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Grayson's face remained expressionless while we stared at each other from across the room. He was leaning against the fireplace, while Marmee and Theodore attempted to light the logs in the hearth with a lighter and some newspaper. The red-headed women from the night before, as well as Alpha Christopher and Alpha Damien, stood in a circle around him. Conner crossed the room and joined the group.

The group looked out of place in standing next to Marmee and Theodore. All their clothes and boots looked brand new. They certainly weren't threadbare like the clothes we wore.

"The rest of the house should be coming back in about an hour. I usually light a fire right before they get here. In the winter, a nice fire helps keep this big old house warm."

A fire finally sprung to life within the old blacken stones under her fingers. The dark, cramped room was immediately glowing with dancing flames.

My mouth popped open in shock. "What are you doing here?" I asked before my mind and my mouth could catch up to each other. My heart sank the second those words came out of my mouth.

Marmee turned to me. A tight smile stretched across her face, while the light from the fire glinted in her eyes.

"Aurelia," her voice was ice cold. "He can come to this house whenever he wants. The Alpha owns it, not us. Apologize please for your rudeness."

"No, it's fine," Grayson waved his hand in dismissal. "I was startled when I found her in my home. But to answer your question, my duty to give our Alpha's a tour of Pine Ridge, and this was one of our stops."

Alpha Christopher snorted and ran his fingers through his long red beard , "My son wouldn't have taken us to the Lunera kiddy house. Everyone would have been ordering their third beer at our pub by now."

Grayson began to drum his fingers along the mantle of the fireplace, while his eyes drifted around the room. "You're part of the Alpha's integration program?"

"I am," I replied.

"Where are the rest of the students? Why aren't you at school?"

"It's winter break, we have off for two weeks, I go back soon. But the rest of the students are out doing their chores. We all have lessons in the afternoon."

"And what were you doing all morning?"

Grayson's voice came out loud and clear within my head"Just direct your thoughts at me and I will be able to hear them and vice versa., but no one else"

"Why are you here and why are asking me these questions!? Is this about last night? No way the Alpha would have wanted you to take the other Alpha's to the Lunera house!"

Grayson's voice rang loud and clear inside my head, " We are going to talk about last night, but that's not why I'm here. I had to know you were safe, but I also had to give these two assholes a tour of Pine Ridge so here we are."

"Why didn't you think I was safe?"

"Because I got a feeling this morning that something bad was about to happen to you..twice. Now answer my question. What happened, and answer it out loud. I'll have to punish you if you refuse to answer."

I forced a smile onto my face. "I've been helping in the kitchen mostly..."

"And..."

"But I went out and checked out our moon box. It's where we get the children after their parents leave them. After there parents decide that they can find meaning in their cursed lives, by serving Alpha Luka," I replied, saying the line that every Lunera was taught to say from a young age.

"And..."

"And it wouldn't be wise for me to say it in front of the other Alpha's. I saw a strange wolf in our woods this morning, nothing happened, it just scared me. But then a member of the Red Crescent pack showed up at our door. But he left."

Grayson's fingers stopped mid-tap. "WHAT!!!?"

There was a loud crack that echoed throughout the whole downstairs. We all turned to look at Grayson. In his hand, he held the gray corner of the stone mantle he had just been drumming on.

"Sorry, it just broke off," Grayson said sheepishly.

The red-headed women let out a nervous laugh and glanced between the Alphas in the room and Grayson. "Oh these old places tend to always be falling apart," she let out another nervous laugh, and I cringed internally. "But our Lunera's are very well taken care of here. And they are so grateful for the life they were given at Pine Ridge."

I forced a smile onto my face and stepped further into the room. I kept my eyes trained on the floor as I did, only sparing the occasional glance at the group in front of me. "Yes we are. We are all so grateful to the Alpha. I'm also thankful for coming and hearing about the integration program. The program gives me the opportunity to better serve my Alpha."

"I think I'm going to barf. You sound like the Alpha's puppet. You don't really believe that do you?"

"When you are a Lunera, that's the best way to survive. By being a puppet, and letting them think they are the ones pulling your strings."

Alpha Christopher nodded approvingly at me. "Well, I can see why you were one of the candidates chosen for the integration program. You know just what to say most of the time, don't you?"

I reached up and tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ears. "That comes with the excellent education I received here at Pine Ridge. And I can't wait for our two new arrivals to receive that same education."

"Two new arrivals?"

"We haven't contacted the estate yet about them, one was found last night and the other this morning!" Marmee interjected suddenly. "I planned to contact them today, but I'm afraid we have a little situation on our hands. Nothing major, but it delayed me from going up to the manor."

"We'll have to talk about that..."Grayson began and trailed off and his head jerked towards the front door. So did the heads of the other members of the group. "I thought the other Luneras were going to come back in an hour for dinner?"

"They are..."

A second later, the door open and Caesar and Beatrice came stumbling inside. Beatrice was leaning heavily on Caesar.

They looked like they had been through hell and back. Tears were rolling out of Beatrice's blue eyes and Caesar was paler then usual,  his mouth was pulled into a hard line. Beatrice's right green pant leg was ripped and bloody.

Bert followed closely behind them, like a giant silent shadow.

"Alphas," Bert said and gave them a small bow before moving to stand beside Marmee. The two of them exchanged looks and I could see the worry written across both of their faces.

I rushed over and helped take some of the weight off of Caesar.

Beatrice abruptly swallowed her sobs, when she saw the strangers gathered inside. 

"Everything alright?" Alpha Damien asked.

I turned from Beatrice to look at him. He hadn't heard him say a word and he had been so quiet. His bright blue eyes were fixed onto us.  "What happened to your leg. It's bleeding?"

Beatrice offered him a small smile. "Oh thank you for being so kind to ask Alpha Damien, I just had a bit of a fall in the woods...oh I don't feel so..."

Caesar and I both yelled in unison when Beatrice abruptly crumbled to the wooden floor.

"What's wrong with her!? Where did she fall from?"

Caesar met my gaze. "She's fine, It's probably the shock, pain, and exhaustion. She fell off the bank of the stream, behind the rock pile. She said she mistook the snow-covered tree roots for solid ground."

"How did you.." I glanced up at the faces peering down at us. I wanted to ask how she had managed to do that. She, out of all of us, knew that stream better than anyone. She wouldn't have made a mistake like that.

I met Caesar's gaze. "I know..." he said, and something about his words sent chills through my body.

The sound of footsteps invaded my ears and I looked up to see Grayson looming above us.

"Need any help?" he asked.

"I need you to go away. You look suspicious right now."

"And I need that boy not to get so close to you."

"Relax he is like my brother."

"No, we are fine. Thank you for your concern."

Grayson turned from us and pointed to the red-headed woman. "Carole," could you go ahead and take our guests back to the car and take them to our own distillery. "I think that there is something I need to take care of here first. But when I catch up to all of you again, I expect all of you to be at least four beers in."

Conner shook his head. "Master Grayson, I don't think I should leave you alone here," his small eyes shifted around the room."I'll stay too."

"Thanks, Conner, but I'll be fine. Carole will take them in her, while you wait for me outside in your car."

"But..."

That's an order." he said dryly.

"When there's beer involved, you don't have to ask me twice, I go where the alcohol is!" Alpha  Christopher laughed. "Come on boys and girls let's get out of this shit hole!"

"Master Grayson," I said the second the others left. A small smile pulled at Grayson's lips.

"Do you mind if I have Bert caries, Beatrice, up to her room? I don't think me and Caesar...I mean 34 can carry him. I think she just needs a little rest."

"Go ahead," Grayson pointed to Marmee and Bert... "But once he returns, I would like to talk to you  both alone in the kitchen."

Bert walked over to Beatrice and scooped her up in his arms. Once she was secure against his chest he began to carry her upstairs.

I turned to Caesar. "Let's go," I said. We began to trail Bert up the stairs.

I spared Grayson one more glance on my way up the stairs. "What are you going to talk about with them?"

"Just some safety issues. Stay inside and out of the woods until I take care of that Red Crescent pack member."

"I can't promise that I will be able to do that. We take turns doing stuff outside."

"I'll make sure you can. I won't sleep until you are safe."

"I was a lot safer before you came into my life. If you want to keep me safe, stay away."

"You know that's impossible for us."

When Burt reached our room, Bert gently laid Beatrice down on her bed and left. He then turned and descended the stairs, but not before giving us tips on what we should do for the wound on Beatrice's leg.

The moment Bert's footsteps faded Caesar turned to me.

"Beatrice fell because she was running."

"Why was she running?" I asked. "Was it from a gray wolf?"

"No...She was running from... her mother. Aurelia, I think Beatrice is in a lot of trouble now."