I sat as far away from shirtless Alexei as I could, watching through narrowed eyes as my mother tended to his wounds and my younger sister ogled him like he was the sixth member of one of those boy bands she was so in love with. He glanced in my direction—the dark eyes of his Lycan peering out at me, a light of desire dancing in them. The beast inside him wanted me—and I was certain at this moment I'd take its head if it tried anything.

I gave him a clenched teeth smile, one that probably made me look as demented as my mind felt at the moment.Darren sat nearby me—opening his mouth every couple of minutes before closing it again, deciding against whatever it was that he wanted to say. I turned my face in his direction, "Just spit it out." I hiss at him under my breath—not needing to upset my mother further.

"Maybe you overacted a little bit back there Pop...I mean sure he's a little weird. Yeah, I don't like the way he looks at me sometimes..." His words made me want to laugh in his face, "But he did help us out of a jam, brought us home safely..." 

I frowned in his direction, leaning back in my chair as I crossed my arms over my chest—sulking. My eyes tracked across the room to Anna, who was leaning back against the kitchen counter looking at ease in body but the tight lipped expression on her face said otherwise about her mind. She must have sensed my attention because her eyes flipped in my direction—face giving away nothing about what she might be thinking, before she looked away again.

The front door banged open, the sound of familiar voices echoed into the kitchen. My mother perked up her head—eyes looking up to meet mine momentarily before looking past me, "We're in the kitchen dear..."

"We searched everywhere—even went back to the hotel..." My father dragged on with a small sigh that told of the worry they had been feeling. His sentence cut off as he entered the kitchen—Alby right on his heels. I turned more in my chair, giving them a sheepish smile, "Good morning—"

"Told you the trouble twins were at it again...got all twisted up over nothing." Alby comments to our father as he shuffles by him into the room—eyes falling on Anna, practically devouring her. He gives her a smile that he calls the O'Brian charm, "I didn't know we were expecting guests—Hello, I'm Alby." I rolled my eyes and Darren snorted out his amusement. Anna stared blankly at Alby for a quarter of a second before turning her face towards Alexei with a "are you serious" look.

Alexei cleared his throat, "I must be the one to apologize O'Brian family. We weren't expecting to be invading your home as we have but you see my companion, Anna and I ran into your children at the event last night. There was some extenuating circumstances that kept us from bringing them back last night—We greatly appreciate your hospitality, and hope you won't punish your children." He bowed his head toward the table like he was seeking forgiveness. I watched his little show with a frown—he is playing all of them for fools and I can tell by the looks on there faces they're all falling for it.

My father stands in a stupor though I'm not sure if it's cause he doesn't know how to respond what Alexei said or if it's because there are two Lycans in his home. My mother takes control of the situation, "It's fine Alexei—we're are just glad you are all safe." She put her hand on his shoulder before focusing her attention on my father, "Carl can I please talk with you in the other room—please? It's important." I narrow my eyes in suspicion as I watch her rise up from her seat like the matriarch that she is. Now that Alexei had spilled on everything—the demon, the gun fight, the fact he believed us to be mates—I knew this wasn't going to turn out well for me.

"Why don't the rest of you show Anna our weapons room—she looks like a woman who might enjoy that sort of thing..." 

"What about Alexei?" Jocelyn interjects, glancing towards him with a shy smile. 

"Poppy can entertain him I'm sure--" My mother says dismissively. They take the hint—and Rafe jumps up out of his seat, grabs hold of Anna's hand and begins pulling her in the right direction. She flashes Alexei a look but he shrugs his shoulders, clearly he isn't going to help her.

Darren rose of his spot next to me, "Try not to kill him...or mom might just kill you." he whispers as he follows the rest of our siblings out of the room. My mom gives me a pointed look which is all the warning I need to be on my best behavior—as she shoo's my confused father out of the room.

"Looks like we're alone at last, snowflake..." Alexei comments with a sly smile. I sink lower in my seat, arms still crossed over my chest, "Wonderful—the sooner everyone gets back, the sooner you can leave..." I mumble back to him. 

Alexei pressed his palm into the table, "You see the problem is you seem to be missing the fact that I won't be going anywhere without you, snowflake. Either you come with me or I stay here with you—but we will be together as mates are meant to be."

I stared at him stunned by his words for a complete five-seconds. Where the hell did this guy get off? Did someone drop him on his head as a baby? In my world there was always options, always—My face began to contort into a contained scowl, lips twitching slightly as my muscles pulled tight, "Haha—yeah and how did you see that working out for you? You know with the whole forcing me part? Cause I've already stabbed you once and next time I promise I won't miss."

He flashed me a toothy grin, that bathed his face in wicked decadence. I watched as he leaned forward—eyes completely focused on me, "Then how about we negotiate terms that benefit us both—that is what you druids are trained for, are you not?" 

It was like sitting at the table with the devil himself—trying to salvage my soul. I knew I had been trained for situations like this one but from the light in his eyes I felt unprepared. He was manipulating me—he had been playing games with me from the moment we met. I frowned, somehow he kept outmaneuvering me.

"Fine. What are you suggesting?" 

He shifts in his chair, causing it to creak under his weight, "You come back with me to my community where I can keep an eye on you—at least until your family is certain that there is no threat to your safety out here...if and when that happens...if you still want to go home then I will bring you back myself."

"I'm completely capable of handling my own safety—"

He gives me a pointed look, "That is up for debate at the moment wouldn't you say?" nodding his head toward my healing shoulder.

"You're the reason I got shot in the first place!" I raised my voice in annoyance. He arched his eyebrows upward as if he is completely innocent, "I don't think you can blame me for your lack of concentration in a gun fight..." I almost laughed at the fact he had truly thought himself innocent of any fault in the situation--It was like trying to reason with a child. 

Gritting my teeth, "My family is completely capable of handling my safety..." 

"I can assure you if I wanted to I could kill this entire house of people before any of you could really lift a finger to try and stop me—trained druids or not. No, you will be much safer surrounded by my family." He said so matter-of-factly. As if he wasn't talking to his "mate" about how easily he could kill everyone she loved if he chose.

"Touch a hair on any of their heads and I will personally drag your soul through a hell gate—there are worse things there then death. I can assure you." I gave him a savage smile, leaning forward—placing my elbows on the table. 

He made a sound of amusement in the back of his throat. We fell silent for a moment, staring at each other from across the table—A stalemate of sorts. This guy was supposed to be my soulmate? It seemed an oddity to me that some higher force had made the both of us out of the same things—especially when he only seemed to bring out the very worst in me. 

"We will allow Poppy to go with you on the condition that you allow her brother to come along as well..." My mother popped into the room. I spun around in my chair with a wide-eyed look, "What?" I look to my father for support, "You're going to let her send me away—with a complete stranger?"

My father gave me a wavering look, glancing toward Alexei—brows furrowed, "He's your mate Poppy..." he gave me a sad smile, "You know how this works, sweetheart. You must keep the balance—this is our way."

"Yeah, well--maybe it's not my way." I snap as I push myself up out of my chair, turning away from them—eyes filling up with bitter tears.

Alexei meets my gaze and I see something flicker in his stare for a moment—something akin to concern but it's fleeting, "Don't worry snowflake, you will be completely taken care of where we are going..."

I give him a nasty sneer, "Oh bite me, you sliver tongue'd no good snake!" I march out of the room in enraged, if they thought I was going to go quietly then they were all deeply mistaken. 

---------------

Song: Portuguese Knife Fight-- Cage The Elephant 

A/N: Alexei got what he wanted...but I doubt Poppy is going to make this easy for him.