" Alright, Alright, who's ready for some beer," shouted Leah as she walked into my kitchen with beers for poker night. She always picked the cheapest, crappiest beer, but beer is beer.

"Here put it in the fridge,"I said.

" I'm early I know," she said apologizing as she knows I hate for people to be early, since I am never really ready on time.

"I'll let it slide this time,".

" So Charlie gave Ness a lecture last night about running off late at night. He was thankful that you dropped her off last night… really late,"said Leah.

"It was not really late. She came to bring me food at the garage and she seemed to be just fine,"I said.

"Well, she was upset last night and ran off. Boys know nothing,"said Leah.

"Wait, upset? Why," I asked.

"Oh, you don't know. I mean she didn't tell you,".

"Cut the shit and tell me what the hell is going on. Why was she upset?" I asked.

"Well, Charlie is going to start to be a consultant for the force. Meaning he can work from home,".

"Ok, and?".

"So, he is talking about living part time in the country, you know up North with all the fishing and outdoors stuff he and mom like to do,"said Leah.

"He is moving!,".

"Yea, well here's the thing. She has a choice. Go with them or stay here with us, but…"said Leah.

"But?"

"But, she would really be on her own since Seth and I are always busy with work or the pack,"said Leah.

"So she is going to have to go?" I asked, already knowing the answer. I cannot believe Charlie did not discuss this with me. How can he take her from me.

" Look, I know this is hard for you, but she has a choice she can always stay with us,"said Leah.

"You and I both know she will end up going with Charlie,"I said.

"She ran off last night because she feels that everyone has, is or will abandon her. She has this idea that everyone is like her parents,"said Leah.

"I would never leave her. I need to talk to her and to Charlie. I need to figure out what to do," I said pacing back and forth.

"Calm down. You will not talk to anyone or do anything in this state," said Leah.

"No, I must do something now! You know where the hell was I when all of this was decided,"I said.

"She's still a kid, she must do as Charlie, her grandpa says she must do. Plus, it is not like you own her," said Leah. Her words made me furious. How could she say something like that. I know Ness isn't 'mine', but why did it hurt so bad when she said this. Leah just stood there with a scolding face. She was right, I needed to calm down. Tomorrow I will go to Charlie and talk things over, hopefully.

Leah always has a way of calming me down and bringing me back to reality. She was right I needed to calm down. She talked me into staying and continuing with poker night to take my mind off things. I could not do anything in this state, I was angry, but nothing was going to change the situation, at least in the next few hours.

My mood changed, the guys could tell. Although they had no clue what it was all about it was not hard to guess it had something to do with Nessie.

"Whoa, bro. Pace yourself, the beer isn't going anywhere", said Paul referring to the many beers I have downed in the past hour.

" Fuck off, I am just having fun. Since you guys are boring me to death I need some fun,"I said, partly slurring my words.

"Wasting away because of this girl. Get a life man. When are you going to tell her? Then all of us wouldn't have to endure your stupid, pathetic thoughts about her," said Paul. He crossed the line. Disrespecting me in my own home. My blood boiled, I grew silent.

"So, who wants more chips? I certainly do," said Seth trying to break the tension. Sam gave a warning look to Paul and then to me. I was going to let it drop, but he continued.

"You know you could always just fuck someone else. Your Nessie is like what ten," he mocked.

Instead of punching him then I let him continue.

"Dude, just be a fucking man and screw her, then maybe you wouldn't make us all miserable,"said Paul.

Before Sam could shout "enough", Leah, Seth, and Embry leapt from their seats and rushed toward me, trying to hold me back, but they weren't fast enough. I lunged across the table toward that miserable low-life. The table went down with all the items on it. Cards went flying in the air, drinks were spilled all around us. I ended on top of Paul, pinning him in a chocking position.

"Oh, lil' Jakey wants to play with the big boys," said Paul. That was it. I threw the first punch with my right fist, hitting him right in the mouth. He spat out blood.

"That all you got kid, I got a couple of years on you,"said Paul.

"Are you going to be the fucking Alpha and stop them," said Quil. Sam just stayed silent and enjoyed the fight. In all honesty, Sam was enjoying every second of this. I punched Paul again, but this time on the left cheek. I wanted him to suffer, to regret his words. I may have been drunk, but I was still a pretty good fighter. The next thing I knew Leah in one swift movement removed me from Paul.

"Stop it, Jake, you will kill him," said Leah.

Paul knocked Leah to the floor in an attempt to get to me.

"I'm not done with you," said Paul. He pushed me to the floor. The alcohol was wearing me down, making me weak. Paul began to kick me.

"You want to be a big boy, huh," said Paul who is only a few years older than me.

Everything went silent. I could hear Seth's muted screams to Sam to stop it. I could hear Sam saying that we must fight this out. Seth was relentless, I lost track of the number of punches he gave me. In between one of the punches, I could see Leah standing over Paul. She pulled him off of me and slapped the shit out of him.

"Enough, I think we are done here," said Sam. Seth, Leah, Quil, Embry, Jason and Jack were trying to restore some consciousness into my limp body still on the floor. Sam, Paul, and Jared were walking toward the door.

"You cowards!," shouted Leah. Any excuse to bring Sam down she did.

Jason and Jack, some of the new guys, were freighted. They just saw their Alpha defeated by a punk ass. Some, Alpha I am.

"Please never drink again, " said Seth as he sat me down on the living room couch. Embry came with the towels, tissue, and ice. They helped me wipe the blood from my face. The rest of the evening slipped my mind as drifted off to my drunken sleep as they cleaned up the mess I made in my home.