Dealing with Alex is like dealing with a small child and a vicious animal at the same time. He thinks in simple ways and gets angry at the littlest things. The only difference is that he wont throw a toy at you. No, he'll just rip your throat out with canine teeth and claws...

Somehow, the duty of getting him riled up and keeping him calm falls to me.

At the table, when Nate came in and joined us for dinner, I could feel Alex's anger steadily spiking the more Nate and I spoke. If there is one thing I've learned, its that getting angry or snippy with him only makes it worse. So I chose, instead, to try to use positive, emotional techniques. I saw his clenched hand under the table and decided, despite my racing, nervous heart, to try to hold his hand... in reassurance of course. I kept making eye contact with Nate while I spoke to him, hoping that would keep me from blushing, but I almost died of embarrassment when I realized Alex was reluctant to let me hold his hand. Instead of backing down, I pushed forward, trying to nonchalantly pry his fingers apart. He actually let me, which caught me a little off guard. I gently interlaced my fingers in between his, hoping that that would keep from getting... too... jealous.

"She's upstairs in the loft. I didn't want to leave her alone but we needed a break from each other. She's with Sienna" Nate responded in answer to my question about Natasha's whereabouts. I was only half focused on what Nate was saying, as the rest of my attention was focused on the fact the Alex's tense body had visually relaxed. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him plastering on a confused/thinking face.

"She'll be much safer with Sienna than with Sophie" I teased, only half way kidding. That girl could talk the ear off of a deaf person.

With a laugh, Nate responded "A little bit less talking I'd think".

I offered my own chuckle to our jovial conversation. I noticed a slight smile touch Alex's face as well.

"So I've noticed you two have been training. I've seen stray pieces of fire and scorch marks everywhere" Nate said with a joking tone.

"Oh! Yeah, Alex thought I should try to learn to combine fire and martial arts" I said excitedly, realizing that it had been so long since Nate and I had last talked that he didn't even know my new tricks. I quickly stood up in an attempt to go and show Nate my new abilities, realizing only when my hand disentangled from Alex's that that meant I had to stop holding his hand.

"Too late now" I thought sourly, and went over to Nate as I had planned. I bustled my way over to Nate's chair and braced myself on the back of it so I could show Nate my leg tattoos.

"Really? That is definitely a deadly combination. I've fought with you without fire and that's hard enough" he said, gently touching my glowing tattoos.

"No don't" I squeaked, trying to catch him before he burnt his hand on my tattoos... again. A small sizzling noise and a puff of steam came up from where his skin made contact with mine.

But Nate didn't flinch in the least.

"Nate, you can't touch my tattoos when they're heated, remember?"

"I remembered" Nate said quietly, "I just wanted to try one more time. I guess he is made for you, huh?" He asked, looking up at me. He was obviously recalling how Alex could touch my heated tattoos.

"I guess so" I responded pensively, and turned my head to look at Alex.

He looked deep in thought, zoned out to the world. "Alex? Alex?? Alexandre!" I yelled, resorting to his full name. Suddenly, Alex's gaze snapped back to reality and he looked at me with a seeing eyes and a deep scowl.

"Don't call me that" he whispered gruffly.

"Alexandre?" I asked in confusion. He doesn't like his name? He subtly winced as I repeated his name.

"Yes. I don't like it" was his response.

"Oh...ok" I muttered, very confused. I wanted to ask why, but I knew I shouldn't in front of Nate. "Well I'm going to go with Nate to talk to Natasha for a little while" I said. The words that came out of my mouth were commanding, but in reality, I was asking him. I looked at Alex, waiting for him to return my gaze. When he did, I saw his angry inner wall fall down, but I'm not sure the look that replaced it was much better.

"Yeah, whatever" he said in a defeated tone with a sigh. He stood up and took his plate to the sink, avoiding my gaze the entire way.

I looked down for a second, then gently grabbed Nate's arm, signaling that we should go. He nodded and we slowly made our way upstairs.

"Is everything ok?" Nate asked.

"Yeah, I think so... I just don't think he likes you that much" I muttered, not really thinking about what I was saying.

Nate erupted with laughter, which shook me from my reverie.

"That's no surprise to me" he said, continuing to chuckle.

How is that funny? I want them to get along. Maybe not be friends per say... but tolerate each other's company at least. Is that too much to ask for? I shook my head and we walked in silence until we reached Sienna's bedroom door.

After I quietly knocked, Sienna answered the door.

"Hello there" she said with a soft smile.

"Hi again Sienna, is Natasha still in here?" Nate asked.

"Well... yes... but she doesn't want to speak to you right now" Sienna said hesitantly, making sure to keep her door barely cracked.

"Will she speak to Terri?" Nate asked with a put down look.

"Yes" a small voice said from within the room.

I nodded at Nate, letting him know he should leave. He hesitantly did, after which Sienna opened the door completely and Natasha met me at the door.

"Can we walk and talk?" I asked, hoping the movement would make our time together less awkward. She nodded and we made our way downstairs and outside. We then slowed our pace and began to walk around the outskirts of the Pack House Property.

"Can you tell me about where Vladimir is hiding? Alex and I have been training in order to prepare an attack, but we have no logistics about his location" I started after an awkward pause.

"I can draw you a schematic of the facility and map to the site" she said after thinking about my question.

"A schematic?" that was much more than what I was expecting to get.

"I was an architect major in college before... Vladimir took me" she explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You can go back.. to college" I said.

"Can I?" she asked vaguely, as if she knew she could not.

"Yes! I know I am going to go to college. I'm not going to let the man who ended my parents life, end mine" I responded.

Natasha looked at me with curious eyes.

"You are an interesting person" she told me.

"Thank you... I think" I said with a confused tone.

"I would say you can only be so optimistic because you don't know the pain he's caused, but you do" she continued.

"You're right" I whispered quietly, " I do know. Which is why I have made such an effort to stay... positive. My dad was the type of person who told me to always look for the silver lining when something bad happened. My mom was the analytical person. If bad occurrences continued to happen, she would come up with some statistic that said things would have to go right soon. So either way, I wasn't really ever allowed to be negative" I explained to her.

"I can see why Nate likes you" she answered in a bitter, jealous tone.

"What? No, it's not like that, I promise" I said, trying to convey my sincerity. She looked at me skeptically.
"I know our friendship is... strange. But see... we're bonded on some... spiritual level" I tried, and immediately regretted my choice of words at her scoff.
"No, I mean, well..." I said, trying to find a way to explain. "I guess the best way to help you understand is to just tell you the story" I said with a sigh and sprung in to the long speech about Nate's spirit bear and my own.

"So you see? They have a weird connection that predates Nate and I. But we are friends. I swear. He likes you very much" I said, touching her arm gently.

She looked at me for a long while, I'm guessing to ascertain whether to believe me. "That actually makes sense. Plus that is what Nate told me... or tried to tell me. He jumbled the story terribly" she finally said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I think his bear confuses him more than anything" I returned.

"Definitely. I love it when he tries to talk like his Bear" she continued, barely breathing due to her laughing.

"It's great!" I agreed.

"I guess I just became more and more jealous as I realized how close and similar you to were. First he told me your life story practically, then he spent all day with me but acted like he wanted to check on you constantly. And then there's the Clan leader tattoos you both have, even if he claims to not want a leadership position" she said.

"Wait... clan what?"I asked, grabbing her arm in shock. Natasha looked up at me, her brown eyes clouded with confusion.

"Clan Leader tattoos" she said, tracing the twists and turns on my arm, "you didn't know what these were either?" I shook my head no. "These tattoos are grown by true Clan Leaders in certain shifter races. A person born with these is meant to be the true Leader of whatever Pack or Clan they're in. My Bear says that your panther is none other than Memerat, the esteemed and feared warrior was of the Panther Tribe. She was a fantastic leader, but she died in the Great War" Natasha explained.

"Well I knew she was a great warrior, she told me that. And that's when I learned about my Panther and Nate's Bear" I said, aghast.

"Memerat" I mentally growled.

"What? I told you what you needed to know"

I sighed and brought my focus back to Natasha.

"My Bear didn't know a... romantic nature... existed between them" she said with squinted eyes.

"I don't think many did. I don't think they even knew really" I agreed. "But there was, and I think that's why Nate and I became so close so quickly. But there is no need to worry... honestly. Besides, I have a mate of my own" I said.

"That's not really that reassuring. Anytime someone brings the two of you up, it's to discuss how much the two of you hate each other and who will kill the other first" she told me.

"We don't hate each other!" I yelled quickly. "Well...I guess we used to" I said after more thought.

"I heard the stories. Nate said you two were either perfect for each other or you were going to destroy each other."

"I-" I started, but I wasn't really sure what to say. That statement was pretty accurate. "Well... he's an *ss... And he's blunt... and stupid" I said, trying to think of good adjectives.

"Now I really don't understand" Natasha said in confusion.

"Well he's all those things... but he's also sweet, in his own way. And sometimes funny. And very smart. He's harmless and harmful at the same time. I guess... because he's always being callous and mean, that when he shows his true nature, it's even more impactful. He only acts the way he does because of his tragic childhood. He's emotionally stunted and wounded, but he is honestly a great guy" I finished in a whisper. I hadn't realized I even knew all of that until now.

Natasha cracked a large smile. "I understand what Nate meant now".

I looked at her and smiled softly. I suddenly had a empty filling inside me and I felt like I was missing something.

"How about tomorrow, we work up the schematic for the facility and make plans with the group?" I asked as we rounded the corner of the house and approached the front door.

"That sounds perfect" she answered, and we went inside.