*Grayson*

I felt all the air leave my lungs the second I locked gazes with those familiar light brown eyes. I blinked once, trying to make sense of what exactly was happening. I'd been standing at the entrance of the building when my wolf had gone mad shit crazy of a scent. Over my mate's scent. I hadn't been able to believe it at first. I had already lived a good number of years searching for my mate and she had seemed nowhere to be found. What was the probability that the first visit I made back to human territory would bring me to her? But then like any other werewolf I'd been hopeless not to follow the scent of the one the goddess had made for me. But it had led me to her.

Keera.

I cleared my throat, moving my gaze away from her cold and calculating one. I had to get it together in front of these humans. I walked to where Trevor was seated and shook hands with him before taking a seat beside him, making me find myself seated directly opposite to Keera. As Trevor made the introductions, I let my gaze roam the team of five, taking them in and trying to get a read of what they might be like. They all seemed to be in an expressionless professional mode of some sort. Like they had been in such meetings hundreds of times.

They probably had.

I tried to match their names to their faces and commit it to memory as quickly as I could but it was a little hard to do coupled with the way my wolf seemed to be going off the bat being so close to it's mate. I let my eyes meet Keera's just as Trevor introduced her. My fists tightened when I realized she was the team leader I'd given my word to be personally protective of for his sake. I loosened the only fastened button on my jacket and leaned back into the seat, taking Keera in.

The last time I'd seen her she'd been a couple of years younger. Her eyes looked a little bigger. Her lips were more pronounced. Her cheek bones were high. Overall her facial structure was just about symmetrically perfect. For some reason that angered me. I knew better than anyone what exactly she was like under that whole tough exterior. I knew how sharp her tongue could get and how her eyes seemed to glower when she got pissed.

Not for the first time I wondered if the goddess was trying to play some kind of trick on me. There was no way Keera could actually be my mate. Aside from the fact that she was human and it was strictly forbidden for a werewolf to mate with a human, I knew exactly how she felt about me. She'd told me to my face that I was a sorry excuse of a human being and my existence was a huge insult to human beings everywhere. There was no way she was going to give up her human life to become my mate.

Not when she hated my kind so much.

It would have probably bothered me. If the feeling hadn't been extremely mutual. I was sure I hated her kind even more than she hated mine. I clenched my hands into tight fists as I felt my irritation double. I leaned my head, taking my eyes away from here and cursing softly beneath my breath. I swiped a hand down my face as it occurred to me that things were about to get even more complicated.

Because I was also feeling her emotions along with mine.

"I've already briefed them about the entire thing," Trevor was saying by the time I'd managed to calm my wolf down and drag my mind back to the matter at hand. My attention moved to him. He was giving me an unreadable expression. I wondered if he could tell that I hadn't been paying attention to him. He leaned forward and clasped his hands together on the table. "When do you need them to be in pack grounds?" He asked.

My eyes shot to Keera. I couldn't help it. I wanted to see how she was taking it. Taking the fact that she was about to be in very close proximity with me for a couple of weeks. Her eyes were closed and if I didn't know any better I would have thought she was sending a little prayer of help or something. When did I need them in pack grounds he asked? The answer was simple.

"As soon as possible." I answered calmly. He nodded his head slowly, as if trying to communicate that he could see why that was my answer. My pack mattered the most to me. They were my family. I had been trying as much as I could to be the calm in the storm for the others but the more people died the more disheartened and devastated I was. We'd lost a good number of werewolves in only a matter of days.

And we were yet to find out who was behind it.

"If there are questions you want to ask, please feel free to ask them." Trevor said to the group. Like they were somehow in sync, their eyes shifted to Keera. It was understandable because if any one were to be asking questions, it should be the team leader. She pressed her lips down together and I had the thought then that no one might be able to detect the wave of hostility she was giving up with how cool she looked.

Her eyes met mine.

"I think it's safe to assume that you came to us for help because you acknowledged that we're better than you when it comes to issues like this." She said calmly. It was obvious to me she was trying to goad me. It would be a cold day in hell before I admitted that any species was better than us werewolves. Before I could even muster a reply for her snide statement, she continued. "If we're going to help you out then we would need you and your entire pack to cooperate with us."

Despite the fact that I didn't exactly like her tone I couldn't deny that what she had said was the truth. A good number of us didn't feel all that good about humans in our territory, no more than they felt good about wanting to be there. If we were going to work together we had to cooperate with each other no matter how difficult that might be. "Of course. I would do my best to ensure that you and your team have no complaints, Miss..."

I let my sentence hang, wanting her to complete it. Something flashed in her eyes seconds before I felt a rush of annoyance that I knew wasn't mine. She said nothing for a few seconds at first, only staring at me. I had the feeling we were both thinking back to the first time we'd met. I'd asked for her last name to confirm that I was indeed talking to Ginny's best friend and her reply had been that it was none of my fucking business.

Well, it most certainly was now.

"Smith." She finally filled in reluctantly. I barely stopped myself from saying her names beneath my breath, wanting to test them out. She pushed her hair behind her ears and flipped open the file in front of her. I waited patiently for her next question. When she'd gotten to the last page, she closed the file and kept it back on the table. "That would be all for now." She informed me coolly. "If there's anything else Trevor would let you know."

I turned to Trevor and he gave me a nod in agreement to what she had said. "When should we be expecting them?" I asked, directing my question to him as I looked at the time on my phone. I didn't dare make the mistake of asking Keera when they would be arriving at pack grounds. She seemed like the kind of person to stall as much as possible before moving there. Even if the move was going to be just temporary.

Either way I couldn't let whatever she felt get in the way. Enough time had already been wanted as it was.

Trevor stroked his chin, his eyes on Keera. I watched them have some kind of unspoken communication and I felt something I didn't dare put a name to settle in my gut. "They can be there in three days if you're ready to have them." He said after a few minutes. The profiler, Josie I think was her name, looked like she was going to protest. A subtle shake of the head from Joe kept the words in her mouth.

I pushed my seat with the back of my knees as I stood up, fastening the buttons of my jacket. "We'll be ready," I stated, answering his silent question. He managed a small smile and stood up to shake my hand. "I'm extremely thankful to you all for agreeing to help us out," I said, my words directed at the team, Keera included. "If there's anything you need from me, please let me know."

At Keera's nod, I shook hands one last time with Trevor and exited the room.

***

I heard Ginny's footsteps before she even entered the room. Her hair was tied into a loose knot at the top of her head and she looked so stressed out, it killed me. I'd sent for her a few minutes after I had arrived back in pack grounds, not wanting to be as surprised as I was to learn that Keera was part of the team coming over to help us sort things out. And that she was the team leader I'd given my word to personally look after.

"You wanted to see me?" Ginny asked, taking more steps inside the room. She walked to my dressing table and poured herself a cup of wine, downing the entire thing in one go. "So," She said, turning to face me as she braced herself for whatever it was I was going to say. "How'd it go out there?"

I ran my thumb across my lip, trying to see if I could get a read on her mood. For almost an entire year she had been very mad at me for breaking up her friendship with Keera. It hadn't been something I'd done intentionally. Ginny had been so out of control I had expected her to have already disclosed that she was a werewolf to the person I blamed for her change in behavior in the first place. It had come as a shock when I'd realized that she in fact hadn't told Keera and that I had gotten her suspicious with my words and therefore blown her secret, permanently ruining their friendship.

When she'd eventually come around to forgive me, she had refused to talk about it. "It went smoothly actually," I replied lying through my teeth. The meeting had been anything but smooth. Not when I discovered that Keera was my mate. "Although there was quite an element of surprise." I added. That got her attention right away.

"What was it?" She asked quietly.

"You know the team leader I'd told you I had to look out for?" I asked her, waiting for her answer. She nodded tentatively, taking a single step towards me. I pressed my lips together, hating that I was going to have to put her in this situation. I had a feeling that just like Ginny, Keera hadn't also moved on from her betrayal. "It's Keera." I announced softly. Her eyebrows drew together in confusion at first. "As in your ex best friend, Ginny. Keera Smith."

Ginny paled, her hands quickly moving to cover her mouth, a horrified expression on her face. She shook her head slowly, obviously not wanting to believe what I was trying to tell her. Keera was going to be here. On packgrounds. In my house. Living just a few rooms away from mine. And Ginny was going to have to deal with the aftermath of lying to her. Before I could get a word out, Ginny had stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. I tried to count to ten to calm myself down but I gave up and punched the wall.

Fuck.