Charles woke to the sound of someone pulling into the driveway. The optimistic thought that maybe—just maybe—they were just turning around and they wouldn't bother him was squelched when a knock sounded. Seeing that it was Samuel, he was tempted just to send him away, but he might have news on the Leo character, so Charles forced himself to rise.

It was then that he noticed that Anna was no longer in her wolf form. She had obliviously changed back at some point in the night. The blanket that he only vaguely remembered giving her was tucked firmly around her. He considered moving her, but Samuel was knocking again.

"Hey, Old Man. Sage wanted me to bring some clothes for Anna. She would have brought them herself but she was falling asleep on her feet and Da sent her home to rest." Charles nodded and reached for the bag, but Samuel barged his way inside, only to stop when he saw Anna curled up on the floor. "Now, I know you were taught better than to force a lady sleep on the floor."

Charles smacked him upside the head. "I gave her the bed. She chose to sleep there."

"Well, at least she's sleeping on one of the Persian rugs and not the hardwood floor."Charles rolled his eyes, snatched the bag out of his brother's hands, and then went to go place it in the bedroom. "Whoa! What happened to your window?"

"It was a long night." Samuel raised a questioning eyebrow, so Charles relayed all that happened after he and Bran had left up until he came a knocking.

When he was finished, Samuel laughed, "Good thing Sage had me bring over some clothes." Charles rolled his eyes again and went to heat up some water for tea. Predictably, Samuel made himself at home. Charles ignored him and went about preparing breakfast. He was almost finished when both his and Samuel's attentions were caught by a sharp intake of breath.

Turning, the brothers found Anna frantically trying to keep the blanket wrapped firmly around her body. "Hey Anna!" Samuel said excitedly, which only caused her to widen her eyes even more in a fear. "Sage had me bring you some clothes. Charles put them in the bedroom." The fear in her gaze lessened considerably. She gave small nod and went into the bedroom.

Anna sorted through the bag of clothes, more than grateful for the benefactor, Sage. There was three shirts, two pairs of jeans, a skirt, a pair of sweats, five pairs of underwear, and several sports bras that were different different sizes. As she picked up a the bag again, she saw that there was a note at the bottom.

Dear Anna,

I wish that I could deliver these clothes in

person, but alpha's order. Either way, I hope that

you like the clothes. Bran and Samuel said that you

were close to my size, so hopefully they will fit.

At least they will fit better than anything Charley

has to offer.

The underwear is brand new, so don't worry. I

didn't know your cup-size, but thankfully I thought

to stock up on different sizes of sports bras because

you never know what will happen here in Aspen Creek and

boys just don't think of things like that.

Don't let Charley keep you cooped up there in that

cave of his. Maybe you and I could go shopping for real

clothes later? Charley has my number, so don't be shy!

Hope to meet you soon,

Sage

Anna placed the note back on the bed and found herself smiling. She was touched that someone had thought to give her clothes and underwear, even if the pants were too long and the shirts were a bit baggy. She shivered and decided to put on the sweat shirt.

She had to take a calming breath before she went back into the kitchen. She had forced herself to get up because she had smelled the breakfast that Charles had been cooking and her stomach was rumbling. She had been starved to long to ignore it, so she got up.

It had been a surprise to find that she had changed back to her human form and was completely naked. She had wrapped the blanket around her body and hoped to sneak past Charles. She had no idea what he would say to her when he saw that she stole some of his clothes, but it had been her only choice...or at least she had thought.

To see Samuel sitting in the kitchen was a shock and caused her to make a sound and alert the two men to her presence. Then he had said that there was a bag of clothes waiting for her here in the bedroom and it had seemed too good to be true. Truthfully, she hadn't believed him, but, sure enough, it was there.

Her stomach grumbled, startling her out of her reverie. She wasn't about to deny herself food when she might have to run again soon, so she opened the door and stepped into the kitchen.

The two brothers turned to look at her when they heard the bedroom door opened. Samuel smiled and glanced at her feet. "How is your ankle?"

Anna blinked in surprise. She had completely forgotten about her ankle. Last night even, she had been pacing and walking on it with feeling the twinge of pain. When she composed herself, Samuel had a knowing smile on his face. "I...It's fine. I forgot that I had broken it."

"Well, let me look at it to make sure it heal properly." She nodded and took the seat he held out for her. She had to keep herself from flinching when he grab her ankle a bit too quickly. She wasn't quite sure why she had a sudden crushing fear of him touching her when she knew that he was just examining her ankle from a purely medical stand point. However, her body remembered something that her mind didn't, because the terror kept rising.

When Charles let out something similar to a growl, Anna couldn't control her flinch and pulled her ankle free. She immediately pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them. "I'm sorry."

"Your ankle is fine,"Samuel said through a tight smile. Unlike Charles, whose face was perfectly neutral, Samuel's anger was written plainly all over his face. However, it wasn't his anger that Anna was worried about. Despite the neutral facade, Anna could feel rage rolling off of Charles in palpable waves.

Samuel composed himself first. He picked up his dish and placed it in the sink as if nothing had happened. "I'm going to get going. Mercy's in town, so I'm going to go harass her." Charles merely nodded and focused silently on his breakfast.

Samuel smiled at Anna and left. Awkward silence hung between her and Charles for untold moments before Anna cleared throat. Expressionless eyes met her worried glance. She wasn't sure what she had done to upset him, but she felt inclined to apologize for whatever caused his distress. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to flinch away. I don't even know why I did. I mean, I knew that he wasn't going to hurt me, but something just snapped and I reacted before I could think—and I'm just going to shut up now."

"There are rules to being a werewolf, Anna." He said out-of-the-blue.

"O-okay."He didn't anything else until she hesitantly asks, "Such as?" He then launched into a citation of rules that basically boiled down to not spilling the beans about werewolves. The words just rolled off his tongue in such a practiced, matter-of-fact way that it was obviously that he recited it often enough.

When he finished, Anna was more confused than ever. "But I didn't do any of that? I didn't even know I was a werewolf until last night."

"But Leo did."

Anna bristled. How dare he put that monster's faults on her! To think she believed that he would protect her. He was just as bad as Leo or Justin."That's not fair! I don't see why I should be faulted for what Leo has done. He's the monster not me. To think that you would pin his blame on me-"

"I'm not blaming you, Anna," he interrupted before she could gain speed with her tirade. "It's perfectly clear who the victim is here."

"Then why are you mad at me?"she asked even more confused than ever.

"I'm not mad at you."

"Then why-"He let out a groan of frustration. He never had been good with words and because of it, he was back to square one with her after just gaining a little trust. She was completely closed of from him again and waiting for him to explain himself.

"I'm mad at Leo. Furious, actually." She still looked confused, so he continued. "What Leo did is unforgivable, Anna. To force the Change on anyone is, but it is even more so when it is an Omega."

"An Omega is a wolf that is out of pack order, right?"

At least she's still trying to understand, Charles thought as he nodded. "Yes. Wolves are either dominant or submissive. Omega's are neither."

She ate some of her breakfast while she contemplated that. "Why are Omega's so rare?"

"Because a dominant protects those under him. Those protection instincts are pushed even higher when he is around an Omega. It would take someone mad with killing to change an Omega."

"But it might not have been Leo who did it."

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. An alpha is responsible for his wolves. It might as well as been Leo who changed you."

"Oh." She did not fully understand all the talk about dominant or submissive, but she did feel better knowing that Charles wasn't mad at her.

AN: Tada! Another chapter completed. Took a bit longer than I thought it would, but here it is. I skipped the whole explanation of werewolves because I figured that you guys already knew it. Plus, I didn't really want to write it all. :P Anywho, tell me what you think!