Claire's face paled. She lowered the umbrella and dropped her head in embarrassment.

The Alpha gazed about her room, taking everything in.

She was anxious about having the most dominant and highly ranked person in her pack see the absolute mess of her bedroom. She cleared her throat and tried to distract him. "Um, can I get you anything to drink? Would you like to come down to our living room? I think we have some cookies floating around."

She wasn't sure how to deal with this Alpha. For one, the whole situation was just awkward. How did he end up in her room? Or in their house in the first place?

Oh no, was that her bra on her floor? Her face flamed with heat. There was no doubt he saw that. Oh, Goddess. Oh Goddess, why?

In their old pack, her Alpha was more like an uncle to her. She'd known him as long as she could remember, and he had treated his Omegas as if they had the same rank as him.

This Alpha was completely uncharted territory. His Beta seemed nice enough, but that politeness might not exist in this Alpha.

He was much hotter than the Beta, though...

"...Coffee?"

Claire blinked. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" Her face was probably as red as a tomato dipped in ketchup.

"Do you have any coffee?" A smirk played off his lips. Damn, why'd his face have to be so handsome? She could just picture black wings on his back. With his tan skin, beautiful eyes, and dark brown hair, he'd pull off the perfect avenging angel look.

The Alpha watched her switch her weight from foot to foot. "We kind of ran out of coffee," she told him weakly. A lie. "Can I get you some water?" It'd have to be straight out of the kitchen tap, but—

Oh, crap. Kitchen... Charlie!

She uttered a curse and sprinted back downstairs to the kitchen. Charlie sat in the pantry, clutching a metal can of beans for dear life. He had it cocked behind him, as if he were going to throw it had he been provoked.

"Oh, Charlie." Her heart broke. Tears dripped down the little boy's face and he shook with fear.

She picked him up easily and set him on the kitchen counter, holding him to her chest. "Shh, it's alright. Everything's fine."

"I thought you forgot me, Care."

"I could never forget you, Charlie," she lied straight through her teeth.

"I thought you weren't gonna come back. I thought the bad guys got you."

She didn't reply, only clutched him closer and tighter. How could she have forgotten him? He meant so much to her.

"Is he okay?" The Alpha's voice behind her made her jump.

"He'll be fine."

Claire corralled the two into the living room. She rushed to get a cup of water for the Alpha.

He looked down at the outstretched cup, grasping it tightly and taking a deep sip. "Scooby Doo?" he asked, amused.

"Sorry. We don't have many choices."

The Alpha gave her a crooked grin. "I'm more of a Courage the Cowardly Dog kind of guy...but Scooby works too."

She couldn't speak. The second that half-grin came out to play, she was a goner. Seeing him now, under the brighter lights of the living room, he appeared much more gorgeous than she originally thought him to be.

Girls weaker than her would probably be reduced to a puddle. That dark hair and dangerous smile would be able to convert even the saintliest of nuns. An odd burning feeling churned in her stomach, like a small flame set on high and left to burn.

Claire stared at his masculine fingers that held onto the cup. What would it feel like to have those hard-working and calloused hands on her?

Where the hell was this coming from?

She grabbed Charlie and sat him on her lap as a precaution.

The Alpha either couldn't see her sudden lust or chose to ignore it. "Where are your parents?" he asked her. His voice was deep, but it came across delicately, like warm caramel on her ears.

"Mommy and Daddy left for work," Charlie announced. "Mommy won't let me watch Courage. She says it's too scary. But when Mommy's not around, sometimes Daddy and Care let me watch it."

The Alpha leaned closer to Charlie. "Can I tell you a secret, uh...?"

"Charlie," Claire interjected.

His hazel eyes flicked to hers. "Right, Charlie. Well, Charlie, when I was a little boy, I was too afraid to watch it."

Charlie's eyes glittered with the knowledge. "Daddy says Alpha's don't get scared." Even her little brother could feel the dominance coming from the man, and Charlie hadn't shifted yet.

Claire sighed. She hated being the bad guy. "What are you doing here, Sir? If you don't mind me asking." She didn't want to disrespect the Alpha, but she couldn't help the harsher tone that came out of her mouth. Alpha or not, she didn't think that necessarily gave people permission to break into houses. Or go into bedrooms. Why was he up there anyway? Why didn't he wait in the living room?

"It's Nate."

"Pardon?" she questioned, caught off guard.

"My name. I'm Nate." He held out his hand with an easy-going and friendly smile. A smile that did funny things to her insides.

"Um, Sir, I don't think..."

"Come on. 'Sir' and 'Alpha' are way too formal. You're what? Sixteen?"

"Eighteen."

"Eighteen. That's only a five-year difference between us. I'd feel much better knowing we're friends. And I can't stand having my friends call me something so formal."

Two friends in one day? Was the world going mad?

"Claire." She bowed her head a bit in recognition of his outstretched hand, but refused to shake it. She was too afraid of what it might make her feel. "If you don't mind me asking again, Alph—er, Nate—why are you here?"

Nate took a deep breath and leaned back into the dirty couch. He threw his arm over the back like he was completely content where he was. His gaze scanned the messy living room. "Honestly? I came to check on my Omegas. I wanted to formally introduce myself. That's kind of hard to do when half of them aren't here."

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I can give you a time when they'll be here." He'd almost never find a time when they were all here, except maybe late Sunday afternoon. But even most weekends were rare now. Everyone but Charlie was almost always at work. The idea of "family time" was pretty much laughable. The only family time they had was Sunday dinner and the walk they took afterward.

Nate eyed the couch he was sitting on, as if only now noticing its state. He frowned. "Could you and I talk in private for a moment?"

Claire withheld a sigh. "Of course."

After returning Charlie to his Lion King movie, the two ended up in the kitchen. "Do you mind if I start Charlie's dinner?" she asked. "It'll only take a few moments.

Nate nodded and leaned against the counter, arms crossed. Dominance and capability showed through his muscles. Those arms could probably do anything.

Claire grabbed the mac and cheese from the overhead cabinet as well as a pot. She filled it with water, shifting her weight from foot to foot while she waited, and placed it on their stove.

She turned on the gas and waited until she heard the constant clicking that said it was trying to light itself. It never did anymore. She searched through one of the side drawers for a match. Once she found one, she quickly lit it and then lit the stove with it. She watched as the gas ignited into flame the second the match was close.

"You did that like an expert," Nate declared into the silence. The only noises were the humming of their old fridge and Charlie's animated movie.

She shrugged. "Cole says anytime you do something at least ten thousand times, it automatically makes you an expert."

"Do you think you are an expert at lighting the stove like that?"

She was confused at their topic choice. "I don't know. I suppose so. I do it all the time."

Nate's expression pretty much yelled pity. It was something that Claire didn't want to see on anybody. Especially not him. "You shouldn't have to."

Again, she shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal. I've done it for so long now, it's practically routine."

"Do you have a car?"

She brushed some hair behind her ear. "We have a station wagon."

"We?"

"Cole and Marie use it most of the time." Her tone turned flat.

"Does the school bus come out this far?"

"No."

Nate ran a hand through his hair. "This is worse than I thought," he mumbled.

Claire frowned. "Look, we get by, okay? That's all that matters."

"Does Charlie have a nanny?"

"Is he supposed to?" She was starting to squirm at all the questions. "He goes to daycare at my school."

"Every werewolf child needs a nanny to teach them about their future lives as wolves. Your school daycare won't be able to do that for him."

She clenched her teeth. Was he trying to say she wasn't doing enough for him? "Then I guess I'll have to start teaching him." How she was going to shuffle that in with her homework and everything else was beyond her.

"You shouldn't have to," he repeated gently.

The water on the stove began to bubble slowly, the water moving to release the trapped air. Claire tossed the macaroni in and set the gas on a lower level. She stayed quiet. What did he want her to say? Life was hard. She had learned that years ago.

"Would you like anything to eat? I could grill up some chicken," she offered.

Nate smiled politely. "No, thank you."

An awkward silence.

"Do you—" Nate asked at the same time Claire began with a, "Look—"

They both stopped. "Go ahead," they said at the same time.

"No, you go." Again, they tried.

Silence.

Claire couldn't help but burst out laughing at Nate's expression of frustration. The way her stomach tightened and her chest lifted was something she hadn't felt in a while. It was a good feeling.

Nate let out a small chuckle.

"Go ahead," she pushed.

"I was just going to ask...Cole and Marie aren't your parents," he stated.

"That's not a question," she teased lightly.

"You know what I mean."

She turned and grabbed the rest of the ingredients for the macaroni to avoid answering right away. Her attention remained solely on mixing the cheese and butter into the noodles. "No. They're not my parents."

"I had a feeling. You don't feel like an Omega."

She glanced up at him. "How would you know?" she wondered. She hadn't even touched him! Usually, a wolf had to make contact with a fellow wolf to feel their rank. With the exception of Alphas, of course.

Nate gave Claire a crooked smile that almost made her swoon, then pointed to his temple. "Alpha awesomeness."

She giggled. "You know, you don't really seem to be an adult sometimes."

"Are you saying that I act like a kid?" he asked in fake outrage. He dramatically clenched a hand into his t-shirt where his heart rested.

She snorted. "Maybe. Sometimes you act like Charlie does. And I've only known you for an hour."

"My brother says I was actually supposed to be the younger one. He says fate got us confused."

"Your brother might be right."

He shrugged. "Eh. What can you do?"

"Can you grab me a bowl out of that cabinet behind you?"

"Sure." He turned to do as she asked, hunting for a bowl. Claire watched as his back muscles moved as he reached up. Anyone with a body like that should be a model and give back to the world. "You know what, Claire?"

"Hmm?"

"I feel different around you. There's something special about you...and I'm going to figure it out what," he promised.

Her mouth ran dry. Could he feel it too? "Uh..."

"Here." He held out a Disney Cars bowl—Charlie's favorite.

Claire allowed her hand to get scarily close to his own fingers gripped around the bowl. The hottest bolt of electricity shot through her arm, and she pulled her hand back lightning fast before she touched him.

What the hell was that?

Nate must've felt it too. His face turned...calculating? He set the bowl behind her on the counter and stalked toward her.

Caged in, Claire had nowhere to run. She was trapped by where the corners of the counters met.

She glanced up into Nate's eyes, not sure if she was comfortable with his nearness. A part of her screamed no. That this was a stranger and her Alpha and she couldn't let him get close. Especially since he just broke into her house an hour earlier.

But the other part—the beast part inside of her—yelled at her to take the opportunity. To let him get close enough so she could see if he was....

"I just want to try something," he whispered. His warm breath fanned across her face, making her shiver.

His body wasn't touching hers—barely. Fire and electricity shot through the corner of the room, consuming the two of them. Seeing him so near made butterflies take root in her stomach.

Up close, Claire couldn't help but stare at his face. His nose was entirely straight and masculine. His eyebrows perfectly set. His jaw hand-chiseled by Luna herself. And his scent! The perfect blend of everything homey, with the slightest tinge of sharpness that came from cologne.

He raised his tan hand painfully slowly and was about to touch her smooth cheek. She inhaled, readying herself.

"Care?" Charlie's voice shot through the kitchen, breaking the two apart before anything happened.

They both jumped back. Claire's hip rammed into the corner of the counter. An ache flowed down her side from the impact.

She cleared her throat. "Y-yeah, Charlie?" Her voice came out breathless.

"Mufasa is gonna die and I can't watch that part. It's too sad. Is my mac and cheese ready?"

She sprang into action, scooping the ready dinner into his bowl. "Of course." She handed him the bowl and a spoon. "Would you like water too? I think we have some milk somewhere..."

"Water, please." He set his dinner down on the table after moving some of the numerous bills into another stack. He hopped into the chair and wasted no time shoving the stuff down.

"I better go," Nate told her.

Claire nodded, glad the tenseness would leave with him.

She walked him to the door after he said a hasty goodbye to Charlie, who told him to come back and visit anytime.

He drove away in a nice Dodge Ram tucked behind a section of trees down the road.