''Jai? Sweetie, it's time to wake up.''

Brushing the fingers away from my face I groaned and rolled over away from the twittering voice in my ear.

''Jai come on you have to eat something.''

''I'm tired.''

''You look like an Eskimo in a cocoon right now and I slaved over the stove in the freezing morning air and you're going to pull the tired card?''

''Aunt Petricia I'm so cold please let me sleep.'' Burrowing deeper into the covers I moaned at the warmth engulfing me.

''There will be none of that!'' She whisper yelled as she ripped the blankets from me, a whimper leaving my throat at the blast of cold it left in its wake. ''Come on Jaidan you won't get any better if you don't eat and get some water in you. You look dehydrated.''

Curling in on my own body warmth I whined until Aunt Petricia had enough and started slowly jabbing my ribs over the large sweater I was wearing.

Grabbing my ribs and sitting up to get away from her I glared playfully and swatted her assault away. ''I'm up.''

''You're not up until you're out of bed.'' She sassed and walked towards the door waiting patiently for me to follow her.

''That doesn't even make sense.'' I grumbled and followed her out the door and towards the dining room where a large bowl of chicken noodle soup was waiting for me to take a seat and devour it, which I did in no time.

''Wow I don't think I've ever seen you eat so quickly.''

I turned in my seat, my feet perfectly folded under me to try and keep warm from the late Autumn air, to see my uncle looking perfectly happy at wearing a pair of blue jeans, combat boots and his white shirt. Wasn't he cold?

''It's freezing and the soup was warm.''

''It's not that cold pup.'' He laughed and made his way towards me.

''You're crazy.'' I grumbled as his fingers ruffled and messed my hair.

''Only a little bit.'' He grinned and walked away to no doubt find his mate and make kissy faces at her.

I blanched as I heard the unmistakable sound of kissing coming from the kitchen.

''Don't be jealous Jai. Your mate will come and you'll see how hard it is to keep away.'' Uncle Rick laughed as I ran away from the view of the kitchen and into the living room to huddle in the warmth of the fireplace in front of a comfy brown cushioned lounge.

The sound of the front door opening caught my attention from the dancing flames for a split second before a soft whimper left my throat at the sight of the large man making his way towards me.

''Jaiden.'' He nodded his buzz cut head, his black eyes staring down at me as the scar running from his hairline, down his left eye and to his chin pulled with the movement of his hard lined mouth. ''Where is your uncle?''

Not being able to talk in his presence, I pointed to the kitchen and he nodded again before the sound of his heavy footfalls made their way towards the direction I had pointed.

Enforcers always made me nervous.

I shivered at the remembrance of the wolf that had attacked me.

An enforcer was a member or members of the pack who made sure everyone stayed in line and made sure to punish anyone who wandered within their territory. Basically, the stereotype was that they were intimidating warriors who loved to cause pain and revelled in the idea of being able to torture anyone who defied the rules.

They usually just carried out the Alpha's orders to do whatever the Alpha saw fit and it wasn't uncommon that an enforcer would actually be the Alpha or Beta but it was usually someone from outside the inner circle because they worked in tracking and punishing so they'd have to spend time away from the pack and more time in the cells or at the borders.

To be honest, they scared the absolute crap out of me.

Charlie gave a squeak of approval at my thoughts as he popped his head out of his usual hiding spot; my pocket.

''Sweet cakes where are you?''

''In here aunt Petricia.''

''What's wrong, Jai?'' She strolled over to the couch in her usual attire; a dress. Though today she went for a bright green one and I couldn't say it was an amazing choice.

''Nothing. I was just worried about Charlie. I think he's losing weight.''

She looked down at the mouse making his way out of my pocket and plopping himself down in my hands that were resting in my lap. She gave a scoff of disproval.

''That rat couldn't get any fatter. I bet he's going to burst soon.''

''He's a mouse not a rat.''

''As if that makes a difference.'' She eyed the lump of grey that was watching our exchange with interest.

''It does actually. Rats aren't as cute.''

''You have that true but I wouldn't want either anywhere near me by choice.''

We continued our conversation for the next hour. She said she didn't like mice but I knew the truth. She has a soft spot for the little bugger and he knew it. His cute little whiskers twitched and he squeaked a pleading squeak at her, which sent her to go get some food for him to nibble.

Wrapped around his tiny paw.

I giggled to myself as uncle Rick made his way into the living room, Charlie quickly making his escape into my pocket to hide from him.

''Hey, squirt. How are you feeling?''

''Better.''

''Good. You can come into town with me.''

I jumped up, almost vibrating with happiness until I remembered I had a mouse in my pocket that threw up everywhere last time I got that excited. He wasn't a big fan of quick, repeated movements.

''When are we leaving? Are we going now? Should I get dressed quickly? You won't leave without me if I take too long will you? Are we going to be long? I haven't been to town in a long time. I wonder if we'll get to see that raccoon again. You know that mean scary one with the big ol' eyes that stare straight at you before he bites your ankles and--''

''Stop. Breathe.''

I stopped and took a deep breath before smiling sheepishly at my uncle. ''Sorry. I'm excited.''

''I couldn't tell.'' He laughed and shoved me towards the stairs. ''Get ready. I won't leave without you.''

I almost fell over my own legs as I jumped up the stairs trying to take two at a time but gave up after I slipped and almost fell. Thankfully I had a good grip on the railing or I would have fallen to my death. Being three stairs up from the ground was a large journey.''

I quickly banged my door open with as much strength as someone like me could before running to my drawers and pulling out a large pale blue sweater that almost reached my knees and a pair of black jeans along with my black, slip on Rabens.

I had never gotten dressed so quickly in my whole life! I even forgot I had Charlie sitting in my grey pajama pants pocket successfully burying the mouse under a mountain of discarded clothes. I had had a shower the previous afternoon so I could go without one until I got home. Nothing was going to stop me from making my way into town as quickly as I could.

''That was quick.'' Uncle Rick looked at me, trying not to laugh at my bed hair and panting. ''You can fix your hair in the truck. Get in.''

I almost ran him over as I raced out the doors and into the glossy, onyx black pickup truck. The man took care of this thing religiously but he wasn't the type to scream and yell if you messed it a little. He was pretty chill about things like that.

''So why're we going into town?'' I asked as he started the engine and we began the thirty-minute drive to the small human town just south of the river we were crossing into the edge of David's territorry.

''We need to pick up some food.''

''I thought we had a ton?''

''I have a dinner meeting with Reid, David and Lance.'' I looked over to him and before I could ask who this 'Lance' was, he answered for me. '' Lance is the new Alpha.''

''Oh. But don't we have enough food for them at the pack house? We still have--''

''The Betas are coming too.''

That's all I needed to know. It was no secret that Reid's beta Thomas and David's beta Andrew were big eaters and I mean big. I swear they could even eat more than Charlie and Charlie had a bottomless pit of a stomach.

We rode the rest of the way in comfortable silence, the sound of the wind bellowing through the unwound windows and whipping their airy battle with my hair I was currently trying to tame. Thankfully my hair was naturally soft with little trouble of knots but that didn't mean a restless night didn't cause a serious problem.

The town slowly came into focus and it reminded me of old movies I used to watch with aunt Petricia. It was a stereotypical 'old town' where the street was lined with stores filled with little bits and bobbles that were enough to keep the small population of human people that lived here happy and not completely away from the bustling cities that were close to a day's drive away.

The car came to a stop outside a tiny market. It wasn't much to look at but it was perfectly quaint. It held everything you would need. We made our way through the vegetables and fruits that we had to stock up on and on to the locally caught game brought in by hunters that dared to try and survive the predator-infested forest.

We would catch the prey ourselves but with lunch forgotten and dinner time quickly approaching, it would be illogical to hunt right now when we were already here picking up ingredients for aunt Petricia, myself and the other low ranking wolves to start working on dinner.

Walking down the aisles, my nose twitched at the scent of spices and herbs lining the shelves in their shining glass bottles. It wasn't until I was half way down the aisle of soups and herbs that an intoxicating scent wafted towards me. It was like I could almost see the air curl around the shelves and run straight past me, but was sure to linger in the air to give me enough time to breathe it in before it ran away, leaving me to subtly sniff for where it had come from only to come to a dead end.

I figured it wasn't something on one of the beckoning shelves because the pure scent of masculinity drowned out the delicious aroma of the waning herbs and spices, the strong smell of soil coming from the same direction almost fighting with the male pheromones.

I couldn't seem to pinpoint the scent, my curiosity soon becoming a disappointment when I caught the trail leading outside the store.

''What're you doing Squirt? Come on we have to get back before your aunt serves us up for dinner instead.'' Uncle Rick bumped my back softly to get me moving to the truck, his arms full of grey plastic bags.

During the drive back to the pack house, I couldn't get that scent out of my mind. It was intoxicating and I wanted to smell it again. My wolf wanted to come out and rub himself all over it just so we could keep it lingering on us for a while longer.

''You okay baby boy?'' I looked out the car window to see aunt Petricia's concerned face, her eyes roaming over me before she helped me step down from the truck. ''Come on Jai its time to make dinner.''

''Okay.'' I whispered, trying to break my mind away from mysterious smells and putting it into the food that we were now serving to the Alphas and Betas.

As I was about to walk out of the kitchen and into the full dining room the scent I had been looking for in the store hit me full force almost knocking me over. It was like a freight train bulldozing me and my body shook in pleasure, my skin tingled and screamed and my body grew weak and hard as a breathless moan escaped my panting lips.

Smash

The dish of homemade baked lasagne crashed to the ground in an earth cracking shatter. Glass flew everywhere. Lasagne was plastered on the floor. Sauce, meat and pasta burned my feet as glass sliced them. However, none of this could compare to the humility of my body's reaction.

 I didn't waste a second before I trampled over the glass and raced my way up the stairs and to my room locking the door behind me, leaving a trail of bloody footprints and hormones mingling in the air giving anyone in the house a whiff of what had happened. What the hell is wrong with me!?