"So where did you guys come from anyway?" I ask Leo and Greyson as I munch on my toast in the common kitchen.

Leo glances at Greyson. Greyson rolls his eyes at him and says, "We've just been traveling around and decided we needed to find a place to settle in. I heard that this group took in rogues so we chose to come here first."

"Nomads, huh?" I say and rest my chin on my hand, "Sounds fun. I've lived here my whole life so I haven't had the chance to travel much."

"It's nothing special. I would rather have a place to call my own." Greyson adds.

I smile and say, "Well now you have somewhere to call your own. You are officially the newest members of our pack."

"Heck yeah we are!" Leo states happily with a giant grin plastered on his face.

His free spirit causes me to laugh. His aura is soothing to be around. I like these guys already.

"Lucia? Is that you?" I hear a familiar voice ask from the entrance of the kitchen.

I glance up. Standing in the doorway are Raymond and Ruben. I smile happily and wave them over.

"Hey dumb asses, come meet your new team members!" I shout.

They roll their eyes but listen to me anyway. As they get closer to us Greyson gives me an odd look.

"New team members?" He whispers to me.

I raise my finger to my chin and ponder for a moment. Now that I think about it, I don't believe that I mentioned the fact that they are going to be part of our squad. Oops.

"Uh... yeah. About that, I forgot to mention one tiny thing." I say with an apologetic grin.

"What is it..." He says annoyed.

"Well... In order for you guys to stay here..." I glance down and quickly add, "you have to help out my squad."

"Your squad?" Leo asks concerned.

I smile, look up at him and nod, "Yup." I motion toward Raymond and Ruben who just arrived at the table and are standing behind me, "These two nitwits are on the team as well."

"Lucia you would think you could at least introduce us properly before making fun of us." Ruben says annoyed and glares at me.

I laugh and say, "Yeah yeah." I motion toward the short haired twin and say, "This is Ruben. He is the brute, all muscle no brains."

"Hey!" Ruben shouts annoyed.

I ignore him and motion toward the long haired twin and say, "This is Raymond. He may look sweet but he is a ruthless animal, don't get in his way."

Raymond elbows his brother and whispers, "Told you I was the cooler brother."

Ruben frowns angrily. I sigh and whack both of them on the back of their heads. They screech and hold the spot where I just hit them and glare at me.

"You guys seriously can't stop arguing for ten seconds while I introduce you?" I sigh and touch my fingers to my forehead, "I just don't know what to do with you idiots."

"Idiots? Raymond is the stupid one!" Ruben shouts.

"Are you kidding me man? She even introduced you as the idiot brute. Clearly she knows who the smart one is." Raymond retaliates.

Okay, now they are starting to get irritating. I turn around and cross my arms over my chest. Glaring at both the boys, they suddenly stop their arguing and look down at me. I can see the fear creeping over their faces as they can tell I am angry. Slowly they take a step back.

"Are you done now?" I ask loudly and clearly annoyed.

They gently nod their heads. I sigh in relief and sit back down in my chair. Jeez, these boys sure know how to give a girl a head ache. Now, what was it that I was doing? Oh yes, telling Leo and Greyson about our little scandal that we have going on.

"Okay so starting tomorrow, you guys will be joining our little squad... Since we are going to be suddenly throwing you onto the field, you guys will probably be a little shaky and most definitely confused tomorrow-"

"Wait wait wait." Greyson cuts in and my eyes shoot up to his, he is clearly confused. "I'm so lost, what are we joining and when were you planning on telling us this?"

"Well I suppose I should have told you back in the dungeon, but you see you had no other choice. Alpha Serg gave us an ultimatum, it was either we kill you or allow you to join our squad. I didn't think you guys would want to die, so I just made the choice on my own and here we are." I say, answering his question.

"So what do you guys do?" Leo cuts in. "You know, like what does your, I mean our, squad do?"

I smirk and look right at him, "We, my friend, handle the income and safety of this pack. Well most of it anyway."

"And how exactly do you do that?" Greyson cuts in.

"Well-" I start to say but am quickly cut off by a booming voice that just entered the kitchen.

I feel myself shake slightly and turn as the voice says, "Lucia, do you really think that this is the place to be telling them these things?"

Damien glares at me and I avert my eyes, bringing them to the floor, "No, I suppose not."

"Sometimes I wonder why my father even let you on the team." He snaps and walks toward us. He gets to the table and pulls out the chair that's next to me, sitting down. He nods his head at Leo and Greyson, "What are your names?"

I peek up to see Greyson glaring at Damien. Oh shit, I forgot to tell them about Damien. They have no idea that he is the Alpha's son and the leader of our squad. Greyson better not make any smart remarks. I better cut in now.

"Well this is L-" I start to say.

Damien growls and whips his head toward me, "Did I ask you?" He snarls.

I stare him in his eyes for a moment, but finally my wolf pulls me away. I drop my eyes to the table and shake my head, answering his question silently.

"That's what I thought. Keep your mouth shut unless I talk to you specifically." He turns to the boys again and I feel my body loosen immediately. I had no idea I was so tense. "So what are your names?" He snaps again.

Greyson looks Damien in the eye and leans back in his chair calmly as he says, "My name is Greyson Smith and my friend here is Leonardo Pierce."

Damien watches Greyson's calm exterior and gives him a strange look. Then he suddenly stands from the table and looks over at Raymond and Ruben who are quiet for once in their lives. I see them tremble a bit and I sigh. I really wish Damien didn't have so much power over us, he did only get his position from being born the Alpha's son, it's not like he earned our respect or anything.

"You two." Damien says.

"Yes sir." they answer simultaneously.

"Take the new boys on a run around the premise, then show them where we will have our mission tomorrow. They need to get a feel for the area and Derek needs you guys to scope out the front part of town so he can get a better feel for how we are going to go about accomplishing the mission." He glances over his shoulder and looks at me. I meet his eyes and he turns back to the twins, "Take her with you if you want. I will see you guys tomorrow at the mission."

"Yes sir." They say as Damien makes his way out of the room.

I grunt and sit back in my chair. Why does he try to degrade me so much? He acts like I'm not the assistant leader because I'm a girl. That is ridiculous. Honestly he has never treated me this bad. It's as if that experience in the woods made him hate me even more, if that is even possible.

"So..." Raymond says and glances over at me.

I sigh, looks like I will still be taking charge of this one as well, "So, it looks like we are going on a run." I stand up and look at Ruben, "Go get two extra ties from the supply room." Then I look at Raymond "And you go get one t-shirt, make sure it is extra large, and also two pairs of gym shorts."

They both nod their heads and leave the kitchen in a hurry. I turn to Leo and Greyson and smile, "You guys excited to get to know the area?" I ask them happily.

Greyson squints his eyes and stares at me questioningly. After a moment he says, "Who the hell was that?"

Damn, I was hoping we could just avoid talking about that jerk, but they do need to know.

"That my friends is Damien Dyer."

"Dyer? Like Alpha Serg Dyer?" Leo asks surprised. I nod my head.

"That's the one. Not only is he the Alpha's son but he is also the leader of our little squad."

Greyson laughs, "If he is the leader, then why do you act all in charge?"

I frown and add, "Because he doesn't come on missions often and I am the assistant leader of the group, therefore I have to take charge whenever he isn't there."

"Really?" He asks and I nod my head proudly, "Then why did he treat you like the pack runt?"

My frown grows. "I was not treated as a runt." I growl slightly annoyed and walk toward the door, "Now get your asses up. I'm taking you on a run."

I hear the chairs scrap on the floor a few seconds later followed by the sound of them catching up to me in the hall. Just because of that little scene with Damien, they better not get any ideas that I am weak, because I am far from it. If they try to disrespect me on a mission they will get a piece of my mind. Sure it is all fun and games here, but when I'm working, I get serious.

We make it outside and I take them out back. No words are said, I think they at least understand that I'm pretty annoyed at the moment. As we reach the tree line Leo looks around then looks at me. I can tell he wants to say something but doesn't want to piss me off. Smart kid, I guess there is hope after all.

"What is it Leo?" I ask in a softer tone. He is so innocent I really don't want to shatter him with my voice.

"Well," he glances down at his clothes "I don't think I'm wearing the right clothes. Normally I'm wearing different attire so I can carry it in my mouth... I guess I'm saying that jeans aren't really the best choice..."

I laugh and rest my hands on my hips, "Don't worry. I've got you covered."

A few seconds later I hear Ruben and Raymond walk out the backdoor of the pack house. I smile as they approach. Ruben hands me the ties and Raymond hands me the two pants and a shirt.

"Catch." I say and toss Leo and Greyson each a tie.

"What the hell is this?" Greyson adds.

"Those are ties. Here." I hand them each a pair of shorts. "Strip and then tie these shorts to your back leg."

"Seriously?" Greyson says to me, to which I nod in reply.

"Dude this is sick! How come we never thought of this before? Now we don't have to carry our gym shorts in our mouths!" Leo exclaims in happiness.

"Or leave them in the trees." Greyson adds.

"Well," I cut in, "we still keep some clothes in the tree line in case you forget or something. So just in case you shift and don't have clothes, always remember to check the trees."

"Smart. Damn you guys think of everything." Leo says.

"Yes we do." I say with a smirk. "Now shoo, you guys need to strip out of what you're wearing. Leave your clothes in a tree and you can change back into them when we come back."

I turn on my heels and walk toward my normal tree that I change behind. "Oh yeah, after you shift meet me in the clearing. Ruben and Raymond will show you how to get there. Follow them."

I hear the boys wander to the other side where they will be changing. Ah, perks of being a girl, I get this whole side to myself. I stretch my arms out as I get behind my favorite tree. I place my large t-shirt on the ground as I strip out of my current outfit. After folding my clothes and underwear neatly, I place them in the hole that is in the side of the tree. This is the main reason why I like this tree so much, it's a good place to hide my clothes.

I undo my tie from my wrist because I always wear it. See if I loop it around my wrist twice, it looks like a cute rope bracelet. I'm so innovative. I smile and then pick up my large t-shirt and tie that around my right ankle.

Perfect.

I stand up and close my eyes. Images I saw when I was in wolf form pass through my mind as I allow the change to take over my body. My hands and feet shift into paws as I gracefully land on the ground. I dig my nails into the hard ground and practically purr in delight. This is the life.

I quickly take off in the direction of the clearing. Honestly, I didn't take that long, so maybe I can beat them. After all, I am one of the fastest wolves in the pack. I sprint at full speed, digging into the hard dirt as I go. A whiff of flowers pass by my snout and I know I am getting close.

As I approach the clearing I slow to a halt and look around. It's empty, just as I thought. I smirk victoriously to myself. I knew I would win. As I'm about to take a step onto the open land a stick snaps from behind me. I turn to defend myself but everything happens so fast.

A mixture of blonde and brown pass by me as I'm tackled to the ground. I land with a thud on my back and immediately I start to struggle. Unfortunately the weight is too much, and I realize I can't move. Shit. I growl viciously as I struggle even harder.

That's when I hear a coughing sound... wait is that coughing? Or is it laughter?

I turn my head and see two blonde-grey wolves sitting on top of me laughing. Since they are in wolf form, their laughter sounds more like a dying animal then anything else. Damn. I can't believe they fooled me.

I huff, annoyed that they won this round.

Ruben gets off of me first followed by Raymond. Even though both wolves look very similar, you can tell the difference between the two because Ruben's left ear is grey while Raymond's right ear is grey. Besides that, they are practically identical in wolf form.

I roll back onto my stomach. I take this moment to look around, if Ruben and Raymond are here, then that means Leo and Greyson aren't far behind. I turn my head to scope out their location.

There.

I see a bush with a fluffy tail sticking out the back of it. I laugh to myself. How stupid can they be? They can't get me twice.

Without a moment to spare, I hop onto my feet. I bolt toward the bush and jump in head first. I sink my paws into the brown fur and I hear a sharp yelp. I laugh because I know I didn't dig my nails in deep enough to hurt him so that means I startled him. We roll until I end up on top and pin him down. I look down at my new teammate and see brown eyes. That must mean that this is Leo. Wait, if this is Leo then where is-

A dark blur appears in my peripherals, and suddenly I'm thrown off of Leo. We roll around for a moment and fight to see who will end up on top. After giving it my all, my muscles finally give in and I find myself being pinned to the ground. I let out a small growl and look up to see my opposer.

Two green eyes pierce into me and suddenly I don't feel so angry anymore. I stare up at him for a moment, taking in his huge stature and dark brown fur. Did I really just manage to wrestle Greyson that well or was he simply going easy on me? He is practically towering over me.

He smirks down at me victoriously but for some reason I just don't care. I'm not even the slightest bit of angry. After a second he gives me a curious look and then it hits me. I am, so, not acting normal right now.

Shit. This is embarrassing. I have been staring at him for the past minute!

I finally nudge him off of me and he complies. I hop to my feet and glance around. Leo, Ruben, and Raymond have all joined us. I roll my eyes at all of them. I can't believe they all ambushed me! And they did it successfully.

Actually, I'm pretty proud of Ruben and Raymond, normally they suck at ambushes and attack far too early. I guess this means they are learning.

I let out a small bark, indicating that play time is now over and we need to get down to business. I see Leo get depressed and I laugh to myself. He is such a child, I suppose it is nice to have that kind of energy around here.

I start the group off with a light jog. They catch on quick and follow behind me. After a bit of this, I feel my paws get twitchy. I guess I was born with a need for speed. I pick up the pace and hear the thumping of paws behind me. Surprising, I haven't lost any of them yet. I guess it's training time.

I quickly bank a right, throwing the others off guard. They still managed to keep up with me though so I quicken my pace. I know these woods like the back of my hand. I duck right before I hit a low branch, after a few seconds I hear a quick snap and laugh as I imagine one of the boys running into it.

I take another sharp turn and run through a bunch a bushes. I know all the sweet spots where I won't get tangled up. After a while of this, the sound of their paws pounding against the earth slowly fades away and I know I am way ahead of them.

Happy and proud, I continue along my track. I dig my nails into the dirt, with each step I get closer and closer to town. As I approach the end of the woods and the back side of the shops, I slow myself down. I'm about to come to a complete stop when I feel paws dig into my fur, tackling me to the floor.

Air gets knocked out of me and I groan in annoyance. My back landing on the firm ground. Paws holding me in place against the floor.  When I look up, I see familiar green eyes staring down at me happily. How the heck did Greyson manage to keep up with me? Damn, if Greyson is here, doesn't that mean Leo won't be far behind either?

I quickly push the huge dark brown wolf off of me and jump to my feet. Fully prepared and ready for another tackle, I stare out into the woods. After a moment I realize that there are no foot steps and Leo isn't behind us at all.

I glance behind me and see Greyson giving me a questioning stare. I roll my eyes. I thought they would be at the same level, but it looks like Greyson is a lot faster than Leo. Actually he is a lot faster than most, especially if he was able to stay behind me, I'm pretty fast.

Well, we are here so now we have to shift back so that we can scope out the area for Derek. I prance my way over to a big tree and get behind it. The sounds of paws following me stops me from shifting. I whip my head around and Greyson then pops his giant wolf head behind the tree and watches me. Jesus! It's a good thing I'm not in human form or I would be flushed with embarrassment right now!

I let out a small growl, indicating that I don't want him back here. He stares questioningly and raises an eyebrow. I sigh, I guess our wolf communicating skills aren't the best. So it is either continue to growl at him like a idiot or play a little game. Charades it is.

I sit down quickly and I can feel his green eyes watching my every move. I motion my snout toward my ankle with the shirt tied around it. I glance up and see realization in his eyes. Slowly, he takes a few steps backwards then turns around, leaving me alone behind the tree.

Sighing in relief, I close my eyes and allow my body to shift back to human form. When I open my eyes again, I'm sitting on the grass and back to my normal height. Reaching down, I undo the tie and wrap it back around my wrist. Grabbing the black T-shirt from the ground, I toss it over my head and sigh as the comfort of being clothed passes over me.

I reach up to scratch my head and suddenly feel how matted my hair is. Oh jeez! I forgot how messy my hair gets when I fool around in wolf form. I must look like a reck!

"You changed yet Lucia?" Greyson shouts, I can hear him approaching my tree. My heart pounds nervously in my chest as I think about the nasty state I am in.

"Almost!" I shout back quickly.

He stops in his tracks and I hear a small sigh, "Okay well hurry up."

Why did I stop him? The others see me like this all the time. Also, why is my heart beating so fast? I must be getting sick or something because my body is acting quite strange recently.

As fast as I can, I run my hands through my hair and untangle the knots that formed. Well it probably will never look good, but it has to be better than it was before. I run my hands through it one last time and stand. I brush off the grass on the bottom of my shirt and walk out from behind the tree.

The first thing I see is Greyson leaning against a tree with only gym shorts on. I glance down at his chiseled abs and toned skin. Holy crow. I had no idea he had such a gorgeous body. I mean the boys in my pack are in shape and certainly toned but damn. His arm muscles are huge too!

A quick cough from Greyson lures my attention back up to his face as he stares at me. Oh my god. My face immediately flushes.

I was just blatantly checking him out and to make it worse, he caught me! Could this get anymore embarrassing?

"Um let's go." I quickly add and spin around so that I am now facing the back of the shops.

Jesus Lucia, get yourself together. He is just another one of the guys. Plus he definitely sees me as a boy. He must. I don't do anything girly and I look like a reck. I sigh.

We get to the back of the shops and I lean against the back wall of one of the stores and wait as Greyson walks up next to me. His strides are sharp and confident. Although he gives off a prideful aura, he certainly doesn't seem arrogant which is strange to say the least. 

"So do you know where all of the guys went?" I ask and glance around. There is absolutely no sign of them anywhere.

"Nope." he replies, "I know just as much as you do. I figured they would all be able to keep up with us but I guess I was wrong."

I sigh and touch my forehead with my fingers. "Well it looks like we are going to have to start without them."

"What exactly are we starting?" He asks cautiously.

A grin spreads on my face as I look at Greyson's puzzled features, "We are going to start to scope out the playing field."

"Playing field?"

"Yeah, it's best to think of all of this as a serious game."

"Lucia this isn't anything like a game."

"Well obviously. It is a serious mission but your conscious feels better thinking of it as a game." I say. "Well now, we are going to climb that to get a better vantage point." I add as I point to the ladder that rides up the wall. It's pretty old and rusted, but it should be sturdy enough, I think.

"Ah, smart. The roof is probably the best place to go."

"Of course it is. But we aren't going to get very far without a camera. Ruben has it around his neck, but this way we can figure out what we will be taking pictures of." I say.

He nods his head in approval and I lead him over to the ladder. I grab onto the steel and place my foot on the first step. Before I can climb another, two arms trap me between the ladder and a body. I glance behind me and suddenly blush. Greyson's face is practically touching mine.

"Um... What are you doing?" I ask quietly. For some reason this close proximity is making my heart pound rapidly in my chest.

He smirks at me, "Maybe I wanted to kiss you."

"What!?" I shout as my jaw drops. Kiss me?!

He laughs out loud, "Just kidding."

I sigh and visibly relax my body. Jeez, he sure scared me!

"Let me climb the ladder first." he cuts in.

I raise an eyebrow at him, "Excuse me but whatever happened to ladies first?"

"There's a lady here? Where?" He asks and looks around.

I let out a small growl and roughly hit his chest which is still trapping me between him and the ladder.

"Ow!" He shouts.

"If you weren't such a bozo then you wouldn't be hit." I say and look away from him.

He had the nerve to doubt me as a woman! I knew he didn't see me as a girl but getting my suspicions confirmed really hurts. I feel my heart ache a little which is very unusual. I have to be catching something, my body is acting so weird around Greyson and it's freaking me out.

"Lucia, come on I'm kidding, but really let me go up the ladder first." He says.

"Why? Because it's an old ladder? Well I will have you know that I can handle it because I'm not a weak little girl like you might think. I can handle it if it breaks, I don't need your charity." I shout annoyed and start to climb.

Before I can get very far, a hand wraps around my wrist. I growl.

"Let go." I look down and see Greyson looking away from me and off to the side. "What are you doing?"

"Could you please get down?" He asks. As I look closer at his face, I notice a subtle blush on his cheeks.

That's when I realize that I'm still in just my T-shirt and Greyson is low enough to see everything! I scream and hop back onto the floor, landing next to him. I collapse onto my knees and grab onto the bottom of my shirt, completely embarrassed.

"What did you see?" I shout at him.

"Nothing nothing!" He answers still looking away.

"Liar!" I shout. "You saw something! You were blushing!"

"Was not!" He shouts and looks at me. Our eyes rest on each other for a moment.

I huff, looking to the side and crossing my arms over my chest, "Were too. Now what did you see?"

"Really not much. Now do you see why I wanted to climb the ladder first?" He says. Our voices have returned to normal level.

"Yeah..." I say, still embarrassed. I can't believe he saw under my shirt! That is so embarrassing! The only other person to see that is Damien and that was a horrible experience.

"You ready to climb up now?" He asks.

I sigh and look up at him, I can feel the red still burnt onto my cheeks. "Yes..."

He smiles and reaches his hand out to me. Surprised, I grab it and he helps me to my feet then gently pats my head with his other hand.

"Good girl." he says.

I frown, "Hey! I'm not a dog!"

He laughs as he starts to climb up the ladder, "Close enough."