Waking up to a gentle rocking of my shoulders, I groaned and pulled the covers to my neck and curled up, unwilling to open my eyes. When the rocking happened again, I grumbled a few complaints and opened my eyes, the sunlight burning for a few seconds. Squinting and hissing slightly, I saw Tiberius looking at me and chuckling lightly.

"What are you laughing at?" I asked, my voice gravelly and low.

"Oh, nothing..except how you act like a vampire in the morning," he replied, smirking adorably. Giving him a sarcastic smile, I threw the covers off of me and swung my legs over the edge of the bed and stood up quickly- well, tried to.

Instead of standing up like I thought I would, my head went fuzzy for a second and I stumbled, seeing the ground rush at my face. Bracing myself for the impact, I was instead met with the warm arms of Tiberius who was shaking his head and laughing.

Grinning sheepishly, I stood up into his embrace, his hands settling onto my waist while mine wrapped around his smooth back. Leaning down, he pressed his luscious lips on mine, sending waves of electricity rippling down my body. I kissed back instantly and he groaned, pulling me closer with one hand still on my waist while the other was on the small of my back. Winding my hands up his neck, I ran my fingers through his scalp and deepened the kiss, feeling his tongue on my bottom lip. Playfully denying, I pulled back and looked up at his gorgeous features, from his golden-green eyes to the dip below his nose, leading to his now dark pink lips.

"Hi," I whispered, looking up at him through my eyelashes.

"Hi," he whispered back just as quiet, a small smile playing on his lips. After a few moments, he brushed the hair away from my neck, inspecting the Mark thoughtfully.

"Thank you for letting me mark you last night. You- you have no idea how much you mean to me," honesty, adoration, and love soaking his words. Without thinking about it, I replied;

"You shouldn't have to thank me for letting you mark me last night. You're my mate, the one I'm going to spend the rest of my life with, the one who I'm going to have pups to, and the one I'm always going to support and be behind," I stated firmly, standing my ground and giving him a serious expression.

Watching his face light up, his eyes brightening with happiness, was like watching the sun rise in the morning. Full of hope and new promises, it showed a side of Tiberius I've only just begun to see.

Kissing me lightly on the lips, he held my face in his calloused hands, staring deeply into my eyes after pulling away.

"I love you, Elenore Burns."

"And I love you, Tiberius Connall."

~~~~~

After I took a shower and blowdried my hair straight, I walked into my old room in a towel since all my clothes were still there. Picking out an outfit of a casual long sleeved shirt and skinny jeans with a pair of boots, I made my way down to the dining room alone since I convinced Tiberius to go without me so he could catch up with some of his pack members.

Rounding the corner into the dining room, I saw-and heard- the same 20 or so people that's been here the last few days. Walking to my seat near Tiberius, Gail, and Haley while saying hello to different people, I saw Tiberius talking and smiling with Gail, then laughing. Laughing! How great is that!

Once I sat down, Tiberius grinned at me and held my hand under the table. A few seconds later, Alesha and Brenda came out of the kitchen door with plates of food in hand, along with another girl, who had orangish-brown hair and freckles across her nose and upper cheeks. Thanking Alesha and Brenda as they brought our food, I also thanked the new girl who seemed surprised, but happy all the while.

When all of us were eating the pancakes, eggs, and sausage while chatting happily, I looked up at Haley. Making eye contact, I mind linked her.

'Hey Hay- Hayy,' I said, winking my right eye. Smiling, she replied.

'Hey Elliee..Bellie?' she ended questioningly, since she just came up with the rhyme. Laughing, I nodded to give her reassurance that it was a good rhyme, and she laughed with me.

'I wanna hang out today. Are you gonna be busy with Gail?' I missed talking and joking with Haley. We used to be together everyday, but ever since we came here, we've just been busy.

'I miss you too! And I don't know, but I'll ask.'

Nodding, I turned towards Tiberius to see him stuffing half a pancake in his mouth. Choking to hold down a laugh, I covered my mouth and bit my finger. Looking up to see what I was laughing at, Tiberius looked at me with wide eyes, as if he was a child that had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

After staring at eachother like that for a few more seconds without moving, we both burst out laughing, making almost everyone look at us. Blushing, I said a quiet "excuse us," and was returned with humorous expressions or delighted smiles. Probably delighted that I could make their Alpha happy, I thought to myself.

Turning my head to see that Tiberius had finally swallowed the pancake, I asked him about me spending time with Haley.

"Hey Tiberius? I was kinda hoping I could spend time with Haley today since we haven't really had any time to since we got here. Would that be okay with you?"

"Yea, actually. I think that would be a great idea," Tiberius smiled. "Gail and I have to go visit the Alpha border today to see how the patrol is doing, so that's perfect!"

"Yay! Thank you!" I bounced up in my chair and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek, ecstatic I would get to spend the day with Haley.

'Haley, you ready to go enjoy our day together?!' I grinned to her, pretty much yelling from excitement.

'YASS GURL!' she yelled back, a glowing grin showing her straight teeth.

Standing up with Haley, we both kissed out mates and told them to tell us before they left, and I said a happy goodbye to the other pack members. Leaving on a chorus of "Goodbye Luna"s, Haley and I linked out arms together and skipped down the hall to start our day of fun.