«иσямαℓιту ιѕ α ρανєd яσαd: ιт'ѕ cσмfσятαвℓє тσ ωαℓк, вυт иσ fℓσωєяѕ gяσω.»

– νιиєит ναи gσgн

Anna had brought me back from my panic attack and Asil gave me tea. He gave me a few pairs of jeans, a belt, shirts, and a winter jacket. I changed into the warmer clothes at his home. The only things I had kept on from before were my bra and Bran's sweatshirt. I hoped Bran didn't want it back anytime soon because it was darn perfect. It also smelled really nice, salty like the ocean with that werewolf mint and musk.

Anna and I went back to Bran's home to find him and Charles still working away. I was tired of delving into my past so I excused myself from the office and went to the kitchen. The fridge smelled of meats and I was tempted to get some but didn't. I had only caused trouble for the Cornicks and didn't deserve the meat.

I heard a set of feet coming towards the kitchen. The smell of the unknown female werewolf that also lived here got stronger. She must have been Bran's mate.

"Who are you?"

I faced the wolf and held out my hand for her to shake. "I'm Athena." She didn't take my hand so I awkwardly dropped it to my side. "Um, Charles brought me here today from Florida."

She looked at me with slight disgust as her slender body stalked around me. Her arms were crossed and she kept herself puffed up to show she was the more dominant female. I wasn't giving any body cues to hint that I thought she wasn't which made her display both uncalled for and unsettling.

"Of course Charles would bring himself another bitch," she snarled. The way she said "bitch" was definitely an insult but I ignored it. She gave me a nasty smile. "I bet it's because he thought that dammed Omega was submissive and now he had to got get a real one."

I heard the others moving from the office and said lowly, "let me deal with it, please." The door to the office was opened but they didn't come out. I focused back on Bran's mate who was starting to tick me off. My wolf and I preferred to keep things from getting volatile but she just insulted Anna and Charles. The former had earned a spot under my wolf's respect most likely because she was Omega and helped me cool off.

"You're submissive―what can you do?" She sneered with a vicious flash of her teeth.

I shrugged and managed to make myself appear relaxed and uninterested in what she had to say. Hopefully, if I didn't give her attention then she would leave me alone.

"I'm Leah," she said like it should mean something to me. I've heard of Bran and his two sons, Charles and Samuel, but I haven't heard a peep about her. "I'm Bran's mate," she said with pride.

"Quite the accomplishment," I said honestly. She didn't seem to use her nose or pay attention to my body language because she took my seriousness as sarcasm. I might be old but not old enough to be able to hide my lies or fiddle with the truth like Bran.

She chuckled heartlessly and flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "At least now that stupid Omega will be kicked out of my territory." Leah didn't notice the scent of my wafting anger or the change of my posture. My wolf did not like her yapping yet yap she did. "That little Omega bitch probably spread her legs for him for the ti―."

My wolf and I had an agreement to make mutual decisions. Apparently when it came Anna we were no longer on the same page. I mistook my wolf's protectiveness as respect. The darn creature thought Anna was her pup. Leah talking crap about our pup wasn't going to slide. My wolf surfaced fully and leaped across the kitchen onto Leah. She may be the mate of an Alpha but she wasn't part of my pack.

Bran and Charles had to pull us off her which was easy considering she was using Bran's dominance to try to make us submit. My wolf pulled back willingly and left me a panting mess being held up by the two men.

"Leah," Bran growled, "go upstairs."

She got off the floor with a satisfied smirk. Leah and Anna exchanged glares as she slipped past her.

"Athena," Bran warned and I realized my chest was rumbling with a growl. I silenced myself and stepped out of their support. I knew to keep my mouth shut about Leah with Bran here. My wolf and I could smell his rage and immediately went submissive. We curled up in a corner and bowed to Bran. Anna came beside me and smiled softly making my worries about Bran's anger fade to the background. My wolf lashed out again but in a different way than how she did with Leah. This time I had my arms wrapped securely around Anna's small form and my cheek brushing against the top of her head.

"That's unexpected," Bran murmured. I raised my head from Anna's but kept stroking her hair and rocking her slightly.

Charles didn't look happy that I was touching his mate but he was going to have to deal. At the moment I needed to make my pup feel loved. My wolf was controlling my actions and thoughts more than I was. Bran seemed mildly amused and his anger gradually went away giving us an intrigued Bran.

"Bran," I said with a very soft tone to not frighten my pup, "what is my wolf on?"

"Maternal instinct," he chuckled.

"What?" Anna squeaked from my hold. I loosened my grip thinking I squished her. Bran sauntered over and kept his eyes on mine. Having an old wolf like him here would be helpful. My wolf had no qualms with him coming near our pup and showed that to everyone by nudging Anna towards Bran. She looked at me weirdly but went to him.

Bran leaned into her and whispered something so quietly that even my werewolf hearing couldn't pick it up. Anna nodded and started walking in Charles direction. A growl erupted from my throat and I took a step forward. My wolf did not like her going near that male.

"Athena, it's okay," Bran said and sent a rush of warm dominance over me that I did not appreciate but needed. "Remember that Charles is hers and he will not hurt her."

Charles or his wolf, probably both, didn't look pleased that I didn't trust my pup with him. Anna sent me a timid smile and grabbed his arm. She looked happy which was enough to quiet my wolf's growling. I shook my head and stumbled back into the wall after my wolf rested.

"By golly, what was that?"

Bran gave me his goofy grin and helped me to his couch. "As you know there is no need for a formal ceremony to create stronger pack bonds. You and Anna simply created a closer bond."

I checked Anna to see her reaction to the news. She didn't seem bothered which caused relief to flow through me. "Weird," I sighed, "but pretty rad. Are you okay with this, Anna?"

"Sure," she said from behind me. I could smell a tiny amount of nervousness from her but no lie.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the couch. "Bran, do you know why my wolf has decided to become an adoptive mother at this time?"

"All wolves crave pack, especially submissive wolves. Anna must have reminded you of someone from your past. Did you have a child?"

I was really done talking about the past for today. My mind knew who she reminded me of but I was not in the mood to think of her. "I can't talk about the past anymore. It's too stressful," I admitted.

"She can stay here," Bran told the mates behind me.

"Goodnight, Athena," Anna called before I heard them leave.

"I'll get you a blanket and pillow," Bran offered.

"No, thank you." I curled up into a tight ball and drifted off.

I woke up in the cold snow. In the woods. As a wolf. In a pool of blood. Did I mention I had no idea how I got here?

What a fantastic way to start the day!

I stood and used the snow to get the blood off me. The good thing was that it smelled like moose and not human or wolf. The bad thing was that there was none on my tongue which meant I killed a moose for fun in my sleep.

My wolf's body temperature was significantly higher than an average wolf or human and my fur kept me from freezing.

I needed to get back to Bran or Charles or even Asil. Being a lone submissive wolf in unknown pack territory was like dangling fresh, bloodied meat in front of a wild wolf. There was no way one of Bran's wolves would let me mosey on out of there without a nip or worse.

I sniffed around for my trail in hopes to backtrack. It seemed like someone had just picked me up from a random spot and dumped me here though because there was no scent trail or physical trail. I lifted my nose to have the wind blowing towards me and tried to catch a familiar scent.

I got the combined scent of Mother Nature and animals I'd like to eat. I shifted a bit more and caught the smell of roses which I didn't expect to find in a cold Montana winter. My best bet was to go that way. Hopefully, those flowers belonged to a nice werewolf or human in Aspen Creek.

I wanted to sprint and be free in the woods but I kept to a medium paced run. Darting past a werewolf would instantly make me prey. I didn't like being prey as much as the next guy. Plus, for some reason, "here lies the leftovers of half-eaten Athena Marie Harlow" on a tombstone didn't sound awesome.

The scent of the flowers grew stronger as well as the scent of a familiar werewolf. I took my chances of running faster and louder to alert him that I was coming. Surprising a dominant wolf didn't usually end well for the surpriser.

Sure enough, Asil heard me and was standing outside a beautiful greenhouse. His posture relaxed some as I slowed down and eased the tension I had built up.

"Ahora, Lobita," he began in his beautiful Spanish reminding me of my second home, "una inocente cosa como tú no debería estar aquí todos los solos."

I yipped happily at finding him and approached him slowly. He uncrossed his arms and allowed my wolf to brush up on his sides for comfort. It said a lot that he let me near the softest parts of him while the wolf was edging over the surface. Asil's gesture meant that he didn't think I would be trouble or be able to cause him harm. It was easier for dominants to trust submissives because we acknowledged their dominance without a need for a confrontation or challenge.

In hindsight, my next move shouldn't have been to drop at his feet and begin changing to human. Since I was old and accustomed to the Change it didn't hurt much and only caused me slight discomfort. Asil didn't move for the whole ten to twelve minutes it took for me to change. Once I was human he tsked at my shaking form.

"Lobita, that was not smart." He took off his jacket and wrapped it around me then picked me up. I shivered and curled up into a smaller ball in his arms. Asil brought me into the greenhouse and set me on an empty table. My fingers were still recovering from the cold so he helped zip up his jacket I had on.

"Thank you, Asil."

He patted my leg and started working on a flower bed next to the table I was perched on. "Can you tell me why the Marrok has been bothering everyone all morning about your whereabouts? I do not like having him in my head."

I had heard that Bran could send messages to people's heads but couldn't receive anything. I highly doubted the latter based on stories.

"PTSD is a pain," I told him. "I read an article about it and there is no way that it's something else. It started fairly early on probably after the War of League of Augsburg and before the Spanish Succession. I was in the Holy Roman Empire at the time. I would go to sleep in my tent and wake up miles away as a wolf and covered in blood. I think it's my wolf having a panic attack. We go and kill whatever is closest because the PTSD makes us think that our victim is whatever consumes our nightmares that night."

Asil grunted and left the greenhouse. He came back with sweatpants and helped me get my numb legs in them.

My voice came out a tad shaky against my wishes, "my last Alpha kept me locked in a werewolf-proof basement when he found out I did this."

Asil took my hand and gave me a bucket. He guided me to some flowers and kneeled down. I got down beside him and held the bucket as he plucked dead flower heads from the living ones. Once I saw what he was doing I set the bucket down between us and started copying him.

When we finished the bed Asil sighed and stared at me seriously. I tried to hold his stare but had to drop my gaze after two seconds. "This is a pack of broken wolves, Athena. You will fit in nicely. Now, no more troubling my roses with your problems."

Asil and I worked in his greenhouse for a long time before we stopped. We hadn't spoken after he told me to stop bugging his plants. The work was nice and peaceful. It worked to help me cope like my counting did.

Asil rubbed his temples as we got into his truck and groaned. "If Bran does not stop shouting I am going to kill someone," he growled.

I smiled out the window. "Since I am the closest person to kill please hold off until you have more options in your vicinity."

Asil chuckled and started the truck. "Lobita, you are going to be trouble."