^^Julianna, AKA Ivy's Mom^^

Ivy's POV

When we arrive at the pack house, I'm not surprised when my mom comes rushing out. I quickly get out of the car and race towards her. We collide in a bone-crushing hug and I just laugh. I've missed this woman. My dad laughs at us before saying, "That's enough for now, Julianna. She needs to get settled."

 When she releases me, I walk back to the car to get my bag before taking my things inside and up to my room. The pack house is situated in the center of our territory, surrounded by trees on all sides with only one road leading to it. It has 3 floors, well that is if you don't include the basement that we use for weight training. The first floor is for the adult unmated males, but also includes the living room, kitchen, and dining hall. The second floor is for unmated adult females as well as teenagers. The third floor is for all mated pairs and their younger children. The house is set up this way as a security precaution. A lot of wolves would have to be taken out before anyone could reach our pups.

^^The Crimson River Pack House^^

After dropping my things off, I head back down and straight to the kitchen where I know my mother will be with some of the other pack females making dinner. I join them in preparing the feast while being grilled about Asher. By the time we are done, the house has become loud as everyone makes their way to the dining hall. I have really missed this.

The next morning, I'm woken early to go on a run with the pack. It feels so nice to be here, running free. Emersyn is loving it, too, though neither of us can wait to return to Asher. We run for hours, spanning the entirety of our territory. When we finish, I join the pack warriors for training. I love this. When we are told to pair up for sparring, I make a show of calling out Brock. He looks surprised at first, but after some jeering from some of the other guys about him being scared of a girl, he accepts my invitation with a gleam in his eyes.

I know I look completely outmatched. I'm 5'8 and weigh 150 pounds, my muscles are toned but lean. Standing next to Brock, I look minuscule. He has almost a foot and a good hundred pounds on me. Nevertheless, I know I can take him. I smile sweetly at him as he stalks forward, looking determined to win this match. Instead of sparring like they should, the others surround us placing bets on the winner.

As Brock gets within striking distance, I crouch low to the ground. I can see in his eyes that he is expecting me to attack him straight on, so to get the advantage, I quickly spring up. Flying gracefully through the air I flip, and just as my body lines up directly over his, I reach down wrapping my arm around his neck. With the amount of power I put behind my grand leap, I am easily able to lift him off his feet. The momentum carries him up and I let go just before my feet touch the ground, sending him sailing haphazardly through the air, crashing on to the ground several feet in front of me. I don't even pause as I land, instead I taking a running leap and landing directly on top of his back as he lies face down in the dirt. I quickly grab both of his arms, wrenching them behind his back as I forcefully shove my knee onto the back of his neck. He struggles for several minutes to no avail, before finally tapping out. I quickly hop off of him before helping him to his feet.

"That was fun." I tell him.

"For you, maybe." He grumbles petulantly. I just laugh.

We all take turns fighting each other for the next several hours, only stopping for a lunch break around noon before heading back out. I've missed challenging myself this way. We usually only train until about two o'clock, but today Keegan pushed us a bit longer before finally dismissing us at 2:30.

I sprint back to the house, taking the stairs two at a time as I head up to my room. I quickly shower off the sweat, dirt, and blood in my ensuite bathroom before getting dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. Checking the clock I see that it's a quarter till three so I head back down to the kitchen for a snack. I scarf down a peanut butter sandwich, then decide to go see where Brock is, and make sure there are no hard feelings. I try to contact him through the pack link but he doesn't respond. Then when I can't find him around the house, I ask a passing warrior and am told that Brock was seen heading up the driveway towards the gated access road about twenty minutes earlier.

I decide to let Emersyn out instead of walking since she hasn't been able to get out much all week. I go out to the porch before stripping down and placing my clothes in a small bag. As soon as I surrender control, Emersyn surges forward. It's always momentarily disorienting shifting forms, but as soon as she regains her composure, she grabs the strap of the bag and begins a slow trot down the road.

As we get closer to the end, Emersyn begins to speed up while sniffing the air. The scent on the breeze makes no sense. I could swear I smell Asher. Veering to the right, Emersyn takes cover in the trees as she continues to follow the scent.

'That is definitely Asher, what do you think he is doing here?' Emersyn asks.

'I don't know, Emmy, but maybe we should shift back. It wouldn't do for him to see you just yet.' I tell her.

She doesn't fight me when I take back the reigns and throw our body back through the shift before quickly redressing. I head back out of the tree line and begin to run at my top speed, letting my muscles fully extend their power for the first time in over a week. Just before I go around the final bend, I slow to what would be considered a normal human pace. As I round the curve, I see an older model blue Kia idling outside the gate and in the driver's seat is none other than my mate. Brock is standing at the guard shack clearly in a heated debate with the wolf on duty, but they stop and turn to me as I reach them.

"What's going on?" I ask them.

"This guy," Brock says, pointing at the guard," says that because I'm only a temporary pack member here that I'm not allowed to have visitors. I invited your mate to surprise you because he really helped me out of my funk yesterday, but apparently, that isn't allowed. I even made sure to warn everyone about not shifting for a while because a human was coming."

I turn to Felix, one of the oldest unmated males in our pack at 36, and say,"Your diligence in your regard to the safety of our pack is to be commended. That being said, open the gate. The person you are keeping out is my mate."

"I tried to tell him that." Brock mutters under his breath.

"My apologies, Ivy." He turns back to his post and presses a button causing the gate to slowly swing open.

"None needed. Thank you, Felix." I say before turning to the slowly approaching car, grinning widely at Asher. When he pulls up alongside us, Brock jumps in the backseat without even waiting for Asher to fully stop. I roll my eyes at him before going around and getting in the passenger side. Turning to Asher, I see that he looks unsure of his welcome, so I quickly press a soft kiss to his cheek. "I'm so happy to see you! This is a wonderful surprise."

"I'm glad you think so. I was beginning to think I would be sent packing." He chuckles. Asher slowly begins to drive forward, heading towards the pack house.

'Ivy, you should tell him now while he is here. This is the perfect opportunity.' Emersyn says excitedly.

Feeling my stomach flip, I think it over. No matter when I choose to tell him, there will always be the possibility of rejection. If I do it now, then at least I will know.

'Alright. Once we get to the house, I'll take him for a walk. He likes walks. It will be fine. Tell me it will be fine, Emmy.' I beg.

'Of course, it will. He is our mate. He loves you.' She reassures.

I nod determinedly. All too soon we pull up in front of the house. Asher turns off the car, before opening the door and getting out. Placing my hand on the handle, I take a deep calming breath before purposefully stepping out of the car. With a final bit of reassurance from Emersyn, I step towards Asher. Okay. This is it. I can do this. I take his hand, and resolutely lead him towards the woods.