Milkshakes.

The pair have been weirdly and annoyingly nice all day. They went as far as telling Cindy and her goons off this morning and hovered around the rest of the day until it was time to leave for Red Moon, to which they even tried to tag along, but I managed to put my foot down enough for them to leave me alone. I had texted Aleisha and told her to meet me at a different spot today. On my way through the town yesterday, I noticed an amazing mountain face within their land, and I was determined to climb it. Aleisha had her mate Tommy drop her off, and once he was sure we would be fine, he left.

“So, what are we learning today? Please tell me it’s some of that bad ass knife stuff.”

“Nope, today, girly, we’re climbing that.” I point behind me to the step as fuck mountain.

Aleisha laughs, hard, doubling over to support herself on her knees. She wipes a stray tear and stops when she sees a dead serious face.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Not at all. It’ll be fun!”

“This is your idea of…fun? How is this even learning anything? When am I going to have to scale a mountain to save someone’s life?”

I shrug. “It’s about endurance in your human form. You’re not always going to be able to shift; you need to tone this form as much as your wolf’s.”

“Ughhhhhh. Okay, but we’re getting milkshakes after this, okay?”

“Whatever you say. Come on.”

The climb isn’t horrible, at least not for me. Aleisha, though, even with her wolf, is sweating profusely.

“You know, you’d think being an alpha’s daughter, he would have trained you a little better than this.” I playfully taunt her to encourage her to take the last few meters to the top.

“He trained me, he didn’t torture me!”

“Come on, the view is great up here, you’re going to miss the sunset!”

She hauls ass for a little longer, and I grab her hand when she’s in reach to pull her up.

“Wow.”

“Nice, isn’t it?” I pass her a bottle of water, and we take a seat on the edge of the mountain.

“Hey, how is your bike already at the top?”

“I parked up here and made my way down to meet you as a warm-up.”

“That’s a ridiculous warm-up.”

“Hmm, maybe.”

“And you brought a second helmet?” She grins.

“Yeah. I thought maybe you’d want to take a ride?”

She squeals and tackles me into the grass we’re already sitting on, shaking my shoulders like a crazy lady. “Oh my god, YES YES YES! My brothers would NEVER allow me on a bike!”

“Oh…uhh…is it maybe not a good idea then?”

“Pffft! This is the best idea! Ride me off into the sunset, baby!”

I laugh at her excitement and get up to grab the spare helmet.

“Come here, let me get this on you then. I don’t have any spare leathers, though, but it’s not like I plan on letting you fall off anyway.”

Once I’ve got her helmet fitted, I grab the leather pants I had stripped off early and shove them back on, changing my joggers for my boots and putting the jacket on Aliesha, just in case. I straddle the bike and hold out my hand so she can get herself on.

“We’ve got microphones in the helmets so you can tell me if you want me to slow down or stop. Lean when I lean, hold on to me, and when I brake, put your hand here on the gas tank to stabilise yourself from sliding into me. Got it?”

“Yes!” She bounces in the seat and wraps her arms around me. The bike starts with a low rumble, and I hear her squeak a little through the mic.

I take her around the town for a few laps, and then she points me in the direction of a diner where we stop for milkshakes. We sit outside at a cute little picnic table to the side, where we sip our shakes.

“Hey, shouldn’t you be back at your pack by now for dinner?” Aleisha asks me.

“Nah, not tonight, Jenny gave me the night off. You got to be back soon?”

She lets out a long sigh. “Probably. My mate and brothers will most likely send out an army.” I laugh and down the rest of my shake before throwing it in the trash.

“Alrighty then, let's get the princess home.”

Xavier

We had absolutely no luck finding our mate, despite searching all last night and again today. The guys were getting restless and hopeless again, so what did they do? They decided to bury themselves in pussy. Fucking idiots. At least Haiden had half smartened up. Since he caught her scent yesterday, he decided to stop all the bullshit with the she-wolves and wait for our mate again. Noah and Levi, though? Fucking idiots. Since Mum and Dad had moved out of the pack house long ago to their own private home, dinner was left to us to organise and prepare. Obviously, I had just assigned some omegas to take care of that. We usually have our meals in our private dining area, while the rest of the pack that stays here is left to the first-floor dining. So imagine my surprise when I enter our dining hall to find it empty. The food was waiting on the table, with no one present. I know where two of my brothers are, but where are Haiden, Tommy, and my sister Aleisha? Where the hell are they? I send out a mind link to Haiden.

“Hey, where are you?”

“Downstairs at the bar.”

I roll my eyes. Of course, he’s getting drunk, wallowing away in his sorrows.

I link Tommy next.

“Where are you and my sister?”

“I’m out the front waiting for her to get home from training.”

“Wasn’t that meant to end like half an hour ago?”

“Yeah, she linked me and said they were stopping for shakes. Should be home soon, though.”

I frown at that. My sister knows how I feel about her going off course by herself. I’m certainly not eating alone, though, so I make my way downstairs to wait with Tommy so I can give her a mouthful. The distinct rumble of a bike sounds, and Tommy and I give each other a knowing look.

“She’s on a bike?” I question.

“She better fucking not be.” Tommy bites out.