A short, annoying vibration woke Gavin, followed by a bright light. He peeked one eye open and glanced at his cell phone on the wooden nightstand. Lazily, he reached out a lanky arm brought it to his face. "U rdy 4 tonite?" stared at him in big bold print. It was Blondie- his horribly annoying self-labeled girlfriend. Blondie wasn't her real name, it was just what Gavin called her, because she was blonde. She was crazy. Without responding- her lack of vowels disgusted him- he exited the message only to be greeted with another that informed him he missed another dozen from his other human friends. But Gavin wasn't human at the moment, and they annoyed him. He rolled onto his back and scooted farther up the pillow.

Coils of rage suddenly, randomly entwined him. Blondie didn't know that he knew she talked about him- went as far as insisting they were together. It never initially bothered him before, because most people knew she was an impulsive liar. But now, his wolf stirred with anger at the very concept of such an absurdity. Must be the moon. Grinning to himself, he decided to reply. "Yeah, I'm bringing a..." He hesitated, the word waiting to be pecked out at the tips of his fingers. "bringing my gf." Before he could second guess what he wrote, he hit send. Gavin let out a single laugh and dropped his phone onto his bare stomach, threw an arm over his head and waited with a childish smile for her response.

It was almost instantaneous. "... ur wut?" Gavin didn't see the big deal, maybe he did lead Blondie on. He lead all of the girls on. It was part of the... freedom. The experience of being human. But there had never been a date, or any type of courting ritual that he observed other humans do between them. Human girls were... annoying. His wolf stirred again, suddenly wanting to get up and find Jac. Any female werewolf to remind him why humans were only good for their mindless self-indulgence. Repeating "girlfriend" to Blondie one final time, Gavin left his phone on the nightstand and rolled off of his bed.

On his feet, he yawned and stretched until he felt significantly less stiff. He threw a pair of jeans on, not bothering with a shirt, and headed down stairs for a cup of coffee. On his way, he passed James and nodded a greeting, he saw Anya leaning against the wall asking about a walk.

"'Mornin." He slipped past her and into the kitchen. If none of them would walk with her, he'd grab a cup really fast and go with her. He didn't like the idea of her, or any girl without her wolf, walking around on her own. He had already decided not to go to class today. Pouring himself a cup of coffee , he waited for either James or Ares to take up her offer of a walk.

Calvin barrelled down the stairs into the middle of the small crowd gathered there with a grin. He was dressed in a basketball top and jogging pants, and looked more or less like he had rolled straight out of bed, and he looked around at everyone with a bleary smirk.

"What's going on?" he said, "Things turned 90210 down here already? Come on guys sort it out."

He turned to Anya, noting that she seemed to be gearing up to head out for a run. His smirk turned into a slight leer and he propped himself up against the bannister.

"Going for a run Anya?" he said, "Gimme a minute to eat something and I'll join you. The road'll look so much better with both of us on it."

Anya froze in place when the twins exchanged their unpleasant words. Cautious her eyes flickered to Ares, James and Adrian. This was not what the kid needed right now. But she did feel sorry for Jac, though less so for Dante. Of course, she didn't know the second twin and felt somewhat protective over the twin that had known for a while now. Still, she would not get involved. Rather, she averted her eyes as she leant against the door frame chewing the inside of her cheek slightly. When the commotion was over, she remained silent, waiting for someone, anyone to take up her offer of going for a walk or run. It looked as though Gavin would of, had he not wanted to comfort Jac, which was understandable.

"Going for a run Anya? Gimme a minute to eat something and I'll join you. The road'll look so much better with both of us on it."

Anya allowed herself a tiny smile, before rolling her eyes. "The road looks good enough with just me on it," She grinned, shaking her head. "But if you must insist on coming with me, then hurry up." Turning on her heel, she snatched an apple from the basket on the counter and headed outside. Taking a deep breath, she waited there to see if Gavin or anyone else would join her on her run. If not, well then it would be peaceful out there alone. Even if Adrian had warned them about being extra careful for people who might trespass...

Calvin snorted and shook his head. “Alright well sit tight for a minute, the road can wait.”

He heaved into the kitchen and grabbed a sandwich steak out of the freezer, sliding it under the grill and grabbing a crusty roll. Breakfast was always the main meal of the day for Calvin, and he didn’t have time of day for the dainty cereals and fruit assortments some of the other members of the household favoured. It only took a few minutes to be ready, and the smell of the salty beef sliver overtook any other scent that might have been detectable in the kitchen. Slapping the meat into the roll, he rejoined Anya in the hallways, his breakfast in hand.

“Alright let’s go shall we?” he said nonchalantly, making his way out of the front door and bidding her to follow him as though the whole thing had been his idea in the first place. He devoured the sandwich before they’d even reached the end of the driveway, and started to jog on the spot a little, warming up his legs. “Where were you thinking of running? We need to make it a good one, I gotta be in top shape for tonight.”

"Yeah, tonight." Calvin said, raising his eyebrows incredulously. "Darby game. I'm heading up the team again, there's a lot riding on this one. Be good to see your face in the crowd if you fancy it."

He grinned, turning aside as if he didn't much care what her response was. The fact that it was Reina's birthday hadn't so much as occured to him. Even less so when the attractive blonde mentioned how she would be 'safe with him'. (His ego filtered out any flippancy there may have been in the remark.)

"Ya we'll be fine I'm sure. There's nothing out there, and we'd know if there was." She bolted off ahead of him, and his grin broaded as he launched himself after her competitively. However she was going at full pace and had a head start, so to his dismay he didn't catch up with her before she deliberately fell back to get in-step with him. "Hey don't lay off on my account sweet stuff. Remember I'm chasing the moon, and it's just around the corner."

He threw her a wink as the forest canopy cascaded over them and the pack house and the town disappeared. He knew they had plenty of time to run more or less the full perimeter of the pack house grounds; Calvin didn't have any morning classes, just one afternoon class. As for Anya...well he didn't know her schedule but she could worry about herself.

His phone, back in his room on his bedside table, beeped and buzzed with Gavin's message, but for now there was nobody around to hear it.

"Well, you might be lucky," Anya grinned to herself slightly, as she kept a steady pace alongside him. It would do no good exhausting themselves on the first stretch, especially if Calvin had a big game that evening. She'd never seen him play, though it always interested her when she heard it mentioned. Of course, although she loved to run, she didn't know much about sports. In fact, she knew very little, but she wouldn't let on to Calvin about that. He'd been nice enough to invite her (even if it hadn't been a direct invite) and she too was ignorant of the party plans for Reina's birthday. Making a note to check out more sports on her laptop when she got back, she focused on keeping her strides long and using her arms to pump herself forwards. It wasn't hard for her. This was what she did best. And she hoped that when she received her wolf she would be even better at it. Fingers crossed.

"I may show my face if you play your cards right." It was her turn to throw him a wink as the trees flew past them in a blur. Although the Pack used these paths, some of them could become overgrown. Brambles snagged at their ankles occasionally, but it wasn't hard to dodge them. "Probably even easier for Calvin who has received his wolf." Pulling a slight face, she shook her head playfully. "Even with the full moon just around, the corner, you don't stand a chance against me." To prove a point, she increased her speed a little, moving so that she was running directly in front of him, with no room to manoeuvre around her. Tossing him a smile over her shoulder, she arched a eyebrow, almost teasingly, daring him to even try.

Luckily for Anya, she didn't have lessons until mid-morning. It gave them enough time to have a good long run, as well get showered and ready for school. Ugh school. It wasn't Anya's favourite thing in the world, though she was looking forwards to the music lessons that were being held afterwards.

Calvin laughed aloud as he followed Anya onto the narrower woodland paths. As competitive as he felt, there wasn’t much point trying to race her through the trees. Besides this wasn’t his usual route...she was more in the habit of going into the woods than he was and, although he wouldn’t admit it, he was sort of relying on her to know the way. As for ‘playing his cards right’...well, he knew Anya better than to suppose she was being flirtatious, but that didn’t change the fact that the more good looking girls he could get cheering him on for the game the better it made him look.

“Maybe if you play your cards right,” he called after her between laboured breaths, “you can get your photo taken with the captain of the winning team after the game.”

As the light became more sparse – broken up by the forest ceiling – Calvin’s mind began to wander and his eyes veered off deeper into the woodland. It made him think of the stories he’d heard of years earlier, around the same time he was born, when rogues had attacked the pack house. These woods, the Khöller territory itself, were where the rogues back then had struck from. It was strange to think that the woods were big enough for a whole pack of rogues to stay hidden, even from the patrols? Perhaps security was more lax back then.

He straightened his eyes up just in time to duck an obstructing branch, which Anya had evidently been paying enough attention to avoid in good time.

“Woah...” he grumbled, “hey Anya, not that I’m calling for an easy ride or anything but is there any chance we can get back to the civilised world? I prefer being a lion on the plains to a snake in the grass.”

Lyra was lost to the world in art class. Her mind was off somewhere else as charcoal struck the paper in an elegant display, Beethoven softly playing from her iPod. It was her favorite, the ironic title of Moonlight Sonata. This song, although she had mastered in piano, flute, and violin, was something she could never grow tired of. It was encouragement for what she was, and what she would one day be. Nothing could stand in her way.

"Lyra, Lyra, Lyra is a giiirl. She doesn't even have her wolf yet."

Lyra flinched, her sudden movement snapping the tip of her charcoal pen at the laughter of children's voices. Male children. She looked down absently to her drawing. It was of two wolves running in the woods, the full moon appearing it chase them. A male and female pair. She could not identify who the characters were, but strangely enough they both seemed familiar to her. The male was grey with a white underside, the female piercing black. They felt as recognizable as the taunting children from her past, from when she was six or seven.

"So what?" the young Lyra demanded, her hands poking into her sides in protest to the classmates around her. "I can do anything you can. What does it matter if I'm a girl?"

"Girls are boring," the ringmaster sneered. "Let's go play with James, he's more fun. My daddy says that he'll be the next alpha, too. Says that I should get in good with him now so I can get a good spot in the pack."

Lyra's mouthed opened in protests. Although the boys were her age, the excitement of her older brother was much more tantalizing to their young minds. However, Lyra was still naive at this young age. The only rivalry held in her heart was the possibility of James being more exciting than herself to her peers. "James is busy. And who says he's gonna be alpha? It could be me. Adrian is my father too!" she pouted.

The ringleader paused, surprise in his face. The others simply laughed. "But Lyra, you're a girl."

"So?" she demanded again.

The boys surrounded her, laughing in her face. "Girls can't be alpha! That's just stupid. We need someone strong, wise, quick. James is alpha for sure. And already has his wolf, he's gonna be great! I can't wait until James takes this pack over. We're gonna have so much fun. And you're just gonna make a nice, pretty mate for someone, that's what Daddy says anyway. He says that you just need to be tamed a bit and to stop dressing like a boy. Then you'll be perfect. He says maybe you'll even be mine! But I don't think I want you as a mate now, you're really stupid if you think that you can ever, ever be alpha. Besides, I have my wolf already," the boy proclaimed proudly. Being the eldest of the group and the first to receive it, he had instantly popular. "I know these things. I'm a man now."

Lyra dropped, her eyes open in horror. In sudden rage, she pounce on the boy, fist flying into his soft underbelly. "Take that back!" she cried, eyes nearing tears. "I can do anything James can. I can do anything you can even without my stupid wolf! Take that back!"

The boys stood around wide-eyed as Lyra pounded on the boy, her temper fierce until she was dragged away from the scene by the boy's father. Fatigued, she gave into his arms, her body shaking from tender sobs. He stood her up and looked into her eyes, serious and cruel. "Lyra, just because you are the alpha's daughter doesn't mean you can act like this," he scolded her.

"It's not my fault!" she whimpered, tears marking her cheeks. "He said I won't ever be alpha. It's not fair. Just because I don't have my wolf yet--"

"You can't." Lyra froze at the father's words. Her tears died up as her small mouth formed into an O. From that day on, a seed of ambition was planted into her heart. And no one ever saw her cry again . After all, an alpha must be strong. If that's what they wanted, that's what they would get. She would make sure of it.

The last bell for class rang, leaving Lyra alone in the room with her unfinished sketch. Quickly she snapped herself out of the daydream, her hand cramping from the strength of her grip on the pencil. She gathered her supplies and hurried out to get her things. That was in the past. That was the day her carefree view of life was shattered, bringing into the realization that, if she ever wanted the title of alpha, she needed to work for it. Unlike James, the offer would not be handed to her on a silver platter.

She smiled to the others when she arrived to the music room. The young girl and boy were always anxious to begin and here early, but Anya was a pleasant surprise. And then, there was Tai. Lyra had no ill feelings for her mother, but also knew that their relationship was not nearly as strong as other females towards their mothers. And, Lyra knew, this was her own fault. As a tomboy in childhood, Lyra had favored her father's attention. As she aged and began to crave both equally in adolescence, she could not help but feel overshadowed by James. Even they, her own parents, expected the title of alpha to fall into his lap. Never once had they questioned if she wanted the role. This caused a rift between herself and her parents as she wondered what else she could do to be the favored child just once in her lifetime. Maybe, if she could prove herself to be the victor of alpha, then they would show her the same love that they showed James. Even with these thoughts bouncing in her mind, Lyra settled besides Anya and smiled to both the women in the room as she unpacked her flute and began to clean it carefully seeing the piano occupied and not wanting to drag the violin out of the closet. "Hello, Anya. . . Mother," she said with a nod of acknowledgment. "Who else is coming today?" She riffled through the music selections and nodded in approval at the choices. "I like the songs for today. Anything that I can do for you, Mother?" she asked, fitting her flute together in satisfaction and turning her hazel gaze onto Tai.

Given the poor attendance in recent weeks, Tai had partially gotten used to simply using these times to let her mind wander and just play a little music to nobody in particular, offering encouragement as the few others to turn up did the same. A small part of her seemed to have been 'counting on' that happening again today, just because she enjoyed the time.

Instead, she was quite delighted to see Anya and Lyra turn up punctually and keenly. The younger wolves also seemed to light up to see some of their older counterparts joining in. In provided them with a glowing example of community involvement, in addition to giving Tai the support of other already very accomplished musicians.

At that though she cast a deliberate smile towards Lyra. It was a shame, she thought, that Lyra's interest in music hadn't provided more of a common ground between her daughter and herself. Still, Tai understood the reasons for it...probably better that Lyra realised. The dynamics in an alpha unit never were quite the same as a regular wolf family.

"Happy to see you here sweetheart." she said, "I don't think there's anything needs doing. We'll just give it a couple more minutes and then we'll have a run through...oh, hello?"

The side door which led outside the building and had been left partially ajar for ventilation was darkened by a figure; a willowy dark haired girl, about seventeen or eighteen, who seemed to have intended only to discreetly pop her head around without drawing attention to herself. As soon as she realised she'd been noticed, the girl stepped in completely and folded her arms in front of herself, smiling weakly.

"Oh hey..." she said quietly, "sorry I just heard music, thought maybe this was something else. Are you guys a club or a band or something?"

Lyra looked to the girl cautiously for a moment, her hazel eyes analyzing her face and features. Slowly, Lyra settled her flute back into its case and slid off the stage lip. Her feet silently struck the floor as her bells offered no sound, slowly taking a few steps to approach the newcomer. A surprising revelation crossed Lyra's mind. She was unfamiliar. And from the look on Tai's face, she also had no prior knowledge of who this girl was. Lyra knew, at least facially, everyone in the town. If one was not well liked and popular, then the chances of being alpha were crushed. And, seeing that this girl was about her age and probably in school, this was even more surprising. Lyra was the class president. With James's sketchy attendance patterns and Lyra's perfect attendance, this was one obstacle she had no issue winning over her brother.

Without her wolf, Lyra knew nothing more about this girl. However, human or wolf, Lyra would treat her the same. Any type of ally was still and ally. She smiled towards the newcomer, her hazel eyes dancing with warmth. "Hello. We aren't really a band, more like a group of people that enjoy music for what it is. Inspiration, hope, and passion. Unfortunately for us, not as many people in this town see music the same way we do." She offered the girl a smile, turning back to her. "Were you looking for someone or something? Maybe I could help. Oh, I'm Lyra by the way, Lyra Khöller," she said, holding out her hand in greeting. "I don't think I caught your name," Lyra suggested to the girl.

"I'm Tabby." the girl replied in a genial but quiet voice. The quietness seemed to be born more out of a physical and mental wearingess than any sort of shyness, and she took a few steps further in, smiling around at everyone in the room. "Mind if I join you guys for a little while? I've pretty much got no place else to be right now."

Tai continued playing her guitar without even thinking, and noticed how Tabby's eyes periodically darted to the instrument. Simple body language that made it easy to figure out what it was the newcomer played.

Tabby quickly relaxed at Lyra's welcoming manner and continued to look around curiously. "I actually came to to town looking for Finchworth Productions Studio, but it's starting to look like it doesn't actually exist. All kind of a disaster really."

Talking about her reasons for coming to town seemed to make her feel slightly uneasy and guarded, but it was difficult for anyone to tell for sure. More than anything, it was obvious that the girl hadn't slept well.

Lyra nodded to Tabby and stepped aside to allow the girl a better entrance into the room. "Sure, come on in. Music is always better with more people. You can't produce a symphony with just one instrument," she said softly. Lyra watched Tabby carefully, noticing the pure exhaustion that seeped from the girl's features. Something that she had said confused Lyra. She offered Tabby a seat and wished that she had something for the girl to drink and perhaps eat. It looked as if she didn't have a decent place to rest in a few days.

"You said that you were looking for Finchworth Productions Studio? I'm afraid that you may have been misinformed; I've never heard of them before. What about you Mother, Anya?" she questioned, looking to the other females in the room. Her eyes lingered on Anya for a moment, her gaze shimmering with approval as she mouthed the word Thanks.. Although she did not feel that Tabby was a threat, Lyra was grateful that Anya had taken precautions to protect the young ones in the room. Then again, with the fatigue leaking off Tabby, it would be easy to overpower her in any condition. Lyra, for some reason, liked this girl however and decided that she hoped it did not come to that. "Are you travelling through town with someone?" Lyra asked cautiously, trying to find out more about their guest. "Where are you staying? And if it's a production studio. . . Maybe Kiyoshi would know something? He's interested in acting," she offered, with a glance towards her mother for approval. "Tabby, who sent you up here for the studio?"

Tabby caught the cereal bar and chuckled awkwardly, looking across at Anya with a weak smile.

"Wow...I didn't think it was that obvious." she said, "It's been a pretty tough couple of days."

She didn't show any sign of surprise when Lyra indicated she'd not heard of the studio. It was something she'd long since come to terms with...she and Lance had been sent on a wild goose chase. But for what possible reason?

"It's a confusing story," Tabby began, "I'm still not quite understanding it my-"

"For crap's sake, there you are!" a male voice came from the doorway this time, before eyeballing everyone else in the room and adding with a laboured chuckle, "Would it kill you to give me the heads up before you just wander off?"

The new person was a man in his mid thirties, who sauntered in towards Tabby quite brassly, with the barest hint of an apologetic wave to Tai who he identified as the authority figure in the room. He too quickly clocked the musical involvement.

"Oh what's this then?" he said.

"Not the studio, Lance." Tabby replied. "But they said I could join in. We don't have to be anywhere do we?"

"I suppose not." Lance mumbled.

Tai, keenly aware that Lyra's questions had not been answered, stood up gently and said, "Hi there, I'm Tai. Are you two having a bit of trouble."

Lance laughed the question off nervously. "Just a misunderstanding I think. I'm Tabby's uncle, we were supposed to meet a producer in town but...well, there's obviously been a mistake but we'll figure it out."

Tabby rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Mmm sure. Anyway, if it's alright with you I'm gonna run back to the car to get my guitar." She held up the cereal bar and smiled at Anya, "Thanks for this...you were right, I do need it. I'll be back in like ten minutes OK?"

She walked out the door, leaving Lance standing with his hands in his jacket pockets. The man sighed, nodded, and looked around at everyone one last time. "Well, I guess I don't need to stick around. When Tabby comes back tell her to find me in Rico's diner at about six OK?"

Without excusing himself, he too walked out.

Tai sat back down on the stage, looking deep in thought.

Lyra watched passively as Tabby and Lance walked out of the room. Her firm gaze lingered upon the doorway moments after they had left, checking that they would be out of ear reach. Satisfied that they were gone, she turned back to the other females in the room and pushed her hair aside from her face. "That was. . . Unexpected," she sighed at last. Lyra wrinkled her nose slightly, recalling Lance's stench. Even without her wolf, it was obvious to her delicate nose. And repulsive.

She returned to the stage and picked up her flute, fingering the delicate instrument carefully. "What do you two think about them? I don't see anything wrong besides the fact that Lance was lying about being her uncle. I just get that feeling, though. I could be wrong." She shrugged slightly and blew into her flute, something troubling her mind. At last, she groaned slightly and looked to Tai, knowing that this request was completely out of character and frowned upon.

"Mother. . . Can't we invite them over for the night? We still have two days before the moon and Tabby looked like she's about ready to pass out from exhaustion. There will be plenty of food for them at the party, and, let's face it. They both need a shower. Tabby can stay in my room, at least before we can send them on their way to this studio or whatever they are looking for."

Tai turned to Lyra, the corner of her mouth turning up wryly.

"Well you're bang on the mark about that Lance fellow," she said, "he was lying about being her uncle. You know why? Because she is a wolf, and he isn't. And I'm presuming he doesn't know about her being one...at least I hope so."

She strummed her guitar thoughtfully, picking out a piece of music to begin with. They were already off to a slow start and there wasn't any sense in waiting until tabby got back before they actually started playing. But when Lyra posited her next question, Tai looked up chewing her lip uncertainly.

"Hmm...it would make sense to. There's something strange about their situation, and if it's brought them to our territory then there's probably merit in finding out a little bit more about it. OK...yes, sure. But I think you two should ask Tabby about it. Give her an invite. See how that Lance guy reacts. That alright with you Anya?"

Anya tensed the moment that Lance walked in the room. Suddenly she felt on edge. And when he opened his mouth, well she knew he was blatantly lying, which only made her more anxious for him to leave. Clenching her hands into fists, she dug her fingernails into her palm. What was wrong with her? He'd given no reason that would make him appear to be a threat. But all of a sudden, her instincts had kicked in. She wasn't going to like this guy and her head told her so. Wait, instincts? Since when had they told her anything? Normally she just went with the flow and accepted things as she came across them, adjusting them to her liking. Now, every pore and muscle told her to be cautious of this one. Who knew why, but it probably wasn't something she should ignore. He'd already lied about who he was and why he was linked to this girl, who knew what else he was hiding.

When Lyra and Tai began discussing it, Anya listened, but didn't open her mouth until Tai had finished speaking. "It isn't my place," She said softly, with a little shrug. "The girl seems fine, she's no threat. But...I don't like the guy. I don't trust him. I guess we'll just have to see what happens." Gathering her things together, she swung her bag over her shoulder, brushing strands of hair from her eyes. "Sorry Tai, but I have to go. I'm not feeling very well and I...I just need to get out of here." The instinct thing had really disturbed her and she wanted some time alone. Although music calmed her, it was never as good when there was a class of people surrounding her. So quickly, before they could protest or stop her, Anya dashed for the door. She slipped out and through the corridor of the school, before she pushed out into the fresh air. Taking a deep breath, she secured her bag around her shoulders. Pulling her ballet shoes off, she grasped then in her hand before taking off at a run, golden hair shimmering behind her...

Anya barreled into the trees, feeling the sweet sensation of relief as they enveloped her from view. All around her animals were coming out from their days sleep, alert and ready for the night ahead. There was a breeze that whistled through the trees and she felt it tug at her hair, causing the trees to mutter to one another. Discarding her flats, she slowed to a smoother pace, but only a little. It felt amazing to escape the confines of school, even more so since Lance had invaded their music lesson. Anya couldn't explain why she had taken a disliking to him, or why her instincts had warned her off. It frightened her more than anything. Instincts brought her closer to receiving her wolf. But how was that even possible? She was yet to even discover who her mate was. As far as she was concerned, none of the guys at the house had caught her eye and probably never would. Calvin? Gavin? Kiyoshi? No, whilst she believed that they were all amazing and she loved them to bits, she wasn't attracted to them. So then who? Perhaps now wasn't the time to think of it. Instead, she focused on her running.

But who was she to know that someone lurked in the trees? That someone was waiting outside of the community centre. Which is why Anya ran straight into Duncan, without even seeing him. It was known that she could be clumsy, but she'd completely missed the fact that Duncan was standing in-between the trees. When she collided with him it was like hitting a brick wall. Anya tumbled backwards, falling with a hard thump. Instantly, she pounced back up, ready to be attacked by some stranger. When she laid eyes on Duncan, she physically relaxed.

"Oh my...Duncan! You scared the crap out of me!" Punching him playfully on the arm she let out a smooth laugh, shaking her head. "You have seriously got to stop creeping around when it's getting dark! You'll give some poor innocent girl, like me, a heart attack." She pressed her palm over her chest in a joking manner, sweeping her long hair from her unique blue eyes with the other. Ultimately she was relieved it was Duncan, rather than someone like Lance who gave her the creeps from the start. Duncan was reliable and actually, she rather liked him being around. He was a nice guy, unlike some others she could mention.

"How are you?" There was a lot of sincerity in her voice as she looked at him with warm eyes. He was going through a lot at the moment, with being Beta and she'd heard some passing comments about his parents. It kind of made her glad that she didn't really know her own parents too well. But then again, reflecting on it, that was even more depressing. At least he'd grown up with a relatively normal family, unlike her two parents who didn't really want much to do with her any more.

Duncan nearly lost his footing when he was hit by Anya he extended his hand to help her up but it seemed that she had gotten up as quickly as she had fell, Anya had very good reflexes even though she hadn't received her wolf yet she would be a very good student for Duncan's self defence classes. Anya was a very nice young lady always one to listen to who ever had a problem even if they didn't want to talk about it she had her ways of getting it out of you.

Duncan smiled softly at Anya giving a light chuckle to her over dramatic actions he spoke " I'm well thank you.." Duncan paused briefly as if uncertain about his answer giving a soft sigh he continued with a light smile " im just waiting for Lyra and Calvin to start my patrol round the border before it gets really dark, I don't really want you walking around the forest on your own no matter how fast you are, i recommend that you walk through town or hitch a lift with Tai when she's finished teaching, don't want you getting in trouble now do we?" he gave another smile giving her a light tap on the arm.

Anya arched an eyebrow at his first answer, not missing the hesitation and chuckled when he suggested that she walked through the town or hitched a lift. That didn't sound like a good idea to her. In fact, she'd rather take the dangerous road through the forest than have to answer Tai's questions about darting out of the music lesson, or take the boring route through the town. The forest was so alive at this time of the day. Even still, she remembered Adrian's warning the night before. Perhaps, if Duncan was worried as well, then they youngsters should heed what they were saying. Well, when she said youngsters, generally she meant herself. It was usually her that went off on her own. And usually it didn't bother her, but with all of these warnings, she was starting to worry.

"I can fend for myself you know. And for some reason, trouble always finds me anyway." She grinned, shaking her head with a small shrug of her shoulders. Peering at him for a moment, she attempted to read his mood. Whilst he appeared to be visibly alright, Anya didn't know if it was simply an appearance he was keeping up. One could never tell with Duncan. And in that moment, she made up her mind what she was going to do that night. Calvin would have other games that she could appear out, but Ray's birthday only came once a year and she'd just found the person she was going to drag with her. Or so she hoped.

"Look, I know you're having a hard time right now. I mean with your Beta position and all. So, how about you accompany me to Ray's birthday bash tonight? I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun and besides you have to have one night off. Please!" She pressed her hands together with the last word, tilting her head to one side and batting her eyelids. "Pretty please." She smiled a pretty smile to complete the look, allowing strands of hair to fall across her eyes. If anyone hadn't of known better then she would have looked like the perfect angel. But this was Anya.

Duncan thought for a while Anya was right he didn't have many time of from being a Beta he wanted to keep everyone safe but since it was Rays birthday he could spend a while at the party but he did want this patrol done as well as teaching Calvin and Lyra about things to look out for when on patrol.

Ducan looked at Anya as she did the whole puppy dog eyes thing with him, that was truly the way to Ducan was to do the cute goody two shoes thing and boom Ducan would let you get away with anything permitting it wasn't to get anyone hurt or endangering the pack. It didn't work with the guys though mainly it was whoever won in a sparring match got what they wanted.

Duncan heaved a sigh " fine I'll come along for a while after I've done patrol where is it and when? " he smiled lightly as he caught Anya's eyes they were so bright even without meaning to be in comparison to his own light green eyes.