I ended up not seeing Everleigh in Biology the next day. The seat besides me stayed empty the entire class period, and I had to endure the boring lecture all alone. Thankfully, it was my last class on Friday's, and I could head straight out of the Bioscience building to the Williams's car afterwards. I climbed in and immediately blasted the air conditioner. We were only halfway through September, but it was staying hot as balls out for as long as Virginia could hold onto summer.

When I was finally comfortable enough, I clicked on my seatbelt and pulled out of the parking lot, turning up the volume on the radio as I gained speed towards the highway. I had not a care in the world as I relaxed by screaming along to the lyrics, cruising down the street into the mountains. But that changed in a manner of minutes upon arriving at the Packhouse.

I headed through the garage door, down the hallway and straight to the kitchen, intending on grabbing a snack before I cracked open my homework for the night. Instead, I walked straight into a meeting I was not aware was happening that day.

And seated at the table were Everlee, Andrew, and two boys I didn't know. Across from them were River and Emerald.

I stood absolutely shock-still in the doorway as the door swung closed behind me. Emerald opened her mouth to greet me but Everlee beat her to it.

"April?" She looked so confused, and I couldn't blame her. Why would I, a human, be walking into a wolf-run house's kitchen as if I owned the place?

"Oh, hey Ev. I missed you in class today." The man next to her — not Andrew, the other side — sucked in a breath. I met his eyes for a moment and he seemed to freeze, but I blew past him, back past Everlee to meet Andrew's. He looked just as confused as Everlee.

"Hey April, glad you're home!"

Everlee whipped her head around to Emerald. "Home?"

"She meant here," I cut in, the lie slipping through my teeth with more ease than I was expecting, "I watch her kids most afternoons!" I looked at Emerald, pleading as subtly with my eyes as I could manage. "Where are they anyway? I figured they'd be in here eating a snack."

While she might not have understood why, Emerald played along. "Yes, sorry, we kicked them out to get ready for this meeting. You can find them outside in the back." I could tell she wasn't sure of the situation, both if her kids were even outside, and the fact she was lying to what appeared to be the Alpha of another pack.

"Thanks. Sorry I intruded on your, uh, meeting." I waved a quick goodbye to Everlee and then darted out the door behind me, trying to ignore how confused everyone seemed in that room. The second I was gone, I leaned against the wall, breathing so heavily I was sure everyone in the house could hear me. I just hoped Emerald was smart enough to play along and come up with something to explain my presence, and why I was babysitting her kids when there were a house full of omegas on hand for every Alpha family need.

Oh, that was so stupid of me! My chest rose and fell fast, my heart still pounding in my ears. They're never gonna buy that! Closing my eyes I leaned my head softly against the wall, knowing soon I was going to need to actually find the kids I'm supposedly "babysitting".

Then it hit me. My eyes flung open and I sucked in a long breath, pushing off the wall to run up the stairs. I was right! All along, I was right! Everlee was a wolf. That was what could explain her and Andrew's — her mate — presence here. Why else would they be having an important meeting with River and Emerald.

I supposed in their eyes, the same could be said of me. But still!

Oh my Goddess, does this mean Andrew and Everlee were the alphas of a nearby pack? We're the other men their Beta and Gamma? There was no way for me to be certain, but it made sense.

A tiny knock sounded on my door, jarring my chaotic arrangement of thoughts spiraling through my brain. Running a hand through my hair, I scurried across the room to open it.

In the hallway stood the two kids I was supposed to find. "Hey guys."

"Mom said you were looking for us." Jade said.

I opened my mouth to respond when I picked up the sound of the kitchen door swinging on its hinges. The alphas' conversation floated up the stairs. Grabbing each of the kids by an arm, I pulled them into my room and shut the door.

Amethyst yelped with surprise, but I did not want Everlee and Andrew to know I was up there. I wanted to avoid further questions until I was forced to face them on campus come Monday.

"What are you doing?" Jade asked me cautiously. Both he and his sister had followed me across my room to the window, where I was busy tucking the shades back.

"Spying." I told him casually.

Amethyst's crystal blue eyes widened and she glanced at her brother. "Spying? On Mommy?"

I lifted the window open a bit. Not enough to make noise, but enough to hear the noise coming from the front door below us. "No, not on Mommy. On Mommy's friends."

Jade, whom I had noticed tended to be pretty observant for a six year old, sidled up next to me, his little hands on the window sill to copy mine. Though, I was on my knees and he did not have to crouch down, as this made us close to the same height. I barely glanced at him, keeping my eyes trained on the cobblestone courtyard below. "You're hiding from them."

"Yes. I know one of them from school," I tried to explain without seeming like a bad person in front of these kids. "But she doesn't know I live with werewolves. And I didn't know she was a wolf until today, when I came home."

Amethysts joined us at the window. "Mommy's friends think you're 'sitting us."

"Yes. And I want it to stay that way."

Everlee's voice carried up to the window as they walked down the steps of the yard.

"Shh!" I told the kids, even though neither were making a sound.

"I like this game." Ames pressed close to me, her forehead on the window like mine, her eyes watching Everlee stroll towards the black sedan parked to the side.

My friend opened the door to the back seats, sliding in. Andrew closed the door after her before walking around to the other side and getting into the vehicle himself, his blond hair disappearing as he ducked inside. The other two men — I wasn't sure whom they were — followed behind, getting in a few last words with Emerald and River, both of which had yet to come into view.

If they were all werewolves, which seemed to be blatantly obvious at that point, I could safely change my assumptions to that Andrew and Everlee were the gammas and the other two men were the alpha and beta. It would make sense seeing how Everlee and Andrew sat in the back. Typically the alpha drives and the beta is passenger, unless otherwise offered or decided. It was a status thing, pack dominance and hierarchy.

One of the men made his way around the car to the passenger side, climbing in before I could get a good look at him. My memory wasn't impeccable, and I didn't stare at him when I burst into the dining area early. All I could go off of was his dark hair and summer-tanned skin.

Which of course didn't help, as I came to notice the other man, presumably the alpha, looked very similar in appearance. The alpha's hair was longer, curling slightly above his ears and eyebrows, if he would let it get that far. The front seemed permanently pushed back, as if he spent all day shoving his fingers through the locks and never fixed it up before leaving the house.

He paused before getting into the driver's seat, leaning a little on the open door. He said something to River and then moved to sit down. When he did so, his striking blue eyes — a shade very near to mine — jerked up to my window. I ducked down as fast as I could, but I knew he had seen me. Would they talk about me as they drove home? Did they already ask about me when speaking with Emerald and River?

Paranoid, I crawled away from the window. Jade and Amethyst turned their attention from the courtyard to me, their faces contorted in puzzlement. This was probably very strange and confusing to the two of them. They barely knew the werewolf world, let alone my world. How could they understand why I was acting the way I was over four seemingly innocent wolves visiting their pack?

Not even a full minute later, a rapid knock came at the door. I peeked out the window, seeing the sedan had left, before clambering took my feet to answer it.

"Mommy!" Ames exclaimed as I swung the door open to a very distressed Emerald. River was no where in sight.

The girl bounced across the room and into her mother's arms, who happily scooped her up and settled her on her hip. Emerald never took her eyes off me. She carried her daughter through the doorway, not seeming to care whether I invited her in or not. I supposed this was technically her house, so she wasn't really required to.

She shut the door behind her. "What in the world was that about?"

I swallowed. "I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't know you had a meeting today, and I know I probably messed everything up by barging in there and then making that stupid explanation about babysitting your kids that wasn't even that believable and now I'm going to face so many questions on Monday when I see Everlee in class and -" I sucked in a gasp of air, forcing myself to stop and breathe.

"Woah woah woah, slow down, honey." Emerald set Amethyst down and shooed her off. Jade grabbed his sister's hand and led her out of the room.

I sighed, "thank you for backing me up. I didn't want you to lie for me, but I didn't want to spiral out of control right there, especially with their alpha there too! If it were just Everlee and Andrew, maybe I could have handled it better. Maybe."

Emerald smiled, a motherly expression taking over her previous concerned one. "April, I'm okay to help you in anyway I can. I just need to know exactly what's going on." She paused, seeming to suddenly catch on, "wait, is this about the fox thing?"

"You didn't tell them anything, did you?"

She shook her head and I sighed with relief. "Thank Goddess! I barely know Ev, so revealing my most hidden secret was not exactly on my plan today." I ran my fingers through my hair, feeling much better knowing at least they were still in the dark.

That sounds so awful!

"They were very flustered, especially when the kids came in and I had to send them after you, but after some stumbling we just returned to our previous conversation about the packs and such. No harm no fowl." She walked to the chair in the corner of the room, sitting down as if all that suddenly had drained her. "Now, we're keeping this secret because. . ." She waved her hands inviting me to finish that sentence.

"Because my parents told me to." I stated, confused because she had told me that first night here that it was better to keep it on the down-low as well.

Emerald cocked an eyebrow. "You do realize you are an adult, right?"

I rolled my eyes with a tired laugh. "Yes, I do. But this was the deal I made to make them feel more comfortable with me living across the country from my pack. We agreed it was for safety." I plopped heavily on the edge of the bed. "I know I can make my own decision with it, but I also know my parents are probably right. It's hard to trust anyone when we don't know that much about me to begin with. I barely know Everlee, and even less of Andrew. It's hard to trust friends that quickly, especially with a secret as dangerous as I could be."

She nodded, folding her hands in her lap across her stomach. "I get it. But how is that gonna help finding your mate? Are you gonna hide it all from your destined, or is he excluded from your 'no-trust' list?"

I shrugged, growing exhausted just thinking about the hurdles I'd have to jump when I explained to my mate what I was and how it all worked. "I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there."