Leaving Blackrose Swamp Pack was an extremely hard thing for me to do, but I did it. Romain and Julian deserved this from me. Plus something was calling to me, I just didn't know what it was. To avoid the territories of the Sanguis Silence and Crimson Edge Packs, this route was luckily only going to add an hour to our trip instead of the five hours it added going to Blackrose. We were going to have to go from New Orleans to Jackson, Mississippi, head east to Birmingham then to Atlanta, up to Charlotte, North Carolina and north to the Tidewater territory. This was going to be a long trip, luckily I had Sienna to save my sanity and balance me out. So a few speed violations, a stay at a hotel in Atlanta, and a lot of wishful thinking, we were at Tidewater in just over 24 hours.

Thankfully getting onto the pack territory was made easier by my dad calling ahead to let them know of our visit. We made it to the house containing the Alpha's office. It was a Colonial Revival house with it's square symmetrical style, decorative crown above the front door, narrow side windows flanking the front door and paired chimneys. We were led up to the Alpha's office.

"Who is it?" I heard who I assume was Alpha Lawson ask the guy that ushered us inside.

"Evangeline Gray and Sienna Gray, sir"

"Send them in."

We were brought into an elegant office full of pictures of what I assumed were previous Warriors. I bet my mom and even Lucas were up here. I've always wondered what he looked like.

"Alpha Lawson." Bowing our heads in respect.

"No need for formality ladies." He greets, then he proceeds to come over to me. "You must be Evangeline Gray. You look just like your mother if she had black hair." He states coming and giving me a hug.

"Yes sir. You can call me Eva though, Evangeline just seems so formal."

"And you must be Sienna Gray." He reasons, going and hugging her too.

"Yes sir."

"So business first. What brings you here all the way from Florida for a visit in person?"

"Well there has been some troubling developments on the Gulf coast and it may or may not affect packs to the north. We just got done with visiting the Blackrose Swamp Pack in southern Louisiana because they have the biggest target on their back. They need as many allies as possible to help defend their territories."

"And what is so bad about this development that it warrants a trip up here and a hand delivered message at that?"

"The Alpha of the Crimson Edge Pack is going mad apparently, however, he has found an ally in the Saguis Silence Pack. They are planning on taking over as many packs as possible. Their main goal seems to be greed and power. This is a dangerous situation. The Blackrose Swamp Pack is the first pack they are planning to target for the land that Alpha Blackrose has managed to gather together and organize."

"That is unquestionably a serious situation then. Any time packs are taking over for greed and power have potential negative impacts on all packs. I wouldn't want that situation to happen, especially if they decided to align with anyone closer to here."

"This is why I brought this message myself. The Silver Tide Pack has allied itself with the Blackrose Swamp Pack, not just because of the immediate threat but also because my father believes the same way you do. We are trying to form alliances without alerting either the Crimson Edge or the Sanguis Silence Packs."

"That was an excellent idea."

"I believe Alpha Blackrose would be interested in an alliance with the packs here. This idea came up in discussions that we had, and she was very open to the idea. I am sure that is something you will have to discuss between Alphas, but I wanted to make sure I knew this information before I met with you."

"I've heard a lot about Alpha Blackrose, an Alpha Female leading a hybrid pack is something new in the werewolf world. I would definitely enjoy having a face to face meeting with her, she carries quite a reputation." He replies as he sits at his desk.

I start looking around the pictures until I came up to one where I notice mom.

"Alpha Lawson, is this my mom?" I ask pointing at the picture. He got up from his desk coming to stand behind me.

"Yes. That was actually taken when we first got to the competition at the Red Moon Pack."

"Who's the guy with his arm around mom?"

He stays silent for a minute, and when he finally spoke there is a crack in his voice. "That's Lucas Upton." He remarks solemnly.

"That's Lucas?" I ask in amazement.

"Yes."

"Asher looks just like him." I exclaim. "Sienna come look at this picture and tell me this doesn't look like Asher?" I beg.

"That looks like Asher alright." She confirms.

The rest of the time was filled with small talk about our families and the events of the last few years. Eventually Alpha Lawson had other business to attend to, but welcomed us to stay at the pack house for as long as we would like. He says that his son, Ashton, will meet us there to show us around the pack house. After my experience at the Blackrose, I would have to seriously consider how long I would take him up on his offer. No more heartache for me, thank you.

The directions lead us to a beautiful two-story, colonial-style house with a white shingled exterior. We are met at the door by a nice looking blonde-haired, brown-eyed guy who looks similiar to Alpha Lawson.

"I'm Ashton." The guy politely introduces himself.

"The Alpha's son." but with this he scowls, and I completely understand why.

"Sorry, I know that gets old. I'm the 'Alpha's only daughter'." I hold my hand out for him to shake. "My name's Eva, and this is my cousin, the 'Beta's daughter', Sienna." He chuckles at this and it seems that I've broken the ice.

"Let me show you around."

We walk in the front door into the foyer, a beautiful modern design. (how is it modern?)

He begins the tour here, where the foyer is flanked by a dining room and library - both with fireplaces. A large family room lay beyond the stair hall complete with comfy couches and a large screen TV - I can imagine where they watch football here.

"I bet everyone enjoys watching football games here." I announce.

"You like football?" Ashton questions.

"She loves football - would play if she could. Led a girls team recently to defeat a boys team at the previous pack we visited." Sienna informs him.

"Wow - ok. Yeah we watch the games here, and there is a large backyard past those french doors where we play football and basketball."

"That sounds like I might have some fun while we're here. Sienna isn't much into sports, but she is such a wonderful best friend that she cheers from the sidelines - unless she gets sucked into playing a game." I chuckle.

Embarrassingly my stomach picks this time to growl - loudly.

"We have a well stocked kitchen over here to the left." as he guides us out of the family room into a large kitchen. "Back here is the butler's pantry. Most of the dishes and utensils are kept here along with some staples."

"Before I fix something to eat, how about you show us to the guest room - that way your time can be freed up."

"I don't mind spending time with pretty ladies." Ashton jokes.

"Such a charmer. Haven't you found your mate yet?"

"No. I guess I'm going to have to go out and look in other packs for her."

"I've not and after Eva's experience, I'm not sure I want to." Sienna says bitterly.

"What's wrong with Eva's mate?"

"He rejected me."

"Who in their right mind would do that? I already have a feeling you would make a great mate." He grins.

"There are death threats against whoever his mate is. So he thought he was protecting me by rejecting me - asshole." I spit out, the anger apparently evident on my face because Ashton drops the subject there.

"Moving on. Let's go upstairs where the guest rooms are. You will notice a set of stairs that go down, that leads to the basement. This is where quite a few of the younger member's parties are held. You can go explore there later if you like. Once the quads get here, the boys like to spend time there."

"Quads?"

"Yeah, the Beta couple was blessed with two sets of identical twins - a set of boys and a set of girls - Cole, Connor, Cecelia and Cora. They are usually the life of any party around here. I bet they are your guys ages. Eliza, my sister, is your age - but she is a bit of a loner. Jacob, the Gamma's son is also your age and a big sports fan. The rest of the ranked member's children are a bit younger."

"Aren't there other teenagers other than the ranked member's children?" I ask a bit confused.

"Sure - do you want a list of everyone?" He jokes.

"I guess not. So where are Sienna and I sleeping?"

"She enjoys her sleep, so this is the second most important are other than the kitchen." Sienna jokes.

"Hey that's not fair."

"Dad actually said that you take after your mom and are quite the fighter and have powers like she did." Ashton comments.

"Yes all of that is true. I helped train for a month at the pack we were previously at and helped a few people with some issues they were having. I think I enjoy these aspects of my life the most because I feel like I am helping people. In those moments I'm not the 'Alpha's only daughter' I am just Eva."

Once he shows us to our room, we go down to fix lunch - only to be interrupted by a ruckus of voices moving through the pack house. A group of guys and girls are joking around, a few look identical and I guess these are the quads. The boys have medium length brown hair and crystal blue eyes. The girls share the same eyes but jet black hair - similar to mine.

"Who are you - gorgeous princesses?" One of the quadruplets smirks.

"I am Eva and this is Sienna - and you must be either Cole or Connor."

"Connor...pleased to meet you beautiful ladies."

"Is he always this forward?" I ask Cole, who only blushes at my proximity. "You're the best looking of the two." I compliment him, and he turns crimson. So much more adorable and desirable than the cocky flirt of a brother he has. "Don't be shy Cole. I won't bite - yet." I tease him, but I had better stop before everyone starts in on him too.

"I'm Cecelia and this is Cora." One of the other quadruplets introduces herself. "No one is as cocky as Connor over there - not even Jacob." She jokes. So I am guessing that no one in this group are mates - which I find slightly unusual.

"Don't any of you have mates?" I ask the group.

Cecelia's eyes light up with something only I wish I had in a mate. "Oh, Cora and I do - they are twins, Micah and Mason, but they are from another pack, and we only see them on weekends at the moment. But that might change soon. What about you guys?"

"I haven't found mine yet." Sienna chimes in.

"My first mate and I had a difference in opinion." I state flatly, but it seems all have gotten the message that it isn't a subject I want to talk about. I miss Julian already.

Later that day, I am joking around with the guys when the most intoxicating scent hit me. Not being ready for something like this, I start freaking out.

Turning to the group, I ask who the guy was with the blonde on his arm. "Who's that with Buttercup?" I probe, pointing at who is apparently my second chance mate.

"Oh that's Callum Walsh, my cousin." Cole responds.

"Nice to know. I'm outta here guys. I'll see you back at the pack house." I whisper as I scurry away.

All of a sudden a strong hand gripped my arm - the sparks erupting where he has placed his hand. The feeling is pleasant, yet disturbing at the same time. Last time this happened, I got rejected - plus I'm in love with someone else.

"Where are you going?" a deep, dark mystery voice asks.

"Got someplace else to be." I answer flatly, not daring to look at him.

He turns me around and just stares at me. He was a gorgeous 6'5" with spiky dark brown hair. I could have drowned in his coffee brown eyes, but I keep a neutral face on. Keeping my face devoid of all emotion just in case I was heart broken once again, I stare at him.

"If you're going to reject me, just do it, so I can be on my way." I state calmly.

"Who said I was going to do that?" He growls angrily.

"Ms Buttercup on your arm says otherwise." I counter pointing at the girl standing off to the side of him.

"And why do you call her Buttercup?" He inquires.

"The first reason is obvious, isn't it? That bright yellow sundress." pointing emphatically at the girl. "But the other reason is that buttercups are highly irritating to humans. When ingested, they can make you ill with gastric distress." I chuckle.

"That's quite funny." Callum joins the others in laughing at the comparison. Ms Buttercup didn't think it was so funny, so she huffs and stompes off.

"So you like that type of trophy girl?"

"Sometimes, but she doesn't compare to your beauty."

"Nice one lover boy. Now are we done here?" I question.

"So you don't even want to know who I am?" He pouts.

"Oh, I know exactly who you are. And if you want to know me, you'd better find out quick before I disappear." I answer playfully. I look over at my group of gawking friends. When Callum looks over at them, I take it as my chance to teleport myself to the other side of the building, where I'm out of sight and head for the pack house.

Game on.