"Prue? Can I speak with you . . . privately?" I ask Prue, glancing toward Kai in uncertainty to see his bottom lip jut out in a cute pout. I just need to speak with Prue one on one. I hate seeing Kai as anything other than happy, but this is for his sake.

"Yeah, okay." Prue replies.   

"Alright. Kai, to get back to the pack doctor, just walk around that corner and keep going straight for about five minutes. Then you'll see the door to the pack doctor's office on your left." I point in the direction I'm talking about, careful to avoid moving my probably very broken hand.    

Kai doesn't say anything, he just starts walking in the direction I pointed toward with his head lowered. It breaks my heart to see that he's upset with me, but I need to know everything that Prue knows.    

Once Kai's footsteps can't be heard any longer, I look toward Prue.    

"I want to adopt Kai." Prue suddenly says, taking me by surprise.   

"What? How would that work? Is that even possible?" I can't stop myself from bombarding her with questions at this statement. It only took her a second to say those five words, yet my mind can't help but already begin running through all the benefits of this scenario. If Prue adopted Kai, he would be with someone who loves him and wants to protect him, not the opposite of that.   

"Leave all of that to me, Trenton. Just, for now, keep this between us in case it doesn't work out. I don't want to get his hopes up, but I know I'm not giving up until he's at least safe. In the meantime, he can stay here and we can keep hoping that his foster parents won't care enough to notice." She responds, a look of determination taking place in her eyes.    

"I understand. Now, what I wanted to talk to you about is if you know anything else about Kai's home life? I know it's intrusive of me to ask you and not him, but he hasn't opened up to me, yet. It takes time, I know that, but I think it's important I know these things so I can be sure to avoid triggering topics around him. From what I've seen of how he reacts, it seems like he suffers from some form of anxiety. I can't be certain, but I want to do my best to make sure he's at least comfortable here." I inform her, watching as Prue's expression forms into one of understanding.   

"Of course." Prue starts, looking directly into my eyes, telling me she knows how important this topic is, "Kai's parents died in a car crash when he was two years old. To be honest, aside from that, I really don't know much. He's not very open, as you've seen, and I don't want to push him. The only thing I've gotten out of Kai himself is that he apparently had a sister. I don't know her name or what happened to her. Kai just happened to let slip that he had a sister, but doesn't anymore. The only reason I even know about his parents passing is because it was in his file, but a nurse can only know so much about the kids. The only thing Kai had really been open to me about was how well living with his foster parents was going for him but, I guess that was all a lie, huh?"   

"Prue, don't blame yourself for this. Anyone can see that Kai cares about you a lot. He probably didn't want to worry you. He's good at lying, unfortunately." I attempt to comfort her, knowing that she's blaming herself for everything.    

I know that because I'm blaming myself for everything.   

"Trenton, I'm probably the only parental figure in Kai's life right now. I can't even imagine what would go through his head every time I told him I'm happy that he'd found a good home when, in reality, he hadn't. I may have only known Kai for a little over a month, but I know how he is. I should've known. I'm the adult and I didn't even notice that Kai was going through this. He's supposed to put all of his burdens on me, not keep them to himself." Prue goes on, her guilt carved into her features.    

"I'm his mate, Prue. I went to his house and saw a snippet of how those people acted but, although I found it suspicious, I didn't question it enough. If this is anyone's fault, it's mine. He's my soul mate, I—more than anyone—should be able to tell when Kai is in trouble." I argue, our conversation turning into a guilt trip.    

"Ugh okay, let's just . . . agree to disagree?" Prue laughs, erupting a chuckle of my own out of me.    

"Right, well I think this is the best thing we can do for Kai at the moment." I say after the laughter dies down.   

"I agree." Prue smiles.   

"Let me know how everything goes with trying to adopt him. I don't know how you'll manage but, I'd rather not question you right now. I'm just going to trust you, Prue. If everything somehow works out, then you could move in to the Cherry Blossom Pack. That would probably be best since Kai would be near me at all times. I know, as much as he doesn't want to admit it, my presence does ease his anxiety some. It might be good for him. Anyways, just keep me updated." I ramble, feeling a bit uneasy at the prospect of this not working out. I just want Kai to be happy.   

Prue's face scrunches up into one of distaste, or is it fear?    

"What's wrong?" I ask, confused at the sudden change of atmosphere.    

Prue looks up at me and quickly eases her expression back into a neutral one, seeming as if her face didn't just let slip how she's really feeling.    

"Huh? Nothing's wrong. Why do you ask?"    

"Well, it's just tha—" I start, and am immediately cut off by Prue's change of expression once again. Only, this time, her facial features scream confusion.  

"Prue?"    

Prue raises her head up and flares her nostrils, apparently picking up some sort of scent.    

"Prue? What is it?" I attempt to get a response yet again.    

She doesn't even glance my way. Instead, Prue turns around and starts walking toward the doctor's office. I, not knowing what's going on, choose to follow.   

"Prue! Where are you going?" I continue trying to figure out what she's trying to accomplish to no avail. Eventually, I decide trying to get her attention is futile and just silently follow after her.    

After what feels like hours, but is only five minutes, we arrive back to the door of the pack doctor's office. Prue stops dead in her tracks and I'm surprised to hear footsteps rushing down the hallway. I look over to see my dad sprinting toward us in a hurry. When he finally sees us, he looks Prue right in the eyes and also suddenly stops where he stands.    

At first, I have no idea what's going on. That's only until Dad and Prue open their mouths to say one word that explains it all.   

"Mate."