The first thing I heard when I woke up was the sound of a curtain being pulled back. Light shined in the room and made me close me eyes harder. I groaned and rolled over, pulling the comforter tighter. I felt someone sit on the bed, making the mattress sink. A hand was placed on my back.

"Come on, Baleigh. Get up." Collin patted my back, his voice calm and gentle.

"But it's too early," I groaned. I put a pillow over my head to block out the sunlight.

"It's 9:15 in the morning on a Saturday. How is that early?" Collin started to tug on the comforter. I tried to hold on tight, but he was stronger than me. The blanket came flying off and my legs were exposed to the cold air. I tucked them close to my chest.

"It's cold!" I whined.

"My goodness! Can you just get up?" Collin sat up.

I turned my head and opened my eyes. His blonde, curly hair looked like gold in the sunlight. His arms were folded and he gave me a serious look. I could see his blue eyes looked even more blue than before. I couldn't help but melt at how handsome he was.

"Fine. I'll get up," I sighed. Collin gave me a bright smile. He started to walk away to the door.

"Um, what are you doing?" I asked.

Collin turned around. "Going to get some food. What else would you think I'd be doing?"

"You're supposed to help me up." I held out my hands like a 5-year-old wanting to be picked up by their mother. Collin rolled his eyes and came over to me. He picked me up bridal style. I laughed as he carried me to the door and placed me in front of it.

"There. You happy, princess?"

I gave him a curtsy. "Yes. Thank you, peasant."

Collin rolled his eyes. "I prefer, 'love of my life.'"

"I guess that could work." I stood on my toes and gave him quick kiss before I headed out the door. I bounded down the stairs and into the kitchen. Evelyn was already dressed with a white apron around her blue blouse and jeans. She flipped some pancakes on a pan. Dr. Stone sat in the dining room with Dad. The two of them sipped some coffee while they talked about sports. I never understood why guys like sports so much. It's just a bunch of dudes who play with rubber balls. What's so fun with that?

I saw Kiera and Nate sitting next to each other at the breakfast bar. Kiera held her and Nate's girl, Paisley, in her arms. I came by and gave Paisley a kiss on the top of her soft blonde hair.

"Mornin' Baleigh," Kiera said with a smile.

"Morning!" I gave her a smile in return. I walked past Evelyn as she placed some pancakes on a plate. A bag of chocolate chips laid on the counter by the stove. I quickly popped a few in my mouth before Evelyn could catch me.

"I saw that Baleigh!" Evelyn called. I tried not to laugh or spit out the melting chocolate chips from my mouth as I tried to make my escape.

I came up to Dad and gave him a peck on the top of his head. His hair had gained more grey hairs over the years, and some hair had fallen, leaving a small bald spot with little hairs sticking out.

"Hey sweetheart," Dad said. He gave me a pat on the shoulder. "How did you sleep?"

"Pretty good. But Collin had to wake me up."

Dad laughed. "I did the same with your mother. She said that one day she would pay me back from waking her up. But she never had the guts to get up early." I laughed. It sounded a lot like Mom.

Mom had died years ago when I was young. Many believed that Dad had killed her when they were out boating. However, Dr. Stone's father, David, had sabotaged the boat, killing Mom and leaving a man with his young daughter motherless. It was really hard for both of us. It was even harder when Dad was drugged. David had drugged Dad, hoping that the drugs would make Dad force Mom out. It worked, but only for a short time. For years, I had to deal with Dad's terrible behavior from the horrible drugs. After Collin and his friends fought off and killed David, everything had gone back to normal.

"Good morning Baleigh," Dr. Stone said. He sipped his coffee. The smell of pumpkin spice latte filled my nose. I love the smell of coffee, but I hated the taste.

"Morning," I replied. I came by him and gave him a small kiss on his cheek. He laughed.

"Stop laughing over there and come eat your breakfast!" Evelyn called from the kitchen. "I didnt make these pancakes for nothing!"

I skipped to the kitchen. Collin came around the corner. Behind him came Trinity. She looked like she had just got out of bed.

"Collin!" Trinity whined. She sat down next to Kiera at the breakfast bar. "Why did you have to wake me up! It's Saturday! I should be allowed to sleep in."

"Fine. Then just go back to bed. I bet your date can wait for tomorrow." Collin poured some orange juice into a glass cup.

"I almost forgot," Trinity said. She used her hand to rest her head. She closed her eyes for a split second before Evelyn woke her up by putting a plate of pancakes and bacon in front of her.

"Eat," Evelyn commanded. Trinity quickly ate of piece of bacon. I giggled.

"Sorry to interupt, but what date?" Nate asked. 

"Trinity is going to the park with Blake around noon today!" Kiera squealed. She always got excited when it comes to romance. 

"You still dating him?" Nate put some pancakes on his plate. 

"Yeah. Is it bad to be dating him?" Trinity asked. 

"No, I just thought, ya know, he found out." 

"About what?" I asked. 

"About who we are," he said.

"Don't worry. He knows." 

"He knows?" Kiera almost dropped the spoon she was using to feed Paisley. 

"Yeah. I told him almost 6 months ago," Trinity said. She put a piece of pancake in her mouth. 

"Why is this so shocking?" I asked. "I know and no one is freaking out here." 

"Yeah, but technically, Blake isn't Trinity's 'mate'," Collin said. 

"So, can't she date whoever she wants?" I asked. 

"Yeah! I can date whoever I want!" Trintiy said. 

"I know, but it's weird," Nate replied. 

"How is it weird?" Trinity protested. 

"First of all, Blake isn't your mate. Jacob is." 

"And he's dead. We don't need to bring that back up." Trinity shoved the rest of her bacon in her mouth. 

"We know, but doesn't it seem weird that you just move on from Jacob and start dating a human who isn't your mate and probably doesn't even like wolves." 

"Um, Nate, why don't you take this somewhere else," Dr. Stone said. He placed his hand on Nate's shoulder. "Better yet, let's just drop this. Trinity really likes Blake, and there's nothing wrong with it." 

"No." Nate pushed his dad's hand off his shoulder. I jumped a little. Collin came from behind me and wrapped his arm around me. I felt a lot safer with him close. 

"Trinity needs to know that this isn't okay. She can't just be off running with another guy, pretending that what she had with Jacob was nothing." 

"Why do you care so much? It's not like you lost someone you cared about! I loved Jacob, and now he's dead. He may have been evil, but I loved him. And is he was here now, he would have been happy for me for finding someone that I care about!" 

"So you're just gonna throw away everything with his guy? He's a human. He doesn't know the first thing about us!" 

"Yes he does! I told him everything! He didn't run or scream or call the cops. He accepted me for who I am and that's all that matters." 

"Guys, can you please stop," Evelyn said softly. Paisle started to whimper. Kiera had her in her arms, trying to calm her down. 

"Yeah. This is getting ridiculous. You're getting all upset over the fact that I've been dating Blake for two years now. A guy who is very must human, just like Baleigh. He may not be my mate, but he cares about me, and so do I. I love him. I love him more than anything." 

Nate tried to interrupt, but Trinity shushed him. "I'm not done." 

"I know Jacob was my mate, but he's dead, and I can't spend the rest of my life mourning and crying about it. I need to get up and move on with my life. And that's what I'm doing with Blake. So stop with this nonsense. I love Blake and he loves me." 

The room got silent. Paisley had stopped whimpering. I could feel Trinity's words hanging over Nate's head. 

"The only thing I don't get is why you're all upset over it. You have Kiera. I don't even recall you being with someone else." Trinity folded her arms. She seemed very serious about all of what she said. 

"Nate," Kiera said. Nate turned around. "Is there something you're not telling me?" 

Everyone in the room looked at Nate. He looked a little bit embarrassed at what Kiera had asked him. 

"Nate?" Kiera put her hand on his shoulder. "What's going on?" 

"I need some fresh air," he finally said. Nate got up and quickly headed out the back door. Kiera called after him, but he didn't turn back. Kiera handed me Paisley. She quickly ran after her mate, calling out for him. Nate had ran out into the open yard and shifted. Kiera shoted his name, but he didn't answer or turn around. He continued to run. He disappeared in the woods, leaving a crying Kiera in the grass. 

"Collin, what just happened?" I asked. 

"Yeah. What did just happen?" Evelyn asked.

"You mean you don't know either?" I looked at her in confusion. 

"No. I have no idea." 

"I wish I knew too," Collin replied. He held me close. I held Paisley between the two of us. I could feel the child's sadness, knowng that her father was gone and her mother was upset. All I wanted in the moment was to keep the child safe, and to know what Nate was hiding. 

Wow! That was crazy! I was just sitting on the couch when I had the crazy idea! Hope you guys liked it! And thanks for reading my books! Leave comments and votes!