Chapter Two

Natalie had never been on a horse before and this was just amazing, the breeze in her hair, the night coming upon them, this was unlike anything she had ever experienced in her life..She sat and soaked up her surroundings, they were literally in the woods and trees were whipping by them, it was an incredibly beautiful sight..

"You ok back there" John finally said making her snap from her thoughts..

"yeah, its beautiful" she said with a smile and he grinned too as Shadow trotted along, they came to a stop at a nearby lake and her eyes got wide..."is this?" she said without finishing her sentence..

"sure is" he said as he hopped off the horse and helped her get down, they stood literally inches apart and she looked up at him, god there was something about him, something that stirred her inside, she quickly blushed and looked away as he took her hand.."come on, you will love this" he said as he walked her to the waters edge and she looked down and saw all the different multicolored fish swimming without a care in the world.."so what do you think" he looked at her and she glanced down at their interlocked hands and she slowly pulled her hand away from his and swallowed hard..

"its the way i remember it" she said as she walked away some and he followed her..

"I remember when you used to be scared of water" he said as she glanced back at him..

"You taught me how to swim in there" she said as she remembered and she smiled..

"you were a quick learner" he grinned and she rolled her eyes..

"yeah well i was scared to death" she said as she stopped and looked out..

"are you still scared" he said as he looked at her and the tension between them turned into something else, something she couldnt quite understand..

She swallowed hard.."No, not scared", a sound seem to catch his attention as he quickly looked around.."what is it" she asked as she looked at him, he looked tensed for a moment..

"nothing we should go" he said as his mood quickly changed and he walked over to the horse, she swallowed hard again as she walked over and he got onto the horse, he quickly pulled her up and they left, he didnt say anything else for the duration of the ride back home, it was strange and uncomfortable and right about now she wanted nothing more than to just get inside, this was all a bit too weird for her..

Back at the stable he quickly got off the horse and helped her down, he seemed heavy in thought as he got the horse back in the stable, Natalie was sort of feeling the same way.."we should get inside" he said quickly as he began walking and she followed..

"is something wrong" she finally asked, i mean he seemed like a man on a mission right now and he was being very short and clipped, as if he was worried about something..

"everything is fine natalie, you should get some sleep, you had a long day" he said quickly as he walked past her as they got into the house and he immediately walked into the livingroom where she could hear him and her father talking, she couldnt make out any words, she could just hear their tones and it sounded a bit frantic..

"do you want some tea" Victoria said from behind her and she jumped a little..

"No i um, i think im gonna go to bed, im kind of tired" she lied as she walked past the woman and then began heading up the stairs, she could see John and her father and they looked heavy in conversation, she quickly shook off the strange feeling she had and she went into her room, today had been one hell of a day and she was a bit nervous to see what tomorrow would bring..

Natalie pulled out the picture from her dresser and looked at it, she sighed heavily as she held onto it and then she quickly fell asleep..

John looked at Clint as they sat across from one another in the livingroom, their voices were just above a whisper as they spoke.."the others are getting anxious and want to see her, we should just tell her" John began as Clint ran a hand through his hair..

"its too soon, i cant have her freaking out and running off" Clint began with a shake of his head..

"i think she may be ok about it" John began as Clint shook his head some more...

"You know that you are the last person who should be saying that, your too biased" he began with a serious tone..

"You cant expect me to just sit around and wait, you know what she is to me" John said anxiously..

"and she is still my daughter regardless of the ties you have to her and she is still a child" Clint said protectively..

"she is a grown woman and in less than thirty days she will see the truth, the only way i can protect her is by telling her" John began possessively..

"Listen John, i knew that by bringing her back here it would stir you up inside but for god sake keep it in your pants" Clint said with annoyance..

"dont patronize me Clint, i have waited a long time to see her again and we both know that if you didnt go and bring her back then she would of came looking for me, its in her blood" John said as he stood now, he was losing his patience with all of this. Now that he had Natalie there and under the same roof, well he wanted to claim her before someone else tried to..

"You may be the Alpha of this pact but you still obey my rules when under my roof and i say we give this time" Clint said as he stood and the men stared at one another..

"Oh for the love of god stand down you two, were not at war here" Victoria said as she came into the room and they both looked at her.."we all want whats best for Natalie" she said quickly as John huffed and then he walked from them..

"Im going for a run" he said as he walked out the front door and Victoria walked over to Clint as he shook his head..

"he has let all of this power go to his head" he said with frustration..

"Oh please Clint, i do remember when you were just as hot headed" she said with a smile..

"Yeah well that was different" he began as she touched his face..

"No that was exactlly the same, thats why you came looking for me after all those years" she said with a smile as she caressed his face..

"yeah well you surely werent barely legal" he huffed..

She rolled her eyes.."Just give him some space, you know how it is when you find the one, i mean at one time we too were insepertable" she smiled seductively and he smiled some now..

"you say that as if it is past tense" he grinned as he swooped her up in his arms and she laughed some..

"Hmmm someone is feeling fiesty tonight" she smirked as he leaned down and kissed her lips softly..

"apparently its in the air tonight" he grinned as he quickly wisked them off to their bedroom..

Natalie laid in the bed and stared at the ceiling, it was dark in there now and her mind was racing with images of John.. It made her feel uncomfortable, what she was feeling for him, i mean granted he was gorgeous but he was technically her brother, well step brother to be exact and here she was thinking of him in a very unbrotherly kind of way, she almost wanted to laugh as she rolled on her side and put her hands under her head. Tomorrow she would find a way to contact Billy, she would and everything would be back to normal, or atleast she hoped..

John didnt get any sleep at all, his mind was anxious as well as his body, even the run he took earlier did nothing to calm the animal in him, he ached for her, craved her even more so then he had in the last few years, cause now she was there and within his reach and his fear was that she would slip away from him..

He had only made Alpha staus nearly two years ago on his nineteenth birthday, it had been his birth right, his father was a great alpha of the pact and taken too soon from his mother and from their family and then Clint came along and as much as he respected the man for staying by his mother, well he was no alpha and he didnt fully understand what it meant to be one and what it meant when you found your mate, and his mate was Natalie, he had felt it in his bones before he even realized what he was..

The others around him felt the presence too, there was an air about him, one that forced others to obey and respect. At the age of 18 when he found out what he truly was he embraced it as if he needed it as much as he needed to breath air, this was his calling and it came as natural as anything else would.

He saw the world differently now, he felt differently but he also felt incomplete and he knew the only way to fix that was to claim her as his own, only then could things be the way they should be, but Clint had kept her away too long and he knew that he had done so as to protect her but John worried that it would destroy her now, its not every day that you are told you are the next alpha female in line, and a werewolf to boot not to mention you are destined to be with someone with whom you looked at like your brother..

But today he had seen a glimpse of something, she had felt the pull too even though he could see it scared her to feel that way, oh how he wanted to just tell her right then and there, to clear the air so to speak, to let her know what she was and what she would be, he wanted her to know that she was his and only his but maybe Clint was right, maybe all she needed was time, maybe in time she would come to see for herself and it would be easier on all of them involved..

Natalie awoke to the bright sunlight coming down on her as she squinted and groaned.."rise and shine Natalie" Jessica said with an overly excited tone as Natalie groaned some more.."come on sleepy head, you cant sleep the whole day away" jessica said as she came and sat on the bed and natalie now looked at her, seriously who was this jessica imposter?

"what time is it?" she said with a half asleep tone..

"nearly two, you must of been tired" jessica said as natalie sat straight up now..

"two? As in the afternoon?" she said in shock as she looked at a wide eyed jessica who stood up now..

"Yep and lunch is almost ready" she grinned big..

"what? How did i sleep so long" she said with confusion as she looked at the clock next to her and it read a quater to two, she was shocked, she had never ever slept this late..

"You must of been tired" Jessica said with a shrug of her shoulders.."so i took the liberty of putting some clothes out for you, i think were the same size" jessica said in an overly excited tone as if she had just drank a full pot of black coffee, maybe with a few red bulls thrown in, natalie looked at the end of the bed and saw the clothes laying there.."Now i know its not what your use to wearing but we can go shopping once your up and ready" Jessica grinned big..

"shopping?" she said again with confusion, she was really starting to believe she was in the twilight zone or something..

"yeah silly" Jessica laughed..."now get up and get ready, i will be downstairs" she said as she skipped out of the room and Natalie sat there rubbing her head, what in the hell was going on?

Meanwhile John had been up for hours, he had used his energy to prep the horses and clean out the stable, he had wanted to go see her first thing this morning but he also knew he had to take it slow otherwise he would end up freaking her out and that was the last thing he needed..

Word had traveled quick around the pact that Natalie was back and they were all anxious to meet her, to meet the new female Alpha who was to run the pact with John, he had told them all to be patient that it wasnt time yet but that didnt stop many of them from bothering him, especially his second in command, a very large guy who stood nearly seven feet tall and with a muscular build that would put any weight lifter to shame, his name was Steele..

"so is she everything you expected her to be" Steele said as John finished up with the horses and looked at his friend..

"even more so" he said honestly as Steele grinned..

"well good for you man, so how is she adjusting?" he asked with curiousity..

John looked back at the horse..."Good considering" he said as he stared at his horse..

"good considering? What the hell does that mean, i want details" Steele laughed a deep, full chested laugh..

"she doesnt know alright" John finally snapped at him as Steele's eyes got wide and he just stared at his friend.."its a little complicated right now" he said as an explanation..

"complicated? I would say that is down right messed up, how does she not know, i thought you were telling her" Steele couldnt believe his ears..

"i was, but the timing isnt right, she needs more time" John tried to distract himself with the horse..

"More time? In less than thirty days she is gonna transform, then what? Oh man" Steele sighed.."You gotta tell her man, this could get very very dirty"

"you dont think i know that" John said in a clipped tone...

"geez calm down" Steele said as he put his hands up in a defeat stance as John looked at him..

He ran a hand through his hair.."Listen im just a bit frustrated" he said honestly..

"yeah i can see that, im sure it will be fine" Steele began as Johns eyes darted to the back door of the house, he immediately saw her red hair as she stood there with what looked like a cup of coffee in her hand, Steele turned and looked too, his eyes getting wide.."wow" he said honestly..

John looked at him quick.."Lets not go there ok"

"Sure thing boss" Steele smirked..

John rolled his eyes.."You know i hate it when you call me that"

"Ok then how is big dog" Steele laughed as he nudged John..

"Oh you wanna play this game huh" John said as he lunged at Steele and the two of them began wrestling on the ground as Natalie's eyes locked in on them, a gasp left her mouth as she watched the fight start..

"Oh dont worry about them two, boys will be boys but my money is on the big guy Steele" Jessica laughed as Natalie looked at her..

"their playing?" she said in shock, it actually looked like they were fighting..

"You should see them when they have a few drinks in them" Jessica laughed as Natalie looked back out at them.."so the dress suits you" Jessica smiled as she admired Natalie's sundress, hence her dress...

"yeah im not much for dresses" she began uncomfortably, it was just about the only thing she could find that was half decent to wear.."I mean i am sure it looks great on you" she said quickly as to not insult her..

"well i think it looks great on you" Jessica smiled genuinely.."but im sure you want to go clothes shopping"

Natalie stared at her bare feet.."I really dont have money for that" she said uncomfortably..God how she missed her own clothes..She would die if she had to be dressed up like Jess everyday..

Jess rolled her eyes at her.."your part of this family remember, let me go get dads credit card" she said as she spun around..

"Oh you dont have to" Natalie began a bit uncomfortably as Jessica stopped at the door..

"its cool, you'll see" Jessica grinned as she went inside and natalie watched as the guys got up off the ground, now covered in dirt they began walking over to her as they pushed each other..

"I totally had you there" John began with a laugh..

"yeah ok, its only cause i had my back turned, your like a damn ankle biter" Steele laughed..

"Yeah well if you werent so damn tall" John shook his head..

"havent had a complaint yet" Steele smirked as they neared natalie and John caught the sight of her, she looked beautiful and it made his heart race and his cock harden almost immediately, she was his!

Natalie almost wanted to run inside as she saw them coming over to her, John was shirtless with just a pair of faded jeans on and his body was amazing, not like any body she had ever seen in her life and the guy that was walking with him was intimidatingly tall, he had to be atleast seven feet tall and his hair was all the way down his back..

"good morning" John said as he got close to her and she swallowed hard as she tried to divert her eyes from him, she seriously didnt need to be looking at him that way, she quickly looked to Steele.

"goodmorning" she said softly as she kept her eyes averted..

"this is my good friend Steele, steele this is Natalie" John began as she smiled politely at Steele and then kept her eyes off of John, he knew what she was doing and he couldnt help the smirk on his face, she had been totally checking him out as he walked over, hell he could smell her excitement but than that meant Steele could too, and he didnt want that..

"Nice to meet you Natalie" Steele began as he put his hand out and John promply pulled it back..

"Man your hands are filthy" John said quickly, wanting to get Steele away from her and she looked at him confused, she was ready to shake hands with this guy..

Steele looked at him for a moment and then smirked a little.."yeah your right, i should go inside and get cleaned up" he began as he walked past her and John watched as he inhaled deep as he smirked and John glared at him and then quickly looked at Natalie..

"thats some dress" John said as she quickly looked at her feet again, and she shook her head..

"its jessicas, i... i dont really wear dresses" she began honestly..

"well you should, you look beautiful" he said and she glanced up now and looked at him through long lashes, there was something about the way he looked at her, the way he made her feel.

Jessicas loud voice snapped her out of her staring as John sighed with frustration, jessica always had the worst timing.."come on nat, lets go" she called out and natalie took the opportunity to quickly turn around..

"see ya later" she said as she got into the house and he watched her leave, damn, damn, damn...She was unbelivably hot..

Steele came walking out after she went in.."Uh John you may want to wipe the drool" he smirked as he through a hand towel at him and then the guys began wrestling once more...