"So Alpha," Micah turned around in the front seat, "I don't think I know the story of how you and my sister met."

"Micah," Paige said in warning. They had barely left the pack house, Nathan was wondering if Micah would bring this up. He was surprised it was so early.

"What? We have a two hour car ride ahead of us. And since you're locked up tighter than Fort Knox I gotta get my information somehow."

"Did you ever think there was a reason I haven't said anything?"

"You mean besides the fact that you mix superglue in your lip balm? No, not really. I also don't care. You're too taciturn for your own good Waldo."

"Where the hell did you learn a word like that?"

"What taciturn? When talking about a person, it means reserved and uncommunicative. Sound like anyone?"

"I know what it means! I'm asking how you know what it means."

"They're called books."

"Since when do you read?"

"Since Madeline, she's really into them so I read some of her favorites. Did you know Jane Austen wrote some absolute bangers? Like, Sense and Sensibility didn't have to go that hard; but she did that."

Paige looked at her brother with shock, "I have been trying to get you to read something other than Harry Potter for years. You've known her for three months and she's got you reading Jane Austen." She shook her head. "She is one impressive female."

"Yeah, well." He blushed. "If it makes her happy and all."

"Aww my little brother's in love."

"Shut it Waldo."

"Don't call me that." She said at the same time Nathan asked, "Waldo?" He looked between the two siblings. He had been watching the exchange between them with amusement. He knew that Paige was fiercely devoted to her brother and sister. They were the ones who protected her from the bullying of the other kids. Even though Paige was the oldest, she was also the smallest.

"Because we could never find her. She was always hiding from the rest of the pack. I was the only one who could get her to come back home after they were particularly bad." He said with pride. "Got her to come home this time too."

"I'm not hiding in London, I'm working."

"Yeah, and you weren't hiding in Asia for a year either. Which brings us back to how you met the Alpha."

"I thought we were leaving it at glitter bombs." Paige said trying to push him off the topic again. It was something she was good at, it had taken a while for Nathan to realize when she was doing it when they first met. When ever he had things he wanted to know about her, he'd go in with the intent to casually bring it up in conversation but she always directed the conversation away. It was two months before she actually told him something real about herself. Now he's able to ignore her attempts at side tracking and keep the conversation on point.

"We were, but then Sophie and I made a bet, so..." he shrugged. "Alpha, give me the deets and help me win some bragging rights. Was it love at first sight, did you sweep her off her feet?" It seems Micah knew how to keep her on point too.

"Hardly," Nathan let out a chuckle. "I mean, it was for me. Not so much for her though."

Paige snorted, "Please, you were too drunk to be anything at first sight. Especially after I put you on your ass."

"I'm sorry, you what?" Micah asked incredulously, "My tiny little sister Paige put you, our big strong Alpha, on his ass? I find that incredibly hard to believe."

"No, it's true. Although, I wasn't a big strong Alpha back then, just a second son who was trying to run away from his problems." Nathan looked at Paige with love in his eyes. "I guess you could call it love at first punch. I was talking up a girl who wasn't into it, only I was too drunk to realize that and Rook here came out of nowhere and landed a right hook on my jaw."

"'Talking her up' isn't what I would call it. Aggressively flirting would be more like it, or belligerently not listening, commiting assault maybe." She fixed him with a look daring him to challenge her.

"Yeah, I was not the best of wolves back then." He looked down, remembering the mess he was after his mother death. Then he looked back up at Paige, "Anyways, I was tossed out of the bar after that and I thought I'd never see her again. But the Moon Goddess had other plans. We ran into each other in a couple other cities before her group invited me to travel with them, and the rest is history." He reached out and took her hand, he brought it up to his lips and kissed it before letting it rest and the arm rest in-between them. She gave him a soft smile.

Micah looked at their hands, then the Alpha, then back at Paige, to whom he raised his eyebrows in question. "I thought we were leaving it at glitter bombs," he said to her. Paige met his eyes and they seemed to be having an entire conversation with each other. If Nathan didn't know better he'd say they were mind-linking but Paige doesn't have an active wolf yet so there's no way they could. Nathan watched them go back and forth for what seems like forever. Finally, Micah huffed out a big sigh.

"Fine, but tell Sophie I won and she needs to pay up."

"Thank you."

"Yeah yeah." He turned back around to the front.

"I love you." He waved his hand at her.

"Who doesn't?" She chuckled, and they all fell silent.

Sometime later, Patrick spoke up, "So Paige, what can you tell us about Professor Moran?"

"He's a good guy. Like I said before, he's a third generation unpacked. He's part of the University's Anthropology department. He and his mate, Henry, have a little boy, Theo, he's probably seven, maybe eight now."

"Wait," Micah interrupted. "His mates a male? Are the fated or chosen?"

"They're fated, Professor Moran is actually Henry's second-chance. He was exiled from his pack because he was fated to the Alpha's son and his Alpha did not like that so his solution was to force his son to reject the bond and exile Henry. He ended up in the city, and met the professor through an aid program he volunteers at to help recently exiled rouges who don't want to become roamers acclimate into the city."

"They're fated mates?" Micah asked again. "And they're both males?" It was like he couldn't get it through his head. If he was honest Nathan was having a difficult time wrapping his head around it too. In his experience, the only same-sex couples were chosen mates, often after losing their first mate. He had never met a fated same-sex couple.

"Yes, Micah, gay people exist."

"No, I know they do. I just... didn't know they could be fated mates. I thought that fated mates were for making pups or something."

Paige rolled her eyes, "That's just something homophobes say to justify their bigotry. It happens a lot more in city rouge communities. People aren't blinded by their prejudices and are more open to a queer mate-bond."

They all took that in for a moment.

"Anyways, Professor Moran's a good dude. Even if he is a terrible teacher, he knows his shit. In addition to anthropology he teaches werewolf history. That's probably why Doctor Lawrence's colleague connected them. If there have been other dormant wolves in history he probably knows about them."

"They have a class in werewolf history?" Patrick interjected.

"Mmhmm. Vampire and witch histories too. Most students who take it do so because they don't want to sit through another 'America is the greatest' history class. And because the supernat histories cover American history it counts for that credit. There are some students who take it because they're poly sci students, the rest are all studying anthropology."

"Are there going to be other supernats walking around campus?" Nathan asked. He was nervous enough being around rouges. With other supernaturals in the mix he wanted them to turn around.

"Not really, vampires favor beheading over exile and witches don't like cities at all even if they are exiled, which is extremely rare. When they are, witches are stripped of their powers when they're exiled, mostly because they get involved with dark magic. I doubt we'll see any other supernats."

"Okay." He let out a shaky breath. She looked over at him and could she that Nathan was struggling.

"Hey, Nate. Nate look at me. It's okay. I'm okay." She spoke slowly and calmly. "I spent years in this city and on this campus. I took multiple classes from Professor Moran, I even babysat for him before. He's not a threat to me, nothing is going to hurt me." Nathan clenched his teeth. The idea that his mate had spent so much time around rouges upset him. He knew she was safe. He was looking right at her, he could see she was safe. But his anxiety was getting the better of him. The bond was urging him to protect her from everything he considered a threat to her. Whether it was or not. Denying the bonds urging like this was difficult. His breathing became more labored.

"Nate look at me." He turned his head to her. She reached up and pulled him down so her forehead was against his. "Breathe Nate. Come on. In," he took a ragged breath in, "and out." He let it out all in a whoosh.

"No, Nate you know how to do this. Slow, controlled breaths. In and out. Come on, breathe with me." She put a hand on his chest and he covered it with his. Holding it in place. He took a breath in. "Mariquil," she whispered. He let it go slowly. "That's it. Just keep breathing with me. Mariquil, Mariquil."

The combination of her touch, her scent, and her voice calmed him. He closed his eyes and continued to breathe deep. "It's okay. You're okay. I'm okay. Everything's okay. Mariquil. Mariquil." He continued to breathe with her. "You're okay. It's okay."