The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Seamus. He was donned in stiff dress pants and a woolly sweater. His fingers flew across the portable keyboard, attached to the tablet perched across his thighs.

"I'm here to escort you back." He said, without glancing up. "I'd shower if I were you and put that jacket and shirt on. It'll disguise Jude's scent on you." He explained.

"You know?" I froze, flustered. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to feel knowing Seamus knew our secret.

Seamus sighed and stood, folding the tablet under his arm. "The Alpha can't hide anything from me."

"I just thought-"

"I know everything. Jude isn't as good at keeping secrets as he thinks he is." He says.

"Do you know where he is?" I ask, scanning the room.

"Not here. He's presently in his own room. He'll be busy for a while because of some high-esteemed guests we have welcomed into the Pack several weeks ago."

Disappointment had me saying a defeated oh.

I was completely at a loss.

I had hurt him.

When I kept thinking about our last exchange, I lingered on the words we hurled at each other.

I was ashamed.

Seamus sighed, "Look, we need to go. Your needing has finished. I've held up the other recruits long enough. The next test is this afternoon so you need to prepare for that."

I didn't try to argue and simply walked back into the bedroom. Jude's scent still lightly stained the air, which my body reacted to. Even the sheets still had his earthly fragrance imprinted on them.

"You can take a few minutes to shower."

Numbly, I rifled through my duffle bag, selecting a pair of sweats and a plain shirt.

The steam in the shower did nothing to relax the tense muscles in my shoulders. I twisted the knob until the water was burning. My skin soon turned pink from the heat but I kept scrubbing. I wasn't sure what I was trying to do but the hot water soon did its job. My tense muscles relaxed and I felt like I'd scrubbed away the last few days.

As promised, Seamus was still at the same spot sans the laptop. He stood when I closed the bedroom door behind me with my duffle bag slung over my shoulder.

He took a brief scan of my being before he gestured to the door.

I followed but the man paused, hand firmly latched on the door knob. He made no move to open it.

"Seamus?"

His fingers tightened on the knob before he turned slowly. His expression was stern as he spoke, "I'm going to be honest with you Aella. You don't deserve Jude. I want you to leave him the hell alone if you're just going to tug him along for games and shit. He has no time to be caught up with you, someone who doesn't know what the hell they want. Jude deserves more. If you can't give him that, just back off. Let him find his happiness with someone else. There are women in this Pack who'll treat him better than what you've been doing lately."

I swallowed the uncomfortable lump in my throat. My eyes stung but I refused to let the tears fall.

Seamus pushed the door open then. Alexei and Jamison stood on the porch, swathed in their combat skins.

"They'll escort you back to your accommodation."

"Thanks." I manage the word without sounding like I was on the brink of an emotional turmoil.

Seamus departed.

Alexei and Jamison lead the long walk back into the Pack Territory in dead silence.

***

Pen laid on my bed, head off to the side and her legs crossed in the air. She threw the tennis ball in her hand up and caught it in its descent. "I know you probably don't want to talk about it but I'm here for you."

I didn't know what it was. Maybe it was the way she said it, all soft and reassuring but I found myself suddenly shaking with memories from earlier in the cabin. The secrets I kept close were threatening to break and spew like a geyser.

The more I stewed on my thoughts, the more appealing it became to confess my dilemma. Seamus's words still lingered in my mind haunting me.

I watched as Pen caught the tennis ball again.

I could trust Pen with this one thing.

"What do you think about mates?"

"Is this supposed to be a trick question?" The girl rolled onto her belly, planting her hands under her chin, resembling a doll with pink highlights. "Because I'm sure I'll disappoint you with my response."

"Why?"

She blows out a lungful of air, as uncertainty rippled across her expression. "Well, everyone knows mates exist. I've seen how they are. They're almost unreal, you know? I didn't really believe in them but then you see a mated pair and you see the difference. It's just...beautiful." She suddenly screwed up her face, seemingly embarrassed, "Ew, that sounded tacky. Forget that bullshit I just said."

I laughed, "That did sound a little-"

Something soft slapped unto my face and I sputtered, ripping the pillow off me "Hey!"

"You're the one who wanted to talk about all this mushy gross stuff. You should know that I'm emotionally challenged and get weird with all this emotional crap." She retorted, springing up from the bed to dodge the pillow I launched her way.

"Geez, then what a pair we make." I shook my head. If she was emotionally challenged, what was I?

When she realized that no more pillows were being jetted her way, she settled back onto the grey covers, smoothing out her hair, "Well, why did you bring up the whole mates thing then?" She asked, watching me as I ran my fingers over the laces of my boots. Our next test was in an hour and since Ace was gone, Jace would be out to screw with me.

Maybe if I ripped it off like a band-aid and just put it out there, the confession wouldn't seem as momentous. "Alpha Slater is my mate."

"Huh." The bitch wasn't even surprised.

She just nodded like the world suddenly made sense and all the jagged pieces fit together.

"You're not surprised?"

Pen focused on a spot on the ceiling, looking pensive. "I'm not that surprised. There was always something between you two that seemed a little different. Now, it just makes sense." She nodded as if she just solved some murder mystery. Then her eyes widened as she stared at me with unfiltered glee, "Wait, is that why you were gone? The needing? Aella, did you two fuc-"

I lunged, smothering a pillow over her face. "Don't you dare finish that!"

She easily roller out of my grip, landing on her feet nimbly with a smirk on her lips, "Oh my gosh! You fuc-"

"No we didn't!" I shrieked, red-faced. My face was burning. It felt hot. Too hot. And Pen was too far to strangle. Who knew I'd get so riled up with this but Pen's knowing look made me want to pull her lovely hair out. It'd be a shame to leave her bald but by the way she was going, being bald wouldn't be the last thing she should be worried about.

***

Something was different about this test. Jude was present with Jamison and Seamus standing at his sides as they spoke in low whispers, no one could hear their words.

Pen nudged my elbow, "What do think is going to happen?"

Kian who I've hadn't seen in a while slipped between us, throwing an arm each around our shoulders. Pen appeared mortified by the abrupt nearness, trying discreetly to shrug his heavy limb off. "Ladies." He drawled, keeping his gaze forward. "How are you both?"

"Since when did you give a fuck about that?" Pen grumbled, eyeing his offending arm on her person.

Kian merely shrugged, studying my profile instead, "I need to talk to you."

"After the test." I responded. He sighed but didn't protest. He only left when Jamison motioned us into a cute little semi circle where he stood in the front. "Today will be a little different. There are three members of the Pack that are in that forest behind us. Your job is to find these changelings. Their scents have been slightly altered but we have some of their belongings with us. Each of you will step forward when prompted and have a chance to familiarize yourself with their scents. When we blow the whistle, you'll leave to search for them. They may be hard to find as they are moving targets. The three who manage to come back first will receive rewards. There are some E.S members inside the forest too. They'll be monitoring you all and will determine the five who will go home."

"Five? There's going to be five of us leaving?" One guy piped up.

"I didn't stutter."

"That's not fair."

"All I hear is whining. The fact is, tracking is one of the most desirable traits amongst the E.S. If you can't track for shit, there's no point in permitting those who don't have a natural instinct for it to stay any longer. We're about quality not quantity here." Jamison eyed the boy with disdain.

"Whatever, I'm going to win this shit anyways." Jace claimed, eliciting a set of growls from the other recruits. That boy really needed to know when to zip his lips. He'd been a little more crazy since Ace was no longer in the running to be a part of the E.S.

"I really, really want to punch his face. I didn't care if he looked like a damn Calvin Klein model. I was going to enjoy fucking up his pretty boy face." Pen sniffed, casting a glare at the said male, oblivious to the simmering rage of the Rogue.

"Piece of cake." Kian was one of the first to head the line as Jamison began motioning people forward.

There are three shirts spread on the grass, all baring a scent of their owner.

The first smelt like strawberry lollipops. A child perhaps. Usually young children carried sweeter scents and the piece of material definitely didn't carry any other scents. The second shirt emitted a floral scent with a hint of spice and the last shirt was saturated with alcohol which nearly drowned out the original scent of the fabric. The child would be the easiest to find considering they weren't as cunning as they could be if they were adult changelings.

The most difficult to find among the three scents would be the shirt drowned in the musky scent of alcohol. The carrier's scent was barely prominent and usually adult changelings were more adept in losing their scent in their surroundings if they were practised.

"I'm going for the kid." Pen came to my side, "He'll be easier."

"Ha, you wish. I'm getting him." Casey strutted her way towards Kian who pointedly swerved out of her way to avoid her. I was shocked Casey doesn't unsheathe her claws and hiss into his face.

"Okay recruits, you better find someone or at least look like you know what you're doing. We have eyes covering the whole perimeter."

The whistle blew, signalling the beginning of the hunt.

Since he didn't confirm whether we had to do it in our wolf or human forms, some clothes ripped into the air as wolves of all sorts of colours raced into the trees.

Pen was in the lead, followed by Jace who nipped her tail in warning. Kian was probably the only one sauntering along the open field without a care in the world.

The Enforcers positioned near the opening of the forest eyed him closely as he gave them a little languid wave just as he disappeared from sight with the other recruits.

I remained in my own skin and launched into the forest a hair's breadth away from Casey who decided to go changeling form. As I slid abreast from her beast, I noticed the hard look on Jude's face as we passed. His arms were crossed as the wind picked up and threw his dark locks of hair around.

Seamus caught my eye as he diverted Jude's gaze from mine. It was obvious he wasn't going to kiss my ass any sooner. He was dedicated to his Alpha and since we hadn't officiated anything, I was still merely a recruit in his eyes.

Jamison looked contemplative as he stared distractedly in the distance.

I shook my head to clear my jumbled thoughts as I sped in front of a few determined recruits.

A few had already verged onto new paths, sniffing the area.

When I was in the thick of the trees, I took in my surroundings. The mulch made my boots sink in a little as I scanned the ground first. The floor bed was untouched and the only marks imprinted into the ground were my own. There were a couple of recruits close by but they avoided coming any closer.

Trekking was an art form and a highly coveted one within the Packs. Jamison had been accurate to say that trekking had to be instinctual. Majority of missing changelings were found by the E.S if their own Pack couldn't do it. Rarely, they were given permission to enter other Territories to do so but even then, it was a rare occurrence.

Trekking was easy, if you knew what you were doing. Ma had taught me how scents had colour. Everyone had their own unique shade. The colours faded over time, which made trekking nearly impossible. The scents on the shirts were fairly fresh but it was difficult catching one specific scent with every other scent diluting it.

I turned slowly, closing my eyes to shut off my other senses.

My nostrils flared as it took in the wet grass, the stale bark, the smoky fragrance of freshly chopped wood....there were layers upon layers of scents coalesced in the air, it was difficult trying to separate them all.

The buzzing of insects dimmed, along with the trinkling flow of water from the stream near-by.

I tried to recall each scent of the shirts that were displayed, pulling on the scents like they were colourful strings in the air.

A twig snapped.

I whirled to my left, knees bent and hands ready at my sides as a man appeared between two trees with murky, brown eyes that shined an animalistic gleam.

My skin pricked with awareness.

"What are you doing here? Who are you?" My voice sounded steady despite the raging rhythm of my stuttering heart.

The man paused for a few heart-stopping seconds, his wide chest heaving visibly as he drank in short breaths.

I couldn't decipher the sudden expression that befell him.

He looked ravaged.

Tortured.

"Allison." His voice was pure anguish.

Maybe it was the way he said Ma's name or the uncertain tone in his voice that convinced me that he wasn't a threat but both wolf and I ceased the urge to attack as the stranger moved closer.