"Don't be too mean, please," Avery murmurs as she and Roman head back to her room.
"I'll say whatever I want. It was disrespect to you, but you can't do anything because Louisa is your family. I'll take the hit," he whispers to her, bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing it gently.
Avery smiles slightly at his caring gesture, and she can't help the slight blush that her cheeks take on.
"Okay, but please don't be mean," she pleads, "because she is my sister. I'm the one who will have to deal with the consequences. You can go back to your pack at any time."
"She'll get what she would if she was any other pack member," he promises, clenching his jaw, "although no other pack member would stare at us and mock you."
His tone took on an irritated, almost angry note to it towards the end of his sentence, and she gently squeezes his hand, trying to force her independence down a little.
Accept his help but don't depend on it, Sonya grumbles, slightly bothered by his need for dominance.
Avery tries to cover her visible surprised reaction at the fact Sonya doesn't support Roman in something for once.
He doesn't control us, we're an Alpha too, so don't let him do whatever he wants, whenever he wants it, her wolf grunts.
Roman arrives into Avery's room first, and looks around curiously, sniffing the air suspiciously.
"I think somebody was in here," he mutters, quickly opening the wardrobes and checking behind the curtains and in the bathroom.
Avery stays at the door, her eyes darting around the room and noticing the curtain moving a little.
"Ro," she whispers, her eyes locked onto the area as she walks slowly towards it.
Roman puts a finger to his lips and silently moves towards it quickly, his figure a blur.
Avery finds herself unconsciously holding her breath, raising her hands to her chest nervously.
Roman grabs the curtain and almost rips it down with the force he uses.
Nothing is behind it, and they both look at the open window.
"Did you open it before we left?" He asks warily, looking over his shoulder at Avery as he closes the window.
"No, I never open the windows here, especially not at night," she mutters, her brows furrowing and her lips pursing.
Her stomach is in knots, and she can feel sweat building up on her back as her eyes fill up with tears.
He notices and quickly crosses the room to pull her into his arms.
"What's wrong?" He asks softly.
This will be fun, Booker mutters, this won't end well.
"I think I feel like my privacy was invaded," she mumbles, laying her head onto his chest and letting him rock gently with her.
"Do you have anywhere else you could stay tonight?" He asks, looking down at her in concern.
"Well, I have my house," she sighs, wiggling out of his arms and starting to pace.
"You have a house?" He asks, sounding surprised.
"Yeah, of course, I have a house," she responds, raising a brow, "I'm twenty-eight."
"Oh," he mutters, his cheeks turning a little red.
"I don't mean you should have a house. Your pack is close; you all live in one house. Very few people here actually live in our packhouse, we all have our own homes for the sake of privacy and comfort," she shrugs, and he nods.
"Well, you can go there," he sighs, running a hand through his hair again.
"I'm not going alone. If somebody got into my room in the Alpha house, my own house doesn't stand a chance," she groans, shaking her head rapidly.
"I'll come with you, but I have some calls to make before we see Louisa," he warns, and she bites her lip.
"I don't care, I don't want to be alone, and you'll do," she comments, her back facing him as she quickly packs some clothes into her small suitcase.
"I'll do?" He snorts, Booker's ego slightly hurt by that comment.
Sonya rolls her eyes.
Why are all of these men so sensitive, she grunts, and Avery nods in agreement.
They've never been told anything like it is before, Avery responds calmly, putting a neatly folded blazer into her bag, along with a pair of skinny black jeans.
"I didn't mean it to be rude, I just mean that you're perfect company," she shrugs, proud of herself for what she thinks is a pretty good recovery.
"Sure," he drawls, rolling his eyes with a smirk as he walks up behind her.
He pulls her a little back by her hips, and she looks over her shoulder at him and glares.
"My room was burgled, I'm not having sex with you right now," she snaps, slightly irritated by his insensitivity.
He pauses and then nods, stepping back a foot or two with his hands in the air.
"Understandable, where is this house?" He asks, and she closes her eyes for a minute.
"It's near the forest. It's gorgeous, and it's mostly glass. I found a witch to enchant it so that you can't see in, you can only see out," she murmurs, a small smile climbing it's way onto her face as she thinks of her nook of serenity.
"Why do you have so much stuff here then, if you have a house?" He questions curiously, and she cracks her neck.
"Because I like being around my parents, and I don't like going home to an empty house," she mutters, and he nods in understanding.
"I think that's why I stay in my packhouse. I may not get along great with my mum, but she's something to go home to. She's a constant, and she makes it all seem less lonely," he murmurs thoughtfully, staring at her picture wall intensely.
Avery stays quiet and continues packing, throwing in some red lipsticks, brow gel, and a hairbrush on top of her clothes.
She's totally packed apart from her laptop, and she cringes as she remembers the state they left her office in.
"We need to make a pitstop before we go," she sighs, and he raises a brow.
"Let Louisa know she can either be in your office in five minutes, or she can make the journey to your house for her punishment," he shrugs, cracking his fingers and picking her bag up.
Avery mindlinks her sister grudgingly, scowling the entire time.
She hates being the messenger, especially to her sister, who no doubt will use some very colourful language at being contacted by her older sibling.
Louisa, you need to be in my office in five minutes, or you have to get to my house in an hour, Avery parrots, and she can hear the vibrations of anger from the mindlink.
Tell him to go die somewhere, Louisa shoots back angrily, and Avery gives her time to reconsider her response.
Sure enough, Lousia quickly recants what she said.
Don't say that, please, Ave, she quickly gets out.
Say it, Sonya encourages darkly, a scowl on her face.
Avery and Sonya both don't give Louisa the time of day, because she'll never change with them. Avery has no idea how Xavier manages to deal with her sister every day, and she wouldn't be surprised if Xavier didn't come for however long her sister is staying.
What are you choosing, Louisa?, Avery asks tiredly, rubbing her temples tiredly.
I'll meet you in your office, she grumbles, and Avery sends her an agreement before cutting the link off.
She exhales heavily once she stops messaging her sister, and looks up at Roman.
"She said she'll meet us in the office, so we should go down now and clean up," she sighs.
Roman nods, letting her lead the way down the stairs while he cradles her bag in his arms.
They open the office door together and are hit by the smell of sex lingering in the air.
"We should have opened a window," Avery mutters grimly, opening her office windows and turning the ceiling fan on at the same time.
The possibility of her family walking into her office in the state it's in makes her cringe. She doesn't care if they know she had sex, but it's a bit unprofessional of her to have it in her office.
"We were a bit too busy to think about windows," he chuckles, shaking his head at her while he mentally prepares to deal with Louisa Wilcott.
"Don't sass me, young man," she mocks, making fun of his stern tone that he occasionally pulls on her.
"Don't mock me, young lady," he responds in a similar fashion, rolling his eyes around his grins.
Avery leans down and swipes up her ripped dress and panties, putting them into the trash can under her desk.
Roman walks by and slaps her ass, a smirk on his face which she doesn't appreciate.
"It's time to be serious," she says more to herself than him, sitting in her chair and watching him put everything back onto her desk.
When he puts something down, she rearranges it, sorting the desk to the way she wants it and usually has it.
"You're so stubborn," he mutters with a grin, moving something an inch and having her move it back to the exact place it started with.
"You can't leave things alone," she grumbles, shooting him a quick glare.
Don't start a fight before he deals with your sister, Sonya warns, and Avery breathes in calmly.
There's a knock on the door, and before anyone can say anything, Louisa storms in with a face like thunder.
"What?" She demands, and Avery rolls her eyes.
"Don't you use that tone with your Alpha," Roman growls, his body language switching totally.
His calm demeanour and teasing nature are totally gone, and he reminds her of a rabid rogue or something of the sort.
Louisa straightens up a little, keeping her hand on her hip and her raised eyebrow on her face.
"What's your problem?" Louisa asks, and Avery raises her eyebrows in shock.
She knows her sister is defiant, but that's usually only of her authority.
"Maybe we should call Xavier," Avery suggests calmly, and Louisa's eyes flash angrily.
"This has nothing to do with him, what's my punishment?" Louisa snaps, red travelling up her neck.
Avery observes the scene, watching her sister's face half-shift.
"Louisa," Avery reprimands sharply, "think about your pup, not your bratty little temper tantrum."
Her sister turns to her, her eyes flashing faster and faster.
Avery can sense that her sister is about to shift, so she leaps into action, hurriedly getting behind her sister and holding her arms.
"Stop," she snarls, letting her Alpha tone loose.
Immediately, her sister slumps forward, Avery hanging onto her being the only reason she doesn't collapse onto the ground.
"Stand up," Avery orders, letting go of her sister once she stands back up properly.
Louisa stands in her place, looking angrier than Avery has seen her in years.
Avery returns to her seat, slightly irritated and extremely embarrassed by her sister.
It's no wonder to her that Louisa doesn't go to any Conferences with her mate - Avery knows that her sister can't be trusted to behave in public.
Avery herself is short-tempered and can be admittedly catty, but she knows when she shouldn't talk or give out about something in public. She also knows not to insult other Alphas unless she knows them or they deserve it.
Roman stands in silence, his eyes cold and hard as he stares at Louisa.
"Louisa Wilcott, you are sentenced to two weeks in the cellars," Roman finally states, his face expressionless.
Louisa's eyes widen dramatically, and her mouth opens a little bit.
Avery closes her eyes and tries not to cringe too much - she knows exactly what's going to come next.
Louisa straightens up, and opens her mouth wider, looking like she could kill someone.
Avery reaches for Roman's hand, her movements hidden by her desk from Louisa's sight.
"Mom!" Louisa screams, and Marie hurries into the room, wrinkling up her nose once she arrives.
"What's wrong?" Marie asks tiredly, and Richard slopes into the room too, folding his arms and leaning against the wall.
"He's sending me to the cellars," she whines, widening her eyes as she pouts to her mum.
She can't move from her place due to Avery's command, and she doesn't plan on lifting that any time soon.
"For how long?" Marie asks, looking exhausted.
"Two weeks," Lousia shouts, her voice scratchy and squeaky.
I'll kill her if she doesn't shut up, Sonya snarls, and Avery has to force herself not to smile.
"That's nothing," Richard interjects, rolling his eyes at his child's dramatics.
"Dad, tell them not to be mean to me," Lousia whines.
"No. Alpha Lancaster has no duty to be nice to you," he shrugs, "anybody else would punish you for much longer, or they'd give you something much worse to do. Alpha Lancaster is being overly reasonable due to your family connection to Avery."
There's silence after Richard's statement, and Louisa looks at her mum for pity.
Marie is quiet, and she does not react to Richard's response because she knows it's entirely truthful.
Louisa is angry with the lack of support from her mother, and she shoots her an angry glare before turning back to Roman and Avery, who both stare at her calmly.
"When do I start?" She spits, and Roman shrugs.
"Tomorrow morning seems like a good time," he sighs, refraining from rolling his eyes.
Good, professionalism, Booker chirps up.
"Fine," Louisa snarls, glaring at Avery until she realises Louisa can't move.
"Go," Avery orders, and Louisa promptly storms out of the room angrily.
"I'll make sure she shows up," Marie sighs, walking out of the office after her daughter.
Richard lingers for a moment longer, looking between Roman and Avery.
"Dad, close the door," Avery sighs, slumping back in her seat, Roman releasing her hand and rubbing her shoulder.
"Somebody got into my room, so we're gonna go to my house for the night and camp out there," she nods, and Richard's eyes widen in horror.
"Somebody got into your room?" He repeats, running a hand over his crew cut.
"I caught a scent, but it was faint. I presume they covered their scent," Roman grits, scowling at the window.
"Okay, how did they get into the house?" Richard asks, his age suddenly showing on his face.
"We don't know, but the window was open and we didn't open it," Roman sighs.
"I'll get somebody on it. You two go to the house, I'll have some guards cover the perimeter of it," Richard grimaces, and then looks at Avery.
"Actually, you can do that yourself. I'll organise sorting your room out, though - I can't believe the person got past me and your sister's noses," he mutters to himself, walking out of the room with his hands behind his back and his brows furrowed deeply.
Avery stands up, putting her laptop into her small suitcase, and picking up her cellphone.
She quickly dials the number for the head guard and instructs him to have four guards be sent to her house.
She isn't worried about her safety - she knows how to protect herself, and she isn't scared of anyone breaking in.
She just doesn't want her house ruined for her by this mysterious person.
Once she's sure she has everything that she could need from her office and making the decision to do her work from her home tomorrow, she straightens up, satisfied with her decision.
"If you're staying tomorrow, you can grab one of the laptops from the cupboard in the corner," she calls over her shoulder, closing the windows to her office and grabbing her jacket from the rail in the corner.
Roman nods, grabbing one of the spare laptops just in case he decides to stay.
He pulls the handle of the suitcase up and waits for her by the door.
Once she's ready, she joins him and leads him out of the door, heading straight for the forest.
"I thought it was just near the forest?" Roman asks curiously, and Avery rolls her eyes a little.
"We're taking the shortcut, I don't want to walk for twenty minutes," she sighs, glancing over her shoulder at him quickly.
"This is where we met," he chirps happily, and she hides a smile.
"I don't know how we didn't meet before," she shrugs, a little skip to her step in response to that memory.
"I never really went to conferences, I'm usually at different backs acting as the middleman for arguments or disagreements among officials," he grins, sliding up beside her and wrapping his arm around her waist.
"Why aren't you there now?" She asks curiously, looking up at him as they walk, avoiding fallen branches and logs.
"I'd rather be here," he winks, "and there are no issues that need my attention right now."
She laughs at his admission of having nothing else to do, shaking her head teasingly at him.
"We're almost there," she chirps, looking around at where they are, and being able to see lights in the near distance.
"Is your house on its own?" He asks curiously, and Avery shakes her head.
"There's a little bit of space between my house and others, but I live in between two of the pack nurses and their families," she smiles, "they have their kids, and the kids love being in my garden because I let it go a little bit crazy."
"What do you mean crazy?" He questions and Avery grins.
"The grass is long and there's a lot of flowers. I haven't had time to fix it since the house was built, but it's on my list for the year," she giggles, shaking her head.
"Half of the year is gone already, and if it's as bad as you say, you'll run out of time at this rate," he shakes his head with a smile on his face.
"You could help me if you're that concerned that I'll run out of time," she suggests, wiggling her eyebrows playfully.
"I can try, but I'm not the best at gardening," he promises, swinging their hands in the air, childishly.
"We can start tomorrow," she grins, and he shakes his head.
"Tomorrow, we are relaxing until I have to go home," he sighs, swinging their arms so high that Avery has to jump a little bit.
Avery sighs, her face dropping a little bit at the realisation that he has to go home.
The surprise visit turned out a lot better than either of them could have expected, and the thought of him going home so soon doesn't make her the happiest.
Don't get so attached, he's not your boyfriend, Sonya scolds.
Do you not want me to be happy?, Avery whines, slightly annoyed that her wolf won't agree with her on this.
I want you to be happy, but I want you to be responsible as well. You still haven't spoken about your feelings with him having an old mate, Sonya reminds her, and Avery rolls her eyes.
Why do you have to do this? I'll talk about it whenever I want to talk about it, she grumbles, and Sonya bares her teeth.
You don't talk about it though, you just go insane about it suddenly, Sonya points out angrily, and Avery abruptly cuts off their link, trying to hide her irritation from Roman.
"Is that it?" Avery hears Roman ask, and she suddenly realises that they're at her house.
"Yeah, it is," she nods, watching Roman admire her reflective house.
"Why do you have so much glass?" He asks, and she shrugs.
"I like light, and we don't get much here, especially in the winter, so I like to let in every bit possible," she explains, and he nods along with her.
Avery leads him up the steps, squinting at the houses around a hundred yards away.
"I thought you said your neighbours were nearby," Roman laughs and Avery rolls her eyes.
"They are," she protests awkwardly, leading him inside.
"How is it so warm here?" He mutters, feeling the gust of heat hit his face.
"Underfloor heating," she grins, closing and locking the door behind him as he peers into the living room and kitchen.
"I really like the designs in here," he compliments, and Avery smiles at him.
He wanders over to the living room window wall and stares out of the glass.
"Oh my Goddess," he murmurs, looking at the view.
"I know," she grins, bouncing in her place as she gazes at the water in front of her house.
"I see why you built the house here," he nods, mesmerised by the crashing waves in the lake directly in front of her house.
Roman stays by the window while Avery wanders into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and feeling immense relief when she realises that it's fully stocked.
We pay for it to be even if we're not here, Sonya grumbles, extremely unhappy with Avery still.
She pulls out some berries, ignoring her wolf while she washes them in the sink.
"What are we gonna do tonight, Ave?" Roman asks, strolling into the kitchen after her.
Avery feels slightly uncomfortable at just how domesticated the scene is.
"Sonya wants me to talk to you, so I guess we'll do that," she mutters, leaning against the marble counters and eating some of her strawberries and raspberries.
Roman snatches a blackberry out of her bowl, popping it into his mouth cheekily.
Avery nudges him gently as she walks by him quietly, stunned by just how silent the house is.
It's always quiet when she's there, but since she's not alone for once, it feels eerie.
She climbs the stairs quickly, him following her looking slightly confused.
"You can wait down here if you want, I'm just going to get into some pyjamas," she shrugs, looking over her shoulder at him.
"Uh, sure," he says, trying to hide his confusion and slight hurt.
He wanders back downstairs, taking note of the bare walls and sleek furniture in the rooms he walks through.
This doesn't feel like a very Avery house, in his opinion.
Even when she stayed in his pack, she had loads of little decorative things around her room.
This house is empty, and he doubts she spends very much time in it.
Avery is upstairs trying to figure out what she wants to say, not very happy at the fact Sonya has gone radio silent all of a sudden.
She sighs, putting on an oversized t-shirt and some sports shorts and clipping up her waves.
Taking out her earrings, Avery wipes off her lipstick and puts on some fluffy socks before heading back downstairs to where Roman is.
She moves silently, so when she gets downstairs, he doesn't realise.
He keeps looking around the room, opening cupboards and drawers to find them all empty, bar one which has blankets.
"Grab one of those for me, please," she smiles weakly before she plants herself on the couch.
He picks up a grey one before he turns around, and he looks her up and down with a slight grin.
"No, don't smile at me," she warns, "I don't think this will be a fun conversation."
The smile slips off his face and is replaced with a look of concern, sitting down beside her and wrapping the blanket around her legs.
"Do you want to just talk and get it all out, or would you like me to interject and we can converse about the issue?" He asks diplomatically, and Avery can see why he's called in to sort out problems now.
"Uh, you can comment whenever you like," she nods, biting on her lip.
He leans over and pulls her lip from between her teeth, gently kissing her lips and rubbing her cheek gently.
Avery takes a deep breath, trying to steady herself to bring up what she needs to talk about.
Sonya is right - if she doesn't talk about it now, she'll hold it in until she explodes.
"We need to talk about the fact you had a mate," she starts nervously, fidgeting with her blanket.
Roman sits in silence for a moment and then reluctantly nods.
He can see where she's coming from, but he doesn't really ever want to talk about it.
"You've felt that connection, and you've had a mate. I haven't, and I feel like that puts us on an uneven level," she mumbles, but he can hear her perfectly clear, so he doesn't ask her to speak up.
He remains silent, letting her speak.
"I just don't know, maybe if I knew about why you no longer have Max, I could understand a little bit more?" She suggests awkwardly, running her hand through her hair.
"I don't like talking about her death," he responds, his tone slightly rough.
Avery nods, biting her lips nervously.
"I don't know what I'm missing. You do, you've had a genuine mate connection before," she murmurs, looking away from him.
There's complete silence for a few minutes, neither of the two looking at each other.
"No, I haven't," he finally states.
Over 4000 words, enjoy!
There was a longer break between the last update and this one than there has been, hopefully I'll get some sort of schedule sorted out soon though!
Like and comment if you would like to, follow me if you want to know when new chapters go up (i announce it? Is that the word to use?), and message me if you have any problems!
I hope everyone is keeping well!
Also, happy Part 50!! I'm a little shocked that we made it this far! ;)
- Aoife :) xx