"Just call him, you can't just show up unannounced," Evander encouraged me. I'm contemplating on it. We were already two minutes away from the Royal pack. What's the sense in calling him then? But Evander was right. They could be really busy, or not home or something. And also, the guards need to know beforehand.

Crap, we really should've called before getting on the road. "Fine," I huffed and Evander smirked, knowing he was right. It took about four rings before William finally picked up the phone. "Hey, William," I faked the bravery and just ripped the bandaid off.

"Fuck," he gasped and I heard a smacking sound oddly. My eyebrows furrowed as I thought the worst but William quickly covered it up. "Hey, Rieka. What's the occasion?" He asked breathlessly. Evander ran his hand up and down my inner thigh and I glare at him to stop. We took a small break at the back of his car thirty minutes ago and at this rate, we'd never reach.

"Um...nothing really. Ev and I thought it would've been a great idea to drop by for a bit," I shrugged and nervously waited for his reaction. "What? Where are you?" He blurts out and I wince. "A couple of minutes away," I nervously said. "Fuck- Everest, stop that- uh okay sure, I'll see you then," He groaned before cutting the phone off. I look at it weirdly in my hand.

He just? What?

"Ten bucks they were having sex," Evander announced as I shoved the phone into my pocket. I glared at him, his suggestion could be accurate though. "Oh shut up, they weren't," I denied even though I had the same suspicion. Less than a minute later we were stopped in front of the black gates. The guards surrounded the cars and all it took was one look at one of them.

"Rieka," the guard blurted out upon seeing my face and he immediately opens the gates. "Thank you!" I shout as Evander drives off. "Are we gonna get mobbed and stuff?" Evander smirked, clearly trying to piss me off. "Fuck you," I snapped and he quickly leans over the console to kiss my cheek without crashing the truck. "That's your job, baby," Evander proudly says. I glare at him and thankfully, we were in front of the castle.

We got out of the truck and locked it before opening the golden doors. "Am I gonna get punched again?" Evander asked as we walked through the familiar castle that I once called home. "Depends on what mood Jay is in," I mumbled truthfully. Jayden still isn't fully on team Evander and I don't think he'll ever be. "Great," he huffed with a sigh and held my hand anyway. Firstly, we walked into the kitchen only to freeze in our places.

Renee looked like a mess. She had bruises on her hand and neck, ones that made me wonder if she was being abused. On her neck were hickeys that went all the way down to her chest. She shorts she wore was falling apart and the tank top barely covered anything. Due to past experiences, I could tell the clothes were ripped.

"Renee," I stated, announcing my entry, and she snapped to me, the juice in her hand drops to the floor but thankfully it was a plastic carton and none of it was spilled. A state of shock captivated her and Renee just stared at us. "Shit, shit, shit. What the hell are you doing here? Oh, my goddess, I didn't think anyone would be here right now," she blurted out in a panic.

We barely had time to comprehend or get another word out before the door opens. "Babe? Who are you talking about?" Jayden walks into the kitchen shirtless. His hair was a mess and his chest had red marks as well as a few scrape marks from fingernails running down his abs. It wasn't difficult to put two and two together. "What the fuck," I blurted out.

Jayden finally looks at us as if he saw a ghost. This is what we get for coming unannounced. "We can explain!" Jayden defended. "When did this happen!?" I ignored. Those two were always close because they were best friends but...I didn't think they'd be something more. That's a lot to take in. "Are you fling fucking or serious fucking?" I added on.

"I think when Jayden came back from GoldenCove and we were a fling but we're serious now," Renee finally spoke up and hid her body behind Jayden. "You cannot just show up unannounced like this! Why didn't you call or something!" Jayden scolded right after, not letting her words since in properly but I'm happy for them.

Their mates though.

"I'm no one special. I have lived here since forever, excuse you. And I called William before," I defended. "And what about the whole mate thing? You're a hypocrite for saying Evander shouldn't have fooled around with Iris cause you're here doing the same thing!" I continued on, slightly regretting the tone of my voice.

"The moon goddess is okay with it. She told us that our mates aren't a problem. Well, she told William," Renee rambled off. Oh...oh. Vison used to talk a lot about his visions with the moon goddess. I guess it's happening to William as well. "Alright, Rie. They aren't doing anything wrong," Evander says for the first time.

I never said it was wrong.

Maybe my actions implied so.

"Are they here yet?" Everest shouts from the stairs. We walk out to see her at the top. Her face lights up when she spots Evander and me. She looks way better than last time. I'm happy for her. "You cut your hair!" Everest noticed with a wide smile on her face.

"Actually, I did," Evander piped in. It's true, he actually cut my hair instead of going to the hair salon. I had to admit, it doesn't look bad. Now it was straight ending below my shoulders instead of at the middle of my back. Weirdly, my hair was wavy before and now it's straight as needles.

"Alpha Evander, it's so good to see you," Everest's eyes widened in shock. "Evander, please," Evander kindly requested and she smiles shyly. William walked out of the bedroom behind them. "Come on," William held her hand and pulled her closer to him. They're so cozy. It's so weird to see. William was a ticking bomb, so I remembered.

They walked down the stairs and we walk to the dining room. Not the one we'd eat at every morning. The smaller table. "We're gonna um...change," Jayden announced before he and Renee runs up the staircase. So much has changed over the past couple of months.

"Anyway, Everest. How are you?" I wondered as we sat around the table. Her face was flushed, she looked tired and for some reason embarrassed? "Stop," William warned her with a playful smile on their face. "I'm trying," she mumbled and placed her hands under the table. William's hand moved to the side under the table so I could tell he was holding her hand. Or something. "Oh and I'm fine. Really good actually, how are you?" Everest blurts out the reply to my forgotten question.

"I'm good. You seem very good, I'm happy you're enjoying your time at the Royal pack and I'm happy William is behaving himself," I exclaimed with accuracy. "Yeah...he's been very very good lately," she smiled with a natural blush tinting her cheeks. William rolls his eyes in annoyance. "Lately? I'm good every second of the day," William scoffed. Everest grinned and quickly pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"She's a completely different person. This isn't the Everest I knew," Evander's mind links me. That isn't only true on Everest, Willam is a completely different person too. "Having a mate does crazy things to you," I chose to reply with and I knew for one, Evander and I can agree on that.

Overall, this makes me think that William was pretending to be someone he wasn't and now he's finally showing the real him.

Jayden and Renee returned downstairs much more appropriate than before. All the red marks were mostly gone maybe from healing or makeup. "Where's the food!" Jayden sang and flopped down on the chair. He was the first to start eating and everyone followed after.

"I still have no idea why you're here," William spoke. "Yeah, no offense sis but we didn't think you'll be back already. It's only been a couple of months," Jayden added on with a shrug of his shoulders. I rolled my eyes in annoyance. They're lucky I'm feeling nice today.

"We're going to a meeting at the BlackRiver pack and we just thought it would be a good idea to stop by here for a couple of hours," Evander shrugged before shoveling bacon into his mouth. "Now you're just using us to pass time!" Jayden groaned.

There's no way to get out of this.

"I was hearing a lot of noise from the bedroom this morning, Will. What was all that?" Jayden changed the subject. Everest kept her eyes on the food, not daring to look anywhere else. William's eyes widened and his calm features disappeared quickly. "Shut up you ass, you're making her uncomfortable," William snapped angrily.

"You owe me ten dollars."