“You're going to be late,” I hear Scarlet say in the hallway from the kitchen.

Hannah grins at me and I roll my eyes as I shut out the moaning from Scarlet.  

“We can hear you! Stop it!” Natasha shouts as she throws a plastic cup towards the door.

I laugh as Aiden enters the kitchen and the cup hits him in the head.

“Ouch!” he rubs his head and picks up the cup from the ground, “Was that for this morning?” He mumbles and looks at Natasha who blushes and turns her back on him, as she washes the dishes.

“This morning?” Hanneh asks, as she grins at Aiden.

“Shut up,” Natasha glares at them both just as Scarlet and Carter walk inside.  

“I need a word with you,” Carter says to me. I look at him confused as he walks towards me and wraps an arm around my shoulders. “Come on. Let's get out of here,” He grins and I shrug my shoulders at Aiden’s confused look as we walk outside through the back door.

“What do you need to talk about?” I ask him, and he points to his head.

What do you need to talk about? I mindlink him.

The little girl who you think has the air element, he replies and I roll my eyes, a smile on my face.

“You mean Bethany?” I ask and he removes his arm from my shoulders.  

“Shushhhh,” he sighs dramatically, “This is a secret mission.  We have to go find her so I can see if we have a connection,” Carter grins at me and I roll my eyes, joining our arms together and directing him to the path that leads to the second pack house.

“What if you don't feel the connection?” I ask him quietly.

Carter sighs, “Then I'll have to go looking for it,” he says and I frown.

“Can I come as well?” I ask wanting to help him.

Carter grins.

“Wouldn't it be funny if we both just got up and left? Since you won't tell Alpha, we could easily come up with the cliché ‘Carter cheated on Scarlett with her best friend’,” he shakes his head, “it would be funny,” He says to me, a chuckle leaving his lips.

“I'm going to tell Cole today, about everything,” I tell him and he smiles widely.

“Really?  Well that's going to save us a lot of trouble,” He says as we come closer to the second pack house.

I see Bethany playing in the small playground next to other kids and smile.

“That's her, Bethany,” I point her out to Carter who nods as he stares at her. His eyes are green.

“I see it,” he mumbles, “She's got a lot of energy around her, but she has the power,” He whispers.

She's so small. She can't go up against the evil.

“What are we going to do?” I ask him as Bethany waves at me.

“Nothing. We don't bring her into it. I'll come up with something by tonight. I can't risk a child's life," Carter mumbles quietly to me.

"I still don't know what we're supposed to be doing," I sigh as I look up at him.

"Don't worry, I'll sort everything out," He says quietly as Aiden walks towards us.

"Hey!" Aiden grins at me and I smile back as he stops in front of us, "I didn't know this place existed," He looks at the pack house behind us and smiles at the little kids.

"Did you need something?" Carter asks him and I frown at his rudeness.

"I wanted to talk to Sky," Aiden smiles at me and I nod saying an okay, "Privately?" Aiden says and Carter mutters a bye and walks away.

I'll see you later for training. He mindlinks me.

Alright. Why are you so cold towards Aiden?  I ask back as I turn to Aiden.

I saw him flirting with my mate, Carter growls and I smile.

"Alpha asked me to keep an eye on you and Carter. Sorry for acting like a creep and following you guys here," He says and I frown.

"Keep an eye on us? Why?" I ask confusion swirling in my mind.

Carter and I haven't done anything wrong.

Aiden shrugged, "He said you've been acting a little weird and you're very closed off. He just wants to know if everything is alright," Aiden says and he smiles.

"Want to go get some coffee? I need to talk," He said running a hand through his hair.

"About Natasha?" I ask with a smile on my face and he nods.

"Can I meet up with you in ten minutes? I want to talk to Cole first," I say and Aiden nods.

"Sure. Don't tell him about me though. Say you saw me watching you guys. I want to keep my job. I think I can be a pretty good traitor," Aiden winks as he walks away from me.

I turn around and look at Bethany again. I stare at her wondering how she's going to be with that power.

I sigh and head back towards the main pack house.

**

I lifted my hand up to knock on Cole's office door but it opens before I have the chance.

"Hey," Cole smiles at me as he steps aside to let me in.

"Hi…" I say warily. Why was he smiling like that?

Cole closes the door and turns to me.

"I was looking for you this morning," He says as he walks towards a chair and pulls it out. I walk towards it and sit down. I watch as he walks to his own chair and sits down.

"Are you okay?" I ask him and he nods.

"I wanted to talk to you about something today," He says and I nod, listening to him.

He sighs and runs a hand through his hair as he leans back on his leather chair.

"I feel like you're hiding something from me," He mumbles quietly, "I want you to be able to talk to me, you know? I know it's too soon and I've only marked you yet. You're my Luna. The cliche shit. You know you're mine. I want to be yours too, and that's only going to work if we're honest with each other." He explains and looks at me with a pout on his lips.

I smile softly as I get up and walk around the desk. He opens his arms and I sit on his lap comfortably. I wrap my arms around his neck and smile again.

"I like that you're being honest with me,"I whisper and he grins.

"One of my amazing traits," He winks and I laugh.

"There's a lot I need to tell you. I want us to be alone though. I can hear Liam on his way here," I say quietly to him as I pick up the sound of footsteps leading to the office.

Cole frowns and turns his head to the side a little.

"I can't hear anything," He frowns, "now I can hear it," He mutters and I smile.

"There's this little girl I want you to meet. Can we talk later?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"Liam did a U-turn. He isn't coming this way. No one will. Talk to me," He smirks at the surprise on my face.

He wants to get to know me.

Of course he does. He just sent his pack out of the pack house. Kira rolls her eyes at me. I block her out of my mind.

"So this little girl?" Cole brings my attention back to him.

I could tell him about Bethany first and then about me being a tiger. It will make sense.

"You remember Bethany, right?" I ask and he nods a smile on his face. I take a deep breath and let it out as I look at the window to the outside world.

"I want to adopt her," I whisper quietly.

He stays silent, his hands coming around my waist and holding me tightly.

"I know I'm 19 and I'm young and I might not be able to look after her, but I want to try. I feel this connection with her. I don't want her to grow up with no one really in her life. Yes, she's got the other pack members and she's got May, but she was so happy spending time with me. I want to look after her. I want her to have what I lost. A family," I explain quietly and he stays silent, just listening to me.

"I'm scared to give birth. I'm scared to be pregnant. I don't want to die, Cole," I turn to look at him and he frowns.

"You won't die, baby," He holds my hand and smiles, "I won't let anything happen to you when I'm here. I'm going to keep you safe and happy and if that means becoming a dad to Bethany then I'll gladly do it." His thumb moves over my knuckle.

"I don't want you to think I'm forcing this on you. I know I'm your mate and if I adopt Bethany, she'll be part of this family. Of our family. Things might change. I want you to be 100 percent into it an-" he places his finger on my lips silencing me.

"Stop worrying, Skylar. Bethany is a really sweet girl and I'd love for her to be part of our family. I'm not going to lie, this will be coming with a few problems but I'm okay with that," He says as he places a kiss on my shoulder.

"Problems?" I ask him confused.

"Though Bethany isn't from our bloodline, she will still be my child. Her parents were alphas before they came to our back. I keep files on all my pack members. She's got Alphas blood inside of her. The moment I sign the legal documents for the world outside of ours, she will be known as my daughter. It's rarely happened before," Cole thinks to himself, "but there's a ceremony. I will give her my blood to take with the intention she will be my daughter. From then on she will have my blood inside of her. She will be the next Alpha after me," He ends up saying.

I stay quiet wondering if he said it correctly. A female Alpha.

"I'm okay with that, if you're worried about it. She's got Alphas blood inside of her. When she's my daughter, she will be part of three different bloodlines.  She's going to be powerful. When we have children, I wouldn't want Bethany to feel left out," He explains and I smile softly as I turn to him.

"I think I'm falling in love with you," I whisper as I lean down and place a kiss on his lips.

"Huh?" He asks shocked.

"Your words, the way you wouldn't let Bethany be treated differently, everything about you. I'm falling in love with you, Cole," I murmur softly against his lips.

"I'm already in love with you, baby," He grins against my lips.

"There's something I need to tell you about me," I mumble quietly as I move away from him.

"What is it?" He asks frowning.

"I didn't want to tell you at first because I was scared you'd be-"

A knock on the door stops me from talking. I frown. I didn't hear anyone.

I wasn't really listening...Kira mumbles into my mind.

"I know you said not to come but I've got a problem that needs sorting out," Liam says behind the door.

"Let's ignore him," Cole whispers against my shoulder.

"Come in," I say to Liam who enters the room and frowns at us.

"Please tell me you didn't have sex here, because I like to hide in this office from all the girls," Liam groans as he stares at us.

"Have you not found your mate?" I ask as I stand up and move away from Cole.

Liam frowns at my question and shrugs his shoulders not giving me an answer and turns to Cole.

"So about that problem. Could you help me with it?" Liam asks him. He mindlinks Cole something. I can see it in his eyes.

"I'll see you tonight, Skylar. I'm going out with Liam for a bit," Cole explains and I nod.

"I didn't mean to pry into your life, Liam. I was just asking, sorry," I apologise to Liam who smiles at me softly and nods.

"No problem, Luna. I'm going to steal your mate now so he can help me build something," Liam says and I nod as I leave the office.

Tonight. I'm definitely going to tell him tonight.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
Question- favourite fictional couple you've ever read about?

[Aiden^]