(Emily POV)

"Dead. Again" Clay ordered as I heaved my tired body off the ground. I spun around and attempted the maneuver again, trying to remember every detail of the technique he had shown me. We'd been at this for hours and every inch of my body was screaming at me to stop. I huffed as Clayton easily threw me to the ground again with a huff. "You're being too predictable Emily. You're giving yourself away before you ever move, stop over thinking it and just move. Again." I wanted to scream, tell him that of course I was predictable because he knew exactly what I was trying to do, but I dared not speak to the pack enforcer like that. While at times it seemed like Clay actually liked me, I was reminded quickly that if he felt I was a liability to the pack he would take care of me himself. Three more attempts, three more painful takedowns by Clay.

I've never been more relived in my life to see Nick walk through the doors of Stonehaven into the yard where Clay had just pinned me again. "Dead" he muttered as he pinned my body from behind, leaving my neck vulnerable. I just laid still and sighed deeply into the grass. I'd been spending almost all of my free time at Stonehaven, training with Clayton. While it seemed like a good idea at the time to ask him to continue my training himself, moments like these made me quickly regret my decision. I finally felt Clay push himself off of me as he got up to greet Nick with a hug. "So how's she doing?" Nick jokingly asked as he watched me heave myself up onto my feet. Clay looked over at me with a small grin before replying "Well, she lasted longer than usual. She's making progress, I'd say in a few weeks she'll be able to take you on" he teased Nick with a light punch to the arm.

I beamed over to Nick who shot me a warning look. Clayton didn't know I had already taken Nick down in the training room at home, twice. I can still see the look on his face when he realized that I had bested him the first time. The room was silent as the boys and Antonio watched with wonder before everyone erupted into cheers. Nick was still trying to live that one down at home and he certainly didn't want Clay to know, he would never hear the end of it. While I wished that I had a break from the strenuous training while I was at home, it was just as tiring. Ever since Reese and I became mates he's taken my training at home very seriously, insisting that I be able to defend myself should he not be there to protect me. Unlike Clay, Reese was always encouraging and complimenting my newly mastered skills, making training with him a bit more bearable. Speaking of our mate… I looked around the guys to the doors of the house, waiting for Reese to come out. He usually always rode with Nick to pick me up on Sunday.

"He had some things to take care of, looks like it's just you and me today beautiful" Nick purred at me as if he could read my mind while he walked over to throw his arm around my shoulder. At first his flirtatious nature made me a bit uncomfortable, but now that I'd been living with the pack for a while I realized it was just Nick being himself. I smiled as I leaned my head onto his shoulder and started to the house. Anyone in the human world would probably find this a bit odd, but we were Pack and touching was one way we communicated with each other. I gathered all of my things and bid everyone farewell until next weekend as we hopped into Nicks car and sped off toward Catskills. We made small talk on the way home, but I could tell there was something Nick was keeping from me. I eyed him quizzically as we drove on, trying to gauge what was going on in his mind.

"Quarter for your thoughts" I finally muttered at him, unable to get a read as to what he was keeping from me. He turned his head slightly and shot me a confused look as he raised an eyebrow. "Quarter? I thought it was penny for your thoughts." He said with a smirk. "Yeah, well you know inflation and all…" I quipped back at him, causing him to break out into a huge grin. "You'll see soon enough" was the only reply I could get out of the older wolf.

When we finally made it back to the house everyone was gone. Nick muttered something about having "lots of important things to do. Extremely important things" as he headed off into his office and closed the door. I shrugged and headed to my room, I was more than okay with a bit of time to myself. After I was bitten and kidnapped I had fallen so far behind in school that I had to take the entire semester again. I'm pretty sure the Sorrentinos bribed someone, because suddenly there were open spots in all of my classes I needed to take to finish out my semester. All online of course. While I loved all of my Pack family, they were ridiculously overprotective and rarely let me out without someone there to keep me safe. Another reason why I'd been working so hard on my training with Clay, hopefully soon they wouldn't see me as someone who needed protection but as an equal. Noah was two years younger than I was and he got double the freedom I did. I rolled my eyes at the thought as I plopped down onto my bed with my laptop and books. My sore muscles screamed at me for the sudden movement, so I decided to wait a bit on my work to go take a hot shower instead.

After my shower I dried my hair and threw it up into a messy bun with a tie dye headband, I pulled on a loose black t-shirt and my favorite tie dye workout leggings. My muscles weren't nearly as cramped now and I hoped I would finally be able to get some much needed work done. I plopped back down on my bed and sighed as I meticulously sat the mountain of books and supplies around me and dove into a paper that was due, tomorrow. I had gotten lost in my work when a knock on the door shook me from my trance. I glanced at the clock and realized I'd been holed up in my room for three hours. I yelled for them to come in as I stretched out to relieve my left foot which had fallen asleep at some point during my work. I was surprised to see Noah walk in the door, assuming it would be Nick or Reese.

Noah was sweet, but super shy. He never said much and I thought he didn't like me for a long time after I moved here. He'd only really started coming around and actually having conversations with me when Reese and I became mates. Even then they were never intimate like the ones he had with Nick or Reese, but simple and comfortable conversations. I was okay with that. I smiled at him as he walked through the door and shut it behind him, my face falling a bit when I saw the look of uncertainty on his face. "Noah? What's wrong honey?" I asked as he inched his way over to me. He met my eyes, and quickly submitted to me before he spoke. Something he's been doing for a while now. Even though I was older than him and technically higher up in the Pack hierarchy, it was still strange for me to see this young man who towered over me submitting his wolf to mine. "Emily I was wondering if maybe you, um if you cared to help me with something. I don't really want to talk to the guys about it and I could use some advice" he was staring a hole into the floor while fidgeting with an invisible wrinkle on his shirt. I smiled and nodded. Noah might be shy, but I've come to love him fiercely as my little brother.

"Do you want to go somewhere to talk about it? I'd love some coffee if you're up to the trip?" I asked lowly as I watched him nervously glancing around the room. He huffed a sigh of relief before we headed to the garage. I watched with horror as Noah grabbed two bike helmets and started toward his bike. It was his baby he had gotten as a present from Nick when he graduated high school last year and I'd been too chicken to ride on it. We may be werewolves, but we're just as mortal as any human on one of these things. Noah looked back at me and grinned, one of those rare grins he saves for those he truly trusts and thrusted the helmet into my hands. I sighed and took the helmet before climbing onto the back and gingerly placing my arms around his waist. The bike roared to life and before I knew it we were speeding down the street toward our favorite coffee shop in town. One thing Noah and I had bonded over was our love for our coffee. I felt myself relaxing as we rolled down the road, the feeling of the warm early May air whipping around us. Noah sped up a bit and popped the front of his bike off the road a bit, causing a squeal of excitement to escape my lips. I felt him chuckle as we rounded the corner and arrived at our destination.

Once inside we ordered our usual drinks and found a spot near the back corner to plop down. The atmosphere of the coffee shop was warm and inviting, always bustling with customers and filled with laughter. It was the kind of place you walked into and felt it's warmth deep in your soul. Noah hopped up quickly to grab our coffees and returned looking a bit nervous. I could feel his tension and for some reason my stomach began to flip flop around with tension too. Whatever he has to tell me, he's scared out of his wits. I thought to myself as I watched him take a shaky drink of the still too hot coffee. His knee was bouncing frantically, a nervous habit we shared, and I couldn't stand the tension anymore. I placed my hand on his knee, breaking him out of his nervous trance as he looked me in the eyes before quickly submitting again. I sighed, we weren't going to get anywhere like this. "Noah" I said evenly "Noah look at me." He did as I ordered and looked at me again, fear etched onto his face. "Honey you're making me nervous. Calm down and talk to me, you know you can tell me anything." I coaxed as I watched him try to form the right words. I waited patiently as he took a shaky breath in and began.

"Emily I think I fucked up. Like, really fucked up." I studied him for a minute, Noah was a great kid so I was sure whatever it was he was probably just blowing it up in his own mind. I gestured for him to go on. "I've been seeing this girl for a while, I really like her a lot. I think I might even love her, but-" he paused to take another swig of his coffee. "Emily I think someone is following her. A mutt, I've smelled him a few times but I never actually see him. It's always the same one, but I've never met him to place his smell. I know we aren't supposed to get attached to humans, especially after what happened to yo-" he cut himself off and flinched. I know what he was saying, especially after what happened to me. I smiled at him and put my hand on his arm, rubbing soothing circles as he tried to finish. "I have to keep her safe." He said as he balled his fist up. I understood the need to protect ones mate as much as any werewolf, but Noah wasn't a fighter. "Noah? What's going on?" My own concern welling in my heart for my little brother. "Noah?" He took a deep breath before he looked at me again.

"I got her pregnant Emily. I'm going to be a father. I can't tell Reese or Noah because they'll make me go straight to Jeremy and I can't take the baby away from her if it's a boy. I just can't. But I can't leave her alone and without any protection either, the moment a mutt finds out she's carrying a future pack member she has a target painted on her back. I need your help, please can you help me?" He pleaded with me. I took my little brother into my arms and held him as he finally broke down and told me all of the things he's been keeping in. I agreed to help him on the condition that if Reese or our Alpha specifically asked me about the baby I wouldn't lie to them. He accepted that and asked me if I would like to meet her. He hoped if I could pick up on the smell we could figure out who the mutt was. I agreed and we left the coffee shop.