I work for a few hours on some maps and paperwork before walking back down the hall to see Yvette standing there looking out the window.

"Yvette, we need to talk right now!" Storming up behind her spinning her around to look at me.

"Change your mind?" She puts a hand on my chest, walking a finger up it slowly.

"No, leave Kenna alone. I told you there is nothing between us; there never will be."

The smile on her face is almost bone-chilling. "But we mated last year."

"No, we did not. You were drunk so badly that you mated with some other drunk man. I never touched you, and I never will. Quit spreading these lies about us."

She laughs coldly. "They were not lies. You made love to me."

"Again, no, I did not" my voice is getting low and harsh now.

Yvette looks down the hall. "Why did you bring a human to court. She could get, um, hurt here if she is not careful."

Growling now, "I have taken precautions for that purpose. She is guarded for that reason. If you hurt her, then you will be banished off my lands and out of my kingdom. Do you understand me?"

She bows her head. "Yes, Alpha. I do understand."

I turn to walk back down the hall when she tackles me from behind in her wolf form. Flipping over, I throw her off me while shifting myself. She lunges at me as I bite down into her flank hard; she yelps while struggling to get out of my grip. I let go, but she lunges again; this time, I spin, pinning her under me, growling fiercely at her. She submits to where I back off. A scream pierces the hall, looking up to see Kenna standing there with her hand over her mouth, shaking. Shit! How did she get past my guard? Just then, the guard comes scrabbling down the stairs, grabbing her while picking her up taking her back to her room. I growl, then rush to my chambers, shift back, putting clothes on quickly. I am at her room within minutes, glaring at the guard. He was hit in the head with a broken flower vase scattered on the floor to where she slipped out. I knock on the door announcing myself.

"Kenna! Kenna, it's Bash." I hear crying, so my keys are pulled out to unlock her door. I walk in to see she is sitting on the bed, rocking back and forth, talking to herself. I sit down, touching her arm lightly. She jerks away, then clambering to the top of the bed.

"No, no, no! Would you please stay away from me? Would you mind not touching me? Did I see what I think I did?"

Trying to change the subject, "How did you get out of this room? I put that guard there to watch you so you would not."

She is shaking as she talks, "There was a crash outside the door, then I heard groaning as he hit the floor. I opened it to check on him then went to find you. I couldn't find you when I saw you... OH God! I saw two wolves fighting in the hallway. One looked up at me but did not charge. I turned to come back here when the guard brought me back."

Looking at her with a soft expression, "Someone knocked the guard out?"

"Y-Yes. So I came to find you," pointing a shaking finger at the door.

I bristle with anger because Yvette was behind this; I know it; she did that trying to scare her away from me.

"Come here, Kenna. I have some explaining to do to you," patting the side of the bed.

"Please don't hurt me, don't kill me."

Standing up slowly, putting my hands on my hips, "Why would I do that? I brought you here to keep you safe, not hurt you." I hold out my hand to her, but she looks at it like it is a snake making me sigh, turning to sit on the couch in her room. Sitting down, I lay my hands in my lap for a minute and take a deep breath. "Ask me anything you want to, I will answer it."

Her eyes dart around the room quickly, then settle on me. "What was that earlier? Did I really see what I think I saw? Were those really huge wolves?" she is trembling as she speaks.

"Yes, they were," using a soothing tone. Her eyes snap to mine as she shakes harder. "They will not harm you, Kenna. Your family has moved onto lands of what we call ourselves shifters. We are humans that can turn into wolves when we want to."

She points a shaking hand at me, and her eyes widen. "Your one too?"

"Everyone in the castle is one except for you. You're the only true human here, but we are mostly human with a wolf inside us that we can shift into."

She is now crying, making me want to comfort her so badly. "Why did you bring me here in the middle of all of this? I want to go home, please." She is now huddled up against her headboard.

"I can't do that, Kenna. You know about us now, so you can not leave with this knowledge."

"I won't tell a soul. I promise," seeing she has her body ready to fly out of here as soon as she can.

"It is not that easy. Earlier, you were not afraid of me; you walked on my arm, talked to me, laughed, and even ate a huge meal by my side. That is who I am, a human just like you are." I stand up, seeing her jump a little, then slowly walk over to the edge of her bed; I sit down looking at her. "Touch my hand." She shakes her head back and forth quickly. "Kenna, touch my hand."

"Please, don't hurt me" as she grabs a pillow wrapping her hands around it tightly. I move closer, making her shake harder. I lay my hand on top of hers while smiling.

"See, feel my flesh on your hand, feel the pulse that is beating in my arm. I will not hurt you; please believe me."

"Who was that in the hall earlier? Do you know who those two wolves were?" looking me over.

"Yes, I do; I am having it dealt with as we speak."

Master comes into play now. "Show her, please! I want her to see me, touch me with those fingers of hers."

"Not now, maybe soon," answering him back sharply.

"Hey, are you feeling fine? You look like you are distracted," as her body seems to relax a little.

"Sorry, my wolf was talking to me."

Kenna rares back, "They talk to you?"

"Yes, we communicate through a mind link. I can talk to him just like he can talk to me."

"Do they have names, or are they the same as your name?" she has let the pillow fall into her lap now.

"Each wolf has their own name. Mine is called Master."

"Do you name them?"

I chuckle while shaking my head no "They are named by the moon goddess when we are born. Our parents pick our names, but she picks our wolf's name. We learn about each other as we grow up. How to control them, how to shift, what each of us can do with the powers the wolf has."

Now she is getting a little interested. "Like supernatural powers?"

"Not really, we can't fly or nothing. We each can do things that someone else can't."

Shaking her head like trying to clear her mind, "Back to my other question, why did you bring me here among all these people?"

"We have what is called mates. The one person that we will spend the rest of our lives together with have children and live as a couple until we die."

"Oh, God! Am I someone's mate here as you call it?" her nerves are back in full force now.

"Yes, you are. You were brought here to bond with that person, to become a wife to him eventually."

"How do I know who that is?" her eyes are wide as saucers.

"The person who is willing to go out of their way for you spends all the time they can with that person plus is very interested in you." She looks at me then backs off the bed, hitting the floor. I rush around to the other side, helping her up slowly from her fall. "Hey, take it easy there. You hit your back pretty hard." I pick her up in my arms, making my whole body shiver with delight.

Master tries to come to the front, but I push him back quickly. "Mark her!"

"Shut up, please!"

"It's you. You asked me here, been guiding me around here yourself then tried to put me under lock and key to save me from that?"

Taking a deep breath, "I was going to talk to you tomorrow about this. It is not an easy subject to bring up to a human who has never been involved in our world. There will be games that involve shifting, so I did not want you freaked out. They are in two days, so I was going to tell you about all of this stuff before then."

Her hand slaps her forehead as she locks eyes with me. "Am I your mate, as you call it?" Sitting down on the bed with her in my lap feels so right and so good. I nuzzle my nose in her hair, taking in deep breaths.

"Yes, your scent tells me that you are mine."

She looks up into my eyes. "How, I am human?"

"It is rare, but there are pairings of humans to shifters. The human has to be changed by a transformation into a shifter."

"Why?" as her pulse kicks up to a faster beat.

"That is the laws of our kind. We live a very long time, so when we have children, you can not be a human to have them; it would kill you."

She looks at me with sadness in her eyes. "Would I still be able to see my family?"

"Yes, whenever you wanted to. You could never reveal anything about us to them through eventually you would have to stop since your aging is slowed way down. You will look young for years to come."

She takes a huge shuddering breath then looks at me, still with nervousness in her tone. "Can I see it?"

Furrowing my brows at her, "See what?"

"Your wolf?"