“We have to get ready!” “I know, Lily!” “Well, are you dressed yet?” Comes her exasperated voice from down the hall. “No.” He admits. “Have you had your shower yet?” Her exasperation is now tinged with annoyance. Once again... “No.” “For the love of-” A deep sigh. “Is Ty still sitting on the floor in his underwear eating fruit loops out of the box?” She asks him and Chad smiles sheepishly. “I would like to be able to tell you no, but..” Angry footsteps proceed her entrance as she stomps into the living room where Chad sits on the couch watching cartoons with his son. His wife glares at him and says, “We have to be there in twenty minutes. It is a fifteen minute drive. I told you to start getting ready an hour ago. You said, and I quote here, 'go take your nap, then take your time getting ready to go. I will get me and Ty dressed.' Is any of that ringing any bells for you?” “Vaguely,” Chad tells her, pushing up from the couch. “If I hit you in the face right now, we will

Kimmy sits down next to her best friend in the world, Lily. On the other side of her is her mate, Chad, who is holding their son in his lap. I am so happy for Lily that the two of them are finally at a great place in their marriage. That was not the case for most of it, but now, they are so perfectly happy with each other. Ty is the greatest little boy, they have another baby on the way and they just finished renovating and redecorating their home. Things are looking up for them. And Kimmy is jealous as hell. She tries not to be, she truly does. But it is hard being the only twenty five year old woman in the pack that has not found their mate. Everyone looks at her like she should adopt twenty cats and carry around a purse full of expired hard candies because she is never going to get a man. She hears the town talking about her. They call her an 'old maid' and a spinster. They talk about how unfortunate it is that she does not have a mate. How she is almost past her child

Kimmy turns to look at the guy standing there and she groans internally. Anyone but him.. “Ah, that's okay. I can just train with Chad.” Chad, always in the know of things, says as well. “Yeah, I will put her through the paces.” He knows why she is turning down the offer. But Miguel is having none of that. “You are busy teaching the class. Your help is needed by others. I will be Kimmy's partner.” The guy takes a step forward toward her and she steps back very quickly. No way she is getting close to him. She knows to keep her distance. “No.” Kimmy finally just says to him, not caring if she sounds rude. "I do not want you as my partner."She has tried to be nice and gentle in her rebukes of him, but he either can not take a hint or he just willfully ignores them, but Kimmy is done playing. He comes on too strong and she hates it. She needs to take off the kid gloves when it comes to him. Miguel is a fellow member of the pack who is just a little bit older than her and has been ro

Kimmy stands in the cool night, looking back into the glowing house as Chad's voice floats out to her. “Seriously. We are pretty far out. I can walk you home. It's no trouble.” “Chandry Alexander, I am a big girl. I can get myself home safely all on my own.” Kimmy tells the man and his worried wife, standing unsure beside him. “Yeah, I know. But you are scared of the dark, killer. Remember when you k-” “Okay! Yeah, sure. Shush. I got it.” Kimmy loudly cuts him off and he chuckles at her. “But honestly, I will be okay. Okay?” “Yeah, okay. If you are sure.” Chad concedes, making Kimmy smile. “I am. Now, thank you both again for having me over for dinner. Lil, it was delicious, as always. I had a good time. I will see you tomorrow at training Chad and Lily, I'll text you. Good night.” Kimmy says, pulling the door closed. “Love you. Bye.” Comes Lily's sweet voice and Kimmy calls back, “Love you too!” On that, Lily closes the door. Looking around at the looming trees surrounding

Heath waits with Kimmy's family in the waiting room of the hospital until they hear anything from her. The doctors had called Adam back to her room earlier and her fathers had come out. Cole and Lumi were updating the family on her, with Heath drinking in every word, before the two men approached him. “Beta Dyers, we would like to thank you for helping our daughter. For getting there when you did and scaring that piece of shit away from her. She was not sexually assaulted so she is lucky, but her poor body is battered. The doctor called Adam back to show him all of the injuries and for him to help her heal. For some reason, her body is refusing to heal itself.” “Adam can more than likely get her to heal, being her alpha and all. But I could probably help her even more.” Heath admits. He had wanted to keep this to himself and since Kimmy had said nothing to him about it either, he assumed she wanted the same. But right now, it feels like the time to confess. “What? How?” “I'm her m