Conrad POV

I’m up on the balcony waiting for the car headlights to come down the estate's driveway telling me Connor has gotten home. I can feel my wolf Jace pacing inside me getting more frustrated at second ticks away on the clock.

Since I saw her last week, she has plagued my thoughts. Her flowing chestnut hair, sapphire blue eyes I got lost in, the pale silk-like skin I wanted to kiss all over, and curves that make me want to hold tight and never let go. Even the amount of disrespect in her attitude was amazing. The fire and passion in her words make me want to tame her more. Make her mine.

At 1 am I see the headlights so bolt down the stairs to meet him at the front door.

“How did it go”. I couldn’t contain myself and was talking as soon as Connor opened the door.

Connor can’t make eye contact with me as he talks and just stares at the ground. “Her friends seem nice, but she was furious. Sorry Alpha King but she won’t come”.

The noise woke my Beta Liam’s and his half asleep brain starts to slowly put things together. “What the hell did you do”.

“Nightstalker found her, so I sent Connor to make sure she is OK. She’s been living with humans since she was 13. Can you believe that”. I can’t help the pride in my voice that I found her after she escaped the hunters.

Liam’s face starts to go wide-eyed with frustration. “YOU SENT A HUNTER AFTER A ROGUE AND YOU'RE CONFUSED AT WHY SHE’S PISSED AT YOU”.

When he phrases it like that it does sound bad. It’s not how I intended it to come across. Surely, she can see that as she wasn’t attacked. Right.

I try to defend myself to Liam. “You know that’s not what I did. Connor was under strict orders not to harm her or her friends. Just ask for her to meet me. And that’s what you did right”.

I look over at Connor who is nodding but I can tell he is leaving something out. “What else did she say”.

He takes a deep sigh and avoids eye contact again. “She said she is fine on her own and if we ever go near her again, she will disappear again”.

My heart dropped. I start running my hands through my hair to calm myself down. Jace is howling inside me and I can feel my breathing increase and my heart beating in my throat. How did I screw up this badly? I just wanted to see her again.

Liam can sense my turmoil and starts planning to resolve the situation. “Alright. Everyone into the study so we can work out what to do next. And you”, pointing a finger straight into my face, “you are not to do anything regarding her before running it past me. This girl is under yours and Jace’s skin you’re not thinking rationally. You’re also clearly not going to move on without some sort of closure so for your own sanity you follow the plan we come up with. Understood”.

Liam my be my Beta and second in command but he's always been more of a brother and so I always value his advice and support. “Fine”, I growl back.

Liam looks at me, a mix of concern and confusion on his face. “What exactly is your end goal here”.

The words leave my mouth before I process their potential reactions. “Jace says she is my mate, so I want her as part of the pack and to be my Queen”.

The study door shuts behind us and Liam turns to me with a horrified look on his face. “Are you insane. You know the dangers that poses to every member of this pack. Rouges have a permanent ban from rejoining all packs for a reason”.

Connor instantly agrees. “I get that she’s powerful, but she kicked our asses in the raid, has avoided detection in the human world since she was a pup and tonight, managed to slice my arm with a concealed silver blade in a public setting without a single human noticing. You need to get over this obsession and leave her alone”.

I charge across the room and before I know it, I have my claws out and my hand around Connor’s throat pinning him against a wall. My eyes glow with Alpha energy and I stare at his fear in his.

In a low growl, I sneer at him. “NO. She belongs with me”.

I feel Liam come up to the side of me and gently place his hand on my arm as he tries to get me to loosen my grip on Connor. “It’s alright buddy. Connor didn’t mean any disrespect. Let him go and we can talk about what to do next”. He always calls me buddy when he doesn’t know if it’s me or Jace who has lost control.

I release Connor and he starts coughing as he moves away from me. I go and get a drink of whisky from my office stash to try and calm my nerves.

I hear Connor mutter under his breath to Liam, “Could she really be his mate”.

I skull back the whiskey and feel the burn go down to the emptiness since I lost her. “Jace is certain. She’s mine”.

I can hear the hesitation in Liam’s voice as he asks for clarification. “I get that you or Jace might like her, but I have never known anyone to have mate bond. The stories we were told as pups of the Moon Goddess curse to take them away was just a fairy tale. Right”.

Doesn’t matter if this bedtime story is true or not, I can’t leave her out there to fend for herself anymore. I want her to come home.

Eve POV

The next few days in the house are so tense it feels like walking through electric storms and just waiting for loud crack to disrupt land. I’ve started doing extra hours at the vet clinic just to avoid being in the house which they noticed instantly.

I come home and I’m greeted with Kimberly waiting for me on the stairs. She instantly runs up to me, jumps in my arms and starts hysterically sobbing.

I do my best to console her. “What’s wrong Kimmy”.

“Are you angry at us. Is that why you are avoiding coming home. We’re sorry that guy was there on girls’ night. We need you to talk to us about this. We don’t want you to disappear”. She breaks out in more sobs as she buries her head in my shoulder.

I don’t even know what to say. I can’t have the hunters or werewolves coming for my friends. They could be caught in the crossfire. What if I can’t protect them. What if they think they are the enemy. I can’t risk it.

Kimberly cry’s have brought my other two girls into the hug and we all head into the living room as all squeeze onto the couch as Kimberly refuses to let me go.

Willow being every practical starts planning. “We need a solution. None of us want to lose our best friend of over five years so you’re not running away. You have a life here and you shouldn’t be bullied out of it”.

“You have no idea what you’re asking”. I just look down at the ground. They will never understand.

“Then tell us. I have known you the longest and I know nothing about you before the day we met. Why don’t you trust us” Michelle says very firmly. She is clearly frustrated that she is still cut off from my life.

I start pleading with them. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. You’ll be in danger if I let you know. Everything I do is to protect you so please just drop it and let me work it out”.

“Well, you’re going to have to start telling us something because since Connor showed up, we have become involved. If we are going to develop a safety plan and be strategic, we need to know something even if that is just knowing how much danger we are in”. Willow always states things matter of fact which is annoying because I know she is right.

Maybe if I tell them, it will be easier for them to let me go.

“I’m not exactly human”. All three girls suddenly sit up right. Even Kimberly instantly stops crying and stares at me with wide eyes.

“Of all things you could have said, I was not expecting that”, Willow states with a shocked expression.

Michelle starts laughing “I had a bunch of theories involving government conspiracy theories but that was not on my list”.

Kimberly looks terrified. She looks to me with a trembling voice. “What are you”.

“Honestly, that’s not important. I left that life to live as a human and have done since I was 13. To them, I’m considered a deserter”.

Kimberly starts shaking, “are they going to hurt us”.

“I don’t know. That’s why I need to leave. To protect you”.

Willow stating very matter of fact again. “Do we know what they want. Connor only said Mr Strongheart wants to talk to you. Maybe he does mean you no harm and wants to something else”.

Michelle agrees “I didn’t get any weird vibes from Connor. He seemed to be almost gentle when talking to you and said he would follow you if you refused to talk to Mr Strongheart anyway. Wait, is he not human either”.

“Connor. No he is. He’s just a …… gifted one. Mr Strongheart is like me though”.

I can practically see the wheels turning in Willows head. “Well the most logical thing is to talk to Mr Strongheart and work out what he wants and then decide from there. No point running in the meantime if he is planning to track you any way”.

“He’s already told me what he wants. He wants me to go back to that life”. This has always been my biggest fear, and the girls can tell from how my voice shakes.

With a fierce determination in her eyes Michelle proclaims, “Then all of us will create hell to keep you here”.

Michelle POV

We were all on edge after what Eve had told us. She was leaving on Saturday for her camping trip. We kept telling her not to go and that it would be safer to stay in the house. She kept telling us that it’s not her safety she was worried about but with one of my world-renowned death glares she shut up. We made it clear we were in this together.

I’m chilling on the couch with the girls while Eve does another late shift. “Alright. Operation keep Eve here is underway. Where are we up to”.

Willow shows me her phone. “I order these online and they came today. They’re tracking devices. I have hidden one in her car and in her camping gear. That way if she does run we at least know where she is”.

“Excellent. I have also hidden her passport so at least we know she can’t leave the country. Kimberly, any thoughts”.

She just shakes her head and hugs the pillow tighter. She has been a mess since all this came out.

We were all jolted out of the conversation when we heard a knock at the door.

“Are we expecting anyone”. I look at the other girls and they shake their heads no.

Kimberly instantly terrified trembled out, “what if it them. Eve not here to defend us. Do we pretend we’re not here”.

Willow rolls her eyes. “They know we’re in here. They can see us through the window. And if they were going to harm us they wouldn’t knock”. We got up to answer the door and figure with all three of us we could quickly slam it shut if need be.

We open the door just to the point the door chain allows and see him standing there. Conrad in his design suit and amazing smile. He brought another guy with him who was wearing sweats for some reason but with his singlet you could see his define muscular arms. Conrad smiles when he sees all of us looking through the crack of the door.

“Evening ladies. I’ve brought some wine and pizza as a peace offering if you will let me in to talk”.

Kimberly snaps back “Eve’s not here so go away”.

“I know she’s not here. I want to talk to you. I’m trying to get her to trust me and realise I’m not a threat. I’m hoping if I can get you to trust me, she might be more open to the idea of at least talking to me”. He really is laying on the charm.

We shut the door to talk amongst ourselves but ultimately Kimberly is outnumbered as Willow, and I want to know what’s going on.

“We will let you in but try anything and we will scream so loud we will be heard at the police station 2 kilometres away”.

He just laughs and nods. “Understood”.

We all move to living room with Conrad in the chair near the open entrance to the dining room and the other man in the chair. We all sit on the couch to share note during our interrogation.

I start first while Willow studies them. “Firstly, who is he. Secondly what do you want with Eve”.

“This is my assistant, Liam. I’m concerned Eve needs some support and I just want to make sure she has to opportunity to receive it”. That was to calm too not be rehearsed.

“YOU LIAR”.

“Excuse me”. He just stared in shock.

“Eve told us she is considered a deserter to you. She chose to leave and doesn’t want to go back so giving her support is a bullshit answer”.

He looked stunned at this. He looked over to his assistance like they were trying to work out what to do next. Like they’re going to get anything past us.

“It’s true, Eve is considered a deserter. But did she tell you when she left”. He seems nervous now. Right where I want him.

“Yes. At 13”.

“Did she tell you who she left or why”.

They can see my face change to one of sadness. How do they know something about her that I don’t.

“She left her family. She was horribly abused by them so had to escape to survive. She still went back to see them and support when she could. We met her when the government hired us to arrest the leader. She thought we were attacking the innocents in her family and so fought back. When we realised, she wasn’t part of the leadership we wanted to offer her the same support we did to the rest of her family but, she disappeared before we could”.

Then I ask the question all of us want answered and I don’t think there is a way to tactfully ask this.

“She told us you weren’t human. That your like her”.

Both men look at each other and laugh.

“We were wondering if she told you or not. What exactly did she say”. He is smiling at this and seems almost excited.

Willow speaks up as this is the only questions she really wanted the answer to. “She just said she wasn’t exactly human”.

“No, we’re not. Do you want to know what we are and what is really going on here. Are you sure you can handle it”.

I sit straight up and excitedly yell “yes”. I have been just as curious as Willow, but she thinks of this and the resolution to a problem, I’m just upset I’ve been left out of gossip.

“We’re werewolves” he states with a straight face.

“Honestly think we are going to believe that without proof”, Willow states and rolls her eyes while crossing her arms.

“Why do you think I brought him”, Conrad points to Liam in the corner. “Werewolves live in packs and that is the family I was talking about. The person who runs the pack is called an Alpha. The person who runs all packs is called Alpha King, which is me. If you want proof of all this, he can transform into his wolf for you”.

Me being very suspicious “why don’t YOU transform if you want us to believe you”.

Conrad just awkwardly grins. “My wolf can be a bit confronting so when we introduce humans to wolves, it’s better to start with his”.

Willow picks up on something he said. “You have shown other humans”.

“Yes. Mainly government officials we work with. Previous Alpha King’s have wanted to stay secret or worse, hunt humans. I’m working towards having both our societies operate together without fear or persecution of the other”.

We look at each other and decide we want to do this. We want to be in Eve’s life and help her like she has helped all of us.

“Ok. We will watch you transform”.

Liam stands up with a proud look on his face. “Just to warn you there will be some clicking sounds like crackling knuckles but that is normal. My wolf is called Valen and may look scary at first but honestly, he is very friendly and basically a Labrador so love hugs, pats and any form of attention he can get”.

I look around the room at the other girls and each gives a nod that they are ready.

Liam smirks “and one more thing. I have to be naked to transform so my clothes don’t rip. Still OK with that”.

“WAIT”. I go get the wine to fill up my glass, get comfortable in my chair so I have the best view. “Now you may continue”. If a smoking hot muscled man is getting naked in my house, I’m going to fully enjoy the show.

Liam starts laughing and turns to Conrad “I like that one” before he starts stripping.

Singlet first to reveal his impressively chiselled torso. Pecs and ab’s are pure perfection. My eyes quickly flick to the other girls who are hiding behind their hands, but I can tell they’re peaking. My eyes continue to drop down to the V that dips below his pants line and gasp as he drops his sweatpants to reveal his very impressive manhood. He instantly smiles at this. I will have to ask later about interspecies relations.

“You ready ladies”.