Alpha Carter POV My mate was so responsive to my touch. I knew our bond and the sparks between us contributed to that, but I could feel we were growing as a couple. My mate was growing. As we lay there, catching our breath, “Have you heard from your wolf?” I ask Elizabeth. She looks up at me, “Not yet; I hope she returns soon. I would like to shift again,” she says to me. “Do you remember your first shift?” I ask her. I know she did not have a lot of good people around her; I did not know what she would have experienced. “It was painful, but fast. Before I knew it, I was a wolf,” she says with a faint smile. “Whatever happened, my parents said not to shift again. Ashley was hurt and went to the back of my mind,” she says sadly. “She did try to help me with the pain I endured over the years, but she was also in pain,” she says with a sigh. “The wolfsbane would have hindered her ability to heal you,” I share with her quietly. “Why would an

Alpha Carter POV Waking with my mate in my arms was something I had not known I would appreciate so much. I snuggled into her body, wishing Max and I had been able to mark her last night. It caused me to pause and wonder what it will take to educate Elizabeth on her role as a Luna. The reality was she had not been afforded the opportunity to go to school. I would need to get her a tutor to help catch her up on her education sooner than later. We also had to address whether she was going to see the counsellor I recommended. She is making great progress, but I want to know I have done everything for her. Elizabeth stretches and yawns. Looking down, I see her eyes are still closed, but she has a smile on her face. “Is someone happy this morning, mate?” I ask nuzzling her neck. She giggles, “I am very happy this morning,” she replies as she turns in my arms and puts her leg over mine. Her warm core is resting against my hardening cock. “Maybe we can pick

Alpha Carter POV I see Stan waiting for me before we head to the conference room. “I wonder what this will be like this morning,” he mutters as we enter the room. I see the four Elders standing in the corner discussing something. I ignore them as I shut the door and invite them to sit at the table with us. As they approach, I can see Elder Timothy is ready to explode. Before I can get a word out, Elder Timothy yells, “A slave!!!”. I sit there in shock. What the hell. How had he found that out? He does not have connections with the Red Woods Pack that I know of. “Calm down,” I say to him as his face goes red with anger. The other Elders are looking at me concerned, waiting for me to disagree with this statement. “While it is true, my mate was a slave when I found her; she was abused, starved, and fed wolfsbane to keep her wolf locked away. I believe she is a strong wolf, and needs time to heal,” I say to them all confidently. “

Elizabeth POV I let out a big sigh and Kinsley looked at me sympathetically. “It will get easier, I promise,” she says as she pushes the file she was showing me aside. “I can barely read, Kinsley; how am I going to be able to do this?” I ask as I put my hand over my face. I would not cry. No more tears. Just action. “I will help you,” she says as she starts to summarize what was in front of me. I nodded understanding the problem. We discussed a couple options, and I made a recommendation. Kinsley smiled at me, “That is a great suggestion!” she exclaims as she makes some notes on the file. I smile encouraged by her enthusiasm. “Let’s take a break. We have been at this for a few hours,” she says as she looks at her watch. “It is time for lunch, are you hungry?” she asks me. My stomach growls in response and we both end up laughing and standing up to go towards the dining hall. I was missing Carter and I hoped I would see him there.

Elizabeth POV We had started with a five-mile run. I had never realized how much I would enjoy running but it was liberating, and I was good at it. I was able to keep up with Kinsley during our warmup. She was impressed and kept encouraging me along the way. We ended near the training field and walked over to the building that housed a lot of the exercise equipment we would use today. Kinsley started me on weights and eventually we moved to some of the leg machines. I was feeling the burn, after the run when Kinsley suggested we go to the punching bag to start on some punching to warm up for the training part. I was winded and thinking had we not already started the training part when she smiled at me, “You got this,” she says as we walk over to the punching bag. She shows me how to throw a right jab. “Should I not have boxing gloves on?” I ask her cautiously approaching the bag. Shaking her head, no “You will not have boxing gloves on in a r