Reed

As the little party for Simone ended, she fell asleep against me, holding my hand tightly. I didn't even try to wake her up, knowing how tired she must be. Hearing that his mate was responsible for Simone's runaway, Corey immediately took Jena aside and scolded her for her actions. She had tried denying anything to do with Simone when I found her near a mess of food, but I ignored her and went after my mate.

It was Thrain who found her being attacked by a rogue, and then it was Corey who finally caught her. When Thrain had tried to go sooth her down, she ran again which set my teeth on edge, not understanding why she was running away. But then she came into my arms, shifted, and told me what happened. I knew she was terrified when we found her, but I didn't realize just how much until I felt her trembling body against mine, not to mention her wrist was broken.

Simone sighed in her sleep, giving a soft smile of contentment as Jena came up and bowed her head to me. "I apologize for my actions, Alpha."

"Let me get one thing straight, Jena. You're in my pack now, under my rules. If you want to be a part of it, then you will follow the rules. If you want to live under the rules you've been taught, go back to Alpha Roniston. Under no circumstances will any member of this pack be treated how Simone was treated. If they are, the suspect will be put out as rogue."

Jena flinched but nodded. "I understand, Alpha."

"I hope so," I say and glare at her. "Tomorrow, as punishment for insulting and scaring away my mate and your Luna, you will clean the pack house and help in the hospital." She nods. "Get out of my sight."

Scurrying away, Jena runs into the darkness. Corey walked up with a pained expression. "That was a mild punishment."

"She's new. It was a warning. Next time I won't be so nice," I say.

He nods and looks at Simone. "She looks like she's about to fall over."

I look down at my mate and see her head about to fall forward off my shoulder. "I need to get her in bed," I whisper and carefully try to pull her into my lap.

"I'll make sure everything is cleaned up before morning," he says, and I nod.

"Thank you for your help," I say, and he nods, walking away.

"Where am I going?" Simone asks sleepily, blinking up at me as I lay her in my arms.

"Bed. You were about to do a face plant into the dirt."

She curls up against me, holding my shirt. "My mate cares," she mumbles. I look down to see her back in slumber again. Sighing, I stand and start walking to my house. I remember halfway there that my keys are in my pocket and curse.

Stopping at the door, I lay Simone gently on the ground and go to unlock the door. Turning on the light so I don't run into anything, I turn and pick her up again, walking upstairs to the bedroom. I lay her down on my big bed and pull the covers over her, watching her uncurl and nuzzle the pillow. Smiling, I dress and climb in behind her, pulling her to my chest and closing my eyes.

"Reed!"

I jerk awake at the sound of Corey's voice. "What happened? What's wrong?"

"Do you realize what time it is?" he snickered.

I look at the clock on the night table and my eyes go wide. I had slept half the day away. "Did something happen while I was asleep?"

"No. I take it you slept well?"

"Better than I have in a long time."

"Good!"

"Why?"

"You can help me beat your mate in chess!"

I blink and realize Simone isn't in bed. "Chess?"

"She's kicked my ass at it about ten times now! Help me!" Corey complained.

"Is that an exaggeration?"

"No…All our games have lasted only five minutes! She puts me in check mate every time!"

I laughed and got up. Going downstairs, I see Thrain sitting with his arms crossed, smirking at Corey who sat with his brows furrowed while he decided which piece to move next. Simone looked smug in her chair, her journal in hand. I look at the board and smirk. Corey only had three pieces left: his king, a knight, and a pawn. "Good luck!"

They all look up at me and Corey glares. "I told you to help me!"

I shrug. "I can't. You've only killed half her pieces, and she still has her queen. Unless you see a way of easily getting her king out of the wall of pawns and other pieces, you aren't winning. She can have you checkmated in a few moves!"

Corey grumbled and moved his knight in an easy shot for Simone. And as I predicted, she went for it. "Damn it!"

I laugh and go to the kitchen, grabbing cereal and milk. I heard Thrain trying to cheer up Corey, but that only started in the latter stomping out of the house. "Good morning," I heard a soft voice behind me.

I looked to see Simone leaning against the counter, looking at her feet and a pink stain on her cheeks. "Good morning, how are you today?"

"I was going to ask if you could do something with me?"

Seeing her body tense slightly, I set the jug of milk down and walk over to her, making her look into my eyes. "What is it?"

She blinks and blushes more. "Train?"

"Sure. Let me eat and get dressed, okay?" She smiles and nods. "Don't be nervous to ask me something, Beautiful. I'm not going to get mad."

"Okay," she whispers, then to my surprise, she embraces me. I wrap my arms around her, hearing her sigh and feeling her body is relaxed. "Can I go with Thrain to look around while you get ready?"

"Go ahead. I'll let Thrain know when I'm ready."

Pulling away, she gives me a small smile and walks back to my friend and asks him a question. He smiled and gestured towards the living room. Simone smiled and ran out as Thrain chuckled, following her. "She looks like a child!"

"I know, but it's better than seeing her afraid and hiding," I say, finishing up my breakfast.

"I'll keep her safe."

"Meet me in an hour at the training center. That should give you enough time to show her the important landmarks."

"Understood."

I sigh and lean back, closing my eyes and picturing Simone's shy smile and bright amber eyes. It was interrupted by a grunt. "I thought you were going to help me?" Corey said.

"That would have been cheating."

"At least I wouldn't have been humiliated."

I laughed and shook my head, going back up to my room and getting dressed. When I'm finished, I go to my office and do some work. Before I know it, an hour is up, and I'm supposed to meet Thrain and Simone.

I walk out of the house and to the training center where other pack members are working. I see Simone amongst them, hitting a punching bag with gloves on. Thrain is against a wall, watching her in approval before he notices me. I nod, and he gives me a salute before disappearing.

Simone's hair is pulled back into a tail, she has sweats and a tank top on with high quality sneakers she must've gotten from the locker rooms. She looks good and her stance is slightly off, but better than I could have hoped for. I just stand and watch her for a moment, crossing my arms with a small smile on my face.

After a few minutes, she stops and pants, sweating a lot. Looking around, she grows alarmed, her eyes going wild. I realize she's looking for Thrain and walk up to her. When she finally notices me, she stops and starts. I stop in my tracks, letting her decide if I should come closer. Finally, she brushes hair out of her eyes. "You came!"

"I did."

Simone grows a bit calmer and looks down at her hands, again looking nervous. "I was just letting off some steam until you got here."

"I don't mind. Do you still have some steam left to burn?"

She glances at me with a small smile. "Yes."

"Good, follow me." I turn then pause and glance at her. "Go take off the gloves and meet me outside, okay?"

She nods emphatically and runs towards the storage area where we keep all gear. I go outside and wait. It only takes her a minute or two before she runs outside and finds me. "I'm ready."

I smile and hold out my hand. Simone takes it, letting me lead her to a flat area where it's padded on the ground. I find training a person to fight outside is better than inside so they're not feeling suffocated, but I let people train wherever they want. I turn to my mate and cross my arms. "I said I wouldn't hurt you, but if you're going to train with me, then you have to get hurt, okay?"

"I understand. I trained with Jerom and he let me kick his ass later if I got beat up."

I smirk and nod. "This is the only time we're together that I will hurt you, but only to make you stronger."

"I want to be stronger," she says. "I can fight, but I want to be stronger. I need to be stronger."

"Good girl." I walk up about a foot away from her and look into her eyes, seeing she's open and calm, trusting for once. Without warning, I go for her neck, but her hand blocks me, so I grab her wrist instead. I smirk again, liking her reflexes.

Soon, we're doing hand-to-hand combat and I'm impressed with her ability to block me three out of five times, though she doesn't hit or kick back, which disappoints me a little. People start gathering around, watching Simone and I and whispering approval and awe. I don't blame them: it's not every day they see someone as matched as me, let alone a girl. I wasn't going easy either.

It's been an hour and a half when Simone lets her guard down, being too slow to block my punch to her stomach as she is distracted with something. She flies to the other end of the mat, groaning. I wait a moment, watching her curl in on herself before she stands up tall with a defiant look in her eyes. The pack starts cheering and I feel my heart swell, proud of my mate and what she can handle.

Simone looks at all the people and stiffens, her eyes darting around. I see her throat bob once…twice…three times before she looks at me. I know at that point that she's finished. "Okay! Everyone back to what they were doing!" I call out.

They shuffle away, talking excitedly. Simone relaxes and takes a step, but winces. "Why were they cheering?" she asks as I walk up to her.

"They like to see their alpha fight someone, especially if it's someone like his mate who could beat him." She furrows her brows, but I grab the hem of her shirt. "Let me see you stomach."

"I'm fine."

I look into her eyes and know she's not fine. "Simone, let me see."

"You said I'd get hurt. I know what I was getting into," she hissed batting my hands away.

"That's not why I'm checking." I sigh and put my hands down. "I wanted to see if it was serious or not. My punches weren't light, and they have been known to kill before."

Her eyes look down as they always do when she feels like she's going to get hurt. "I swear I'm okay," she mumbled.

Frowning, I watch as she sits down and rubs her leg, not looking at me. "Simone?" She doesn't answer. Worried, I kneel and make her look at me only to see tears in her eyes. "Simone! Why are you crying?"

Shaking her head, her cries become audible. "I don't know!"

I pull her against me and wrap my arms around her body, wondering if it was me, wondering if I scared her. "I'm sorry, Simone. If I scared you, I'm so sorry."

Again, she shakes her head. "I'm not scared, I'm just…I don't know what to do anymore."

"Tell me what's wrong, Beautiful. Let me help you."

Simone clutches my sweaty shirt in her fists and crashes her face into my chest. "I miss him, and I feel like I've been betrayed!" Her cries become harder and louder, and I hear more anger than sadness now. "My pack betrayed me! They lied to me! They didn't give me anything except Jerom! He was my brother! He was the only reason I lived anymore! Now he's gone!"

My heart constricted as her words flowed from her lips. I wasn't sure how she had held in so much anger for so long, but I knew she was breaking.

"Reed, I don't want to go back! I'm scared they'll isolate me again or worse…! I can't! Ever since she died, it's been hell! I can't go back again!"

I hold her tighter. "You aren't going back. I'm not going to make you go back. I'm not going to make you stop being angry because you need to let it out. Be pissed off, Simone. Roniston killed your only friend, isolated you from the world and fed you lies. Hell, if you want, I'll go there right now and kill him for it!"

She sniffed and looked up at me. "You will?"

"If you want. Just tell me and I'll have it done by nightfall."

She gave a strangled laugh and buried her face in my chest again. "Maybe later…"

We sit a little longer before I pull away and brush her hair out of her eyes. "Why don't we go home and shower, then we can have lunch?"

"Can you order pizza?" she asks eagerly.

"What kind?"

"Meat lovers?"

I pull out my phone and dial Pizza Hut's number ordering one large meat lover's pizza, a side of breadsticks, and Mountain Dew. Hanging up, I look down at Simone who looked shocked. "They'll be here soon, so better go clean up!"

Her worries forgotten; she takes off towards the house with her hair flying behind her. I smile and run after her.