That same morning...

Calum was slow at waking up this morning. I, however, was not. I could barely reign in my enthusiasm about the day ahead of me.

I urged Calum to get his butt in the shower. I wanted to surprise him with breakfast and I needed him to get ready so I had time to prepare it for him.

I made my way down to the kitchen. Xavier was my guard for this shift and he followed me down the steps. It was going to take some getting used to to have someone watching my every move and following me wherever I went.

I realized that I was grateful it was Xavier with me this morning and not Lucas. Lucas wouldn't approve of me making breakfast for my mate and he'd make it clear to me. I could easily picture him telling me that Calum didn't deserve me or anything nice I did for him.

Once we were in the kitchen, something was made obvious to me. I knew where the kitchen was and I knew how to cook, but I didn't know where anything in the kitchen was. Suddenly, making a meal for Calum seemed much more daunting.

"Can I help you?" A pretty young brunette asked me. She must've seen the way I looked around as if I were lost.

"I want to make my mate breakfast, but I'm not sure where anything is in here."

"I can show you around. I'm Talia, by the way."

"Morgan. It's nice to meet you, Talia." I watched as she moved around the kitchen to show me where the pans and silverware were.

"I make meals for my mate every day. Would you like to cook with me?" Talia asked.

"Of course."

"How long have you been here?" Talia turned up the stove and I grabbed bread for the French toast.

"A few weeks." I answered.

"How come I've never seen you around before?"

"Calum has kept me pretty hidden."

"You mean Alpha Calum?" Talia was stunned to say the least.

"Yeah. Trust me, it's really not that big a deal."

"You're going to be my Luna someday. That's kind of a big deal." The bacon sizzled as she laid it out across her hot pan.

"Not really. I could use a friend now though. I don't know many people here."

"Of course. I'd love to be your friend. I could use somebody to hang out with too. Maybe our mates and us could go on a double date soon!"

"That would be perfect!" I loved the idea, only I knew Calum wouldn't be too thrilled about it. He wasn't much of a people person and we rarely went out on dates just the two of us.

There was a brief shouting before I felt an all too familiar presence behind me. "What are you doing in here?"

I looked up from the eggs before answering, "I thought I'd help make breakfast. These women work so hard to make me breakfast every morning, the least I could do is lend them a hand now."

"You're absolutely right. So is any of this something I get to eat?" It was obvious he was excited about me cooking for him.

"Of course. I made some food specially for you. Go have a seat."

When everything was fully cooked, I loaded the food onto a plate and set it before him on the table.

"Enjoy." I placed a small kiss on his cheek, unsure of myself. We had never been so affectionate before, but if I wanted our relationship to work it was as good a time as any to start now.

I didn't eat with Calum, but he came to thank me before he left to his office.

While he was busy with work, I kept myself occupied by spending time with Talia. She gave me information about the pack, we laughed at embarrassing stories, and we watched a couple movies together. It was a relief to know that I finally found a true friend here.

I especially enjoyed being able to walk about the house all day with someone. If everyday could be like this, living here wouldn't be so bad.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

"Stop it! You're going to get sick!"

"No, I won't!"

I attempted to grab the nearly empty brownie pan from Calum but he only gripped it tighter and held it closer.

"You can't eat them all in one sitting." There was only a quarter left of the brownies that I made for him just an hour ago.

"That sounds like a challenge to me." He raised his chin up at me in defiance. I had never seen him act like such a boy. It was refreshing from his usual scary alpha persona.

"It's not. I'm cutting you off." I took this moment to snatch the pan from him. He had been too shocked to stop me.

"How can you do that to me?"

"It's not good for you to inhale an entire pan of brownies."

"You shouldn't have made them so delicious if you didn't want me eating them all."

"My bad." I covered the rest of the brownies and set them aside for tomorrow.

When I sat on the couch with Calum, he took my hands in his. "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."

"I have to admit. I actually had an ulterior motive to bake for you."

"And what's that?" Luckily, he didn't seem angry, only curious.

"I made a friend today. Her name is Talia and she's got a mate too. I was hoping to soften you up tonight so that you'd agree to go on a double date with us."

"You didn't need to soften me up with brownies. I'll go."

"Really?" I couldn't believe he was actually agreeing to this.

"Anything for you."

We shared a small smile before he glanced down at my lips. I couldn't stop my eyes wandering down to his either, and soon enough, we were both leaning in closer to each other.

Calum closed the space between our lips and let his mouth rest on mine. It was a soft gentle kiss. It was obvious he didn't want to push it too far for me.

I pulled away too soon. If it went any longer, I would want more even though I'm not ready for us to go any further. For now, we just sat and relished in what had been our first kiss together.

"Let's go to bed." I grabbed his hand and stood, guiding him over to the king sized mattress.

"Are you sure you want me to sleep here?"

"I want you near me tonight."