Jasmine quickly raced around the room throwing clothes into a duffle bag. She heard something thud on the floor behind her. She turned to see that Soph was climbing in through her window. She went back to packing her things. She was so angry and hurt by her father. As soon as the meeting was dismissed she ran straight home and began gathering her belongings. Soph walked over to her best friend and began placing items in the bag.

"I told Beau to tell Cam what happened at the meeting. He was on his way over there now. I went by and bought some necessities for the road. This is from Beau and me." She reached over placed rolled up bills in her hand. Jasmine shook her head but Soph took the wad of cash and shoved it in her front pocket.

"You're my best friend, I want what is best for you and the only way for that is for you to be with your soulmate. You can't do that here." Jasmine only saw sincerity in her friends brown eyes. She hugged the girl so tightly that Soph had to lightly hit her so she could breathe. The girls smiled to each other and continued their tasks. A light wrap at the door had the girls throw the bags under the bed quickly.

"Hey bug can I come in?" Jasmine recognized her brother's voice and she stood to let him in. As she opened the door she could see the strain in his features. He looked tired, no doubt from trying to comfort Hannah. When she saw how broken down he was Jasmine couldn't keep it in anymore. She let everything flow from her. Tears burned her eyes as she clung to her brother as he patted her back and rubbed circles whispering reassurances to her.

"Jas it's all gonna be okay." Jasmine just shook her head trying to bury herself even further into his chest.

"No Hank it's not. How are you gonna go off and marry some woman you don't know? How can you do that to Hannah?" Soph spoke up behind them. Jasmine turned to see her friend, she could finally see the tears she tried so hard to fight. Hank had been like a brother to Soph. Soph had considered them all her family even more so her own sometimes. Jasmine could see it now. All the hurt her friend had carried in her. She didn't want to let it hit her she was denying the whole thing.

"Sophia Lanae you know I love Hannah but this is my dad's will for me. I can-"

"Yes you can! Take Hannah and go." Soph looked so determined but he looked her in the eye and she began to waiver. She finally gave in and fell in their arms and the two girls began to cry more and more. So much that they started to fall asleep in Hank's arms. He quietly placed them on Jasmine's bed. Hank left them and went to the living room grabbing a book and sat down on the couch. For a few moments he was able to distract himself but all he could see was his sweet Hannah. He could always spot her in a crowd, her wavy blonde hair was so blonde it was practically white. That was the same color when they would hunt. Her hazel eyes were always bright and full of life. She could run for hours never tired always wanted to do something and go places. Her craziness was infectious so much that she convinced him to sneak out in the middle of the night and go cliff diving. He smiled at the memory. He couldn't help but laugh at the similarities between the Holt sisters. Hannah was a secret type of crazy. She didn't outwardly act like she did in private and she never did anything too extreme in a sense. Sophia Holt on the other hand. The girl was a wild child and everyone knew it. She might be a cutie but the girl was pure sass. She had all the boys wrapped around her finger, especially a Beau Carter. He smiled sadly at the thought of never waking up to the two yelling in the middle of the street fighting. Hannah would grab a bowl of popcorn and would sit on my porch with both of my sisters sitting next to her.

"Who do you think will win this time?" Ava will ask sweetly.

"Soph" Both Hannah and Jasmine would reply at the same time never taking their eyes off the two lunatics yelling in the street.

A wrap at the door pulled Hank out of his thoughts and turned to see his mother heading to open it with Ava trailing behind. The minute the door opened Ava shouted

"Cam Cam!" As Cam walked in the door Ava launched herself at him. He swiftly picked her up and she immediately began to cuddle up to him.

"Hey hows my girl?" Ava giggled like she always did when he said that. He turned his attention to Hank's mom.

"Hi Miss Layla." She smiled at him.

"Hey Cam are you gonna stay for dinner?" He shook his head.

"Is Jas home?"

"Yeah she's asleep now do you want me to wake her up?" Hank asked. But again he shook his head.

"No I actually wanted to talk to you." Hank nodded and he looked to Ava.

"Hey sissy can you help mama with dinner while Cam and I talk?" She tightened her hold on Cam and shook her head.

"No! He just got here!" Hank sighed she was really attached to him. But Cam knew how to get through to her.

"How about you go help your mama and I'll bring you Mr. Fluff butt, huh? What do ya say?" She pursed her lips and scrunched her nose then smiled and nodded.

"But you have to promise to come see me before you leave got it?" She was wagging her finger around trying to use her 'big girl' voice. Cam smiled and bowed his head to hers and scrunched his face similar to hers "got it". He put her down and Layla offered to give him a dish to take back home but he refused.

Cam sat across from Hank out in the back yard.

"So you heard?" Hank nodded towards Cam. He looked forward and slowly nodded.

"Is it a good deal?" He looked to Hank his green eyes filled with so much sadness.

"We don't need it. Its pointl-"

"That's not what I asked. Is it a good deal?" He looked so cold and broken but Hank knew he what he wanted to hear.

"Is it beneficial? Yeah sure, alliance treaties, more resources but we don't need those things Cam." Cam just shook his head he looked completely defeated.

"She deserves more."

"What are you talking about?"

"This Alpha can give her so much more than I could ever give her. What does she need with me? What could I give her? How can I protect her when I won't even be heard? My existence doesn't mean a thing but hers does. She will have a good life Hank. I won't let her fall with me."

"You are not worthless. Your existence does matter. It matters to my family."

"Not your father." He said quietly but Hank heard.

"Who cares what he says?" Cam let out a small laugh.

"Are you gonna go through with it?" Cam said looking up at him. Those emerald eyes pierced right through.

"I-I He's my-"

"She has to go through with it." Cam stood from his seat. "Don't tell Jas I came over unless she asks. But if I don't see her tomorrow tell her…" He trailed off but Hank knew what he was going to say.

"I will Cam. I will."

(PRESENT)

We sat in the truck for a good five minutes staring at the scene before us. It's not that we've never been to a cookout. We have plenty of times when we were younger. Everyday it seemed like we went to a neighbor's house but this was... weird. We didn't realize what we are actually doing, we didn't realize we were exposing ourselves to strangers. I didn't know any of these people how was I supposed to protect my pack? How-

"Hey mystery chick!" The greeting interrupted my thoughts, stop worrying. I turned my head and saw the waitress from the coffee shop heading towards our truck. I waved through my rolled down window and smiled. Well I knew one harmless person. She ran up to the truck and leaned against my door. Just as she did this I hear Lucas let out a low growl. I turned back narrowing my eyes at him. What's his problem?

"What was that?"

I turned back to the girl not remembering her name.

"Hey, how long have you been here?" Trying to avoid the question.

"Oh not long. Hey I don't think we were properly introduced, I'm Gracie." Gracie! That's what it was! She held her hand through the window. I gladly took it.

"Melody." She smiled and lifted herself away from the truck.

"Well I'm real happy you came. Now I won't be the newbie with this group." She gestured to the group of people standing around. I studied them intently. I tried putting names to faces, well bodies anyway. A tall blonde haired boy was standing next to a tanned, dark haired girl. He threw a an arm around her shoulder pulling her in to whisper something. She nodded and turned her attention to the people in front of them. A tall brunette boy stood in the center with two blonde girls on each side of him. He seemed to be explaining something to the group with very dramatic hand gestures. At least until a dark haired girl walked right in the middle of his demonstration and pulled the blonde boy away. From behind me I heard Bryce begin to unbuckle his seatbelt. As he started to climb out he grumbled "I'm hungry." Hearing this Bentley screams "oh me too!"

"Okay baby just wait a second." He was now getting worked up, wiggling around in his car seat. Bryce just reached over to him and started getting him out of the seat.

"I'll take him with me. Ready Bubba?" He asked Bentley and he responded with nodding his head, ready to get out of that car seat. I smiled and watched my brother carry him off.

"Oh I'm getting hungry too. You wanna get something?" I nodded to Gracie and started to unbuckle until a hand grabbed me. I glanced over at Lucas with furrowed brows. He looked at me with pleading eyes. I nodded and turned back to Gracie.

"I'll meet you over there, okay?" She smiled and nodded. Once she left I turned completely in my seat to look at Lucas.

"What's wrong? You aren't exactly keeping a low profile. What's with the growling? You have better control than that what's wrong with you?" I glared at him in disbelief. Ignoring it he mumbles "I don't know why. It- it just slipped out." Just before I was about to say something else, I noticed how his pupils were dilated and the blue in his eyes shone so bright. He looked fidgety and smelled different. Kinda like he was about to change. I noticed the goosebumps on his arms but he was radiating so much heat. He looked toward Gracie again and turned back to me.

"I have this weird feeling about her…"

"Like a bad feeling?" I was now on alert. If he got a bad feeling about Gracie and I didn't catch it…

"No not necessarily. I've never- I don't really know how to explain it. You don't sense it?" I looked down and shook my head.

"If you think she's a threat then-"

"No just.. Let's just be careful, okay? It could be nothing." I doubt it could be nothing.

"Okay if something happens tell me. Promise?" He nodded. That wasn't good enough for me. I held out my pinky. Lucas rolled his eyes but he held out his own and wrapped it around mine. I smiled and he rolled his eyes again and dropped out of the truck grumbling about how I am so "childish". I hopped out of the truck grabbed my phone and shoved it in my pocket. I spotted Bryce and Bentley standing off to the side. Bentley was hugging Bryce's legs trying to tuck himself in between them. I smiled and started to head towards them when a blonde Asian boy blocked my path. He squinted his eyes, crossed his arms and frowned at me. In a split second that frown grew into a flirtatious grin, eyes widening. I rolled my eyes, there's a lot of eye rolling today, and mimicked his stance.

"So whatcha doin here?" He said his voice a tad tense.

"I was invited. Actually my brothers are here too." I said nodding towards Lucas who was now standing next to Bryce. Bentley was now completely wedged in between Bryce's legs. Flailing his little arms trying to break free while Bryce and Lucas carried on their conversation.

"By who?"

"Chloe." He frowned.

"Why would she do that?" I shrugged.

"I don't know maybe she was just trying to be nice." He thought for a second and then nodded his head. By the look on his face it shouldn't have been a surprise. That's probably her thing then.

"Does Derek know you're here?" I opened my mouth to say something until words spoke for me.

"Yes I know she is here. I also know that her brothers and son are here as well. What I don't know is how do you know who she is and why are you being a jerk to her?" I turned to see Derek standing with his arms folded across his chest glaring at his brother. I looked back at Simon to see him wiggling in place. Just as he opened his mouth a sweet voice spoke up.

"Hey! I'm so glad you made it! Did you just get here?" I turned to see the voice was Chloe. She had her hair thrown up in a bun and little wisps of baby hair go untamed. Dressed in a cute top and shorts while I stand here in my ripped up jeans a plain old tee and curls that I didn't even bother to brush this morning.

"Yeah, we've been here for about two minutes and the guys have already devoured half of the food. Sorry." Chloe laughed and looked behind her to Derek.

"Don't apologize, Derek eats like a nine month pregnant lady." Derek didn't seem to like the comparison and the look on his face was priceless. Chloe laughed again and wrapped her arms around him standing on her tippy toes to kiss his cheek.

"Aw don't pout, you know you're my pregnant lady." She said giving him a cheeky smile. He frowned down at her but only for a split second. A small grin tugged at his lips and he just rolled his eyes looking down fondly at her. Derek turned back to Simon with a withering gaze. Before he could get a word out, a burst of laughter erupted behind me. Turning I see Lucas trying to pour water into his mouth and failing miserably. The front side of his shirt was soaked and his face was red. He was bent over coughing while Bentley tried patting his back to help. Bryce was to busy laughing to even care that his brother was choking. All of this seemed so familiar. Then it dawned on me.

"Are there peppers over there?" I looked to Chloe and she nodded with a questioning look on her face. Derek looked at them as if they were about to perform circus tricks in the middle of his girlfriend's backyard. I quickly walked over to the buffoons. So much for first impressions.

"Are you serious right now?" I said giving Lucas and Bryce a hard glare. Lucas watered eyes glanced at me.

"What it's just a game. We were bored and it's not like anyone can refuse that face." I looked down to see my son giving me the cutest begging face. He actually looked suspiciously a lot like Lucas when he would do that to our papa. I wonder who taught Bentley that…

"Okay you've had your laughs, now seriously try here." They nodded. I felt bad, I hated being the buzz kill. I just didn't want any unwanted attention drawn to us. Which is basically any kind of attention.

After the whole pepper problem Chloe invited us to sit with her and Derek. Bentley sat in my lap eating a cut up hot dog and some corn. Chloe sat next to Derek holding hands. Bryce and Lucas sat on each side of me, eating more food. I was too anxious to eat. For multiple reasons. It all felt really… awkward. Chloe, always the icebreaker, spoke first.

"Thank you guys again for coming."

"Thank you for inviting us." Bryce said next to me with his southern twang. His curly hair fell in his eyes. Bentley chirped up at his voice. "The food is really good, thank ya ma'am." Chloe smiled.

"Well thank you but I didn't make a thing. My dad and Derek spent all morning getting everything together."

"Chloe's not much of a cook." Derek said, one side of his mouth turned up. Chloe swatted at him playfully.

"Hey! I invited people to come and enjoy all the hard work you did." She smiled at him and he just rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, I was wondering how long you guys were staying. I was thinking maybe we could get together as long as you're here." I could feel my brothers eyes on me, even Derek's. I just responded with "it depends." I shrugged my shoulders, Chloe's brow furrowed and Derek's frown deepened.

"Depends on what?" That almost sounded like a growl which kinda pissed me off.

"You, we leave when you tell us too. If you say go then we will. That's how this relationship will work. We meet on your terms from now on, unless it endangers my pack." I gave him a fixed look, he had to understand this.

"So I if I tell you to leave you will go?"

"Just say the word and we are gone." What about- I pushed the thought aside, which physically pained me. It was like burying apart of myself deep inside and letting it rot there. I couldn't afford for it to do anything else. Derek looked at me then to the rest of the pack. I could tell everything was starting to settle in and he physically seemed to relax.

"Okay." He nodded to me and let a small smile touch his lips. "Since you're already here can I ask a couple of questions?" I smiled.

"Yeah go right ahead." Derek didn't hesitate, he was eager to learn about our world. He asked basic questions like do all werewolves experience major pain during changes and how young did our parents changed. He referred to them as "your" but I was happy he was asking so many questions. He didn't go into anything too personal just based around packs and the change. The conversation took a weird turn and I didn't think my three year old should be in the middle of it.

"Hey Chloe can I use your bathroom?" She nodded and directed me through the hallway with Bentley in tow. I placed Bentley on the double mirror. The house wasn't so big. Coming in through the back door was an open area with a nice sized kitchen off to the side which opened up to the entry. There was a small hallway on the other side of the kitchen and at the end was an office. The bathroom was huge, a double sink a fancy tub in the middle and a separate stand up shower off to the side. A hidden toilet was nuzzled in the back as well. Would we ever have home to stay in again? Bentley has never had that, we've been moving around too much for him to have his own bed. Ugh that made me think of Paulie's offer again. I wanted to say yes and I figure I will, just… not yet. I grabbed a washcloth from the side (it looked clean) and gently rubbed Bentley's face to clean it up some. Once I made sure he had no evidence of food on him we left the bathroom. I was so absorbed in my own thoughts I didn't realize the man I rammed into.

"I'm sorry, I -" The man's scent hit me like a ton of bricks. You know him. Apparently I know everybody in this stupid town. I looked up to see his face. He was average height, average build, his hair had begun to gray and you could see the tired look burned into his soul. His eyes met mine and a slow smile started to form.

"Melody Souza" he chuckled "I knew you'd come around sooner or later." I frowned.

"How do you know me?" He flinched at the question. He reached behind to rub his neck and looked away.

"I guess it has been a long time. I used to work with your mom and dad. I was apart of their unit at the Agency."