I wearily met Ben's silver eyes and jerked my head toward the way we had come. I was tired and hurting but we had won. In all the ways that counted, at least. They retreated and we were still standing.

I looked down at my opponent. He was still unconscious on the ground. He was lucky that I didn't kill him and that I wasn't looking to take prisoners either. I knew who they were and what they wanted. Hopefully he would rethink his choices when he woke up in the middle of the field, beaten to hell and back by me.

It was time for us to go. The cats would need some time to recover. To say they had a few wounds to lick would be an understatement. Once more, Charlie opened his jutting jaw and let out a guttural roar in the direction the enemy had fled. The reverberating sound shook me to my core.

This guy. His large muscles bunched and he took a step forward like he was about to take off at a thunderous run. I darted over to him and smacked his big leg with my paw. He looked down at me in confusion and my cat snickered. He looked like such a big lug.

I made the same motion with my head as I did to Ben, letting him know it was time to go. Ben and the two mysterious wolves—whose scent told me they were related to Ben—were diligently awaiting us at the edge of the forest.

Charlie's shoulders slumped and he frowned around his tusks. "I was just gettin' started," he whined. It sounded so odd coming from a voice so deep and gravely.

I jerked my head again and growled.

"No need to get all nasty. I'm goin'!"

I glanced back at the bear who'd charged into the middle of the field, but he'd already turned around and was heading in our direction. I was glad he had some sense.

Although I'd never seen Sam in his bear from, I knew from his scent who he was. I wondered why he was the one Sophie sent, instead of Jack or someone else from the pack. I'd find out soon enough, I supposed.

The ground trembled as Charlie sullenly stomped toward the forest line. I turned to follow and huffed in laughter as I padded along behind him. The wolves, all three of them, waited just inside the trees.

The moment we met up with them, the two I didn't know immediately started to sniff me openly. Wolves. I bared my fangs and pressed my ears flat to my head. A low growl rumbled out of Ben at the same time. They wisely slid away from me.

They exchanged a look with each other, then Ben. A moment later the two strange wolves disappeared into the trees as they ran in the direction of the Greenhavens' house. How did they know which way to go? Who were they? Why were they here?

A feeling of unease ran through me. I trusted Ben, but wolves were pack animals. Were they going to try to railroad me into going back to Ben's pack?

Ben and Charlie were obviously waiting for me, so I started to run after the two wolves. Ben followed, keeping pace. Charlie lumbered along behind us, his feet thudding against the earth, his big steps the only thing stopping him from falling behind.

We moved silently through the forest. I only knew where Ben was because he ran beside me. Charlie, however, sounded like an elephant behind us. Branches snapped and broke, both under his feet and when his body ran into them. Those poor trees. I knew he was doing it on purpose. He said it made him feel powerful.

It didn't take us long to reach the Greenhavens' home back at the orchard. Ben and I made our way to the back door and our pile of neatly folded clothes. I shifted to my human form. Ben did the same. As I reached down to grab my clothes, I noticed another pile of clothes neatly folded near ours. Those must be Sam's.

Sophie must have told Sam to come here and he followed our scent to the field. My big ol' question was how other two wolves knew to come to Petunia's orchard to find us? Better yet, who were they?

"Y'know, that's a whole lot more butt than I wanted to see," Charlie said before bursting into booming laughter.

I laughed along with him as Ben and I dressed. Sometimes I forgot how weird it was to just randomly be naked around people. It was natural for us shifters, so natural that even the snarky ones like me didn't question it.

I glanced around. The other two wolves were nowhere to be found. I briefly wondered where they had disappeared to. I hadn't thought they were that far ahead of us, but I caught their scent and could tell they'd been here shortly before us. I was about to ask Ben about them when I realized that Charlie was still in his ogre form, looking down at his makeshift loincloth.

Why hadn't he done his weird ogre magic to hide himself? There was nobody else around but this orchard was a busy one. He was running a huge risk right now.

"Uhh, Charlie, you should really try to look less, you know . . ."

He inched toward me. His large, clawed feet cleared large swaths of dirt as he dragged them. Finally, he whispered, "I can't."

"Why? Is your magic that hard to use or something?"

He shook his head.

"Then what's the deal?" I asked, confused.

He hunched his hulking form down and whispered, this time even more quietly, "I don't have any clothes."

I arched a brow. "Where'd you leave them?"

"Heck if I know. I dropped 'em somewhere in the forest."

"Rookie mistake."

"Rude," he muttered in his unusually deep voice.

It was only then that I realized Ben had moved off to the side and he was deep in a quiet conversation with two men. I didn't even have to get their scent to know they were his relatives. The wolves. They've reappeared, I see. Interesting. I made my way over with an arched brow and folded arms.

"What do we have here?" I asked.

One of the new wolves gave me an easy smile, the other simply stared at me. Not a single muscle in his expression twitched for better or worse. Weird. Ben, on the other hand, looked like he was in a mighty bad mood.

"These are my cousins. David," he pointed to the smiling one, then the other, "and Eric."

"Ah, do they know . . .?"

"About you being his baby mama?" David offered.

"Yeah," I replied slowly, "that."

"Pretty crazy how that all worked out."

I furrowed my brow as Ben looked off to the side.

"Yes. Crazy," I said. "It's all just so . . . whacky. Ben, what's wrong?"

His jaw clenched and unclenched. His hands too.

"Ben?"

"David, Eric, Charlie . . . could you give us a moment?"

David sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth. Eric grabbed him by the arm and started to walk away.

In a quiet, even voice, he said, "We'll catch you later."

Ben was still just staring at me. I gave him a questioning look. But the moment was interrupted as Sam lumbered up in his big bear form, having lagged behind us. He had a pile of clothes in his mouth and he looked less than pleased about it.

"Hey, those are mine," Charlie called out with a booming chuckle. "Hope you didn't slobber on 'em too much."

As if in response, the door to the Greenhavens' home suddenly opened and Petunia looked around coldly.

"Bears and ogres. This will not do. Kindly fix yourselves," she ordered before she went back inside. I smiled faintly at the lack of hellos or small talk. I appreciated her honesty.

Charlie scooped up Sam's clothes. The two of them shuffled off into the trees. I knew we'd have to be quiet or they'd pick up everything we said. At least they were giving us the illusion of privacy.

"What's going on with you, Ben? Did you get hurt or something?"

Ben shook his head and let out a small huff of air, like he couldn't believe I didn't already understand. Charlie came up beside us then. He was back in his human form. That didn't take him long.

"Everything good here?" He pointedly looked at Ben, then back at me.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Thanks for all the help today."

"Anytime, anytime."

With one last wary look at Ben's tense expression he walked around to the front of the house.

"Well," I began, "we're alone now. What's the deal?"

"The deal, Aly?"

"Yeah."

Ben gritted his teeth. "This place is the deal."

I took a step back, slowly shaking my head from side to side in disbelief. We're back to this again, are we?

"Don't pull away from me again, Aly. We're talking about this."

"Would you stop telling me what to do?"

"Maybe if you would actually listen to me."

I scoffed. "Maybe I would listen to you if you didn't spend all your time telling me what I should be doing."

"I just want to talk. This place, Fayoak, clearly isn't safe for you and Ana. Probably not for your sister either. Your old pack has it in for you. They know you're here."

"And? Did my pack not just demonstrate that we can handle it? Charlie could've taken them on by himself. I have all the protection I need."

"Charlie won't always be there for you. I will."

I was the one gritting my teeth now. I steeled myself as I held his gaze unwaveringly. "No, you won't."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't take this, Ben. I can't."

"Take what?"

"You and me. It's not going to work. We want different things. We'll figure out things with Ana, as difficult as it might be, but this?" I pointed between him and myself. "Not happening."

"Aly, wait, what—"

"You think that just because you're my mate I should give up on everything that I want? Is that it?"

Ben's mouth opened then shut. His jaw clenched. Let him get as angry as he wanted. It would make this easier for the both of us. I didn't want to give up my friend. The father of my child. My mate. But I would.

As I stared into his hurt eyes, I tried to force back my emotions. I couldn't think about how much I enjoyed being with him. How much he mattered to me. What a great man he was. A man who accepted me wholly and completely. A man who made me fall for him with a single smile.

Jesus. Was I making a mistake?

No. If he wasn't going to listen to me, I wasn't going to listen to him. I wanted compromise. He clearly didn't.

And I was done.

"I'm not leaving with you, Ben. Because we're not ever going to be together."

"You can't be serious. Just because—"

"We'll talk about Ana later. But forget about me."

"No, I'm sick of later and I won't forget about you. What the hell is that about? We need to—"

"You're. Not. Listening." I breathed in deep, my nostrils flaring with the effort. "We're done. There's no need to talk about anything but Ana, and we can do that later."

"Aly, please—"

I heard the pain in his voice, but I was already walking away. I steeled myself, lifted my head high, and walked inside the Greenhavens' to get my daughter. We were leaving.

* * *

"Shit."

There I was again. Sitting in my car with my child. Ben was inside, packing up his things. I wished I hadn't asked Charlie to take Izzy home, but at least I now had a place to run and hide.

Classic move on my part—running away so I didn't have to deal with life. To be fair, though, I couldn't stand being told how incapable I was of protecting my daughter one more time.

What the hell would it take to prove it to him? I had fought and won twice. Did I like that I had to live in danger like this? Hell no, but I knew it was temporary. It was done now. Over. My pack, my friends, and family in Fayoak, they had all proven that we were capable. We couldn't escape danger by running.

I snorted as I started up my car and drove it down the long road from my house. Never mind that I was running. I was doing it for the right reasons. At least, I thought I was. The sick feeling in my stomach made me wonder otherwise. I clamped down on it, forced it away as I gripped the steering wheel tighter.

I had already texted Izzy to let her know I was coming over. I needed to talk and there was no one better to listen. I didn't know what I would do without her. The old pack daring to threaten her as well as me was probably what made me turn into a raging kitty-juggernaut on the battlefield.

Ana was gurgling and kicking happily in the backseat. I fought for her the most, though. I would lose myself entirely if I lost her. I couldn't even think about it without my stomach churning. I was happy to hear her sounding so content and silly back there. She didn't even know what we had been through and I was glad. I wanted her to have the life I didn't.

As I stared out the window, a sudden thought hit me. I didn't want her to grow up without her parents either. What if I had died out there? Would Sophie have to raise Ana too, just like she did me? Worse, did Ben have a point? No, I told myself. Even if he was right, he went about it all wrong. He couldn't be with someone like me if he wasn't even going to try to understand where I was coming from. It wouldn't work.

My knuckles were white on the steering wheel. My stomach was churning. It wasn't just thoughts of Izzy and Ana that were upsetting me, it was the fact that I was losing Ben forever.

And I was the one to blame.

* * *

I wanted to flop down on Izzy's cushy floral sofa, but I had Ana in my arms. I gingerly sat down, carefully cradling her head. But internally, oh boy, I was flopping around and pouting with the best of them.

"Why wouldn't he just listen to me?" I asked Izzy as she stepped into the room with a tray. I lifted my head from the back of the couch and did a double take. There was an ornate teapot and two porcelain cups resting on the tray, along with a small plate of cookies. They were carefully arranged in a tight circle, the edges neatly overlapping.

"When did you even get the chance to make tea?"

"I was already making some for myself."

"Including the teapot and the cookies?" I asked, more out of amazement than anything.

"Well, yes, I enjoy my tea more this way."

"Izz-monster, you're adorable." I looked down at Ana. "Don't you agree?"

Ana had nothing to say on the matter, but I was sure she agreed.

Izzy gave me a shy smile before setting the tray down on her coffee table and pouring us each a cup. She was about to hand me mine when her brow furrowed. She looked at Ana, then the teacup. She set it back down.

"On second thought, let's let that cool for a moment, shall we?"

I snorted. "You don't think I can handle a baby and a teacup at the same time? You're almost as bad as Ben."

Izzy tilted her head to the side, eyeing me thoughtfully. I shifted uncomfortably. I was tempted to crack a joke or say something snarky, anything to get her eyes off me. I had this vague feeling that she was looking into my very soul.

"Aly, have you ever considered that maybe you're afraid of letting people help you?"

"What?" That lame response was all I could manage. I hadn't expected truth-bombs from Izzy.

"You heard me," she said quietly. "I've always admired your strength and independence, but I think you could stand to let others care for you sometimes, too. It doesn't make you weak."

"I don't think it would make me weak."

"But you do, don't you? It sounds to me like he's just trying to protect you and Ana. Is that really so bad? Have you tried talking to him, or do you keep on shutting him down?"

Yes, I thought, but instead I said, "I have no idea what you mean."

Izzy sniffed at me, lifted her teacup from its saucer, then took a prim sip. "You do."

"Someone's sassy."

"Well, I'm also right, aren't I?" She delicately placed her teacup back down.

I deflated against her couch, my eyes falling to trace the looping flower stems patterning the fabric. I brushed my fingers over Ana's soft hair and sighed.

"Unfortunately, I think you might be right," I confessed. It was weirdly relieving to finally say it out loud. In the back of my mind, I had known there was something wrong.

Ben wasn't unreasonable. Was he pushy? Yeah. I knew it was only because he cared, though. I was the one who was being unreasonable, wasn't I?

"I didn't want to talk because I was scared that I would ruin it all." I laughed bitterly to myself. "Funny, because I did that anyway."

"But it's easier if you're the one doing it, right?" Izzy said in a soft voice.

"Have you always been this wise?"

Izzy smiled. "I think so. I used to be a little quieter though."

I reached out to pat her on the thigh. "Well, I like this side of you. You've always been good people, Izz-monster, but you just seem to be getting better."

There was a loud knock at the door and realization flared to life in Izzy's eyes, followed by a deep blush. I grinned as I caught the scent of who it was on the other side of her door.

"What's Jack doing here?"

"Behave." Izzy gave me her sternest look—which wasn't very stern—before she jumped to her feet and raced over to answer her door.

"Hello, Jack," she greeted him a bright voice. "You're early!"

"You all ready to go? The book fair is starting soon. I know you would hate to miss a second of browsing time."

I grinned to myself. It seemed like she and Jack were moving right along in their weird friendship-slash-maybe-not-really. He certainly knew her well. Izzy lived and breathed books from what I could tell.

I eyed her overstuffed bookshelves. They were the messiest things in her entire apartment, and I was using that term lightly. Her idea of mess was most people's idea of super tidy. Her bookshelves, though? Overstuffed was an understatement.

Ana squirmed against me and I pressed a gentle kiss to her head. As I did so, I thought of Ben. He knew me just as well as Jack knew Izzy. Instead of book fairs, Ben was the sort of guy who remembered to queue up the crappy reality television I loved to hate when I would be studying at his place. There was nothing like the soothing sound of fighting housewives to get you through your accounting homework.

The conversation at the doorway was distant background noise as a wave of guilt crept over me. I screwed up and knew it. I didn't need Izzy to tell me. I had a feeling that I came here because I was hoping Izzy wouldn't tell me. I wanted her to agree with me, tell me I'd done the right thing, even though I knew otherwise. That made me feel even worse.

I placed Ana in her car seat, reached out for the cup of cooled tea and slammed it back, then picked up Ana, grabbed the diaper bag, and headed for the door. I didn't know what I was going to do about my mistakes, but I didn't want my bad mood to interfere with whatever Jack and Izzy had going on.

Izzy whirled around when I approached the door, still blushing faintly. "Oh, Aly. Are you going?"

"Yeah, it sounds like you've got, ah, plans anyway."

"Hey, Aly," Jack's smile of greeting faded to a stern look. "Sam told me about that brawl. Give me a call next time. I'm glad Sophie called Sam, but I could've had a dozen pack members there to back you up."

"They barely even scratched me. Petunia's balm healed me right up."

"Glad to hear it. But if they show back up, call me. My job is to protect my people. That's what Alphas do," Jack said.

"Will do, captain."

"Aly," Izzy whispered.

I blew out a huff. "I promise you. If they show up again, I'll call."

"Thank you. And you should tell Mrs. Greenhaven she should really sell that balm."

"Fat chance," I said with a laugh. "She made Alex wait the better part of an eternity before she taught him how to make it."

I was distracting myself again, wasn't I? Trying to do anything but think too long about my mistakes.

"Well, anyway, I'm going to head out." I gave them both half-smiles and they stepped aside, letting me through with my bulky car seat.

As I walked down the stairs, my feelings were at war. I wanted nothing more than to talk to Ben. Tell him I was sorry and that we could try again. I knew it would be stupid and pointless, though. I would just keep on doing what I do. I would never learn. There was no use in putting him through it. I was the only one who could save him from me, even though my aching heart wished I would let him take the risk.