Grayson's POV

When Taylor walked into the meeting room, my wolf and I immediately perked up.

She's here, my wolf said in awe of our mate.

I smiled despite myself. Yeah, she's gorgeous.

And it was true. She was wearing a simple white T-shirt and some black skinny jeans. Her long, jet-black hair was tied up in a high ponytail and a black leather jacket added to her casual look.

She walked in sort of flushed and when she stepped up to apologize, I, of course, forgave her. When she stepped back, I noticed the rosiness of her cheeks and I grinned like the love-struck buffoon I am.

What? I asked my wolf. I am not a buffoon!

You're practically drooling! He argued.

I scoffed, Yeah, and you're so subtle yourself, Mr. Yip and Purr. I smirked when I heard no reply.

Apparently, I had zoned out long enough for Taylor and Dalton - Alpha of the Evergreen Pack - to get into a heated debate.

That's our little spitfire, my wolf proudly stated.

She was sitting down and yelling at a red-faced Dalton - who looked about ready to murder -. I was silent long enough but when Taylor began to swear, I cut in. "ENOUGH!"

I pointed at Dalton, glaring at the man who's displeased my mate, "YOU! Female or not Taylor is still an Alpha and deserves respect, Dalton!"

Dalton snarled at me and I returned the favor. "Why should I? If she's anything like her father, she's bound to be just trouble!"

Kill him! My wolf barked. He's disrespecting us and worst of all: he made our mate mad!

Before I could do anything, Taylor shot out of her seat and snarled at Dalton,"You wanna take it outside, Baldy?" Her normally pale silver-colored eyes were now pitch-black and her canines were growing.

Even angry, our mate's the most exquisite female in the world, my wolf sighed, dreamily.

I chuckled, She's adorable. Did you hear her call Dalton 'Baldy'?

"Let's!" Dalton snapped back.

She briskly turned and made her way out. I sensed her anger and I followed after her, wanting to protect her. The rest of the Alphas came out right after me.

When we got outside, Dalton shifted into a brown wolf with gray streaks in it. It was a sizable wolf and I was worried for Taylor. I had to keep her safe.

Do something! I panicked, mind linking my father.

He was staring thoughtfully at Taylor, who hadn't shifted yet. Hold on, Gray, let's see what she's got.

Yeah, calm down, Grayson. Jason added. Tay Tay can handle herself.

Tay Tay? I seethed, jealous. Since when did they become such good friends? What the hell? When did you two become friends? I inquired.

We bonded over our mutual love for ninjas, he answered. Now, shh, they're starting!

I looked over at Taylor, who was standing there with her arms crossed, staring at a growling Dalton.

Why hasn't she shifted? My wolf asked, alarmed.

I didn't get to answer, because, at that time, Dalton lunged at Taylor. I began to yell out, but she side-stepped him easily, moving like a blur.

Dalton rolled over, back onto his feet and slowly circled Taylor, who looked perfectly calm.

Is she insane? I shouted to my father and Jason. Why hasn't she changed into her wolf yet?! Her human form is too weak to take on a fully trained Alpha male!

Hush, Grayson, just be patient, my dad reassured me.

Dalton shifted back into his human form - completely naked. I growled possessively wanting to cover Taylor's eyes.

"Why haven't you shifted yet?" He demanded.

Taylor smirked, "Because you're not worth it."

This seemed to piss Dalton off because, in a flash, he transformed again and launched himself at Taylor. Taylor didn't change still, she dodged his attack and got into a defensive stance.

"Bring it, bub," she snarled, motioning with her hand. I couldn't help but picture Wolverine.

Dalton dived at her with his jaws wide open but instead of avoiding him like she had been doing the whole time, Taylor ducked under him and punched his belly. Dalton landed in a heap on the ground, whimpering, but he stood up again.

Before he could attack again, Taylor was standing next to him and she elbowed him right in the snout. Picking him up by the fur around his neck, she bared her canines at him, snarling causing Dalton to whimper some more.

She's amazing, my wolf whispered.

Awed, I replied, I didn't even see her move. She struck like lightning.

And all of her attacks were graceful and precise, my wolf added. Who trained her? I thought females didn't learn how to fight.

So did I.

"Listen here, Dalton," Taylor growled, still holding him up above her. "I may be a female, but I still deserve respect and whether you like it or not, you will show me some of it. Understand?"

Dalton whimpered and nodded his head. Taylor seemed satisfied by this and gently put him down. She turned to the rest of us and snarled, "Anyone else?"

No one answered we were all too busy gaping. Only one person didn't seem to be surprised and that was the blond boy Taylor had walked in with before.

He stepped up, grinning, "That was awesome, Tay! I knew you could do it! Probably even if your hands were tied behind your back, but whatever." The blond walked over to her and lifted her up, spinning her around with her laughing, loudly.

A wave of jealousy and possessiveness washed over me. Why was he touching my mate? She's mine!

I growled, Who the hell is that?!

Jason answered me, That's Taylor's Beta: Michael Griffin. He's cool. He knows 'The Shake'.

I don't care if he knows the stupid shake, why is he touching Taylor? I snapped, clenching my fists.

KILL HIM! My wolf thundered, furious.

Well, Jason began calmly. They live together so I bet they're pretty clo -

What? Why do they live together? I yelled, my eyes turning into a darker shade.

Calm down! She lives with the Beta family because her father's always away on business. Don't worry, they're practically siblings. Any show of affection is purely platonic. Jason reassured me.

"Alright, now that this stupid fight is over, let's get to business, shall we?" I snapped at the laughing pair. They turned to me and the blond, Michael, shrugged, still grinning. Taylor looked at me with an eyebrow raised but nodded.

I curtly turned and stormed back to the meeting room, still fuming. Once everyone was seated, I began. "Now, we're all here to discuss the rogues, I've been thinking that we should all form a temporary alliance until this problem has ceased. After all, we and the Silver Moon pack - long-time enemies - have already decided to unite. Everyone with me?"

Everyone in the room nodded, except Taylor. She was staring at the wall across from her with a blank face.

"Ms. Gale," I said sharply. "Do you mind paying attention for a bit? Or am I interrupting you?"

As soon as those words left my mouth, I immediately regretted them.

Why are you speaking to our mate like that? My wolf scolded.

"Actually, you did interrupt me," she said. Her gleaming silver eyes were directed at me and all I wanted to do was stare at them all day.

I continued on though, "And just what did I interrupt, hmm?" By this time, everyone in the room was now observing our conversation.

"My thinking," she stated. She propped an elbow on the table and rested her head on the palm of her hand. "I was thinking that this meeting is pointless if all you're going to discuss is how much we should join together."

Even though she was my mate and I cared for her and her feelings, I did have some boundaries. She was crossing one now.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" I bit out, fighting the urge to slam my fists on the tables.

She tilted her head, cocking an eyebrow and I tried to ignore how captivating she looked. "Well, we all already know that the rogues are attacking more frequently and their number and strength are growing."

"So?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"So instead of giving us a review, why don't you just start discussing our attack and defense plans?" Beside her, Jason was muffling his laughter with his hand and Michael was smirking.

"I was getting to that," I defended. I crossed my arms and frowned, "If you think you know so much, why don't you lead this meeting?"

Taylor smiled and for a moment, I forgot to breathe and why I was mad at her. "Alright, I will.

Furrowing my brows, I asked, "W-wait, what?"

She got out of her chair and explained, "You said if I knew about the rogues, I should lead this meeting. And I will."

"What?! That's not what I meant!" I sputtered.

You're pathetic, my wolf sarcastically praised.

Shut up, I expected her to back down! I snapped.

"Well, it's what I understood. Were you expecting me to back down?" She asked, walking towards me.

"Yes!" I blurted out.

"Then you obviously don't know Taylor," Michael smirked.

I glared at him and spat, "Shut up."

Taylor, who was now beside me, grinned at him and jealousy shot through me like a bullet. Her grin dropped when she faced me. Disappointment washed through me, why didn't she smile at me like that? "Okay, you can go and sit down now."

I looked over to my father who instead of coming to my rescue, was smiling at Taylor. He even gave her a thumbs-up! The traitor. Turning back to Taylor I said, "You can't just take over!"

She nodded, "I can't. But you just gave me permission. So....go sit down."

Too astonished to argue, I sat down beside her.

Pathetic, my wolf said. You can't even keep your own mate under control.

W-well, she doesn't know! Besides, I let her. I lied.

Taylor looked over at everyone and pointed to Jason, who was raising his hand.

"Yeah, are we gonna start? Or are there gonna be more interruptions?" He asked, tentatively.

She grinned a breath-taking smile at him and I instantly felt jealous. I want her to smile at me like that. God, if I knew having a mate would make me this irritable, I would've opted out of having one.

"Don't worry, Jay, we're starting!" I growled lowly at her affectionate nickname for Jason and glared at him.

I should've killed you when I had the chance, I said to him.

Too little, too late, buddy! He replied.

"So, does anyone have a map?" Taylor began.

Dad pointed behind her. "There's a projector which I can aim at the whiteboard."

"Perfect, thanks Aaron," she said.

I raised an eyebrow at my dad, Since when did you two become such good friends?

Everyone knew that when an Alpha allowed you to call him by his first name, it was a sign of the closest friendship or ultimate trust.

Don't be so jealous, my boy. He chuckled, starting up the projector.

I huffed, I am not jealous. Why would I be?

Because you luuuuurrrrvvvvve her, Jason teased. Thankfully, my father didn't hear because I had already blocked him.

"Now, the rogues have been camping out in the east, about a few hundred miles from here," Taylor said, pointing to a human-filled territory. "They're doing this because they know we won't attack them with so many humans around. But, you see, I believe we have a slight advantage over the rogues. Strength and numbers."

Someone - I think it was the Alpha of the Nightfall pack - raised his hand and asked, "What do you mean? I know for a fact that the rogues have over two thousand members. Your pack is the largest and it's not even half the size."

Taylor nodded, "Yes, that's true, but there are over twelve different packs here, the numbers ranging from three hundred to five hundred. That's an average of four hundred, right? Times that by twelve and we have over three thousand wolves. If we combine our packs to work together, we'll be able to defeat the rogues easily. Even if we just had three or four packs, I believe our superior training and skills will give us another advantage."

"Well, that's not possible," the Alpha continued. "the Silver Moon pack and Midnight Woods pack are the closest packs to each other. The rest of us are over thousands of miles apart from you and each other!"

Doesn't matter if Taylor was on the other side of the world, we're going to protect her no matter what the cost, my wolf growled.

I agreed with him and then continued listening to Taylor.

"That is also true. But I had the idea of us staying with each other. Well, I mean that some packs should move closer to others and whenever one pack is under attack, help will be just an arms reach away."

For a moment, everyone in the meeting room stared at one another. Then, my dad spoke up.

"That's a brilliant idea, Taylor," he said, looking at her with admiration.

I gaped at him, Did he just compliment someone?

He did, Jason answered in wonderment.

Although my dad was a naturally easygoing man, he rarely ever praised someone. Hell, I saved someone's life before and all he had done was murmur a quick, 'Good job'.

Taylor must have secret, magical powers or something, Jason mused.

I scowled, Of course not, you idiot.

You're the idiot if you can't see it. I mean, it's totally obvious! He argued. She just met Alpha Aaron and he's already planning to adopt her!

What? I screamed.

She'd be his daughter-in-law when you marry her, though, my wolf mused. So wouldn't adoption be rather redundant?

Okay, I may have been exaggerating a bit, Jason admitted.

I ignored him and continued listening.

"So everyone got it?" Taylor asked, looking everyone in the eyes. "You know where and who you're with, right?"

I guiltily looked down and hoped she didn't notice that I hadn't paid attention.

Everyone all nodded their heads and began to file out. Dad, Jason, Michael, Taylor and I were the last ones left.

"Why weren't you listening?" Taylor accused, narrowing her eyes at me.

You idiot! My wolf chided. You've upset her!

Oh, shut up! I snapped.

"Well?"

I looked away from her intense gaze and muttered, "I was distracted."

" 'I was distracted'? That's all you have to say for yourself? Is it because I - ?" She stopped mid-sentence and a glazed look came into her eyes.

I turned to Michael and his twin expression confirmed that they were talking through their pack mind link. An irrational part of me was jealous, my wolf yearned to be able to communicate with our mate through the mate mind link, but that could only happen after I marked her.

After a short while, Taylor crossed her arms and while staring down at the floor, muttered, "Whatever. Sorry, Collins...I guess."

"Hey!" Jason cried, shooting out of his seat. "That's my nickname for him!"

Taylor grinned at him and I became envious of Jason. Again. Christ, how many times would I become jealous of the red haired idiot today?

"Well, I like it and I'm using it. So suck it, Stone." She laughed, sticking her tongue out at him. I watched, entranced, as her light, pink tongue slid out of her full, pouty, lips and a wave of desire rushed through me.

Jason huffed, crossing his arms and then looked at me. "Come on, Grayson, whose side are you on? Who do you want to call you 'Collins'?"

I didn't get to reply though because Michael stood up and shouted, "I wanna give him a nickname too!" He scrutinized me for a minute before exclaiming, "I know! I'll call him Blon - "

"No way!" Taylor cut in. "That was my nickname!"

Jason smirked at her, "Yeah, now you know how it feels like, Tay."

"That's mine! I gave her that from the first day we met!" Michael scowled at Jason.

Feeling a bit left out, I cleared my throat to grab their attention.

"Shut up, Collins!" They snapped all together before carrying on with their bickering.

Glaring at them, I growled, "Do not tell me to shut up!" I hit the table with my clenched fists for emphasis.

"Sorry, Alpha." Jason and Michael apologized.

Taylor didn't give me an apology. Instead, she glared right back. "I'll do whatever I damn please."

"Taylor!" Michael warned. "Come on. Play nice."

Her expression of fury instantly morphed into a more neutral one at the chastisement.

"Fine. Sorry, Alpha," she said sarcastically, emphasizing 'Alpha'. "But I'm only saying sorry 'cause of Michael - not because I think you deserve one.

I growled at her again and she snarled.

Fool! My wolf lectured. Stop upsetting our mate!

I can't help it! She's always arguing with me! I can't exactly control her. I defended.

That's no excuse, he said, brusquely.

"Let's go, Mikey," she said, stalking past me, her delicious scent driving me crazy. "I got business to do."

"Yeah, business," Michael chuckled, putting air quotes around 'business'. "You're just hungry, aren't you."

"No! Well...yes, sort of. But Mom fed me eggs this morning! You know I despise eggs!" She protested, a cute frown on her face.

"Why don't you stay for dinner, then?" My father suggested. All of us swiveled our heads to look at him. He was still sitting down and was observing us with a smile on his lips. I had forgotten he was still here.

"Yeah!" Jason agreed. "Stay! It'll be like a party! You guys and I will be the partiers, Alpha Aaron the bartender and Grayson will be the Debbie Downer! Every party has that one person who kills it!"

I glared, angrily at Jason's insult, making a mental note to definitely kill him later.

Michael looked over at Taylor for confirmation, a hopeful glint in his eyes. "Can we? Jason promised to show me his Ninja Go collection!"

Taylor grinned, (of course I felt jealous) "Sure, why not? Besides, he promised to show me his collection too. We just have to call Mom first."

My dad nodded and Jason jumped up and down in joy squealing like a kindergartner.

Both Taylor and Michael rolled their eyes while I raised mine.

When did you guys become best friends? I asked, bitterly.

Aw, don't be jealous, Grayson, we all bonded over Ninjago, remember? Jason gleefully responded.

Whatever, I'm not jealous, I retorted, crossing my arms.

He chuckled, Alright, whatever you say, bro.

Michael and Taylor left the room to call their parents with my dad leading them, leaving me alone with Jason. He turned to me, giddily shouting, "Yay! We have company!" before skipping out.

I shook my head at his child-like antics. Honestly, what a baby.

Yes! She's staying! My wolf delightfully said.

I grinned, walking downstairs into the kitchen. She is, isn't she? Let's go see how long we can make her stay.

~Author's Note~

 Yay! Love you guys for all the reads! Whew, long chapter right here...for me, anyways. Comment if you've laughed so far, and tell me which part! Comment who's POV you like best too! In fact, just comment! And vote and follow if you want too! 

By the way, it would mean a lot if you guys would check out my new story. "Just Another Cliché Love Story"! Thanks if you do!

 Song to the side is "I Get Jealous (I Ain't With It) by Chromeo! Totally explains Grayson....

 Dedicated to sugarlipsxx for her funny comment!

 Please checl out my new story, again! Thanks for all the reads you lovely people!

-4everAloneAnAwkward