"Would you like to join myself and the other males of the pack in the den?" Francois gestured toward the room adjoining the dining hall. "After all, any pack members are welcome."

Victor accepted the invitation and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Charlie ushered away by her mother and another female. Neither one of them touched her. In fact, no one touched her and they didn't speak directly to her. Any questions they had were directed to Victor. He observed Francois, the father of the vixen, as he chatted and laughed with his second in command. It was clear that Francois took it as a great burden to have a daughter that was human, a fact that was exacerbated by their close resemblance to one another. Francois had the same ice blue eyes and pale face framed by dark brown hair. The same cheekbones and even a similar smile but Francois had claws that extended past his fingertips, much like Victor's. His canines were sharp and pointed, obvious when Francois smiled.

"Did you know that my parents were members of Marie Antoinette's court in France?" Francois asked Victor, who cocked an eyebrow in lieu of a response. "My lovely wife and I have the largest and most influential pack in the country. It's truly a shame we haven't run into you before."

"That remains to be seen." Victor replied curtly.

"Yes, well," Francois cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Have you managed to mark Charlotte yet and make your claim known?"

"Unless you count the scratch marks on her ass," Victor relished the flash of anger in Francois' eyes before answering, "No."

"When do you plan to claim her so that we may fully accept her into the pack?"

"When I damn well please, Frankie." Victor turned on his heel and left the den, using Charlie's scent to find her room again. Salt tinged the air and he was leery as he entered the room. Charlie was laying in the bed, the comforter up to her chin, tear trails prominent on her cheeks.

-0-

"Come with me, please." Mother said once the male pack members left the dining hall. "We have to make you presentable."

I nodded and stood, falling into step next to her when a redhead came with us. "Hi. I'm Charlie."

"Charlotte, no talking." Mother chastised me. She led me back to my room as if I didn't know these halls like the back of my hand, ushering me inside silently. The redhead, Vanessa, pulled a measuring tape from her pocket and went to work. Mother watched Vanessa take my measurements and said, "You will be expected to take up your lessons again. We can't have you be any more of an embarrassment than you already are."

"Being human is nothing to be embarrassed about, Mother." I kept my chin high and tried to make my voice steady. "I already finished school. Top of my class, actually."

"We'll have to rebuild your wardrobe as well. What color does Victor prefer?" She examined swatches of fabric carefully. She held up a black swatch to my face. "Black does bring out the color of eyes and makes your skin seem less sallow."

"I don't like black." I moved my head away from the fabric and pointed to the royal blue color. "That's my favorite."

"Everything will be made to Victor's preference." Mother flinched when her fingers brushed my shoulder.

"Why should my clothes be what he likes?" Vanessa wrote down some numbers and left my room quietly, leaving me alone with my mother. "They're my clothes."

"He's your mate."

"He's some guy that I screwed and haven't been able to get rid of." I countered before I could stop myself. I let out a long breath to calm myself. "I don't want a mate."

"Regardless, you have one." Mother snapped. "You asked to come home and now you are able to. Why can't you just accept the expectations your father and I have for you now that you are a pack member?"

"Why can't you just accept me?" My voice broke and she didn't react. "You kicked me out when I was fifteen because I'm human! Nothing I did was ever good enough for you; nothing mattered as long as I did it unless I did it people who are supposed to love me unconditionally can't stand the sight of me. What did I ever do to make you hate me so much?"

I had started crying during my tirade, furious tears falling down my cheeks. Mother took a deep breath and took a moment to collect herself before she said, "It is nothing you did, Charlotte. You are simply an abomination. We have a chance to fix you; to make you better than you are. Why fight it?"

Mother left the room and the door closed silently behind her. I lay down on the bed and pulled the blankets around me like I had when I was a child and wept. Victor didn't return until almost midnight and while I'm sure he knew I was crying, he didn't mention it. He just got into bed beside me, rolled over, and went to sleep. I stared at the clock, watching the minutes tick down until midnight came, officially marking the beginning of my twenty fifth birthday. A knock drew my attention away from the chiming clock and I didn't bother to wipe my eyes when I answered the door. A cupcake was sitting on the floor, resting in the middle of a bone white plate and a candle flickering in the dim lighting. About five feet away sat another one and another five feet away sat another. I followed the trail of cupcakes to the ballroom and found Christien waiting for me. "Happy birthday, Lottie."

I didn't reply as I crossed the dance floor and threw myself into his arms, inhaling the scent of trees and his cologne. He squeezed me tightly then let me go. "I am so sorry about everything. Father kicked you out and I couldn't do anything to help you."

"It's okay, Christien." Knowing that my brother still loved me was enough.

"I kept an eye on you, though. Wanted to make sure you stayed out of trouble." Christien shoved me gently. "Clearly I could have done a better job."

"Do you have a mate yet?" I changed the subject as we sat on the floor.

"Not yet. The spark hasn't quite flared for me." He shrugged and picked up one of the cupcakes, peeled back the paper and took a bite. "Yours seems like...something else."

"I didn't pick him." I accepted the cupcake he handed me and licked some of the frosting off. "I don't even know him and Mother expects me to spend the rest of my life with him? Am I living in a bad romantic comedy and nobody told me?"

Christien laughed. "You've been reading too many romance novels."

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to be loved." I took a bite of my cupcake. "Flowers and midnight slow dances with inside jokes. Or staying up all night just talking."

"About what?"

"Anything." I sighed. "Instead of being told I'm going to be with someone. This isn't the nineteenth century."

"Lottie, if you want to stay then you have to let Victor claim you." Christien said. "Father seems willing to accept you as you are if you do."

"What if I reject him as my mate?" I asked, leaning my head on his shoulder.

"You know as well as I do that is a death sentence for Victor. A feral male without his mate would let the animal take over the shreds of humanity we have left." Christien turned serious and took my hand in his. "I can't lose my baby sister again."

I nodded and he gave my hand a sqeeze before nudging me to get up. "You should get some sleep, Charlotte."

We parted ways at my door and when I walked into my room, I was smiling. Victor was still asleep so I got back in bed and watched him sleep. If I had Christien around, then I could survive being with Victor for the rest of my life. All I needed was one person to love me, even if it wasn't a romantic love, and I could be happy. I couldn't lose my brother again either. With a silent acceptance of my lot in life, I rolled over and went to sleep.

A/N: Thanks to sliva for the review. It's tricky for me to write Victor because it seems like there's a few facets to his personality.

Thanks to everybody who read/followed/favorited this story. Feel free to leave a review on your way out. They're always appreciated and fantastic for the ego. :)