Paul and I ran in silence. Not in awkward silence, just...silence. Since I refused to let him in my mind, I guess silence was our only option. I mean, I trust myself to keep my private thoughts to myself, but to accept him would mean to accept the pack and to accept the pack, I accept the responsibilities and well we all know how I feel about that, so silence it was.

Not that he seemed to mind. He just seemed happy I was there. Which was a welcome change in pace. With Paul it felt easy, slow... my pace. With Jacob... well he wanted to know me all at once and I'm not a sharing type of person... No, Paul was comfortable. Paul was well... Paul.

He didn't need to talk. He just needed to be around me. And I could do that. I could be his assurance. I could tell he needed that. His eyes shone a deep dark past that was better left forgotten, and I couldn't blame him for that. My past was just as haunting. Sometimes you just need that person who understands... and I... I guess we could be that for each other. Not to make the other better... just make ourselves better. It was purely selfish reasons.

When the morning sun began to rise, I stopped dead in my tracks. My thoughts long forgotten as I stared at my reminder that I needed to go home. Paul stopped a few feet ahead of me. He gave me a look of concern that I shook my head at. I sighed and nodded my head for him to go ahead. Forever breaking the feeling of peace and freedom we just gave each other. He sighed, figuring out that I was now leaving him for the day. He instantly shifted, not caring that he was naked in front of me and untied a shirt from around his ankle and handed it to me. I growled but he turned around to show he wasn't looking. Shifting quickly, I threw on the shirt and called out when I finished.

Paul turned around and smiled sadly at me . He strode over to me determined and brought me into a huge hug. It felt nice, but I couldn't return it. Mostly because he squashed my arms to my sides, but also because I didn't know how I personally felt about it. Yes, it felt right. Yes it felt safe and warm... but it was the first physical invasion... I mean he was naked for Christ sakes. He pulled away and said, "It was nice seeing you. Thanks for showing."

"I have to get going..." I trailed off looking back towards home.

"I know." He said kissing my forehead, "Be safe little one. And I'll see you... soon."

He didn't even look at me before turning and shifting back. He ran through the woods, like a speeding bullet. I couldn't help but watch until he completely disappeared. It was just so... I shook myself from my gawking and took off his shirt, shifting back to get home faster.

Once I arrived home, I realized the lights in the house were already on. Knowing this could only mean one thing, and I couldn't help the smile as I entered the house.

"Mommy!" my favorite little squeal screeched crashing into my legs. I picked up my three year old daughter and smiled my greeting into her blue eyes.

"Well, hello there princess. Where is your brother?"

Just as I said that her twin brother rounded the corner a lot more calmly than his sister did. He was a lot more mature beyond his years and held himself to higher standards than his little sister. He reminded me so much of myself with his demeanor but he looked exactly like his father. He had black hair that was shaggy but laid perfectly on his dark complexion. He had bright green eyes like me, that masked his every emotion. Luna, his sister had my hair color, but her father's blue eyes. Looking at them, you'd think they were just siblings because of the major difference in height and demeanor.

"Good morning, mom." He said hugging my hips. I smiled down at him.

"Did you guys eat already?" I asked Luna, in my excited mom voice.

"Uh huh," Luna answered excitingly. "Abuelita, made us some pancakes and nanas and chocolate milk. It was yummy."

"Sounds delicious." I said before placing her down and looked down the hallway for my mother, "Where is Abuelita?"

"Kitchen." Everett answered with an eye roll, "Luna made quite a mess with the syrup."

I looked to Luna and smirked, "Why don't you help Abuelita clean your mess and we'll go out and play when you are finished."

She scrambled as fast as she could to the kitchen. I ruffled Everett's hair messily, which always seemed to irritate him. The juvenile gesture always made him feel little, which he was. He just didn't see himself that way. "Hey buddy, you sleep well?"

He scowled and smoothed his hair out before answering, "Quite."

He turned to walk away from me but I followed. He was being short with me for some reason, and it wasn't for me messing up his hair. I gently grabbed his arm and turned him to face me, "You ok? Something wrong?"

His eyes glared back and he crossed his arms, "Where were you? Luna had a nightmare and I came to find you but you weren't here."

Leave it to my three year old to parent me more than my own parents did. He always wanted to know what's going on, whether it related to him or not. He was protective of me and his sister and I blame it on his father. He seen too many times, his father laying hands on me. No matter how much I tried to shield him from the abuse, he always managed to see the final bits and would instantly come to my rescue. The last time he stood in the way he ended up getting thrown into the couch and that's what ended all abuse entirely. I would never let their father put his hands on my kids, and that's why he was thrown in jail in the first place.

I sighed, "Mommy had..."

He cut me off, "Don't speak to me like that, mom! I don't like it. Just... I was worried about you."

"Baby, "I smoothed his hair down and hugged him close, "I'm fine. I promise. Nothing is gonna happen to me. We are safe and I won't let anything happen to us again. Ok?"

"But where were you?" He demanded.

I placed my hands on my hips and stared at him, "Everett, you aren't the boss of me and I don't always have to tell you where I am. I had some things to do and your Abuelita was here, so you were safe. Now stop this and get your coat on if you want to join me and your sister outside."

He huffed and walked away from me and I rolled my eyes moving towards the kitchen. My mother and daughter were just finishing up so I sent Luna to get her coat on as well, so I could speak to my mother.

"How was it last night?" she asked.

"Fine" I reply but cut to the chase, "How was Luna? Everett said she had a nightmare."

She waved her hand dismissively, "She's fine, mija. Just a bad dream and she crawled into bed with me and went back to sleep. You don't need to feel guilty every time you leave the house, you know?"

"They are my kids mom! Of course I'm going to feel guilty when I'm not here to care for them." I sigh. "I knew it was a bad idea to..."

"Stop!" she cut me off. "It's ok to have a night off, every once in a while. Every time you're not at school, you are here with them. Constantly. At their beck and call. You are a doting and wonderful mother and having one to two nights a week to yourself is not gonna kill them. They were fine and safe, mija. Jesus, you act like you went out and partied all week and haven't paid any attention to them. Have you heard your son? You work with him on vocabulary so much, sometimes I don't even understand what he says. Your daughter is so smart with numbers that her preschool wants to move her up to first grade. Your kids are smart and well taken care of that I question my own parenting skills. Take a break now will you? He's not around anymore."

I sigh, "Sometimes I just feel... like I'm doing it all wrong mom."

Her eyes softened as she rubbed my shoulder in comfort, "You're not mija. Now go outside with your kids. I'm going to clean the house a bit."

I moved to the front door and saw Everett helping his sister zip up her jacket correctly, somehow she always managed to get it stuck and I always wondered if she did it on purpose to get her brothers attention. I smiled and moved towards them, "You guys ready?"

They both nodded and we walked outside, well... Everett and I walked, Luna ran around like the roadrunner. She did somersaults in the grass and giggled loudly. Everett looked up at me and I smiled at him and touched his arm, "Tag you're it." I ran from him as he smirked and gave chase to the easier target. He touched Luna's arm and ran before telling her she was it. She sat up abruptly and stood up, "That's no fair, Evret."

But she took off in my direction anyway. We played a couple rounds before I got tired and sat on the step and watched them play for a little bit. They chased and giggled at each other and I just found it soothing and barely felt myself closing my eyes a little.

"Mom!" I opened my eyes to see Everett's concerned face, "We are going inside for lunch... Are you ok?"

I stretched my arms above my head and yawned, "Mmmhmmm... just tired baby. Let's go in."

He nodded and followed me in. We both sat at the table, where Luna was already bouncing on her seat excitedly, telling her abuelita all about her adventures outside. "And then Evret and I found a frog..."

"Toad." Everett corrected taking a bite of his grilled cheese.

Luna stuck her tongue out at him and continued, "We saw a TOAD and tried to catch it but he hopped away. Plus Everett said it would give me warts anyway."

My mother laughed and ruffled her hair, "You know if you kissed it, it would've turned into a prince."

Everett rolled his eyes, "That's just a fairytale, abuelita."

"No, it's very much real. If only you just believe. "She said looking at Luna, and poking her nose. I smiled at the sparkle in Luna's eyes as she believed all the magic whimsical things she was told. My mother turned to me and then turned to the kids, "After lunch we all are going to take a little nap, ok? Mija, join me in the living room so we can set up a movie for them."

I followed her in the room and we set up The Princess and the Frog for them, getting out two blankets and pillows and setting them on the couch. "Mija you look exhausted."

I shrug, "I'm fine, mama. I'll take a nap with the kids and when I wake up I'll help cook dinner alright?"

She looked at me and sighed, "Mija... I..."

"We are done!" Luna yelled as she jumped onto the couch and cuddled into her blanket. She patted the seat next to her for me to sit down and I cuddled her to my side, "What are we watching mama?"

"Princess and the Frog." I smiled down at her. She clapped her hands as the movie started. I felt Everett lay his head on my other side and promptly fell asleep. Luna mouthed the words to the first half hour of the movie, before she too fell asleep. And I fell asleep sitting up with both my babies heads on one of my thighs each.

What felt like seconds later, I woke myself up in a coughing fit. I clutched at my swollen throat and sat up realizing how dark it was and my babies were no where to be seen. My mom sat in a recliner across from me and handed me a glass of water. I took it and sipped gingerly as she spoke, "I already cooked dinner and the kids are in bed. You started coughing like crazy about an hour ago."

She handed me some Cold and flu. which I downed quickly and swallowed the rest of my water to drown the taste. "You wrapped yourself in Luna's blanket, which made me realize that you had a fever. Mija, you're sick, if you haven't figured that out yet. How is this possible? You haven't been sick since you turned."

I sigh rubbing my head, "It's the imprint mom... Apparently my mates absorb some of my energy and it weakens my immune system... God damn it!"

She sighed, "Mija, I think you should let your mates know."

I shook my head, "They'll just come here, swaddle and irritate me. I know how to take care of a cold. I'll be fine. I'll just need to sleep... Mama, I need to..."

"You are to stay away from the children. I am not nursing a whole house back to health." she said, placing her hands on her hips.

I nodded, "Ok mama, I'll stay away. I'll just stay in my room and..."

A howl sounded outside the house and I glared at my mother. I moved to the window to see both russet, and silver wolves outside. I turned abruptly back to her, "You told them!"

"Mija, you wouldn't have been able to keep the kids away from you. Luna would find some reason to see you, whilst Everett upon hearing you were sick would instantly come to make sure you were alright. And you, upon hearing one little tantrum would come to investigate. You need rest and you won't get it here. So I called them to get you." She whispered impossibly low so they couldn't hear our conversation. At least, she knew not to go behind my back on telling them about my children.

I don't care if we are mated. I don't care that they wouldn't do anything to hurt me. They are MY kids. They don't get to know them, until I want them to. I don't know them, they don't know me. Why in the hell would I bring them into my children's lives if I didn't know them myself. When you're a parent, it's not just you anymore. You have to always be on guard to protect them. And I'd never willingly put my children in danger.

I huffed standing up, and marching to the front door. I swung it open to see them both in denim shorts looking me over worriedly. I knew I probably looked like death rolled over but at the moment I didn't care. I crossed my arms and glared at them. Paul crossed his arms and glared right back as Jacob just continued to stare.

"I can take care of myself." I growled.

"Yeah? Your mother doesn't seem to think so." Paul shot back.

I was about to respond before I was caught in a terrible coughing fit. Jacob stepped forward pulling me into his chest to shield me from the cold, "You two can argue, when we get you comfortable at Paul's house. Now not another word until then."

Paul sighed stepped forward handing me an unwrapped cough drop. I stuck it in my mouth and enjoyed the taste of cooling mint and strawberry. Without thinking I leaned into Jacob, laying my head on his shoulder exhausted.

Paul straightened "I'll go get you a bag..."

"No need," My mother appeared throwing him a duffel bag full of what I can only guess is my clothes. I gave her a grateful smile, knowing she did that to keep them from hearing my babies. She smiled back and waved at me, shutting the door and saying through it, "Now don't come .back until you are a hundred percent well."

Paul turned and smirked at me "I like her."

I rolled my eyes and felt Jacob lift me up, I instinctively wrapped my legs around his waist but grumbled, "Put me down. I can walk."

"I know you can," Jacob whispered, "But I'd rather carry you since you don't have any shoes or socks on."

I blushed as I looked down at my bare feet. They carried me to the end of the driveway before Paul shifted and Jacob placed me on his back, before shifting himself. They didn't have to run far before we stopped at a small little cabin. It was made of sturdy dark logs and looks like its been here for at least 6 generations. The window shutters were a faded red and it somewhat reminded me of Everett's Lincoln logs.

"It's not much." Paul interrupted my thoughts, "But its home."

He opened the door and I was bombarded with the ultimate bachelor pad... well at least a neat freak bachelor pad. No pictures hung from the walls which were a plain brown color. There were brown leather couches and a brown leather recliner that were pretty worn down. There was a chipped black coffee table in the front of the couch and at the far back wall... I snorted. Paul gave me a questioning look but I just shook my head at the monster size flat screen.

Jacob chuckled, "Not a big fan of monstrous tvs?"

I shook my head, "I don't watch it enough for size to matter."

Both chocked on a laugh and I looked at them questioningly until Jacob snickered a "That's what she said."

I glared at both of them and rolled my eyes, "Great I'm in a house with 8th graders."

Paul smirked, "Are you hungry?"

I shook my head and Jacob frowned, "Get her something anyway. Her mom said she hasn't eaten all day. I glared at him before making a remark, "Oh no, don't try going all alpha now boy. You ain't even got your pack following your orders, so don't expect..."

He gave me a meaningful glare that had me shutting up real fast. For a second, he was alpha. You could see it in his eyes. and my wolf instantly wanted to bow and cower in fear, which pissed me off majorly. That is until I turned to Paul for support and saw he was giving me the same look. I bowed my head and couldn't help the whimper that escaped my lips in submission. Both harrumphed in satisfaction before turning back to what they were doing before their mates rude outburst. Jacob started pulling me close to his warm heat and massaging my worn, tired body as I groaned in satisfaction. Paul's ears perked up at the sound and looked at me with a satisfied smirk, before continuing with cooking his salty concoction. I looked at Jacob to see his furrowed eyebrows as he worked his calloused hands into my (for now) fragile body.

"For someone so tiny, you have a lot of knots." Jacob mentioned. "Wouldn't be surprised if 90% of you was pure stress."

I snort, "Price to pay for being a bitch."

Both of them roared at the less than flattering comment, but I raised an eyebrow at both of them. "First off, you can't deny my composure is not ever sunshine and rainbows. I've never been friendly, and I've purposely stay to my self. I've been here for what? A week and have I even attempted to make friends? Even with you?"

"So you're guarded," Paul shrugged. "Doesn't make you a bitch. Makes you smart."

I blinked at him, "Says the biggest dick on the reservation."

Jacob snorted and Paul turned at me with a look of pure animosity. I rolled my eyes, "Your high handed attitude doesn't scare me. It'll take a lot more than threats and skewered faces, to make me intimidated."

"And that's the problem," Paul threw his hands up in exasperation. "We aren't trying to intimidate you. We want you to feel equal to us, maybe even higher ranking, but we do demand the same respect we give you. And we expect you to treat yourself like we treat you."

I didn't realize he had moved in front of me, until his hand was under my chin and forcing my eyes to meet his. We stared into each others broken souls until it was almost painful, before he spoke again. But this time he spoke so softly it was only heard by me, "I will never fault you for whatever decision you choose to protect yourself, as long as it doesn't stand in the way of you healing, or keeps me from helping you. I see you, Maya. Just as clearly as you see me. Just let us in. Let me in, so I can help you. I know you don't think you need help, but I can see you need us. Just as much as we need you. Quit standing in the way of that."

And for once, I had no bitchy retort. Jacob cleared his throat and both of us turned to him. He held a red fluffy blanket in one hand and a bowl of some soup in the other. "Let's get you better now, little one."

I obediently grabbed the soup as Paul tucked the blanket around me. I need to get better. The quicker the better. I needed to get out of here, before Paul figured everything about me . Jacob I wasn't worried about. Paul is the threat and he terrifies me.