While we ate, I retold the story of the Buchannan and O'Shallesey Bear Clans to Alex. He listened while I spoke and didn't say a word until I was finished.

"Well... neither my wolf nor I knew anything about how... extensive... shifter spirit history was" he said, taking the explanation very calmly.

"Yeah, Memerat said you wouldn't know" I responded as I began to stand up and take my plate to the sink. Before I could fully stand, Alex took my plate and walked over to the sink. "Hey, wait, I can-" I began to object.

"Sit down" he growled, but not in anger. I could feel a sarcastic retort bubbling inside me but then a thought came to me.

He's just a brutish man...

He honestly has no idea how to express his feelings. He tries to do nice things but always messes them up when he opens his mouth.

I sighed and sat back down, watching his back as he cleaned the dishes.

"You need to start more extensive training" he said from the sink. I glared at his back, ready to forget the revelation I just had when he continued "you're strong right now, but there are so many things you could learn to do with your abilities. You shouldn't just kill this guy, you should decimate him."

Back to confused. Trying to understand him confused me beyond belief. I think he's trying to sympathize with me by helping seek revenge.

"You're right" I responded, then stood up and headed back to his room. I grabbed my car keys from the desk where I had seen them earlier and hustled my way back downstairs. As I passed the kitchen doorway I heard, "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"Uhhh, to get some clothes, DAD" I retorted sarcastically.

"Did you miss the part about a homicidal maniac who wants to kidnap you last night or are you just stupid?... and don't call me dad" he practically yelled.

"I'm not stu-" I took a deep breath and shut my eyes, reigning my temper in. He's an idiot. An emotionally stunted idiot. Breath. I chanted that mantra over and over again. "Go with me then" I ground out through gritted teeth.

"Fine" he responded. He stormed past me and headed to his room, I'm assuming to change clothes.

"Bring my clothes" I yelled as an afterthought.

"What an interesting thing to say to someone you hate" a masculine voice said behind me. It felt like I jumped a mile out of my skin. His unexpected voice had my heart racing.

"Holy crap Beta Andrew" I gasped, holding my heart.

"What? Only the guilty get that scared. What have you been doing?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I-What?" I asked. He continued to stare at me and wagged his eyebrow suggestively, glancing from me to the direction Alex just left. "What?! Ew no, oh geez, stop!"

He chuckled loudly and pulled open the fridge, "Well you can't blame me for thinking that, considering what you're wearing."

"I-" I began, but realized just how awful this entire situation looked, "Oh just shut up. And get out, people are banned from this part of the house anyways".

"I'm just getting some of MY juice" he said as he grabbed the bottle of juice from the fridge. He walked out of the kitchen with his usual swagger, "And yes, I know it was you that drank my last bottle" he said over his shoulder as he went upstairs.

I laughed to myself.

"What?" Alex asked as he walked up. He thrusted my clothes at me roughly.

"Nothing" I responded snidely and headed toward the door.

***

"I'm assuming you've been working on strengthening your human body, fighting as your... panther, and also training using your powers, right?"

I nodded deftly. We were now outside the Pack House in workout clothes standing opposite each other.

"Well I think you should integrate them... use your powers and your fighting skills together"

That made sense, and I had been considering trying that, but the idea of attempting to multitask also scared me.

"What if I can't focus enough to fight and control my powers?" I asked hesitantly.

"You can" he told me with an assured tone.

I looked at him hesitantly. He returned my stare with a pointed glare.

"Let's go, I want to see some fire. I consider that to be your best offensive weapon. The force field is a defensive only weapon. The telekinesis can be both but I feel it's more of a defensive instrument" he said, crossing his arms over his expansive chest, looking like a general.

I took a deep breath and widened my stance. Holding my hands at eye level, I tapped into some unbridled, inner rage and felt my body grow warm. My tattoos began to glow bright orange then red. Suddenly, tangible flame erupted from my palm. It quickly spread to engulf my entire hand. I felt a split second of panic when the fire began climbing up my forearms and I couldn't stop it. I looked up in panic at Alex, only to find him staring at me with a no-nonsense look. I grit my teeth and imagined a small shield that prevented the fire from spreading past my elbow. I held my arms up to him, smiling at my accomplishment, only to find him glaring at me still.

"Now I want you in a fighting stance. We're going to apply your martial art skills"

"I-uhhh" instead of arguing, I slowly dropped into my ready stance, making sure to keep my hands away from my body.

"Run through all of your basic combos" he ordered.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Last time I moved my flaming hands, I shot you with a ball of flame" I queried while intensely staring at my arms.

"Do them" he growled.

Fine, his funeral... although the idea of him dead didn't sit well with me internally.

With painstakingly slow movements, I ran through every combo I could think of. Small wisps of fire escaped my hands, but with a quick thought I was able to contain them.

"Again"

With a sigh, I did them again.

And again.

And again.

The more times I repeated the actions, the quicker the movements came. And smooth, fluid fire covered my arms now, instead of violent, hungry flames. I felt my confidence growing with each step. I began to throw some power behind each punch. A little force into each kick. On my last punch, a jettison of flame shot out from my fist about a foot long.

"Whoa!" I yelled and hopped backwards, immediately extinguishing my fire. I quickly looked at Alex. He was still in his stern stance, but he had a small smile on his face. He gave me a nod that told me to try again.

"Sweet" I chuckled quietly. I brought my clenched fist up to eye level, then violently threw them down to my side, as if I was trying to shake off water. Instantaneous fire engulfed my arms, but the controlled, beautiful flames from a few seconds ago. I laughed a again and ran through my combos like I would have if my body wasn't on the edge of combustion... fast and full of power. Each time I threw a punch, I let lose a snake of flame.

I was breathing heavily after all the effort I had put in to the last round, but when I finished, I felt amazing and empowered.

"That... is impressive..." Alex remarked. "But I have a challenge for you" he said, his tone implying he wanted me to ask what he meant.

"What?" I said breathlessly, then took a gulp of water.

"Feet" he said, and pointed at my bare feet.

"Yeah, I like to fight barefoot. Beta Andrew thinks it's weird too"

"No. I want you to set your feet on fire"

"What?!" I spat water out and choked on what liquid I had swallowed.

"Why not? Your feet have the exact same tattoos as your hands. Why else would they be connected?"

"I-I- no. I'm not lighting my feet in fire!" I yelled aghast.

"Stand in that patch of dirt and light your damn feet on fire!" he snarled, gesturing toward the large, bare spot in the grass.

"No-" the look he shot me sent shivers down my back. If looks could kill. I recoiled into myself and acted as if he had just slapped me. Like a small child, I pouted my lips and looked at the ground while I made my way to the dirt. I plopped down to the ground and stretched my legs out in front of me.

"Pfff, don't even know if they light on fire" I mumbled grouchily.

"Try" he said, only with a slight edge in his tone.

I inhaled and tried to tap into my anger. I felt my hand grow warm, but I had to make a conscious effort to stifle them. I tried to push the flame to my legs. Slowly, like trickling water, I felt the warmth traveling down my back along my tattoo. Finally, an orange glow touched the spirals on my legs. I pushed it further, trying to keep the glow just on my feet and shins. When I tried to let the fire loose to create flames, the glow disappeared and my hands set on fire. I quickly doused my hands and threw them up in the air, huffing out a frustrated breath. I gestured to my legs and shot Alex an "I told you so" look.

"Again" was his only response.

I squinted at him with eyes of hate, but started the process all over again.

Then again...

Only this time, a small spark hopped off my shin. I stared at my legs with a furrowed brow. I tried one more time, and when I get the glow on to my lower legs, I didn't just think about fire, I demanded it.

Flames jumped to life over my calves and shins and covered my entire foot.

"What?" I asked in disbelief, my jaw hanging open.

"Good job... now do combos" Alex ordered with a smile.

I nodded slowly and stood up gently, trying to contain the sporadic flames.

"Slow and steady" I reminded myself once I was standing, and started running though the slow motions.

***

"I'm too tired to move, leave me for dead" I murmured as I lay sprawled in the yard.

We had worked until there wasn't an ounce of sunlight left. In fact, the last part of my practice had been done by the light of my own fire.

"You're fine, and even if you weren't, I wouldn't leave you for dead." He said, serious as ever.

"You really can't take a joke can you?" I asked, rolling over onto my stomach and propping my hands on to my arms.

"Yes I can" he snapped.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "It's not that surprising. There are a lot of things you can't do" I responded.

"What? I'm an Alpha, I can do anything and everything I want" was his response.

"Well", I began, and rolled again in the soft grass so I could gaze at the stars that were beginning to appear in the clear sky, "you can't speak nicely to many people, you can't go an hour without scowling, you can't express your emotions, and you can't be romantic" I ticked off the list on my fingers by lighting each digit on fire. When I was finished, I doused my fingers and interlaced them so I could rest my head on them.

"I-what?! That's not- You're wrong" he sputtered, "what are you even doing?"

"Looking at the stars" I answered vaguely. I patted the ground next to me, implying he should join me. I knew he wouldn't, but I had to offer anyway.

I was completely shocked when I heard him take steps toward me. He sat down and threw his arms around his knees, craning his neck up to the sky.

"No, no, no" I chastised, and grabbed his upper arm, pulling him down until he relented and laid on his back like me. "Like this" I explained. We sat side by side, elbows touching, for about five minutes before I decided to be mischievous. I brought my arms down and inched my way directly by his side so that I could rest my head on his inner arm/shoulder blade area.

"What are you doing?" he asked in a borderline... whiny... voice.

"Being romantic, shhh" I whispered, and snuggled closer to him. He inhaled and exhaled the longest breath imaginable then gently moved his left arm so he was cradling my head and resting his hand in my hair.

"I have always liked the stars. From here you can see Canis Major and Orion really well" he said.

"Where?" I asked.

"There" he pointed to multiple clusters of stars and explained what they should look like. He continued to talk about all the constellations and their mythologies. I didn't realize that he knew so much, but it was obvious that he loved astrology. We just lay there for hours, me asking question after question and him answering every single one.

***

"I appreciate you taking care of me yesterday, but I'm not sleeping in here again" I responded calmly for about the hundredth time.

"Why not?" he demanded.

"Because I'm not a wh*re"

"No! You're my mate. It's ok for you to-"

"No" I replied, shaking my head stubbornly.

"We've slept in the same room for the last two days, but if you think you can sleep alone now, go ahead and try" he said, and opened the bed room door to me.

"I can and I will" I said and stormed out. As I reached the living room, I realized that I didn't have a room here and that I didn't want to try to sleep with Sophie, as she would probably talk my ear off in her sleep. Instead, I lay on the couch and forced my eyes closed.

But no amount of special abilities was going to help me force myself to sleep. I tossed and turned as eleven, twelve, and one o'clock ticked by. I blew out an exasperated breath as I realized he was right, and just as I made up my mind to go back to his room, I heard soft foot falls from the hallway. Alex walked right up to me on the couch and scooped me up into his arms.

"Excuse me, put me-"

"Shut up, I need sleep" he growled. He practically ran upstairs and dumped me in bed. He threw the covers over me and then laid on top of the comforter. Within five minutes he was fast asleep, his breathing and heart rate even.

"Well..." I sighed quietly and shut my eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.