{Alpha Tyler}

The door that Mary and I got sucked into led us to inside Mary's bedroom. Mary somehow slept through the whole entire thing! She was on the bed sleeping as if nothing had happened.

What the hell? I thought.

Yeah I know. We should get going because you're still in your wolf form and I'm pretty sure Mary would freak out if she saw a wolf in her bedroom when she wakes up. Jacob thought.

Agreed! I thought. Without another word I ran out the house as fast as I could.

***

When I got back to the main house I ran into Theo. He nodded. "Yeah I know I saw it and there's video evidence of what happened on the security cameras."

"What!" I said.

"Come with me," Theo said.

As soon as we got to the security room that monitors all of the cameras on pack grounds we took a look at what happened outside Mary's house. My eyes went wide when I saw what was on the screen.

"Yeah," said Theo, "Good thing we have the video footage because strange things tend to happen around your mate."

"No kidding!" I said, "I wonder if this has anything to do with her powers? If they keep growing like this, who knows what'll happen!"

"Okay first of all, take a deep breath and try to calm down," Theo said. "Second, I say we just monitor her for now and if something happens we need to inform her friend Sharry who's been helping us with this. She'll know what to do to keep Mary from self destructing at least. I know you're worried and believe me I'm worried too but we need to take this one step at a time."

"Okay so what's the first step?" I asked.

Theo looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. When he looked back at me he said, "We have to come up with a way to get Mary to shift into her wolf form. Maybe once we do that, she'll accept that she's half werewolf?"

"Okay then, any ideas?" I said.

"Hmmm, what about using those techniques that you use on the young pups to get them to shift into their wolf form until they can do it at will?" Theo suggested.

"Maybe that might work," I said, "but we have yet to tell her that she's living amongst a pack of werewolves who want her to be their next Luna. How do we get her to the point where at least we can tell her about that?"

"Well how about asking her out on a date?" Theo said.

"I don't know if that would work," I said. "Sharry told me Mary's been relentless about refusing to get a boyfriend for some reason."

"Maybe she's waiting for someone special?" Theo said.

I shook my head. "I have no idea."

Theo leaned up against a nearby wall and looked like he was thinking hard about something. "You could ask her on a date indirectly."

"Uh, indirectly?" I repeated. "How-"

"Ask her to go get some coffee or something like that with you? You can take Lauren with you so Mary won't suspect that she's on a date. And gradually win her over." Theo said.

"Okay, taking her to get some coffee or something like that would work but how am I supposed to gradually win her over?" I questioned.

Theo facepalmed. "Oh for crying out loud you're totally clueless aren't you?"

I looked at him. "Huh?"

"Let's see you've had two girlfriends before you found out Mary was your mate right?" Theo said.

I nodded. "Yes, your point?"

"How did you win your first girlfriend over?" Theo asked.

"Well we were childhood friends and we realized that we liked each other. We dated for a while and then figured out it just wasn't working out so we broke up." I replied.

"Okay what about your second girlfriend?" Theo said.

"I met her at a party and found out that she was a werewolf and I took her out on a couple of dates and stuff like that," I answered. "I thought I was falling for her when I found out that Mary was my mate, I broke up with her. She didn't take it so well at first but she understood when I told her about Mary." I said.

"And when did you find out that Mary was your mate?" Theo asked.

"You know the story Theo! But I'll tell you about it again. I remember I was doing my usual morning run in my wolf form when I saw the most beautiful wolf I had ever seen! Her fur was a mixture of brown and black fur. It looked like she had mostly black fur with brown highlights to me. The brown highlights looked a lot like tiger stripes going down her back. She had brown patches of fur on her paws and ears. She also had one strip of gold colored fur going across her forehead that made it look like she was wearing a crown or some type of tiara.

"I was going to say hi to her but she turned tail and ran off for some reason," I said. "I could tell from her scent that she was a hybrid what she was mixed with, I had no idea. So I followed her and that's when I found out she was a witch. I needed to be extra certain that she was a hybrid so I told dad about her and he tracked her down with me and we confirmed that she was indeed a hybrid. But since she was also a witch we had to watch at a distance.

"However, her mother saw us and she knew what we were and why we were there at the covens borders. After that day I have yet to see Mary shift into her wolf again," I paused. "Okay where are you going with this Theo?"

"You've had two girlfriends and you knew how to court them. I mean okay Mary might be a little bit difficult to win over because of her situation," Theo said. "But like I said, date indirectly so she won't suspect anything. And when you get close to her start using those techniques to get her to shift into her wolf but indirectly just like the dates."

"You know what?" I said, "That's not a bad idea! Thanks Theo!"

Theo shrugged. "There's no thanks needed but you can thank me when Mary becomes our Luna. Mary becoming our Luna will be all the thanks I need."

He looked at the time and yawned. "I'm going to bed now. There's a few hours before the sun rises and I go on the morning patrol."

I nodded. "Yeah but really thanks for the tips."

"Since you insist on thanking me, you're welcome!" Theo said.

Theo and I parted ways and I went back to Mary's house to sleep outside in my wolf form and Theo went back to bed.

***

{Mary}

I had that dream again or it's more like the flashback of the day that I saved my classmates, teachers and that bus driver from a burning school bus. Even though it's been over a decade since this has happened I can still feel the heat from the flames inside the bus. I can still smell the smell of something burning like I smelled before the bus caught on fire. I had no idea why my senses are so heighted but I guess I just have a sensitive nose or something like that.

Tonight was no different. I had been staying at the Amoria's guest house or I should say cabin for a week now and this is the first time in a while that I've had that dream.

When I woke up from that nightmare I was relieved to see that I was in my bedroom that I was staying in currently. But I woke up in a cold sweat this time. I looked at the clock on my nightstand and it was eight am in the morning. On top of that it was the weekend and I usually take days off on the weekend. Trust me this time around editing Lauren's book I needed the break.

I got out of bed and opened up the curtains in my bedroom and smiled as the sunlight poured into my bedroom. I don't sleep naked. I usually wear a black t-shirt and gray sweatpants to bed.

There was a knock on the door and I heard Lauren's voice say, "Hey Mary are you in there? I need to talk to you, don't worry, it's not about the book, it's about something else."

"Uh okay, I'm coming!" I said. I grabbed my robe, put it on and answered the door. "Hi there, what's up?"

"Well I thought since you've been working so hard on my 'book' that you should take a break and go out somewhere with me," Lauren said.

I nodded. "Alright, sure that's fine. Where are we going?"

"The movies," answered Lauren, "There's this action movie that I really want to see, if you don't mind can I see what's in your wardrobe?"

"Okay sure." I said.

I followed Lauren into my bedroom and chuckled when she walked into the closet and shook her head in dismay. I don't own a signal dress and I don't plan on getting one anytime soon. Not to mention I don't own any designer brands despite making a decent salary from editing books. My wardrobe is pretty simple, I wear the same thing everyday a black shirt and black jeans complete with black sneakers. About the only thing that's close to formal business wear would be a black business suit jacket with black pants and black dress shoes. Yes my favorite color is black of course which is why most if not just about all of my wardrobe is black.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"And don't worry I know you're a witch your friend Sharry told me about it," Lauren said. "And most witches in your coven wear the color black which works because your favorite color is black."

My jaw dropped. "Okay well that's good to know. Just exactly how much did Sharry tell you about me?"

"Enough to know that you're a wonderful person!" Lauren chirped. I had a feeling that she was lying because my cop instincts heightened my suspicions about people. I didn't say anything about it, I just shrugged instead.

"Honestly I think we need to do some shopping today before the movie," Lauren said.

"Okay, why?" I asked.

"I think it would be great for you to at least change some things up before you go out in public. I mean not that your wardrobe is bad or anything like that, at least add one new outfit into the mix," Lauren said. "How long has it been since you've bought a new outfit?"

I didn't have to think about my answer so I said, "Five years ago when I started working as a cop."

Lauren whistled. "Wow, why don't you get a new outfit more often?"

"Because shopping is a hassle and a headache," I said. "But if you insist I go get a new outfit. So what time does the movie start?"

"At 1pm," said Lauren, "so get dressed and we'll grab a bite to eat before the movie starts."

I nodded. "Alright then, sure."

So I took a shower, got dressed and went shopping with Lauren.

***

I was trying so hard not to be bored as I tried the fifteenth outfit for the day mostly because I wasn't really liking any of the outfits that Lauren picked for me. I mean sure they had the color black in them and thankfully she didn't dare pick out a dress for me to wear but none of them seemed to look right on me.

"Look I know you're bored but let's try one more outfit and this is the last one," Lauren said.

"You said that about the other outfits!" I groaned.

Lauren chuckled, "You know you sound like Tyler when I go shopping with him sometimes. Oh I forgot to mention that he's going to meet up with us at the movie theater since he and a friend of his are going to see the same movie as us."

"Okay then, so how much more time do we have until the movie starts?" I asked.

Lauren pulled out her cell phone and looked at the time. "Looks like we have two hours left. I know it's hard to believe we've been shopping all morning huh?"

I nodded. "Yes. Okay one more outfit and if I don't like it then we'll call it quits on the shopping for today and go again on a later date."

"Alright then, hmm let's see…" Lauren said as she walked around the store for a bit. She scanned the rack of clothes in front of her until she spotted something that I actually agreed would probably look good on me. The outfit was a gray v-neck shirt with a white sleeveless button up shirt underneath it and Lauren matched them with a pair of gray pants and a brown belt. She handed the outfit to me. "Here try this on."

I nodded and went into the dressing room and tried it on. When I tried it on I actually liked what I saw. So I went back out and showed Lauren the outfit and she liked it. She breathed a sigh of relief after we paid for the outfit and I left the store wearing it. "You know what? I thought you weren't going to find anything!"

"Okay would that be a bad thing?" I asked.

"Not really, I just hate going to more than one store multiple times just to find a new outfit," Lauren said.

"That's another reason why I don't go shopping," I said. "It's too much work, I guess you could say I'm lazy in the wardrobe department."

Lauren chuckled, "I can see that. Well let's go grab something to eat at the nearby café because the theater is right down the hall from that."

Before we even got to the café I spotted him, there he was standing there as if he was waiting for us. Lauren smiled. "Oh yeah there he is! Tyler seems to have gotten here a lot earlier than I thought he would. Oh and it looks like he brought a friend." She blinked and then narrowed her eyes.

I frowned. "Okay is there something wrong?"

She regained her composure and shook her head. "Nope nothing's wrong."

I looked to see standing next to Tyler, a young woman about my age with long black hair and green eyes. She was wearing a red dress and the skirt was a mini skirt. She smiled at me and I could've sworn that she had a twinkle in her eye.

"Hi there I'm Sasha," the woman said after she extended her hand to me and I shook it.

I frowned again when I saw Lauren and Tyler practically glaring at her. What the hell?

Well obviously they don't like this woman for some reason, Danger snickered, I have no idea what she did and if I were you I wouldn't care.

I shrugged and didn't think anything of it because whatever happened was between them and didn't have anything to do with me.

"Why are you here Sasha?" Tyler said.

"What? I just wanted to meet her!" Sasha said defensively.

"You know what, fine you can stay here for now…" Tyler said. "But next time don't get involved in this because this doesn't have anything to do with you."

"Okay, fine…" Sasha said.

I raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but wonder why Tyler and Lauren were so angry with Sasha. Then I realized that I had to go to the bathroom so I excused myself.

***

{Alpha Tyler}

I wanted to drag Sasha out of the café and yell at her but I kept my composure the best I could. The only reason that I didn't like Sasha being there was because she's my ex-girlfriend before I found out that Mary was my mate. I wondered if she was there to scare Mary off so she could be with me again. But when I found out the answer to that question it was very surprising.

"Seriously Sasha if you scare Mary off I swear…" I growled.

Sasha snorted. "Seriously? Do you really think I'm that hung up on you that I would do something petty to get back with you? Yeah no."

Lauren went from glaring at Sasha to smiling for some reason. "Oh yeah that's right, you're gay am I correct?"

Sasha nodded. "Yup! The only reason I was mad that you broke up with me Tyler was because I wanted to dump you first!"

My jaw dropped. "Huh?"

"Oh yeah I wasn't too happy when the Goddess paired you up with Mary because I was jealous of you not Mary," Sasha said.

I couldn't help but feel shocked about what I just heard. But then I thought about what happened in our relationship especially when it came down to sex. "Wait… So you're gay? Is that why you never wanted to have sex with me?"

Sasha nodded. "Bingo! Too bad I found my mate after you broke up with me. He knows and he's fine with it as long as I fulfill my 'mate duties' like giving him children and whatnot it's all good."

At this point in the conversation Lauren was doubled over in laughter. When she composed herself she said, "And here I was thinking you were going to scare Mary off to get back with Tyler but I forgot you were gay so you're here to scare Tyler off to be with Mary!"

I narrowed my eyes. "Like I said you can stay for now but no funny business! Especially not with my mate!"

Sasha rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah sure. But do you want any pointers on how to pick up a girl?"

I felt my cheeks heat up at that statement so I looked away. "Uh, no I think I got this under control."

"Uh-huh sure you do!" Lauren said, "Let's how many people did you need to help you get to the point so that you can at least say hi to her?"

Sasha gave me a look of disbelief when I looked back at her. "Seriously? You do realize it's not that hard to say hi right?"

"I get it, gee I'm never going to live this down aren't I?" I said.

"Bingo again! Wow you're getting really good at this game!" Sasha said with sarcasm, "You know why don't you just try treating her like a normal person? Just act natural you know like how you act around Theo, Lauren and me. Other words… be her friend."

"Exactly how-" I started to say.

Sasha facepalmed. "Yup, you're clueless."

"Well you can start by buying the snacks since we haven't really eaten anything yet," Lauren said. "Don't worry we'll make sure you get a seat next to her."

"Get a seat next to who?" I heard Mary say.

Lauren turned around and smiled at her. "Nothing, let's go grab some snacks. Yes I know we got here a little bit earlier than planned. The previews start in like fifteen minutes." She looked at Tyler. "And Tyler you're paying for the snacks. Good thing we already got our tickets. I heard this movie is supposed to be really good! From what I heard the tickets sold out the first three days it was in theaters!"

Mary whistled. "Wow it must be good if that happened."

"Alright then, let's get going and get good seats before the previews start," Lauren said.

Mary nodded and we went to get the snacks and get our seats before the previews started.

***

{Mary}

The movie was an action movie just like Lauren described. I was thoroughly enjoying the movie until there was one scene that had the bad guy blowing up a school bus. That scene triggered that memory.

I felt the heat from the school bus again when the fire started. Normally by this time in the flashback the door would appear and I would save everyone by using my magic and whatnot. But for some reason this flashback played in a loop. Not to mention, when I turned around I saw a gray and white wolf with black eyes staring at me. For some reason I could communicate with this wolf by thought much like I do with Danger all the time.

Hi there, my name is Jacob. The wolf thought.

I blinked and thought, Uh okay? What are you doing here? And why are you in my memory because I sure as hell don't remember talking to a wolf after the school bus catches on fire!

Oh so that's what this is! It's a memory! You went into a trance after the last scene in the movie you're watching! I came to help get you out of this! Just follow me and you'll be okay! Jacob thought.

I nodded and when I followed Jacob that's when a door appeared in front of us. How in the world this strange wolf was able to figure out how to get me out of this situation I have no idea. Honestly, I'm not even going to try and understand what the hell just happened.

***

{Alpha Tyler}

I was scared silly when Mary went into this strange trance after the scene in the movie when the school bus crashed and caught on fire.

Let me help her! I know how to get her out of this! Jacob thought.

I agreed because he's done this before with my other pack members that have issues with flashbacks. That's exactly what happens when someone in my pack is dealing with that. They go into a trance and it's hard to get them to snap out of it. Somehow Jacob seems to have this talent to pull people out of their memories. I wondered though if the memory had something to do with the day she saved everyone on a burning school bus moments before it exploded.

When Jacob came back to me he told me that Mary was standing in a school bus that caught on fire and the memory kept repeating itself.

It annoyed me that Sasha kept making googly eyes at Mary the whole entire time I was helping. I communicated to Sasha through a mindlink, Sasha keep your eyes on the movie! Somethings going on with Mary and I'm trying to help her.

Huh? What's going on? Sasha thought.

She seems to be in some sort of trance, I sent Jacob to help her. I thought.

Sasha nodded and went back to watching the movie. Lauren on the other hand, was too busy watching the movie and munching on popcorn to care about what was happening to Mary.

Finally after a moment or two Jacob came back and Mary snapped out of her trance. She seemed a bit disoriented.

"Are you okay?" I whispered.

She shook her head. "Not really. I need to step outside for a bit. Can you come with me?"

I was a little bit surprised by that because I figured she might ask Sasha or Lauren to help her. I nodded and followed her outside.