Aly glanced back at me as she stepped out of The Honeyed Peach. Anger was in every line of her body. She was pissed. Beyond pissed. Our otherwise great day had taken a turn to awful the moment when I said my pack could protect her. It was only an option, but it seemed to infuriate her. What was so wrong with moving to be near my pack?

Was she afraid they'd reject her? I opened my mouth to ask when she froze, her gaze locked on something to the side. I saw a flash of fear, then she let out a quiet snarl.

I followed her line of sight and saw a group of men lounging near the entrance of The Honeyed Peach. I couldn't repress my own snarl when my eyes found one of the idiots I'd fought at the orchard.

I sized up the group, preparing myself for a fight. They had scared Aly and that didn't go over well with me. It was time I taught them to pick on someone their own size.

"What're you looking at?" I asked the guy I recognized from the orchard, showing my teeth. I let my dark brown eyes shift to wolf-silver. The guy tensed.

"You think you're going to scare me like this?" Aly snarled.

Her courage impressed me. She was keeping strong despite their obvious attempt at intimidating her.

"Hey, Robby, you don't have to take that shit," one of the other guys said.

"No, Robby," I said with a predatory smile, "you don't have to take any shit. But remember, we're in public. Do you think you can take us as we are right now?"

It didn't matter where we came from, all shifters knew to keep our natures quiet. If he shifted in the middle of Fayoak, I was certain he would be hunted down. If not by his fellow shifters, then by torch-wielding humans. Some things were simply not tolerated.

None of us had any desire to become lab experiments, be chased by big game trophy hunters, or be hauled away and stuck on reservations by the government. To avoid all of that, exposure was dealt with harshly.

His eyes darted over me and I felt a vicious sense of satisfaction when he gulped faintly. I was tall and muscular. Not a body-builder by any means, but I could kick some ass.

"You're not worth it," he finally grumbled and turned to walk away.

The others with him watched in confusion as he stomped down the sidewalk.

"What the hell?" one of them griped quietly.

Robby stopped and looked back at me. I saw the fear in his eyes that he tried to hide with bravado. "He's a wolf. He probably has a bunch of pack members hiding around the corner or some shit. You know how those cowards are."

"Funny, considering you have a group of guys around you right now."

"At least Ben's willing to fight you in the open," Aly added in with a smirk.

One of the cats started to bristle and my smile grew even more predatory. I had no problem wiping the floor with these idiots. The other men started to look around nervously, as if a pack of wolves would materialize out of thin air.

"He's too sure of himself, I don't like this," another one muttered. "Let's get out of here."

One by one, they glanced around with flared nostrils, trying to scent out any threats, then hurried off.

"Cowards," I said under my breath. Although, it was probably for the best that I didn't get involved in a public brawl.

"Wow, they're going to leave just like that?" Aly asked as she watched them scurry away, her brows raised.

I turned my attention to her. "They didn't have a plan. They just wanted to act tough."

She looked at me, then watched them hurry down the street with narrowed eyes.

"I really had no idea they were such ass—" Aly looked down at Ana's carrier, ". . . uhh, buttholes?"

My expression twisted in confusion. "You really think that's a better word?"

"I'm trying, okay?" She shook her head, and started walking to the car, one hand waving in the air. "It's so hard being a parent. Her brain is a tiny sponge. It makes me panic."

I chuckled to myself as I hurried to catch up to her. However, beneath my smile, I was still worried. I needed to find out what was really going on with that old pack of hers. I thought about how they were sitting there, waiting for her. I needed more answers.

I opened my mouth to ask, but quickly noticed the tension in Aly's shoulders. Now was not the time. My wolfish curiosity begged me to get to the bottom of it all, but I could be patient. However, the time for Aly to come clean was approaching quickly.

When we got into the car, I kept my questions light. I asked about Fayoak and the Greenhaven Orchard. By the time we were close to Aly's place, her shoulders relaxed and I even managed to earn a smile or two.

My phone buzzed in my pocket as Aly turned onto her street. I pulled it out and glanced at the screen. A knot formed in my stomach when I saw it was a text from Eric.

"Are you kidding me?" I muttered to myself.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I said as my fingers dashed across the screen, typing out a hurried reply. The last thing I needed was for my cousins to come barging in and make a mess of things.

My eyes bore holes into the phone as I waited for his response.

Seriously? My jaw clenched. I knew that my call with those two had ended too easily last night. Now I would have my family to deal with, too. They couldn't leave well enough alone, could they?

If Aly felt I'd called them here, she might feel ambushed. For all I know, she might think that I planned to abduct her and Ana so they would be safe with my pack. Although the idea was tempting, I would never do such a thing. It would betray her trust in the worst way.

She had been so prickly lately, even for Aly, that I wasn't sure how she would take their arrival. If Aly felt I'd deceived her, everything I'd done up until now, trying to smooth things over between us, would blow up in my face. With those thoughts in mind, I furiously typed out a message to my cousins.

I hit send and impatiently waited for his reply. I gritted my teeth together in frustration. It was taking too long. Was he typing out an essay?

I winced. The last thing I wanted was my mother here. She was a force of nature. I studied my phone with a frown. Eric had said we. It was probably just him and David, but I knew I had better double check. At least then I would know what I was dealing with.

What if he decided to bring my brother and sister? My stomach churned. Aly would definitely feel ambushed, and rightfully so. If wolves were good at one thing, it was working in a pack.

Aly pulled into her driveway as I anxiously waited for the answer. As the seconds passed, my mind visualized a caravan of cars full of my relatives descending on Fayoak.

I let out a quiet sigh of relief as Aly parked. That meant it was only Eric and David. They were trouble, but I could deal with the two of them.

A reply came a second later.

I stared at the last message and fought the urge to sigh again, this time out of annoyance. I knew they would be here sooner or later. We'd put the tracking app on all our phones for emergencies. I should have remembered they had a broad idea of what emergency meant.

It wasn't unusual for them to use the tracker to hunt me down for nothing more than going to a movie. If I had been thinking, I would have turned the tracker off after our last call. Oh well. I would deal with them later.

Aly turned off the car. I powered down my phone and slipped it into my pocket. If my phone was off, it might take them longer to find me. I could only hope.

I hopped out of the car and opened the back door to smile at Ana. I'd watched how Aly had unhooked the carrier earlier, so didn't fumble as I released it. I was pretty impressed with my new dad skills. I wondered if Aly noticed. My daughter made some odd burbling sounds and I grinned at her.

"What's that? You have the best daddy in the whole wide world?"

"You seem to have that under control," Aly said as she opened the door opposite of us. "I've got her diaper bag."

There was something odd in her voice that made my smile falter. I looked up but I didn't get a chance to see her expression. The car door was already swinging shut.

Ana made a gurgling noise, drawing my attention. She eagerly kicked her feet, bringing my smile back to my face. She was going to be trouble, I knew it.

I looked forward to her getting to run and play with her cousins someday, just like I had. I could already see her getting into trouble with the other children in my pack, then weaseling out of it with her mom's cute smile. I hoped that she would get to, at least.

Talk about a cat among the pigeons. Or, more accurately, a cub among the pups. My wolf huffed with laughter inside me.

"You, my little cat, are going to give the wolves a run for their money."

I adjusted the car seat handle to turn it into a carrier and easily lifted her out of the car. I glanced down at her face and saw her brow furrowed, and her face was all scrunched up like she was in pain. I recognized that look and hurried into the house.

"Hey, Aly, you have a sec?"

She immediately appeared from Ana's bedroom. "What's up?"

"Does that expression mean what I think it does?"

Aly looked down at Ana's face in the carrier, then looked back up at me with a grin.

"Sure does. Remember your earlier offer to be on diaper duty?"

Aly chuckled and patted me on the shoulder. I turned my head to look at her and the sheer beauty of her smiling face made my heart seize. God, this woman. There were many reasons why I couldn't get her out of my mind while I was gone and that smile was one of them. I let out a quiet laugh of my own and looked down at the other beautiful little lady in my life, blinking at me from her carrier.

"Okay, little one," I said to Ana, "let's get you all cleaned up."

Ana blinked at me and waved her arms as I walked to her room. I set her carrier down on the floor by the changing table and unhooked the straps keeping her in place. My heart clenched as I lifted her up and held her against my chest. I couldn't believe I had a daughter. I knew she was mine, but awe filled me every time I held her.

I gently laid her down on the changing pad and brushed a hand over her soft black hair. As I began to change her, Ana started to fidget, so I hummed to her softly. Her eyelids started to droop before long. By the time I finished changing her, I noticed her blinks were getting slower. I buttoned up her outfit and slid my hands under her little body. I cradled her to my chest as I carried her over to her crib, still humming softly.

I stood there and held her warm weight, rocking her back and forth. I drew a deep breath, taking her scent into my lungs. Aly's scent. My scent. Yet, something that was uniquely Ana, too. She was ours and I would do anything for her. A fierce protective feeling overcame me. I would protect her with my very life if I had to.

As she began to droop sleepily against me, I laid her down on her back in her crib and watched as she fell asleep. My heart was full to bursting as I walked out of her room and softly closed the door behind me.

* * *

That evening, I paused in the hallway after I put Ana down for bed. My thoughts turned to Aly. Somehow she had managed to dodge my questions all afternoon. Whenever I tried to talk to her about her old pack, or her and Ana's safety, she changed the subject, or had some issue she had to deal with, or some task that had to be taken care of right then.

The next thing I knew, it was time to feed Ana and put her to bed. My heart was still hurting from all my missed moments with her, so I'd offered to put her to bed after dinner. Aly had agreed and gave me another one of those strange looks.

I stepped into the living room afterward and saw Aly sitting on the couch. Several brightly colored pillows were scattered about, and one sitting next to her was scrunched up in the middle, as if she'd been gripping it tightly and put it down when she heard my footsteps.

The baby monitor was on the table next to her. The blinds were open and she stared out into the dark night. She glanced over at the monitor, then swiveled around and met my gaze.

Her eyes were more solemn than I'd seen before. I was so used to seeing humor lighting those eyes. It was jarring, to say the least.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

I didn't believe her for a second. I looked out the window and thought about earlier in the day before I glanced back at her. "Is it something about those guys we saw in town earlier?"

I wanted to groan the moment I saw her expression close down. I probably should have worked up to the question, but it had been festering in the back of my mind all afternoon. I had several more questions waiting back there, too. One of them had to spill out eventually.

"It's not a big deal," she said.

"Aly, I'm not stupid. I can't help if you keep me in the dark."

She gave me a flat look then swiveled her head away to look out the window once more. I knew that meant she wasn't going to talk about it. Fine. I looked out the front window, absently scanning the area. Maybe she needed a little alone time. I could check out the area, see if there were any new scents.

No time like the present. I walked around the back of the couch to head to the front door. I gripped the handle and Aly's voice stopped me.

"Ben, wait."

I turned around. The fear I saw in her eyes made my heart clench.

"I didn't just leave my old pack. I escaped." She wrapped her arms around herself. "We're talking guns blazing, action-movie style running for my life. Except, y'know, with claws and not guns."

"You had to escape?" My mind went blank. "But why?"

A bitter smile twisted her face. "Because they wouldn't have let me leave."

"I don't get it." Female pack members were equal to males. If I wanted to leave my pack and join the one here, I could. If Aly wanted to leave Fayoak and come home with me, she could join my wolf-pack, or the local cat-pack. It would be her choice.

Was this her problem? Did she think she couldn't simply up and leave?

She broke our eye contact and looked out the window. "My sister and Alex broke me, and another pack member, out. Before I escaped, the only way I could leave that compound was for class. They told me it was for safety, but with classes over, I quickly realized that wasn't true. They were trying to control us. The women."

"That's so wrong."

A bark of laughter escaped her. "Yeah. I don't know why I didn't think it was odd that whenever I stepped outside my house one of the male pack members was there. They escorted me everywhere. There was always some reason for it. I bought it at the time, but looking back, I realize how closely they monitored us. That wasn't even the worst of it. They had human slaves, Ben."

"Jesus. Why didn't you just get in your car and leave?"

"That as another part of the control. I didn't have a car. All vehicles belonged to the pack. When I talked about buying one, they said why waste the money? I could just use a pack car. It just all sounded so reasonable. I could blame it on being young and stupid, I guess, but . . . that doesn't make me feel any better."

I stared at her in shocked silence for a long moment. She turned her head to meet my eyes again. The hurt I saw told me she wasn't exaggerating, not even a little. I took a step toward her. "Aly—"

"No," she held up a hand and shook her head, "let me finish. We barely made it out. Sophie and I fought in our cougar forms. She broke the leg of one of the assholes following us. But that didn't stop them."

"How did you get away?" My mind conjured visions of Aly fighting tooth and claw. I clenched my hands into fists. She should never have been in that position. I should have been there to help.

"We managed to restrain them, get in the truck, and drive like hell out of there."

Slowly, all of the pieces were coming together, and I began to realize why she had been so upset. "You escaped."

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"You injured one of them."

"Yes."

"Aly, they won't let this go."

"I know."

"Aly, they won't let this go."

"I heard you the first time."

I had to pause and take a deep breath to calm myself. "How did you stay undiscovered this long?"

Aly tilted her head to the side. "They didn't know where we were, Ben."

Those words sent a cold chill up my spine. It was my fault. It was my fault her pack found her. I didn't understand why it was an issue before. I honestly hadn't given it much thought. Suddenly, it all made sense and I felt sick because of it.

I'd never heard of a pack holding any of its members hostage, but if they were crazy enough to do that, then hunting down an escaped member was right up their alley. Especially if Aly and her sister had injured them. Packs were big on retribution.

My wolf paced, frantic. This was not my territory. I needed to get her some place defensible. I needed to get her to my pack where I could keep her safe. Protect her. Where I had back-up.

"We need to get you out of here."

"No."

"Aly—"

"We've covered this before." Her voice was firm and her jaw held at a stubborn tilt. "I'm not leaving."

I was glad she didn't look afraid anymore, but that didn't change the fact that she was in danger. I bit back my words in frustration, trying desperately to think before I spoke. I knew better than to argue right now. I'd have to figure out some way to keep her safe that we could both agree upon.

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out, turning my gaze to the window. Bright headlights lit up the window as a truck pulled into the driveway. My cousins drove a silver car, so I knew it wasn't them. Who could it be?

I frowned. "You expecting someone?"

"What are you talking about?"

I tilted my head toward the window.

Aly looked outside. Her expression was tense and ready for a fight. However, she quickly broke out into a grin. I glanced out the window just as the headlights turned off. When I saw the driver I had to stifle a growl. Charlie. What was he doing here? Jealousy roared through me. This wasn't what I needed right now.

The ogre hopped out of the truck. He took a couple steps and paused by my car. I narrowed my eyes. What was he up to? He turned his back to the house and faced my car, but I couldn't see what he did.

It was only a few seconds before he turned and sauntered up to the house. I squinted, my wolf peeking through my eyes so I could figure out what he'd done. There, in the dust on my car, he'd written a little message. Woof.

I narrowed my eyes. Seriously?

He reached the door and I stepped back, not sure if he would barge in or knock. A worm of unease went through me. Aly had said she wasn't seeing anyone, but suddenly I wasn't so sure. How often did he visit Aly? Was this a regular thing? What was going on between them? I cursed myself for being so jealous of a freckled ogre.

I glanced over at Aly and that unease I felt twisted inside me like a knife. She watched the door with a giant grin. A second later, Charlie waltzed in like he was at home.

As he paused in the doorway, I saw that his shirt was pink. Then I saw the design. It had an ice cream cone with a big scoop of ice cream reclining on a beach towel. Giant slices of peaches stuck out from the ice-cream, making it clear what flavor it was. Underneath, it said, I'm The Coolest Peach. The shirt was a little faded, as if it was one of his favorites.

And I was jealous of him, I thought again in disbelief.

"Hey, Sour Patch, what's shakin'?" Charlie called out.

"What're you doing here, Bigfoot?" Aly asked. Bigfoot? Sour Patch?

I was glad she was the one to ask that because it would not have come out as politely if I had asked the question.

"Tonight is bad movie night . . .?" He said it like this was a regular thing. As if the two of them just got together whenever. I glanced at Aly's face and it was still lit up with a big smile.

Jealousy prickled at me again. My mind flashed back to all those study nights we had, when that same look had been directed at me. I wasn't certain how she felt about him, but I wouldn't stand here and brood like an ass either.

I folded my arms across my chest and jutted my chin at Charlie. "What're we watching?"

They both looked at me in surprise.

"I don't know if our movies are for you." Charlie thoughtfully tapped a finger against his chin. "It takes a special sort of person to appreciate these gems."

"Let me be the judge."

Aly snorted as, with all the fanfare of a magician revealing a trick, he fanned out three movies. It had been so long since I'd seen an actual movie that it took me a moment to register the titles. My eyes widened when I did.

"Charlie, you beautiful genius," Aly said with the sort of reverence reserved for a hero. "Where did you find Super Mario Brothers?"

"I have my sources." Charlie gave her a smug grin as she bowed to him dramatically.

"Battlefield Earth?" I read from one of the covers. "What's that?"

"You're in for a treat. Right, Charlie?" Aly looked over at him and the two of them started to laugh. Deep and dramatic. I felt like I was missing out on some sort of reference.

"Uhh, what's so funny?"

"Well," Aly said with a sly grin, "if we watch Battlefield Earth, you'll get it."

"I was thinkin' we'd watch Twilight, but if you haven't seen Battlefield Earth, then we have to watch it."

Aly laughed and darted over to grab the case from Charlie. A second later, the movie was in the player and she was sprawled out on the couch with a remote in hand. It was surreal, as if all the tension from moments ago never existed. If he could make her feel this way—I clamped down on the thought. I had just told myself I wouldn't brood over this.

As I made my way over to the couch, Charlie moved into the kitchen. I heard rustling followed by microwave beeps.

"What is he—" The sizzle of a popcorn bag answered my question for me.

"Bad movie night requires popcorn," Charlie called from the kitchen. "The salt is what flavors our tears. Sometimes they're from laughter, other times, well . . ."

I sat down on the couch, making a point to sit as close to Aly as I could without looking like a possessive jerk. Even though I wanted to be a possessive jerk.

"Do you two do this often?" I asked, feigning casual.

"Charlie and I have been doing bad movie night every week for months. We started shortly after I moved here. Alex and Sophie used to join us, but—"

"They always turned it into a make-out session," Charlie's voice rang out over the popping in the kitchen.

"Yeah, that." Aly grinned. "We had to institute a 'no making-out' rule during bad movie night."

That was a shame. Now that she said it, all I could think about was making out with Aly on the couch. I wanted to hold her close and nibble on her ear. I would slowly trail my lips to her mouth, where I'd gently bite her lower lip, then kiss it.

Her look turned heated and I knew she saw the fire in my eyes. Her breath hitched and her eyes flickered to my mouth. I closed what distance was left between us. Just as I was about to kiss her, the microwave dinged and a bowl banged onto the counter.

"Geez, Aly," Charlie complained as he loudly stomped into the room. "Take a cold shower, would you? We have rules for a reason."

"You're right." Aly bit down on her lower lip, a laugh threatening to spill over. "I would hate to ruin this cinematic masterpiece."

"And you, wolf boy, can you keep yourself together or do I need to throw you outside?"

Charlie snickered as my wolf looked at him through my eyes. Although we both agreed that it wasn't really a threat, neither of us were particularly happy. He was an ogre, however, and I knew he could literally throw me outside. I didn't care for that idea, either. Besides, I wouldn't get to see what this mythical bad movie night was really like.

"I will do my best to keep my hands to myself," I replied, hands in the air as I scooted an inch away from Aly.

Charlie looked at me with narrowed eyes, then nodded. After a moment of looking between Aly and me, he turned off the lights, then plopped onto the couch on the other side of Aly.

Aly was maniacally gleeful as she turned on the movie. "You're in for a real treat."

Although I still felt strangely territorial, I forced myself to settle back onto the couch, my knee lightly bumping against Aly's. She gave me a tiny knee bump back and, despite it being such a small gesture, it made me feel at ease.

The movie was even worse than they implied but I found myself enjoying the night. We munched on the popcorn, and several times burst out laughing at each other's comments. However, that same feeling of unease started to form once more when I noticed Aly and Charlie were finishing each other's sentences. I stopped adding my comments and started paying more attention to theirs. They didn't even seem to notice I had stopped talking.

As the credits started to roll, I watched in the darkness as Charlie placed his hand on Aly's thigh. "Alright, I gotta cut out early tonight. Maddox has a big project lined up tomorrow and he gets cranky when I show up late."

"I would hate to saddle you with a cranky panther," Aly said with a laugh. "Same time next week?"

He patted her on the thigh. My wolf bristled at this invasion of our territory. Both of their heads suddenly snapped to me and I realized I was growling. Goddamnit. I didn't know what was wrong with me. Was it that he could make her laugh? I could make her laugh. Why was I so upset?

Charlie whistled. "Well, this just got real awkward."

"Yeah," Aly furrowed her brow, "it did."

Charlie hopped to his feet and made busy work of fishing the movie out of the player. Aly's narrowed eyes were on mine. I knew she was mad by that look alone but I couldn't bring myself to back down. She always seemed to dodge my questions. I had no idea what the hell was going on half the time.

The moment Charlie was gone, Aly closed the door and rounded on me. "What's gotten into you, Ben? Do you want Charlie to hate you or something?"

"Yeah, that'd be too bad, wouldn't it?" I got to my feet, grabbing the popcorn bowl to take into the kitchen. I needed to be doing something. Aly followed me into the kitchen, our cups from the night in hand.

"What does that mean?"

"What do you think it means?"

"I don't know. I think you're being disrespectful toward my friend."

I tossed the popcorn bowl into the sink and turned around. "If you're so worried about your friend, why didn't you just ask him to stay the night?"

"Why the hell would I do that exactly?" Aly gave me a funny look as she brought our cups to the sink.

I shrugged and leaned back against the counter beside her. "Why wouldn't you?"

Her hands stilled. "Excuse me?"

"I saw the way you two were touching each other. How close you sat together. Would he have stayed if I hadn't been here, Aly?"

She threw her head back and laughed like I was ridiculous. "Charlie is just a friend."

"He seemed like a real good friend," I snarled.

"Are you serious right now?"

"I'm just calling it like I see it." I faced the sink and turned on the water. With jerky motions I pumped out some soap, nearly breaking the dispenser in the process.

Aly remained quiet as I slipped my hands underneath the running water, trying to get the grease off them. I washed my hands with increasingly aggravated movements as tension built inside me. Why wasn't she saying anything?

Aly suddenly yanked the faucet over and stole the water to wash her hands, leaving me with soap still dripping from mine. "You've got it all twisted if you think Charlie and I are anything but friends."

I yanked the water back, rinsing the soap off my hands. "I saw you two tonight."

She went to grab the handheld faucet and jerked at the handle, spraying water all over herself. Her shirt turned transparent, clearly outlining her soft curves. I hit the faucet handle, turning off the water.

Aly looked up at me, furious and dripping wet. "Now look what you've made me—"

I grabbed the back of her head and jerked her in for a kiss, her hands slammed into my chest. Her mouth was open and I swept in, devouring her.

Her hands flexed, then she pushed against my shoulders. Caught off guard, I slammed back into the cabinet. I froze as I realized what I'd done. Before I could say anything, she crashed into my body, her mouth covering mine.

My mind hazed over. Our kisses were feverish, almost punishing. Her hands were clenched in my hair. My fingers were digging into her sides. Aly suddenly jerked back, breathing heavy. With heat in her gaze, and her eyes cougar-blue, she grabbed my hand and started walking. I let her get two steps into the hallway before I whipped her around and pinned her against the wall.

I kissed her hard. She shoved her hand back into my hair, pulling me in closer as if I wasn't already kissing the life out of her. I yanked back, my eyes boring into hers with a ferocity that surprised even me.

"You're mine," I ground out.

She gave me a small smirk, her lips swollen. Her eyes drifted toward the door to her bedroom, then back to me. "Prove it."

Aly. She was always one to challenge me and I loved her for it.

I would always rise to the occasion.