I've waited so long, I hope you know I'm strong

"Yeah, I've always felt warmer than most people." It wasn't a lie, but Dakota knew that if he told Finn that he was a werewolf then. It would only scare her away and she'd never want to see him again, he wasn't going to do anything that would cause that to happen. But he was glad that she seemed to like that his skin ran on the warm side, it really gave her another reason to always want to be in his arms and have a cuddle with him especially when winter came.

He smiled when Finn showed him her tattooed arm once again, his eyes lingered on the anchor tattoo and he smiled at how beautiful it was. "It's beautiful, it suits you. Even the flower," He smiled as he reached over with his hand, his fingertips brushing over her silky soft skin. "If she was pissed with this one, I'm sure she wasn't happy with the rest. My Mom had a freak out when I show her my first tattoo, but she got used to it when I started getting more." He chuckled softly as he moved his hand away from her arm.

He didn't want to but he thought if he didn't, it would come across as weird and he didn't want to make Finn feel uncomfortable. "We should head in soon, I'm getting pretty hungry." It was very common for him to be hungry and Finn would notice that quite quickly.

---

Grace smiled as tried his hardest not to blush when Noah said that she was cute, she saw the light blush that had settled on his cheeks and it was so sweet. "I think outgoingness is a word actually, not that many people use it." She looked at him as her smile widened, "You think so? I'll be the judge of that, I won't be easy on you either. I know what a delicious cake tastes like," She looked at him as she couldn't wait to eat this red velvet cake.

"Thank you then, we both do need a job. The sooner we start earning money again, the better." She leaned to the side and gave his side a gentle nudge, no one had ever helped her get a job before. The last job she had as a waitress, she was hired at the same time as Finn.

But she was new there and she wouldn't say no to Noah wanting to help her out, it would hopefully make getting a job all that much easier and she would repay him for it.

Finn's breath caught in her throat as his fingers began grazing the tattoo, little smile on her face as she watched him trace along the entire thing. She wished his hands were in other places, like rubbing her sides or caressing her cheek, so it was only natural that she was let down when his hands dropped from her arm. Maybe they'd get to that point someday. Maybe.

"Yeah, we can go in right now if you'd like." Finn said, unbuckling her seatbelt before taking the keys out of the ignition. She reached in the back to grab her wallet from her backpack, flipping through it to pull out a couple bills, and dropping it back inside. The total shouldn't come to cost anything crazy, but just in case, Finn made sure she had more than enough money with her. It'd be quite embarrassing to come up short since she didn't know if Dakota had any cash on him.

She got out of the car and closed her door, soft sigh slipping out of her mouth as the sun warmed her skin. There were some days were she hated the heat, but today was so nice and the sun felt absolutely amazing, so she couldn't be mad. Also, there was a very attractive man who seemed to be fond of her company with her, which made her all the more happy. Finn walked up to the restaurant and held the door open for Dakota, smiling and greeting the cashier softly as she told her the name on the order.

---

Noah dropped his head, still trying to hide his blush as best as he could as Grace spoke. He didn't know what was happening to him. The last time he had caught himself blushing was when he was a teenager about to ask a girl out for the first time, then everything after that, he was pretty smooth. Now here he was, feeling like a shy teenager all over again about this girl.

"Well how about this, if it's not up to your standards, I'll make you dinner. Whatever you want and I'll cook it. Sound like a deal?" Noah asked, looking up at her when he felt his cheeks had paled out enough to not let himself be embarrassed.

He smiled at her when she thanked him, laughing softly at her gentle nudge. "It's no problem at all. If you land a job there, that means you get to see this pretty mug all the time. The diner's like the pa- community hang out." He caught himself from saying 'pack hang out' pretty quickly, sighing internally for catching his slip up before it was too late.

Dakota smiled when Finn held the door open for him, "Shouldn't it be the other way around?" He chuckled softly as he stepped into the Chinese restaurant, he stepped up to the front counter and leaned against it. "Hi Mrs. Lin," He smiled at the Chinese lady who worked at the restaurant with her husband and their three adult children, "Hello young Dakota." The elderly lady smiled before her eyes formed onto Finn, "This is Finley Harper. She just moved here with her twin sister, Grace." He explained to Mrs. Lin before she rushed off to the back where the kitchen was, to most likely tell her family about the twins.

The Lin family had lived in town before Dakota was born and he always got along with them, they cooked the best Chinese food around and he had placed so many orders that the family knew his order without him saying anything. "You'll get this a lot until people get to know you," He told her as everyone in town would want to know about the twins, not many people move to this town so when someone does than it's news to the locals.

"Oh hello Miss Harper, welcome to town." Mr. Lin walked over and shook Finn's hand, he placed the carry bags on top of the counter and Dakota could smell that Mr. Lin had given them a free meal. He usually did this with all his loyal customers, "Thank you Mr. Lin. Keep the change," He had handed a few notes over to Mr. Lin before Finn could hand over her money, he took the two carry bags into his hands as Mr and Mrs. Lin waved them off.

"I wasn't going to let you buy lunch when you just moved here, it's my treat." He smiled as he held the door open for Finn this time, he followed her outside and over to her car.

---

Grace smiled as she nodded her head, "That sounds like a fair enough deal." She looked at him although now she had the upper hand, even if his red velvet cake was delicious all she had to say was that she didn't like it. And he'd cook her dinner, meaning she'd be able to spend more time with him and get to know him better. But she wouldn't tell him her plan until after he had cooked dinner for her.

She listened to him and liked that the diner was a popular hang out place, she'd love to work at the diner now if she could see Noah often. "Maybe I should find somewhere else to work then," She teased him as butterflies went crazy in her stomach, she felt nervous around him.

She had never felt like this before, not even with her ex-boyfriends. She has only had two boyfriends but they never made her feel like this, she wasn't sure why but it wasn't a horrible feeling and she didn't want to stop these emotions.

Finn rolled her eyes at Dakota, shoving him playfully after they walked into the store. "Backwards, my ass." She mumbled, waving a little when Mrs. Lin looked her over. A slight blush rose to her cheeks when the woman scurried off to tell the rest of her family, finding that very sweet that she'd want them to know about her. That had never happened to Finn before. Finn nodded at Dakota, incredibly honored to be the center of attention, even if it were just for a little while. She and Grace were never really the new kids anywhere, having stayed in the same home up until now, going to school with the same kids since kindergarten.

"Thank you," Finn said sweetly, shaking his hand and waving to the pair as she and Dakota left the restaurant, "Aw, Dakota, you didn't have to do that."

To be fair, Finn opened his car door for him and waited until he was seated to close it and get in the car herself. She was already beginning to feel very welcome in the town, and she knew it'd only be better once she and Grace met the other people in the community.

---

Noah returned her smile, loving the fact that he'd be able to bake something for her. His wolf was very happy as well, knowing that they'd be able to provide something for her to show how fond they were of her. He'd most likely bring the cake around tomorrow before the sun went down so he could get a nice night run in with the pack after eating a slice of his own creation.

He gasped, hand thrown over his heart as to show how hurt he was. "Gracey! How could you! I am shocked...and upset." He joked, keeping his look of hurt up for a few moments before dropping the act entirely. "We don't get too rowdy - we just know how to shovel down plates of food in the blink of an eye. It's probably a metabolism thing." Or a werewolf thing. Yeah, definitely a werewolf thing.

"I did actually, I wasn't going to let you pay. Think of it as a welcoming gift," Dakota told her once she was sitting beside him in her car, the smell of delicious Chinese food will filling her car and his nostrils. His mouth would begin to water soon if they didn't hurry and get to her house, "The food smells so good." He smiled as he did love the smell of food, but no food could compare to Finn's natural scent.

Being near her was like being in a large field of different blooming flowers, he couldn't pin her scent to one or two types of flowers. It was like she rolled around in every flower there was, he loved her scent and he was becoming very familiar with it. Her scent had gotten stronger to him once she was comfortable with being near him, he could help but smile at the thought that Finn wanted to be near him.

"Think that you can drive back to your house?" He grinned cheekily as her even though he would still give her directions if she needed them, it was her first drive around the town so he wasn't expecting her to remember which streets to take.

---

Grace laughed at how Noah was pretending to be hurt by what she said, "Aw did I hurt your little feelings?" She smiled widely as she leaned over closer to Noah, she pressed her lips to his scruffy cheek. She hadn't noticed what she was doing until it was done, she didn't even know why she did kiss his cheek although she was a little embarrassed about it. She didn't feel like she shouldn't have done it.

"I can imagine, I hope you don't come in all the time. We might run out of food, or we'll be stuck in the kitchen cooking for you and you'll never get to see me." She smiled although she didn't think he and his friends would be that bad, she'd make sure that she did get to see him everything he came into the diner if she was hired.

She was so relaxed and comfortable with Noah, she'd have to talk to Finn about this once they had some time alone or when Noah and Dakota left.

Finn smiled, fighting against every thought in her head that told her that this next action was wrong. She leaned over the console and planted a chaste kiss to his cheek before starting the car up and pulling off. "Think of that as a token of my gratitude," she replied, feeling quite pleased with herself that she worked up enough courage to do what she just did. For just that slight moment, she wasn't nervous anymore. It felt like as if she had broken down some internal barriers - Finn didn't need to be nervous anymore.

She shrugged, one hand resting on the wheel as she flipped the visor down to block out the sun. "I think I can navigate my way back," she reassured, remembering the directions quite well, "But if you wanna coach me through it one more time, I wouldn't mind."

---

Noah, obviously the master of being smooth in all ways possible, bit his lower lip because of the grin he was trying to hold back. God, this girl was doing things to him that he couldn't ever imagine possible. And when she had gotten that close, her scent only made his wolf want to bury his face in her neck and keep her sweet scent as close to him as he could. Different fruits incorporated their ways into her scent, and he couldn't pick out all of them, but the strongest being strawberries and raspberries. As the day continued on, the scent only became richer, meaning she was getting comfortable around him, and he knew he'd never get tired of how sweet she smelled to him.

"Well I'll tell my boys to chill," he said after recovering from being temporarily love drunk, "We'll make sure to drink enough water to make ourselves feel fuller faster so you won't have to make too many trips to and from the kitchen." Noah offered her a wide grin. "How's that sound?"

Something strong came over Dakota when she leaned over to him and placed a kiss on his cheek, the wolf inside him gave him the urge to reach over and take Finn into his arms. He wanted to pull her over onto his lap so he could have her scent surround him even more, to have her warm full lips pressed to his own. But he shook those thoughts from his mind as he didn't want to ruin anything, "I really like that gratitude. I'll have to do more for you if that's how you show your gratitude," He grinned as he looked at Finn, the sun light was hitting her and it was only making her even more beautiful if that was possible.

"Oh no, you go right ahead darling. I'll tell you if I think you need some help," He told her as he did want to see if she did remember how to get back to her house, to him it wasn't hard but he had grown up in the town so he knew all the streets.

---

Grace was surprised her cheeks weren't becoming sore from constantly smiling, she couldn't help it as it came natural to her with Noah beside her. "That sounds like a very good plan," She looked at him as her lips still tingled slightly from having kissed his cheek, it was only his cheek and now she was thinking about what it would feel like if she kissed Noah's lips. She had never wanted to be with someone in an intimate way this quickly, she wasn't sure why she was feeling like she needed to be with Noah. She had never felt this strongly about anyone before, she thought it would have scared her but it felt right.

"If you have plans for today, you don't have to stay here." She didn't want to hold him up if there was something that he should be doing, she was sure that when the moving truck arrived then the guys would bring in their furniture and place it where the girls wanted.

Finn couldn't help the smile that was on her face after she kissed Dakota's cheek. God, this guy was making her feel so different, like butterflies in her stomach that would dissipate into comfort that arose back into butterflies. She couldn't remember a time when she was so into a guy before, yet here she was with a guy she'd only known for about an hour or so who was making her this happy. "You'd be surprised at how I show my gratitude further down the line," she said with a wink, trying to go for flirty and hoping he got the gist of it. As for driving, Finn was doing pretty good. She was more aware of her surroundings when following directions than just the normal steps itself, so as soon as she began recognizing trees she passed or little houses, she knew where she was.

---

Noah nodded and gave her a wink. "Good deal," he murmured, shaking his head a little, "Nah, I'm all free for today, actually. Got most of my work done earlier, I'm all yours." He realized how creepy and offputting that could've sounded so he backtracked just a bit. "I mean, if you want me here, I can go if you'd like." Truth be told, Noah didn't want to go, even if it meant missing out on running with the pack during the time that he and Dakota preferred. They'd most likely understand it if he explained it to them, but this was a bit more special to him at the moment, spending time with Grace.

Dakota smiled when Finn's tone turned flirty, he wasn't all that good at picking up hints but he also wasn't blind. He knew when someone was flirting with him, he never flirted back but Finn was different. He wanted to flirt with her, "Oh yeah? I'll have to keep you around so I can see how else you'll give me gratitude," He turned his head to look at Finn, he took in her beauty and admired her for a while before looking back out the front wind shield as she was doing a great job at driving towards her house. He wasn't going to stay away from her, his wolf didn't want to be away from her and Dakota usually always listened to his wolf. "I knew you could find your way home," He smiled when the house came into view, he waited until Finn had parked her car in the driveway before he climbed out and carried the bags into the house although he did stop and hold the front door open for Finn.

---

Grace smiled at Noah's comment and she didn't find it creepy at all, she liked that he was all her's. "You can stay, I might need your muscle again. If your back is better, that is." She looked at him as she knew he had just been pretending to hurt his back before, she tore her eyes away from him when she heard her sister's car parking in their driveway. "Their back," She smiled when she saw Dakota was holding the front door open for Finn, she looked at her sister knowing they'd have to have a talk later when the guys did leave. "Finally, that smells delicious." She was hungry as she hadn't really had much breakfast that morning.

Finn bit her lower lip when Dakota flirted back with her, trying to keep her cool as she drove her. She wanted to pull over and press her lips against his for hours, just exploring every inch of him until she was completely satisfied, but that was no way to act (or even think) when you only knew the guy for a couple of hours. He was just so different and handsome and interesting, Finn couldn't help herself. She did a little cheer as her house came into view, glad she was able to navigate herself home with ease. "I'm fuckin' awesome!" Finn declared as she parked the car, shutting off the engine and following Dakota inside with a grin. "At least you didn't have to drive with it, I could've torn the bag open and ate all of it so easily."

---

Noah laughed a little, lifting a hand to rub at his lower back. "Yeah, I think I might be good." He looked over at the door when it opened, mouth practically watering as the scent of the food traveled in. "I'm starving," Noah complained, rubbing at his stomach to add emphasis, "I think I ran off all my food before I came here." On top of the run he had did, Noah didn't really eat much anyways. Since he was stuck grading all of the papers, he had only managed to eat a couple of bites of a sandwich before he shifted and took off to stretch his bones. "So, uh, are we eating down here?"

"You are pretty awesome," Dakota agreed with Finn as he really did think she was, she was different to other girls that he had seen or met. He really liked that about her, she was being herself and didn't give a shit what other people thought about her. She was her own person and said what was on her mind, "Well we're here now. So stop complaining," He grinned as he shrugged his shoulders, the twins didn't have chairs or a dining table yet so they'd have to sit on the floor which he didn't mind. "Yeah," He sat down across from Noah and Grace, he opened the bags and handed out the little containers that held their food. "Enjoy," He took the lid off his container and stuck his plastic fork into the goodness.

---

Grace smiled at Noah before looking at her sister, "I know that you could but you didn't. You know how I get when I'm hungry," She could get very grumpy when she was hungry, which Finn knew all to well. She thanked Dakota as she took her container from him and took the lid off, the room was filling with the delicious smell of their food. She grabbed a plastic fork that had been thrown into the bags along with their food, she took a large mouthful and she could have moaned at how amazing it tasted. "This is so good," She spoke after swallowing her mouthful of food, she didn't want to seem unladylike but she was hungry so she was going to eat.

Finn grinned at Dakota's compliment, sitting down across from Noah and Grace as Dakota started passing the food out. "Oh yeah, I know how you get," she said, patting at Noah's knee, "I'm surprised she didn't rip your head off while we were gone." Finn joked, opening her container quickly to dig her fork into the noodles. She twisted them about before eating a nice sized mouthful, soft sigh falling from her lips at how amazing it tasted. "I'll say," Finn replied, already twisting up another forkful of noodles to put into her mouth. Once the truck came with their big furniture, they'd have a nice table and chairs all set and ready for the next time she and Grace had guests over. It's not like she minded sitting on the floor to eat, but it'd feel more complete to have at least something functional set up.

---

Noah thanked Dakota for his container, opening it with a huge grin. He could barely remember a time when he was this hungry before. Usually after runs, Noah was able to go to his or Dakota's house and eat as much food as he could to make up for lost calories. Or, if neither of them really felt like cooking, they'd call some of the pack members to go to the diner for burgers and fries - a pack favorite that always left them smiling and satisfied. "The Lee's do it the best." Noah said as he ate his first forkful of food, nodding a little. "Yeah, definitely the best."

Dakota smiled as he sat beside Finn and made himself comfortable and right at home, it was a habit of his wherever he went. Even though he could be closed off with many people, but he still became comfortable with people really easily and quickly. He may not show it until later, but he always had his guard up as he had been hurt in the past and he wasn't going to let that happen to him again. He took a large mouthful of delicious food and watched the twins, he knew they weren't going to be a threat now but he still wanted to know everything about them. It was the alpha in him, he just wanted to protect his pack and keep the town safe.

---

Grace smiled at her sister, "If you had taken any longer than I would have ripped his head off." She smiled as she was known to get snappy when she was hungry, she couldn't help it and she did try not to get like that but sometimes it did happen. She swallowed her mouthful of sweet and sour chicken with fried rice as she looked at Noah and Dakota, "So do you two have jobs around here?" She asked in hopes that they could talk and get to know each other more, she wasn't sure what Finn and Dakota had talked about when they were getting lunch. So they could have already talked about a lot, but Grace could also be nosy so she did want to know what the guys did for work and what they did in their free time.

Finn laughed at her sister around her mouthful of noodles at her sister before she swallowed them down. At Grace's question, she turned to look at Dakota, little smile on her face as she nudged him with her elbow. "Yeah, what do you do?" Other than having a full time job of looking amazing. She was genuinely curious about what the two did - the town was sort of small and she didn't have much time to explore the entire town thoroughly to see what jobs could be available.

---

Noah's eyes grew wide, though he was only joking around. He got the exact same way when he was too hungry, and if he didn't have the chance to eat, he would even go as far as hunt something out in the forest to satisfy his hunger. "I'm a professor's assistant at the university," he said with a shrug of his shoulders, "It's nothing too terribly interesting. I'm stuck grading papers the majority of the time."

Dakota grinned as he piled food into his mouth, it was always how he ate and he wasn't going to change that just because he was in the company of a beautiful girl. He glanced over at Noah as he answered the question about his job, he was tempted to say that he was a full time alpha to a pack of werewolves but that wouldn't go over well with the girls. "I own the local mechanic garage," It wasn't anything special not did it give him millions of dollars, but it was what he loved and was passion about. So he always went into work happy and excited, which is what everyone wanted but not everyone had.

---

Grace smiled as she looked at Noah, he was a professor's assistant. That wasn't what she was expecting him to say, but she really liked that he had a career instead of just a job. "It doesn't sound terrible," She smiled at him and wondered if that meant one day he could be a professor himself, that would be pretty cool in Grace's eyes. "You own a garage?" She grinned now knowing that Dakota was into cars, which meant he was the perfect match for Finn. Grace took another mouthful of her food and gave her sister a knowing look, she had tried a few times before to set Finn up on dates but none of them went well so maybe Dakota could be the one.

Finn smiled when Dakota talked about owning the local car garage. She used to love working on cars with her dad, especially when he'd let her take over and fix the problem all by herself. It saved her a lot of money in the long run because it meant she wasn't hauling her car to some guy who'd charge her an arm and a leg for something she knew how to do. "I worked on cars a lot back home," she replied casually, eating another forkful of food before continuing, "I'm no expert but I'm pretty damn good, if I do say so myself." She was starting to discover that Dakota was a lot like her and that was pretty refreshing, considering a lot of guys she'd tried dating were complete opposites or intimidated by her edgy exterior.

---

Noah shrugged. "It's not terrible but it does make me question my job of choice on most days. It doesn't give me much time to...relax." He usually felt too cooped up when he was stuck inside grading and the rest of the pack was running around on all fours and barking at each other, a pastime he enjoyed greatly. He raised an eyebrow slightly at Finn's response to Dakota's job, not quite pegging her for one to work on cars and get her hands dirty. For some reason, he thought that the twins would be the same in almost every aspect, but it turns out that they were pretty different from each other.

Dakota raised his eyebrow at Finn as he swallowed another mouthful of food, "Pretty damn good huh? You'll have to show me how good you actually are, missy. I want to see it," He grinned at her which was a huge leap for him, his garage was a special place to him and he didn't let just anyone in and he hardly never let anyone work on any car that he had unless it was his staff of a couple guys who he has grown up with. He really hadn't been expecting Finn to be this way, she was so much like him and had a lot in common with him. He hadn't met many girls that was like Finn, but he really did like her and was growing to like her even more as the time passed them.

---

Grace glanced over at her sister and saw how much she was warming up to Dakota, she never opened up that quickly to anyone. She was never one for working on cars, in fact she didn't know much even though their Dad tried to teach both his girls about cars. Grace could get her hands dirty if it was needed, but she tended not to often. "Don't question your job, if you do need any help with marking then I could help. Personally, I loved school and went really well." She smiled knowing that Finn hadn't been as keen on school, the twins really were completely different but they still gelled perfectly together.

Finn laughed slightly and shrugged at Dakota. "I mean, it's not much," she mumbled, "Mostly just simple tune ups and tire changes. I could fix broken ACs if I had enough time." She loved the idea of getting to spend time with Dakota in a place she was already so comfortable with. Working in the garage was always where she was her happiest. Back at home, a couple of guys from her high school and her got jobs there straight out of high school and every day was a blast. The day she had to quit was the hardest, but working in the diner provided her more tip money and a chance at free food.

---

Even though Noah didn't want to question his job, he often did. He didn't mind it, but he had an entire other side that longed to be free. At least with Dakota's job, he could still move around as often as he liked and his attire was a lot simpler than Noah's. "I'd actually love that," he said, smiling at Grace's offer. It wasn't like his professor actually went to double check his grading or anything. Once Noah finished grading, he mainly passed the assignments back personally. "School was alright for me. I was more focused on outdoor activities than most," he said, glancing over at Dakota with a half smirk.

Dakota glanced over at Noah as he knew exactly what he meant, he hadn't been all that great when he was going through high school. He more often than not skipped classes that he didn't want to go to or ones that he didn't find important to him, "Hey. You can't go back on your word now, that's more than most girls can do. Hell I've seen guys who don't know the first thing about how to change a tire, one of the easiest things to do with a car." He looked at Finn as he didn't want her to think that what she knew to do, wasn't amazing because it was. It was something she was clearly passion about and loved, which he had always found attractive in the opposite sex. "I still want to see what you can do," He told her honestly as he would love having her in his shop, he knew his staff would just love her and she'd probably give them all a run for their money if they tried to treat her like another one of the guys.

---

Grace smiled as she looked at Noah, "Why don't you teach something like physical education?" She suggested as it made sense to her, if he liked being outdoors then it seemed like it was the obvious answer in making Noah happy at work. She hadn't been the best at sports or even exercising, but she always tried her hardest. She liked being outdoors in the fresh air, in fact she loved going on hikes where she could just explore and relax on her own. It was a time when she could sort her mind out and it gave her plenty of time to think about whatever was bothering her at the time, once she finished eating she stood up and collected all the empty containers. She set them in the sink before looking at her sister, "Our furniture should be arriving shortly."