I feel a light breeze tickle my neck and I smile into my pillow. I turn my body around to come face to face with a sleeping Jayden. He looks so cute and innocent when he is asleep. It is so different compared to his normal tough guy exterior.

After I realized that Jayden didn't hate me for what happened when I was with Manus or prior to my disappearance, I invited him in to sleep. Neither of us have been sleeping well so we both needed a good night's rest.

I watch the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathes in and out. Just being around him is making me feel ten times better. I missed him and everything about him. I even missed his smell.

I see Jayden's lips curve into a smirk as he reaches his arm out and pulls me into his body. I let out a surprised giggle.

"Checking me out already? The day has barley started." He whispers into my ear.

I roll my eyes because I know he is actually cocky, but he is cute. I guess I will play along.

"You're just too gorgeous that I couldn't resist."

He pulls back from our embrace for a moment to look into my eyes. His emerald ones beautifully reflect the sunlight peaking into my room.

"The only gorgeous person I see in this room is in my arms."

I feel my cheeks blush slightly. Did he just call me gorgeous? Okay that is definitely an exaggeration but I can't say I'm not flattered.

He smiles down at me and embraces me in another hug. I feel the breath getting knocked out of me. He lightens his grip enough for me to take in air but still holds on tight.

"I missed you so much Soph." he says to me.

"I missed you too Jayden, it's good to be back." Then I remember something. I quickly pull back from our hug and look Jayden in the eyes. "Did you see a girl at Manus's?"

"A girl?" He asks, slightly confused.

"Yes, when I was climbing out the window she was on the roof."

He thinks back for a moment and says, "I can't remember. I didn't even know you were climbing on the roof. What the hell were you doing up there?"

"Trying to get out. The entrance was filled with fighting wolves and guards, the only place we could go was upstairs. And then we had to jump onto the roof... Anyway, there was a girl with me. Her name was Georgia. I don't know if she managed to get out. She disappeared."

"Huh... I don't remember seeing a girl, but she probably ran away. There was a lot of fighting going on, she was probably startle then she ran. She should be okay." He says.

"I suppose you're right...."

I lean up and get off the bed. I head toward my closet and grab a shirt, shorts, a bra and some under wear. I haven't taken a real shower in so long. I need one.

I skip toward my bathroom and stop when I get to the door. I turn and look at Jayden.

"I'm heading into the shower, want to join?" I ask.

His head pops up off the bed and he gives me a look, "You're kidding?"

"Nope."

"No, you're definitely kidding."

"I wasn't but I guess I will take that as a no. See you after!" I say and walk into the bathroom.

"Wai-"

I shut the door behind me and lock it. I smirk to myself. Oh, I love teasing him. Honestly though, I wouldn't mind showering with him. He is my mate after all. It's not like I'm showering with just anyone.

Actually I change my mind. I'm not that confident in my body yet. I wouldn't want to be naked in front of him in the light! That would be so embarrassing!

I feel a light blush form on my cheeks from the thought of it. I quickly strip out of my clothes and throw them in the hamper. I turn the shower on to get it warm as I go to get my towel from the closet. I throw my towel on the ground near the shower and hop in.

I feel the warn water trickle down my body and I sigh in relief. It has been so long since I last felt warm water against my skin. I grab my shampoo and scrub my hair. I wash it twice and then allow the conditioner to sit in it for a little bit before rinsing it out.

I shave my legs; something I haven't been able to do for so long.... Then I scrub my body over twice. Once I'm satisfied with my bodily hygiene, I hop out of the shower. I quickly dry my body off and wrap my hair up in the towel.

I throw on my clean clothes and dry my hair the best I can with the towel. I brush out the knots and look in the mirror.

I look clean and put together. I don't look gorgeous, but then again who does right after they shower and have no makeup on? I decide that I have made Jayden wait in my room long enough so I quickly open the door.

Jayden is sitting on my bed, he looks over at me and frowns. He stands up and strides over to me. I watch his every move. Taking in his handsome physic.

"You my friend are one big tease." he says as he reaches me.

I flutter my eyes at him and tilt my head to the side like a lost puppy, "I don't believe I know what you are talking about."

He smirks and leans down to my level, "Your innocent act doesn't work with me."

I shrug and say, "I think you're becoming delusional." I reach up and pat his chest and give him a sympathetic look. "Maybe you will get better in time."

He raises an eyebrow, "I am not delusional."

"The first sign is denial!"

He smiles down at me and grabs my face gently in his hands. He gazes into my eyes.

"You're so cute." He states.

I feel my cheeks heat up. Geez! This is my third time blushing today and I have only just woken up! That's embarrassing!

I stare up at him and an urge to kiss him flows through me. My eyes flick down to his lips then back to his eyes, trying to give him the hint. He stares at me for a moment then sighs.

He releases my face and I internally whimper. Why didn't he kiss me? I miss his lips on mine. I miss his presence around me. Why is he walking toward the door?

"We should head downstairs, I'm sure your mom wants to talk to you." He says.

"Yeah..." I say sadly.

I follow him out of my room. He allows me to lead him through my house and toward the living room. As we get in I see mom and Will sitting on the couch watching tv. As we enter the room mom looks up and smiles, she reaches for the remote and shuts the tv off.

Will turns as he notices our presence and frowns at Jayden but quickly looks back at me to make sure I'm okay. Which I am. I think...

"You're awake." mom states, she stands and adds, "Would you two like breakfast?" she glances at the clock then says, "or lunch?"

"Oh I'm not really hungry..." I say.

"Me either, but thank you for the offer Mrs. Hail." Jayden says.

"Oh please just call me Rachel, Jayden."

I feel shivers run down my spine from her name. I love it, but not recently... too many memories...

"Sorry..." Jayden says.

"Oh pish posh! No sorries in my house unless it is completely necessary!"

Mom looks at me and scans my demeanor. She's trying to read how I'm feeling. Good luck, I don't even know what I'm feeling.

"Do you think we could talk Sophia?" She asks me.

"Sure." I say, slightly unsure but I need to hear what she wants to tell me.

"I'm just going to wait in the kitchen..." Jayden says, I can tell he feels unwelcome.

I feel panic race through me as he steps away. I don't want to be away from him, he replaced my blanket and now he is my sense of security. I glance at mom worriedly and she notices my panic.

"Um Will could you accompany Jayden?" she asks.

"Oh I would love to." Will says with a smirk.

Will stands from the couch and walks over to Jayden. He throws his arm over his shoulder and says, "Let's talk."

They disappear into the kitchen and I feel myself begin to worry. He's so far. What if Will is too harsh on him? I turn to mom and she sits down on the couch. She pats the spot next to her, asking me to sit.

I do as I'm told and join her on the couch. She grabs my hands and looks up at me sympathetically.

"Sophie, I wanted to start off by saying I'm sorry. It wasn't fair for you to be thrown into that situation not knowing why you were there. I guess I owe you an explanation now, huh?" She asks.

Uh, yeah!

Instead of saying that, I just nod.

"Well... I guess I should start with Manus," Just hearing his name makes me shiver in disgust, "We dated when we were younger... It was my mistake, I was young and reckless. I told him we were meant to be even though we weren't really mates. I didn't realize how messed up I would make him. I was a girl, in love with a bad boy. Then I met your father. I knew it was against the rules to mate with a human, but I didn't care about rules and laws back then.

"I broke them all the time, I was a trouble maker. So I started seeing your father. Another boy in the pack also had a mate that was human. I scouted him out and we devised a plan. In order to see our mates we would have these days where we would 'hang out' with one another. In reality we left to go be with our mates. This cover up worked for a while, until Manus found out.

"He told the Alpha on me. Both the other boy and myself had to confront the Alpha. In order to stay in the pack we had to agree to the terms of not seeing our mates. Naturally we agreed. While the other boy listened, I did not. I continued to see your father and I got caught."

She thinks back to the past. Reminiscing on previous events that still linger strongly in her mind. It strikes me now that I am in a predicament that is very similar to hers. My mate isn't allowed to be with me because I am half human. It all seems so unfair.

Then I remember some of the events back when I was being held as prisoner. Manus said something to me. Something about mom being a thief.

"Mom, did you ever steal anything, from a sacred temple or something?"

She looks thrown back for a second then she says, "Where did you hear that?"

"Manus."

She looks down and begins to fiddle with her thumbs. An action I know so well. She lets out a sigh.

"I did."

I look at her for a moment. For some reason I'm not shocked. I guess after learning of a whole new side to my mom from Manus, nothing can shock me.

"So... did you give it back? What was it that you stole?"

"I stole a powerful artifact. One that has the ability to protect." I stare at her waiting for her to answer my other question. "No. I didn't give it back."

"So this 'powerful artifact' has the ability to protect. Why did you steal it?"

"Your father, as you know died when you were very young. He had cancer, and I figured I would be able to stop it. I stole the artifact not knowing it wasn't something that could protect you from internal danger, it is used to help stop physical danger. I didn't realize that at the time."

"So why don't you give it back now?"

She looks at me wide eyes and shakes her head, "I can't. I did something stupid... I... I not only unlocked the power of this one artifact, I unlocked the power of them all."

"You lost me..."

"Hold on." she says.

She stands up and walks toward a desk at the far side of the room. She opens up the drawer and pulls out a pad of paper. She snatches a pencil from the desk and walks back over toward the couch. She places the notepad on the coffee table and flips it open to a blank page.

"There are three artifacts."

She draws a gem in one corner, another gem in a different corner and finally a necklace. I stare at it confused. Do these things actually have powers?

"Now these may not be exactly what the artifacts look like, but you get the general idea. Anyway, the legend is told that there were three werewolves, each had a special power. When they died, they had their bodies cremated and then turned into these forms."

She motions toward the drawings.

"Okay so this gem here," She points toward the first gem, "has the power to protect. It's the gem of Maria. The other gem here," She motions toward the gem at the bottom corner, "has the ability to boost the power of the holder. Finally, this necklace has the power of love."

I stare at the page in awe. All of these simple objects hold these powers? I don't know if I should be amazed or laugh. It's hard to believe all of this. Then again, I am a werewolf and that's told as a legend to humans. Even I thought it was a legend until my mom told me otherwise.

"So why can't you return it along with the rest of them?" I ask.

"Because if one person gets a hold of all three artifacts, then they will become very powerful, and almost untouchable. They could do whatever they wanted with no consequences. Once you wear one of the artifacts, only you can take it off or it could be broken by another object, but no other person or werewolf can take it off of you."

"Uh-hu." I say, still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing.

"Hunters, rogues and other packs are after all the artifacts. I don't know where they all are so it's better to be safe rather than sorry." She says.

She places the pencil down on top of the paper and looks at me. She can see the confusion in my eyes and she smiles.

"Hunny, you don't have to understand it, just accept it. We have to hold onto the gem to keep everyone we love safe."

I let out an annoyed sigh. "Fine, but where is it now?" I ask.

I see a glimmer of mischief in her eyes as she says, "Somewhere safe."

She stands abruptly from the couch and wanders off toward the kitchen. She gets to the door and turns to me.

"Are you coming?" She asks.

I nod and get up from the couch to join her. It's weird. Mom never mentioned any of this to me, and now I'm learning about a whole new part of her. It makes me wonder just how well I truly know her. She had been putting on a face the whole time she has been raising me! What does this mean? I'm so confused.

We walk into the kitchen and I hear laughing. Huh? I swear there would be an intimidation going on right now.

I turn the corner and see Will and Jayden sitting at the kitchen table playing cards. Have we really been talking long enough for them to get a game going?

Mom strides up to Will and places her hands on his shoulders. She bends down and whispers something into his ear. I see him perk up for a moment then he tosses his playing cards onto the table and turns to Jayden.

"Looks like I'm going to have to ask for a rain check. We will finish some other time kid." He says and stands.

My mom smiles and waves to us, "See you later kids."

She grabs Wills hand and drags him off to god knows where. Geez! You would think that they were the kids and we were the adults!

Jayden stands from the chair and starts to put the cards away. I join him and grab Will's cards.

"Looks like you and Will hit it off." I say.

I have to admit, I'm happy about that. It's nice to see my step dad and mate getting along. It will make my life so much easier this way.

"Well I have known Will most my life, he is my dad's cousin after all."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that... Wow, I guess that makes him a lot less intimidating for you huh?" I say as I put the deck of cards into the box.

"I guess you could say that."

Suddenly I feel arms encircle around my stomach and I'm pulled against a flat hard chest. Tingles fly throughout my body and I lean my head back onto his shoulder.

Can we just stay like this forever?

"Jayden, don't you think you should go see your father?" I ask.

"No." he says.

He releases me from his embrace and I have to stop myself from whimpering like a little puppy. He steps around me and reaches for the cards. The mention of his dad must have upset him...

"Jayden you really should see him..."

He turns to me and I can see annoyance laced in his eyes, "Why? So he can tell me I can't be with you? I don't want to listen to his shit anymore- no, I can't listen to his shit anymore. He can't tell me how to live my life."

I reach out and grab his arm. I look down as I gently rub my thumb in a soothing motion on his forearm.

I sigh and say, "Jayden, I know he has been a pain for us, but you have to remember that in the end he agreed to come save me. You have to give him props. Maybe he even had a change of heart."

It's true. Words can't describe how shocked I was to hear that he had helped find me. I knew that he disliked me, but for the sake of his son, saved me. That has to be worth something, right?

"You don't know him Soph."

"Mabe not, but I like to give everyone a second chance."

"He doesn't deserve one."

"Sure he does. Please, just give him a chance."

He brings his hand to my chin. He lifts my face so I'm staring into his emerald eyes. I see a hint of strain along with something else I can't quite put my finger on.

"Why are you so forgiving of people?"

"Because I know that in the moment, you can make mistakes that you regret. Everyone deserves a chance to redeem themselves."

He smirks and shakes his head, "You are crazy."

"So is that a yes to talking to your dad?"

"It's a maybe."

I frown, "A maybe that is leaning toward the yes side?"

He laughs and shakes his head, "You sure are something, you know that?"

I smirk and grab his hand in mine. "I know that. Now come on, can we go see Lexi and Vince?" I ask excited, I really miss them.

It's been so long since I have seen either of them. I wonder if Lexi missed me as much as I missed her. No, she has other friends so she probably didn't miss me that much, but I still can't wait to see her!

He laughs and says, "Sure, I didn't bring my car though."

"We can use mine." I say with a happy smile.

I grab my keys from the rack and head out to my car, exited and ready to see my best friend.