Author's note: It took me a long time to realize my time in the story, where all the characters are in their own stories in reference to Kira's. Please read the following note as it might clear up where this story is in perspective to the books. As always, please leave a review! I would truly appreciate knowing what people think of my little story!

READ BEFORE READING THE CHAPTER! THIS STORY IS SET ABOUT FIVE YEARS AFTER SAMUEL MET ARIANA WHICH IS ABOUT THREE YEARS AFTER CHARLES MET ANNA. SO, KIRA AND SAMUEL HAD NOT SPENT A LOT OF TIME TOGETER AS Samuel was mostly in the TriCity area by the time Kira was born. With her being more dominant than even her parents, the only two people who could force discipline on her were Bran and Charles. With Bran being exasperated by this unruly pup, he mostly sent Charles to force her back to face her problems instead of running away. While Kira had run into the woods, Charles and her had a lot of conversations about self discipline and how to assert her dominance in a positive manner instead of the destructive manner that ruled her life until she was nine when Bran, Charles and her dad finally figured her out. Then, Charles brought her under his wing and started to teach her about the world around her. With his and Anna's guidance, Kira was finally able to understand why she had the views that she had about people. Bran, Charles, Kira's dad, and Kira all knew that she would try the Change when she turned eighteen by the time she was ten, so they essentially trained her how to be an Alpha of a pack from the time she was ten. SO KIRA HAD ALREADY STARTED HER PATH TO BEING ALPHA OF BEACON PEAK BY THE TIME SAMUEL MET ARIANA AND SO KIRA AND ARIANA HAD NEVER MET PRIOR TO THIS TIME.

Disclaimer: As always, I do not own anything that you recognize from Patricia Brigg's books! I only own Kira and Thurin along with the stories they tell me. I do not make any money off of this story.

Chapter Two

The following morning came too early for Kira as her alarm woke her before the sun began its route over the horizon and across the sky. The blaring alarm was quickly shut off only to be followed by a groan. She was not a morning person. Unfortunately for her, Thurin was.

"Good morning sleepy head!" Thurin sang loudly as he barged into her room.

Kira hid her head under a pillow and flipped her middle finger at his general direction. "Go away. No sensible person is up at this time." She grumbled.

"If we want to get there by night fall, with the hiking to the vehicles we have to do, we need to leave in an hour and I figured you would like time for a shower, but if you would rather bath in the stream, by all means, stay in bed." Thurin said gently, knowing that her grumpiness was not aimed solely at him but rather anyone who didn't allow her to sleep through dawn. He placed a mug of fresh coffee on her bedside table and left the room without another word.

Kira groaned again. Thurin really did know her too well. Why he was less dominant than her, everyone could only guess, but he at least brought bribes with him when they needed to be up before her mind said it could logically be up. She peeked at the coffee, the steam wafting through her chilled room air. Grabbing it while sitting up in bed, she sipped on it before looking around her room.

It was rather large with an ensuite located off in the corner beside the floor to ceiling window overlooking the lake. On most days, she could see wildlife drinking at the lake, fish jumping, and birds preparing for flight. Today, there were two elk on the other side of the lake that she could see. She had blinds but most nights never bothered to close them.

Another sip of coffee is what it took to get her out of bed and into her ensuite to start the shower. Her house was large. It had to be to host any number of injured wolves or people who simply needed help. It also hosted any meetings that took place, and that is why she had invested a rather large fortune in ensuring running water got to the town, electricity, as well as the ability to have air conditioning and a solid heater for the dramatic changes in temperature the town was used to having. She needed to make sure that in the event of disaster, her house would be the safe house, a fort that could be looked at for anything by the town.

Twenty minutes later, she was finishing her first cup of coffee while walking down the stairs to the kitchen with her backpack slung over one shoulder and her dressed in comfortable clothes for the inevitable twelve kilometer hike to the parking lot which hosted most of the vehicles for the pack. No sense in getting their vehicles stuck on the one road in which was unreliable most of the year. Better to walk and know you are getting out. She was dressed in hikers' slacks and hiking boots, a tighter workout top with an undone sweater and her brown waist length hair in French braids down her back. She would need to change before seeing Bran, but for a day of hiking and sitting in a vehicle, it will do.

Thurin stood there ready to go with another mug full of coffee in one hand and a plate of eggs with sausage in the other. He handed her the plate before giving her the mug. Kira sat down at the breakfast nook, munching slowly on the eggs. Her wolf was pacing under the skin, wanting to be on the move already, but her human mind was still dragging its butt out of bed with a teddy bear in one hand.

"Have the passports?" She asked between bites.

"Of course, and the maps, and a first aid kit in case Bran changes his mind about kicking your butt blue." Thurin joked. He knew that teasing her in the morning might get his head chomped off, but at least he would be able to know that she still was alive then.

Good to his knowledge, Kira sent a subtle glare at him. "I hope he doesn't." She finished the last of the eggs before downing the rest of the coffee. She placed her plate and mug in the sink filled with soapy water, washed them quickly before rinsing them and placing them on the rack to dry. "Okay, let's get going before I lose my nerve and insist we stay here."

Kira stopped by the bathroom off of the kitchen to brush her teeth while Thurin strapped his pack to his back. His was about the same size as her, stuffed with enough clothes and supplies for a week. He was rechecking the pocket with the passports when she emerged, grabbed her pack and swung it on her shoulders, doing the straps across her waist with a satisfactory snap. Her Third, Shawn Thunder, was watching television in the living room.

"Have fun getting your asses kicked! I have things here." He called as they passed through.

"Have fun getting your ass kicked when I get back for that comment!" Kira said calmly without even looking. Shawn was crude, but would not burn the town down before they got back, and he also knew that Kira could and would teach him a lesson the second he walked over the line. He wasn't there yet.

Thurin opened the door before following Kira out and shutting the door behind them. They walked through the town and up the road leading out of it. The sun was creeping over the horizon and the mountains surrounding the lake were cast in sun light. They hiked in comfortable silence for the hour that it took to get to the paved parking lot with all the vehicles.

Her blue jeep was the one they had picked for their journey. After they had thrown their packs in the back and grabbed the water bottles from their packs, she got into the driver's side of the vehicle. Thurin got into the passenger side with the passports in hand as Kira started the jeep. Then, they drove south.

Aspen Creek came into view just as the sun was about to set. Even though Beacon Peak and Aspen Creek seemed close in geography, with the wait times at the border and all the back roads it takes to get from point A to point B, it literally took the entire day. Kira and Thurin were feeling the strain of the long day just as they pulled up to Bran's mansion. She put the jeep into park and turned the vehicle off.

Kira put her forehead on the steering wheel and closed her eyes. "I'm not ready to face him." She said tiredly.

"Well, he already knows we're here. Time to face the music." Thurin said just as tiredly. They both just wanted a night's sleep after the long day they had.

Kira got out stiffly, grabbed her pack from the back and slung it over her shoulder as she stifled a yawn. "Come on, we can do this." She said.

Bran stood at the open door. "I'm glad you could make it, Kira. I have supper for both of you in the dining room ready, but if you want to get settled in your normal rooms first, I understand."

Thurin grabbed at Kira's back pack on her shoulder. "I'll put these in the rooms. I figure you and Bran have some talking to do." He said walking into the house with both back packs slung over his shoulders, leaving Kira with Bran standing outside.

Bran smiled gently to her. "Shall we have dinner then?" he asked, gesturing her inside.

Kira eyed him before walking slowly up the stairs and into the house. "I just want to know why it was so important for Thurin and I to be here today, but I guess supper works just as well." She muttered under her breath.

"I heard that you know." Bran said while walking behind her. "Dining room, now, and you know where it is."

She did. She had spent the first fifteen years of her life living in Aspen Creek with her family before her dad got transferred to Beacon Peak where Bran and her dad decided it was best for Kira to remain in Aspen Peak to continue her education with Charles. Bran and she had rarely gotten along. Mostly from her views of how a pack should be run, and his insistence that life could not go the way she wanted it to go all the time. Several times, she had ran away into the woods, and Bran would either go get her himself, or send another to bring her back, as if she couldn't survive out in the woods for a few days alone. His favourite lackeys of choice: Asil or Charles, both of which freaked her out; Asil simply because of his world view of disliking any change and his annoying habit of convincing her that it was her idea to return, and Charles because he would simply put her over his shoulder and drag her back to town to face Bran again. Bran could have forced her to stay, but he never did. And Kira could never figure out why not.

Once she was in the dining room, she could see that dinner was indeed set out, but for more than just Kira, Thurin and Bran. Charles and Anna were there along with Samuel and Arianna who all were chatting at their places before noticing that Kira and Bran had walked in and falling silent. Bran's mate Leah was notably not there.

"Kira." Samuel said with a smile and a nod. It was his standard greeting to her, warm.

She smiled at him. "Samuel. I'm glad to finally meet the infamous Arianna." Kira said pleasantly, nodding to her, but knowing better than approaching too quickly. She had been warned through the many phone calls that Samuel and Kira had shared that Arianna took time and that visits with his family were nearly pushing her flight nature. So, space. "Charles and Anna, always a pleasure to see you again."

Anna was the only to get up and approach Kira to give her a hug. Charles as per his nature stood up with his mate and waited until she returned to her seat to sit back down. "Welcome back, squirt." Charles said with a slight smirk. It was his nickname for her that he only used when others outside of his family were not around and when Kira was not in trouble. It came from her being smaller than most in every point in her life, from her werewolf shape to her human shape. He usually kept his stoic face up around everyone except a very select few, but being one of two people who went into the woods after her, they had a bond that few could understand or explain.

Kira sat down at one of the free spots at the table, being sure to avoid the head of the table that Bran always sat at. The smell of elk stew was coming from a covered pot that sat in the middle of the table. There was only one spot left after Bran had taken his seat at the head of the table. The entire room was left in silence for only half a minute before Thurin joined them in silence before sitting down himself quickly. Bran reached forward to start the dinner.

Kira would definitely classify this dinner as one of the most awkward that she has ever had. Very few people talked, and even then, Kira assumed correctly that Anna was the only reason that they even had that much conversation. When all was over and cleaned up, Bran stood up.

"Kira, would you join me in my study? Samuel, Charles, I would like your presences as well." He said before leaving the room, knowing his request would be obeyed.

Kira turned to Thurin. "At least I won't have to wait long until I know why we were summoned here." She said with a small smile that showed slight nervousness.

"You'll be fine. I'll see you in your room after your meeting if you need to talk." Thurin said, returning the smile.

After Charles and Samuel had finished saying their farewells for now to their mates, Samuel led the way to the study followed by Charles and Kira. Bran stood there, looking out the large window into the dark woods as they entered.

"Close the door, Kira. We have a lot to discuss." Bran said without turning around to look at the three of them.

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