DOMENICO POV Goosebumps travel over my skin as I watch the water droplets fall from Taylor's dark hair. Lust slithers its way down my spine straight to my loins and I almost growl.I shouldn't be lusting after my mate when we have grieving members. Besides her shift is days away. I have done an excellent job of waiting this long. I can control myself a little longer. Taylor dries her hair in a small towel and I swallow the lump in my throat. I detach myself from her allure by thinking of my members and the friendships I lost yesterday. Sadness quickly sweeps away my lust and I am able to look at her again."Now that we are clean I need to hunt for the family members grieving. I must provide for them while they can not do it themselves," I say too stiffly as Taylor tugs a dress over her mouth-watering body. "No problem. I will go find Giulia and Alessia. My shift is in a week. I need to get my strength up. We need it now more than ever," she says sounding unaffected by my tone.

The gentle breeze ruffles the fur of the pack of Lycans watching Taylor. They all seem to be tittering between excited and anxious as twelve o'clock approaches. Dom and Taylor's closest friends keep sniffing the air and glancing toward the forest on the other side of the wall. Cora's scent is finally drawing closer to the castle and not a moment too soon. There is sweat already beginning to bead on Taylor's forehead and her naked skin feels itchy as she sits and waits with Domenico beside her in the grass. "She is almost here," Dom whispers as he brushes a strand of Taylor's long hair away from her face. Taylor gives her mate a tense smile, but nothing else. Her jaw is clenched as she fights back the need to cry. Her bones feel as if they are on fire and her tendons feel as if they are ripping. Things have already begun inside of her and the clock has yet to strike midnight. Taylor is terrified of the pain that is to come. Doubts of whether she will be strong enough to bear i

TAYLOR POV4 months later Time has never moved faster for me. When I lived with Nathan I constantly felt unmotivated and unfullfilled. I wanted more, but I didn't know what. I thought it was the forest calling to me or the sense of adventure, but I was wrong. Now I have everything I could want and time won't slow down long enough for me to enjoy it. I have a ton of friends. I have a group of people who respect me and an amazing mate who pampers me everyday. But at the end of every day I wish I had more time. I wish I had smiled more at someone's story or talked with someone longer. Dom keeps telling me it's because I am still on human time, but I just feel like my time is limited with all of these amazing people. "Taylor, we can't postpone. We have to visit the cities and packs. The Creator wanted us to spread the news of our bond," Dom says as he sets done a dinner plate. I sigh loudly and Guilia rolls her eyes as she helps set the table with my mate. "The pack will survive

Taylor POV The group is nothing but tense as we travel back toward the city Pleck. Chris and his daughter are staying close to one another and their members are flanking them tightly almost as if they expect an ambush. Dom and I are traveling behind them watching their behavior closely.Cora told us she would meet us at Pleck when we contacted her earlier which made me both excited and anxious. I missed her and my other friends so much, but the fact that Dom insisted she came worried me. Dom- Cora is an hour from their walls. We are about three. She will stop and rest so we meet one another at the same time.Taylor- Do you except violence? Chris and his pack are acting as it it is inevitable. Dom- I suspect this city is on the verge of refusing help from Lycans. It has happened in the past. But it never ends well for the humans.Taylor- history seems to repeat it's self.Dom- No one likes to feel controlled. We don't and humans don't. Freedom is something we all want.I nod in a