Azalea woke the next morning wrapped in warm arms. She didn't want to move, enjoying the feeling of being surrounded by Liam. Whenever they slept together, she slept soundly; his scent and warmth enveloped her, relaxing her body.

After a few minutes, nature called. Carefully freeing herself from Liam's grip, she rolled out of bed and quietly slipped to the bathroom. After attending to her needs, she went to the sink. Her face was no longer puffy or red. She quickly brushed her teeth.

Exiting the bathroom, she saw Liam still softly snoring. She didn't want to wake him and, feeling more secure after the previous night, decided to make breakfast. Heading downstairs to the kitchen, she realized she hadn't explored the house. She could ask Liam for a tour later.

In the kitchen, she checked the pantry and refrigerator, gathering ingredients for apple cinnamon pancakes, bacon, and sausage. Knowing wolves ate more than humans, and remembering their cereal-only dinner, she figured Liam would be starving.

She cooked, distracting herself from worries about the previous night and their predicament. After about thirty minutes, she had a stack of apple cinnamon pancakes with whipped cinnamon butter, sausages, bacon, and coffee ready. She was searching for plates when she heard Liam coming downstairs.

"Mmhm. Thanks. Talk later," he mumbled into his phone as he entered the kitchen. She smiled as he hung up. "Good morning, beautiful," he said, inhaling deeply. "Did you already make breakfast? That smells fantastic!"

She giggled. "Yeah, just looking for some plates," she replied. He walked over, opening a cabinet above her head.

"Up here," he said, pulling down plates and smiling.

"Probably wouldn't have found those," she said jokingly. "Guess it's good to have a tall wolf around."

He laughed. "It's my pleasure to reach the high shelves," he said with a slight bow. She rolled her eyes, grabbing the plates.

"Sit, I'll make the plates," she said.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, sitting at the breakfast bar. She gave him a large portion of pancakes, sausage, and bacon, and a smaller portion for herself. After bringing their plates and coffee, she sat beside him; he looked anxiously at his food.

She smiled. "You can eat. You don't have to wait for me," she said. He leaned over and kissed her quickly.

"Thank you for breakfast, baby," he said before digging in. He ate hungrily for a few minutes before pausing. "Wow, these are amazing, Azalea. What are these?"

"Apple pancakes with cinnamon butter. Nothing special," she said, shrugging.

"I'm definitely going to have to keep you around if you cook like this all the time," he said with a wink. She giggled. At least he liked her cooking.

"So, who was that on the phone?" she asked, eating.

He paused, chewing his food. "My uncle," he finally said.

"Oh," she replied, unsure if that was good or bad. Surely, if his uncle had found out anything, Liam would tell her? He remained quiet, so she continued, "Did he find anything?"

"Sort of, but he wanted to talk to another doctor before telling me anything," he replied.

"Okay," she said, a little sad. She'd hoped his uncle could help her wolf return.

"Don't worry, Azalea," he said, turning to her. "We'll get answers, baby."

"Hopefully," she said, trying to sound optimistic. They had no idea what those answers would be. If she couldn't regain her wolf form, Liam couldn't have her as his mate. Human mates were targets for wolves, especially Alphas. Even if there was a solution, they didn't know if it would work.

"Hey," he said, taking her hand. "Azalea, I want you to know I don't care whether you have a wolf or not. It doesn't change who you are or how I feel about you."

She gave him a tight smile, trying to hide her fear. The closer they got, the more she feared she'd made the wrong choice. She changed the subject.

"So, what do we do today?" she asked.

"Well, I have some work this morning. Maybe you could unpack while I do that? After lunch, we could go to the lake."

"Okay," she said cheerfully. A quiet morning sounded nice. She hopped up to clean up. Liam helped gather dishes.

"Would you like some help, baby?" he asked.

"No, I got it," she said with a smile. He kissed her head.

"Okay. I'll be in the office if you need me. Should only take an hour or two," he said.

"Okay," she said. "But, Liam, uh, where is that?" She'd only been in the kitchen and bedroom.

His face paled. "Oh, I never showed you around," he said, looking troubled.

She giggled. "It's okay. We were a little distracted…" she said.

"Yeah. How about this," he said, taking the dish from her. "This can wait, and I'll show my girl around our lake house like a proper gentleman?"

Before she could respond, he scooped her up bridal style and kissed her. He grinned as he carried her out of the kitchen.

"Liam, I can walk," she said.

"I know," he said with a smirk.

Liam showed her around the house, eventually letting her walk. It was gorgeous: four upstairs bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, a living room, lounge, kitchen with a dinette, and a small office. A glass sliding door opened to a covered deck with a view of the yard, sloping down to a small dock and lake. There was a charming wrap-around porch with swinging benches.

After the tour, he went to his office while Azalea returned to the master bedroom. Still in pajamas, she changed into leggings and a green and blue flannel shirt. She braided her long hair and put on her MP3 player to listen to music while unpacking. Soon, her clothes were folded or hung. Liam's things were already put away.

She placed her book on the bedside table, made the bed, and folded spare blankets. Then, taking their cereal bowls, she finished cleaning the kitchen.

An hour later, the kitchen was clean, and she was making sandwiches for lunch, hoping to persuade Liam for a dockside picnic. She put the sandwiches in the fridge and cleaned up the remaining ingredients. Liam had been working for about an hour and a half; she wondered how much longer.

She decided to explore the house. Looking at the wall pictures, she saw photos of Liam's proud parents and a group of pictures from their senior year of high school. The central photo showed Liam and Damien in graduation attire, holding diplomas. Although both looked happy, Liam's eyes seemed clouded; he wasn't as cheerful as Damien.

Liam approached Azalea from behind as she stood in the hall, looking at the pictures, especially one of him and Damien at graduation. She jumped.

"You scared me!" she exclaimed, clutching her chest.

"Sorry," he said. He hadn't meant to; he'd forgotten she didn't have his heightened senses. "You know I'm really sorry," he continued, his eyes fixed on the picture. He couldn't look her in the eye.

"For what?" she asked, tilting her head.

"For sending you away and rejecting you before you graduated. You worked so hard; you deserved to finish."

She turned back to the pictures. "I did. Just not right away. I found a correspondence school with the old man's help."

"I'm glad," he said. He didn't want to dwell on her past, but felt bad about leaving things three years ago.

She turned, a small smile on her face. There was no sadness or remorse. "I don't blame you, you know. I probably should thank you. I would have never met Amy, her husband, or Abi. I wouldn't have a job or home I love. If you hadn't rejected me, I probably wouldn't have survived. Your father would have kicked me out to become a rogue if he found out we were mates. You probably saved my life, Liam. I don't care about graduation or prom; I'm just happy to be here with you." She returned to the pictures.

He was dumbfounded. How could she not be upset? He couldn't even imagine the possible outcomes if he hadn't sent her away. He stared at her. She had every reason to hate him, yet she was kind, gentle, thoughtful, and generous. She held no malice. She would be an extraordinary Luna.

"So, you ready for lunch?" Her voice broke his thoughts.

"I can eat," he replied.

"I was thinking a picnic on the dock might be nice. I made sandwiches, and they're in the fridge," she said.

"That sounds perfect, baby," he said, pulling her close. "We can do whatever you wish. Also, you look beautiful."

Her smile made his heart race. She wrapped her arms around him, laying her head against his chest. He held her tighter. "This is enough for me. Just spending time with you," she whispered.

"Me too," he said, kissing her head. After a minute, she pulled away, still smiling.

"We need a picnic basket," she said.

"Yes, ma'am!" he said. They went to the kitchen. He searched for the basket while she got the sandwiches. He brought the basket to the island counter.

"It's a little breezy. Do you have a sweater?" he asked.

"Yeah, upstairs," she said.

"I'll get it," he said. He left the kitchen and went upstairs. He found several sweaters folded on her dresser. He grabbed one and went back downstairs when his phone rang. It was a text from his uncle:

UNCLE DOC | Got a second to talk?

He needed to talk to Azalea, but knew this was important. He called him back.

"What's going on?" he asked urgently.

"I may have some news for you and your mate."

"Great. Did you find out how to get her wolf back?"

"Maybe. But I'm afraid you won't like it."

"What do you mean?"

"Are you alone? She might not want to hear this."

"Yeah, she's downstairs. Uncle, what is it?"

"Well, I wanted to be sure. Like I told you, this is rare. Wolves don't generally recede. But from what I gather, it happened as self-preservation. Azalea could have died if she'd shifted when young. Her wolf knew her body was fragile and couldn't survive the shift or shift back. My guess is, her wolf fought the shift to save Azalea. But it could only fight so long. Her wolf receded as it could no longer fight, having never been fully released with a shift." He paused.

"Okay, so this doesn't tell me how to get it back."

"This is the part you won't like. Now that Azalea is healthy, her body may support the shift, but she was stunted in growth. She was small and fragile for so long that her wolf could never reemerge. The longer the wolf stays recessed, the less likely it is to come back. Azalea stayed stunted for years. She probably didn't gain weight until after you left her, and even then, she didn't grow much taller. According to my research, the only werewolf to regain their connection after a similar period did so after witnessing their mate die brutally. It's theorized the physical and emotional pain triggered the wolf to help their person survive. But they never shifted back. They remained a wolf; their human side receded permanently."

He sat down. He couldn't comprehend it. "So, she'll never…"

"No. I would guess she will never shift, and her wolf will not reemerge."

"But she feels the bond. I know she does. Maybe not as strongly as I do, but she feels something," he said, desperate for a different answer.

"Not all things about our kind are explained, Liam. My guess is she feels the bond stronger than a human, but not as strong as you, as she's a full-bred werewolf, but missing her wolf half." He had no response. His feelings wouldn't change, but he was sure he could fix this. This would also make her a target, and the pack less likely to accept her. They'd never had a human Luna.

"Liam, go to her. Let her fall in love with you. If you wish, I can explain this to her later. We can keep her in the dark; no harm in that. You're a great leader and a good man. The pack is learning this. They will accept your mate, whoever she may be."

"After everything she's gone through, I just wanted to fix this for her…" he said, defeated.

"The Moon Goddess has other plans. You have your mate. Even if she can't shift, once she's mated and marked, you'll still feel the increased strength and power from the Alpha-Luna bond."

"Yeah, I just don't know how she'll take this."

"Just have faith. I think she'll surprise you." He hung up. Liam sat, thinking how to tell Azalea. It would be unfair to keep her in the dark too long, but what if she rejected him because she was afraid to be Luna?

He heard a soft knock. Azalea stood there, worried.

"Liam, is something wrong?" she asked.

Shaking his head and smiling, he said, "No, baby. All good. Ready to go?" She smiled weakly and nodded. He followed her downstairs, grabbing the basket.

"Lead the way, beautiful," he said, trying to push the news aside. He needed this time with her. He needed her to accept him so they could mate, and he could mark her. He could protect her better with that bond.