Beca had been at Posen Manor for six months. Six months of freedom, no work to be done, no hunts to plan, no training to make her mind sharp and her body sore.

She hated it.

No, that wasn't right. She loved the newfound place she had in Aubrey's master chambers. Usually behind Chloe so the two Alphas could keep their Beta and vampire safe in the middle. They didn't need to, Aubrey had guards outside the manor and a few inside that kept out of sight, but it made the pair sleep better knowing they had the other two between them.

As Beca paced the smell room she was in she felt a blush creep up her neck as the thought of what they did in that bed when they weren't sleeping. If she had known what it would be like to have the three lovers she did maybe she wouldn't have fought so hard the first few months she was here. She learned just how impressive Aubrey was and Chloe and Stacie she already knew.

Beca moved to stand by the fire as she waited for Aubrey to return to her study. She usually didn't come in here when Aubrey wasn't in the room but she wanted to talk to her without Stacie or Chloe around to hear it. She felt useless and didn't want the two wolves to see how on edge it was making her.

"Soumise." Aubrey opened the door, sensing her rapidly beating heart.

"I need to speak with you. Please." Beca turned her head to look at Aubrey.

"Alright." Aubrey walked across the room to set some papers on her desk before turning and leaning against it.

"I need you to give me a job. Security. Training with your vampires, training them. I don't care. I need something to do. Stacie had your library with as many books as that brilliant mind can read. Chloe has been helping with the running of the manor and she is a natural at it. But I have nothing of my own. I need a task. And protecting you and them is something I can be useful in." Beca wasn't quite able to look at Aubrey as she spoke, rambled on really.

Aubrey opened her arms and smiled when Beca found her way between them without any of the hesitation that she would have had only a few short months ago. She wrapped the little Alpha up as Beca nuzzled her neck to find her own comfort.

"If you want to lead my security team you will need to learn to break my charm. Breaking a vampire's charm is the hardest task you can learn and once you master it I will arrange for you to take over the details that run around the property." Aubrey stroked Beca's back.

"Thank you." Beca said against Aubrey's neck.

"Soumise, this will be difficult training. Do not thank me for putting you through it." Aubrey said.

"I like difficult." Beca moved her hands to Aubrey's waist.

"I have noticed that." Aubrey snorted.

Beca nipped at Aubrey's neck, feeling herself relax after being granted the ability to have a space made for her in Aubrey's world. She was good at what she did, protecting people and making sure that things ran like clockwork when it came to changes in people or routes. It was the only use for herself the pack never questioned.

"How do I break your charm?" Beca asked as she pulled back.

Aubrey lifted her hand up to stroke over Beca's cheek with the back of it. "You have to focus on the effects of it and then learn to block them. A vampire's charm can compel you to do anything. If you can break mine you'll break anyone's."

"When do we start?" Beca hoped it would be right away.

"Tonight." Aubrey chuckled at her eagerness and the pout. "I will have Anastasia and Chloe stay in the guest accommodations to give us some privacy."

Beca leaned in again to nuzzle Aubrey's neck. "You have given me more than I could ever repay."

"You have brought joy to my life, Soumise." Aubrey kissed the side of her head near her temple.

"I should leave it to whatever it is you do during the day." Beca stepped back.

Aubrey walked away the desk as Beca walked to the door. "If you want to train, go outside the main doors and walk into the forest. Call out for Lilly. She will put you through your paces."

Beca turned back from the door was a grin on her face at the ability to do some training. She missed the way her body ached after a good training, the way she felt her mind sharpen as she trained.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank you for allowing you to train with Lilly. She will test your limits like no other could." Aubrey sat down at her desk.

"I can totally take her." Beca smirked.

—

It turns out Lilly was a harder vampire to battle against than Beca thought she would be. She was about the same size as Beca but faster than she had seen before and willing to battle in ways Beca wasn't used to with fighting other werewolves.

It was the most fun Beca had had in ages when she finally brought herself inside. She had leaves and a stick in her hair, a limp from a hit to her left leg, some blood on her skin. She would heal in a day or two, maybe three at the very most, but she knew at the moment she looked like a mess.

"What happened?" Stacie asked, her voice a low growl as she prepared to go confront the person who did this to Beca.

"Nothing like you're thinking." Beca had her arm wrapped around herself. It made trying to calm the stairs to go take a warm bath a bit easier. "Aubrey let me go train with one of her vampires and we both got a little intense. Nothing a hot bath and some rest won't take care of."

Stacie carefully lifted Beca into her arms so she could walk her upstairs herself. She was going to take care of her mate even if she was angry at another for allowing Beca to train hard enough she was this beat up.

"Thanks." Beca let out a small whimper as Stacie jostled her a bit as she walked up the stairs. She rested her head against Stacie's shoulder as the taller werewolf brought her to the bathroom in the master suite.

"Can you undress yourself?" Stacie asked, having her sit on the toilet.

"Yeah, I think so." Beca started to work her boots off as Stacie turned around and started to get her bath ready for her. She watched as Stacie added a bit of lavender oil to the water to soothe her.

"Did you win the training battles?" Stacie asked as she helped Beca take her pants off when she was ready.

"Most were draws but some of the best sparring I've ever done." Beca managed a grin even with a busted lip. She had never been in this much pain after training with someone but she had never had someone train with her who was so good either. Most of the male Alphas she trained with were strong but had little understanding of how bodies worked. This Lilly knew just how to battle her.

Stacie saw the joy in Beca's face and it did draw the anger out of her a bit. Beca was bred to be a warrior and despite her size she had always been able. Honestly Stacie thought if it were important Beca could beat her without too much trouble.

"Here you go, Becs." Stacie helped Beca into the warm water before putting a towel down and getting on her knees to clean her off.

Beca closed her eyes as Stacie tended to her. Usually this would be something that Chloe would handle but it was kind of nice having the other Alpha taking care of her like this. She reached out to stroke at Stacie's forearm as she cleaned out a cut on her thigh.

"Aubrey is going to let me take over the security duties." Beca opened one eye to look at Stacie. "I needed a job, something to make me useful." She licked some blood off of her lips before using her left hand to clean her lips off.

"It will be a good job for you." Stacie looked at Beca's face, seeing the nervous pride she wore. "Just remember to make sure you aren't directly in the line of fire. Chloe and Aubrey, they need you. I need you." Her voice was softer than it usually was and bore none of the teasing that was so common between them.

"I know." Beca reached down to press her hand to the not quite there bump that was under Stacie's shirt. "Don't tell Chloe you carried me up here. She won't like it very much."

"I'm pregnant, Becs. I'm not dying." Stacie leaned over the side of the tub to press a kiss against her mate's temple.

About three months ago Stacie decided it was a good idea not only to solidify her position as Aubrey's mate but Aubrey's own position in the clan. Them having a child before Aubrey had one with Chloe or Beca wasn't strictly needed but Stacie did have a side to her that felt it should be her as the first mate Aubrey had.

"Still." Beca whispered. "That little bean in there is Aubrey's heir. And kind of my kid too with us all being mates. I want to make sure they aren't stressed out from you carrying me up stairs."

"My protective little Alpha." Stacie felt warmth at the protectiveness Beca shower over her.

Beca didn't comment directly on the term but she did lift herself up enough in the water to kiss her. She felt the battle that happened when the two of them kissed and somehow it settled her down. The feeling of something she knew she could count on.

"Aubrey is going to have me work on breaking her charm tonight so you and Chloe are kicked out of the room for the night. I get the sense that it's a pretty intense process." Beca informed Stacie of the plans for tonight.

"It is. I had to go through it when she made her her mate. She refused to put her mark on me if I couldn't break it." Stacie remembered being younger then, not only in years lived but experiences. She hadn't made choices that saw people die because of them when she became Aubrey's mate - she could no longer say that.

"Any tips?"

"No. This is something you'll have to figure out yourself."

Beca shifted to let Stacie wash her hair. She loved the feeling of someone washing her hair - usually Chloe did it for her if they showered together.

"She has been good to us."

"She has. The way she has accepted you and Chloe was more than I could have dreamed of when we came here." Stacie used a vessel to clean the shampoo from Beca's hair, careful not to get any in her eyes.

"You're worried the happiness won't last, aren't you?" Beca asked, keeping her eyes closed as Stacie worked her hands through her hair to make sure it was shampoo free.

"I'm worried once Aubrey has her heir and a few spares that she won't need me anymore and I will feel the full weight of my trespasses against her in her treatment of me." Stacie admitted. "She is more powerful than she lets on both personally and in terms of her clan. She controls a clan that takes up space from Maine to Georgia, crosses the Appalachian mountains and goes out towards the great plains."

"I didn't know it was that big." Beca admitted softly.

"She doesn't let on to how much weight is on her shoulders but I can see the cracks sometimes." Stacie found Beca's hand with her own and held it.

"Her smile. When it is forced, there is also pain to the process of trying to force it." Beca agreed.

"I need to talk to her about not allowing me to help her. Clans the size of this one rarely have the master running it without their mate's help. Her trying to do it all on her own I think is burning her out. But I don't know if she trusts me enough to allow me any control." Stacie slowly stood up to help Beca out.

"She's putting me in control of her own security, Chloe runs her household and you're carrying her heir. There has to be some trust there, doesn't there?" Beca asked, moving a bit better after soaking in the hot water.

"I hope so." Stacie wrapped her up in a towel and then her arms.

—

Chloe was none too pleased when she saw Beca at dinner. Beca was just glad she didn't see her when Stacie had less she had a pissed off Beta on her hands with puppy dog eyes that could get her to do anything. But Aubrey assured Chloe that Lilly wouldn't do any lasting damage to their little Alpha and Stacie managed to get her upstairs to the guest accommodations without Chloe demanding Beca never train with another vampire.

As Beca followed Aubrey upstairs to the master chambers she watched her carefully. She watched to try and gauge what kind of day she had and see if there was anything she could do before their training to ease her mate's mind.

"You are watching me very closely tonight, Soumise."

Beca blushed at being caught by Aubrey as the vampire opened the door to her chambers for the pair to enter it.

"I am trying to figure out how your day was."

"You could have asked."

Beca moved to sit on the bed as Aubrey went to take off her makeup like she did every night when she had retired for the evening. There were nights she had meetings or work to be completed. Tonight it was just her training with Beca and for that she wanted comfort.

"Sometimes I don't know where my limits are with you." Beca admitted.

"You're my mate." Aubrey cleaned her eye makeup off with practiced ease.

"Am I allowed to love you though?" Beca asked.

"Allowed or not has never had anything to do with love. If you want to love me you have all rights to do so. We share a bed most nights, I feed from your blood, one day we may have a child together." Aubrey pointed out to her.

"How was your day?" Beca tried the question on for size.

Aubrey chuckled before answering. "It was rather ordinary. There are no major campaigns on at the moment, the diplomatic units I have deployed are making progress with a few tasks set before them, a new vampire settlement is being built outside of Louisville and the project has gone off without a hitch so far. Most of today was checking in on projects and reading reports."

Beca played with her own fingers. "So you're like a lord back in like England or France then? Overseeing your lands and protecting your people."

"Maybe a ruler in Germany during the Holy Roman Empire. But yes. I sit as the head of the Council of Vampires and they are the only body that has the power to do anything against my clan. They still can only force my hand so far though." Aubrey finished taking her makeup off before walking over to the bed.

"So I mated up in the world?" Beca asked, seeing the hunger in Aubrey's eyes.

"That is a fair assessment." Aubrey put a hand on each side of Beca before leaning in to kiss her. Her fangs were down as she let Beca's tongue wrap around one of them as the kiss deepened.

"I like touching your fangs." Beca admitted when the kiss broke.

"That is very good for me. The pleasure of you licking at them is rather intense." Aubrey pecked at her lips again before standing back up.

"As good as when I lick other places?" Beca questioned.

"Yes."

Beca looked smug as she sat on the bed waiting for direction.

"Undress for me? We're going to do this from the middle of the bed and being undressed will give me access without worrying about clothing binding up." Aubrey started to undo her own top.

"Access?" Beca smirked as she stood and started to take her clothes off.

"Behave. Not like that." Aubrey chuckled.

"Pity." Beca said.

"Lilly reported back to me that you're one of the best fighters she's ever faced." Aubrey pulled the shirt off to toss it in the hamper.

"She was incredible out there." Beca moved to lay on the bed once she was free of her clothing.

"She is one of the most seasoned fighters I have. If she says you're one of the best then it is very high praise." Aubrey finished undressing, moving up on the bed and under the covers next to Beca.

Beca reached out to tangle her fingers with Aubrey's. Even if she was going to be charmed and even if she didn't always know where the lines were between them she was still her mate and liked holding her hand when they laid in bed together. She really was a romantic at heart.

"I am going to put you under my charm in a moment. The first time I do I don't want you to fight it. I want you just to get used to the sensation of it. I will withdraw the charm and we can talk about what you felt. Then we'll try it again and see if you can start poking at the edges." Aubrey rubbed her thumb over Beca's.

"Alright." Beca nodded. "How do you want me?"

Aubrey tugged at her to come into her arms. She liked the way the smaller woman fit against her and it would allow her charm to take faster action if they were closer together.

"Close your eyes and just breath in and out."

Beca did as she was told. At first she thought she might fall to sleep but as the seconds ticked by a new sensation started to spread through her. The desire to comply with whatever Aubrey might ask or allow whatever Aubrey might do to her sunk into her mind as she laid in the vampire's arms. It was an all consuming type of submission that she had never felt before.

"Lift your right arm."

Beca lifted the arm that had been wrapped around Aubrey's waist high in the arm.

"Put your arm back."

Beca tucked her arm back around Aubrey.

"Growl."

Beca's face scrunched up before she let out a low, menacing growl.

Aubrey pressed a kiss to Beca's forehead before she pulled her out from under the weight of the charm. She didn't want to do anything - at least yet - that was too intensive or would exhaust her too much.

Beca let out another growl once she was out from the charm. "I do not like that feeling."

"Good. Some do and it makes learning to break it more difficult." Aubrey brought her hand up to cup Beca's cheek. "Tell me how it felt to be under the charm?"

Beca tucked her head under Aubrey's chin. "Like I was floating in a pool of water and I couldn't tell what was air and what was water. Like I was doing things without thinking the thoughts that led to them. It was like any ability I had to think, to be my own person was replaced with a need to follow your voice."

Aubrey stroked over the back of the Alpha's neck. "I am going to put you under again. This time I want you to try and fight against the commands. You will fail so let the frustration fuel you."

Beca didn't like failing at a task like this but she didn't expect herself to get it right away. She nodded to Aubrey to put her under as she held herself closer to her vampire.

Instead of lifting or lowering her arm or letting out a growl, Aubrey decided once Beca was under the charm to force her to confess things about her she knew the Alpha wouldn't ever want to admit. It would give Beca something real to fight against that a growl could never fuel.

"Tell me about the day Chloe became Anastasia's." Aubrey's voice was smooth as silk.

The hesitation wasn't Beca fighting the charm but trying to put into words the memories. Memories even years later she had to try and block out to keep her tender heart from being carved up.

"I found out in the middle of the day that Stacie had put her mark on Chloe. I ran and ran and ran from where I was to where Stacie had made her home. Miles and miles I ran and ran and when I got there I was covered in sweat with tears down my face. I asked her if it was true and hit her when she confirmed it. She wiped the blood off of her mouth and hugged her even as my fists pounded against her chest. I cried in her arms for what felt like hours."

Aubrey closed her eyes at the experience Beca survived.

"I had been with Stacie and so had Chloe but Chloe and I were waiting because I wanted to treat her properly if I was going to make her my mate. I thought the fact the two of us hadn't been together would be a sign to the pack leadership I was respectful. They used it as a sign I was an unfit Alpha." Beca let out a growl at the thought of her former pack. "I came back that night and stood outside the window to listen to them. I needed to make sure Chloe would be alright. I needed to be there if she called out for me even if I knew Stacie wouldn't hurt her. I needed to hear her howl."

Aubrey kissed her forehead as she let the charm recede.

Beca shot out of her arms, nearly tumbling out of the bed as her heartbeat raced at the story she just told Aubrey. She shook a bit under the weight of all of the things she just said.

"Not. Cool. Dude." Beca growled at Aubrey, baring her teeth.

"I needed to think of a story you wouldn't want to tell me to allow you the best chance of breaking out of the charm." Aubrey stretched her arm out to Beca to pull her back to her.

Beca didn't take the offered hand for a few long moments before she allowed herself to be pulled into Aubrey's arms. She held tight to her, feeling weak after the emotion she felt telling the story and trying to prevent the words from coming out.

"I screamed as I spoke. I screamed inside of my head to try to stop the words. I didn't want to tell you any of it. I pounded on the walls of whatever place I was trapped in my head. I never want you to know I was outside of their window that night." Beca whispered.

"Do they know?"

"Stacie does. She told me about a week later she could smell me outside. She let me start seeing Chloe and then when it was found out she marked me. After that the three of were together as much as either of us were with Chloe ourselves. I don't know if Chloe ever found out or if her focus was on Stacie more than the scents in the air." Beca answered.

Aubrey rubbed up and down Beca's back. She could feel Beca's anger, her sadness, her pain at all the pack took from her over the years.

"You love her well, you know. Her and Stacie and even me in your way. You are a needed part of all of this." Aubrey whispered.

Beca snorted softly. "Stacie is an Alpha and a Byrne by blood. You're a vampire princess or master or whatever. And Chloe has the both of you to protect and love her."

"And you. She has you. I have you. Anastasia has you." Aubrey reminded her.

Beca shrugged one shoulder.

"I marked you as mine and I wear your mark on my shoulder. You are my mate as much as I am yours or Anastasia's. Do not slander yourself around me or I will take action against you." Aubrey pressed her forehead to Beca's.

Beca hugged her tighter. "You're really going to let me take over your security team?"

"I am." Aubrey promised. "I need to start allowing Anastasia more of a seat at the table. You being my head of security gives you one too on your own merits."

"So I'd get a say in how things work?" Beca questioned.

"You would." Aubrey confirmed. "I trust your thoughts when it comes to war and security." She trailed her fingers down to rest against the small of Beca's back.

"I have a lot of thoughts and I don't know much of your clans way of doing things." Beca admitted with a grin. "I want to make sure when the baby comes that everything is set. I don't want anyone to think they will be able to try anything."

Aubrey gave a smile at the thought of how seriously Beca took all of this. Giving her a task was more needed than she anticipated.

"Anastasia will be showing soon. I will have to formally announce that she's pregnant."

"What does that mean in terms of a formal announcement?" Beca asked.

"I have to get out the good card stock. They are hand delivered by members of the clan's council to the heads of the other major clans and our allies. There would be gifts sent and some visits after the baby is born." Aubrey explained.

The idea of visits made Beca tense up.

"I will allow you to put in any reasonable safety measures." Aubrey promised when she felt her tease.

"And if I request any unreasonable measures to protect our child?" Beca asked.

"We will talk through them when the time comes." Aubrey promised her as her hand slid to rest on Beca's hip. "Do you want to try again?"

Beca nodded. She didn't really but she knew she needed to learn how to handle all of this or she would never prove her worth and be able to directly influence the safety of her family.

They spent hours at it. Aubrey asked questions that were designed to get Beca to want to fight against telling her. Her first time with someone, the thoughts in her head the first time they met, family memories that saw tears in Beca's eyes. Aubrey pulled no punches when it came to the requests to try to push Beca to the point she fought through the effects.

"Please, no more tonight." Beca begged as she came out of the charm nearly six hours after she went under it the first time. "I am close, I can feel it but I can't do it anymore tonight."

"Alright, Soumise." Aubrey felt the layer of sweat on Beca, felt her shake. "No more tonight."

Beca held tighter to Aubrey as she tried to focus on her breathing. She was on the verge of her breathing coming too quickly as her panic refused to fade.

"I'm right here, Soumise." Aubrey whispered. "I've got my arms around you and you've got yours around me. Our mates are safe just down the hall."

The sound of Aubrey's voice was soothing to Beca even if she felt the panic in her veins still. She nodded as she tucked her head under Aubrey's chin again.

"I'm alright." Beca whispered.

Aubrey let her charm slip out again but this one was meant only to give Beca a restful sleep. She felt the little Alpha tucked against her, calm now in her sleep and smiled. She was close to breaking the charm, closer than Stacie was six hours in. This one was stronger than even she knew.

Aubrey did worry that she broke her trust with Beca tonight but in between each round she would allow Beca rest to recover from the effects. Each time after the first outburst she would nuzzle at Aubrey's neck and hold tight to her. It did give the vampire hope that their bond would stay intact even as she had to keep pushing Beca's comforts to get her to break the charms.

Aubrey looked up when the door to her chamber's opened.

"Anastasia. Roux." Aubrey looked at the pair.

"We could feel Beca's anger and pain all night through our bond. When it ended we figured you two were done for the night." Stacie and Chloe walked over to the bed, Chloe moving behind Beca as Stacie moved behind Aubrey.

"She is close to being able to break the charm." Aubrey tilted her head to allow Stacie to nuzzle her neck.

"She worked so hard. I could feel how hard she was trying." Chloe whispered as she held Beca as protectively as Beca held her.

"She worked very hard." Aubrey agreed.

"We all need to get some sleep." Stacie whispered as she rested her head behind Aubrey's on her pillow. "Morning will be here before we know it."

"Tomorrow we're all sleeping in. Everything can wait an hour or two." Chloe's tone gave no room for debate.

"Who am I to disagree with you, Roux?" Aubrey chuckled.

Chloe leaned over Beca to kiss her before settling back against her. "Goodnight." She whispered as she gave in to sleep now that she knew Beca was ok.

"Do you need to feed?" Stacie asked once Chloe was sleeping.

"I will in the morning. I don't want to try to move Soumise even if she won't wake up." Aubrey answered.

"Goodnight then, Aubrey." Stacie kissed the back of her neck.

"Goodnight, Anastasia." Aubrey slipped into a dreamless sleep.