Casey and Amanda were the only ones I dared to tell I was going on a date. They were behind me 100%. They even tried to give me advice on acting more like a human than a werewolf.

I listened, even though I was the one who had been human only months ago. But they wanted to give me advice, so I took the opportunity to have some bonding time with the only two females in my pack.

Obviously I couldn’t have told them what had happened with Mason. He regretted what had happened between us anyway. If I told Casey and Amanda what had happened, it wouldn’t have made any difference in the long run.

I met my date, RJ, at the restaurant. Obviously I couldn’t have let him pick me up at the house. If I planned to make dating a regular thing, I’d have to move out so I wouldn’t expose the pack.

I was nervous. I hadn't been on a date in such a long time. I knew I was going to make a fool out of myself.  I should have called him and cancelled.

When I walked into the restaurant I was happily surprised. He was waiting there, dressed up nicely and was holding with a single white rose.

I couldn't help but smile when I saw him. I was so sure that he'd stand me up and I'd look like a fool just standing there.

"Hi." I cringed. Couldn't have I come up with anything else? Something that would have made a better impression.

He was beaming. It was so obvious that he was happy. "I'm glad you showed. I wasn't too confident that you would."

I blushed and looked away. "I almost chickened out." I confessed.

"Well I'm glad you didn't." He offered me the flower. "I know it's a little cheesy, but I got a white one instead of red so I wouldn't be as cliché."

I nodded and took the rose. "Thanks."

He held his hand out for me next. "Our table's ready."

I hesitantly took his hand.

He led us to a table in the center of the room. He walked tall with a lot of confidence.

It made me a lot more comfortable with the date because he was so relaxed. I didn’t feel any regret that I had showed up, or even that I took him up on his offer of a date.

The food kept coming without the waiter coming by very often. The only time he came by was when he took our drink orders. Apparently RJ had planned everything out for this date. The food was great; he knew what I liked since we had talked so long at the diner before.

That showed me that he cared enough to actually listen to me. There was no way Mason would have listened to me like RJ had. Mason would probably brood during a whole date, where RJ was happy and kept the conversation going.

After we ate, we went out to a few bars. I drank way more than I had ever planned on drinking. It was way more than a normal woman would’ve been able to drink and still be able to walk.

When RJ walked me to my car, he insisted that he should drive me home…or at I should least crash at his house so he could drop me off at my car in the morning. It took quite some convincing to let him know that I was okay to drive home.

In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have driven home. I knew it took a lot to get drunk now that I was a werewolf, but I had definitely exceeded that limit.

RJ was cute and charming the whole evening. He made no wrong moves. He never made me feel uncomfortable. He was a perfect gentleman.

It was almost like he was too perfect, too charming. I even dreamt of him when I went to sleep.

I stretched; I was finally waking up, when my phone rang.

I groaned as I reached for it. It felt too early for anyone to be calling me. Then I saw the time. It was almost one in the afternoon.

I tried to pull myself together so I didn't sound like I had slept for so long.

"Hello?" I was a little happy that I didn’t sound too asleep.

"Hey. Did I wake you?" I immediately recognized his voice and smiled. It was my ever so charming date.

"Isn't it a little early for the post date call?" I teased.

He chuckled. "Maybe a bit. I wanted to take you out again. Are you free tomorrow night?"

I couldn't help but smile. "I am free tomorrow night. What were you thinking?"

"That's the surprise."

"Very mysterious." It was nice to be planning a date with a guy who seemed to be such a great catch.

He laughed again. "I need to keep your attention. I couldn't let you catch the eye of another man."

"What should I wear?"

"Something to go dancing in." Would he pick me up this time? "I'll call you later and tell you where to meet me."

"Okay."

"I'll talk to you later, beautiful." He hung up without giving me time to respond.

I couldn't erase the smile from my lips as I went downstairs. I was absolutely starved. I didn't make it home until almost five in morning.

Maybe tomorrow I'd stay the night with him. Maybe we could turn this into a real relationship.

The smell of cooking ham made my stomach rumble as I walked towards the kitchen. When I turned the corner I felt a little unsure. It was just Mason. He looked like he had just woken up, which was odd since he was usually an early riser. His hair was sticking up in odd places from sleeping. He was shirtless and wearing dark green pajama bottoms.

My hungry stomach curbed the perversion I would’ve otherwise participated in. Mason’s back was almost as impressive as his front. It would be very easy to just sit there and watch him cook. His muscles flexed and moved, but I was hungry.

Even though his back was to me, I knew him well enough to know that he knew I was there.  He probably heard me leave my room.

"Making enough for two?" I asked once I had enough bravery to walk into the kitchen.

He just shrugged. I grabbed a cup from the cabinet and poured myself some orange juice that was sitting on the counter next to him.

I leaned away from him as soon as Mason slowly turned to me. He leaned in and inhaled deeply before he stood straight. His eyes changed to amber as I watched. I knew then, that something was wrong…very wrong.

He knocked the cup away from me then slammed me against the granite counter. I felt the harsh corner of the granite counter top squeezed into the spot where my ass met my thighs and my back was pressed uncomfortably against the handles of the cabinet.

"What'd I do?" I panted. My heart was racing. I wanted nothing more than to run far away from him. I didn't know why he was so mad or what I did to make him that way.

"Why is Millender’s scent all over you?" He growled lowly.

"Whose?" I was on the verge of panicking, but my fear never made it that far. Something in my gut told me that Mason wouldn't do any permanent damage.

"I'm not an idiot. You've been trying to solve that murder. You've only been allowed to continue because you haven't gotten in the way." I was completely confused. How did I smell like someone else and what did that have to do with the murder? "Why is that bastard's scent on you?" He asked frustrated probably because I wasn’t answering fast enough.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I only managed a whisper.

He pressed me harder against everything that was causing me pain. He knew that it was hurting me. "Casey would be pissed if you made me break the cabinets." He threatened me.

"I don't understand what I did wrong." I whined. I never noticed how hard the handles on the cabinets were or just how sharp the edge of the counter was.

"You met up with that murdering bastard and I want to know why!"

"I didn't meet up with anyone!" Then RJ's face flashed through my mind when Mason's grip fractionally tightened. "I went on a date with a guy last night. That's it!" I cried. The cabinets were strong, but Mason was stronger. He'd destroy the kitchen with my body to get what he wants out of me.

Maybe I was wrong about him. I didn't think that he'd do something like this to me.

"A date with whom?" His voice was a low rumble. I had no choice but to tell him.

"RJ." I cringed when he pushed me even harder. "His name was RJ I swear!"

"Don't fucking lie to me. I know it was Roger Millender."

I shook my head. "I don't know what his last name is. He only told me his name is RJ." He growled inhumanly, my answer obviously didn't satisfy him. "Please let me go." I cried. It felt like the cabinet’s knobs were breaking my skin. The pressure on the back of my thighs made it feel like my femurs were going to dislocate from my hips.

He let me go, but stayed right in my face and was successfully intimidating me. I was sitting on the counter now.

"Stay there." He ordered before he turned back to the stove and made sure the burners were all off. He shoved the plate full of food towards me. "Eat." He grumbled.

I shook my head and pushed it back to him. "I'm not hungry anymore." He took the plate and threw it against the wall. It shattered into a million pieces. It looked like he had thrown a bag of flour at the wall by the way it exploded on impact.

Mason left the kitchen without saying another word to me.  Our conversation was obviously over.

I hoped he wouldn't come back. I'd rather deal with Grayson. Mason was a bit explosive, obviously.

I reached around my back and rubbed the sore spots Mason had created. It didn’t feel like Mason had broken the skin, but I could feel bruises forming on both sides of my spine. He must have chosen this spot perfectly. The knobs were far enough apart that my spine would be avoided, but close enough that the constant pressure caused me severe pain.

I felt tears run down my face. How could I have not known? Had I really gone on a date with the murderer? Was RJ the same cute, charming man who made me laugh all night? Mason had to be wrong. There was no way RJ was the same man who murdered the recruits.

I liked that man. He had been sweet. If I hadn't been such a terrified ninny, I would've had taken his invitation to spend the night with him.

Tears filled my eyes. Had I flirted with the murderer? Hugged and even kissed him goodnight? I felt tears run down my face. I tried to be quiet so I didn’t attract Mason's attention.

RJ had been too charming, too willing to make a good impression. He had wanted to take me to his home, where he'd able to get whatever information he needed out of me. He would have had probably killed me if I had gone home with him.

I brought my hands to my face and started crying.

There was a loud crash in the living room where Mason went. He probably shattered several things.

Mason's POV

I stood down the hallway from Lexi's room. I had been too rough. I slammed her against the cabinet like she was some betraying rogue.

At first it had been okay. She smelled like so much alcohol she should've been hung over. The scent on her had told me she'd been drinking last night. Millender's scent underneath it all had flipped a switch in my brain. In that moment I needed to know everything. She could've been Millender's spy for all I knew.

I'd never felt this much guilt before. It was worse when she had started crying after I left the kitchen. I needed to breathe. Millender had almost taken her away. If she had went home with him last night she'd end up being another corpse we found in our woods.

I knew Casey was going to be pissed at me. First it would be about the living room. It was trashed. I had destroyed everything I had gotten my hands on. Then, Casey would find the bruises on Lexi.

Even if Lexi didn't tell her, Casey was going to see the stiffness in her shoulders that would be there until probably tomorrow morning. Casey was going to investigate and Lexi would tell her.

"You look guilty." Grayson said behind me. I hadn't even heard him come up.

I nodded once. "Has your wife seen her living room?"

He smiled widely. "She's staring at it in shock." He was too amused to be mad at me for making the mess. "I don't think she has even moved yet."

"How long do women keep grudges?" I couldn't help but smile a bit.

"Hell hath no fury..." He muttered as he walked to his room. He didn't know how long I'd be in the dog house.

"Mason!" Casey's angry squeal made me smile wide. I loved getting under her skin, but this time I knew I deserved the hell I was going to get from my sister-in-law.

Her feet stomped the floor as she followed my scent. I was so sure that she was going to stomp right through the floor boards.

"What did you do to my living room?!" She yelled at the bottom of the stairs.

"You saw what I did to it." I muttered because I knew she could hear me.

"Why did you throw a temper tantrum?" She was glaring at me. Even with my back to her, I felt her heated gaze burning right through me.

"Because."

She huffed and puffed her way to me. When she was about to give me a lecture, her head pivoted as she heard the sniffling from Lexi.

In Lexi’s haste to get to her room, she hadn’t noticed that the door hadn’t latched. We were all able to hear every sniffle through the small crack as she cried.

Her glare turned murderous when she looked back at me. "Did you hurt her?"

I shrugged, while I kept my demeanor cool and collected. "Maybe a bit."

Casey didn't need to know the inner turmoil I felt for hurting Lexi. So I kept my poker face. Casey was good at reading people, but I did my best to look as cold hearted as I could.

 Casey knew I had it in me to hurt anyone if they had information that I needed.

Lexi was still new. She didn't know the scent of the guy we were looking for. I understood that, but that wasn't any consideration in the heat of the moment. She had been the victim of Millender and I automatically thought that she was the one who was the bad guy.

Casey turned away from me fast without even saying a word to me. I crossed a line that was never supposed to be crossed. Casey would hate me now. They'd get Amanda into their Mason hating group and kill me.

I'd have to start watching my back.

Lexi's POV

I couldn't talk to Casey. She tried to coax me into talking to her about what had happened with Mason, but I just couldn't do it. I was too ashamed that I had been duped by RJ.

After Casey left me, I stayed in my room the whole day. I made a few calls to the contacts that I had in LA. I had them run everything on Roger Millender. I wanted everything. They'd have it to me by 8am. I wasn’t able contain myself. I tried doing my own search on the internet my phone provided, but that ended up being a bust because the screen was too small to do any real research on.

Casey brought me dinner around 7.

"Do you want to talk now?"

I looked down at my blankets, "I just can't believe how stupid I am." I muttered.

She set the food down on the bedside table before she sat on my bed. "You're not stupid."

I huffed. "I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have made the mistakes I made today."

She sighed, "Mason shouldn't have mistreated you like he did."

I had to agree with that. "I didn't know that RJ was Roger. If I knew I would've told someone." I felt the tears were welling back up in my eyes.

"Roger?" Casey asked confused.

I looked up at her to see confusion. "My date last night."

Her jaw dropped. She finally got it. Then her features turned mad. Maybe she was going to react like Mason had. "Mason got mad at you for going on a date?"

Oh, for the love of... "No. Last night I went on my date." She nodded. "When I got up this afternoon I saw Mason in the kitchen." she nodded again. "I smelled like my date and Mason recognized the scent." She seemed to get it now. "It was the guy who murdered the recruits."

She gasped. "Do you think he's after you now?"

"I don't know."

"Mason got mad because you went on a date with the guy who has been murdering recruits." I nodded. She finally got it. "What was his name?"

"Mason said it's Roger Millender."

She went still. She obviously knew the name. "Are you sure that's what he said?"

There was no doubt in my mind.  "100%" I was pretty sure I'd remember what happened with Mason as long as I lived.

She growled and her eyes changed color. They didn't change amber like her wolf was ascending. They turned white, like she was going blind.

Memories flashed through my mind. They were all I could see. It was like I was watching a movie of all of my memories of RJ...Roger.

Then it was over.

"He is one charming little puppy isn't he?" She muttered in disgust.

I nodded. "He is."

"And you have a date with him again tomorrow?" She asked thoughtfully.

"Yes, but I'm not going. I'll call him and cancel."

She shook her head. "It's a great way to catch him when he's least expecting it."

"How do you know he just won't kill me like he did the other recruits?"

"Because you won't be alone. We'll make sure that he doesn't hurt you."

I looked down. I didn't want to admit it, but I was terrified. I didn't want to die.

"You won't die." Casey said with a small smile. "We'll get him and everything will go back to normal."

She got off the bed. "Eat and try to get some rest. I need to have a nice long talk with my husband."

I ate the food Casey brought me, but any rest I did get wasn't good.

Mason's POV

Casey stormed into the office like a crazy woman...which was appropriate for her.

"How dare you not tell me that Roger Millender is on our territory!"

Grayson and I traded looks before looking back at Casey. I was actually surprised that she didn’t already know. She could scan anyone’s mind, but she didn’t really do that anymore. While we adjusted to her integrating into the pack as a wolf, I sent naughty images to her. We made a deal that she wouldn’t probe if I didn’t send. I didn’t believe for a second that she’d actually keep her promise.

"You should have told me you knew who was behind these murders!" She yelled at her husband. "Keeping this information from me makes me think you don't trust me! I have kids to protect!"

"I am protecting you and the kids. I don't want Millender near any of the children."

"So why did that include keeping this from me? We're supposed to be a team!"

I couldn't help it as I smiled at my brother's situation. It was just too funny seeing an alpha get a scolding from his wife.

Then she turned on me because she probably sensed my amusement with the situation. "And you! Don't even get me started. I want to wring your neck for your behavior."

Grayson looked at me, a little concerned, but mostly irritated that he had to deal with his raging wife. "He's not going to wreck the living room again. Right Mason?"

"No promises." I muttered.

Casey shook her head. "That's not what I'm talking about. You went too far with Lexi."

Grayson groaned. "You slept with her?"

If Chris hadn’t interrupted us in the office, I would have. I shook my head and stared at the raging alpha female. I knew who the dangerous one in this room was.

"You know what the new wolves go through. You knew she couldn't identify the scents." She shook her head as she looked at her husband. "The two of you thought you had everything handled. But you didn't. If you did, Roger wouldn't have gotten close to anyone, including Lexi. If you told everyone that we needed to look out for him, she wouldn't have been placed in unnecessary danger."

"She's fine." I growled. My calm temper was reaching its quota for the day.

"What would have happened if she went home with him?"

I involuntarily let out a deep growl.

"He could have taken her and tortured her." Casey nearly shouted in my face. "She knows the lay outs. She knows pass codes. She knows where our security is weakest. Hell she knows where the children sleep!"

"Roger doesn't have that information though." Grayson said as he tried to calm his wife.

"Roger was sweet, charming, and quite a soothsayer." She locked eyes with me. "You're lucky she came home last night."

Why did she have to keep repeating everything I already know? There was a quiet minute. I knew Casey wanted me to apologize. I could see it in her body language. I wasn't going to apologize to Casey for what had happened. I didn't need her forgiveness to get on with my life.

"What's your guys plan to get him?" Casey asked as she sat on her husband's lap.

"Mikko will be here any minute now. We're going over it with him."

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P.S. I am going to Reno this week, so I won't be back until Friday or Saturday. I'll try to get the next chapter up next Tuesday!