Maggie woke to the sound of knocking. It took her a good few minutes before it registered to her brain that it meant someone wanted her to answer. She slowly rolled out of bed. Her head still hurting from all the crying she had been doing. God, her life was an emotional wreck right now.

Maggie still only had on the pair of basketball shorts and t-shirt she was given. She didn't feel presentable no matter who was at the door. She'll need to talk to Faolan about getting clothes.

The thought of Faolan sent a rush of warmth through her chest. It was an uneasy feeling but she didn't fight it.

Grabbing the comforter and wrapping it around her she approached the door. Her wolf was on high alert. She had seemed relatively calmer since Faolan marked her but she couldn't be too careful.

Maggie opened the door just a bit to peer out. Waiting outside with a smile on her face was the blond haired Erin still in her blue dress and house slippers.

"Morning Luna! I hope I'm not disturbing you, but I was told that you would be needing some clothes." In the woman's hands was a grocery bag.

Before Maggie could respond Erin pushed her way into the bedroom, setting the bag on a coffee table.

"Well then let me get a look at you." Erin turn and whipped off the comforter taking away Maggie's shield.

"Whoa," she gasped. Maggie went to cover herself up ashamed at her appearance. It was obvious she had been crying earlier and her hair was most definitely a mess. Before she could do so Erin spoke again. "You look amazing! Of course you would have to be to be Faolan's mate." Erin gave Maggie another bright smile before returning to the bag and pulling out the clothes.

"Now I had to guess on your size, you are a bit taller than me, but I think I found something that will work." Erin continued to talk as she handed the clothes to Maggie. "Tomorrow I will take you shopping in town. Fix you up real nice and we have to get lots of dresses. Faolan will melt once he sees you in a dress." Erin then paused looking at Maggie, expecting what, Maggie didn't know. After a pause Erin clarified. "Well chop chop! Go take a shower and get dressed. There is work to do."

After showering Maggie felt like a new person. She braided her hair and was able to put on the black yoga pants and purple tank. Erin was even considerate enough to provide some basic underwear and a sports bra.

Erin put down the magazine she was reading and smiled when Maggie emerged from the bathroom. 

"Well don't you look right as rain. I have one more outfit for you in the bag for tomorrow so that should get you through until we go shopping. How ya feeling?"

Maggie's mouth smirked on one side. Honestly the shower did do her some good and it was nice to see a friendly face. 

"I feel...better," she replied. "Thanks again for the clothes they really do help."

"No worries Luna. I saw Faolan go into his office. I'm sure he'll be in there for a while. Why don't you come downstairs with me? I've got some cookies to bake. I'll let you lick the bowl."

...

Maggie loved baking. It reminded her of when her mother would bake. It would always fill the house with warm smells and happy memories. Now she was making a new happy memory with the strange but vibrant woman who was now scooping cookie dough on to a baking sheet while Maggie measured chocolate chips for another batch. 

"Alright," Erin exclaimed. "So your favorite color is purple, you love reading mystery novels and you are a baking fanatic which is freaking fantastic!" Maggie smiled before repsonding.

"And your favorite color is rainbow, though I don't really think that could be considered a color. You love painting, hence your favorite color is literally every color and you also love to bake...which is fucking fantastic!" Erin smiled back at Maggie mid scoop. 

"You know what Maggie," Erin said warmly. "I think you are going to fit right in." That made Maggie pause mid pour of the chips. She's part of a pack now. She had been running from her old pack for so many years she never thought about the possibility of ever joining another one and here was one ready to open their arms to her. Erin noticed Maggie's pause and interrupted her thoughts. 

"You ok Mags?" Erin gave her a quizzical eye. Maggie snapped herself out of it.

"Yeah," she replied. "Just didn't really occur to me that was a part of a pack now."

"Well what pack were you a part of before?"

"I wasn't I was a rogue." Maggie braced as she dropped that bombshell. It wasn't that she was embarrassed to be a rogue, but not everyone is as accepting as the Dark Woods Pack. 

Erin finished the the scoop she was dropping and then slid the bowl of batter over to the side before bending over leaning her elbow on the marble counter and propping her chin in her hand staring at Maggie. Maggie stared back at her unsure of her response. After a moment Erin finally spoke. 

"Well go on," she said. "You can't just drop that on me and not tell me more." Maggie finished pouring the chips and also set her bowl aside before facing Erin. 

"What do you want to know?" Maggie said wiping her hands.

"Like everything! How long have you been a rogue? Did you run in to other rogues often? Are rogues really as vicious as those childhood stories make them? How did you support yourself? Did you have to kick anybody's butt?" Maggie's eyes went wide with all the questions Erin was spewing out. Most people avoided rogues and here Erin was excited to meet one. 

"Ok! Ok!" Maggie said stopping Erin's tirade of questions. Erin stopped and grinned awkwardly

"Sorry. Theo says my mouth runs faster than my brain. I've just never met a rogue before and I'm just so curious."

"Well I have to say," Maggie said. "I've never seen someone actually excited to meet a rogue. Most people avoid them."

For the next 20 minutes Maggie answered all of Erin's questions about her rogue life. 

How long had she been a rogue? 6 years

Did she run into other rogues? Yes, but they were a bit rough around the edges and Maggie preferred solitude.

How did she support herself? A string of odd jobs the led to managing a tavern.

Did she have to kick other rogues asses? Only one time in a bar when one got handsy with a waitress.

This was nice for Maggie. For once she was proud of the life she made herself. 

"Ok last question," Erin called. They had finished the cookies and now Maggie was washing dishes as Erin dried them. Maggie chuckled.

"I may have just met you Erin but I know that will not be the last question." Erin thought at her response. 

"Fair enough but I'm still going to ask it...what did you do to make you go rogue? Like what happened? Did break a rule or something? Screw the Alpha's son? What got you kicked out?"

Maggie knew this would come up. Rogue weren't born, they were made. And a wolf usually did something wrong that got them kicked out of a pack. That wasn't the case for Maggie. No one chose to go rogue unless they were crazy or suicidal. 

Maggie stared at the sink as she scrubbed the dirty dishes not wanting to make eye contact. "I didn't do anything wrong...I chose to leave." That cause Erin to pause again in thought. 

"You chose it? Why?" Maggie didn't want to lie to Erin. She had been nothing but nice to her but she didn't want to get into the emotion turmoil that was her old pack either. 

"Just wasn't for me I guess." Hopefully she would be satisfied with that answer. 

"Mmhmm." Erin was looking at her skeptical. She didn't buy it. But she didn't push it either. "So your Alpha was ok with you just taking off?" Maggie scoffed.

"No, he was definitely not ok with it." That was a major understatement. "I ran away. bounced from place to place until I settled near the Dark Woods Pack. They offered me a place but I wasn't ready for a pack yet."

"Do you think he is still looking for you?" Maggie looked at Erin confused at her question. "Your old Alpha I mean." That made Maggie think. Before now she would have given a definite yes. Bryce had been ruthless in his pursuit of her. It was why she had to bounce around so much her first few years and why she had so many fake identities including the one she was assuming now. But now that she was Faolan's mate would Bryce still chase after her...could he? Erin moved on to a new question before she could come up with an answer. 

...

After the dishes were done and put away Maggie had found herself following Erin up the stairs and down a hallway. Erin said she had to deliver some cookies and with nothing better to do Maggie followed. 

They stopped at a a large wooden door where Erin stopped and handed the plate of cookies to Maggie. 

"Alright," she whispered to Maggie. "Got your cookies, you look all cute...Yep, you're ready." 

"Ready for what?" Maggie said alarmed. "Who's door is this?" Erin gave Maggie a sly smile before she replied. 

"It's Faolan's office." Maggies eyes grew wide. Had she planned this all along? "Yeah I know you guys are still in the awkward newly mated phase. I get it. Nothing a plate of cookies and some good conversation can't fix. Worked for me and Theo." 

"I don't think I can do this Erin." Erin snickered back.

"Sure you can!" She replied still in a hushed tone.

"How do you know?" Maggie was not as confident as Erin in this matter. Erin simply shrugged her shoulders. 

"Cause you're mates." As if that was the answer to solve everything. Erin patted Maggie on the shoulder before knocking on the door and walking down the hallway.

"Have fun!" said as she faded down the stairs. 

Maggie only had enough time to get into a worked up panic before the door opened and there stood Faolan staring at her and her plate of cookies. Maggie not knowing what to do stared back at him struggling to find something to say.

"Maggie?" Faolan almost whispered with a smile. "How ya feeling? You doing ok?" Maggie just nodded unable to think enough to form words. Faolan smiled at the action which once again sent the warmth of the mating bond throughout her chest. "Did you make those cookies for me?" Maggie didn't respond but that didn't stop Faolan from grabbing one and taking a bite out of it before moaning as he chewed. "Chocolate chip is my favorite. How did yo know?"

"I didn't." Finally she had a voice! Maggie was glad he liked the cookies but couldn't take the full credit for them. "Erin.. I helped her make them." Faolan continued to eat the cookie as he stared at her. 

"You know," he said in between bites, "There's too many to eat on my own. Want to come in and share them with me?" And that's how Maggie found herself in Faolan's office. It was a nice office with the same dark and warm tones of his bedroom  but with a giant window behind a large wood desk to let the light in. Two couches sat in front of the desk next to a fireplace and on the opposite wall were shelves filled with books and photos. 

Faolan led Maggie to the couches where she sat placing the cookies on the coffee table. Faolan sat on the other end of the same couch grabbing another cookie to devour. it. Maggie sat there looking at all the surroundings trying not to look at Faolan. After he finished his second cookie he wiped his hands and cleared his throat before speaking. 

"So, first I wanted to just tell you that I'm sorry for earlier." Maggie wondered why he was apologizing. "For earlier," he clarified. "Had I known that showing you the mark would have upset you I would have done it more...delicately." 

Maggie swallowed hard. The mark had scared her. Mostly because she knew what him wearing her mark meant. Up until then Maggie had been under the impression that Faolan in his desperate attempt to find a mate had force the mark on her. It was rare for a forced mating to happen as the penalty was steep. But it still happened among more remote packs. A male marking a female by force could happen but the female could not be forced to mark a male in return. Him wearing her mark meant that her wolf willingly accepted him as her mate. It made them true mates in the eyes of the werewolf community. 

"I can tell you still have questions," Faolan said calmly. "Ask me anything and I promise I'll be forward and honest with you." There was really only one question on her mind.

"What happened that night?" 

Faolan knew what night she mean and he was kind enough to tell her everything he could remember of it. How he had started the mating run and heard her howling in the woods. How when he finally found her, her wolf didn't want him near her without a fight. How he had to subdue her multiple times worried she would hurt someone or even worse hurt herself. And finally how in one of their struggles for dominance her wolf had bit him claiming him as her mate. 

"I bit you first?" Maggie yelled shocked. Faolan chuckled. 

"Oh believe me it surprised me too. I was trying to be the gentleman, waiting until you were more yourself but your wolf was a bit determined. It wasn't until I marked you back that she finally settled down." 

Maggie was shock. Her wolf never tolerated others, especially the male wolves. It was why she kept herself drugged up for so many years. She couldn't trust her wolf not to force herself forward to take control and attack someone. Maggie searched in her head on her wolf hoping to find answers on why she had accepted Faolan out of everyone. She found her wolf calmly laying down basking in the presence of their mate. A stark contrast to the feral beast she had wrestled with the past six years. Apparently it was as Faolan said. The mark did help her beast settle. 

"You ok Mags?" Maggie smiled at his endearment. 

"Yeah sorry. It's just a bit much," she replied. "I've been a rogue for the past six years and now all of a sudden I'm mated and part of a pack again...what pack is this by the way?" She didn't know too many packs. She ran into a few in her travels but most were more interested in seeing her run off than having her get to know them. Still if she was going to stay here she wanted to atleast know the pack's name.

Faolan smirked at her question. "You mean you don't know?" That bothered Maggie.

"No I don't. I know it's a large pack but I'm not familiar with every pack in the country." Faolan frowned when he understood her. Was it really that shocking she wouldn't know his pack. 

Cautiously he answered her. "Sweetie this is the Royal Pack." It took a minute for Maggie to process through that. 

"The Royal Pack?!?" Faolan nodded at her with concern on his face. "So you are the Alpha of the Royal Pack." Faolan nodded again. She knew what his answer would be but she still couldn't believe it. "So if you are the Alpha of the Royal Pack that would makes you..." Maggie couldn't finish that thought. The implication it had were too much for her. 

"It means," Faolan began to finish for her, "that I am the Alpha King." Maggie froze in shock. First she finds out she is (somewhat) willingly mated, to an Alpha, and now she finds that he is the king of all werewolves. Maggie reached for another cookie without looking. She was able to grab one on her second try and bring it to her mouth to chew while she leaned back into the couch and thought. If Faolan was the Alpha King and she was his mate that made her the Luna Queen. And with that came a whole mountain of responsibilities that she was not ready to deal with. 

After finishing the cookie Maggie looked over at Faolan who jaw was clenched obviously worried at her reaction. Maggie was obviously still in shock as evidenced by the next words that came out of her mouth. 

"You are not going to make me wear a dumb tiara are you?"