Jacklynn's funeral happened in the middle of week, but the ceremony was truly just a formality. Scottlin Reik had her body loaded onto a truck and shipped back to the east coast.

Now, four days after her body had been sent out, the two sleuth's had finally returned their attention to investigation and an attempt at frivolity.

Outside the Grayson home, Rory Daggart, Chance Gore, and Porter Alment rested against the wall, deep in conversation, while BB, Sarai, Lizbet, Jarren, and Kyrrian spent time sparring.

"Ha! You lose!" BB yelled, getting off a frustrated Lizbet.

"Congratulations, you beat the worst hand-to-hand combat fighter in our sleuth. We all know that as a bear, I kick your butt every time" Lizbet retorted.

BB laughed and held her hand out to Lizbet. If BB was honest, that was completely true. BB knew that she was at a disadvantage because she was not only small for a bear, but Lizbet was an unnaturally large bear for a human of her size.

Kyrrian stood on the side as Jarren and Sarai fought. By now, everyone had figured out that the two were mates, and had been expecting Jarren to make a gallant move, however he had not. And even as they watched the two sparr, it was apparent that there was a lack of sexual tension between them that should have been radiating in waves.

The two finished fighting with Jarren's victory, and without a word, Sarai stood up and stormed off.

"Nice going" Kyrrian chimed snidely.

"Be quiet" Jarren said, out of breath as blood ran from his nose. He wiped it off and replied, "Let's go" right before he took his first swing at Kyrrian.

Rory, Chance, and Porter watched Sarai walk past them but did not halt their conversation.

"I feel like this is an inside job" Chance Gore pressed.

"I don't think thats possible. We are too close for someone to be committing these crimes without our realization" Daggart argued.

"They'd have to be close to have the inside knowledge. They killed Jacklynn because they knew we were investigating deeper. That's an inside job" Chance Gore was steadfast in his belief.

Porter Alment listened to both men's points but couldn't bring himself to voice his own speculations as his own mind was distracted. Without a word, Porter slipped away from the conversation, not that either man noticed due to their entrancement in the growing argument.

Porter stepped around the corner and searched for the Sarai's noticeably blond hair. He saw her a little bit away from the house, laying in the grass at the edge of the forest. He made his way to her side and gently sat down, resting one arm on his propped up leg.

"What?" she growled. Her forearm was laying over her eyes, her other arm sprawled out in the grass to her right.

"I wanted to enjoy the soft grass" he replied.

"Can't you see I'm a little angry right now?" she steamed.

" I can, but I've never been one to favor extreme anger" he admitted.

"How can you say that? We're bears" she finally pulled her arm from her face and looked him in the eye.

Porter merely shrugged with a smile.

Sarai sighed and stared at the sky. "Is there something wrong with me?"

"No" Porter replied curtly.

"Then why doesn't he make a move or do... something" she asked, sitting up abruptly.

"Jarren" Porter began with a hesitation, "Jarren has had a very hard life. And he has recovered by becoming the sleuth's local jester, but I think he has intense emotions and he stifles them when he doesn't feel like sharing them. His main source of comedy for the last two years has been that he has feelings for Kyrrian, something that has probably given him frustrating disatisfaction because of the way Kyrrian is. He probably has been having issues finding a way to forget his feelings for her with your arrival."

Sarai stared at the dark haired with disbelief. "Are you a psychologist?" her tone hung heavy with shock, Sarai seemed blown away by Porter's brief description.

"I am, actually" he replied, and when the joking smile Sarai expected did not appear, she became a little nervous.

"Really?" she asked again.

Now smiling, Porter sat up straighter and said, "I met my mate in the final years of my college career. Her name was Lilah, and she was the most amazing person I had ever met. She was from a small Sleuth in Canada, and had chosen to come to America for schooling. She was a photography major and I was a psychology major. We were an odd fit, she always saw the beauty in the world and people and I only saw the insanity. We only dated for a month before I was head over heels for her. Her positivity and sunshiny disposition had me blinded with feelings, so much so that I never realized she did not reciprocate my feelings. When she turned twenty-five, she came to realize that the two of us were an oddity. She was my mate, in every way, however her body had not made me her mate," at Sarai's furrowed brow, Porter chuckled, "a rarity, I know. In fact, in the history of bear-kind, that has never happened before. But it was the truth. So my mate left me and went back to Canada and I dealt with the slow, aching pain of a mate bond in slow stages of death. I received my degree and worked in Seattle for years before I decided to return here, to the Sleuth. I had never been an angry person but my struggles had made me bitter and volatile. It wasn't until ex-Alpha Grayson, Kaddian's father, straightened me out that I began to realize how useless violent, hostile anger is. Ever since then, I have been able to cope with life in a way that makes me thoughtful, not angry."

"But... you can't just logic away feelings" Sarai pushed.

"No, but you can avoid dwelling on something out of your hands and you can do everything in your power to right any negativities in your life" Porter finished.

Sarai opened her mouth to say something, then thought better of it and shut her lips, throwing the hand full of grass she had plucking into the forest in front of her.

___________________________________________________________________________________

"Stupid... hairs" BB growled as she attempted to run her hand through her still wet strands of hair. BB stood outside of Kyrrian's room, wearing Kyrrian's spandex shorts and grey cami. BB frequently spent nights at her friend and beta's house, partly because she hated staying at her own home, and partly because she was convinced she could get under Alpha Kaddian's skin.

The house was quiet, which was unusual, but then again it was ten-thirty at night. BB looked towards the closed office door, something she knew meant that Kaddian wasn't in there. He had an open door policy, he never shut his office door if he was in the room behind it. She ventured downstairs and heard a rustling in the kitchen. All of the lights in the house were off except for the kitchen, and BB, for a second, rested just beyond the reach of luminescence as she stared at Kaddian's broad expanse of a back sitting in a chair at the table. He sat so still he was almost as of he wasn't breathing. One large hand rested on the table, the other on his leg. His head faced out the other entrance to the kitchen, staring at the black space where the front door would be.

With a gulp, she walked into the kitchen and put one hand on his shoulder.

"Hi" she whispered. If Kaddian were the startling type, he would have jumped, however he merely awoke from his daze and glanced up a her.

"Hello BB"

BB slid her hand along his back as she walked to the chair opposite him and sat down.

"What were you thinking about?" the blond asked.

"My life choices" Kaddian's tone was neutral and his expression flat.

"That's a heavy topic" unsure of what to say, BB had hoped that Kaddian would give her something to talk about. Unfortunately, he had not.

"You should go home BB" he replied.

"I'd rather not" she retorted quickly. At his raised brow, she explained, "my parents are fighting again". Brie's mother and father, Ann Marie and Jordan Bart, were in a constant cycle of true love and fierce hate. During a period where they expressed their undying affection, the Bart's tended to pack up their belongings and fly to some romantic country to spend weeks in each others embrace...without their daughter. When a fighting period arose, the Bart's frequently had to replace windows, broken furniture, and sought medical attention from the skirmishes. All the while, their only daughter was either left alone in their massive two story house or hiding in some safe corner or at a friends house, seeking refuge from the violence.

"Then you should go to Kyrrian's room and get some rest" he pressed.

"Maybe I want to stay in here with you" BB almost felt an embarrassed flush touch her cheeks.

Alpha Kaddian perused her face before exhaling and replying, "BB, I'm not your mate".

"I think you're lying"

At her challenge, he gave her one warning growl. She looked down, showing him she meant no true challenge. Animal instinct flooded her system and she knew she had to let him know who asserted dominance between the pair of them.

"BB, I do not know who my mate is and I am not searching. You have a mate, somewhere" he replied coldly.

"I don't want anyone, I want you" she yelled, standing up.

"BB" he warned.

"Don't 'BB' me" she shouted, imitating his tone and pitch, "I'm not a child!"

"You are!" he growled lowly.

"I am not a child" her tone dropped low.

Alpha Kaddian had trained all his life to be the fastest, strongest, and most intelligent bear in the world, but no amount of training had ever prepared him for BB's mouth encasing his own.

She reached up and placed her hands on the side of his head, running her hands through his soft hair. She continued to kiss him until it dawned on her that he was not returning the kiss, or touching her, or even moving in the least. Embarrassed, she slowed her intense attack on his mouth. When she finally stepped away, BB felt like the world's biggest idiot.

Alpha Kaddian began "Brie-"

"Don't" she said quickly, her eyes beginning to burn. She turned quickly and fled the house. Alpha Kaddian rose but chose not to persue.

This was completely out of his realm of understanding.

Women.

Women and emotions.