As Levi and I approached the little bar set aside in a corner Derek zipped up next to me. "You're mate is eyeing you like he's about to rip that dress off of you."

"Hmmm," I murmured as shivers went up my spine and over my skin from his heated gaze.

Levi handed me a glass of wine while I looked back at Derek a little sadly. The pull was throbbing and I would lying if I said that the fact that Ethan didn't come for me earlier didn't hurt.

Derek winked and leaned down to my ear. "You know how to make him pay little one."

Levi chucked and nodded into his glass. "There's a reason that we Thorne's are a pain in the ass girly." I smiled a little deviously as confidence filled my belly. Levi laughed a little more and nodded approvingly. "That's my girl, now let's find a table and Lander. If anyone sees Liam, tell him to come find me at some point tonight."

Derek took my hand and led me to a table that Lander and Claire were already seated at. "Where are Liam and Evangeline?" he asked.

Lander rolled his eyes. "I don't want to know."

"Easy love," Claire playfully warned. "They'll show up eventually."

I sighed a little and waved at Caden who was walking over to me. He smiled warmly then nodded at the group. "Well Thornes, you all look good."

"Thanks, Caden, as do you," Claire politely replied.

Caden eyed me then Levi as little deviously. "Could I steal your daughter for a moment?"

Levi cocked his brow and looked back at Ethan, who was trying to stay in his conversation but failing miserable. He smirked a little and nodded as he and Caden seemed to come to a little understanding silently. "Yap, just bring her back in one piece. I don't have to tell you what happens if you don't."

Caden nodded then offered me his arm. I took his arm then looked back and Levi and Lander who were both trying to hide their laughter. I cold feel the bond twist a little and the energy buzzing about from Ethan turn a little angry. I sighed a little as more wolves started to fill the room. "Jaxon and I just wanted to dick around with Ethan, I hope you don't mind?"

I looked back at Caden who smiled a little schemingly and nodded. "Take me to your alpha then."

He chuckled a little darkly and led me carefully up the stairs then towards a table where Jaxon had three she-wolves fawning over him. I don't blame them, he was a good looking male, but he was not our male. I sighed a little as I felt his eyes on my bare back; this very well could be a long ass miserable night for both of us.

Jaxon cleaned up well in a dark charcoal suit. He looked over a blonde that was talking to him and flickered his eyes to me. "All of you leave now."

The women all scoffed a little as Caden and I continued to walk closer. Jaxon let out a warning growl which scattered the thirsty females. I rolled my eyes as he drank in my form, my wolf snapped at him but he just chuckled. "Let's have a chat, Charlotte."

I sighed as Caden released me arm then moved to a chair where a whiskey on ice was waiting for him. I walked a little towards Jaxon as the pull twisted some more. I shoved back the pain then crossed my arms and leaned against the table next to him. "Well Jaxon, say what it is you wanted."

"Besides the fact that you look absolutely edible–" he paused a little as I growled lowly to him. "I just wanted to piss Ethan off. It's more than amusing for me."

I rolled my eyes and flickered them back to Ethan who looked like he was about to burst out of his suit at any moment. Jason chuckled a little as he flickered his eyes to my mate. The music was gently turned a little louder; Frank Sinatra started to make a few people sway a little before some moved to the dance floor.

"Dance with me," Jaxon said as he held out a hand for me.

I raised my brow then nodded. "I'm only doing this because it's in my benefit as well, don't take it more than it is," I warned.

He laughed a little and tugged me forward. "Oh, I know. I am just glad that this is a mutually beneficial moment for us." I rolled my eyes as he pulled me to the floor then pulled me close to him. He hand touched my lower back and burned; my fingers felt like they were on fire and it was everything I could do not to yank my hand away from him. He looked at my hand then to me as realization kicked in. "Put your hands on my jacket," he said gently as he moved his hand away from my skin then to my waist.

While the skin he was touching was covered, it did burn; it wasn't as bad, more manageable, but it made the pull twist some more. I sighed a little and nodded. "Thank you."

"Does it really burn that much?" he asked curiously as he started to move us around the dance floor. They eyes of other wolves curiously watched us; Lander looked over from where he was dancing with Claire and chuckled a little before whispering to her.

"Yes, like I stuck my hand on a hot stove," I replied honestly.

"Damn," he thought out loud. We danced quietly some more until we were closer to where Ethan was standing. He stared at me for a long moment; his eyes were hard and pull almost made me bend over as it twisted a little more.

"You know," Jaxon whispered to me. "If you had come to my pack, I would have put a mark on your neck and it would have stuck."

I looked back and eyed him wildly. "What?"

"I feel it, the potential bond. I know you don't but–" he paused a little and leaned a little closer. "Know you're lucky you came here first, or you would have been mine."

I growled lowly to him and let my wolf show his her teeth. "And your hide's about to be mine," I whispered harshly before yanking away from him.

The pull was twisting and I was severely in need of a drink. I made it back to the table where Derek eyes me a little worriedly and took a long gulp of my wine. "Easy little one."

"Jaxon says there's a potential bond. I don't feel it, obviously, but he does."

Derek's eyes widened as he snapped them to me. "Shit," he hissed. I nodded a little. I looked back for Ethan but couldn't find him anywhere. My heart tightened a little. "Are you going to tell Ethan?"

"Have you seen him?" I flickered my mildly horrified eyes to him. "He's two seconds away from tearing out of his skin."

"Good," Derek growled a little. "Bout time he came around."

I raised my brow as some more upbeat jazz picked up. There was a hand on my shoulder and smiling silver eyes looking at me. "Come on girl, let's go for a little spin."

I let out a relieved sigh and let Levi pull me back to the dance floor. He spun me as we got onto an open spot on the floor then pulled me close to him. My beast rumbled a little; she approved much more of this than who we had previously been dancing with.

"So," Levi said with a leading tone.

I looked around for Ethan but he still wasn't there. I looked back to Levi and let out a hot breath. "Jaxon said there is a potential bond. No idea where the hell Ethan is."

Levi looked over the Jaxon darkly. "Boy better watch his ass," he whispered hotly as he pulled me a little closer to him.

I sighed and leaned my head on Levi's chest as he spun us around. He was surprisingly a very good dancer and eventually had me laughing as he spun me around like some kind of pro. My blood was buzzing; a buzz that covered the throbbing pull.

Soon though, soon an energy was blanketing to me as the music started to change. Goosebumps covered the bare skin of my back as his scent ran its way towards me, hugging me from behind. I looked up at Levi whose hard eyes were starring over me.

He rumbled a little and was met by another rumble. "Uncle."

Levi narrowed his eyes a little which made Ethan's blood burn a little more. God, his mother was right, he felt like white hot fire; an energy that was so damn addictive.

"You and I are going to have a chat later boy." Levi's eyes held a promise that I knew he would more than follow through with. He kissed my cheek then stepped away from me as a hand gently grades my shoulder to turn me around.

I stilled a little. My breath was caught in my throat but I tried hard not to show it. He rumbled a little as he pulled me to him with hungry eyes that were hard to hold with my own. His hand found my bare lower back and started to draw little teasing circles on it while his other took my palm in his as I laid a hand around his neck; I had to bite back a purr, the pull was loving the closeness between us.

"Did you miss me, sunshine?"

I flickered my eyes to him and held them for a long moment. "I miss my mate, Ethan."

His eyes darkened a little as a mix of other emotions filled them. He furrowed his brows a little and let out a hot sigh. "What happens if you never find him?"

"Then I suppose I am going to be quite miserable for the rest of my life," I replied a little dryly; dry, but honestly. I knew deep down I would never want anyone else but Ethan.

His lips twitched a little as a smirked tugged on them. His veins were burning a little more brightly as his beast reached out to mine; he was needy for his mate that he had waited long and well for.

"Why didn't you come for me earlier?" I whispered against his chest.

He sighed as we swayed around the floor to the music. "Because," he sighed a little. "I was trying to pull my head out of my ass."

I felt a warm smile tug at my lips. I looked up at him and saw that his fear was close to loosing the battle in his eyes. I sighed a little thankfully and leaned against his chest and let my beast purr a little; she wanted to show her male how much she approved of his answer.

"I know we need to talk," he said as he dipped down close to my ear so his hot breath was dancing against my skin. "But all I can think about right now is how ridiculously beautiful you look, you do not know the war I am having with him right now or how close I am to murdering Jaxon."

I shivered a little as the pull swelled. "Please don't, I really don't feel like burying a body in these heels."

He chuckled a little darkly. "Baby there won't be a body left to bury when I'm done with him."

I smiled a little wickedly when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Claire was eyeing me with a wild look in her eyes as Evangeline shifted a little impatiently behind her. She and Liam both looked flushed; clothes a little wrinkled and hair a little disheveled. 'Hunt,' Claire mouthed to me.

I looked back to Ethan who nodded. "I'm with you, sunshine, we'll be right behind you."

I eyed him curiously while Claire smirked a little. "Oh, Char, who did I saw always leads the hunt?"

I felt my wolf yip as I pulled away a little reluctantly from Ethan. Claire and Evangeline both started to walk casually next to me; they nodded to their mates who both started to loosen their shirts a little. Levi eyed us for a second before looking back to Lander with a nod.

"Just act casual," Claire whispered as we picked up the pace.

Evangeline looked over her shoulder a little slyly and nodded to Claire. "We're good, no one's following yet."

"And where have you been?" I teased a little as we picked up the pace some more.

Evangeline blushed a little. "Do you really want to know?" she said lowly.

Claire chuckled and looked back again. "Alright shoes off, we need to pick up the pace. I want us to have a good lead."

I felt my wolf rumble in approval. We stopped behind a tree and took off our shoes as fast as we could before we started to walk barefoot in the forest. I felt him behind me along with Levi and looked over at Claire. She smiled coyly and nodded. "Alright let's go."

With that, we started to jog quietly through the forest. We were all trying to take off our dresses as we ran, they were so nice and we didn't want to rip them to shreds, that is until we saw that the others at the party had started to run as well.

From behind me, I could see Thomas, Miranda, and Amber running hotly after us. I heard a rumble and I knew it was Ethan's. I pushed back my own and ran a little harder.

"Alright kids, let's get some buffalo!" Lander was like a kid a damn amusement park.

"Keep going girls, we'll keep them off of you," Levi added.

We ran harder until we were in a full out sprint. I could feel other wolves running behind me with only made my beast push a little harder, she was close and licking her lips for the game she was about to kill.

"Hang a left up there by that rock. There's a shortcut that way," Ethan spoke through our group link.

We nodded and ran harder as we heard the sounds of barks, howls, and growls throughout the forest. I looked back again to see Thomas and Miranda furiously chasing us. I let out a low growl of my own before turning left with the other females.

I looked around and saw a little cliff that was about a ten-foot jump. It was go over or around it, and I wasn't about to waste any time going around the damn thing. I ran straight towards it and met Evangeline's determined eyes. She nodded to me as we pushed harder together; if we have wings we would have been soaring.

"Sorry Evie," I breathed out as I ran over the cool stone that made up the edge of the cliff, pushing off of it and into the air where my beast tore through my skin and dress.

We landed quickly on the ground with Claire and Evangeline also in their fur while roars and howls from our men behind us fueled us forward. We weren't stopping or slowing down, not even for our men. They could either catch up or get left in our dust because we are damn determined to win this damn thing.

"Evan what's the status," Levi asked.

"Waiting for your asses to get here uncle. I'm tired of looking at these damn things without getting to have any fun with them," he playfully replied back.

I yipped a little and slid into a turn around a bend. We could smell them. The breeze was carrying their scent towards us, there had to be a lot of them. My beast rumbled in approval.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Jaxon break off in another direction with Caden behind him. Thomas and Miranda were trailing behind us but eventually followed suit. Another warning growl shook the ground a little, Ethan's beast was feeling particularly protective today.

"Where are they going?" I asked.

"Long way this is the shortcut sunshine," Ethan replied.

"You're sure?"

"This is my pack babe, there's not much of this land I don't know," he replied with playful arrogance.

My wolf growled in approval as we hustled forward. The words 'my pack' made her blood swirl in delight. Her male was starting to see; starting accept who he was just like we had done.

"Sunshine," Ethan whispered to just me as I turned around another bend.

"Ya?" I replied after I jumped over a fallen tree with Evangeline and Claire next to me. We pushed hard forwards, we were starting to come to another valley that was free of trees and covered with grass that swayed like an ocean.

"I know we need to talk, but right now I really want to beat that little shit."

"You mean Jaxon or Thomas?"

"Both," he growled out.

"Agreed," I rumbled across our link while my beast yipped again. We were very close. We were running on the edge of treeline; through the trees you could see them grazing lazily, totally unaware that they are about to meet our teeth.

"Together then?"

I smiled inwardly. "Together."

I heard Ethan rumble in approval as I sat back and let my beast have a little more fun. She was blood thirsty and ready for her kill, ready for the win, ready to hunt alongside her mate again. I could hear him rumble behind me along with Liam; males in approval of the females in front of them.

"Alright girls, cut from the front and we'll run up from the back," Lander said.

Claire yipped a little then ran hard with us along side the heard that we were camouflaged from by the trees; our paws were so silent, so stealthy, that it sounded like a breeze was rushing through the trees rather than a group of hungry wolves.

"Nice to see you made it," Evan said as he ran past us with Remi and Ryder to join the other males.

We passed a few warriors who were on patrol around the hunt; they yipped at us approvingly as we made it to where the tree line broke. We ran quietly through the tall grass. We started to creep a little slower, we didn't want to send the herd into a frenzy just yet. Claire looked over to us and nodded. I broke off and went right while Evangeline went left.

My beast was ready. I felt Ethan's reach out to mine and caress it playfully. My beast rumbled in approval, she was ready to hunt with our male; our male who was almost ready to have her neck.

We were ready and when we broke through the tall grass, we hurdled ourselves towards the herd. From the corner of my eye, I could see Evangeline and Claire running next to me. Claire was snapping her teeth as she ran down the center and Evangeline was rumbling as she cut down the left.

I growled a little as my blood began to hum even more; a power, and energy, a high that fed my muscles. The herd looked at the three wolves running to them and immediately turned to run away from us, but they were greeted by our males.

I ran down the right, stopping any of them from escaping out the forest and driving them inward as Ethan bolted out of the forest; the first male to bolt out of the forest. My beast vibrated a little at the sight of her male; strong muscles rippling under fur that almost looked too tight for him. He looked so much stronger than the last time we hunting with him; he was burning like fire, like white fire as he soared down the middle of the herd.

He cut across them then ran towards me as the buffalo ran in a panic back around; they had realized that the forest ahead of them was full of death for them, but they were mistaken to think that the other direction was any better. I ran back towards the middle as they started to head towards us; Ethan looked me and barked a little.

I swung back around as I eyed a bull that was running in a mad frenzy towards us. Him. My beast let out a hungry growl that seemed to only fuel our male. Ethan cut in front of him, causing him to stumble a bit; long enough for me to ram into him and sink my teeth into his neck. This beast was thick though, it was going to take more than one bite to kill him.

I jumped off as he hit the ground and carefully turned as the rest of the herd charged past us; running a big circle away from us in fear they may be next. The bull got up quickly, his neck was oozing out blood; a wound that would eventually kill him on its own. He tried to run but Ethan rammed into him and sunk his teeth into the males neck knocking him down. He ripped and pulled and tore until he pulled away a huge chunk of flesh and threw it towards us.

My beast looked at it then back at her male approvingly. The sight of him dripping with the blood of our kill more than pleased her. He licked his lips, but not at the buffalo, which made my wolf rumble a little.

We rumbled until we started running again.

We ran because we saw Amber running towards a buffalo of her own, completely unaware of the sneaky mountain lion running towards her. Damn cat. It probably thought it could pick one of these animals off in the chaos of things, but now it had it's eye for Amber who I knew would not be able to fight off a grown female feline like that.

I don't know why I did it other than I felt compelled to, like I had to protect her; protect my pack. I could hear Ethan barking after me from between the frantic buffalo running like an angry swarm of bees, but I tuned it out. I was so focused on this damn cat that it was the only thing consuming my mind; that and the sound of the stampede in the background seemed to down everything out.

"Amber no!" I yelled out over the pack link but she ignore me. I hustled harder towards her. My beast started to worry a little more; that cat's claws were sharp and could tear Amber to shreds. "Amber, please! Look out!"

She didn't stop. I let out a loud growl as I closed in on her, but it did nothing. I saw her jump to ram the buffalo she was after, which made me jump in response; throwing myself between her and the cat that I knew would kill her. Mid-air, I knocked her out of the way as the cat wrapped its paws around me and punctured my skin as it tackled me to the ground.

We rolled a little until my beast shook her off; jumping back to our feet the cat growled and hissed at us as it eyed Amber a little hungrily, the little she-wolf was slowly getting up from the dirt in shock. She tried to go around us but we jumped in front of her and snapped our teeth; we may loath Amber but if anyone was going to sink their claws into her, it was going to be me.

The cat swiped a paw at me and I jumped back. My beast was pissed. She roared at the cat; roared at her and showed her whose teeth would be taking her life. The cat tried to run around the side of us, but we charged at her and sank our teeth into her ribs. We bit and gnawed until we had a good chunk of flesh in our mouth that we could rip away.

There were claw marks on me from where she had got me, but she was oozing out blood from the little token I had taken from her. I tossed the fur aside and snapped my jaws again. She could claw me up all she wanted but I would have her neck by the end of this. I heard Ethan barking amongst the sound of the buffalo's loud feet that sounded like thunder as they ran in a frenzied chaos. They were screaming, screeching, and crying out as hungry wolves took them down one by one.

The cat tried to charge at Amber again but we got in front of her and snapped at her again; the little she-wolf backed up a little behind us as the cat roared angrily at me. My wolf licked her lips, she had enough of these games. We felt Ethan coming, but we didn't wait. We charged at the cat and rammed into her as we sunk our teeth deep in her shoulder.

She clawed madly at our back, but we didn't care. We didn't care that our back was probably shredded. We tore and tore and tore until we snapped the bone. The cat roared angrily and went to bite us but wasn't able to; she was ripped violently off of us and tossed a few feet away by an angry chocolate male wolf. Ethan.

The cat got up with a little limp and roared at him but Ethan was more than pissed, more than angry, he was pure rage. He was fire, white hot fire. He snapped his jaws still dripping with the blood of our buffalo as he walked towards the cat. You could smell his anger thick in the air as well as a scent that was becoming more dominant, so much more dominant. The smell of an alpha male, the alpha of a pack. He was like a slow brewing angry fire that was patiently assessing the perfect way to kill his prey.

The cat roared again but Ethan let out a roar of outrage that made the cat's eyes widen. She screwed with the wrong wolf. She tried to react and swipe at Ethan as he slowly approached, but he wasn't having that. He jumped quickly to her side then rammed her over hard into the ground.

Her claw got his shoulder, but his teeth got her neck. Her neck that he tore clean off her head after he ripped and ripped and ripped and ripped at it. It was savage in its purest form.

His beast picked the head up then walked back over to me where I was laying on my belly in the field as the hunt started to die down. The pain was starting to settle in and I was pretty sure my back was torn up pretty good; I had tried to stand but it just felt like someone stuck a hot knife into it.

Ethan laid the head in front of me; his beast looked at me with hopeful eyes and whined a little. My wolf sighed a little as her heart swelled. Her male had protected her and brought her the head of her enemy. In her eyes, it was utterly romantic.

I sighed a little and nodded with her. It was a gesture that we more than approved of. My beast reached out as best she could and nudged the head with her nose before she happily yipped at it. This seemed to please Ethan's beast. He let out an approving growl before he walked closer to us to look us over.

I tried to move again. My beast wanted to stand and walk to him, but the pain was too much on our front leg and our back was starting to feel as bad as it probably was going to look. I heard a rumble as I tried to move again, but it only made it worse.

My beast whined a little until we felt him nudge us with his nose. He nipped at the loose skin on the back of my neck and tried to gently pull me down; my beast whined a little as she complied. She laid on her belly while her male looked her over; he started to lick at the wound and coat them with saliva that felt more like cool reviving water.

We felt more wolves walk up, but Ethan growled lowly to them; warning them to stay away from his female. He continued to lick at me, paying extra attention to my injured back. My beast sighed a little as the pain started to dull a little; between his saliva and the buzz from his blood it really wasn't so bad.

He stepped back a little and looked us over before he shifted back to his skin. He knelt down by me as Evan ran out from the tree line with a handful of clothes. "Char, you need to shift back. I'm going to have to carry you back, ok?"

My beast nodded a little. Evan tossed Ethan some shorts which he slipped on while we closed our eyes and pushed through a shift that was a little painful with our new injuries. I blinked my eyes open as I laid belly down in the grass; my back felt like it had been shredded by a damn cheese grader.

"What the hell?!" Levi roared out.

"She got in a fight with a mountain lion," Evan calmly answered. Ethan leaned back down and pushed some hair out of my face and let his thumb run over my cheek a little. He looked back at Levi and Lander who had pulled on some shorts; Levi looked at my back before his face turned from worried to murderous.

"She saved Amber's life," Ethan said to Levi. Levi looked over at Amber and her family before looking back to me with a raised brow. "She saw the lion coming for Amber and threw herself between them. I got there in time to tear it off of her, but not as soon as I would have liked. Damn stampede," he said a little angrily at the end. He looked down at me a little pained and sighed. "I'm sorry sunshine."

"It's not your fault Ethan," I softly replied.

"Where's that damn cat?" Levi growled.

"Headless," Ethan said while nodding his head over to the corpse a few feet away. Levi growled a little in approval before looking down to me a little pained.

"Ok, let's get her up," Levi growled out.

Ethan looked over my back and let out a stressed breath. "I'm carrying her. I think I can throw her over my shoulder. If I cradle her it will just make it worse."

"Alright, you get her to the pack doctor. Lander go get the other's I want them home." Levi walked over to me and bent down a little. "Well girly, I guess the silver lining is you and your boy here won the damn hunt."

I smiled wildly which made Levi chuckle. Ethan grumbled a little then knelt down next to me. Evan put a shirt over his shoulder then held another big one in his hands. Other wolves were starting to cluster near us, but Ethan was not in the mood. His beast was close to his skin and he was ready to rip apart the other males; he let out a low growl that shook the ground a little, scaring the males off which only made Levi roll his eyes.

"Ok girl, Evan and I are going to lift you up and put you over his shoulder," Levi said as he nodded at Evan.

"It's going to hurt Char, sorry in advance," Evan said with an apologetic smile.

I nodded a little and looked at Ethan who was fighting his beast back. "Ok, do it."

Levi and Evan each grabbed an arm then pulled me up over Ethan's shoulder that was knelt down low for me. The pain woke up. I bit back a scream as it ran through my veins and reminded me that my skin cannot be broken without paying a painful price.

Ethan clenched his eyes shut and growled a little. Evan and Levi settled me so my belly could rest comfortably on his shoulders and so my back wasn't strained at all. Evan through a shirt over me that was more like a blanket then Levi threw another to start soaking up the blood and keep my nakedness covered from the other males. Ethan gently grabbed a hold of my hips and stood up then carefully adjusted me as he got to his feet.

"What about our buffalo?" I asked as Levi was looking over me.

He rolled his eyes while Ethan muttered a string of curses. "Pain in my ass," he grumbled. He turned to Evan who was looking carefully over my back. "Ev go get their damn buffalo and skin it. You want to fur girl?"

I rolled my eyes and nodded. "Obviously. Skin that cat too while you're at it."

Lander chuckled a little and nodded. While Evan rolled his eyes. "Alright, get her back," Levi said then let out a hot breath. "And Ethan?"

"Yes?" he replied from over his free shoulder.

"I'll have the girls and Derek come for her at the pack doctor. You wait for me there."

I shivered a little as Ethan stiffed a little. "Alright uncle," he tensely replied as he started to walk with me back to the packhouse.

The field was littered with dead buffalo and wolves who were tearing into their kill. Many of them stopped and looked up at us as we walked past them, but only for a moment; Ethan growled at most of them which made them quickly avert their eyes.

I sighed a little as we stepped through the tree line. The pain was getting worse, but it was manageable. Being close to him made it manageable.

We were quiet for most of the walk. The only sounds where that of warriors that greeted Ethan and I respectfully as we passed them, hisses from my lips as pain started to shoot through me, or rumbles from Ethan's worried beast. His beast that was pacing back and forth madly because of his torn up female.

"Why did you do that?"

I sighed a little as he wrapped an arm around the bottom of my legs to steady me a little. "Because I had to."