Noah hoped his face didn't betray his surprise.

He sat down at the head of the table. Clasping his hands together, he deliberated his response. Even if he was inclined to lie to Eva, which he wasn't, there was no use in doing it. "Yes."

"I knew it." She hit her palm to the table and left it there, leaning forward.

"It won't last," Noah said.

She frowned. "Why?"

"She's human, Eva." Noah sighed. "I'm only in the game because of my wolf, I can't deny him any longer. But you know how things work, if I don't feel the pull soon my wolf will back down."

"Are you saying you don't feel any pull towards her?" He didn't reply. Eva grinned, triumphant. "Anyway, the fact she's human isn't such a bad thing."

Noah was too damaged inside to give Lillian what she deserved. But even if he wasn't, she was a human and he a wolf. There were too many differences between them already.

Being a mother to wolves was one thing, being mated to one was an entirely different game.

Besides, he couldn't risk his heart if he didn't know her stance about turning into a vampire. He couldn't watch her grow old and frail and die, leaving him behind with nothing but a few paltry decades of memories.

Noah had lost enough, his heart too fragmented to risk another wreck.

When he didn't say a word, Eva blew out a frustrated breath. "So chatty, as always."

Eva rose. When she reached the door, she looked over her shoulder at Noah. "I just want you to be happy, Noah."

The door clicked shut behind her. Noah stood and walked to the sole window in the room.

Happy. Was he even capable of feeling joy again? It seemed all he'd been doing his entire life was simply survive, the wolf in him impassive to anything. Until now.

As if summoned by his thoughts, Lillian emerged from the trees along with Robert. It was time for her daily lesson with Anna. Her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, brown strands framing her flushed face.

She said something and Robert burst out laughing so hard he bent down, hands on his knees. She patted his back, her grin in full bloom. Noah felt a twinge of emotion in his chest, he rubbed the spot absentmindedly. His gaze stayed trained on Lillian joking with the other wolf until they disappeared around the pack house.

Noah hadn't realized he moved until he leaned on the pack house's door frame. He crossed his arms and listened, watched, assuaging the wolf in him. And maybe, also the man.

The wind carried their conversation.

"Want another one?" Lillian said when Robert straightened, wiping his eyes.

"Shoot," he said.

"What do you call a dentist who cleans a wolf's teeth?"

Robert's brows furrowed in thought. "What?"

Lillian grinned at him. "Dinner!"

Robert burst out laughing again. "Oh my God...this should not be funny...why do I find it funny?" he said between gasps.

"I've got another one"; Lillian said, nudging Robert with her elbow when they started walking again, the wolf still snickering.

"No," Robert said, still out of breath. "I can't take it anymore."

"What do you call a wolf who gets lost?" Lillian said, then Robert started laughing before she even answered. "A wherewolf, you get it? Where." She made the gesture with her hands.

Laughing and red-faced, Robert pushed Lillian in the school's direction. "Go... away...!"

"Hey, I still have lots of those. Do you know how much time I spent on-line looking for wolf jokes when the twins first shifted? But they never get the jokes."

"Maybe they just don't find them funny?"Robert replied. He dodged her fist.

"Of course they are funny. Look at yourself."

"I'm laughing at the utter ridiculousness of it all."

She flipped him off and walked away, smiling to herself.

Jasmine, one of the warriors, walked past Lillian. They exchanged greetings but each woman went her own way. Robert saw Jasmine, his already red face almost exploded.

She smiled. He smiled, then disappeared into the trees, back to his field.

Unlike what many of his wolves thought, Noah knew a lot of what happened in the pack; many untold secrets and unsolved issues. Including Robert and Jasmine's.

It had been two years since they began the mating game. Two years caught up in the first stage. An unusually long time. But theirs was an uncommon mating. Robert was submissive, Jasmine dominant.

Dominant female wolves usually mate with dominant males. Submissive male wolves usually mate with submissive females. In a submissive-dominant couple, it is mostly the female who is submissive. Those are the statistics.

Even so, Robert's wolf had made a choice, and Jasmine was aware of it, her wolf not showing any sign of rejecting the idea. But Robert wouldn't make the next step as was common for males.

There was nothing Noah could do about it. Matings were very sacred and private matters, intervening in them was forbidden by tradition.

As he looked in the direction of the school. He had a strong suspicion a certain brunette would poke her little nose in the affair.

*** *** ***

Lillian's brain was running full tilt when she reached Anna.

During the week, it had become clear that something was going on with Robert and Jasmine. She didn't know exactly what it was, but she had a good idea. And even though Robert had opened up to her a lot, he was still a bit reserved when it came to personal matters. He'd gotten all red-faced and tongue-tied on the one occasion Lillian brought up Jasmine.

Lillian decided she'd give him a bit more time before she faced him down. She didn't like the way his eyes dimmed after seeing Jasmine, the way his shoulders hunched even further. Lillian was determined to the point of irritation when it came to those she cared about. And she had come to care about the shy, red-headed wolf.

"Is the male the only one who controls the mating game's pace?" she asked as soon as she sat down across from Anna.

The teacher raised her brows. "Well, hello to you too. And yes, in the early stages, the one who initiates the game is the one who sets the pace. In most cases, not all, it's the male."

Lillian frowned, crossing her arm. "That's very chauvinistic."

"You have to stop applying human standards to us, Lillian." Anna said. "Male wolves like control, and dominant male wolves... They're worse."

Lillian, though, could clearly see that Anna loved her mate, adored him and was quite satisfied with her life. Anna didn't strike her as a woman who'd let someone walk all over her. So she asked, "Doesn't it bother you? Your mate is dominant, right?"

"Yep. Dominant males are pushy by nature, but that doesn't mean females let them get away with it. I love Johnson, but when he gets carried away, a talk will usually get him back on track. Well, I have my own ways of making him back off when that doesn't work, if you know what I mean." Anna winked.

Lillian's face heated up. She stuck her tongue at the teacher who liked teasing her a little too much.

"How can you tell if a wolf is dominant?" Lillian asked, her mind going back to Robert and Jasmine's issue.

Anna frowned. "For us, it's kind of easy. We can just sense it. But I don't know how it would work for you..."

Lillian thought back to her encounters with Noah. Whenever he was around, he radiated a sense of power she couldn't explain. Maybe that was what Anna was talking about.

"But," Anna continued before Lillian could speak. "Usually, warrior rank and above are the dominants in the pack. Since dominant wolves have strong protective instincts, they're almost always warriors."

Which meant that Jasmine was dominant, and Robert wasn't... Pieces began to click together in Lillian's human mind.

She leaned forward, crossing her arms on the desk. "Say, you said the male usually controls the pace of the mating game in the beginning. What if the male is submissive and the female is dominant?"

Anna frowned, her hand absently rubbing her belly. It was still a small bump, but whenever Lillian looked at it, she remembered a time she was in Anna's shoes with a sad smile.

"Well, such couples are very rare. To be honest, I've never seen a dominant female/submissive male couple in my experience with werewolves." Her frown deepened as she thought about it. "Hmm, that's interesting."

Interesting indeed.

An hour later, Lillian was walking down a path leading to her cabin at the very edge of the pack village, when she saw a wolf in the distance. The wolf had the most beautiful reddish brown pelt, the strands glossy under the beams of sun that broke through the tree cover.

As an instant later, another wolf joined in. This one with jet black coloring and an enormous build. The black wolf bumped the red one's shoulder. Red snarled, then nipped Black's front leg. Black gave a wolfish grin before licking Red's neck repeatedly.

Sean and Eva. Lillian somehow recognized the couple. Sean's wolf looked like Noah's. But aside from the smaller size, he didn't have the same impact Noah's wolf had. He wasn't nearly as breathtaking.

Eva's wolf took off into the forest with a yip over her shoulder. Sean chased after her. Then they were gone. Lillian smiled, surprised at the playful side of Sean.

He might not like her, but Lillian respected him nevertheless. Only a week and she could see he loved and respected Eva, his pack members held him in high regard, and he cared for the good of his pack.

Lillian's hand twitched, her thoughts going to another black wolf. Thinking of that morning shook something in her on a visceral level. It was like she opened a door she wasn't aware of, playing with the wolf like that. He was an alpha wolf, a strong creature who could snap her neck effortlessly. She should have been afraid of him, but she just couldn't muster the emotion.

The feel of his fur under her palm was still fresh in her mind, the way he laid his head on her shoulder, the way he licked her cheek. It all hinted at a playful nature which- Lillian had a feeling- no one ever glimpsed.

So, hours later, when she sat down at dinner next to Eva in the pack house, and Noah joined, Lillian couldn't help but feel mortified. Technically, Noah and his wolf were one. She all but cuddled him. It had been easier to deal with when she wasn't thinking that the man was also there. Her face must be pink.

Lillian's gaze caught Noah's, and she saw the same realization in his eyes. He cleared his throat and looked at Sean. Lillian could barely hide the smile that threatened to break free at the hint of pink on the tips of the alpha's ears.

Who would've thought the big, bad alpha wolf would feel bashful?

"What?" Eva whispered, leaning close to Lillian. "Why are you smiling?"

"Nothing." Lillian bit her lip. "Anyway, what did you want to talk about?"

She usually had dinner with the twins in their cabin, but Eva had told her they needed to talk about something over dinner.

"Elijah," Lillian said, taking her chocolate pudding away from Elijah's sneaky spoon. "You already had enough for today, baby."

"But mooom." He widened his blue eyes like the puppy that he was. Lillian tapped his nose. "Nope, it won't work on me. I'm immune to your charms, Wolfie. Enough sugar for today."

Elijah sighed heavily, then turned to look at Ezra's pudding. Ezra frowned and moved it away from his brother's reach.

Eva chuckled. "God, those two are so cute. I don't know how you can resist them."

"Hmm, I can't resist, really," Lillian whispered, leaning so only Eva could hear, aware of her pups' sharp hearing. "But they don't know that, and they shouldn't. Otherwise our meals will consist of chocolate and they'll be prancing around naked all day."

Eva snorted and nudged Lillian's shoulder with her own. Her face then turned serious. "How is it going with Robert?"

"Good." Lillian nodded. "It's going great. I like working in the field. But I do have some time on my hands by the end of the day."

"That's what Robert said. I had a conversation with him earlier," Eva said. "Sean works as a liaison between our pack and international ones, so we thought maybe he could utilize your language skills."

Lillian's eyes, wide with excitement, flickered to Sean. He was still talking with Noah in low voices. "Really?"

"Yes. What do you think?"

"I'd love to! when do I start?" she grinned at Eva, then her grin was replaced with a frown. "But wait, do I have to give up working on the field?"

"No, you'll have to divide your time between the two tasks. Robert says you're too good with the garden for him to give you up. So as long as you can figure out an appropriate schedule with Sean and Robert, you can do both."

Lillian nodded, hopeful that they had assigned her to another task in the pack. It was a measure of their growing trust.

Lillian sighed in content as the twins laughed. Life in the pack wasn't so bad, after all.

She spoke too soon.

*** *** ***

Lillian was on her morning run a few days later when she decided to stray from her usual trail and explore further. The twins didn't have lessons that morning, which meant she wasn't pressed for time.

She went in the opposite direction of the lake. The sun having yet to make an appearance, the forest was still gloomy. But the soothing rustle of leaves and the early birds' twittering made it less daunting. Breathing in the pure crisp air, Lillian touched her fingers to everything in their way- tree bark, dewy leaves, fallen trunks. She was at home in the forest. She felt peaceful.

Until she didn't.

She was in the center of a very small clearing when she realized it. She didn't know when it had happened, but at some point the forest's symphony had faded.

It was too quiet. An absolute silence. An eerie silence. Every hair on her body rose. She slowed her steps until she halted. Her heart beat in her ears. Lillian looked around, but all around her was a grayish blue world not yet awake.

A rustle of leaves. Lillian's tense body tightened further with dread, a sense of foreboding sitting heavy in the pit of her stomach. She clamped down on her fear, aware that whatever predatory being was out there would be taunted by the acrid scent of it.

A growl, deep and threatening.

Lillian jumped, unable to help her reaction. A deep buried instinct told her that whoever was out there was not a familiar wolf. Whatever it was, it meant harm.

Then through the trees across from her, she caught a glimpse of a wolf. A shapeshifter. But there was something seriously awry about it. The creature wasn't right.

The thought barely flickered through her mind before the brown wolf completely emerged from the trees and into the small clearing. Lillian's knees turned empty, threatening to drop her. But she held to every shred of courage she possessed.

The wolf bared its teeth in a snarl, revealing sharp, gleaming fangs. The sound vibrated in Lillian's bones. The wolf crouched in a way that meant he was about to pounce. Frozen and terrified, Lillian took a deep long breath and did something that she knew screwed with wolves.

She screamed.

An earsplitting, shrill scream. A note so high, bats would be jealous.

The logical part of her brain thought the idea was ludicrous.

So she was surprised when the wolf in front of her closed his eyes and shook his head, his ears flattening backward. An annoyed growl erupted from his throat. She took her chance and swiveled around to run, all her inhibitions about running away from wolves gone.

Before even taking two steps, she froze. Another wolf was there. A gray one. The same feeling of wrongness hit her senses. But Lillian didn't care, the other wolf, too, was shaking his head from the sound she'd just produced.

But he was a bit farther than his comrade, so he recovered faster. He lunged at her.

Lillian screamed again. This time it was more an instinct than a strategically thought out move.

She lunged to the side, keeping both wolves in her field of vision. They regarded her through extremely annoyed eyes. She took small steps backward, and when they both lunged at her, she tripped and fell hard on her behind. Covering her head with raised forearms, she waited for the pain. One second. Two seconds. Three... It should've happened by now...

Lillian peaked through her forearms. White filled her vision.

Bewildered, she lowered her arms to find herself staring at the most beautiful creature. A magnificent, great white stag stood in front of her. Its side to her, and its head turned toward the wolves. Two intricate antlers spiked out from its head skyward. The stag was so big that she could see through its legs to the stunned wolves on the other side.

The wolves' eyes were comically huge. They appeared more surprised than Lillian. But it didn't last long. They shook their heads, bared their teeth and sprung forward. The white stag didn't move a muscle, much to Lillian's horror. She wanted to scream at it to move, defend itself, just do something. But it didn't need to.

A blur of gray and black zipped from the trees to tangle with the wolves. Lillian didn't get the chance to see what was happening on the other side of her white shield. The stag turned its head her way, its coat so pure a white that it shimmered from within under the dim light of the earliest dawn. The creature bowed until its nose was inches from hers in one move. She startled, her head moving back on instinct.

Lillian's eyes fell on the creature's light blue ones. Wing-like white lashes fluttered, and Lillian felt a profound wrenching deep in her soul.

She was so transfixed by the unexpected feeling that when the creature moved until its nose touched hers, its breath warm on her cheeks, Lillian stayed still. A knowing deep in her heart that it was a creature of peace, that it would never do her harm.

Lillian blinked, and the white stag was no more. She had no time to ponder how such a massive creature vanished in a heartbeat. A battle raged before her. The blur she had earlier glimpsed brawled with the two rabid wolves.

Lillian couldn't believe her eyes. It had only been days since she'd read the book Anna gave her about different immortal beings, but Lillian could clearly remember seeing a rough drawing of the creature battling the wolves.

A troll.

A flat nose. Bead-like, wide-set deep black eyes set in a narrow face with pallid, almost gray skin. Pointed ears peaked through long and shaggy white hair. And sharp teeth that snapped an inch away from the brown wolf's neck.

The gray wolf swayed to his feet near a tree where he had been thrown.

Fear and self-preservation made Lillian stay absolutely still, not wanting to attract any attention. The troll obviously knew what he was doing. He didn't need her help, not that she could be of any use.

Her plans to stay under the radar were spoiled when the gray wolf spotted her. She couldn't outrun him, and wasn't counting her on her screams working once again. Lillian's eyes skimmed her surroundings. In a quick move, she snagged a heavy branch a couple of feet away and scrambled to her feet.

In a second, the wolf was on her. Lillian swung the branch with both hands as hard as she could. Her aim proved true, and the blow connected with the side of the wolf's head. It turned under the blow and a growly whine escaped him.

The wolf fixed Lillian with an annoyed gaze, lips pulled back in a snarl.

Chest heaving, Lillian held on to the branch for dear life. Her feet moved back on their own accord. The wolf gave an annoyed growl. In a move too fast for her brain, the wolf's jaws snapped the branch from her hands and tugged it away, throwing her aside in the process.

Pain didn't register as her body hit the ground. Then the wolf's jaws gaped inches from her face. Lillian's last memory would be of the creature's acrid breath and drool-covered teeth.

A blur. A moment of disorientation. Blood and gore spluttered on her face, the wolf no longer there.

Numb, Lillian stared at the troll who held a mallet like weapon made of gray stone, the dull color bore a new crimson imprint, glistening and vivid. Blood.

The troll crouched in front of her. Defending her. He was defending her.

The brown wolf, bleeding from a severe gash on his head, his hind leg hanging limply, launched himself again to attack the troll. The shapeshifter had no sense of self-preservation. He should've retreated by now if he cared for his life.

The troll raised his bloody weapon, preparing to retaliate. But he needed not. Lillian watched, transfixed, as a black wolf, far bigger and far more threatening than her two attackers, jumped on the brown one. His jaws closed on the wolf's neck with an echoing crack. He shook his head furiously until his prey's neck was nothing but tendons and wisps of flesh and fur. Blood sprayed the grass in a shower of death and gore. The head dropped to the ground with a dull thud.

Noah's wolf let go of the rogue, the taste of blood sour on his tongue. Noah looked around the small clearing, seeing what his mind couldn't accept.

A troll. He crouched defensively in front of Lillian. She was sprawled on the ground, her hands holding her up in a sitting position. Another wolf lay to the side, half of his head gone, bashed in.

Noah's warriors charged in behind him. He shifted to skin, straightening up. The troll's deep black eyes focused on him.

Trolls were extremely private. They never associated with other races. Even other immortals knew very little about them. Noah, himself, had only ever glimpsed one from afar before this.

Noah nodded at the troll. The fact that he was in Noah's territory came second to the fact he had defended a member of Noah's pack.

Appearing to understand Noah's message, the troll straightened from his crouch. His body was tall and wiry, with sleek muscle underneath grayish skin. A scrap of fabric covered his hips down to his knees.

The troll looked over his shoulder at Lillian, staring in a way that made Noah's wolf want to growl. He was still too close to the surface.

Then the troll ran into the woods, disappearing in a flash. The only proof he had been there was his woodsy smell and the shock of the pack wolves behind Noah.

Keeping his eyes on Lillian's shocked face, Noah gave orders to his men through mind-link. Three of the wolves stayed in their fur, surrounding the clearing in a security perimeter. Jake shifted to his skin.

"Was that a fucking troll?" he said, his eyes taking in the fallen rogues.

"Yes," Noah said. "Check the other rogue."

Jake did so. "Barely alive but unconscious. The head wound would take a long while to heal, if it ever does. I don't know if the brain is damaged."

The master-at-arms met Noah's gaze, awaiting his order. When Noah nodded, Jake snapped the wolf's neck, then dug his clawed hand into the rogue's ribcage, tearing out the heart.

Lillian startled at the sound of bones breaking, but her eyes were glazed over, staring blankly into space. Dull. Sightless.

Noah approached and hunched in front of her. The blue of her eyes was nothing but a ring around enlarged pupils. Pulse fluttered in her neck, a rapid staccato that matched her erratic breathing. Her lips lost all color and her skin was clammy.

Noah's eyes assessed her injuries. The blood on her body wasn't hers. She only had a few scraps on her face.

Her body was tense but otherwise uninjured. He breathed out. She was safe. His hackles lowered. If the troll hadn't been there... Noah couldn't even consider the possibility without wanting to revive the rogues and kill them again slowly and painfully. He shook off the visceral response.

"Lillian," he said, his voice firm.

She was in shock. Unsurprising, really, considering her face was splattered with blood and shattered bone and the blood-soaked violence she had just witnessed. The intense stench of her fear grated against his senses and made him want to shake her and hug her in equal measures.

The wolf in him wanted to snap his teeth at her, bring back the stubborn spark in her eyes. The wolf understood her reaction, but he was still dejected because if she couldn't handle this, then she couldn't handle his life. A sense of loss and disappointment sparked in his chest.

Noah admitted to himself that the spark of emotion wasn't only his wolf's. The man in him was also disappointed. He didn't know when it happened, but despite Noah's thoughts, he was subconsciously hoping she would be his.

So when she started trembling, and still wouldn't meet his eyes, he made the decision. The mate that the wolf chose was the one who never dropped her gaze from his when it mattered, one with a golden heart and deep courage, one who didn't shy away from him.

If she couldn't handle this, then being his would break her. And Noah was honest enough with himself to admit that a broken Lillian would tear his heart apart.

Maybe he should've given her time. After all, she was a human, new to their world and reality. Maybe... Noah shook his head, a heaviness in his chest at the feet of his realization. "Jake, take her back to the pack doctor", then murmured in a lower voice. "She's not strong enough."

Her fire reignited.

--- ---- ---

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M.B.