Revised: 11/6/18

We pull up to the pack house, It's about 45 minutes outside of city limits. Derrick and I live here with all the other pack members who have not found their mates yet. There is another mansion just for the ladies. Even with that they all mostly hang here at the main pack house.

We added a bunch of recreational rooms a while back to keep the pack close to each other, so they would not get themselves in trouble. To start off, we have an indoor and outdoor swimming pool. A room with a pool table and some arcade games. We have a indoor theatre and as if that is not enough we even have a room with bowling lanes. Along the wall, there's a mini bar stocked with drinks and snacks.

The house is located near the mountains and forest, it's absolutely breathtaking here. You really feel like you can breath out here, you know. You and your wolf feel one with nature and connected to the moon goddess in a way city packs don't get to experience.

The moment I heard from Derrick that Samantha was bringing a friend. And that that friend was a man,---- I immediately invited myself. "I know dude. That's why I'm telling you." He said. I ignored his sarcasm and immediately went to my room to get ready.

This morning was a complete disaster. I can't believe she didn't remember me this morning. I mean no clue and she threatened getting me thrown in jail. She is a spitfire, that woman. I could feel a growl vibrate in my chest as my wolf expressed his contentment. Even though she put up a wall of courage, I could still sense her insecurity and fear. My wolf growl angrily at the thought of our mate being afraid of us. I didn't like it either but it's understandable. She has no idea who I am. Who we are.

And who is this guy she is with. I can read him and his intentions clearly. His body language puts off a certain pride and dominance like he's challenging us. The way his eyes roam over her delicate body makes me want to claw his eyes out.

I have to be very careful and keep myself calm every time I'm near him. I can't risk losing my mate because I couldn't reign in my temper. Especially when I smell his scent on her. 

"Where are we? I thought we were going to the bowling alley?" Sam inquires. She looks so cute with face scrunched up, looking all confused.

"This is my place. On the third floor, we have a room with bowling lanes. We have students from the local college who room here, so awhile back my family decided to set up recreational rooms for them to enjoy. We have a pool and even a theatre."

Her eyes shoot wide open in shock as she scans the foyer. "This is your place. Wow!! It's so beautiful." I glance down and notice that she hasn't let go of Tim's hand yet as they walk further inside.

"Derrick, could you please show our guests upstairs? I will be right with you, there is something I must attend to."

"Yea, boss. Come on, you two...Let me show you around." He leads them up the stairs and out of sight. I stomp my way into the yard and behind the tree nearest to me to undress. I fold my clothes nicely and lay them there at the base of the trunk. I run forward and jump, shifting in mid-air. My wolf loud roar pierces through the trees as I push myself forward until I feel the raging fire inside of me calm down enough for me to go back inside.

Wow, is all I can say when I walk into Jacob's house. It is so beautiful. From the cream colored walls and giant glass chandelier to the two beige stone staircases leading to the upstairs level. It almost resembles a museum but it has it's homey touches here and there.

We take the stairs to the third level. It leads to the indoor swimming pool and the entertainment room with the bowling lanes. It has a modern yet rustic feel in here. With chrome and wood panels all over the room. Near the bowling lanes, there is a big screen set up with a music videos playing.

There are two wood panelled lanes and a big screen to keep the score on either side. Next to the wall is a rack of different colored and sized bowling balls. On the left side of the room is a sofa and a mini bar with 4 stools. A chalkboard menu displaying the snacks and beverages of the day.

"Y'all want anything to drink or eat?" Derrick ask after giving us the tour. "Yes, I'd like a Dr.Pepper if y'all have it."

"What? Of course we do. It's my favorite." He goes around the bar and grabs my drink from the fridge.

"It's my favorite too!" He hands it to me then gives me a high five. "What about you, dude?" Derrick turns to look at Tim.

"I'm good for now, thanks." He says quickly and continues to survey the room.

"Hey, are you okay?" I ask him squeezing his hand a little bit to get his attention.

His turns to face me and he looks upset. His face remains focused on my eyes as he pulls us to the far corner of the room, the opposite direction of where Derrick is.

He lifted his hand to my face and gently runs his thumb across my cheek. The look on his face tells me that he has something to tell me but is unsure of how to say it. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, he opens up and begins to spill out everything that he has been holding back.

"Look, Sam. I like you and I don't mean like a sister. I like you and I've liked you for some time now. He'll, I might even love you." He admits with a wild look in his eye. "This is not the way I wanted to tell you this but I feel like I needed to. You know?" He said as he dragged out his words at the very end.

"No, I don't know. Why did you feel like you needed to tell me?" I repeat his words back to him in the same time he used. I suddenly feel uncomfortable and unsure of how I should feel after he admitted to having feelings for me. Love?

I couldn't understand it. We had been friends for so long that I was sure that we were like brother and sister but now to hear this, well, it changes everything between us. I realised as he spoke again that I was no longer smiling or worried about him. I was more frustrated and aggravated. My body grew tense and I felt like a bomb that would go off any second. Why? Why did he feel right now was an appropriate time to discuss this?

"Like you haven't noticed the way your new friends have been acting around you. Especially, Jacob."

As if he heard the mention of his name, Jacob decides to walk into the room that exact moment. His eyes focused on us as he walks further into the room until he finds a seat at the bar that Derrick is pretending to clean. He lifts his eyes from the already clean bartop to meet mine and winks.

"Sam?" Tim's voice pulls my attention away from Derrick.

"Yes?" I ask but this only angers Tim. "I'm sorry Tim. I'm not sure we should be discussing this right now." My heart is torn between going back to Derrick and Jacob because He invited us here and it would be rude to continue to stay in the corner whispering and it would be rude to leave already. But on the other hand, I don't want to ignore Tim and his confession. The shock is still lingering from his words and I can't imagine that he is speaking the truth. We have always seen each other as brother and sister and no more. Now he says this to me? What horrible timing. 

Seeing the disappointed look on his face, I gently grab hold of his hand. "Let's talk about this later okay." I offer with my eyes pinned to his, waiting for a response of some sort. He nods his head and places a gentle kiss on my cheek before pulling back and walking towards the bar. 

"Where's the restroom?" He asks, looking towards Derrick. 

"Down the hall to the right." Derrick answers while throwing his thumb in that direction. 

Once Tim leaves the room, Derrick hops over the bar. Yes. He literally hops over the bar like it was the easiest thing to do. "Ready to play?" He asks while choosing a golden bowling ball. He starts to practice by swing his arms with the ball in hand.

"I haven't played since I was a child and that was only one time. Can one of you teach me?" I asked. That interested Jacob who came jogging towards me. "I'll teach you." 

"Okay." I answer as he pulls me towards the rack and I choose a bright baby blue ball that has a number 6 on the top of it.

I place it in the top rack in between the two lanes. He takes my bowling ball and places my fingers in the holes and shows me how to hold the ball correctly. His hands are gentle on my wrists and on the top of my hand.  Even though they are meant to be friendly touches instead his fingers are like hot rods touching my skin. He then places his hands on either side of my waist to show me the correct stance.

He is so close that I can feel his breath against my skin causing tingles to shoot all over me. Next, he shows me how to pull back the ball and launch it for the first time. It went down the middle but ended up going more to the left and into the gutter.

"Hmp. I didn't make it in. I'm not sure your a very good teacher, Jacob." I tell him jokingly.

"Maybe it's not the teacher but the student who's not all that good." He says while grabbing his own ball and scoring a strike.

I jump up and down in excitement. "See I want to do that." I say pointing to all the fallen pins. Jacob walks back to me and comes behind me again. My breath hitches a little when he leans in to whisper into my ear. "I can teach you that and so much more." A blush creeps across my cheeks at his words.

I jump at the sudden sound of a door slamming. I look behind to see what happen. Tim is staring back at us with a deathly angry look on his face. He doesn't look like the sweet family friend that I grew up with but a threat towards everyone in the room. 

"Um, Tim? Are you okay?" I slowly take a step in his direction holding my hands out in front of me. Jacob steps closer to me, his now golden eyes look away from Tim and snap at me causing me to take a step back towards Tim. A loud growl like sound leaves his mouth when Tim places his hand on my lower back.

"Keep your hands to yourself!" He roars out.

Tim makes the first move towards Jacob. He rolls up his sleeves as he rushes over until he's standing face to face with him. "Who do you think you are? Huh?!"

"BACK OFF! Now!" Jacob retorts.

I wish I could say that it ended there. Oh how I wish.