She hated the place the moment she stepped out of the car. She wasn't used to the mountains, nor was she used to the cold breeze. She didn't like how there weren't any woods or fields to stretch her legs in. All in all, she didn't like her punishment.

But that's the point, right? Punishments are made to make people suffer. Now suck it up. You're not going to act like a spoiled brat just because you're dad sent you here, are you?

There she was, standing right in front of a pack house on top of the mountain. She had a random thought of how the humans were going to react if they saw this. The rich ones would probably try to buy it with whatever currency they were using. She didn't know why they would think a couple of green leaves could persuade people to do anything. In the end, it's just a piece of manufactured leaves. Or cotton, whatever they preferred to use to make it.

She shook her head, trying to get rid of the random thoughts, before knocking on the front door. Several seconds later, it opened, revealing a sweet five year old girl wearing a thick woven sweater and pants. Her brown eyes sparkled with recognition, and she jumped and latched onto Buttercup's jacket with a hug.

"Woah, there, Briar."

"Cousin BC!"

Buttercup smirked and picked the little girl up and twirled her around a bit. Said little girl laughed loudly, her voice sounding angelic and sweet, warming Buttercup's heart a bit.

With her around, it wouldn't be much of a punishment after all.

She put her down when she heard a small chuckle and turned around to see her Uncle Bryan. He was wearing a shirt and shorts, like he couldn't feel the cold. He was probabaly used to it, though. He did have muscles to shield him from the cold. Her uncle may be thirty-eight, but his age didn't seem to take away his body.

"Daddy, look!" Cue the sound of the little angel pointing at her.

"I can see her, hon. Why don't you go help your mom in the kitchen. She's baking cake."

The kid's eyes widened before running back inside, leaving Buttercup and her uncle in the doorway.

"Come on in, kid. Make yourself at home."

She entered, looking around the house. It was a bit smaller than most pack houses, but it looked much more homey than most of the pack houses she visited as a kid. There were some toys littered around, both for girls and for boys, a couple of pictures on the walls, and the smell of baked cake added to it's home-like aura.

Her uncle helped with her bags, seeing as she packed just enough clothes for a month. "I'm going to take this to your room. You can go roam around the house, just try not to wake up the baby. He just started to sleep, and I have a lot of work to do before he wakes."

She didn't need to answer him when a certain Aunt Rosalyn of hers came to greet her in the hallways with a kind smile. Her aunt may have been thirty-five, but she didn't look a day over twenty-six. Her aunt hugged her, and though Buttercup never enjoyed close contact, she didn't really want to push her aunt away. She had a very motherly way of making you enjoy her hugs and kisses on the cheek.

"You've grown so much, and you're turning into such a beautiful woman, Buttercup. You're father's going to have to work extra hard to keep the men from even looking at you."

Buttercup rolled her eyes at this, good naturedly of course. She had been told this every time she visited, so she was used to the old "You've grown into a lady" comment. Truth be told, she didn't feel any different from what she felt when she was eighteen.

"Come on, I know how much you missed my cakes, so I may have outdone myself this time. Who knows, maybe I'd give you my ingredients and teach you how to bake without needing a fire extinguisher this time."

They both laughed at that, though Buttercup's cheeks turned a bit red in embarassment. She was a great cook, sure, but when it comes to baking, she managed to accidentally set fire to her hair, put salt instead of sugar, and set of the fire alarms on more than a few occasions. In the end, they banned her from ever touching anything that has something to do with baking.

When she entered the kitchen, she immediately breathed in the smell of sweet baked cake. It was like a drug. A very, very addictive drug. The cake itself was chocolate, and although they say that wolves shouldn't eat chocolate because it was deadly to dogs and wolves are related to them, werewolves figured that while it may be poisonous to you in wolf form, it wouldn't hurt you at all on human form. You just can't shift to wolf form for about the entire time the chocolate is being digested, which basically means four to six hours. Buttercup can handle that.

For the next hour, she and her aunt shared stories, laughed a bit, before a certain little girl came back to the kitchen with a plate full of chocolate frosting, practically demanding for another piece. Her mother just gave her a smaller piece, saying she could have another if she behaves. Briar left the kitchen happily, leaving the two of them alone again. Buttercup could already sense what the next topic was going to be about, so she wasn't surprised with what her aunt asked.

"How's your mom?"

Buttercup smiled a bit. "Doing better. She said she can feel her legs a bit better. She can take a few steps before needing our help. Who knows, maybe after a month, she could finally start running again."

Her aunt smiled at that. "Yeah, with your mother's stubborn nature, maybe she'd start running as soon as the second week hits. Your dad would probably start chasing her around with her crutches in his hands, telling her to take it easy."

They both chuckled a bit, imagining Buttercup's mom running from her dad, and it lightened up the mood. Buttercup's mom had an accident, resulting to her being momentarily paralized from waist down below. She started doing her walking exercises, trying her best to get the feel of her legs back. It was working, just a bit. Her dad made sure to be with her every second he gets, making sure she doesn't go too overboard again.

"So, have you met him yet?"

Buttercup's smile turned into something like a mixture of a grimace and a frown. She knew who her aunt was partaining to. Her mate, the guy that'll make her happy and make her feel like she hung the stars onto the sky, blah, blah, blah. In truth, she was kind of happy she hadn't met him yet. She didn't feel like she needed a guy to make her happy. Sure, her parents and everyone else makes having a mate sound like good thing, but Buttercup also noticed how they seem to forget that mates are also targets to enemies. Women mates, to be exact.

It didn't matter to Buttercup how finding a mate could make you twice as strong, it also makes you twice as vulnerable. Having a mate will give your enemies a target, like her mother. She didn't want to be a target. She didn't like the idea of always worrying for a guy to come home safe, blah, blah, blah. She wanted to be the first independent she-wolf, and having a mate won't help her achieve that goal. Have you seen how those mated wolves act like?!

She can't say this to her aunt, though. Her aunt always believed in love, in family, and she wanted everyone to find their soulmate, even Briar (as soon as she's old enough, of course), though her husband wouldn't mind tying Briar to her room as soon as she reaches eighteen, the mating age.

"Nope, no clue where he's hiding. He'll show up on the right time though, so no worries." Hopefully the right time wouldn't come. Independent she-wolf shall stay independent!

"I just hope you won't be too old when he shows up. I still want grandnephews or nieces, you know."

That got her blushing a bit. Sure she likes kids, but a kid that was hers, a kid that she could call her own...

Nope, not going to happen!

"Well, it's getting late, the rest of the pack should arrive soon. I'll let you go freshen up. Who knows, maybe one of those boys could be a potential mate."

Hopefully not!

XOXOX

"So, the girl's staying with a different pack?"

"Yes sir, one of their allied packs. She seems to be welcomed well."

The man looked out the window, where he could watch his men train. They were brutal, with both great defense and offense. He watched as they attacked each other with brute force yet precise attacks. He smirked. If they decided to place the girl so far away, then it seems like they have already chosen. Though the girl must be pretty important if they chose to save her rather than give her up.

He though for a while, before smirking. " Although they have chosen to fight against us, why not make them sign for an alliance instead?"

The Betas and a few Gammas raised their eyebrows, but listened to his explanation.

"That pack has currently allied with over seventeen packs from this area alone, not to mention the other foreign packs from the north and the south. If we ally ourselves with them, we would have some control over most of their own allies. Gamma Sylvester, get the girl. The servants have worked hard to make the room seem well enough to fit a girl's standards. We need to give them a reason to sign it. Maybe with the help of our mystery girl, Bane won't be able to stop himself from signing it."

Gamma Sylvester nodded, and the Alpha sent them all out, leaving him alone in the conference room. He then looked at the picture of the girl one last time, getting more and more interested, though, not exactly knowing why. He smirked.

"What kind of a girl will you be?" He whispered as he continue to stare at the picture of her smiling face. "I can't wait to find out."