~Alyce/Faelyn~

I looked over my shoulder at Victor and shook my head, “No thank you Delta, I’m quite adept at this. Been doing it half my life.”

“Seems like a young age to start kitchen work. You can’t be more than what? 19, maybe 20?”

“Maybe, but when you’re taken in as an orphan you do what you’re told, when you’re told and are thankful to not be a rogue. I’m 18 as of yesterday.” I knew I was probably giving him more information than I should, but for some reason I found him easy to talk to, like an Uncle I never had. Plus I would be gone soon and it wouldn’t matter.

“Well happy birthday, albeit a bit belated. This pack doesn’t do birthday celebrations?”

“Thank you, and no, not for Omegas. Sometimes the Omega’s families will hold a small one, but I have no legal family here.” I took the trays I had prepped to the end of the counter near the coffee pot and headed for the fridge to get out the orange juice, milk and cream.

About the time I was placing the cold drinks in a small tub on the counter I heard more steps coming down the stairs. I just hoped it was more of the Moonlight pack and not Red Moon members. I grabbed a bag of ice from the freezer and poured it into the tub around the cold drinks to keep them cold and turned, ready to greet the next round of wolves drawn by breakfast.

~Tristan~

I was woken at 7 am by my father banging on my door as he walked in, “Get up, get dressed. Quickly. Kami woke me up, apparently that curious Omega is down in the kitchen. I don’t know why they think this is something to wake me up over, but she is seemingly quite intriguing. So if I have to be up, so do you my boy. They say her food smells amazing.”

I growled and threw a pillow at him, which he dodged and threw back at me after getting from the floor where it landed, “Come on Tristan, duties of the future alpha do not sleep in.” He laughed.

*Plus the earlier we’re moving the sooner we can find our mate…* Ryder chimed in.

“Fine, fine, I’m up. Get out. I’ll be out in a minute.” Truth was, all I needed was to be reminded that our mate was out there somewhere close and I was wide awake.

“I’ll wait in the hall for you.”

I nodded and rolled out of bed as my father stepped out and closed the door. I jumped to my bag, pulling out clean boxers, dark wash jeans and a black t-shirt. I didn’t feel the need to put shoes on for breakfast so I didn’t bother. I dressed quickly and joined my father in the hall, much to his amusement. Titus was coming out of his room and walking towards us as well.

“Let’s go,” I grumbled and headed down the hall with them towards the stairs. I was starting to catch hints of the food in the kitchen as we reached the stairs. Ryder was jumping around by the time we reached the bottom of the stairs, *Mate, mate, mate! She’s here! Let’s find her!*

*Hush, we have to investigate this Omega first, then we will find our mate. At least we know she’s in this house somewhere.*

Our group headed into the kitchen, the intoxicating smell of honey, mint and kiwi filling my nostrils. Could it be? Victor hadn’t mentioned anyone other than the Omega being in the kitchen this morning. Could she be my mate? I brought up the rear of the group, shoving through the others as they came to stop to survey the breakfast setup.

I stopped dead in my tracks as I saw her, she was the most beautiful she-wolf I had ever seen with her hair worn like a crown. She was a queen, no, a goddess. She was shorter than me, and full figured, but I could see the muscles under her leggings. She turned and looked at me, her green eyes instantly finding mine, they were so pale they were nearly translucent. I couldn’t decipher the emotions in them as I was too busy drowning in them, “Mine!” I whispered as I took a step towards her.

Ryder wanted to tackle her, take her right there in the kitchen, but he whimpered when she took a step back when we advanced. I noticed then that her eyes were glazing over, though they were so translucent I nearly missed it, she was mind-linking someone.

Within 60 seconds a male came flying through the back door, grabbing my mate and pulling him behind him. He was tall, just a few inches shorter than me and had a lean build with well defined musculature. I only knew this because he was only in a pair of shorts. His eyes were ice blue and darting between all of us in the kitchen while standing between us and my mate, she was gripping his hand like a life line.

I growled at the sight of them touching, “Move!” I glared, staring him down, “Get away from my mate if you value your life.”

~Alyce/Faelyn~

I did not expect to feel that pull again, and definitely not this soon, but it was there, as soon as I turned and caught sight of those smokey, blue-gray eyes I was in a trance. I took in the sight of him. He was tall, taller than Mat by a few inches and he was 5’10”, so maybe 6’4” give or take. His shoulders were broad and I could see tattoos peeking out from the edges of his shirt collar and all down his arms. I was pretty sure he could bench press three of me without breaking a sweat.

Aramyth and I instantly wanted to run to his arms and crush his lips with ours which was a much different reaction than with Theo, “No, no we can’t.” I told myself, *We’re leaving tonight, we can’t have a second chance mate. It will ruin everything.* I whimpered at Aramyth.

Then he whispered and took a step towards me and I panicked. I wanted to run, but I knew better. Male wolves loved a good chase. I took a step back, mind-linking Mat, *Help, Mattie, come quick, pack manor kitchen. Hurry!*

It didn’t take long for him to come barreling through the back door, I felt his hand grab my wrist and yank me behind him. I clung to his hand for dear life.

The god-like stranger didn’t like this, and I knew he wouldn’t but I needed to think and Mattie would buy me the time to do that without hesitation. My mate growled at Mat, ordering him to move and get away from me.

~Matheau~

I ran in the door of the pack manor, taking the briefest second to assess the situation. There were 5 unknown wolves in the kitchen, 4 male, 1 female. All of them are exceptionally tall, even for werewolf standards. One was easily 7’, maybe a little more. The giant one, and 3 others were watching the scene with a mixture of astonishment and amusement. I don’t think they’re the reason Alyce called me.

No, I suspect it was the 5th wolf, who was staring at Alyce like he wanted to eat her, and not in a bad way. Oh boy, what was going on? Was this another Vincent situation? I would kill someone if it was, but that seemed unlikely given the audience. It looked a lot like the Theo situation that happened last week.

Didn’t matter, Alyce needed me. I grabbed her, pulling her behind me, letting her cling to my hand as much as she wanted. I did not take an aggressive stance though. Not yet anyway. The guy looking at Alyce growled at me, telling me to move and get away from his mate.

“Got it, it’s a Theo situation,” I muttered under my breath. I looked at Mr. Growly, “Sorry buddy, I can’t do that, but don’t worry, you’re more my type than Alyce is. You need to back up and give her some space though.”

Mr. Growly blinked at me, taking a minute to process what I just said, “I don’t care who your type is. You are between me and my mate and that is a dangerous place to be. Who are you?” another growl from him.

I glanced back at Alyce, who was quickly gaining her composure, and then back to him, “Listen Mr. Growly, I don’t care who you are. Alyce is my priority. I will move when she is ready for me to do so and not a second before. My name is Matheau. I am the son of the Deltas for this pack. Alyce is my best friend and my sister. Now unless you want her to bolt out of here the second she finishes processing this information overload, I suggest you back up.”

“Mr. Growly…” I heard Alyce whisper and giggle come from behind me, but didn’t take my eyes off of the male in front of me. Good she was coming around.

My eyes darted to one of the other males, the tall one. His hair was black and his eyes gray and he looked lean, but I had no doubt that he was a lot stronger than he looked. He was laughing, a chest rumbling, belly aching laugh, “Mr. Growly… Oh, that’s both funny and currently appropriate.” He stepped forward, hands out, open towards us to show he meant no harm, “My name is Alpha Daemon Willow of the Moonlight pack, and that is my son Tristan. With me are my daughter Kami, my Gamma Titus and my Delta Victor, who apparently met your friend yesterday.”

He came up to stand just behind his son, placing a hand on his shoulder, “Tristan, you need to step back. She is clearly overwhelmed, give her a minute. I know how you feel, but you need to think about how she feels.”

I watched Tristan’s expression change, like it pained him to step back from his mate, but he did so, with a little encouragement from his father’s tug on his shoulder. I felt Alyce’s grip on me loosen and gave her a questioning look over my shoulder.

“I’m ok Mattie, I just needed a minute. Thank you.” She whispered as she came to stand beside me. She looked over at the others, “My name is Alyce Lilly, I do apologize for my reaction. I was just caught off guard. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”