Miranda set the last of the dishes on the sink, looking down at her phone. Remi hadn't called her back when she asked him to come back for dinner. Was he avoiding her? Was it because he had just used her as a plaything. She was starting to worry that she'd made a very big mistake, and the mark on her hand was bothering her. There was something off about the thought that a mark would just appear like that. It was so pretty though, the sort of thing a Greek goddess would have marked on her. She stared at it while filling her sink with water, not paying attention as it started to overflow. Her brother bumped against her side. "Oi, your lettin' th' water get in ya cupboards."

"Oh…sorry…" she turned off the tap, smiling awkwardly. "I've got a lot on my mind."

He looked at her closely, tilting his head. "Did you get a tattoo?"

"What? Oh…yeah, pretty cool huh?" she lied, one half of her mouth not twitching into a smile like it should.

"Nice lie, Short Stuff," he sighed. "That guy that was here. You're not actually dating him right?"

"No…I don't think so."

"What do you mean 'I don't think so'?"

"Well…he hasn't returned my messages…since he went home. When you guys arrived early." She shot him a glare, cleaning her dishes slowly. "Which I'm not happy about by the way."

"If he's not answering you, he's not worth the message," David dried the dishes and placed them away slowly, watching his sister as she seemed to be in mental turmoil. He placed a hand on her shoulder, speaking slowly. "You're not very lucky with guys are you?"

"Nope…not in the least." She hugged him suddenly, her head barely reaching his chest. "I wish I had better luck…"

Remi sat in his room, staring at his phone. She'd tried to call him three times, and messaged him a few more. But he just couldn't contact her yet, he ached to be near her, he just couldn't be hurt again. He pulled his legs up slowly, looking at himself in his mirror, what was he going to do. He looked at the door, grunting just before it opened. Dev stood there looking at him closely. "Remi…is there a reason you aren't still at her house…" he sniffed the air slowly. "I can smell that your mark has appeared."

"I don't want to."

"You don't want to what?"

"Be hurt again…what if she rejects me? What if it's not worth the pain…? What if I hurt her?"

"Remi…your my brother…but right now…your acting like an idiot…you know once your mated you only have three weeks to bring her into our world, and get her to accept you."

"What if she never accepts me?"

"I think she will." Dev's words were warm and truthful, making him feel much better about the whole problem.

Remi stood slowly, looking at his phone. "how exactly do I explain to a girl who has absolutely nothing to do with our world…that I'm a bear that looks like a man, that wants to take her as his wife…because he thought having sex with her just once would be fine."

"Rem…you know…she's friends with Ash and Simi right? She babysits for Ash and Tory when they need her to…and she's not working here. I think she's open to it."

"You think…she'll listen?"

"Yeah. But you have three weeks…from today…that's New Year's Eve…so just…give her time…and call her."

Remi picked his phone up, dialling her number. "Miranda?"

Miranda's heart soared as she heard his voice, something about it calmed her to no end. "Remi…I was scared you were gone for good." Her voice shook a little, she'd been truly scared.

"I'm real sorry…something came up here. Do you think…your family will be ok for a few days alone…I really wanna take you somewhere?"

"Remi…I can't go away…not now."

"Are you sure, you need a rest…and having your family there won't help that issue."

"There's stuff happening here that I need to be around for. I'm sorry Remi. But if you were interested, you could come back over and keep me company while my family get involved in my life."

"Sure…I'll be there in a minute." He hung up, moving to get dressed, he pulled his hair back carefully, not wanting to look too intimidating to her family, but not wanting to change just for her.

Remi knocked lightly at Miranda's door, frowning lightly as her brother answered the door. David looked at him for only a moment, before slamming the door in his face. He heard the younger man's voice travelling through the house, yelling at his sister that her man whore was there. Twitching, he opened the door again, stepping inside slowly. "Miranda?" She stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking at him shyly. Her hair was down, and straightened, flecks of blonde showing through now. He tilted his head, smiling softly. "Did you go to a salon?"

She blushed, smiling at him shyly. "My mum's a hairdresser….well…she was until I was thirteen. She only does a few people still…I was just lucky I guess." She moved down the stairs, looking up into his eyes. "Remi…"

He couldn't wait anymore, quickly he leant down, capturing her lips in a heated kiss, filled with longing. It took her breath away, and filled her with hope. She felt her lower body twitch excitedly, causing her to blush darkly, who knew a kiss could give anyone such a strong reaction.

"I missed you." He whispered slowly in her ear, after breaking the kiss. Holding her hand lightly, Remi headed towards the little kitchen he loved so much, it was special to him, the place he'd finally found his mate, even though she didn't know it yet. He looked around, blinking slowly. "That…is a lot of food." He indicated the two large lamb roasts, surrounded by roast veg.

Miranda looked up at him with a grin, she was so pleased that he'd noticed the change in her hair instantly. It made her all the more excited that he'd come to help her handle her family. "Didn't I tell you?" she giggled lightly, squeezing his hand. "My brother eats enough to feed an entire army…one of those roasts…is just for him." She moved, letting go of his hand reluctantly to stir something on the stove. "I'm going to make dessert too…but I'm not quite sure what to cook yet, David doesn't eat anything that isn't chocolate, and…I don't know what you'd like…"

He looked into the pot on the stove, realising it was a gravy, thick and shiny, it smelled amazing. "Well…personally I'd eat anything you cooked for me." He grinned, leaning down to rest his head against hers. "If your brother likes chocolate…why not make a chocolate mousse? It could be layered if you wanted to get technical…three or more flavours…like you do at work."

"You're so smart, I would have never thought of that…" Turning her head, she grinned at him. "Looks like I need to go shopping."

"All of this isn't for lunch is it? Have you eaten yet?"

"No, it's for dinner tonight, but I like to have everything ready, all I have to do it pop them back in the oven to heat them up." She smiled at him shyly, looking back at her pot.

"How about…we go on that date you promised me yesterday? You need to go shopping anyway, and it's a great excuse to get away from your family." His hands were on her hips as he spoke, licking his lips slowly. He had to admit, being marked was changing his personality more than he had hoped, and he only wanted to make her happy.

Turning in his arms to look at him, Miranda looked at him, blush evident on her face. "As long as you have me home an hour before dinner…I'll be in a lot of trouble if the food isn't heated up…my brother might just kill me." She joked, moving to slip out of his arms. "I'll just turn this burner off and get changed, give me ten minutes?"

"Of course."

David watched as his sister headed upstairs to her bedroom, he tilted his head, wondering why she needed to get changed again so soon after having her hair done. He looked into the kitchen, spotting Remi as the tall man moved towards the door. Clenching his teeth, David knew it was because of the other blonde male that his sister was acting this way. He moved to block Remi's exit, glaring at him. "What have you been putting in my sister's mind?"

"Excuse me?" Remi spat at him, his right eye twitching slightly.

"You're obviously playing around with her, and I don't want my sister to be hurt again."

"I never want to see your sister hurt again, you have no comprehension of how much I care for her, little boy, and as such, have no right to tell me what to do."

"There's no way you're her boss, and there's no way you're her boyfriend, so why don't you just admit you're after something and leave her alone." David was getting angry, he hated people messing with his family, most of all his sister. She had been the only one who listened to him when they were young and their parents had gotten divorced. He breathed deeply, looking at the taller man. "I don't like you."

"I don't particularly care for you either, but I…I love your sister, and there's no a man on this earth that could make me stop seeing her." With that he pushed past the smaller man, heading towards the door to wait outside for Miranda.

Miranda looked at herself in the mirror. She smiled, nodding in approval at her choice of clothing. Quickly, she headed downstairs, hearing the end of an argument between her brother and her lover. She almost tripped as she heard Remi's last words before he exited the house. "I love your sister." they were the sweetest words she'd ever heard, sweeter than any dessert she'd ever made. Running the rest of the way down the stairs, she threw the door open, practically diving on his back. "Are you ready to go?" she whispered softly in his ear, not wanting to tell him she'd heard him.

"As ready as I'll ever be." He spoke slowly, cupping his hands under her thighs so he could move her over his shoulders easily. Holding her in front of him, her arms still draped around his neck, he smiled softly. "You look beautiful."

"Don't be so silly, I know I just look like any other girl…nothing like the people in your family that's for sure."

He chuckled lightly, she had no idea how wrong she was. To him, she was the most beautiful girl in the universe, and nothing was ever going to change that, not the passage of time, not the ravages of age, nothing. Moving, he placed her down, he looked around trying to think. "How far to the shops?" he didn't want to go riding on his bike with her wearing such a small skirt.

"Don't you trust me to ride on the back of your bike again?"

"Not in a skirt that tiny." He teased, turning to look at her. "Why don't we take your tiny little car?"

"It's not that small, Remi…but if you want to drive, feel free." She handed him her car keys, walking over to her little car.

Remi looked over her car, before climbing into the driver's seat. He pushed the chair back as far as it went, smiling softly. He watched as she joined him in the small vehicle, her skirt riding up her thighs slightly, showing off her perfect skin. Quickly he moved his eyes, looking out the windscreen at the road. "I hope you're hungry, there's this place I'm not banned from that serves great meals." Starting the car, he drove towards their destination. His eyes wondered over to her thighs again, causing him to bite the inside of his cheek, it had to be a crime to have a body like that. He turned to pull into a parking lot, smiling at her softly. "I have a question for you."

Her face lit up as she looked at him, a sparkle coming to her eyes. "Yes Remi?"

"I don't really know how to say this…" He cleared his throat, looking at her chest then back into her eyes.

This was it, he was finally going to ask her out. Or so she thought. Looking into his eyes, she was so excited and nervous. He touched her hand softly, clearing his throat. "How do you feel about e supernatural?"

"The supernatural? You mean ghosts and stuff?"

"Mostly the 'and stuff'…"

The sparkle left her eyes as she looked away from him, she'd never talked to anyone about the supernatural, when she was little her best friend had been a ghost, but she'd never wanted to sound any crazier then she already did. Moving slowly, she shook her head. "It's very interesting and all…but…why would you bring that up right now when we're going on a date? Are you trying to scare me off or something?"

"Or something."

Frowning, she looked out of the door. "Let's just go inside, I don't want to talk about that sort of stuff." She started to the door, looking away from him.

Remi followed her closely, locking the car as they walked away. He frowned a little, watching as she walked. Was she a sceptic? Why had she reacted that way when he mentioned the supernatural, she'd looked so excited when he…she had thought he was going to ask her to be his girlfriend. That was the only explanation that made sense in his mind. He sighed lightly, how was he meant to tell her that he was afraid to ask her to be his girlfriend fully. Once inside, he quickly found them a seat, looking at her closely. "Miranda…please tell me what's wrong, you seem angry."

"I'm not angry," she spoke quickly, looking at the menu. "I think I'll just have a salad, something simple like that."

"You're not hungry?"

Miranda didn't look at his face, not wanting to admit her mother had told her she was getting fat, and needed to go on a diet. She shook her head. "Not overly." Moving slightly, she looked up at the waitress as she entered her peripheral vision. She put on a smile at the abnormally beautiful blonde woman, before turning her attention back to the menu.

Miranda sat awkwardly after their drinks arrived, she swallowed nervously, looking around the small but romantic settings, not sure if she'd upset Remi. She stood slowly, leaning over to whisper. "I'm going to freshen up before our meals arrive." She spoke quickly, before moving to find the bathroom. Walking in slowly, she looked at herself in the mirror, sighing sadly. He should have been with someone that looked like their waitress, not with a fat little thing like her. She moved, looking at the stalls behind her, moving towards one. As she opened the door, she felt something, something she hadn't felt in a long time. A prickling at the back of her neck, indicating danger, someone was trying to warn her that she was in danger. She looked around herself, checking that she was alone, before speaking to herself very slowly. "Why now? I'm completely alone in here."

As her voice left her mouth, someone entered the bathroom. She looked up suddenly, staring at the new person in the room. Biting her lip, she recognised her as their waitress. Moving away from her slightly, she noticed the menacing look in her eyes. Trying to edge her way around her, Miranda swallowed her nerves. The blonde stepped in her way again, tilting her head to one side. "What's wrong, little girl, your brother's quite occupied out there." Miranda's heart shattered, is that what people saw when they looked at her with Remi, a little girl with her brother, she wasn't that small was she?

"I don't quite understand what you mean, miss, but you're in my way, and I need to get back to my meal."

"You look like you've eaten enough." The blonde spat at her, there was something evil about this tall woman, something that made Miranda want to run. Quickly, she dodged around the tall woman, trying desperately to escape the bathroom. Before she could get through the second door, the woman had her wrist, dragging her back into the bathroom. "Oh no, you're not getting away from me." Miranda tried to scream, struggling against the blonde, trying desperately to pull away from her.

Remi looked up, sighing heavily. Miranda sure was taking a long time in the bathroom. He stood, looking around the room carefully, hoping she hadn't moved around and sat at the wrong table. He looked at his hand, feeling anxious, was she in trouble, did something happen when she was in the bathroom? He moved, heading towards the bathrooms. The men's room was situated right next to the ladies room, he had hoped that if she was in trouble he'd be able to hear her from there. Leaning against the wall, he listened closely, but there was no sound, nothing at all came from the ladies room. His face fell back into his usual sneer, turning to stop out of the room. How could he have been so stupid, she'd run away from him, she'd left him there alone. He threw the door open, walking outside with heavy footfalls. His heart was breaking. He looked up, blinking slowly. Dev stood in front of him, holding a piece of paper, eyes grim. "Remi…"

"What the hell do you want? Can't you see I'm upset?" He was shaking violently with anger, unable to believe that Miranda would leave so suddenly, without even the slightest warning.

"Don't take it out on me Remi…she didn't just walk out on you. Look." He held up the paper, looking serious.

He took the paper, still too angry to care about anything at all. His heart had broken all over again, she was gone, she'd left him alone. He read slowly, staring at it.

"Bear, we have taken your mate in payment for our brother, don't expect to see her again."

A feral growl left his throat as he stared at the paper. She'd been kidnapped. Why hadn't he sensed it when they were alone, no wonder his mark had burned when she didn't return. He looked at Dev slowly, speaking clearly. "We're going to Acheron…and he's going to find my mate."