"So this is really happening?" I ask my entire squad as I sit comfortably on Rina's bed, my back resting against her pillows, "We're all going to sleep in Rina's room tonight?"

"Of course, there is no way we are going to leave you unguarded." Derek says, he came and found us right after his meeting with the Alpha and Damien. Surprisingly, it wasn't just a cover up, Derek was telling the truth; the Alpha did want Damien so they could talk about the mission tomorrow.

"Yeah, if we had known you still weren't able to shift, we never would have left you alone in the first place. We just figured since Rina could do it, you could too." Ruben points out. He's standing in front of Rina's tv. He's spreading out a blanket on the floor.

"I should never have let you go to work today. You should have stayed with me." Raymond cuts in, his voice filled with guilt. He's next to his brother, placing pillows on the ground, next to his already spread blanket.

"Raymond, don't you dare blame yourself for this. No one knew Damien was going to discover I can't shift. Plus I should be getting my wolf back soon. Rina got her's back a few days ago, I should be able to by tomorrow, and then I can take care of Damien myself."

Everyone is silent for a moment. Slowly but surely they all begin to comply with what I'm saying, agreeing that I should be gaining my wolf back soon.

And rest assured, when I do get my wolf back, Damien will be getting a piece of my mind. But I really do need to watch it when I'm around him, because if I push Damien to the extreme, he has a trump card. He can get Greyson kicked out from the pack. After all, he has threatened him before. And a rogue out there in the world is practically already a walking corpse unless they find sanctuary in an accepting pack. There are small rogue groups all over, and they don't take kindly to other rogues walking in on their self proclaimed territory. Plus, the hunters will all be on guard after the recent war that occurred between us and them at our pack house. Even though they lost many, they will be quickly building up members, probably recruiting.

I wiggle myself backward a bit, to get better support from the pillows for my back. My whole squad won't let me get off the bed, they are all so worried about me, but I'm fine now. My body is only a bit sore from earlier. My hands are a tad bit bruised from me pounding on Damien's back, and my side feels tender. I'm assuming when I was slammed up against the wall I got a bit injured then too.

Rina hands Derek some extra blankets from her closet, since he joined us most recently and didn't know the plan until he arrived, he didn't bring stuff on his own. He thanks her, taking the blankets from her and making his way over to an empty space on her floor. He unfolds the blanket and gently spreads it out. Rina turns on her heels and comes skipping over to the bed, joining me on the other side of it.

Greyson sets up camp on the floor nearest to me. He's practically right next to the bed. Leo is on the other side of the bed, nearest to Rina. Although no one knows Greyson and I are intimate and in love besides the two of us, people knew we were close before we got into that conflict about the whole me being mates with Damien thing, therefore it's okay that he's near me. People are catching on that we made up after he saved me during the last mission.

"So what's the low down on the mission?" I ask Derek as everyone continues to set up their sleeping areas.

Derek looks over at me, his red hair is long enough to fall messily over his forehead, he clearly hasn't gotten it cut in a while. "Well basically it's one of the normal robbery missions, we are headed to a casino this time-"

"Enough about missions," Rina cuts off the beginning of Derek's rant.

I roll my eyes, "if you're worried about my feelings, don't be. I want to know what the squad is up to. I'm genuinely curious."

"Although you may be curious, I think we should all take this time to just enjoy each other's company. Can't we just act like normal beings for once?"

"There's nothing normal about us." Raymond comments from over near his sleeping area.

Rina sighs, "Although we aren't the definition of normal, we should all try enjoying each others company in a setting where we all feel relaxed and not stressed by things like missions or the Alpha. Can't we just play a board game or something?"

A board game? The last time I played one of those, I was really young and Mom got me a game for my birthday. I think it was shoots and ladders. I remember having fun and laughing, but after that my Dad started training me for the squad. I haven't had time to do anything like a board game since.

"Does anyone in this group even own a board game?" Greyson asks.

We all glance around the room, looking at each other silently. We conclude no one has any possession of board games, which honestly kind of sucks. I want to play a little bit now.

"Well, if no one has a board game, it's going to be tough to do that," Grayson remarks but quickly adds, "but does anyone own cards?"

"Derek does!" Leo shouts quickly: a little too quickly. The whole room laughs as we turn in his direction. A light blush crosses over his cheeks as he reaches up to awkwardly scratch his head. "He was showing me a magic trick the other day..."

Derek laughs, "It's true, and thankfully, it's not a trick deck. I can go grab that if you want me too?"

"That would be perfect, I have a few games we can try and play as a huge group. I think it could be fun." Greyson suggests.

"I'd be down for a card game." Ruben announces.

"I would definitely lighten up the mood." Raymond admits as sits down next to his pillow on his makeshift bed.

I smile happily, "that could be fun. I don't think I've ever played cards before but I'm always down to try new things."

"You never played cards before?" Leo asks as Derek takes the chance to scurry out of the room to go get his deck of cards.

I shake my head back and forth. "Nope. Never had the time."

"I've never played either," Rina admits, "actually I've never played board games either but I've read about people playing them with their friends!"

Leo sighs and shakes his head, "You two baffle me sometimes. It's as if you're the most innocent people in the world, but in reality you're only innocent to the small pleasures in life."

Rina and I laugh as the boys continue to joke about how innocent we are when it comes to movies, television and games. It's true, my whole childhood consisted of training for the squad and Rina's was lonely and filled with books. Even Raymond and Ruben had some spare time to watch television and movies. Lucky for them, their parents weren't as strict with that kind of stuff. They were the ones who decided they wanted to train and become skilled fighters. Although I suppose it's a little sad, their parents were always a bit neglectful toward them.

As we continue joking, Derek eventually joins us again with his cards. Greyson has a few ideas and has us play a game called Go Fish, it was over pretty quick and got a bit boring so we quickly switched it over to a game called Bullshit, which ends up being the best game ever. Unbeknownst to me, I'm great at cards, well at least this game, because I'm great at lying. Leo sucks pretty bad as well as Rina and Derek. Greyson and Ruben are the next worse and Raymond and I are tied for being the best. We've both won two games each.

After a couple hours of laughing and jokingly yelling at one another, we decide on going to bed. There's something pleasant about the air between us all now. The light hearted card games really brought us closer together. Not only can we fight and work well together but we can also have a lot of fun together.

Derek, being closest to the door, flicks off the lights. We all say good night to one another. I smile happily and very content as I snuggle into the bed, pulling Rina's comforter up and over my shoulder. My head rests on the soft pillow.

I breathe in and out as I realize something. This is the first time, in a long time, that I felt safe and comfortable sleeping in this pack house. Since I've been in Damien's room, I've needed to be on guard at all times. Now though, I can let that guard down. I have my family here to protect me. It's as if nothing can hurt me. I feel invincible with them all around.

A moment later something stirs in my head. It's not an unpleasant feeling, actually it's the opposite. My blood pumps through my body, like a shot of adrenaline. My eyes shoot open as I feel a familiar strength rest inside my body. A smirk slides onto my lips as I realize what this means. My wolf's returned.

I let out a relieved sigh.

It's about damn time. It's good to have her back. I've seriously missed her moving around in my head.

A yawn escapes my lips as I happily close my eyes again. I snuggle into the comfy pillow and fall into a deep sleep.

------

It's dark.

My face is pressed against the cold wooden floor.

In the near distance, I can hear the loud sound of paws pounding through the house out in the hallway. The nails scratch ad thud filling my ears with dread. My heart races uncomfortably in my chest.

I cower under the bed, lying on my side, hugging my knees tight to my chest. Vicious snarls emerge and yelps of whimpering wolves erupt from all around and cloud my ears. My heart clenches nervously as the chaotic fighting persists.

Suddenly, the door crashes open and slams hard against my wall. A small stream of light filters into my room. I hold in a terrified scream, squeezing my legs closer to my body, if that's even possible. My eyes shut tightly, hoping the intruder will just leave.

Paws loudly click on the wooden floor, the nails scraping the surface.

My heart thumps nervously in my chest, pounding up to my ears.

I peak my eyes open and quickly find the intruder. Four dark paws move toward my closet. I hear the faint sound of sniffing. It stays near my closet for a while, checking scents and prodding it's head around. It's looking for something... or someone.

Then the wolf turns suddenly. It's snout lowers to the floor as it creeps toward the bed. It's nose leads it directly to what it wanted to find, me.

My heart races. I'm almost too petrified to move as it gets closer and closer. I gain the courage to inch myself backwards, to the other side of the bed, away from the creature.

The wolf gets as close as it can. It lowers its body to the ground. Finally at my level, the head pops under the bed.

My heart thuds around in my chest, rapidly beating as two beady eyes pierce into mine. I'm about to scream in fear, that's when two hands grab onto my sides and rip me backwards from underneath the bed.

I pant heavily as my body flings up from the bed due to the familiar and scary dream. As I do, a pain cracks through my neck. Before I groan my hands shoot up and cover my mouth, preventing a scream. The pain rages in the mark on my neck and surges throughout my body. A fire burns and tears through me, landing at my lower stomach. For some reason, the pain feels worse than normal. I groan and flop down onto the pillow, scrunching up into a ball.

The stabbing and unbearable pain pounds into my stomach. I accidentally let a groan slip out of my mouth. My hand grabs onto the comforter surrounding me and I squeeze it tightly. The pain doesn't let up and I can feel sweat forming on my head. My breathing gets heavy and relentless as I struggle to hold in groans of pain.

"Lucia?" A small  and quiet voice asks from next to me. It's Rina.

I try to steady the pain as I slowly answer, "Y-yes?"

"Are you okay?" She asks.

I pant a few times. I open my mouth to answer but a small groan escapes it but I try to cover it up by answering, "I-I'm fine..."

"You don't sound fine, what's wrong," her voice is more nervous this time and getting louder. I can hear Greyson and Leo stirring beside the bed.

"Shh..." I hiss at her as another bout surges through me and I crumple myself onto the bed and groan. "Ke-keep your voice d..down..." I manage to whisper through pain.

"I can't, tell me what's going on," her voice has almost reached hysterical as it screeches through the room.

That stirs Leo, "what's going on?" He quietly moans as he wakens from his slumber.

The stabbing pain punches into my stomach rapidly. I feel my head spin and my wolf cry out. A bout of nausea upsets my stomach. I groan.

"Something's wrong with Lucia!" Rina cries out as her hand touches my arm. "She's burning up!"

"What's going on?" Another comforting person joins in, it's Greyson. My body shivers at his voice, but that small amount of joy is quickly overpowered by the pain surging through my body.

Rina lets out a cry, "someone turn on the light, something's happening to Lucia,"

"Shh," I hiss out, I groan as more pain stabs into my stomach, "I-I'm okay, be quie-" I let out a small scream but cover it up half way by throwing my head into the pillow. I feel a warm comforting hand land on my back, small spark flow through it but the pain makes it hard to feel them.

"The light!" Rina screams, a moment later the light flicks on.

"What's happening?" Derek asks concerned, I think he's the one who turned on the light.

"Jesus, is she okay?" Raymond questions, standing and rushing over to the bed. He stands at the foot of the bed. I turn my head to look at them.

Ruben stands and follows, worry evident on his face. Derek comes and joins. Leo is next to Rina on the bed, looking down at me. I feel like a zoo animal.

"I'm fin-" I can't finish my sentence as I feel the stabs slice into my stomach. It's been a few days since I last felt this pain. I wonder if that's why it's so much worse than normal.

"What can we do to help?" Rina cries, it sounds like she's on the verge of tears.

"I don't know, this is almost like that time she passed out..." Raymond recalls.

"Check her neck!" Derek shouts.

A hand gently touches my skin, causing a small bout of sparks. I know it's Greyson. His finger is stealthy as it grabs onto the hem of the t-shirt and he pulls it over slightly, but he's careful not to touch the mark on my neck. As the mark is revealed, a simultaneous gasp is sent through the air.

"It's super red." Leo comments.

"She's in so much pain, why is this happening?" Rina cries.

"This is exactly like last time." Raymond remarks.

"It's Damien." Greyson whispers.

All eyes turn on him. I flinch but everyone else is unwavering. Raymond breaks the silence, "What the hell did you bring up his name for?" his tone is a bit threatening.

Greyson peeks over at Raymond. "He's the reason why her mark is like that, he must be being unfaithful... This is her body's reaction from being betrayed by her mated partner..."

"That bastard!" Raymond growls fiercely.

My eyes widen. That's why this is happening? It's been Damien this whole time... it makes so much sense now. The reason why he said he would make me beg to be with him. He knew I would feel pain every time he was with another woman... It also makes sense that I would feel most the pain at night. He would be with other women then.

"We need to tell Damien what's happening to Lucia every time he does that!" Rina screeches.

"Yeah," Ruben agrees quickly, "he must not know. We should go find him."

"No," I cut them off quickly, "he knows. He's doing it on purpose to spite me. He's punishing me for not being in our room tonight." I tell them.

"He... He knows?" Leo asks, his voice is light and sympathetic. He's in disbelief, as are a lot of my squad members.

"Yes, he must..." I groan as I try to lean up a bit on the bed, thankfully the pain has become a bit more bearable. "He's been threatening me, a lot, but never really physically did anything, I almost thought he was bluffing until now. I had no idea this pain was from him."

"I'm going to kill him." Greyson growls under his breath.

"I'm right with you," Raymond growls.

"That bastard, I can't believe he's been doing this on purpose!" Ruben shouts. "Let's tear him to shreds."

My mind races to Damien's threat about kicking Greyson out of the pack. If they all attack him, surely Greyson won't be the only one banished from the pack. Hell, if they attack Damien, the Alpha could sentence them all to be killed.

"No!" I shout loudly, surprising everyone. "Don't do anything to him, you can't."

They glare down at the bed, looking at me with menacing wolf-filled eyes. "Lucia, he's torturing you. He doesn't deserve to live." Greyson growls.

"It's fine, I've been dealing with the pain for a while. I know I can handle it. It clearly hasn't prevented me from living my life, and if he thinks that's what will make me submit to him then he's got another thing coming."

"Lucia, you don't understand, you're not the only one being hurt with the pain."

I frown, "What do you mean? Damien's being hurt too?"

"No," Greyson shakes his head, "You're wolf. With every time she's betrayed, she loses a piece of herself. Have you noticed her getting weaker?"

I think it through. "No, I don't think I've noticed it... What happens if she gets too weak?" I ask.

"She could disappear." My eyes widen in shock.

Rina's jaw drops as she adds, "Disappear? Like, completely vanish?"

Greyson nods. Derek asks, "Then what will become of Lucia?"

"She'll become human."

The room goes silent. My heart thuds so loudly in my chest, I fear the whole room can hear it. My hands shake so I clutch onto the comforter on Rina's bed.

Human, huh? Then what would I do? I've never lived as a human, and I most certainly have no idea how people out in the human world live, but I know I would be able to stay here. Who knows, Damien may just have me killed off.

"We need to stop him." Leo points out, obviously.

"But if we tell him," Derek notes, "that could be dangerous. That will give him an upper-hand against Lucia. He could use it as a way to threaten her even more."

"Then what are you suggesting Derek?" Raymond hisses, "We can't just do nothing."

"If Lucia hasn't notice a change in her wolf, that means we have time to figure things out," Greyson announces, calming some people's nerves. "It's not a fast process, but if this continues for long enough and her wolf weakens to a really bad state, that's when we would need to be really concerned. It seems her wolf is very strong so we have time to think logically."

My heart thumps loudly, not from the nervousness of losing my wolf but from the praise my wolf just received from Greyson. He truly thinks my wolf is strong. A bit of pride runs through my veins and I can feel my wolf puffing her chest out proudly.

"I'll start researching tomorrow after the mission is over," Derek informs us, "I'm not sure how much information we can find on the web that will be true, but I'm going to try."

"Leo and I will go to the library after the mission as well. Most the books in there were written by werewolves. There has to be something about marks and mates in there."

"Good idea, while we are doing research for the next couple of days, someone's got to keep Damien busy," Derek suggests.

"I think me, Raymond, and Ruben can handle that job." Greyson suggests. "After all, we are supposed to have a training sessions for the next few days after the mission. We just need to make sure he comes, after that we will work his ass off. He will be too tired to do anything unfaithful after that." Raymond and Ruben look amongst themselves and smirk wildly. I see an evil glint flickering in their eyes as they nod in agreement and turn to Greyson.

"And Lucia," Rina remarks, "you have maid work tomorrow, right?" I nod. "Is there anyway you can take the day off? I don't think you should push yourself."

"I'm still training so I won't be doing anything by myself. It won't be strenuous, and I think I can handle it. I'm already getting my energy back."

"Okay, but don't push yourself too hard," Rina adds.

"I won't," I give everyone a soft smile, "thanks for all the help you guys. The pain has passed. Let's get some sleep, you shouldn't be tired for the mission tomorrow."

"You sure you're okay?" Leo asks gently.

I nod. Everyone believes me, but reluctantly all head back to their sleeping positions. I roll onto my side as the lights flick off. I close my eyes as the lingering pain starts to dwindle away. A moment later a hand slips under the covers and meets with my own. As our hands connect, sparks and tingles shoot up my arm and throughout my body, completely diminishing the pain. I smile and squeeze Greyson's hand lightly. Feeling safe, I fall back into a dreamless sleep.