Six.

Instead of leading Zeke to the main bathroom downstairs, I take him up the stairway, and down the hall. Some of the bedrooms have their own bathroom. With me being the Beta, and therefore second in command of the pack, I get the privilege of having my own bathroom. I let Khloe use it whenever she wants, though, so it's more like our bathroom at this point.

My room is the third room on the right, with the 'Beware of Dog' sign on the door. Khloe put it there as a joke, and I just never took it down. At this point in time, it wouldn't make any sense to take it down now. My door used to be white, like all of the other doors in the house, but I had Derek help me paint it black shortly after I moved into the pack house. Even though I had just recently turned, the pack agreed that I was a good fit for Beta, and had me move into my room pretty quickly.

As I reach for the doorknob, I see Zeke smirk out of the corner of my eye. "What's so funny?" I sneer as I push the door inward. He shrugs nonchalantly, "Oh nothing, Kitten," he glances into my bedroom, "I just wasn't expecting you to drag me to your bedroom so soon." I swallow hard as my jaw tightens to keep it from hitting the floor. I can feel my face get warm again as his eyes meet mine, his full of humor. "I- well, I was- um." I fumble over my words as his gaze on me makes my body uneasy.

Get it together. What's wrong with you? He's just another guy. No, Lilly, he's not just another guy. He's our mate. And he smells so good.

I feel my wolf purr as she reminds me of his smooth, musky pine scent. He smells of freedom, something my wolf hasn't had the chance of experiencing since the accident with the lake house. But maybe now-

No, you can't. Not now. You don't know him. We don't need to know him, silly. We know he's our mate, and that's all that matters. I know, but- But nothing, Lilly. Your instincts should tell you everything you need to know. And right now, we know that this is one yummy piece of- Okay! I get it, I get it.

"I was just joking, Kitten," Zeke's voice startles me as it breaks through my inner argument, "are you okay?" I look up at him, and instead of seeing the humor, I actually see worry.

Does he actually care about me? Of course he does. Our mate will always care about us. Hmm.

"Uhh," I stammer, searching for the right words to say, "yeah, I'm okay. Just um, some stuff on my mind." I give him a half smile. He cocks his head sideways, like a puppy does, and touches fingers to my arm. "Your wolf?" I look up at him in surprise, and then slowly nod my head. "I'm honestly exhausted," I admit as I rub my eye with the palm of my hand, "she butts in all the time now, and always argues with me."

"I understand," he wraps his good arm around me, pulling me into his warm embrace, "mine does the same thing sometimes." I look up at him, my cheek pressed against his chest. His heart beat steady against my ear. "Really?" Not too many people discuss their wolves with others, so I had to learn mostly on my own on how we're both different beings, but also the same at the same time. Khloe helped me a lot, it's how we became close.

"I can tell you more about my wolf after we get those pain killers," he rubs my arm with his good hand and squeezes lightly, "if you'd like." I nod and he sighs, pulling me even closer, his scent flooding my senses. I grab his shirt in my fist, burying my nose in his chest, inhaling the scent of fresh pine needles and a cool autumn breeze. This feeling of comfortability is new, yet not unfamiliar. I feel safe wrapped in his embrace, warm even. I feel home.