Mike and I were holding hands when we returned to the grounds. My father turned around from helping a young boy reach the snicker doodles on the table. He smiled widely and brushed the brown sugar from his hands.

"Who's this?"

"Dad, Mike. Mike, this is my father, Luis."

"Pleasure to meet you, sir," Mike said as he stretched out his hand to shake my fathers.

"Wish I could say the same," he glanced at me," But Lacey here never told me about you."

"We only met recently."

"Its great to see that my daughter has found herself a handsome, young man so fast."

"Its not li-"

"She's wonderful, Luis. I'm very lucky."

"You are. She so much like her mother."

"Where is her mother?"

I bit the edge of my tongue in my mouth and my father looked down, then away.

"Mama died a while ago."

"I'm sorry to hear," Mike looked between the both of us. I could see him taking a mental note of Papa's motions and reactions to my mothers being mentioned.

Mike's hand, which was holding my own in its grasp, squeezed tighter. His thumb caressed the back of my hand and he pulled me closer to him. I couldn't help looking up at him with sad eyes. I wish I could feel what he felt when he touched me.

"Mike, would you want to stay for dinner tonight? We're having Lacey's favorite, chicken fried streak."

"I'd love to, but I have some important work to do tonight."

"Oh, thats too-"

"Why don't you come over to my house for dinner? My mother makes a large dinner for everyone each night, I'm sure its not too late for her to add on another few people to the meal."

"We couldn't impose."

"Nonsense. I'll have you know that my mother loves to cook for people almost as much as she loves having Lacey over."

"She's met my Lacey?"

"Lacey was at our house just the other day, sir. Thats where she stayed after the party."

"I had no idea. I suppose that if this..."

"Catherine."

"Catherine is such a fan of my daughter, we have to go."

"You most certainly do."

___

Zoey was oddly unenthused about returning to the pack house, I suppose it must have something to do with either that house or my dad. He, of course, loves her already. He's always had a soft spot for children. I wondered if his color blindness effected his seeing her different colored eyes.

He has difficulties seeing certain shades of brown. He can't even see my eye color correctly, for him it's more of a purple color. It was the same way with my mother. She loved it, she said it was his way of seeing her and no one would ever look at her the same way he did. He was frustrated because all he wanted to do was see her eyes the way we see them. He asked at least a dozen people to help him and describe her eyes for him but no one could do it right.

At least that's what he told me.

My father was in the bathroom doing up Zoey's hair into a braided bun while I made myself busy in the bakery. I was making not 1, not 2, but 4 pies. Papa thought it was over kill, but he doesn't know that there will not only be 4 men there but 3 of them were werewolves and there was going to be an additional 3 werewolf girls. 

I also wanted to save one especially for Nova. I knew she'd probably share it with Tyler, but she is heavily pregnant. If I'm gonna do this "Luna" thing I suppose I should start with an act of kindness.

Right?

The apple and peach pies were in the oven and the lemon meringue and cherry were already done and waiting to be taken to the pack house so I decided to go check up on Papa and Zoey. 

She was sat on the counter admiring her milkmaid styled hairdo while he stood behind her smiling at his work. After my mother's death he got pretty handy with hair, he even spent extra time learning how to do makeup just so he could teach me. The memory brought some tears to my eyes when he gave Zoey the same hug I used to give him.

I wonder...

"Lacey," Zoey shouted even though she was 5 steps away," Look what Luis did to my hair!"

"It's beautiful, Zoey. Absolutely wonderful. Are you ready to head to the pa- Mike's house?"

She nodded, multi-colored eyes sparkling. I told her to go grab the pies on the counter and she rushed off.

"Don't touch the ones in the oven, though! Wait until I get there!"

My father and I left the room together to catch up to her, both laughing slightly at her exuberance.

"You seem to have taken a liking to her, Papa."

"I have. Her parents must be very happy people."

"They may have been," he gave me a questioning look," Zoey's an orphan."

"How did you come by her then?"

"Her orphanage shut down. She has no where else to go."

He was silent for a long moment. Actually, he didn't talk at all in the car ride. Not a peep escaped his lips.

When we opened the door Catherine was too happy to meet him for his quiet game to continue long. They went off to the living room with Zoey to talk while I went to find Mike, Kian and Holly. Apparently Jack was already in the living room waiting to talk to Papa.

Kian and Holly were sat in the game room- the first place I checked- Holly was cradling Kian's lap with the buttons down to her bra undone and her hands under the bottom of Kian's shirt, sucking on his neck when I came on the bottom step. I was about to go back upstairs when Kian opened his eyes and saw me.

"Look who it is," he said in an oddly cheerful voice considering what I'd interrupted. Holly pulled back and looked over at me, her face smiling widely as she buttoned up her shirt and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"I am so sorry," I started to back up the stairs," I'll just get out of-"

"Are you kidding me? No, get back down here," she got up and pulled me to sit in the couch where she took the spot next to me. Kian straightened in his seat and leaned forward slightly.

"You're not upset?"

"Over that? Nah," he brushed it off like it was nothing," Just a little pre-dinner fun. We'll have plenty of that later," he finished by winking at Holly.

"Okay, then. I was sent to get you guys. Catherine says dinner's almost ready. Where's Mike?"

"Oh, he's in his office," Holly said in a pleasant voice. She's always so pleasant. 

"I thought it was Jack's office."

"Alpha Jack gave it to Mike. Mike's the Alpha now," she glanced at Kian before adding," Well, not officially yet. He still needs to have the ceremony and choose a Beta. Soon, though."

"What's a Beta?"

"It's an Alpha's second in command. Joseph was supposed to be Mike's, but he went rogue."

"That's so sad."

"It happens."

I nodded, not fully understanding it all. I suppose that going rogue would be the same thing in werewolf language that it is in the military and such. He betrayed them.

"I'll go get Mike."

He was behind his desk when I opened his door, the moment I came in he looked up at me. 

"Lacey," he stood.

"Hello," I smiled at him. Is that what a mate does? Smiles? I walked over to his desk. Not fast, but also not at a snails pace," Are you ready for dinner? Catherine says it's almost done."

"Yes. Yes, I just need to put a few papers away."

I nodded, fingering the edge of a page.

"Maybe you could tell me more about mate's later? I'm still a little unsure on the topic. And the whole Luna thing, what is a Luna? I mean, what's expected of me?"

He stood up and put both hands on my shoulders. 

"Don't worry about it. Please don't even thing about it. You don't have to be anything you don't want to be. A Luna is only what she says she is. Everyone of them is different."

"Are any of them human?"

He sighed and put his head in the crook of my neck, taking in 3 deep breaths.

1.

2.

3.

"There are some humans that mate with wolves, yes. They don't stay human for long."

"Why not?"

"Because if they did then their lives could be in danger, especially the females."

"Why?'

"I'll explain later. Right now let's just go eat. I can't wait to taste that cherry pie. What? Don't you think I smelt it when you came in?"