"Elizabeeeeeeeth!!!!" James's voice hit my ears loud and hard as he ran down the hall from his room. Groaning I put my pillow over my head but enough his was soon bouncing around the king size bed in an effort to get me up.

"Fine" I growled, rolling over he jumped on me, quickly hugging me. I pulled him into the bed with me hoping he'd like the comfort and go back to sleep but I was not so lucky.

"Santa came Eli" he said more calmer now. I couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.

"Did he?" I asked in disbelief. He nodded excited and quickly got up, tripping over his blue Spiderman dressing gown that was loosely tied around him. I laughed, getting up and grabbed the coat, fixing it up around him.

"How about you go downstairs really quietly incase any elves are still around and I'll be down in a minute" I didn't need to tell him twice and he ran out of the room, the gentle thuds of his footsteps down the stairs becoming quieter as he neared the bottom. I grabbed a few hidden presents from my dressing room and followed after him. Not surprisingly my Grandparents were already set up in the front lounge room where the tree was and presents covered every spare inch of floor space.

"Merry Christmas" I greeted walking into the room. I kissed them both on the forehead as the greeting was repeated and handed them the hidden presents. Of course they told me I shouldn't have but they were surprised nonetheless. James wasted no time in distributing the gifts 'Santa' left and I headed into the kitchen to make coffee for myself and a hot chocolate for James.

"This one is for you Eli" James handed me a small red box tied with a black ribbon. There was no card on it and I looked at my Grandparents but they just shrugged. If it had been from them they would have looked between each other mischievously first, more excited than James at seeing us open presents. My wolf stirred curious and at her appearance I got nervous.

"Open it" James whined, taking his hot chocolate from the table and taking a sip. Dropping the ribbon beside me I hesitantly lifted the lid revealing white tissue paper. Unwrapping it my wolf was pacing as everyone in the room waited for me to reveal what was in the box.

"Is that a true moonstone?" My Grandmother gasped, moving from her chair she dropped to the floor beside me. The ring was a plain silver band and a milky colored stone was embezzled in the center. The stone had me captivated, and I gently ran my finger over it.

"A true moonstone?" I asked, looking up at her I passed the ring over. She nodded and seemed to sniff it before passing it to my Grandfather who did the same.

"Moonstones are as common as any gem, but true moonstones are of the magical kind. This will protect you from the influence of magic. I have never seen a real one before. Put it on and never take it off! Who sent this to you?" She asked amazed, handing it back. I slipped it on to my index finger. I was expecting something to happen but nothing did. My wolf appeared though, back to normal if not more than before.

"There is no card. How did it get here?" It was a puzzle to all of us but from what she told me about the moonstone, I wasn't going to take it for granted. Staff started appearing in the kitchen around eleven as the Christmas lunch was prepared. I showered and got ready making sure James was dressed too as Jocelyn and her parents arrived and a few other people we didn't know that had been invited for lunch. As we were about be seated the doorbell rang and I went back to open it.

"Mum" I said surprised. She had been the last person I expected to see today. James came running through and launched himself around her.

"Merry Christmas babies" she greeted hugging James back. She looked at me cautiously but it was Christmas. I sighed and opened my arms and I could sense her relief. James led her inside, telling her about everything Santa had left her and I followed behind. How did my Mum turn into a stranger? Silence filled the dining room as she entered and as we took our seats she kept quiet. Finally my Grandmother said grace and conversation continued. After things had been cleaned up everything felt almost normal. I couldn't be happier. Before Jocelyn and I snuck away into my room I had to check with my Grandmother if she was one of us too. Amazingly she was. How had I been so unaware of all this for so long?

We sat on my bed with hot chocolates and Tim Tams and she was right, they were the most amazing things on earth, we exchanged gifts. I had never been happier for food as a present as two packets of Tim Tams (original and double coat) were revealed, along with the softest Koala teddy bear and beautiful pearl pendant she had been able to dive for at a pearl farm in Broome in Western Australia and collect herself. My gift to her was a charm bracelet from Tiffany and Co with some charms that were relevant to us. I had one for Andrea too which I had posted to her a couple of days ago.

"So what is with the hottie from the Hadleys?" she quizzed, dipping her biscuit in the hot chocolate and drinking through it like a straw. I gave it a try and ended up with a soggy melted chocolate biscuit and that was even more amazing than having them on its own.

"Parker? Don't you know who he is?" I asked curiously. I hadn't addressed the fact I knew about the werewolf thing yet. She looked at me suspiciously.

"Well yes, but I never knew he was so god dam attractive and you two seem quite cozy and from what I do know that is not a good thing Beth. He isn't your ah.... Boyfriend is he? He seemed pretty possessive over you" She grabbed another biscuit and a moan of delight at the chocolate goodness escaped her.

"He isn't my boyfriend. Or my mate" I watched her closely as she nodded and the stopped nearly choking on her mouthful.

"You know?!" she practically yelled. I laughed nodding and sitting down her cup she launched herself across the bed onto me pinning me down and tickling me until I begged her to stop. Grandmother knocked of my door then interrupting us and coming she smiled at the scene. I froze at the large vase of red tulips in her hand.

'There were just delivered for you darling" she placed then on the desk and left us to it.

"Wow tulips in December?" Jocelyn finally left me alone, looking at me oddly as she judged my reaction. She went over to the bouquet and finding the card bought it over to me. I sat up, gulping nervously as I opened the card. 'You can not hide' was scrawled on the card and I felt my face paling.

"Who are they from?" she asked, gently touching one of the blooms. I shrugged, not wanting to answer.

"No one" I lied and quickly threw it in the trash. She didn't believe me but let it go. I did like tulips, they were in my top five favorite flowers but now I hated them. I hated them for making me doubt William, I hated them being Penelope's favorite flower and I hated the fact Parker had sent me them again. Stupid tulips. No that wasn't where I should put my hatred. Stupid Penelope. Stupid her meeting William first. Stupid us for having some kind of linked soul and stupid her for existing.

"Girl, chill" Jocelyn took my hand in hers gently and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. "You have some serious rage going on, I can feel it"

I got up and went to the bouquet and opening my window I made sure no one was in the small courtyard below and threw them as best I could over the wall of the property. Of course it didn't work that way and they all fell to the yard but at least they weren't in my room.

"Feel better?" she asked coming beside me and looking down at the red on the white paving. I nodded and shut the window as Dylan came in. Great.

"Heard of knocking?" I snapped. He tensed and looked to Jocelyn who shrugged.

"Sorry Bethy. What's wrong?" I rolled my eyes at his concern. Why couldn't he be like this to Andrea. As if reading my thoughts he sat on the chair and looked at me expectantly. Groaning I went to my bed and flopped down, the pair following me and waiting for an explanation.

"Dylan, why did you leave Andrea?" the mention of her name had him looking ashamed. Jocelyn looked confused.

"Who is Andrea?" she asked like it was the most obvious thing to say.

"My French best friend - My mate" we both said at the same time. She looked between us again, not sure who to jump on first. I was the winner.

"French best friend? Why haven't I as your English best friend been told of this?" she mocked being hurt but I realized I hadn't mentioned much about the people around me except for James in my emails to her. I crown myself worst friend ever. "And mate?!" She glared at Dylan, realizing this was why I had been so hard on him lately.

"She is human! No wolf wants a human as a mate" he explained but neither of us bought it. He was too sad to really think that.

"Really?" I demanded, I glared at him again and noticed him shrink under my gaze. Even Jocelyn seemed to settle down. Did I really sound that mean? Finn had made a point of my command to Marcus to put me down and Eric always did as I said because he saw me as Alpha. Is that what keeps on happening when I get demanding of people? Parkers death hold on Dylan came to mind, he had seemed reluctant to obey yet still did. Did I really do that?

"I am so ashamed. I miss her so much, my wolf hardly connects to me and I am to embarrassed to go back to her" Was he really that stupid to give her up because she was human.

"Why don't we make her a werewolf. Can't we just bite her on a full moon or something?" They both looked at me and realizing I was serious burst out laughing.

"You are born a were, not made. Vampires are made which is why they are not as strong as us," Jocelyn said through laughs. Wait, Vampires? As if werewolves weren't enough to worry about. I thought back to Margaret and how her daughter and husband had been killed by them. How did I only worry about this now?

"But witches can take our wolf away. What if they can make one?" Both fell silent now, looking at me as if I was a ghost. Dylan finally shook his head.

"I would rather her human than be a wolf made from a witch," he snapped, growling as he did so. I shot him a look that shut him up but the idea did make me wonder.

"She has a boyfriend you know" I didn't get to finish the sentence before he was up pacing, clenching his fists I knew he was about to loose control. Rather than moving back as Jocelyn did I stepped up. She grabbed my arm to keep me away.

"We can't shift yet, if he does, he may actually hurt us" she said scared. I doubted it plus if he did, I wanted to try something.

"He is a great guy like she deserves after YOU left HER. It wouldn't have mattered if you went back begging for her to forgive you because she would have. Now she has finally tried moving on and YOU will not ruin that for her" I looked him in the eyes challenging him. I was prepared for him to shift and as he did I braced myself. My wolf sensed the danger and I felt her scratching at the surface of mine, annoyed at the disrespect and threat he was showing towards us.

"Back down Dylan" I said flatly. His wolf hesitated confused, his head tilting slightly as his posture seemed to relax. Growls still lingered in the air but the snarl that erupted as he changed was gone.

"You made a huge mistake in hurting Andrea. Deal with it" I snapped. At her name he pinned his ears back as his teeth were revealed once more but I stood a little taller and glared at him, squinting my eyes slightly I made it clear I was not backing down. Slowly his dark eyes shifted more to Dylan's brown and the wolfs head dropped to the carpet, finally Dylan reappeared shifting. He didn't look at me for a few minutes until I went and sat beside a frozen Jocelyn.

"What was that" she finally spoke up. I smiled to myself and my wolf proudly sat back.

"You're an Alpha aren't you?" Dylan finally asked, his cheeks showing his embarrassment as he joined us on the bed. Jocelyn gasped and clapped her hands excitedly.

"My best friend is an Alpha!" she squeaked, throwing her arms around me squeezed me tight. "I am so proud" I laughed at her reaction, amazed at the feeling of power I now had.

"You're not of our pack, your mate must be an Alpha somewhere else. But you are strong; my wolf has disappeared now for reasons other than sulking with me. That's how you got Parker to let me go the other night. He may not be an Alpha but he has the potential, to get him to back down must mean you're higher than him somewhere in the scheme of things. Or his equal - are you sure you're not his mate? " Dylan said as he became lost in thought, both seeming to tense at the possibility I could be his.

If only they knew.