[A/N: PSA for any girlies or boyos that may be confused, Yulin's name is pronounced you-lyn. Thank you for coming to my ted talk 🙇‍♀️ ]

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Mika ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

My head was spinning in constant, rapid circles as we followed my mate and his pack members back to his lands. We'd been on the road for about thirty minutes but I wasn't sure how much longer I could be trapped in this intoxicating box.

Everything in this car smelled like him, there wasn't a time where I inhaled and it didn't smell like that refreshing lavender and ocean breeze scent of his. Though I did notice he lacked a woodsy smell, which told me that he doesn't get to go for runs much.

What was nagging at my brain the most was the image of his face that I openly ogled back at the diner like an idiot.

Those beautiful daunting grey eyes appeared in my mind, at the time they accompanied with a cool stare and an analytical look to them which had made me uneasy but now I just can't help but admire the memory.

He seemed like he could have a kind smile but I wasn't sure as his beautiful face rested neutrally...or should I say handsome? It was more of a mixture between the two. His hair was that of midnight black, light and silky which complimented his olive skin that was blemish free in turn.

Everything about him was perfect and it was to the point where I began to wonder if this person was even real.

I didn't know whether to feel grateful or betrayed by the goddess given that I really had no intentions of having a mate, just the act of being in said person's presence made me unnecessarily nervous.

I had to snap out of it, I needed to have the clear mind to do what was necessary in order to keep us safe, even if that means rejecting him...

Thankfully, Raven was right beside me so that prevented any kind of serious talk for right now but goddess knows what's going to happen when we get back to the pack house.

When we finally arrived at the pack house, I had kept my eyes sharp as I surveilled the surroundings. It was the typical build of a house, huge with a lot of floors and rooms, similar to ours back...there.

Sighing, I made sure to tell Raven to stick close to me since we didn't know what we were walking into.

As we walked inside, I was hit with many different scents all at once but I didn't let it bother me. The eyes staring at us seemed like a sea of curiosity, confusion, and disdain. Being an alpha's child, you get used to having eyes on you from a young age so this was nothing to us.

"You may leave" my mate said to the men that were accompanying us as we stepped in front of a door.

The men nodded and gave a bow before taking their leave, which meant it was now just us three.

We were led inside, my senses once again being immediately attacked by my mate's scent which told me that this was his office. To my surprise, it was colored with moderate blues and white, the only black in the room being the chair behind the desk.

"I don't typically get many visitors here so I apologize for the mess" He said but there wasn't a spec of dust to be seen which only made us confused.

Perhaps he was referring to the mountain of papers on his desk?

"My name is Yulin Sinclair, I welcome you to my pack. I feel horrible about how my guards spoke to you two earlier. Please rest assured, they'll all receive fitting punishments later on today" Yulin said as he leaned against his desk, folding his arms as well.

Yulin...I pressed my lips together to stop myself from saying his name aloud.

'This guy is super formal, I'm kinda uncomfortable. Shouldn't he be the tiniest bit rude or even arrogant?' Raven asked but I just ignored the comment.

"I'm Mika and this is my younger brother, Raven" I said, gesturing to Raven as I spoke.

"Why were you on that territory?" Raven's interrogative question blurted out like rapid fire, no regard for respect as usual seeing as he didn't feel the need to do so which has only just begun to worry me.

I've always reminded him that respect is a crucial thing when it comes to speaking with other alpha's as some are easily angered if they're feeling disrespected, but to most importantly remember that respect needs to come from both parties. There's no need to go the extra mile for someone who won't meet you halfway there.

However, Yulin has only been respectful to us since we've encountered him which is why I'm a bit surprised Raven is still acting hostile. It might be that he blames Yulin for the behavior of those guards from earlier, as they are the ones who trained under him.

And since he can't take it out on them, then their higher up seems to be his next option.

"We're planning to expand there" Yulin stated.

Ah, so I was right.

Glancing at Raven, his face was that of a child who was unsatisfied with the word 'no'. Despite being his brother for all his life, there are still times when I don't understand his expressions at times. I never truly know what's going on in his head, no matter how much I want to.

"Your stare implies you have something you wish to say to me. You can speak freely" Yulin said and to my surprise, Raven gave a disgruntled look.

"I don't like you" he said and I looked to him.

"Raven...?" I whispered but he made no moves to look to me.

"It's okay. I don't expect much sympathy right now given how you two were treated by my guards" Yulin said as he shook his head, accepting the fact that Raven wasn't exactly wanting to be cooperative right now.

"Would you mind giving Mika and I a moment? I would like to discuss some stuff with him privately" Yulin suddenly asked which made my heart jump, not expecting the request.

Raven, who only up until now had a displeased expression, turned to me with uncertainty in his eyes.

"Do you want me to leave Mika?" He asked.

"Uh...it's not that I want you to but...he is right. We do need to talk" I said and Raven just nodded.

"Fine. Let me know when you're done" he said before turning to Yulin once more who was watching us silently.

"You"

Raven had walked right up to Yulin and began to whisper something in his ear that even I couldn't hear which made me frown.

"Don't think that being my brother's mate will be your saving grace because the moment you fuck up, I'll be right there to end you"

Yulin's face remained unfazed as my brother backed down, giving him one last warning look before walking out of the room.

A sudden chuckle left Yulin's lips which honestly made me even more nervous. God, what did that kid say to him?!

"Your brother's very free spirited" Yulin said and I nodded.

"So much so that I fear he may fly to the sun someday" I said with a sigh.

"First off, I really do want to apologize again for my guards" Yulin said which made me only think that he must be embarrassed by their actions.

It's understandable since their actions reflect on him as well, it made me feel kind of bad for him so I shut down his apology.

"It's fine, you've already given enough apologies" I said as I waved my hand in a dismissive gesture.

"My second thing is more-so a question for you. I don't trust myself to be the one to lead the pacing of our relationship so I wanted to ask how you wish to...court? Sorry, I'm just new to all of this, I don't really get how it works" Yulin's features contorted gently as he tried to figure his words out.

Why am I finding his curious yet confused face so cute?

My heart beat became irregular as I thought that and I cleared my throat a bit in an attempt to stop myself from making any kind of weird expressions.

At first, I was unsure of how to answer his question.

There was many factors that were popping up in my head right now. The first factor being that I'm a rogue, judging from how his guards were acting towards us, I'm pretty sure there would be a handful of pack members who likely felt the same.

The second being Raven, I would always prioritize his safety over anything and if I couldn't guarantee that here, I wasn't sure if I wanted to stay around.

"There's no need to rush into anything. I'm not exactly sure this will work out anyways..." I said which made Yulin gain a confused expression.

"Is there a particular reason you're saying this?" Yulin asked and I turned my head away.

"I'm a rouge..." I started.

"So what?" He asked which had me snapping my head back to him.

"Having a rogue for a Luna isn't normal. I'm sure your pack wouldn't be happy about that" I said, almost like I was trying to convince him not to accept me as his mate.

Which isn't what I was doing but it didn't seem to be working anyways as Yulin's face remained impassive to my 'protests'.

"A pack can't survive without its Alpha or Luna, they should be more worried about their safety than who their Alpha's mate is" Yulin said.

"Other packs might see that as a reason to question your authority as alpha. You don't need any unnecessary problems because of me..." I trailed off as I found myself losing the will to 'argue'.

My reasons were strong, they really were, but the way Yulin continued to shut them down as if they should be the least of my worries made my brain go into a frenzy.

"They can say what they want, at the end of the day, I could have them wiped off the earth if I wanted"

There he goes again.

Yulin was unwavering, the way his eyes held mine could only mean that he was very serious about everything he said and I honestly just didn't have a clue on how to respond to that.

Why do I want him to agree with me so bad? Did I really want him to agree to all the things that could very much so lead to a rejection? My mind was telling me that this is the only logical way to respond but my heart (or wolf as I may say) was screaming a bunch of jumbled nonsense that only confused me.

"Does being my mate bother you that much? Were you perhaps expecting a girl?" Yulin asked and my eyes widened at his question.

I didn't realize that those questions could also make it seem like I didn't want Yulin, which saying it to his face probably only made him feel like shit.

"...that wasn't my intentions. Sorry" I said but that seemed to do nothing to appease Yulin as he still stared at me.

I wonder what kind of mate he was expecting as well, did he want someone who would jump right into his arms? One that showered him with affection from the very second their eyes met?

Not that, that would be possible anyways given the circumstances we met under...

"I had no plans for a mate at all" I said and Yulin nodded slowly, just taking the information I've given him and filing it away somewhere in that brain of his.

"I see" was all he said.

This was going so bad and the stale conversation is making the whole thing even more awkward. The mate bond was in place to make these things easy but I just felt like it was complicating things for me.

"Rogues usually travel in larger sizes, did you and your brother get separated from the rest?" Yulin asked and I shook my head.

"No, we really are by ourselves. We found ourselves in some unfortunate circumstances when we were young and I decided that the best decision at the time, would be for me to take care of him" I explained.

"That sounds like...a hard decision to make. Especially for a young kid" Yulin said.

"Yeah, I guess. That's behind us now though so no need to dwell on it" I said, dismissing the entire topic altogether as I didn't want it to lead to any questions that would pry into my past.

I'd prefer dead things to stay that way.

"I can see you're obviously tired so I won't bother you anymore. I'll have a room prepared for you and your brother. Til then, I've already let the others know to get you and your brother some food. I'll drop you off at the kitchen" Yulin said as he motioned for me to follow him.

I had made no attempts to start any conversation as the two of us walked through these never ending halls and once we arrived, Yulin gave me a short farewell before leaving.

Raven was at a dining table, chomping away at the ridiculous amount of food that was laid out on the table and when he noticed me, he gave a wave.

"Finally, you guys are done. Ever since I walked in here these people have been trying to shove food down my throat, want some?" Raven said as he gestured to all the various kinds of food.

Taking a seat, the plate in front of me was already prepared and I could still see the heat rising off of it, which means it was just placed here.

'You know, everyone seems nice so far but I'm pretty sure it's cause that guy told them to do so' Raven said, choosing to mind link since his mouth was currently full of food.

'What did you guys talk about?' Raven asked.

'Awkward mate stuff' I said and Raven made a disgusted face.

'Do you like him?' He asked and I looked to him.

'I just met him' I said.

Raven was quick to shake his head.

'Not like that. What's your first thoughts? I still don't particularly care for him' he said and I shrugged.

'I don't know, he just asked a lot of questions. If I had let him, he probably would have questioned me until he was satisfied' I said.

'Sounds like you guys had a fun time' there was an unusually dejected tone in Raven's voice that made me raise a brow to him.

'What are you sulking about?' I quizzed.

'I'm not sulking. I guess you can say I'm just...' Raven trailed off, not even bothering to finish the rest of his sentence as he suddenly looked away from me.

"Just what?" I said aloud which Raven just shook his head in response.

"Nothing. Let's finish" he said.

Once we finished our food, we were shown to our rooms and I told the person helping us that it was okay for them to just leave us here.

Raven had walked into his room for all of five minutes before barging into mine with a pillow and blanket, tossing them on the floor next to my bed.

"...why are you in my room?" I asked and Raven plopped down on the blanket he threw to the ground.

"I don't want to be in that room" he said.

"We've slept in separate rooms many times, it's never been a problem for you before" I said.

"I know but that's different, no one was out to get us then. It doesn't matter how many people are in this place, we're still by ourselves. What if these people try something when we're sleeping?" Raven was clutching his pillow tightly as he spoke, his worries finally coming to the light now that we were alone.

I was a fool to think that I was the only one concerned about our safety, it seems to have been eating away at Raven too. It's no wonder he's been so on guard the entire time we've been here, he's seen that I've clearly let mine down since I've been in Yulin's presence.

"I'm sorry, I should have been thinking of those possibilities. You're right" I said as I sighed at my faults.

"Do you want to stay here?" Raven asked suddenly.

"I don't know..." I responded but that answer was more for show as I kept hidden the secret thoughts that tended to pop into my mind here and there.

"We should just go back to the cabin..." Raven said but immediately after, as if coming to some sort of realization about what he just said, Raven had given me an apologetic look.

"Sorry, that was selfish of me to ask. I know your mate is here so why wouldn't you want to stay?" He said but I made no remark on his words.

"Let's just...try it out for now, I guess. We can visit the hut to grab some things should our stay become permanent" I said and Raven nodded.

This was a big change for us, being in the presence of a pack house with no hostile intent was a first to begin with. I could only hope that we'd be able to actually get some sleep tonight.