I knew how much trouble Jake was in. He may not have realized that he sent out a distress signal the second things turned dangerous. "It's a trap. So, I won't go," I said.

Axel looked bewildered by my statement. "Are you serious. If your mate is in danger, why wouldn't you start running? I thought you cared," he scowled at me.

"Because I am too busy trying not to die, Astray." I faced the crowd surrounding my parents' shop and sighed. The cameras started showing up within a week of the werewolf parade. It was only a couple at first, but now there are dozens. The humans want to know more, they want to watch before deciding how to react. Even after a few months, there were still enough of them hanging around to cover the surrounding sidewalk.

I walked through the crowd, doing my best not to actually touch any of them. My dad's blacksmith shop showed the signs of hate from a single glance. There was a large window at one point with a sign and lights attached to it, but that was gone now. Every time my dad tried to get it replaced, some fanatic came around and shattered it with a rock.

Once upon a time, Jake shattered it himself by diving through it. That was the same day he made an impression on my pack-mates. Some of the younger pups and my brother call him the Savage Tamer behind his back. Just thinking about it is enough to force a grin onto my face as I enter the shop. "If I start running to Jake's rescue every time that he gets in trouble, he'll never be able to handle himself alone and I will end up running into traps all the time. If I don't know what kind of danger he is in, I will not help him."

Axel shut the door behind him carefully, trying not to break it any further than it already was. "I can't believe that. How can you just leave him helpless and alone? When my mate was attacked, I had no idea. But if I had, I would have run with everything I had and gotten to her in time. I would have saved her."

I didn't want to insult his dead wife, so I stayed silent until I was sure how to put it gently. We went further into the shop, past the iron crafts and steel tools. Behind the counter was a private workshop with an active forge. The room was small and filled with pieces of heavy tools hung up on the walls. My father sat at one of the table with a stack of papers and a laptop open in front of him. He didn't turn when we walked into the room, but his ears perked up to acknowledge us.

"Do you actually want to see him hurt?" Axel asked. He was clearly taken my decision personally for some reason.

"No, I do not want him hurt. I can understand why you would do things differently, but my mate isn't like yours. No offense," I answered. My father continued to ignore our existance, but I intended on standing in the room until he stopped. I needed to tell him about Jake and the Omega- Juliana Enduring.

"What does that mean?" the other Alpha asked.

"It is not that easy to explain, Astray," talking about Jake with other people was never easy for me. "Jake isn't like most Luna. In fact, he's not one at all."

"That is my point!" Axel's impatience finally crumbled under anger. He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me around to face him. I could finally see just how serious he was about this situation. "You have a human mate! You have a territory crawling with demons and people seeking to hurt or exploit you! If a single demon was enough to tear my Luna to shreds, why would you abandon yours so casually?" he growled

I felt bad for dismissing his questions so casually, but it was still difficult to put in to words. "Jake is...he is..."

"He is stronger than he appears. His tongue is sharp and his wit is sharper. Despite his clear obsession with hair styling and significantly feminine stance, he is tough. Tough enough to fight against half a dozen lesser Beta and walk away victoriously. He has somehow managed to seduce my eldest son and wear a silver chain with the living soul of an Alpha. Jake Kent is no Luna, he is far more dangerous. One of the most dangerous humans I have ever met," my father said with a following sigh. He raised his eyes to meet mine and I could feel the begrudging acceptance.

My father was nowhere near as tolerating or open-minded as Jake's, but he respected strength. After Jake brought me back to life, my parents couldn't ignore the disregard his place in my life. They may not like it, but they were past the point of complaining.

I looked back to Axel and summarized my father's answer. "I am not running to help him right now because I know that my mate can handle himself."