Two weeks later

I greeted the group of women that walked in with a smile and a cheerful hello but their eyes slid over me as if I wasn't even there. It... hurt. While I wasn't being thrown around like Bastian was, I was ignored. I was invisible and unnoticed by nearly everyone in the pack. At first I had shrugged it off but now... well know it was upsetting. It made my chest tight with embarrassment and my eyes burn. It was pathetic but when you had dozens of people pretending you didn't even exist, that your presence was utterly beneath their notice, it would drag you down.

So far the only people who acknowledged my existence were the Thorns and Fredrick from the meat shop. He called me little mundie and always spared me a smile. I appreciated it because there were some days I felt like the only person who acknowledged I existed was Bastian. It wasn't so bad on the days where Lace had me in the fort working but I honestly hated it. She had six children and I hated feeling jealous but it was there. Azariah was their youngest at nine months, followed by Nina who was close to her second birthday, followed by Eli at four, and the other three at all different ages. The fort was a flurry of activity as Azreal's younger siblings ran around with his children. It was hard to keep them all straight.

"Those towels done in the dryer?" I moved towards Delirium and she came from the laundry room, her eyes holding that animal gleam as she looked me up and down. I stared back at her and there was a tense moment before she handed me a basket of towels and turned and headed into the main bathing room, leaving me standing with the basket without a word.

I felt the action like a knife through the chest and I bit my lip. It was stupid to feel hurt by that, so utterly stupid but I couldn't stop myself. At the Coven you were never overlooked. Someone was messing around with you at all times or they were 'borrowing' your clothes or dragging you out of bed to go to the club. I had never been met with so much silence in my life.

The door opened and I turned, pasting a faltering smile on my face as I did so. "Hello, Lynn." Aiden gave me a soft smile and nodded at me.

"Hey." My voice cracked and I felt a sharp pang of horror as I hurried over to the counter and set the basket down.

Aiden moved closer as I started to pull towels out and fold them. "You okay? You've been looking down for the past few days." His voice was low as he leaned against the counter, his arms over his chest.

"It's just a very different climate. I'm not used to the cold." I turned and gave him a quick smile before I turned back to the towels. I didn't need anyone asking me questions, especially not a Thorn. The last thing I needed was Bastian getting thrown around worse in retaliation or the silence to grow harsher in my presence.

"Is anyone saying anything to you that is bothering you?" He was looking at me, studying me and I tried to keep my movements even and calm.

"No, no one is saying anything to me." And that was the problem. I didn't like being utterly and completely ignored like I was. However I wasn't going to say anything because ti was pathetic to be upset over. "Don't worry. I'm just having a hard time settling in." I gave him another smile but even I could feel it was strained on my face.

One of his eyebrows rose as he looked at me. "And you expect me to believe that?" The amount of skepticism in his voice had me nearly wincing.

"I don't expect you to believe anything, Aiden. I am just stating the truth." I schooled my face to be even as I pulled some more towels from the basket and folded them neatly. I didn't want it getting back to the Alpha pair that I was feeling upset because people were ignoring me. It was pathetic and I didn't want to be looked down upon because of it.

He gave a heavy tsk sound at me, shaking his head. "Why are you females like this? Never saying what you feel." His mouth twitched as eh looked at me before tsking once more. "Caeda was bad for that as well."

"Caeda is your twin right?" I had heard of her but had never met her. There were a lot of Thorns around and it was hard to keep them straight sometimes.

"Yup. Its been awhile since she left." He slowly nodded, his expression nearly shuttering. It was clear that it was a sore subject for him. I could feel the heavy sadness he held in his energy. It was reaching out to me to alert me of its presence.

"I'm sorry." I slowed in my folding and he waved me off, shaking his head.

"Don't be. It's better she's not here." He forced a smile onto his face before he sighed. "She's doing good where she is and that is all that matters to me." I didn't believe him but I could tell that he was done with the subject.

"Okay. Do you need towels?" I glanced at him and he made a face as he shook his head.

"I can grab some from inside if I need them. I was coming to see Delly." He made another face as he said her name and I pinched my lips together to keep from smiling.

"New flame of the week?" I asked it, trying hard to hide my amusement.

His expression grew more twisted, as if he had eaten something disgusting. "She wishes."

"Don't let her hear you say that." I glanced at him and he waved me off, his mouth twitching upwards.

"Oh I don't care if she hears it or not. She is too young to be thinking that." He turned his head towards the doorway. "Certainly too young for me." His voice rose and Delirium came out of the main bathing room.

"I'm nineteen." Her cheeks were red as she stalked into the entrance.

"Too young." Aiden winked at me as the younger woman huffed, her eyes narrowing.

My mouth twitched upwards and I fought hard against the smirk that wanted to emerge. "You think that's funny?" The words were hissed and Aiden tensed beside me.

"Watch your tone, Delirium." His voice was low and hard and Delly hunched underneath it, her eyes falling to the floor. I turned back to the towels, pulling the last two out and folding them. I didn't want to deal with more hostilities towards me from the pack members. "She is a member of this pack and she will be treated with respect. A joke is a joke and you don't get to blame her because you can't throw dominance at me." There was a heave censure to his voice as he spoke and I did my best to not call attention to myself.

There was a moment of tension between the two shifters before Aiden relaxed and reached over, gently nudging my shoulder with his fist. "I need to talk to her about supplies. It was nice chatting with you." He gave me crooked grin and I returned it, my smile feeling a lot less shaky and more genuine than my first.

"I enjoyed it too." I watched as Aiden pushed off the counter and jerked his thumb at Delly to head back into the main room. His posture spoke of his heavy disapproval and hers spoke of submission. It was getting easier to learn their body language living in a pack. Bastian had been right when her had told me that I didn't really understand shifter ways. I had been a Hunter, had dealt with shifters, been in packs but I hadn't been so fully immersed in them before. It allowed me to see so much more of them as actual beings.

I had learned they were very much all about body language. A witch would shout at you and yell if you crossed her or felt like you had done something wrong. Shifters postured, utilizing nonverbal, almost animalistic, communication to get their feelings across. It was an entire silent language they used and I felt almost mute in the midst of it. I never felt the need to showcase the subtleties of body language they used. A small part of me wondered if they would have accepted me a bit more if I did but another part of me knew it would feel like a mockery.

The door opened and a rather large group of dirty men walked through. I smiled at them, greeting them with a hello but they ignored me as they grabbed the towels I had folded, their large bodies moved around me and I felt a rather lost hurt once more. It was an acute reminder of the fact that they believed I was lesser than them.

They moved into the main room, speaking and roughhousing with each other but not sending me one glance backwards. I let to a heavy sigh, trying to force the hurt away. "Don't be pathetic." I muttered the words out and I rubbed my forehead as I tried to will what I was feeling to disappear.

The door opened once more and I pasted a smile on my face as I turned around, ready to give my greeting when Bastian limped through the door. I didn't quite like it but a rush of relief surged through me. "Hey." I smiled at him and it slipped off when I saw the new bruise he had on his jaw. I moved across the space, a noise of concern in my throat. "Oh no." I brushed my fingertips across the mark. He was constantly getting roughed up and it rubbed me the wrong way.

Bastian gave me a grin before kissing the tip of my nose. "It's alright." He wrapped me up in his arms, nuzzling my cheek as I gave a rather undignified squeak at the suddenness of the actions. He chuckle and my face flared red.

"Let me go you brute!" I hissed the words at him as his nuzzling went from my cheek to my neck and his one hand slid down my back to give my ass a healthy grope. "Bastian!" I gave another squeak and shoved at him, my face feeling overly hot.

He just laughed, kissing me, silencing my protests. Agitation filled me as he pulled away, a cocky grin on his face. "I've got you a present." He wiggled his eyebrows at me and I scoffed, pushing him away.

"Probably not one I want." My face felt like it was tomato red and he was just making me more embarrassed. I was at work and he was groping me like some horny teenager given half an inch with their new partner. He was still holding me close, his eyebrows still wiggling. "You are a stupid lug of a man. Let me go!" I tried wiggling away from him and he just gripped me tighter, his arm slipping down lifting me up. I gave a sound of indignation as he carried me across the room, grunting as he did so, his face twisting slightly with pain.

He set me down on the counter and pushed his way between my legs, grinning at me like the Cheshire cat. The look made my stomach flutter and made me want to grab his face and pepper him with kisses but I had to fight down the urge and glower at him. He was acting ridiculous and we were in public. "Awwww don't give me that look." He gave me that crooked and cocky grin, heedless of the glare I was giving him.

"The look that says if you continue to manhandle me I will cut your balls off when you are sleeping?" I wanted to move but I knew if I did it would just bring me closer to him. I was trapped and I didn't like that feeling.

He nodded, that grin still firmly on his face. "Yah, that one." His hands spread out on my sides, rubbing me gently. "No need for it." He moved his face closer to my own and I leaned away from him.

"You are manhandling me, there is a great need for it." I scowled at him harder. Despite how the feeling of his hands on me was making me want to melt into him, I really did not appreciate being embarrassed like this in public. As it was, my face still hadn't cooled down a single iota.

"I had a bad day and just wanted you close." He lowered his head, looking up at me with his bottom lip sticking out and the best set of puppy dog eyes that I had ever seen. I knew that look would break me if I wasn't careful so I turned my face away, unwilling to look at him. "I just wanted my perfectly wonderful mate in my arms because she makes everything feel better." His grip tightened on me and he pushed himself closer and I huffed at him.

"Your looks don't work on me. You know this." He didn't need to know that they kind of really did. The longer we had been settled into the area, the less wildly my emotions swung all over the place and it was leaving me with a soft like for Bastian. I knew it wasn't love but it was caring and affection and as much as I didn't like having my feelings influenced, I had to admit that he was a very decent male. Despite everything he had done that I was still mad about, he was doing really well in trying to make up for it.

"What about my kisses?" He asked it in a rather husky tone that had my gaze snapping back to him.

"Don't you dare!" I said it too late as he started to pepper my face in kisses. I wanted to push him away but he had pinned my arms to my side. I scrunched up my face but it didn't stop him from dragging his stubble across my cheeks as he kissed me all over my face. I couldn't hold it back as I giggled, wiggling in my spot to get away from him. "Stop it!" I closed my eyes tightly as I turned my head away, trying to get him to stop it as I giggled uncontrollably.

Bastian slowed down in his rapid pecks and his lips lingers on my skin for a few moments before he pulled back and kissed me somewhere else. The giggles slowed and then stopped but there was a lightness in my chest that made me feel relaxed. "Feel better?" He asked the question against my skin and I frowned, my eyes opening to look at him as he pulled back.

"What do you mean?" I thought he was being a pest to make himself feel better.

"Aiden told me you were feeling a little down and I refuse to let my female feel even the least bit upset." At the words I scrunched up my face. As much as the gesture made my chest feel warm with a slight adoration, I really didn't like the thought of having people inform Bastian on my moods. It felt really strange, as if Bastian was keeping tabs on me.

"I was fine." I stressed the word and he shook his head, kissing the tip of my nose gently.

"You looked way too excited to see me when I came in. Something was wrong." He gave me a knowing look and I slumped slightly. Ratted out by my own enthusiasm for social contact. He removed one of his hands from my waist and tilted my chin up. "What happened?" His thumb brushed the bottom of my lip and I inhaled sharply at the touch that sent heat curling through me.

I honestly didn't want to tell him because it was so pathetic. I was being ignored and to explain it just made me think I would be whining like a little kid to a teacher at recess. I wanted to be strong and independent but to complain about the fact people weren't speaking to me? That made me feel like a weak, little creature who couldn't handle some silence. I let out a sigh, we needed to be open with each other if this thing between us was going to work.

"It's just that the pack is ignoring me." I didn't want to look at him to see the derision in his eyes. I knew it was pathetic, I didn't want it to be confirmed. "No one talks to me, its like they don't even see me. Like I'm invisible." I hunched forward and pressed my lips together.

Bastian made a soft sound in his throat. "Ohhh, Lynn." It was a soft sigh before he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. He hugged me tightly and I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"I know it's stupid." I swallowed hard, tears burning my eyes and he shushed me.

"It's not. We are social creatures and they know what they are doing. They cannot hurt you but they can deny you social interaction. They know it hurts, its their only way to remind you of your place in the pack." His words were low and he rubbed my back before he let me go. He grasped my face in his hands, bending down to look me in the eyes. "I wish I could help you because that is hurtful and I don't want you to experience that loneliness." Regret and sympathy coloured his eyes a darker brown. "Let me know when it gets too bad and I will get you, okay? We can have a little get together in the fort with the Thorns."

I nodded at that. "Okay." As much as I didn't want to bother anyone and as much as I didn't really like to be around the thorn children, it would be nice to be around people who didn't look through me.

He gave me a lingering kiss that had me swaying towards him, my eyes closing. He pulled back, giving me another grin. "Now for your present." He looked eager as he let me go and reached around to his back pocket. He pulled out a box and held it out for me. I looked at the green box before excitement overtook me and I snatched it away.

"Matcha green tea!" The pocky stick box was sealed and I threw my arms around Bastian, hugging him tightly. "Thank you!" I hadn't had the green tea flavoured sticks in what seemed like forever and since we had moved to the middle of no where on a mountain, I hadn't thought that I would get them again.

Bastian chuckled as he hugged me back, "I asked Azrael to keep a look out for some." He let me go as I pulled away. I hastily opened the box and then the package inside. The smell made a wave of nostalgia roll over me as my mouth watered.

"Here." I pulled out two and held one out for Bastian. He took it with a nod and I bit into the other biscuit. The flavour moved over my tongue and I gave a hum of appreciation. I relished in the moment, committing it to memory. The smell of the water in the bathhouse mixing with the smell of candy green tea. The sounds of murmured conversations flowing around me and the feeling of Bastian's hand on me. He gripped my side with strong and sure fingers while his hips firmly pressed against my inner thighs.

I committed it all to my memory and I my mouth twitched as I realized that these memories would be the type of moments that would make me fall in love with the big lug of a man I was now tied to.