"I'm pretty sure you initiated it."

"I'm pretty sure it was you."

"Well, who was the one who said she'd do anything to repay me?"

"Well, who was the one that said I was the hottest piece of ass to come around here in a while?"

"Okay, knock it off!" Matteo shouted interrupting Jack and I's heated debate.

The four of us, Matteo, Jack, Daniella, and I, were all gathered in Matteo's office. Jack and Daniella were squished together on a couch, Matteo sat in his leather chair, and I placed myself on Matteo's desk even though he told me about seven times not to sit on it. Matteo hadn't actually gotten to speak about whatever it was that he felt necessary to say. As soon as Daniella and Jack walked in, Jack and I immediately started arguing about who Matteo should be mad at over the whole motel room incident. I think, as of now, it's a tie.

"And Kaia, for the last time. Get off the desk!" Matteo demanded in exasperation. I inhaled deeply and shook my head before crossing my legs.

"I like it up here," I stated simply causing a groan to erupt from Matteo.

"Fine, fine! Sit on the desk! I don't care anymore!" He said finally just giving up making a satisfactory smile spread across my face, but inside I was secretly kind of upset he wasn't fighting me over it anymore. As odd as it sounded, I kind of liked arguing with him.

"Can we just figure out this, um," Danielle said pausing to give me a once over, "Kaia situation?" I narrowed my eyes at her in distaste. "What? I have a hair appointment I have to leave for in like twenty minutes, and I can't reschedule because my roots are driving me insane." I scoffed rolling my eyes at her.

"What a bleached blonde," I muttered earning myself a glare.

"If you're bothered by the color of my hair that much that you have to waste a breath to comment on it, you won't last a week here, kid," Daniella retorted.

"Okay, I get that Jack is here because he's your beta, but what the hell is she doing here?" I asked Matteo in annoyance causing Daniella to laugh. "What?" I snapped turning to face her.

"Oh, you're too cute," she chuckled wiping away an invisible tear from her eye. Jack must have noticed my confusion and decided to answer my question.

"She's the Gamma." Now, it was my turn to laugh.

"Her?" I questioned turning back to Matteo. "She's your third?" I was laughing, but it was anything but humorous. "You're kidding me."

"You two don't even know each other. How can you hate each other already?" Jack interjected. Daniella and I paused for a moment and stared at one another. We both just shrugged.

"We're getting a head start, I guess," I reasoned.

"Well, you're going to have to get over whatever you two hate about each other because, Daniella, I want you watching her," Matteo stated making both Daniella and I stare at him as if he were crazy.

"What?" We both said at the exact same time.

"Matteo, I don't want her stalking me."

"Kaia, she's not stalking you. She's going to be like your guard," Matteo explained.

"So, basically, what you're telling me is that she's my babysitter?"

"Does everything I say to you go in one ear and out the other?" I shrugged at his question. I twisted my body and jumped off of the desk.

"I'm not being the nanny to your seventeen-year old mate," Daniella insisted.

"Hey! I'm nineteen," I growled earning myself an eye roll.

"Really not helping yourself."

"You guys are practically the same person. You could be like best friends," Jack spoke up. I grimaced looking at Daniella who was making the same face as me.

"No," we each said at the same time.

"I rest my case," Jack mumbled leaning back into the couch.

I will agree that Daniella and I are both very open to say what we think, but many people are. It's very apparent that Daniella doesn't have a single spot in her heart for rogues, and, quite frankly, the only spot in my heart for a pack wolf is for Matteo.

It still creeps me out to admit that to myself.

"Can we just get onto whatever we're all here for. I'm hungry," I urged. I was seriously craving a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"I was just waiting for all of you to grow up before I continued," Matteo stated causing an offended 'hey!' from Daniella.

"Shut up, Jack," I snapped. Jack stared at me dumbfounded.

"I didn't even say anything!"

"Will all of you just shut the hell up already?" Matteo was obviously angry. His entire body was tense, and he kind of looked like he wanted to hurt one of us. I was extremely grateful to have the unfortunate fate of being his mate in this situation because I knew he wouldn't murder me willingly.

Getting bored of the bickering amongst the four of us, I turned on my heel heading for the door. My hand just rested on the knob when Matteo decided to question my motive.

"What are you doing?"

"I told you. I'm hungry," I inquired simply as I twisted the knob.

"Kaia," Matteo grumbled in annoyance under his breath as he got up from his chair, rounded the desk, and appeared behind me.

"Oh, are you hungry too—Matteo!" I shouted as he wrapped his very muscular arms around me. Any other time, I probably wouldn't have much of an issue being wrapped up in the arms of such a sex god such as himself, but I felt extremely anxious being in such a confined space with not only an alpha but also a beta and a gamma. It wasn't at all because I felt intimidated. I just felt extremely uncomfortable.

Strange coming from someone who lives off of targeting and sleeping with betas. I know.

Completely ignoring my protests, Matteo carried me back to his chair against my will where he sat down and forced me to sit on his lap. His arms braced me securely against him, and I hate to admit it, but I was kind of in my glory just hanging out on his lap.

"Just saying, if I wasn't enjoying this as much as I am, you'd most likely be short an eyeball and maybe even an ear." I didn't expect Matteo to chuckle, but he actually did. It could have probably been a nice moment if I wasn't slightly annoyed by just how much I was loving sitting on his lap.

"If you guys start stripping, I'm pretty sure I can call the police claiming sexual harassment for you forcing me to be here, so I'd suggest you keep your clothes on," Daniella interrupted which irked me once again.

"Okay, Dan. If you consider that sexual, then I feel really bad for whoever you end up with-" my remark was cut short by a large hand being placed over my mouth. I was tempted to lick it in a petty attempt to get him to remove it, but I was slightly worried that my kinky-self would enjoy it. I was even more worried that Matteo was slightly more kinky than me and would enjoy it a little more than myself.

"Hush."

"Buh-" I mumbled against his hand before he cut me off once again.

"No."

"Mwuh-"

"Shh."

"Nuhr-"

"Silence," Matteo ordered not seeming too playful by his tone or the pissed off look in his eyes. Sighing, I rolled my eyes and leaned back into his chest not caring anymore.

"Are you sure you're nineteen?" Daniella challenged. I jerked forward in a literal attempt to strangle her until her dark brown eyes popped out of her annoyingly beautiful face, but Matteo's tree trunks he calls arm held me in place.

"Dani, can you be decent and not pester my mate for five seconds?" Matteo retorted. I was genuinely surprised by the amount of mental strength my mate had. If I were him, I would have probably killed someone by now. Between his beta almost sleeping with his mate and his mate being a psycho who tries to kill everything, I give the guy some major props.

"Not my fault that your mate has self control issues."

"At least she can control herself enough to withhold unnecessary comments unlike you," Jack defended making me smile in satisfaction and Daniella scoff.

"You're just defending her because you want to bang her."

"Jesus Christ, Dani. That was one time, and I had no clue she'd be Teo's mate! Do we really have to bring this up now?"

"You're a whore, Jack. You f--k anything with a vagina and a pair of legs."

"And, you aren't?"

"Compared to you, I'm a saint."

"Well, you didn't seem too offended by my 'whorish ways' when we banged."

"I was shit-faced drunk, you dick!"

"Which time?"

"Okay, that's it!" This time, we all froze. I was slightly afraid for my life. Matteo's voice hit a whole new level of terrifying. I was secretly blessing the lord above for having me positioned to where I couldn't see the look on Matteo's face. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that his eyes had darkened in color due to his wolf coming forward in an attempt to take charge. An alpha wolf can only take so much disrespect.

"Jack, you're guarding Kaia. If I find out you so much as touched a hair on her head, I'll choke you with your own hands. Am I clear?" Matteo demanded. My mind was going a million miles per hour. The two most prominent thoughts being 'bless the lord for not having Daniella be my guard anymore' and 'is Matteo this dominant in bed?'.

"Yes, Alpha," Jack agreed with a nod, no longer daring to look Matteo in the eyes.

"Daniella, I'm sure you wouldn't mind lending Kaia something to wear for the next few days until I can get her some clothes of her own?" At Matteo's question, Daniella's eyes grew in disbelief. My smug little smirk grew as well.

"But, Matteo-!"

"Dani!" Matteo snapped making Daniella cower.

"Yes, Alpha."

"I want the pack well aware of Kaia's presence. I will not have any attacks happening due to someone's ignorance. Agreed?"

"Yes, Alpha," both Daniella and Jack replied in sync.

"Good. Now, get out," Matteo ordered. In a second flat, Jack was out the door. Daniella was trailing behind him with her fists clenched in anger. "Oh, and Daniella," Matteo said aloud causing her to come to a halt. Her eyes looked up to meet Matteo's. "I'd suggest you not try to pick a fight with the mate of an Alpha. Not very respectful if you ask me. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, Alpha," she answered through clenched teeth before storming out of Matteo's office leaving Matteo and I sitting together in silence.

"You know," I said after a moment, craning my neck to look at him, "I kind of like her when I can't hear or see her." Matteo didn't chuckle at my little joke at all. He just looked down at me in sheer boredom.

"You put a hole through my wall, have a run-in with my gamma that I assume didn't go too well, and yet you decided to come find me instead of running out of the house," Matteo stated. I nodded in response.

"Yes I did. Good analysis of the situation, bud."

"Why'd you stay?" He asked making me kind of just freeze for a second.

Why did I stay?

I'd never had a real problem with leaving anyone. Especially when the person I was leaving I had just met and spent maybe ten minutes together with in total.

My parents were always going on and on about how strong a mate bond is. They said it's what made Mom go rogue, so that she'd never have to leave Dad. The mate bond is powerful enough to draw a wolf away from its life, it's family, and it's home. It's something I always figured I'd be able to fight if I needed to, but that's apparently not the case. The bond now has me rooted in this pack house and currently in Matteo's lap. I didn't want to leave because I didn't want to leave Matteo.

"Well," I said slowly, thinking of just how I wanted to word what I was going to say, "I'm safe here. I've done some things, and I think it's best that I just hang out here." It wasn't exactly a lie or a cover-up. I did do something bad. I escaped a prison that I'd been living in for the past four years. I broke a Luna's neck in order to escape. There was no way in hell that pretty little Luna was going to wake up and not tell her Alpha mate just who managed to knock her out and escape the cells. I kind of doubted that the Alpha would go through such a struggle to find me, though. If I wanted to be chased to the ends of the earth by an Alpha wolf, I would have ripped her heart out and actually killed her.

"What do you mean you've 'done some things?'" Matteo countered.

"Oh, you know, just the usual rogue nonsense that we do," I said nonchalantly with a little smile playing on my lips. "I'm sure Daniella could come up with hundreds of scenarios for you all starring me." And I'm sure most of the scenarios would be true as well.

_____________

I wrote this in like two days.

Writing the beginning of books is so hard for me because I feel like I try to develop characters, and that's something I try really hard to do. This chapter was pretty much just me trying to really allow you guys get a feel of all the main characters in the book.

I really try to steer clear of clichés in books which is why you're probably reading this and being like wtf is up with some of these characters. Like usually the bleached blonde is some weak bitch who can do shit and is only there because she want to sleep with everyone but I was like that. We're making this bitch the gamma because girls never get to be high ranking in books and we're gonna make her just as much of a sassy asshole as the main character. They're literally like the same person just one is a rogue and the other is a pack wolf who hates rogues so there you go.

Also I dislike how all the girls are so antisex and stuff so I'm just like f it. Girls like sex too so that's why Kaia is very open about being sexual because I know how sexual girls can be. Why hide it? I feel like it kind of just makes her a bit more relatable.

Okay, I'm done ranting. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter because I legit worked all day on it and some of yesterday. Much love guys

Also I'm going to try to update either Sundays or Tuesdays like used to, so I'm just counting this as a Sunday update

Stay awesome Gotham 2/11/17

What's good Daniella (pic above) 7/5/17