Since the next day was Saturday, Jaxon and I were able to sleep in. When we did wake up, it was to a beautiful sunny day. That prompted the idea that it should be a barbecue day, since we weren’t likely to get too many more days like this. That meant that we would be spending the entire day outside engaging in water fights and other outdoor activities that would result in us being soaked by the end. It promised to be a lot of fun.

            We had brunch inside and then we all moved out to the back of the house. Since we didn’t have a pool, the first order of business was to set up sprinklers and then the slip and slide. Marissa and I had changed into bikinis and the guys were all only wearing swimming trunks. Jared was a little hesitant to join in at first, but he started getting into the spirit of things when I chucked a water balloon at him. That started an all-out war that lasted for over two hours. When the last balloon had been demolished, I flopped down onto a lounger to relax and soak up the sun. Marissa stretched out in the lounger beside me while the guys started up a game of soccer.

            I slipped a pair of shades on and watched the boys running back and forth with a smile. “Jared seems to be warming up a little now.”

            “It must be hard for him, since he was a loner for his whole life until recently. And Derek’s pack isn’t as big as this one, so it must be strange to interact with so many other wolves his age.”

            I glanced over at her. “You can probably relate to him the most, since you were kind of thrown into this family as well. For me, it’s normal. I grew up in a pack setting and have known these guys forever. How long did it take for you to feel comfortable with us?”

            “I was lucky, because I had Chris. And you were so welcoming that I never really got a chance to feel uncomfortable. I may have only been with all of you for about six months, but it’s already hard for me to remember what it was like before I met you guys.”

            I returned my gaze to the soccer game. “I hope Jared is happy being in our pack. He seems like a nice guy and he’s a good addition to our little group I think. He’s more laidback, so maybe he can calm some of the wilder guys down.” At that moment, Jared tackled Sean to the ground in a bid to get to the ball. I sighed and shook my head. “Then again, maybe the other guys will be a bad influence on him.”

            Marissa let out a laugh. “That’s probably more likely to happen. There are nine of them and only one of him. I don’t think he really stands a chance.”

            I watched as the guys abandoned the soccer game to suddenly start a new game where the object seemed to be to see who could tackle who the hardest. When Jared pinned Chris to the ground and let a maniacal sounding laugh, I couldn’t help but grin. “You’re right; he doesn’t stand a chance.”

            We settled down to the serious business of sun tanning while the guys all continued to mess around. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the late summer sun, knowing that this was one of the last days this year that I’d get to do this. There was a good chance that in two weeks time there would be a layer of snow on the ground. The moody weather was part of the charm of living in Canada.   

            When a shadow fell over me, I frowned and opened my eyes to see Jaxon standing over me. “You’re blocking the sun,” I complained.

            He obligingly moved out of the way a little so that I was once again in the light. “We’re getting hungry, so I’m going to start the grill up. If you want us to eat anything that isn’t meat, you’ll have to make something.”

            I pulled my shades off and sighed. “I’ll make a salad, and you guys had better eat it. Are you going to make corn on the cob?”

            “Do we have some?”

            “No, but me and Marissa can run into town and get some.”

            He thought about it for a moment and then nodded. “Sure, if you go pick some up I can put them on the grill.”

            I looked over at Marissa. “You game?”

            “Sure.” She glanced down at herself. “I think we should probably put some more clothes on though, or our mates will both throw a fit.”

            “Good point. At least we’re dry now.” I held up a hand and Jaxon took it and pulled me to my feet. Instead of releasing me right away, he pulled me into a hug and nuzzled my neck and tickling me. I giggled and pulled away. “I’m not going to be gone long.”

            He tugged me into him again and kissed me soundly. “I know, but I’ll still miss you. Though I won’t mind you putting more clothes on; the other guys are having a hard time concentrating with the two of you lying here in just those bikinis,” he grumbled.

            “You weren’t having a hard time though?” I asked innocently.

            He rolled his eyes. “I always have trouble concentrating when you’re around, no matter what you’re wearing.” He kissed me again, longer this time, and then released me. “Hurry back.”

            “I will.” Marissa and I went inside and to our respective rooms. I pulled on some denim shorts and a tank top, then grabbed my flip flops and went back downstairs. Marissa came down a moment later and we both went out the front and got into Jaxon’s car.

            Within fifteen minutes we were in the grocery store in the produce section, trying to figure out how much corn to get. After grabbing three dozen, we decided to get some chips and a few other things while we were there. In the chip aisle, we ran into Tasha, who was with an older woman that was obviously her mother. I waved and stopped next to her. “Hey, how’s it going?”

            “Pretty good.” She eyes the contents of our basket. “Having a party?”

            “Just a barbecue. We’re enjoying the weather while it lasts.” I motioned to Marissa. “Have you two met yet?”

            When they both shook their heads, I introduced them to each other and then Tasha introduced us to her mom. “Did you and Jaxon work out your argument from yesterday?”

            I grinned. “Yeah, he apologized for being a jerk after school. I knew he would, though I did expect it to take a little longer. We’re both a little too stubborn for our own good sometimes.” I glanced at my watch. “We need to get going before the guys think we got lost.” I paused for a second. “Do you want to come over? There’s plenty of food.”

            Tasha looked at her mother. “Can I go?”

            Her mother frowned a little. “Are there any adults there?”

            I shook my head. “No ma’am, we’re all over eighteen and live there by ourselves. I promise that nothing bad will happen to your daughter though. We may seem young, but none of us drink or do drugs or even smoke.”

            She deliberated for a moment and then nodded. “Alright, but I want the address.”

            I gave it to her and then went to pay for the food with Tasha and Marissa following behind me and chatting away. After I’d paid, we went back into the parking lot and loaded everything into the trunk. Just as I was about to get into the car, I suddenly felt the presence of a strange wolf. A shudder raced down my spine when I sensed the same wrongness in the stranger as I had in Lena, though this one wasn’t quite as strong. I looked to my left and a guy my age caught my attention.

            His face was angular, but not unattractive. He looked to be about the same height as most of the guys in the pack, though not quite as muscular. His hair was the same colour as his twins, but his eyes were hazel instead of brown. As I watched him his attention focused on me, and there was a brief flash of madness in his eyes, but it was gone quickly. He gave me a cocky smile and waved a little before turning around and starting to walk away.

            “Mia? What are you staring at?” Marissa asked.

            I looked at her and then back at the guy I knew was Derek, only he wasn’t there anymore. I shook my head and got into the car. “Nothing, I was just lost in thought. Let’s get out of here.”

            I was tense as I drove home, but I managed to hide it from them. We arrived at the house and Tasha was impressed with the size of it. We got out of the car and brought the food around to the back where the guys were all hanging out. I couldn’t prevent myself from laughing a little at the expression on Tasha’s face. “Careful Tasha or you’re going to start drooling.”

            She pried her eyes away from all the half-naked males and gave me a sheepish smile. “Sorry.”

            “No problem. Make yourself at home; I just need to talk to Jaxon for a minute. Marissa will introduce you to everyone.” I walked over to Jaxon, who was grilling burgers. “Can I talk to you inside for a minute?”

            He nodded and handed the flipper to Chris before taking my hand and bringing me into the house. “What’s wrong?”

            “I saw Derek in town,” I told him.    

            He immediately tensed up. “Did he threaten you?”

            “No, I only saw him from a distance. But he had the same feeling of being off like Lena, though not quite as strong. And when he was looking at me, there was a bit of madness in his gaze, but it was only a quick glimpse. Then he waved and walked away.”

            Jaxon wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly. “Do you think he knew who you were?”

            I shrugged and curled my arms around his waist. “I’m not sure. There wasn’t any recognition in his look, but that doesn’t really mean anything. He could’ve just been looking at us because we were three girls, or he could have known who I was. But since he’s never seen me before, the second option is more unlikely.”

            Jaxon nodded and kissed the top of my head. “Still, I don’t think you or Marissa should go into town alone anymore. If he did know who you were, I don’t want to risk it.”

            “What about when we want to go shopping? Are you going to come with us?”

            “If you want to go to the city, then you two can go alone. But if you’re just going to town then one of the guys has to be with you.”

            “Okay.” I remained in his arms for a few more minutes and then reluctantly pulled away. “Let’s go back outside. I feel bad for leaving Tasha out there alone with only Marissa to protect her from the other guys.”

            He tipped my face up to plant a gentle kiss on my lips. “There’s a fair happening in the next town over this weekend. Do you want to go to it tomorrow? Jared just told us about it.”

            I smiled and nodded. “That could be fun. It’s been awhile since we’ve been to one.”

            “We’ll go in the morning then.” He took my hand and brought me back outside, where Tasha had seemingly settled right in. She was happily flirting with Sean and Tyson, while Marissa watched in amusement.

            I settled back onto the lounger I’d been on before, and a moment later Marissa and Tasha both stretched out in loungers beside me. “Having fun?” I asked Tasha.

            She nodded eagerly. “How do you ever get anything done with all that male yumminess running around all the time?”

            I laughed and gestured to Jaxon. “He’s the only one I find attractive out of the bunch. The others are all more like brothers or annoying cousins. Actually, Tyson is my cousin and Chris is my second cousin.”

            “Do you have any siblings?”

            “Yeah, an older brother. He’s a pain in the ass, but I love him anyways.”

            Tasha looked at Marissa. “What about you? Any brothers or sisters?”

            “I have a younger brother and an older sister. Do you have any?”

            Tasha shook her head. “No, I’m an only child. I think it would’ve been nice having a brother or sister growing up, but I have a lot of cousins so at least it wasn’t too lonely.” She watched as the guys started messing around again. “Are they always this rambunctious?”

            “Sometimes they’re worse. You should see what they get like when we have a Mariokart tournament. It can get pretty brutal.”

            We continued chatting until the food was nearly ready and then we went inside to make salads. Everyone tucked into the food and then we all pitched in to clean up. It was starting to get dark and cool out at this point, so we started a fire and gathered around it.

            Jaxon stood behind me with his arms wrapped around my waist and his chin resting on my shoulder. “I seem to remember you saying something about making me a batch of cookie dough to eat this weekend.”

            I laughed and turned my head a little so I could kiss him. “I’ll make you some tomorrow when we get home from the fair. Are any of the other coming with us?”

            “Tyson will go with Jared to pick up his car, but they might join us after. I think Chris and Marissa are going out somewhere on their own, so they won’t be with us. As for the others, I’m not sure. We’ll find out in the morning I guess.”

            “Are we still going up to see our families next weekend?”

            “I’m not sure yet. My dad might want to come here instead, depending on what happens during the week with Derek’s pack. Hopefully a couple of the other members of his pack will join us and he’ll leave our territory.”

            I turned in his arms so I was facing him. “But you don’t think he will, do you?”

            He shook his head. “No, I think there’s a reason he decided to come here. I don’t think he’ll leave until he’s accomplished whatever it is he’s set out to do.”

            “This still doesn’t make any sense to me,” I murmured. “What can he possibly want with our land when there is so much unclaimed land around us?”

            “I don’t know, but I plan to find out.” He rested his forehead against mine for a moment. “This is turning out to be more complicated than we originally thought it would be.”

            “At least once it’s resolved you should be nearly ready to take on your duties as Alpha.”

            He moved his head so he could nibble on my earlobe. “I think you and I will go on a little vacation first, just the two of us. Once I’m Alpha, we won’t have the opportunity to do that very much.”

            “Can we go somewhere tropical? I think I’d like lying around on a beach all day for a week.”

            “Only if it’s a private beach so I can have my way with you whenever I want.” He transferred his attention to the column of my neck. “And then you can just be naked all the time.”

            “And get sand in places where it really doesn’t belong? Thanks, but no.” When I felt his begin to suck on my skin in the same spot he’d left a mark a few days earlier, I pulled away and smacked his chest lightly. “That’s just starting to go away. Don’t make it any worse.”

            He grinned charmingly. “I like seeing that kind of mark on you. It lets everyone know that you’re mine.”

            “Sometimes I think I should get the words ‘I belong to Jaxon’ tattooed on my body somewhere,” I said dryly.

            He nodded sagely. “I like that idea.” He ran his hands down my back and cupped my ass. “Maybe right across here,” he murmured.

            “I’d rather get the words ‘Bite me’ tattooed there,” I muttered.

            He laughed and hugged me tightly. “If you did that, I’d be tempted to spend entirely too much time nibbling you.”

            “You’re probably right. I’ll remain ink free for now, at least until I figure out exactly what I want. Besides, I’d have to get over my phobia of needles before I could get one anyways.”

            “True. I’ve never met anyone who’s more afraid of needles than you. Last time you had to get a blood test I thought you’d broken my hand.”

            “I think it would take more than that to break you,” I said dryly. “Just wait until we start having kids and I go into labour. Then you should be worried about me breaking something.”

            “I’ll remember that,” he promised.

            I remained in his arms for most of the night. We had a lot of fun with everyone and Tasha got along with all the guys. I’d been hoping that she might have been a mate to one of them, but I’d also known it was a longshot. I’d just have to settle for having her as a friend and not a pack mate.

            When Tyson offered to take her home, Jaxon and I went up to our room. Before I had a chance to say anything, I suddenly found myself naked and on the bed, with Jaxon on top of me. We fooled around for the next hour and then I lay my head on his chest, listening to his speeding heart slowly go back to normal. “What time do you want to go to the fair tomorrow?” I asked.

            “Sometime in the morning. It should only take about half an hour to get there, so we’ll have most of the day that way.”

            “Okay. Good night.”

            “Good night Mia.”

            We went to the fair the next day and had a lot of fun. Jaxon won a big stuffed elephant for me and we went on all the rides twice. We ate a lot of food that probably wasn’t good for us and then we went home. Sean and Trey had joined us for part of the day, but they left before us. No one else had come, so it had been just me and Jaxon for most of the day.

            When we got home, I made him some cookie dough like I’d promised to. I made some of them into cookies but let him eat the rest. Tyson and Jared got back from Jared’s car, and Tyson was practically drooling over it. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Men and their cars,” I grumbled.

            Jared grinned shyly at me. “It’s a nice car,” he told me. “I restored it myself.”

            I pulled the last batch of cookies out of the oven and set them aside. I took my oven mitt off and turned to face him. “Well, let’s go see it then.” I looked over at Jaxon. “You coming?”

            “No, I think I’ll stay in here for now.” He rubbed his stomach and grimaced. “I think I ate too much cookie dough.”

            I laughed and kissed him on the cheek. “That’s what you get for acting like a kid,” I told him teasingly. “I’ll be back shortly then.”

            I went outside with Jared and raised an eyebrow at the car. “Wow, it is nice. Even I know that and I’m completely illiterate when it comes to cars.”

            Jared ran his hand lovingly over the hood of the shiny black convertible. “She’s my baby,” he admitted. “I spent two years working on her to get her into this condition.”

            “Do you drive it in the winter?”

            He shook his head. “No way, I only drive her when the weather is nice. Do you want to go for a ride?”

            I looked at the car for another minute and then shrugged. “Sure, that could be fun. I’ll just go let Jaxon know or else he’ll worry.”

            Jared climbed into the car. “You might want to put your hair up as well so it doesn’t get all tangled in the wind.”

            I nodded in agreement and turned away from him. I took three steps and heard the car start up. I had a moment to think that it sounded nice and then the world erupted around me. There was a loud booming sound and a wave of heat and then I was suddenly flying through the air. I slammed into the side of the house and heard a sickening crunch before everything went black.

**********************************************************************

I know everyone hates cliffhangers, but I'm hoping maybe this will encourage people to comment. I want to know that you guys are enjoying this. It takes only a minute to vote and comment, but it takes me a few days to write a chapter (due to lack of time). Should I keep writing this?