Chapter 1 Important 'Business'

"And that makes 3!"

Adalyn winced at the pain shooting up her back after Gabriel threw her to the ground for the third time in a row. Whilst Adalyn very rarely managed to get one over on him during spar practice, he seemed to be particularly relishing his dominance over her this time around.

She rolled over on to her back and looked up through hazy eyes to see Gabriel towering over her. A wide smirk was plastered across his face. He chuckled quietly to himself then swept his ash blonde hair out of his eyes.

"You're making this way too easy today Ady, what happened to all the fighting talk you was giving me this morning?" He looked up to the sky and scratched his face, pretending to be unable to recall her earlier threats.

"Let me see..what was one of the things you said? Oh that's right, how you were going to make me eat dirt, right?" He smirked again and looked back down at her with gentle eyes, then extended a hand to help her up.

Adalyn rolled her eyes annoyed at his offer of help but decided to accept his hand and haul herself up. "Okay, okay smart ass. How about best 4 out of 7?"

"Sorry, but no can do, I have business that I need to attend to in the city, plus I have to pick up a few things."

Adalyn dusted off her trousers before raising an eyebrow at Gabe. "Business? Yeah right. You're off to flirt with Matilde at the tavern again. When are you going to finally get the hint that she's just not that in to you?"

Gabriel leaned down to stare at Adalyn in the eyes with a cheeky grin on his face. "Well you say that, but I'm pretty sure I was *in to her* in more ways than one the other night." He gave Adalyn a devilish wink as he recalled a particularly steamy session with the bar maid.

"Okay, that actually made me bring up a little sick in my mouth." Adalyn pretended to wretch then scrubbed her fingers through her hair trying to erase the mental image of his sex life from her head.

Gabriel laughed and patted her on the head. At 20 years old Gabriel still had boyish features in his face, but with his 6'3 stature and rock hard chest he was definitely all man. That accompanied with his cheeky grin and soft blonde hair had the she-wolves fawning over him whenever they went in to the city of Pherron, the capital of the Southern Territory.

Having grown up together, Gabriel was like a brother to her despite there being no blood relation between the two of them. Her aunt Mya had a habit of collecting things and 10 years ago it just so happened to also include Gabriel who she stumbled upon as a young stray child living in the city streets. Adalyn quickly took a liking to this new 'big brother' and having the family he always wished for Gabriel quickly came out his shell and blossomed in to the easy going man he became today.

"Would it be okay if I came with you into the city?" Adalyn piped up suddenly. "There's a new bookstore that's opened up near Aunt Mya's shop that I wanted to check out"

Before Gabriel could even reply, Adalyn had already dusted off her trousers and was running back in to the stone house they called home. "Give me 5 minutes to quickly change!" she shouted back.

Gabriel crossed his arms "Five minutes max Ady, I mean it!" he shouted back. Patience was something that Gabriel lacked especially when it kept him away from 'important business', but he’d usually make an exception for her. Adalyn was like a little sister to him and as a young unmated female shifter, he knew it was in her best interest for him to accompany her into the city.

Inside the house Adalyn dashed in to her room and quickly changed in to some jeans, a loose fitting t-shirt and then tied back her long hair in to a long ponytail. Despite her more tomboyish look her beauty still radiated out with her light brown loose wavy hair and emerald green eyes. Since turning 18 six months ago, she noticed her figure was getting more curvier and her chest was starting to fill out. Her blossoming beauty was not going unnoticed amongst most of the unmated male shifters, much to her annoyance, so she took it upon herself to try and cover herself up whenever she went in to the city.

Whilst walking past the mirror, her reflection briefly caught her eye and she paused a moment to stare at it. Sometimes it had almost felt like she was seeing her face as though it was the first time. She leant forward to examine a few of the new freckles on her face. It seemed as though they were staring to multiply much to her aggravation. As she took a step back a raven haired girl suddenly called out to her in the mirror. Taken aback she pulled back and gasped as her original reflection came back in to focus.

“What was that?" It was almost as if the girl was trying to call out to her but no words came out of her mouth.

Before she could gather her thoughts, Gabriel's voice reverberated from out front of the house. "You said 5 minutes Ady! Get your butt out here or I'm leaving without you!"

Adalyn shook her head to snap herself back in to focus. She must have been more tired than she thought. She had stayed up late the night before reading a new book. Either that or Gabriel had partially concussed her earlier. She was determined to get him back for that.

"Coming!' she yelled back.

She darted outside to see Gabriel tapping his feet impatiently. Gabriel's wolf paced silently in his head in synchronization. His ears flickered the second he caught Adalyn coming out of the door. His wolf had always been particularly astute to picking up Adalyn's changing moods.

"Everything alright? You look like you've seen a ghost"

"Yeah I'm fine" Adalyn sighed inwardly. "I think I just need more sleep, I swear I'm starting to see things" she laughed it off to herself and started walking ahead of Gabriel.

Puzzled and a little bit more concerned Gabriel rounded her and blocked her from walking out of the gate. "Seeing things? What kind of things?"

Adalyn stopped abruptly as she collided with the man mountain now blocking her path. She looked up annoyed but softened once she saw his brown eyes filled with genuine concern.

"Really, it's nothing Gabe. Like I said, I think I'm just tired. My wolf is fast asleep and she would have picked up on anything wrong". She patted his chest to placate him.

Gabriel had the tendency to be a bit over-protective at times. Since turning 16 she started suffering with sporadic headaches. It was painful for anyone to watch her when she had an episode. He'd seen her experience these paralyzing headaches one time too many and he was confident that she was now starting to hide how often they were happening.

Adalyn's wolf would usually let her know when one was about to come on and would pace around anxiously in her mind. This time around her wolf was fast asleep. Her wolf often lay dormant in the back of her mind and as a result she very rarely shifted and it usually had to be on her wolf's terms

Adalyn reached up to touch Gabriel's face realizing that her earlier attempts to put him at ease has failed. Her touch instantly snapped him out of his thoughts. "Really, I am fine"

She side-stepped round him and continued down the path toward the gate. "Let's go. We can't have Mr Loverboy running late for his 'business meeting' now can we?". Gabriel puffed his chest and smiled inwardly. In two long strides he had already caught her up.

"Don't hate the player, hate the game Ady." He nudged her playfully in the side as they continued to walk together.

"Did you really just say that out loud Gabe? Like, for people to actually hear you? Because I heard you and now I'm embarrassed for you" she jested as they both headed out.