The car ride is not quiet at all. Since Kendra had plenty of sleep, she is terribly energized and bursting with excitement. The two guards up front have the skill of shutting people out, as their relaxed faces are not reflected onto me. I love Kendra with all my heart, but the girl cannot sit still. Finally, we stop the car so I can grab her one of the books she packed with her things. Once A Wrinkle in Time is locked in her hands, Kendra's lips are sealed.

My confusing dream had me up for most of the night, so I lay my head down on Kendra's lap, and I take a small nap. She rests the book on my head as she gets lost in the pages.

Time flys by and before I know it, Kendra is shaking me awake, cheering that we are here. "Come on; I want to get out!"

I tiredly sit up and rub my knuckles into my eyes. The guards get out and fetch the bags while Kendra pops open her door and jumps out. I have an urge to lay back down and forget about everything, but not a second later Kendra opens my door and attempts to pull me out. Why must everything come out?

"Come on, Isabella," she whines, "I've been waiting all night!"

I groan and nod, giving in. When I walk around the car towards the truck, I notice the guard's attention is stolen by something in the distance. Peering in that direction, my eyes grow wide. Sebastian, Eric, Alpha Kenn, Heath, Evangeline, and even Landon, all clumped together while shouts are exchanged swiftly between them. Kendra asks me what is going on, but I tell her to stay here with the guards before rushing over to the small mob.

"You caused all this, running off into unclaimed land and provoking—"

"I did not provoke anything."

"You two calm down, this is not the time."

"He's the reason why Lucas is missing. Rogues that he led here probably killed him!"

"How can you say that? You're sister—"

"Evangeline, please, go home. I'll handle our son."

"Handle me? Remember what happened last time."

"Eric!" Evangelical shouts as I near. She notices me and crosses her arms. "All of this in front of Isabella, how wonderful."

Eric looks my way, now realizing that I am here, seeing everything. "What is going on?" I question and gape at everyone, ignoring Alpha Kenn. "Why is everyone fighting?"

"Not everyone," Evangeline mutters. "Those two."

Glancing at Sebastian and Eric, I wait for an answer.

"We are leaving," Sebastian says and pulls Evangeline with him. She bickers with him as they walk away.

Not looking to Heath, Landon, or Alpha Kenn, I grab Eric and lead him back to the car. When we are at a safe distance, I turn to him and cross my arms myself. "What the heck happened?"

   "You kissed Alpha Kenn."

   The words leave his lips, I see them move, but I cannot seem to believe that is what he truly said. Where did it come from? The yelling did not sound like it was on this topic, the topic I have been avoiding and failing to do so.

   "What?" The single word is all that I can manage to spit out.

   "Why didn't you tell me? How could you—"

   "I did not kiss Alpha Kenn, he kissed me, and I pulled away immediately." Eric does not seem convinced as he begins to turn away, but my hands grasp onto his arm. "You don't get to be mad at me. He kissed me. I didn't ask for it; it was all sudden and surprising and unwanted—"

   "I do not want to hear about it."

   My grip on him tightens. "Then how am I supposed to tell you that I didn't want it?"

   "I just want to know why you didn't tell me that it happened. I had to hear it from Alpha Kenn himself, who is leaving as we speak."

   I struggle. "I-It's complicated. I didn't want to hurt you; I didn't want Lucas' search to be put on hold, I was panicking after it happened—I panicked, and held onto it. Maybe I wanted to pretend like it never happened, but it bothered me, hardly let me sleep. Just please, don't be mad at me because you think I wanted it. I didn't."

   Eric takes a breath, and before he can speak, Kendra's voice grabs me, and I spot her rushing towards us.

   "I couldn't wait," she calls. "I want to do everything."

   "Kendra," I wave for her, and she settles down. "You remember Eric, right?"

    Her face is incredibly still. "I do."

"You remember my sister," I mumble, feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable. Hopefully, Kendra's excitement will blind her from it.

Eric gives me a look before turning to her. "Of course I do. It's about time you came for a visit."

I cross my arms. "Okay, we're going to get settled in, grab Caroline, probably go to the lake—"

"The lake is off my territory."

"We'll take some guards with us."

Eric clenches his jaw. "It's not safe right now, Isabella," he says lowly, not grabbing Kendra's attention as her eyes wander.

"I know, but it's only a few feet from the border—"

"I don't care if it's a step from the border. You're staying on my land."

Kendra looks to me, so I quickly wear a smile. "Maybe tomorrow then," I glance down at her, "today we'll hang around with Caroline. Grab your bag."

She joins the guards and I motion for them to take her into the house. Now alone again, I step back and let my arms drop. "So Alpha Kenn is leaving then?"

"What? You think I would let him stay after what happened?" Eric says accusingly, "Are you sad to see him go?" He begins to walk towards the house, and I trail behind him.

"So now you want to talk about it?"

Eric stops and stares down at me. "I don't have time for this."

"My fault," I mutter, "I forgot you only put off work for me when I'm naked. I remember when you would listen for only a kiss." He tenses. "Alpha Kenn will sure listen for a kiss."

Eric grabs my arm with a firm grip as if I am a child who is acting up. His grip tightens, but I show no signs of pain. "You're pissing me off. Go to the house with your sister and for God's sake stay there."

He lets go, and I immediately leave him behind, heading towards the house. I pass Kendra in the living room and rush up the steps, fuming. Without a knock, I swing Caroline's door open, finding her with a book in her hands as she leans against the headboard of the bed. Her eyes shut to me as I shut the door. "Isabella what—"

"I can't believe this. Your brother is a—a—"

"What happened? What did he do?"

"Alpha Kenn kissed me."

Caroline drops her book. "He what?"

"Before I left, he kissed me, and I didn't tell Eric."

"What—why?"

"Obviously because he has feelings for me. I didn't tell Eric, and now he's mad at me, and I only made it worse, and—something's wrong with me, Caroline. Why would I do that?"

She leaves the bed to lead me towards it. I sit down and fall back onto the sheets. "I-I should have apologized until he forgave me, not provoked him even more! I'm a horrible Mate. Eric, he's—he grabbed me and said I was pissing him off. He never talks like that! He'll never forgive me!"

"Isabella, you have to calm down. Take some deep breaths, collect yourself. Where is Kendra?"

I roll onto my side and grab the covers, scrunching them up in my embrace. "She's downstairs. She can't see me like this."

"You have to calm down."

"How can I calm down when my Mate thinks I'm attracted to someone else! How can I calm down when I ruined everything!"

"You're being dramatic," she rests her hand on my arm, over the red mark. "But—wait, he grabbed you here?"

"Who cares, I have to apologize, I have to—"

"He grabbed you, Isabella, roughly. That's not okay."

I look at her with hard eyes. "He didn't mean to. It wasn't like that," I cover the mark," how can you say that?"

Caroline takes a breath. "Obviously everything is a bit crazy right now. You need to relax, and so does Eric. It seems that you two didn't really talk anything out. You have to collect yourselves and talk."

I look away and curl back up into the bed covers. "He doesn't want to see my face."

   "Give him the day and talk tonight then. Just focus on Kendra for now."

   After a few minutes of laying and taking deep breathes, I look to Caroline. "Okay. Come downstairs with me? Kendra wants to meet you."

   "Of course, let's go."