Jazzy Talking to Carmen kept my mind from wandering towards Tychon, and I link Colton the moment we are within range; he is on border patrol. I offer to take the rest of his shift so he can spend some extra time with Sela and their Pup, and he is more than willing to accept my offer. I call out to Lakota on my way away from the SUV, and I don't even bother looking at Tychon. I ask Colton about his shift, and he tells me he is on night shift for the next two weeks. "Take my day shifts and I will take your night shifts. I will clear it with Quinn later on; I need a distraction at the moment," I say to Colton. I start running the borders, and I let my mind wander to the male that was supposed to be my second chance at happiness, but apparently I am not supposed to find it. Maybe it wasn't Wolves and Lycans that rejected other shifters; maybe it was the other way around, and that would explain his reaction. At six in the morning my shift ends, and I walk towards the old oak to tell Quinn about my night. I also mention I switched with Colton, and even though I can see she wants to ask, she doesn't. I hope Lakota didn't show them the hidden territory yet and I will be able to get a good night's sleep; if she did tell them, I will be crashing at the small Pack-house. I don't run into anyone as I make my way up to my room, and I don't smell the scent of my Mate either. Before I crash on my bed, I pack a few things I will take to the other Pack-house with me. I have no intention of staying in the same place as my Mate, and I know that Dusk agrees with me. We went through this once before, and I am never going to let a male try to run my life again. Dusk and I believe he will leave the moment Denali has given her testimony to the Council, and then it will just be the two of us again. I fall asleep thinking about the male with caramel hair tied in a ponytail at the back of his neck and his green-hazel eyes. "Are you awake?" I hear Lance ask through the mind-link. "Lakota wants to see you in her office," he says, and before I can answer he has closed the link. I turn towards my alarm clock and I see I have had less than an hour of sleep. "This better be fucking good," I growl at Dusk, and she mumbles to leave her alone. Neither one of us is a nice person when woken in the middle of our sleep; when dealing with Rogues that isn't a problem, and I even welcome that. I quickly pull on some sweats and a shirt before I rush down the stairs towards Alpha Lakota's office. The door is open, and I knock on the door as I walk in. "Good morning, Jazzy," she says without looking up from her desk. "Speak for yourself, Alpha. A morning isn't good when some fucking idiot wakes you after less than an hour of sleep," I growl, and I see a shocked look in her eyes as she finally looks up at me. "I thought you had the day shift," she states, and suddenly she seems to remember what I said yesterday. "I was hoping you could show Denali and Tychon..." but I don't allow her to finish that sentence. "Find another idiot, Alpha. If I never see the prick again I will die a happy woman, and also make sure that Mylana starts teaching the Pups that it might have been the other way around with the rejections." I walk out of her office and slam the door shut behind me, only to be faced with Denali and Tychon. "Great, are the two of you going to stay here?" I ask, and for some reason Denali is willing to answer me. "Lance, tell our Alpha I am moving to the other part of our territory. I will be on night shift for the next two weeks, so don't fucking link me again at seven thirty in the morning," I growl as I make my way up to my room. I run into Josy as I walk into my new home, and I ask her if she can pack up my old room. "Put the boxes by the door; I will move them inside once I wake up," I say before I close the door and finally crash on my bed, exhausted I fall into a deep sleep. Tychon Makucha has been nagging at me ever since I screwed up yesterday; he had to point out that my unwillingness to come to Crystal Blood Pack hurt our Mate, and when I had made it sound as if I would leave the moment Denali had given her testimony I had hurt my Sister. Before I had gone to sleep I had gone in search of Alpha Lakota, and I had apologized for my behavior. "I didn't mean for my words to sound as if we were going to leave; I just wanted to make clear that that would be my main priority at the moment. I want that male and that Pack to pay for what they did to Denali and Carmen. After that I need to figure out quite a lot of things for myself; I always promised myself I wouldn't accept a Mate that wasn't a Leopard, and that is due to my upbringing. I never thought I would be at odds with myself when it comes to my fated Mate, and I am not sure how to deal with this. I do know one thing; Makucha isn't willing to let me give up so easily," I told her, and Keir had been standing behind me; he told me I had hurt my Sister with my words. I apologized to Keir if I had hurt him in any way, because that had never been my intention. Lakota had told me that she would ask Jazzy to show us around, and I had gone to bed feeling a lot better. I would be able to spend some time with my Mate in the morning and try to make up for the fucked up way I had reacted towards her, her face being the last thing I saw as I drifted off to sleep. Denali and I are in the living room when we hear rushed footsteps coming down the stairs, and I smell the scent of my Mate, making a smile spread across my face. We walk towards Lakota's office when I hear Jazzy say she will die a happy woman if she never sees me again, and when she finds out we are going to live in the Pack-house too she tells Lance she is moving out. I stare after her as she runs back up the stairs, and within a minute she rushes past me with a bag tossed over her shoulder. Makucha is whimpering in my head as I watch her walking away from us; I really screwed this one up, and if I am being honest with myself I can't blame her."Lakota, I have never seen Jazzy this angry before. This isn't just about Tychon; it can't be," I hear Keir say, and I turn towards Lakota when I hear her sigh. "You're right, Dad. This wasn't just about Tychon; I forgot she had taken the night shift from Colton, and Lance woke her after less than an hour of sleep," she answers, and I hear both males mutter the word, Fuck. Denali asks why that is a problem. "No problem, as long as there is a Rogue on the other end of the wakeup call. In any other case you better have a damn good reason, or she will chew your head off. Put that on top of your Brother's behavior and you have a recipe for disaster," Lance answers. Something tells me he has been on the receiving end of her anger before, and if he had known about her lack of sleep he would have told his Mate to handle it herself. "Quinn, when is Jazzy back on the day shift?" Lakota asks her Gamma as she walks into the Pack-house. "Four weeks; she took Colton's shift for the next two weeks, and after that she has her own two weeks of the night shift," Quinn answers, and the look on Lakota's face tells me I am in for the longest four weeks of my life. At that moment I thought I could handle those four weeks, but I was dead wrong. The first few days flew by as I was getting to know all the Pack-members and familiarizing myself with the territory. Keir convinced me to join their training sessions, and I really enjoyed those moments, especially training with the young Pups. Sometimes I would smell her scent, but I was never able to see her; she avoided coming to dinner, and I soon found out she had her meals at the diner. Josy made it clear to stay away from the diner and to stay away from Jazzy; she is very protective of my Mate. After almost two weeks of walking around the territory and smelling her scent every now and then, I ask Josy why she is so protective of Jazzy. "My parents died during a Rogue attack, and so did our Head Warrior; he died protecting me. His Mate and Daughter blamed me for his death, and despite the Alpha's efforts they didn't stop blaming me every chance they got. Alpha Lakota offered to take me with them to give me a chance at a good and normal life; Jazzy became the big Sister I never had, and she has been there for me every step of the way. Whether it was for training or when I wanted to run the diner and motel for the Pack, she always had my back," Josy says. I smile as I listen to how my Mate took a young Omega under her wing and helped her in any way she could, and I can see that Josy benefitted from having Jazzy in her corner. "How is it running the diner?" I ask her, and she tells me that it is great working at the diner, but that she doesn't really like it when family comes to visit Pack-members.