It wasn't even six in the morning when Jackson's phone rang loudly, waking him from his dreams; that may or may not had featured Raleigh wearing almost nothing. He opened one of his eyes and grumbled answering the phone, "Hello?"

"Hey, Jack-Jack. It's Auntie Faith."

Jackson shot right up in his bed.

"Raleigh's still asleep and I have some stuff to look into today. Plus I need to talk to you, so get your ass over here wolf boy."

The line went dead and Jackson was frozen, after a minute of processing the phone call Jackson rolled out of bed pulling his jeans on. He wanted to make sure he made a good second impression on Faith so she didn't have Damien kill him. He pulled on a t shirt and put extra deodorant since he was skipping a shower. Jackson grabbed his keys and quietly left his house.

As usual Jackson's Porsche was breaking several traffic laws on his way to Raleigh's house but he didn't care, not at all. He was so close to Raleigh at this point, so close to everything coming together, everything was going to work out. Jackson hoped at least.

When he pulled up to Cedar Springs B building he saw Faith standing alone beside a dark red newer model Jeep, smoking a cigarette and watching him intently. Jackson got out of his car and walked over to the woman slowly. She took a puff and spoke, "Jackson Whittemore, werewolf, co captain of the Beacon Hills lacrosse team. You used to have very good grades but a few months ago they turned mediocre."

Jackson threw a blank look on his face trying to mask his emotions. This had to be a test. Faith pulled a knife from out of her boot and set it on the hood of her car along with what Jackson guessed was a loaded gun.

"As I'm sure you're already aware, I am not Raleigh's aunt. But she is a very dear friend of mine. I know that she's your Mate, and trust me as a Mate to a werewolf I respect that." Faith paused looking at Jackson hard, "However I feel the urge to inform you that I killed my first naughty werewolf at the age of nine. And if you so much as lay a paw on her the wrong way, I will come back to Beacon Hills and I will kill you." She took another puff of her cigarette, "And I will kill your pack for allowing you to hurt her, do you understand?"

Jackson nodded, too afraid of screwing up the situation with his words.

"Good." Faith smiled big and threw her cigarette down, "Welcome to the family kid." She pointed at Jackson, "You'd better treat Raleigh good."

"I will, I promise." Jackson blurted out.

"Now, Damien and I are going to take a look around town and make sure there's nothing major going on. I know about the trouble that your pack has been having with the hunters in the area." She looked up at him, "I'm all for you bonding with Raleigh and she knows about werewolves and supernatural creatures but she doesn't know about you and your friends. And I want to make sure that she will be completely safe before I tell her everything."

Damien walked from behind him and got into the SUV's driver seat without a look.

"Raleigh's upstairs asleep, but when she wakes up you might need to help her with some of her bandages and if she starts hurting too much make her smoke the weed. It's medicinal and she should use it." Faith said holding out her hand to Jackson, "Take care of her Jackson Whittemore, she deserves it."

Jackson shook Faith's hand before asking, "What exactly is it that Raleigh is hiding?"

Faith grinned, "You'll get to find out if your little town is kosher." She answered before jumping into her car.

Jackson watched as the strange married couple drove off together and his heart soared. This was really happening! He smiled huge before running up the stairs and walking through Raleigh's front door. He breathed her scent in deeply before walking into her living room and sitting down on the couch. Jackson could hear his Mate breathing deeply from her bedroom and he stayed unmoving for about half an hour before he heard her mumbling under her breath as she got up.

Raleigh walked into the living room and Jackson's breath was taken away. Fuck! Her hair was a mass of red, sticking out everywhere. She was only wearing a thin tank top and boy short under wear that clung tightly to her. Jackson swallowed and suppressed his wolf, Raleigh was not wearing a bra at all and she looked… was amazing the right word? Basically Raleigh looked like a fantasy come true. Like the Raleigh from his dreams had just walked in.

She yawned and looked at him slowly scratching her head, "Faith said she was getting me a babysitter but I didn't think she actually meant it." Raleigh either didn't notice or didn't mind that she was almost naked in front of Jackson, and he didn't mind either.

Jackson's eyes were glued to Raleigh's chest as she padded into her kitchen. Jackson jumped off of the couch to follow her. He smiled when he saw her bent over, her head in the fridge, looking for something to drink. "So how long have you been here?" She asked blearily grabbing a Gatorade.

Jackson shrugged, "Just for a little bit."

"Hmm." She hummed before leading Jackson back to her bedroom. "Wanna be cuddle buddies?" She asked nonchalantly and swallowed back two pills and her drink. "Faith and Damien are playing at a bar in town but she said they had some stuff to take care of so I wasn't planning on waking up till way later."

Jackson worried for a second that he was still dreaming. Raleigh had just asked him to be whatever a cuddle buddy was. But he found that he couldn't speak and keeping his eyes off Raleigh was getting hard.

Raleigh jumped on the bed moving under the covers, "Oh, come on, don't think I can't see the bags under your eyes. Do you ever actually sleep?"

Jackson shrugged and licked his lips nervously as Raleigh waved him onto the bed. She ordered him to take off his shoes, socks and shirt. She held the covers up while Jackson slid into the bed hesitantly laying on his side. Raleigh smirked at him.

"Oh, I think the smugness just left your face. You never cuddle with anyone?" She teased scooting up next to Jackson's body.

He gulped, "Not usually."

Raleigh laughed, "Don't worry, I'm the best cuddle buddy ever." She took his hand and rolled onto her side pulling him close. Raleigh tucked their tangled hands into her chest and leaned into Jackson's bare chest before closing her eyes. "Now you just close your eyes and wait to wake up to some of the best sleep in your life."

"Okay." Jackson said barely keeping his voice normal. He could feel every curve of Raleigh's body and he loved it. She's perfect for us. His wolf claimed, tightening Jackson's arm around Raleigh possessively. The girl fell into a deep sleep within ten minutes her body going limp against Jackson, and he waited another ten before daring to touch her.

Jackson ran his free hand down Raleigh's arm, using the lightest of touches when he went over the large scratch on her arm. It was healing nicely and his wolf did not accept that. Jackson instinctively bent over Raleigh and licked all of her wounds, his saliva would make her heal faster. Raleigh made a little sound as he did, but she never woke up, just tangled her legs with his and continued sleeping. As much as Jackson wanted to lay there and stare at her forever sleep did eventually take him, and it was every bit as glorious as Raleigh had claimed.