"What do you mean? What's going on?" Nate said taking my shoulders into his large hands. I was trembling slightly.

"Nate, I was so angry. So so angry. I should have gone up like a roman candle! But nothing happened." I could feel my body trembling and my blood pressure rising. I'm sure my eyes were wide open with fear.

"Hey, hey, nothing is happening to you! Except maybe you're learning to control yourself better" He said with soothing words. I jumped when I felt another, smaller hand on my back.

"What's going on? Is everything ok?!" Sophie asked in her high pitched voice.

"Yeah, yeah, everything is fine Sophie. She's just having a slight panic attack. But everything is ok" Nate pulled me into his big arms and rubbed my back.

"I don't know what to do. If something ever happened, my mom investigated it and found out what was happening. I don't know what to do if something bad happens" I said, rambling.

"Sweetie, nothing bad is happening, and if it was, we would help you" Sophie said as she rubbed my back. Everything is ok. My mom is gone but I can cope. I am not broken. Something is just happening to me and it is up to me to find out what. My mother always told me that I could not depend on her forever. I needed to stand on my own. I pulled out of Nate's arms and took a deep breath.

"I am so sorry. Im ok. I'm ok now." I said to both Nate and Sophie.

"Good. Let's go get dressed for dinner, ok?" Sophie said calmly and quietly. She nodded to Nate and then gently nudged me toward my house.

"I'll see you in a little while" Nate waved gently to me. I waved back and continued with Sophie to my house.

* * * * * *

"Oh Terri! You have to wear this one!" Sophie yelled from deep within my closet. I came around the corner with a towel on my head and my robe on. I really needed that shower to calm me down, and now that I had, I felt like I could think through everything that had happened. But Sophie would not let me do that, as she was speaking a mile a minute. I looked at the dress in her hand and gave her a confused look.

"Sophie, isn't this a barbecue? Like, ribs and corn, napkins in your shirt, no table manners barbecue?" I asked.

"What? No. I mean we barbecue and eat at tables but it is more like a social hour to meet and greet. We wear dresses and dance on the patio. It's quaint and romantic. And this dress is perfect!" She said, holding the dress up again. It was a long, black, one shoulder evening gown. Very simple and plain, but elegant too.

"With these shoes" she said holding up a sparkly silver pump with a silver bow tied across the front.

"Those are adorable shoes! Where did you find this stuff" I asked, having not seen those shoes or that dress before.

"The dress was in a garment bag and the shoes in a box on the floor" she said off handedly. "C'mon, throw these on" she threw a strapless black bra, a camisole, and black shorts at me. "I have to go plan my clothing too and we only have and hour and a half until dinner!" she said, grabbing the shoes and the dress and shuffling past me. I had just finished putting on the clothes she had given me on and was grabbing a pair of flip flops when her blond head peaked around the corner. "Hurry! You're going to dress in my room". We took my car to the Pack House and Sophie checked to make sure the coast was Alpha clear before she quickly bustled me into her room and locked the door.

"I'm going to shower. You sit here" she pushed my onto a bench at her small vanity table and handed me a blow dryer, " and blow out your hair. I will be right back." She looked at me hesitantly like a was a small child before slowly closing the door. I turned on the dryer and blew out my hair while simultaneously looking around Sophie's surprisingly mellow room. Her favorite color was yellow, but ironically, her room was mainly blue with yellow accents. Her bed sheets were blue and she had a yellow damask print for her wallpaper. I looked back in the mirror, at my complexion, and gasped. My face had filled out and I looked much healthier than I had when I got here. My arms were more muscular and when I stood up, I saw that my legs too had grown more muscular. In just a week, so much had happened. I ran my hand through my hair, which was more straight than wavy, and gave it a good tousle. I was going to leave my hair like this, a fresh, out of bed look. Sophie came scrambling into the room quicky and slammed her door, locking it.

"Oh! I like your hair like that!" she remarked, looking like an adorable child in her yellow towels.

"Yeah, I thought so too. I am going to leave it like this" I said. I went to her bed and grabbed my dress while Sophie went into her walk in closet and came out in her yellow bra and boy short underwear. She was carrying two dresses, both yellow, but one darker than the other.

"Which one?" she asked. The one on the left was a light yellow, short, flowing dress that had a high low skirt and a fitted bodice. There was a tear drop shape in the middle of the chest and a string that went around the neck to hold the top up. The second was a long, deep yellow evening gown with a halter top string that attached in between the bust.

"The long one" I said with a smile.

"Perfect!" she said and then held up a pair of sparkly silver wedges. "And these too" she told me. We put our respective dresses on did our makeup. Sophie basically did mine because she said I was not doing it right. She gave me a smoky eye look and a light blush and gloss.

"Nothing too heavy, you're naturally pretty" she told me.

"Thank you Sophie" I said, blushing.

"Umm, listen, Terri, can I talk to you about something?" Sophie asked, stepping back from my face.

"Sure" I said, although she was making me anxious.

"You like Nate right?"

"Well, yeah. He's very sweet and nice" I said.

"Well, do you think he might be your mate?" she asked.

"Sophie, I don't even know if I will have a mate" I answered honestly.

"But what if you do" she asked.

"I don't know, I guess he could be. I won't know until Wednesday" I told her.

"Wednesday is your eighteenth birthday?" she asked, shocked.

"Yes" I chuckled.

"Yay!...But, what if he's not your mate. What if it's someone else" she asked hesitantly.

"Well that would be sad because I really like Nate and I don't really know anyone outside the six of us. Why are you asking me this?" she was really making me think about things I did not want to think about.

"I was just wondering..." she said vaguely. "Are you ready?!" she tugged my up from my seat and looked me over.

"Perfect!" She dragged me out of her room and down the stairs. I was definitely thankful for all the times mom and I had had fake fashion shows for each other after long days of studying. She trained me to walk in heels for fun and now I was putting that talent to good use. As we went through the kitchen, we ran into Beta Allison and my grandmother cooking.

"Hi Gonga. What are you doing here?" I asked, confused.

My grandmother looked up from her pot and smiled. "Oh sweetie! Don't you look beautiful! And Sophie, you too! I'm helping cook for the meal. I always do".

"It smells amazing Mrs. Jackson" Sophie said, then made her way over to Allison and took a piece of whatever it was she was chopping.

"Little girl, get your hands out of my vegetables!" Beta Allison said, slapping Sophie on the hand. Seeing them next to each other, I realized how similar Sophie and Allison were in appearance. Cute, petite, blond girls with bubbly personalities. I guess the Crewwe men had their types. I could hear music faintly coming from the backyard.

"You two should head outside, the party is in full swing" my grandmother said in the process of shooshing us out the door. I opened the back door and stepped out onto the back porch to see the yard completely transformed into the most beautiful area imaginable. In two hours, someone had moved a giant wooden deck out into the middle of the yard. Lights had been strung around the yard and Tiki torches scattered the yard's perimeter. Country music was being played from a small DJ table and picnic tables surrounded the wooden deck. Some people were sitting at tables sipping drinks and others were dancing slowly on the deck.

"Wow..." I said awestruck.

"It's beautiful right! Look, I see Jason, lets go" we went down the porch steps and made our way slowly through the yard as Jason and the group was sitting at a table on the opposite end of the yard. We walked past a table that Beta Andrew and Alpha Alex had chosen to sit at. Alpha Alex made cold eye contact with me, but his chilly look quickly changed into something else. I did not take time to find out what. I turned my head slowly and pulled my chin up with regal grace. We reached the table and I saw everyone but Nate at the table.

"Sienna, Jason, I am so sorry about earlier" I apologized quickly.

"Hey, it's all in a days training" Jason said with a simple laugh.

"It's alright. It was going to happen to someone and I am no worse for wear" Sienna said after Jason.

Sienna looked stunning in a Grecian looking navy blue gown.

"That was probably the best fight I've ever seen" Brett said excitedly.

"Definitely! I felt your pain when Nate fell on you" William said with a sympathetic pat on Sienna's back. "That's ok. I can nurse you back to health later".

"No" was Sienna's curt response.

"You look nice Terri" Brett said, then stood up from the picnic table and walked off.

"Uhhh, thank you?" I said to his retreating back. I looked at William for an explanation but he just shrugged in response.

"Food's ready!" Beta Allison announced from the steps of house. Everyone, about seventy people, stood up and made their way to rows of tables stacked high with steaks, ears of corners, bowls of mashed potatoes, rolls, and bowls of salad. I glanced around the crowd looking for Nate, but did not see him anywhere. I got in line behind the group and looked ahead in the line. Suddenly, a hand touched my back and I jumped.

"Sorry" Nate said with a smile. I turned all the way around and found that he was wearing black dress pants and a gray button down shirt.

"It's alright, I was looking for you" I said, smiling back.

"Good. Are you feeling better?" he asked. The line was moving quickly and by now we were at the front of the line. There were four tables that the line split in to, so Nate and I moved to the third table and to get food.

"Yes, I am. Thank you for comforting me" I reached for the tongs to grab a steak, but someone else's hands touched it first. I pulled my hand back, but the owner of the other hand insisted I take it.

"Thanks" I said with a smile as I looked up to see... Alpha Alex.

My smile faded. I grabbed my steak and handed him the tongs. I looked to Nate and he gave me a sympathetic look.

"It was no problem" Nate insisted, finishing our previous conversation. "By the way, your tattoos look amazing when they're exposed like this" Nate said as he caressed my shoulder. He looked up from me and I swear he gave Alpha Alex a pointed stare. I physically felt the temperature decrease about ten degrees. Alpha Alex was giving Nate a terrible, icy glare. He threw the tongs, now bent, onto the table and moved on down the line, quickly plopping food onto his plate as he went.

"What was that about?" I asked, trying to move through the line so that everyone could get food.

"I was wrong when I told you he liked me. He does not like me anymore" Nate answered vaguely. I looked up at him and he smiled, then grabbed a drink from the ice chest and walked to our table. I shook my head and grabbed a drink too. As we ate, Nate apologized about a hundred times to Sienna, who continued to insist that everything was fine. Brett had returned but he was not saying much. We all talked about how I beat up Jason and how he was never going to live that down. Apparently, we now had to have a rematch. Once everyone was done eating, the guys took the plates and threw them away. When they returned, William stuck out his hand to Sienna.

"Will you dance with me?" he asked, and Sienna stood and went with him to the deck.

"I really wish she would say yes to him already" Sophie sighed.

"You know why she doesn't" Jason chastised.

"Yeah but they are just so adorable" Sophie replied.

"What are you talking about?" I asked in confusion.

Jason looked at Sophie, then back at me. "Sienna used to not be like she is now. She used to be a lot like any other girl. Like Sophie. She loved boys and talking and magazines. Our freshmen year, she started dating a senior named Josh Lore. Josh was the typical, good looking jock. And he was a werewolf. They dated all year and he told her he loved her and that he would never leave her, not even for his mate. But when he turned eighteen and found his mate, he broke up with her. She was crushed. And not just because he lied to her but because she knew she really couldn't blame him. It's coded down into our genes to love our mate. It's impossible for you to fight because fate put you with them as they are the person that is the perfect match for you. You inevitably fall in love with them, the mate attraction just speeds up the process. So instead of being angry, Sienna swore never to date another guy until she found her mate. She says it's because she doesn't want to get her heart broken again, but I think its because she doesn't want to do to someone what was done to her. She reads her novels and ignores all boys. She doesn't speak often and we are really the only people she hangs out with. If you ask William, he swears that she is going to be his mate, but that was never enough for her. But her birthday is Monday, so we will find out soon enough." Jason finished. The song that William and Sienna had started dancing to had ended but they stayed up there for another.

"C'mon Sophie" Jason said, taking Sophie's hand in his. They left and I was sitting with Brett and Nate alone.

"Would you like to dance?" Nate asked.

"Yes" I smiled. We stood up and went to the deck. He put one arm all the way around my waist and the other took my hand. I put my free hand on his neck and we started swaying to the slow music. We were so close, I could feel his hearting beating.

"So are you sore from the fight today?" he asked.

"No, my mouth was swollen but good ol' super blood healed me right up" I said, resting my face on his shoulder.

"Yeah, thank goodness for that" he chuckled. I liked being with Nate but it was never like my mother had described it. When she and my father met, they had spent a whole day arguing about the process of shifting. But when he touched her, they sparked, They had charisma, no matter what they were talking about, everything felt like heaven. With Nate, I felt comfortable, safe, content. None of which incite fiery passion. But I was so happy with Nate that I could not imagine something better. And, maybe, if he was my mate, I would feel it after I turned eighteen. My parents had known that they were mates, so maybe that was what the spark was.

"Excuse me", a voice cut into my reverie, "can I cut in". I knew that voice. Oh, did I know that voice. I pulled out of Nate's arms to see Alpha Alex standing behind me.

Thank you for reading! Comment and vote please! To the left is Terri's dress for the barbecue.