the first to answer.

"We ran into a bit of trouble near the end of the night."

"What?! How bad?" I couldn't keep the panic from my voice.

This time mom answered, "Calm down, we're all fine just a few scrapes here and there."

"Bullshit, you guys wouldn't be this reluctant to tell me if it wasn't serious."

My father smacked his hand on the table causing the whole thing to shake. "Caden! Watch your language when talking to your mother!"

"Sorry." Was all I could say in a small voice.

My father just looked at me for a moment before letting out a sigh. "We ran into a few rogues last night and they were different, stronger than usual, but the troubling thing was that we were being watched. They were too far away for us to get a good look and by the time we reached them they were long gone, but they were definitely wolves."

"Could it have been one of the newer packs that recently moved here?" Alice asked.

Charles answered her, "It's possible but unlikely the new packs have been told to restrict their movements to their host's land until the community meeting this Saturday."

A community meeting is when all the wolves in Crestwood get together and go over everything and anything, like an open court.

Cora asked before I could, "Host's land?"

Claire spoke up this time, "The new packs are currently guests in another packs land until the meeting."

My father puts his aura behind his words, "What I'm about to say does not leave this table." Nobody responds and just nods. "Rumor has it that the White Moon pack uses rogues like this to weaken and test packs."

Everyone is stunned by this revelation no one says anything.

Mom finally breaks the silence, "Alright, that's enough depressing talk. Caden, I forgot to tell you I met the most wonderful girl yesterday. She's from the Blackwood pack one of the new packs here and she's perfect for you."

I groan, "I thought you said no more depressing talk."

I get a few snickers for that one and Noel who was in the middle of drinking orange juice chokes a bit, but my mother remains unfazed.

"Wolf or human?" I ask.

"Wolf obviously." She responds.

"And did you tell her I'm human?"

"Well, no but-"

"Mooom." My tone was that of a parent scolding their child.

"Will you relax, she's the one I can feel it! You're going to meet her at Geno's at 7."

My mother has this crazy idea that I have a mate out there somewhere, so she sets me up on these blind dates with werewolves hoping to find her. But all I end up finding are disappointed and sometimes angry women. I look at Lucas and when he sees the look I'm giving him he simply nods knowing what I want to do. Before my mother can keep going I decide now is as good a time as any.

"Dad, I want to join the pack."

"Well of course Caden." His nonchalant response told me he clearly didn't understand my intention.

"No dad, I mean I want to join the PACK, like really join." With that everyone stops to look at me, but I keep focused on my parents. My father has a surprised look on his face while my mother looks at me worried, grabbing hold of my hand. I use my other hand cover hers over mine to soothe her and quickly explain myself.

"Don't get me wrong I don't mean to go out with you guys, I've been learning from James for a while now and I would like to be another pack doctor like him."

Mom breathes a sigh of relief while dad gets a serious look on his face. Everyone else starts to get up to starts their day.

Lucas places his hand on my shoulder, "Hey we better get going we don't want to be late."

I look to dad and he nods at me. "We'll discuss this more later tonight."

Mom just squeezes my hand a little giving me a small proud smile.

School was pretty uneventful, the sudden influx of new students was not lost on the humans and they're already planning a huge welcoming party for all the new students, like they need an excuse to party. At lunch Peter and Marisol were already talking about the upcoming party strategizing which of the new students they were gonna try and make a move on.

"I'm telling you that new hottie in our English class, Gabriella, was giving me the look all period." Peter was bragging to us. Peter is American-Vietnamese, he was born here but his parent are Vietnamese. He has a skater boy look to him complete with a beanie hat and tight ripped up jeans.

"Pfft, en tus sueños." Marisol responded in Spanish.

Marisol is a curvy Latina I'm not sure from where, she has one lip piercing and quit a few ear piercings. Her arms are tatted up with tribal tattoos which she proudly shows off regardless of the trouble teachers give her. She pretty much looks like a bad girl, but despite her looks she's actually a pretty big softy.

"What?" Peter asked not understanding

Cora translates it for him, "She said in your dreams."

"I'm telling you Mari her eyes were all over me, you just didn't see it." Peter defended

"No, but you know what I do see, the boy two tables down blushes every time I catch him looking at me." Her accent making her sound sexy.

We all turn to look, he has slim grey glasses and short blonde hair I recognize him from my history class his name is Quill, and at the moment he looks like a deer caught in headlights as he sees us looking at him. His face goes bright red and quickly looks down.

Marisol get up from our table, "If you'll excuse me I think I've caught something nice."

"Daamn, get it girl." Alice says to Marisol as she walks by and towards Quill.

"Try not to scare him too bad." Peter calls out to which Marisol promptly responds by flipping him off without turning around.

Peter looks to me, "So are you coming to the party?"

"When is it?" I ask.

"Saturday."

"Saturday!? Damn, that was fast." I say surprised. Remembering what Claire said about me getting out more I decide why not. "Sure, I guess if it finally gets you to shut up about it."

Peter just chuckles, "Dude it's gonna be lit your gonna thank me. Hey, I didn't see Hanna in class today, is she sick?"

"No just dealing with some family stuff." I lie.

Nobody from the Bloodfang pack was at school today, probably getting everything ready for Cole's ascension ceremony and the welcoming party for the last pack moving here. Which had the added benefit of making the rest of my school day pass rather peacefully. After walking me to Lucas's car I say goodbye to the girls and tell them I'll see them tomorrow, they work today so they won't be coming over. Opening the car door, I notice Noel isn't here it's just Lucas in the driver seat.

"Where's Noel?" I ask while getting in the front seat.

"He decided to go to Julie's place today."

"Julie? Don't you mean Gina."

"No, I mean Julie." He says exasperated

"Ah, geez what a man whore, he's just asking for trouble."

"Yes he is." Lucas pulls out of the school parking lot and instead of heading home he takes the turn to go downtown.

"Where we headed?" I ask

"Mom wants you to get a new suit for your date tonight."

"Oh, c'mon Lucas." I whine.

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger you know how mom gets."

"Yeah, I know." Just remembering the few times my father made the mistake of getting on her bad side was enough to end any argument I had.

"Besides Geno's is a high-end restaurant and you need a new suit anyways. In fact, I'll get one too."

"Yeah, yeah."

By the time we got home from getting fitted and the suits adjusted it was already almost time for my date. I quickly shower and get dressed, I look at the two silver daggers I usually take with me whenever I go out without my family or Alice and Cora. You never know when rogues might show up or worse another pack might try something. I decide against putting them on rather I'll just leave them in the car just in case. I grab the shoes I'm going to wear and check the sole of the heel and pop open a piece revealing a small secret compartment where I have hidden a small vial in one and a syringe in the other. I've done this to all my shoes, no one knows about it not even my family, its one of the few tricks I have that they don't know about. I make sure both the vial and syringe are okay and finish getting ready.

Finally making my way downstairs I spot mom and dad talking to members of our pack, Zaya and Barry, they seem to be in a meeting. They both see me and smile in my direction, Zaya and Barry turn around and wave to me and I wave back letting them go back to their talks. As I continue down I see Lucas at the bottom of the staircase wearing his new suit as well.

"Where are you off to?" I question

"You really think mom and dad are going to let you go out alone with an unknown wolf, I don't think so."

I roll my eyes at him, "Okay, I get that but why the suit?"

"Do I need an excuse to look good?" He runs his hand through his still damp hair.

I laugh, "Well excuuuse me princess."

Now we're both laughing. As we head out Claire is coming in, she must be coming back from training because she's covered in sweat.

"My, my where are you handsome studs off to?" Claire asks while eyeing us both up and down.

Lucas answers her first, "This one has a date while I'm playing chaperone."

Miffed at his dig I shove him out the door, "Go get the car you ass."

"Finally taking my advice?" Claire proudly asks.

"Yes and no, no because this date was set up by my mom and yes because there's going to be a party Saturday that I'm going to."

"Well good, I'm glad to see you loosening up a bit." She then leans in close to whisper in my ear, "But if you do end up striking out tonight feel free to visit me in my room dressed just like that." She then proceeds to smack my ass like usual.

Flustered I just look at her, "Your relentless aren't you."

She laughs, "Only when it comes to you sweetie."

I scoff and roll my eyes at her, we both know that's a lie. Lucas finally pulls up in the car I tell Claire goodnight before getting in and driving off.

When we finally pull up to Geno's it's 5 minutes to 8, Lucas tells me he's gonna drive around for a bit to call him if anything. When I walk into the restaurant I see that my date is already sitting at the table, she hasn't spotted me yet, so I take a minute to watch her. She was stunning to say the least her hazelnut hair was in a very stylish top bun, loose curls framing her very pretty face. She was wearing a red strapless dress that helped show off her features and her naturally sun kissed skin. But what really caught my eye was how nervous she was, she was constantly looking around then looking down at her dress smoothing out wrinkles that weren't there. She reaches for a glass of water and ends up knocking it over, I see her mouth the word shit as she grabs a table cloth and tries to dry the table. I finally decided to walk up to her.

"Hi, I'm Caden." I hold out my hand to her.

Embarrassed she takes my hand, "Hi, I'm Daniella."

After a brief second, I could see the realization that I'm human dawn on her followed by disappointment. The disappointment on her face only lasted a second before she schooled her features in to a smile but that second is all I need, and it still hurts to see. But for once I actually felt bad, maybe it was seeing how nervous she was, or maybe it's the fact that she hasn't walked out yet and is actually trying to hide her disappointment. Either way I felt bad and was surprised by the fact that I wanted to help her. I was even more surprised by the words I said next.

"I just came by to tell you that my brother is running a little late and he should be here soon." I don't know what I was doing but I was gonna have to let Lucas know.

"But I thought, I was told that you-" She was looking at me confused.

"Oh, no, this is just a small prank my mother likes to play on people." I lie hoping she buys it.

Which she seems to because she starts to chuckle. "Well that threw me for a loop, I had heard the rumors about you, so it caught me off guard."

"Yeah, I tend to do that to new wolves in the area, so I'm a rumor?" I haven't heard about that.

"Well yeah, I human male adopted by a pack is unheard of, its kind of fascinating." She looks at me curiously.

"Well I wish some of the others shared your view of me, so anyway it was nice meeting you Daniella hope you and my brother have a pleasant evening."

"Please wait, you said you brother was running late. Do you mind keeping me company until he gets here? I'm kind of out of my element here and a bit nervous, having someone to talk will help calm me down, please?" The sincerity in her voice stops me, she sits and stretches out her hand offering me the seat across from her.

Surprised by her offer and still feeling sorry for her I accept and sit, "Of course, why not."

When I sit she gives me a genuine smile that I can't help but return. A waiter comes by seeing the spilled water, she offers the waiter an apology for the mess. While she's distracted I text Lucas.

Hey, need U text me when outside.

While waiting for Lucas, Daniella and I talked, and I found that she has a great sense of humor and is wicked smart. She's a genuinely good person and someone I'd like to be friends with. After a while I feel my phone vibrate and I look to see Lucas has texted me, he's outside.

"Times up?" Daniella says to me jokingly.

"Looks that way, Daniella again it was a pleasure to meet you, I hope that even if things don't work out with my brother we can still be friends."

"Of course, you were wonderful, thank you for keeping me company."

I wave her goodbye.

When I get outside Lucas is parked out front sitting idle, he rolls down the window.

"Hey, hurry up I'm starving I didn't get a chance to eat."

Perfect, "Good because I need you to go on my date." I open the driver side door letting Lucas out.

"What?" He looks at me confused.

"Look it's a long story but I need you to go an-" I stop because Lucas has started sniffing me. "What the hell are you doing?" I push him off me and this seems to make him come to his senses.

"Sorry, you just smell really good, it's probably the food sorry."

"Well then you're in luck now go get in there, and Lucas I like her so be a gentleman." Still feeling a little protective.

"No worries but what are you going to do?"

"Nothing, head home I guess."

"What are you gonna tell mom?"

"Shit." What was I gonna tell mom? "I'll figure something out don't worry, now go."

As Lucas walks in I take off toward home, as I drive I think about how well my day went. Today was a great day meeting Daniella was amazing, finally telling dad I want to join the pack, and school went by without a hitch thanks to...

Then it hits me that's what I could do, by now Cole probably thinks I wussed out in coming tonight,I could totally crash Cole's party by showing up now. Just thinking about the reaction on his stupid face when he sees me is enough to put a smile on my face. His territory is only couple of miles east of ours, so it won't take me long to get back home. I can totally do this and be back before Lucas or anyone else notices. My mind made up I turn the car and head towards Bloodfang territory.

The road to the Bloodfang's main house is in a poor state, pot holes everywhere with some parts even eroded. A clear sign that Demetri hasn't bothered with its maintenance I have no doubt he's spending the money on himself instead. When I pull up to the main house I see its surrounded by trees not even having bothered to clear the area for any cars but their own. Their house is slightly bigger than ours which is to be expected since they are a bigger pack. I start to feel uneasy, but I shake it off. I get out of the car and make my way towards the front door where I see to two guards. As I get closer I realize I don't recognize them they are not from the Bloodfang pack. They're both big and built and they must be related because their faces are too similar, brothers maybe? One has a black hair with a buzz cut and the other is bald. They must be from the new pack but why are they on guard duty?

"What are you doing here? Your kind isn't welcomed here." The guards with the buzz cut calls out to me.

That's when I notice they have released their auras and have tensed up ready to attack. Shit, they don't know who I am, and I forgot my daggers in the car. Is this what Cole was after, have an outside pack attack me and start a pack war? No way is Cole that smart, regardless I need to get out of here quick.

"Speak!" The bald one call yells. Both their auras intensify but its nothing I can't handle, they think I'm a normal human, I'll use that.

"I-I-I c-came to speak with m-my classmate Hannah w-w-we have a project due t-tomorrow." I pretend to be scared.

"Isn't it a little late for that?" The bald one looks at me skeptically.

"I-I just got out of work."

"Dressed like that?" The one with the buzz cut calls out.

"I work at Men's Warehouse we have to wear suits for work." Shit, I forgot to stutter.

They both just stand there looking at me, I begin counting down in my head ready to make a run for it. Suddenly I feel both their auras disappear.

"Get out of here, there is a private event in progress, so no one is getting in." The buzz cut explains.

"N-no problem." I turn and head back towards the car breathing out a sigh of relief, that was close.

When I reach the car, I go to open the car door when I'm suddenly tackled to the ground from the side, the hit was hard enough to knock the air out of my lungs, it also rattled my brain so I'm losing consciousness. Before I blackout I turn to see who got me, I expected to see one of the guards from before, but what I end up seeing is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my entire life. She seems to be smiling down at me, the last thing I hear before darkness finally takes me is one word.

"Mine."

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