Chapter 7

Storm

Once we had gotten inside, Alpha Doyle led me upstairs to his bedroom, which was on the third floor. As we were making our way upstairs, he informed me that the third floor was the Alphas private floor.

When we got to his bedroom, I was surprised by the room's interior. The room itself was huge. It was three times the size of my bedroom back home! There were black floor-length curtains running the length of the wall I was facing. There was a king-sized solid timber bed with two solid timber bedside tables on either side of it. The room had a large black leather lounge suite against the wall on the right-hand side of the room, and on the left-hand side of the room, there were three doors. One leading to an ensuite bathroom, the other two were the entrances to two large walk-in wardrobes.

Overall, the room was a very masculine room with a strong masculine vibe to it. But I had to admit, I liked it. As I was looking around the room, Lilly walked into the room dragging the suitcase that I was borrowing from Leah for this trip.

"Thought you might be needing this," she said, winking at me as she set the suitcase down on the floor.

As soon as she had set the suitcase down on the floor, she immediately turned around and left the room, quietly closing the door behind her. I looked up and saw Alpha Doyle watching me intently.

"Go take a warm shower, love, and I will have one of the housekeepers wash our wet clothes when we're done," Alpha Doyle said.

Needing to get away and just be on my own for a while, I slowly made my way out of the bedroom. Dragging my suitcase behind me, I made my way into the bathroom which was also huge. It was bigger than the main bathroom in my family home back in Texas.

Closing the door behind me, I turned around and admired the bathroom. I could say in all honesty, I had never seen such a luxurious bathroom before. Well, not in real life anyhow. When you first walked into the bathroom and turned to the right, where the wall should be, there was floor to ceiling glass which looked black. I remembered the girls talking about this type of glass one day when we were back in our dorm room. You could see out of it from the inside, but people outside could not see in through it.

To the left, there was a toilet and beside it a shower cubicle which was extravagant. There were multiple shower heads on three sides of the shower and extravagant features I had never seen in a shower stall before. When you opened the shower stall door, you had to walk down two steps to get into the shower. On the right side of the room, beside the windows, there was a roomy Jacuzzi tub you had to walk up four steps, then walk down four steps to get into.

I hoped I would eventually get to spend some time relaxing in that tub! I honestly would not have minded hopping into it now and soaking in a nice hot bath after being out in the frigid weather for so long. But I knew that would mean that Alpha Doyle and the girls would be left waiting on me, and the last thing I wanted to do was anger anyone more than I already had.

In front of me was a marble counter-top with matching his and her hand basins and an enormous mirror was over the counter-top which ran the entire length of the counter-top. I sat the suitcase down on the floor and quickly undressed. When I had removed my wet clothing, I looked at my reflection in the mirror, seeing the injuries I had received courtesy of the Beta, and the scars which now tattooed my skin thanks to my father and brother.

Hating my father and brother and former pack all over again for what they had done to me, I turned away from the mirror and walked over to the shower. Climbing into the shower stall, I turned the shower on and waited for the water to warm up. When the water was hot enough, I got under the stream of water and using Alpha Doyle's shower products I began to wash myself.

After I had finished washing myself, I stood under the hot water just enjoying the warmth after being out in the icy rain. I hoped I didn't end up getting sick from being out in the rain and crisp air for so long. When I had finished getting myself warmed up, I turned the shower off and once out of the shower stall, I wrapped a thick bath sheet around myself before I rummaged through my suitcase for clothes. I pulled on my underwear and a pair of black yoga pants and a purple and black zip-up hoodie. I brushed my wet hair, hoping that it wouldn't take too long to dry. I sprayed deodorant on and dabbed two drops of my favorite perfume on my neck. When I had finished making myself human again, I put everything back into my suitcase and closed it.

Grabbing the handle of my suitcase and gathering up my wet borrowed clothes, I slowly made my way out of the bathroom. When I walked back into Alpha Doyle's bedroom, I stopped short at the sight of Alpha Doyle sitting on the edge of his bed waiting for me. He was dry and dressed in different clothes, so, he had clearly had a shower and freshened up while I was using his bathroom. He was now dressed in a pair of black cargo pants and a black turtleneck sweater and I had to admit, the color black suited him.

Looking at him, I hoped he hadn't been waiting too long. I couldn't even guess how long I had been in the bathroom.

"I used one of the main bathrooms downstairs to freshen up while you were in the shower," he said, confirming my unvoiced observation.

He got up from the bed and walked over to me, and I couldn't stop myself from flinching when he reached out and took my suitcase from me. He pretended not to notice and set the suitcase on the floor over beside the nearest bedside table, against the wall, so it was out of the way. He then walked back over to me and took my wet borrowed clothes that I was holding, before wrapping a hand around my upper arm and leading me out of the bedroom and back downstairs.

I held myself together as best as I could as we made our way downstairs. We stopped in at the laundry which was on the second floor, and a housekeeper, whom I learned was named Mary, took the wet clothes from Alpha Doyle, and put them into the washing machine. When we left the laundry, we made our way back downstairs to the living room where Julie, Leah and Lilly were all seated on a lounge talking to a group of people which included the Beta. The moment we walked into the room, the Beta stood up and walked towards us. I stopped in my tracks as he approached us, and sensing my unease, Alpha Doyle let go of my arm and ran his hand across my back, which caused me to nearly jump out of my skin.

The Beta looked surprised by my reaction when he stopped in front of me, but he said nothing about it. Instead, he merely said, "Luna Lena, I would just like to apologize for what happened out by the lake, I can assure you, it will never happen again."

"No, it won't," said Alpha Doyle, eyeing his Beta, in obvious disapproval at what had taken place earlier.

"He didn't know," I said, looking at Alpha Doyle before realizing what I had just done and dropping my gaze to the floor. Whatever happened between the Alpha and his Beta was none of my business. I didn't want to get on his bad side, but a part of me felt that I couldn't let Beta Sean take the blame when he hadn't known the circumstances. Looking back at Beta Sean, I said, "Thank you for the apology, Beta."

Beta Sean gave me a brief nod of acknowledgement before walking away from us to re-join the girls in the lounge-room. Alpha Doyle and I walked into the lounge-room and sat on a comfortable leather lounge chair. Alpha Doyle kept his arm around my shoulders the whole time we were sitting there.

I was feeling as nervous as a cat in the middle of a dog pound, but I didn't want to create a scene. I looked over at Julie, Leah and Lilly and saw that the three of them were watching us closely. Their scrutiny made me feel ten times worse, because now I felt as though I was now caught under a microscope as well. I think the way I was feeling right at that moment sitting in this room is probably how those poor goldfish must feel in their bowls when people are watching them.

I dropped my gaze and stared at my hands that were tightly folded in my lap. I was squeezing my hands together so hard that my knuckles had turned white. Leaning toward me, Alpha Doyle asked, "Are you okay love?"

Without looking at him, I nodded. Thankfully, the girls chose that moment to draw Alpha Doyle into their conversation, and it relieved me, when I wasn't drawn into the conversation or called upon to answer any questions.

Alpha Doyle

I watched as Lena made her way into the bathroom, dragging her suitcase behind her. Without glancing at me, she quietly closed the door. I waited a moment or two before I grabbed a change of clothes and made my way downstairs to one of the main bathrooms on the second floor. Taking a quick shower and getting dressed, I dropped my wet clothes in the laundry before I made my way back upstairs to my bedroom. The bathroom door was still closed, and I could hear the shower still running. Taking a seat on the edge of my bed, I waited for Lena to finish her shower. I knew she was going to take a while. She would be taking the time to enjoy the warmth of the water after being out in the icy rain for so long. I knew she would never admit it to me, but she had been freezing out there. I just hoped she didn't end up getting sick from being out in the cold for so long.

As I waited for her to finish up in the bathroom, I thought over what she had told me out there by the lake, when she was telling me about her time in her pack back in America. The claims she had made against her former pack members were going to be easy enough for me to check out. Packs were visited by other packs all the time. It would not be too difficult for me to find a pack that had visited her pack during her time there. When I found someone who had been there, I would be able to see if anyone had witnessed the mistreatment she had claimed to suffer.

That was if she had really been mistreated as she claimed she had. It might seem selfish of me, but I wanted verification. I needed it. I was an Alpha, and good Alphas should always rely on facts, not merely on word of mouth. But how did I get verification when she had told me I had to keep the conversation just between the two of us? And why would she swear me to secrecy if she were speaking the truth? I could easily protect my pack. My warriors were some of the best there were.

Her secrecy put doubts in my mind. But I had to accept that if I asked around and she found out, I could be risking our chance at future happiness together. She would never trust me again, if she ever found out that the first bit of trust that she had placed in me had been betrayed so quickly. Could I bring myself to take that chance and lose her trust, forever? But then again if she were lying, I needed to know! Rogues were notorious liars and troublemakers. If I was being honest, I had to admit that the fact that my second chance mate was a rogue was not sitting well with me.

The bathroom door opened, and I saw Lena jump in fright when she saw me sitting on the bed. I had to admit that seeing the fear in her eyes was getting harder to bear each time I saw it. It was as though she believed I was going to hurt her the same way that she had claimed her father and brother and former pack members had.

I knew I had to make her see she had nothing to fear from me. She needed to understand that no one here would ever hurt her the way that she had claimed her father and brother had treated her. But truth be told, I didn't even know where to begin with that. I also didn't even know if the story she had told me was true or if it was even the real reason that she was so afraid.

What if the story she had told me wasn't real? What if it was just a cover story for something else from her past? Or maybe it was all an act, and this was just a ploy for her to get close to my family for evil intentions.

Rogues lied all the time. Just because we were fated to be together didn't mean Lena wouldn't lie to me or that she was even a good person. Getting up from the bed, I made my way over to where she was still standing in the bathroom's doorway. I reached out to take her suitcase, and she flinched away from me.

Not wanting to make her more uncomfortable than she seemed to already be, I pretended not to notice. I carried the suitcase over and laid it on the ground against the wall near the bedside table, before turning and making my way back over to her. Reaching out I took the wet clothes from her hands and wrapping my hand around her upper arm, I led her out of the bedroom.

On our way downstairs we stopped off at the laundry room and dropped off the wet clothes to Mary, one of our many housekeepers, before continuing to make our way downstairs to the living room where the others were already waiting for us. As we made our way into the room, Sean got up from his seat in the lounge room and made his way towards us.

Lena stopped in her tracks as Sean approached us. I could sense Lena was growing uneasy, so I let go of her arm and ran my hand across her back in a gesture meant to be reassuring and soothing, but it surprised me when she startled at my touch and pulled away from me. I glanced at Sean and saw that he was looking just as surprised as I felt by Lena's reaction to my touch.

Sean came to a stop in front of us. Looking at Lena, he said, "Luna Lena, I would just like to apologize for what happened out by the lake earlier, I can assure you, it will never happen again."

"No, it won't," I stated, making eye contact with Sean. He was my oldest friend, and we both had the same opinion of rogues and had held on to those opinions our entire lives, but this time things were different. Lena needed to be protected by us, not killed. The future of our pack depended on her survival.

"He didn't know," Lena said, looking at me before she dropped her gaze to look at the floor.

I looked at Sean and saw the surprise in his eyes. The fact that Lena would step in to defend him after what had transpired between the two of them out by the lake had surprised the both of us. After a moment she brought her gaze back up to look at Sean, before quietly saying, "Thank you for the apology, Beta."

Sean stood there for a moment watching her before he gave her a brief nod of acknowledgement and walked away to join the girls in the lounge-room. I stood there silently watching Lena, and wondering if she had any idea just how important she was to us. She must know. She had been born into an alpha family, so it stood to reason she would know the value of a Luna. Without a Luna, a pack was weaker. Luna's were the heart and soul of the pack, while Alphas were at the top of the packs' hierarchy. All Alphas have power which they gained through physical prowess, combat training and strategy, financial power, intimidation, and domination. But as with all men, not all Alphas are ever created equal, therefore some packs end up being more powerful than others.

In the werewolf world, Alpha males needed a Luna. When you have an Alpha, who has his Luna at his side, you have two souls which work together, resulting in men who are strong, but kind. Confident, but humble, assertive, but gentle and powerful, and tempered and calm.

Alphas are natural born leaders. For the survival of their pack, Alphas accept high levels of responsibility and make tough decisions every day that most rational people would end up finding overwhelming. But our strengths and dominant personalities can usually make Alphas difficult to work with and hard to be around for long periods of time. That is where Luna's are invaluable. They keep Alphas balanced and calm, helping them to remain approachable and sensitive to the needs or plights of others.

When an Alpha loses a Luna, he can end up losing a part of himself, becoming a dark and angry tyrant. From what Lena had told me earlier, it sounds as though that is what happened to Ryland when he lost his Luna.

Lena and I made our way into the lounge-room and took a seat on one of the comfortable leather lounge chairs that the girls had picked out before they had left for university. I kept my arm around her shoulders, trying to reassure her that she was safe here with us, and that no one was going to hurt her. But I could tell she was on edge and I would bet good money that she was probably wishing she were about a million miles away from here right about now.

Julie, Leah, and Lilly were watching us closely, I knew they were happy that I had found my second chance mate. I knew the girls had been worried about me being on my own for so long. I had resigned myself to the fact that I would probably be living my life alone after losing the girl's mother. But here she was, my new mate. Everyone was watching her like she was the new exhibit in an art gallery, and I knew that had to have Lena on edge as well.

I was starting to get the impression that Lena was someone who avoided being the center of attention at all costs, and now that she was the object of everyone's attention, she was finding it hard to cope with being in the spotlight. As I watched her, I saw her drop her gaze and stare at her hands which were so tightly clutched together in her lap that her knuckles had turned white. Worried about her, I leaned in closer to her and asked, "Are you okay, love?" Without looking at me, she nodded. I knew that she was not okay, but I didn't want to put her on the spot in front of everyone. At that moment, the girls started asking me questions, and I was soon pulled into a long conversation with them regarding upcoming pack events.

Storm

Alpha Doyle had been talking to the people gathered in the room for a while now, and I had gradually begun to relax now that the attention was no longer on me. But as was my luck, all too soon the conversation stopped and just like laser-guided missiles all eyes were once again on me. Without meaning too I could feel myself beginning to tense up once again. I could feel Alpha Doyle's hand moving in what was supposed to be a soothing motion on my back, but I just couldn't relax. Needing to get out of the room, I turned my head towards Alpha Doyle and whispered, "Everybody is staring at us."

He looked over and saw that the girls and Sean were watching us, then he looked back at me and asked, "Do you want to go somewhere more private?" Wanting out of this room, I quickly nodded.

We got up and walked out of the room, and I heard the girls giggling childishly as we left. Without meaning to, I growled at their childish behavior, which had Alpha Doyle chuckling. I peeked at him and quickly glanced away.

I had to be careful how I behaved around him. My mate was an Alpha, and I didn't know if I was going to survive here with him. Alphas weren't easy to be around. And everyone knew they had a propensity for violence. I quietly followed him through the house until we came to a set of double French doors, which opened out to a secluded porch. I walked out onto the porch and looked around me in wonder.

As I stood on the porch, I looked out at the landscape set out before me. It was so beautiful and the sound of the rain falling only added to the vision of beauty that was before me.

I was so lost in my admiration of the landscape that I hadn't even realized that while I was admiring the scenery, Alpha Doyle had been standing a short distance away watching me. I knew I needed to talk to him. We had so much to discuss. But the mere thought of engaging him in conversation had me feeling like I was going to throw up. My stomach was in knots and my anxiety had my chest feeling so tight that it was getting hard to breathe.

I moved closer to the porch railing and went back to taking in the view of the landscape. I sensed rather then saw him move, and a moment later he was standing a short distance away from me, beside the railing.

"What's on your mind love?" he suddenly asked. "Can I have my own room?" I asked, not looking at him.

"Of course, you can," he replied.

Taken by surprise, my head shot up and I looked at him. That had been too easy, there had to be a catch, didn't there?

Alpha Doyle

I was enjoying the expressive features playing across Lena's face as she took in the view from the porch. I had played on a hunch; having had a feeling she would like the view from the porch. But I also had an ulterior motive for bringing her here. Now that she knew about the porch, she would have a spot that she could come to whenever she wanted some peace and quiet away from everyone.

As I watched the expressions flit across her face, I saw that whatever she was currently thinking about was troubling her. She slowly moved towards the railing and continued to look out at the view. Wanting to know what was troubling her, I walked over to the porch railing.

"What's on your mind love?" I asked.

"Can I have my own room?" she asked, not looking at me.

"Of course, you can, love," I replied.

I understood she would want her privacy and time to adjust to her surroundings. Did she honestly think I would force her to share a room with me? Did she also think I was going to force myself on her? These thoughts didn't sit well with me.

My answer had clearly caught her by surprise because her head shot up and she looked at me. I could see the doubt in her face as she looked at me. She didn't trust me enough to take me at my word, that much was obvious. When we had finished out on the porch, I took her back upstairs to my bedroom.

"You can sleep in here," I told her.

I then gestured for her to follow me and I led her to a bedroom which was a short distance from my own down the hallway.

"I will sleep in here," I told her, opening the door so she could see inside the room.

"I don't want to put you out of your own bed, let me take that room," she said.

"It's fine, I will sleep in here, you can have my room," I assured her.

Storm

The rest of the afternoon went by without a hitch. After Alpha Doyle had shown me where he would be sleeping, I had made my way back downstairs, but I had retreated to the solitude of the porch where Alpha Doyle had taken me earlier.

It was so quiet and so peaceful out here. I took a seat on the built-in porch seat and feeling content for the first time since I had arrived here, I watched the rain. I don't know how long I was out there sitting in the cold and enjoying the quiet before Alpha Doyle came out to get me.

"Dinner is ready love," he said.

I got up from my seat and followed him back into the house. We made our way through the house to the dining room, and as soon as we entered the room, I saw that the table had already been set. On the table, there were a variety of large bowls containing an assortment of delicious looking Irish dishes, including bacon and cabbage, colcannon, Irish stew, and two large serving dishes full of shepherd's pie.

There were smaller trays across the length of the table holding soda bread and butter sticks. There were also a half a dozen large jugs of lager on the table. Alpha Doyle directed me to a seat right beside his which was at the head of the table.

To our right, just opposite Alpha Doyle, were Julie and Leah's seats, and opposite me to my left was Lilly's seat. I didn't know any of the other people at the table except for the Beta, whose seat was at the other end at the head of the table.

Alpha Doyle put a small assortment of dishes on each of our plates. Once he had put the food on our plates, he then filled each of our glasses with lager. As we ate, I kept stealing glances at him, but I would quickly look away whenever he caught me out. He would smirk whenever he caught me looking at him. I didn't know what to make of him. I knew we were mates, but where did we go from here? How could someone who had killed as many rogues as he had, suddenly accept a rogue for his mate?

Throughout our meal, I noticed the looks that Julie, Leah, and Lilly were giving me, and once again I felt that fear snake through me. They were going to hate me for this for sure. And if they ended up hating me, then who could blame them? I mean, honestly, who wants a stepmother who is younger than them anyhow?

As if picking up on the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, Alpha Doyle reached over and placed a hand on my thigh lightly, causing me to jump. I looked over at him and he leaned into me whispering in my ear, "What's wrong love?"

"Are they going to be angry? About us being fated, I mean?" I asked him in a hurried whisper.

"No, I think they are going to be fine, love, it's not like it was something we had any control over," he whispered in reply.

"But are you sure? I mean it might be weird for them. I started out their friend and now I am pretty much their step-mother, they're bound to be a tad freaked out or maybe even a tad resentful," I whispered.

"Love, you have nothing to worry about, I assure you the girls will be fine," he whispered. He placed a kiss on my forehead catching me by surprise, then went back to eating his dinner.

Taking that as a sign that the discussion was over, I went back to eating my dinner and half listened to the chatter and light bantering of the other pack members seated at the table with us. After the main meal had been eaten. I watched as the Omega's of the pack came in and removed the leftover food, various serving dishes and the dirty crockery replacing them with clean crockery and an assortment of dessert dishes which included, Bailey's cheesecake, Brioche bread and butter pudding, Irish apple cake with custard sauce, Mudslide Cheesecake, and Irish lemon pudding. Fresh jugs of lager were also placed on the table as well.

As soon as the Omega's had finished putting everything on the table, Alpha Doyle once again began placing a small sample of each of the desserts on our plates and refilling our glasses. I had to admit, the food was divine. After we had finished eating, Alpha Doyle and myself along with the three girls made our way into the living room alone. Once we entered the living room, I sat beside Alpha Doyle on the couch that was directly opposite the girls and got lost in my own thoughts as I waited to see what the girls were going to say regarding my new position within their lives.

"Are you still going to be at university with us?" Lilly asked, causing me to jump.

"I think so," I replied, looking at Alpha Doyle who was frowning at my response. 'Oh no, here we go' I thought waiting for him to explode. I had a feeling he was planning to tell me he didn't want me going back there, and now I had just gone and told Lilly that I would be there with them. 'Way to make him mad,' I thought as I waited for him to jump in and tell Lilly that I wouldn't be going back there. But he surprised me by saying, "Lena will go back to school with you, but if there are any problems, I expect you girls to be on the phone to me right away. Is that understood?"

"Yes, daddy," the girls said in unison.

"Well, I don't think they will have any problems doing that, look how fast they threw me under the bus when I first arrived there," I muttered.

The girls looked guilty at what I had said, but they didn't say anything. Eventually they started talking to Alpha Doyle while I sat there quietly and listened as they told Alpha Doyle what had been happening at school and how they were settling into their classes, which teachers they liked and which ones they didn't.

It was strange to me how they could converse so easily. 'If my mother hadn't died, is this how my family would have been?' I wondered.

"You all went in the medical direction. I will admit that your decisions surprised me, but I am proud of the three of you, I hope you know that" Alpha Doyle said, looking at the girls in admiration. Looking over at me, he asked, "And what about you, love? What path did you take?"

"Music," I replied.

"Lena has a heap of instruments back in our dorm room and she writes her own songs. She is good," Lilly said, looking at Doyle.

"I didn't realize you had heard me," I said, looking at her. How is it that I didn't know that she had heard me? When had she heard me?

"We have had times when we have gotten back from classes and you have been so wrapped up in what you were doing, that you didn't even realize we had gotten back," Julie replied, answering my unvoiced questions.

The girls moved on to tell Doyle about the things we had been doing outside of the classroom, all the different places they had taken me too. They even told him about how we had spent my birthday. I didn't contribute to their conversation, instead I allowed myself to get lost in my thoughts.

I saw the girls look at me curiously from time to time, probably wondering why I was so quiet.

"Are you okay?" Julie suddenly asked.

I couldn't hold it in any longer, I needed to know how they felt. Not knowing how they were feeling about this situation was doing my head in, "Are you girls okay with this? With us being fated, I mean?" I asked them.

"We are okay with it, why would you think otherwise?" Leah asked, appearing to be confused by my question.

"I was just worried that you would object to the age gap," I told them.

"No, we don't object. Besides, you didn't choose for this to happen. You are our dads second chance mate. We are just happy that he has another shot at happiness and that the two of you found each other."

"We are glad that out of all the she-wolves that fate could have chosen to be his second chance mate, she chose you. At least we like you. Heaven forbid his second chance mate had been some psychotic tyrant," Julie said, which had the other girls laughing.

"We are also happy that you have found your mate, and that we are now officially family," Leah told me.

"Yes, which means you cannot be Switzerland anymore," Lilly said smiling at me.

"What's this about Switzerland?" Alpha Doyle asked, looking confused.

"Since we first met Lena, every time we have a bickering session at school, Lena never gets involved, she refuses to take part in our little arguments. So as soon as a fight breaks out, she always tells us it is a family thing and for us to sort it out amongst ourselves and that she is Switzerland, meaning she is totally neutral," Lilly told him.

"Yeah, she's right love, you can't use that one anymore," Alpha Doyle says, laughing at me.

"You are now a part of this family whether you like it or not," Julie says laughing.

"Well, Heaven help me. With the way you girls fight, I might just end up in the loony bin before the year is out," I said, looking at the three girls, causing all four members of the family to burst into fits of laughter.

Alpha Doyle

After we had eaten our dinner and I had spent time with Lena and the girls discussing school. It wasn't long before I was seeing that Lena wanted to call it a night. I had to admit that she looked wiped out. I knew that she must have been living on nerves and adrenaline all day, and now that the adrenaline high had worn off, she was about to crash.

"Love, are you ready to turn in?" I asked her, knowing that she wouldn't tell us how she was feeling of her own volition. She looked over at me and nodded. I stood up and waited for her to do the same. Once she was on her feet, we said goodnight to the girls and made our way back upstairs to the third floor. When we arrived at the door of my room, I gave Lena a light kiss on the forehead and bid her goodnight. Lena made her way into my bedroom and quietly closed the door behind her.

I made my way down the hallway to the bedroom that I was going to be sleeping in for the time being. Lena had absolutely nothing to feel guilty about regarding sleeping in my bedroom. I had moved everything I was going to be needing into the spare room while Lena had been out on the porch earlier in the evening. I knew she would like it out there. I was glad she had a place that she felt comfortable that she could call her own now.

Sitting on the spare bed, I grabbed my laptop and quickly checked my emails. I wanted to make sure nothing urgent had come in while I had been distracted with my new mate this afternoon. After about three quarters of an hour of reading through emails and printing out the ones Sean and I were going to need to take care of urgently, I closed my laptop and set it on the small bookshelf in the bedroom.

I decided I would quickly check in on Lena before I turned in for the night. I just wanted to make sure that she was okay and that she had everything that she needed.

Making my way back down the hallway, I quietly opened the door of my bedroom, poking my head in, and was greeted with the sight of a beautiful big wolf asleep on the foot of the bed. 'Had she distrusted me so much that she had chosen to sleep in her wolf form?' I wondered. Deciding to just let her sleep, I left the room, closing the door behind me and quietly made my way back to the spare room to get some sleep.

Alpha Doyle

Over the last few days, I had spent time with Lena, and during that time I had never mentioned the fact that I knew that she was sleeping in her wolf form. Ever since that first night that Lena had been here, and I had gone to check on her and found her asleep in her wolf form on my bed.

I had made a point of going to my room and checking in on her each night after that, and every time she had been asleep in wolf form. I will admit, it worried me. It hurt me to know that she distrusted me so much, that she felt she needed to sleep in her wolf form for her own protection.

The day had arrived when the girls were leaving here to go back to their university dorm. They would head back after lunch and knowing that I could not be there to protect them if something was to go wrong was hard for me to fathom. I had had a difficult enough time letting my girls go when they had first decided to live on campus, but now it was even harder. I was going to be allowing our Luna to live on a university campus with no protection. That was never done! No pack would ever allow an Alpha or Luna to go away from the pack without protection!

The five of us were currently sitting in the living room talking, and I was listening to Lilly talk about how funny it was that I had been so against a rogue living with my kids, and how it was funny how that rogue had turned out to be my second chance mate. I understood that many people would find the story funny, but I don't think my daughters realized that for Lena and me, it wasn't funny. It hurt me to remember what I had planned to do to her, and I know it hurt her to remember that day too.

"Okay girls listen up, I need your attention for a moment," I said, and watched and waited until I knew I had their full and undivided attention. "Girls, when you get back to campus it is important that you do not tell anyone that Lena is our new Luna. So, no joking around and calling her mom or things like that, okay?" I said, watching them to make sure they understood how serious this was.

"Wait… why?" Lilly asked confused by what I had just said.

"I won't be there to protect you; Lena is now one of the most important members of this pack. If someone were to learn the truth about who she is, she would be in danger. You girls are in enough danger as it is whenever you are away from here. So, we need to keep it our secret, do you understand?" I asked them.

All three of the girls nodded in understanding at my explanation of why this was so important. I looked over at Lena who was watching me, but she had her expression guarded and I could not even guess as to what she was thinking at that moment.

Storm

Since I had arrived at this pack, I had felt on edge. Alpha Doyle had been spending time with me since I had arrived here. We were sort of getting to know each other. But it was difficult. Our whole getting to know each other thing was moving at a snail's pace because I could never let my guard down.

Every night when I went to bed, I slept in my wolf form just like I had always done. I know that with the bond getting stronger between the two of us, separation from each other would soon become an issue. But despite that, I was glad that the girl's and I were going back to the campus today. Some distance apart would give me time to clear my head and get my thoughts in order.

I know that Alpha Doyle must be worrying about what could happen when us girls left and went back to campus. I mean, whether I liked it or not, I was his packs Luna now, and that meant that I could be a target for his enemies.

In werewolf packs, if you looked at the pack hierarchy as if it were your common chess board, then an Alpha and a Luna were your king and queen. And an Alpha like a king will always try to protect his queen.

We were sitting in the living room talking, and Lilly had been joking around about how funny it was that her father had been so against a rogue living with his kids. She was laughing about how funny it was that after all of Alpha Doyle's negative views on me, and his thinking about getting rid of me, I had turned out to be his second chance mate. I guess there were a lot of people just like Lilly in this world who would think this was a romantic comedy. But as I listened to the girls laughing about what had happened, it wasn't long before it dawned on me that they didn't realise that for me, it wasn't funny.

It hurt me to remember what Alpha Doyle had planned to do to me. Looking at Alpha Doyle, I could see that he felt guilty remembering what he had been going to do to me that day. I just wished I could forget it. What I wouldn't give to erase that day from my memory for good!

Alpha Doyle's voice dragged me out of my thoughts, and I looked over at him.

"Girls, when you get back to campus it is important that you do not tell anyone that Lena is our new Luna. So, no joking around calling her mom or things like that, okay?" he said.

He looked around the room, watching each of us closely wanting to make sure that we all fully understood how serious what he was saying was. He wanted to be sure that we would comply with what he was saying.

"Wait… why?" Lilly asked confused by what her father had just said.

"Because I will not be there to protect you. You will have no protection on campus, and Lena is now one the most important members of this pack. If someone were to learn the truth about who she is, she could be in danger. You girls are in enough danger as it is whenever you are away from here. So, we need to keep it our secret, do you understand?" he asked her, as he tried to help her to understand the seriousness of the situation.

All three of the girls nodded in understanding as they grasped what their father was saying. Alpha Doyle looked over at me and caught me watching him, but I kept my expression neutral and did not say a word.

Alpha Doyle

I walked the girls out to the car and hugged each of my daughters before turning to Lena. "You take care of yourself love, and take care of them to please," I told her motioning to where my daughters were standing beside the car, watching us in open curiosity.

"I always do," she replied, giving me a small smile.

I leaned in and kissed her on the forehead before pulling her into me for a hug. I was surprised when she returned the hug, and I stood there holding her for a while before I let her go and she got into the car. Before I knew it, the car was heading back down the driveway and the only thing I could do was watch it leave. When I could no longer see the car, I turned towards the house and found Sean standing on the front steps watching me.

"She will be fine Connor. The four of them will be. They will take care of each other," he assured me.

Knowing he was right, I nodded. But I had to admit, his words did not make this any easier. Standing there, I decided that I was going to drive my daughters crazy; I was going to turn the tables on them for a change and pay them back for a lifetime of the three of them making me crazy. I was going to call them throughout the day and annoy them for information on how they were all doing! Hell, I was a parent. I had raised three stubborn daughters as a single father, therefore by my reckoning, I had earned the right to drive my kids insane for a change. It would be fun getting a little payback for all the times they had done it to me!

Storm

The girls and I had been back on campus for three days now. Since we had been back, I had been trying to get back into the routine the girls and I had had before we ever went to the Celtic Moon Pack's house and I had met Alpha Doyle. But I had to admit, I was not having an easy time of it since we had been back. I was surprised that ever since I had arrived back on campus, Alpha Doyle was constantly on my mind.

I thought of him all the time. I was always distracted with thoughts of him, he was driving me to distraction. The girls thought it was amusing that I could not get him out of my head. The bond was making it harder for me to focus on anything but him. I couldn't write my music because I couldn't focus on it. I was getting frustrated and had begun to stress that my grades were going to suffer.

Alpha Doyle was calling the girls constantly throughout the day. He had called them so many times that it was beginning to drive Leah bonkers. Julie had told me it was because he was worried about us being away from the pack and without protection. But I wasn't buying that.

I knew that the girls were being hounded on the phone because of me. And it was that knowledge that made me feel guilty. If I hadn't been Alpha Doyle's second chance mate, the girls wouldn't be constantly getting hounded by their father.

The girls and I were in our dorm room. It was late afternoon and we had finished our classes for the day. We were just chilling out and enjoying the peace and quiet. My wolf was getting restless and because she was restless and wanting out, I got up from the couch and began pacing back and forth across the lounge room floor to prevent her from taking over and wolfing out on me.

"Something on your mind?" Leah asked, smirking at me from where she was sitting at the table watching me.

Looking at her, I let out a low growl. She was stirring me up and she knew it! She knew her father was usually the only thing on my mind these days. At my reaction to her taunting, she let out a light giggle from her spot at the table.

"So, Leah, have you heard from your father lately?" I retorted, itching for some payback.

Leah and I held each other's gaze across the room, and suddenly all four of us girls burst out into laughter.

"I need to go for a run, anyone want to come with?" I asked.

"Yeah, I will," Lilly replied, jumping up from her seat.

"I'd love to, seriously, but I have cramps, so I am going to give it a miss," Julie said from where she was lying on the three-seater lounge chair.

"I'm in," Leah said, getting up from her seat at the kitchen table.

The three of us left the room to get ready, and before long we were walking through the rain, heading towards our favorite running track. We arrived at our track and after doing some warm-up stretches, we made our way through our four-mile run. As we ran through the rain, we joked and had a few laughs.

We were approaching a group of boys who were running towards us and Lilly gave me a sly grin before she called out, "Hi boys, how's it going?"

The group of boys stopped and stared at us as we ran past them. When we were a good distance away from the boys, the three of us started laughing.

"Oh, my Lord, Lilly, you are so embarrassing," Leah said, shaking her head at Lilly.

I couldn't help but laugh, earning myself a glare from Leah.

"How can you not realize that the only reason she does these things, is because she knows she is going to get the reactions she gets from you, every time she does it? You always take the bait! You are just like a prize trophy fish Leah!" I told her.

Leah seemed to think over what I had just said as we continued our run. We got back to our starting point and started doing our cool down stretches. I was soon lost in thought. Once again, I was thinking about Alpha Doyle. I found myself wondering what he was doing right at that moment. Was he stressing over us girls being here? Was he taking care of pack business with Beta Sean?

I was still lost in my thoughts when I suddenly became aware of Lilly moving closer to me. Looking at her, I saw that her eyes were fixed on something to my left. I looked over to where she was looking and saw the group of guys who always followed the three girls around like a foul smell.

"Hi pretty ladies, mind if we join you for a run?" one guy asked.

"We have already been, sorry," Leah, ever the diplomatic one, told them.

"What a shame. Well do you girls want to hang out with us for a while?" he asked.

"No!" Lilly snapped.

"Now, now love, there's no need to be rude," the guy said walking towards Lilly.

I grabbed Lilly and dragged her away from him, pushing her behind me and Leah.

"Easy Luna, I meant no disrespect," he said, looking at me and giving me a smile.

As I looked at him wearing that smile, all I could think was 'he looks evil.'

'Wait, he just called me Luna, why had he called me that? Alpha Doyle made it clear to the girls that no one was to know he and I were fated mates. With me being here and Alpha Doyle being back with the pack, the knowledge that we were not together in one location would make us both vulnerable. Any enemies Alpha Doyle and his pack had could try to use me as leverage against him. So how did this guy know that I was Alpha Doyle's packs, Luna?'

My mind was now whirling around like a spin top as I ran through all of this. Suddenly I was consumed by a feeling of desperation, and all I could think was, 'We have to get out of here now!'

"You know, there is nothing more pathetic and more desperate than a loser who is constantly trying to get with a girl who has made it clear she is not interested. So why don't you bugger off back to wherever it is you came from!" I snarled at him.

Looking at the guy and his friends, I could see I had struck a chord with them. Looking over at the girls, I whispered, "Get back to our room, now."

Leah looked at me for a moment in confusion before she nodded at me and grabbed Lilly by the arm and began making her way back to the campus. As we made our way back to our room, I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure we were not being followed.

My head was constantly jumping tracks, changing thoughts and asking questions so fast that I could feel myself getting a headache. My stomach was in knots and I was so on edge that my wolf was trying to break out so she could go on the defensive.

Someone knew the truth of who I was to Alpha Doyle. So, if the girls had told no one then that meant Alpha Doyle had traitor within his own pack who was talking out of school! What was that old saying? Loose lips sink ships! We had to get out of here!

Alpha Doyle

I was too distracted to focus on pack work. Several times Sean had caught me zoning out. I was thinking too much about Lena and my girls.

"Why don't you call her?" Sean asked.

"I have, many times," I replied.

"No, you haven't. You have been calling your daughters. You haven't called Lena," he replied.

"I don't have her number. And every time I call my girls, she will not get on the phone. She drives me crazy!" I replied.

"Yes, I can see that. So, what do the girls have to say about it?" he asked, seeming to be quite happily amused by my current predicament.

"Leah said to just give her time, so I will give her time," I replied.

"Well, I am sure Leah knows Lena well enough to judge on the situation. Just give her some time and let her know that you are there for her. Once she is comfortable, everything will be fine. She sure is a jumpy little thing," Sean said, looking as though he was lost in thought.

"Yeah, yeah she is," I replied.

"Why don't you give them another call, I can see that you want to," he told me, laughing. I couldn't help but chuckle at him as I picked up the phone and called Julie.

Storm

We got back to our dorm room and as soon as we walked through the door, we saw Julie lying on the couch talking on the phone.

"Who are you talking to?" Leah asked.

"Daddy," Julie replied.

"Seriously?" I asked.

She nodded at me and I said, "Good. You can tell him I have a problem, and that we are heading to his place, you girls had better get to packing," before turning and walking out of the room and leaving the girls speechless and looking completely dumbfounded in the lounge room.

Walking into mine and Lilly's bedroom, I sat on my bed and tried to collect my thoughts. Although I was still up in the air regarding the whole fated mate thing. I knew I had to put it aside. This wasn't just about me anymore. It was something that concerned all of them. Leah, Lilly, Julie, Alpha Doyle, and the Celtic Moon Pack. None of them had done anything to hurt me, therefore, I needed to help them. Getting up from my bed, I packed what I would need to go back to Alpha Doyle's house.

Alpha Doyle

I was on the phone talking to Julie when I heard the voices of the other girls arriving back at the room. Julie had told me that the girls had gone for a run. She had also told me about how Lena had been getting them into fitness since she had moved into the dorm with them. I was happy to hear that Lena was having such a positive influence on the girls.

"Are they back love?" I asked Julie.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Who are you talking to?" I heard Leah ask.

"Daddy," Julie replied.

"Seriously?" I heard Lena ask. At first, I thought that she was referring to how many times I had phoned the girls since they had been back on campus, and that she might be getting annoyed with me. But then Lena said, "Good. You can tell him I have a problem, and that we are heading to his place. You girls had better get to packing."

'Lena had a problem, and she was coming to me for help. What kind of problem would she have that would see her running back here to me?' I thought.

But then another feeling came over me. Joy. Lena had chosen to come to me for help. Somehow, she had enough confidence in me, to seek me out to help her. That was a start. I knew I could build on that and begin to gain her trust.

"You better get to packing love, I will see you when you get here," I told Julie before getting off the phone.

I looked over at Sean and said, "Lena has said she has a problem, and they are coming here."

"Well, that's a start," Sean said, as he grinned at me from across the table.