Bryce's POV:

There is no way I'm going to school today. I need to take the day for myself and just calm my wolf. Sure I want to go to school to see Kari, but I can't deal with the fact that Trent won't let me be near her, and there's nothing I can do about it. My wolf is in complete conflict with itself. He wants to be with his mate but needs to obey his alpha. I'm so pissed off. I hear a knock on my door.

"Bryce are you coming to school?" Trent asks me through the door. I frown, great the one person I don't want to talk to right now.

"No I'm staying home today." I yell back. I hear him walk away from my room. I let out a huff of air as I collapse back onto my pillow. God, I don't want to see him every again. He makes me so angry. Maybe I should go take a walk in the woods and cool myself down.

I muster up enough energy to get out of bed then I walk over to my closet. I throw on a white button down shirt and a pair of kaki shorts. When I'm done I head downstairs and see that all the kids have gone to school already. I grab a pop tart and head outside. When I reach the woods I open my pop tarts and begin to eat it. Looking around I take a deep breath to calm myself.

I take my time eating and when I finish up my breakfast I put the wrapper in my pocket and decide to change into my wolf. I walk behind a huge tree in the middle of the woods and strip out of my clothes and place them neatly behind the tree.

I close my eyes and let the shift take over my body. As soon as all four of my paws touch the ground I feel my wolf sigh in content. I feel the urge to run, so that's exactly what I do. My wolf is so angry he completely takes over my body and just runs free. I lose track of time and when I finally get control of my body again, I'm exhausted.

I slow myself down and make my way over to a nice shaded area. I flop to the ground and rest my head on my paws. Now seems like a great time to take a nap. I close my eyes and immediately fall asleep.

I dont know how much time passed before I hear a piercing scream. My eyes snap open. My wolf growls and forces me up, pulling me toward the scream. Every step I take, the more familiar the voice of the scream sounds. I walk behind a bush and peek trough to see a girl withering in pain, she's already more than halfway trough her first shift, but that's when it hits me. It's Kari. My wolf whimpers out in agony seeing his mate hurting, but from the alpha order I'm not even allowed to go near her. The only thing I can do is watch.

Suddenly she completes her shift and her screaming ceases. She stands up for the first time in wolf form and howls loudly. I take in a breath. She's perfect, her fur is brown and shiny. She has a black spot at the end of her tail but that is the only color change. She looks around then sticks her snout up into the air and smells for a while. Her head snaps in my direction and she slowly approaches the bush I'm hiding behind. Shit, she knows I'm here. I back up a couple of steps. A few seconds later the cutest brown wolf head pops out of the bush. Her bright violet eyes stare directly at me and I freeze. My wolf wants to stay but he knows we have to follow orders. She stares for a moment, then realization shines in her eyes. Kari approaches me and rubs her head on my neck. My wolf purrs in satisfaction, there's nothing he wants more then to mark her as his right now and I cannot agree more with him. I'm about to rub her head back with mine when my wolf stops me. He can't disobey his alpha's orders. He lets out a low growl and Kari steps back.

'You're scaring her stop.' I shout in my head. He lets out a whimper but I know he's just doing what he is supposed to. I turn to her and then she gives me a questioning look. I look away from her and make my way behind the familiar tree that keeps some of our spare clothes in it. I go through the pile and grab one of my shirts, knowing she has no clothes I don't want her to go home naked. I walk up to her drop the shirt then run away back to the pack house.

---

Kari's POV:

"You look beautiful Kari!" Evie squeals as I walk out of my room wearing a white sun dress and my hair is curled. I slightly smile at her.

"Thanks Evie. I wish I could just stay home with you though..." I sigh and hug her. She hugs me back.

"Just have fun okay sis?" She says gently . I pull out of the hug and nod at her. Then I kiss her on the forehead and she runs out if the apartment and goes to Janet's room. I walk over the the kitchen counter and grab my purse then head out of the room, making sure to lock the door behind me. I walk down the stairs and out onto the sidewalk and wait for Trent.

Honestly after meeting my mate in the woods I don't want to go on this date with Trent at all... But since I don't know if my mate has accepted me or not I can't just turn him down... I sigh as I see the familiar blue car pull up. I open the door and hop in. "Kari you look beautiful." He says. Suddenly the amazing smell that I smelt in the woods fills my nose, and my wolf starts to go crazy. Wait does that mean Trent is my mate? "I have something for you before we leave." He says. I turn toward him and see a box in his hands, he removes the lid to expose a bracelet with a couple of charms on it. It's really cute. I smile as I watch him put it on my wrist. When I look up into his light brown eyes I feel a pull toward him. My wolf is going crazy, but she doesn't know if she's pleased or not, what is that about? Doesn't this mean he is my mate? Well if he is my mate, I know he is a werewolf because I saw him in the woods earlier in wolf form. I smile, pleased that I found my mate, and glad I accepted this date. I'm going to confront him about the werewolf thing later on.

"Thanks Trent it means a lot to me." I say gently and look down at my new bracelet.

"Good I'm glad you like it, let's get going to the restaurant then." He says. He takes the car out of park and drives toward the restaurant. When we arrive I see that it's a fancy restaurant, I'm glad I decided to dress up a little. But this is too much money, there's no way I can ask him to buy me a meal here.

"Uh, Trent, you realize you don't have to bring me to such a nice restaurant. We can go some place cheaper..." I say and look into his sparkling brown eyes. He reaches out and grabs my hand. Tingles spread through my hand and up through my whole body. He smiles at me so I smile back content with the joyful feeling spreading around my body.

"Kari, you're my girl now, and my girl deserves the best of everything." He says. My wolf howls in joy because he called us his girl. I give him a flirty smile.

"Oh so I'm your girl now, am I?" I ask. He raises an eyebrow at me and smirks.

"Oh Kari, you were mine ever since you stepped foot into our gym class." I smile. Oh he definitely knows we're mates. I should talk to him about it now.

"Trent... You feel it too right?" I ask him quietly. I look down at my hands and wait for his reply.

"You're talking about the fact that we are mates, aren't you?" He says in a gentle voice. I look up into his eyes again. So he did know!

"When did you find out?" I asked him. He smirks again.

"I told you earlier, the moment you stepped foot into our gym class." I smile at his response. "I'm so glad I finally found you Kari, I've been waiting so long. But let's continue talking over dinner, shall we?" He asks. I nod and get out of the car then shut the door. We walk into the restaurant hand in hand, with me smiling like a fool. We get up to the front counter and Trent says, "Hi, reservation under Trent Frost." The hostess checks down her list.

"Right this way Mr. Frost." She says and brings us to a nice little booth in the back end of the restaurant.

"Thank you" we say at the same time. I giggle and Trent smirks at me. The hostess nods and walks away.

"So, I had no idea you were a werewolf." I say. Then another idea hits me and I look at him directly, "Does that mean there are more like us here?" He laughs out loud and I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Kari, there's a whole pack here." My jaw drops. I've been here for two months and there has been a werewolf pack on the land this whole time!

He laughs at my reaction and I say, "Wow, I had no idea... Maybe I should talk to your Alpha and join the pack, so that way my sister and I aren't rogues." I look down at my hands.

"If you want to be accepted into the pack consider it done." I look at him and furrow my eyebrows. He smirks and says proudly, "I'm the Alpha Kari." My jaw drops and my wolf howls in pride, realizing that her mate is so strong and powerful. Then I smile at him.

"So you're in charge of the pack? That's amazing Trent!" He smiles at my comment and takes my hand. Tingles fly up my arm and through my body from our skin touching.

"Kari, I know it's just you and your sister, so I want you to come live in the pack house with me. That way you don't have to worry about finances anymore, and there are plenty of kids your sister's age so she will be preoccupied." My wolf jumps in joy. Our mate wants us to be with him!

"Are you serious Trent? You don't have to do that for me..." I don't want him to have to take us into his home. As much as I love the fact that Trent wants me with him, I can't ask him to take care of both me and my sister.

He smiles at me gently and touches my cheek. Sparks fly everywhere he touches and I close my eyes in content. "Kari you're my mate. I will do anything for you." My heart swells in joy. Okay now I can't deny him. He's perfect.

I open my eyes and gaze into his light brown ones, "Well if you're sure, then I would love to stay with you." He smiles and I return the gesture.

A few moments later the waitress comes over and takes our orders. The rest of the dinner goes by with us just having small talk about school. You know, as happy as I am that I found my mate, something feels off. Sure I feel love for Trent, but something's weird. Maybe it is just because I'm new to the whole mate thing. Mom mom never really told me much about mates.

By the time he drops me off back at my apartment building it is nine forty-seven. I open up the door to the car to get out.

"Thanks so much Trent I had a great time." I smile as I'm about to get up Trent grabs my hand and pulls me toward him. As I turn my head I'm met with Trent's face so close to mine. My breath hitches in my throat as I wait for his next move. He slowly inches his head forward and his lips meet mine. Sparks fly everywhere, and the feeling is amazing. I close my eyes and kiss him back. After a few seconds he pulls back and looks at me.

"So I will be here tomorrow to pick you and your sister up. I will help you guys pack tonight if you would like?" I'm still in a daze from the amazing kiss so I just shake my head.

"Uh, we can handle the packing by ourselves. But tomorrow at 10 would be a great time." I say shyly. He laughs.

"I'll see you then Kari." He says. I get out of the car and wave to him as he drives away. Wow all of it happened so fast! Oh! I need to go get Evie and tell her that we are moving. I wonder how she's going to take it. I run up the stairs to get to Janet's room and knock on the door. The tired woman smiles at me and Evie comes running out of the room and hugs my legs.

"Hi Kari! I missed you." She squeals. I giggle then hand Janet the money for babysitting Evie. She smiles and closes the door without saying a word. Rude much?

"Hey Evie, I have some news to tell you." I say as we enter our apartment. She nods and runs to the couch. I plop down next to her and I take a deep breath. "We're moving!" I say loudly. Her face stays neutral. Oh... This could be going better. "When I say moving I mean we are just moving into a pack house. We are staying in this town, but just going to a bigger home." I say.

Suddenly she smiles brightly, "So you mean I can continue to go to the same school? But we are just going to be in a bigger and nicer house?" I laugh at her and nod my head.

"Yes ma'am, and there will be so many kids your age at the house who are also werewolves!" I say excitedly. She jumps up and stands on the couch and begins to bounce around!

"I'm so happy! Kari let's start packing now! Will it be as big as a castle?" I laugh at her. I shrug my shoulders.

"You never know, it might be! We are leaving at 10 tomorrow morning, so you better get your stuff together and get packing." She laughs and takes off into her room, spreading her arms as if she is an airplane. I get up from the couch and walk into my room to get my stuff together. By 12 o'clock I manage to have everything together. I walk into my bathroom and brush the curls out of my hair. I take off my clothes and replace them with a new pair of undies and my mates shirt. My wolf purrs and I inhale the scent of my mate. He smells so good, but when I get to the pack house I will be able to steal more of his clothing items. I smile to myself and skip over to my bed and get cuddled with his scent surrounding me. My wolf sighs in content and I fall asleep.