Chapter Five

Packs are seen as a family, a community of people who are bound together by both the laws of nature and the spirit of kinship. It was a lovely sight to behold, the sight of pack members going about their daily lives and contributing in various ways toward the progress of the pack.

This was the sight Lina was looking at as she stood in front of her new shop. She took her time to absorb what was before her, on her way to the shop she received greetings from a couple of pack members. She knew most of them were just meeting her for the first time but they were so accepting and accommodating. Maybe, accepting was a brave word to use but they were more civil than most.

That did not bother her, she could deal with civility at the most. She opened her shop and walked right into it. This was a generous space, she thought. It was big enough for her to work and spacious enough for her to showcase her handwork. She was getting so excited, she walks around the room imprinting everything into her memory. She would start by painting and decorating. She had orders to place, tabs on the Alpha. He was giving her a loan and she would ensure she pays him back even if he had told her he sees the loan as more of an investment.

She pulled out her phone, sat on the stairs just outside her shop, and began to do some research. She would try to prioritize her needs over wants and be as meticulous about her orders as possible. A few minutes later she found herself adding different "wants" to the cart. Who ever just sticks to the shopping list?

She smiled and shook her head pulling a strand of hair behind her ears, this was one of the few times she gets to spoil herself a bit and she was taking it. There was still much to do so she sat there working away at her phone.

A few miles from where Lina sat, brooding silver eyes stopped in his tracks when he finally arrived at the scent he had been trailing. It was as early as eleven in the morning and he was just getting back from sparring. It was safe to say that his morning always mostly began with sparring and training of the new pack warriors.

To that extent, one could say he was a creature of habit but what was not a normal occurrence was finding Lina seated on a stair smiling and typing away at her phone. He knew about her shop and knew where it was located on pack grounds, he knew the pack ground like the back of his hands and also knew the training ground was in no way along the path to her shop so how did he get here?

Oh, he knew just how he got here. He was exhausted from sparring and too weak to control his senses as they led him to where he was now. He knew why her scent was so intoxicating and addicting, every pore in his body begged him to move forward and take her in his arms but he just stood there looking at her, taking every inch of her in.

'So this was where you were heading to in such a daze' a familiar voice sounded in Eren's ears as he felt an equally familiar hand tap his shoulders.

Without turning around, Mr. brooding silver eyes, Eren knew just who had spoken and who was behind him. It was Alpha Morgan, his best and childhood friend. Eren knew Morgan had a smirk on his face as he said those words. Ever since Morgan had caught him staring at Lina he could discern that she had caught the interest of his brooding beta. It was rare to see Eren this was about a woman. it was not just lust, but something more that Morgan saw in his best friend's eyes.

'You should have been able to sense me coming from a mile but you were too distracted and you are never distracted' Morgan continued poking to get some reaction out of Eren.

Still observing Lina, Eren could hear Morgan talk but did not take his bait, instead, he asked 'what did you need me for?'

'We have a lot to do at the office and paperwork to sort out, I was wondering if you could handle them for me while I attend to things down town'

Eren simply nodded and finally turned away heading to the pack house with Morgan beside him. He did not mind handling some paperwork, that should help him clear his head and stabilize his thoughts since sparring did nothing to help. As they walked towards the pack house Eren's thoughts began to wander. It's been a while since he had a phone as he did not see any need for that since he could just mind link anyone in the pack but he knew how a phone worked.

Now that his head was working straight he wondered who or what was making Lina smile that way and for obvious reasons it was getting on his nerves. Yes, paperwork was what he needed right now.