"So, Bella, when you say you are almost twenty... When will that be happening?" Vicente asks Velia.

"July 8th," she replies dismissively before a look of consternation crosses her face. "You are not doing shit for my birthday," she warns him, pointing at his face.

He smiles, slow and easy at her, but doesn't reply. Bailey and I walk behind the two quarreling mates. It's fascinating.

"What's with the sexy Lobo all up in Velia's business?" I hear a soft whisper in my ear.

I turn to Cinda and tell her just as quietly, "Vicente is her mate."

She squeals loud enough to burst my eardrum. Everyone in a fifty-foot radius stops whatever they are doing to turn and look at us. Velia's face pales a little. It would not be good if Beta Teague, her dad, figures out she's met her mate. Vicente might not make it out alive.

Cinda tries to recover from her faux-pas with the worst possible comment, "Braxton is coming home sooner than he thought! Teddy told me!"

Whispers break out. I hear a buzzing in my ears and I'm not too sure if it's from my burst eardrum, the gossip of the wolves around us, or the thrill of joy at Cinda's news.

"He is?" I ask softly. Fumbling, I pull my phone out of my backpack. It was on silent, of course. School rules. Phones can't even be on vibrate because of the sensitivity of a wolf's ears. It's been such a busy day and I was so absorbed with being with Bailey and introducing her to everyone that I forgot to check my messages between classes.

There it is. Braxton - Doll I'm coming home in a week! Saturday babe. Followed by a kissing emoji, a winking emoji, three hearts, then lips, a donut, and fireworks.

I snort out loud. Only Braxton could go from cutesy to weird in the same text. "Dork." I quickly text him back - so no more boo-boos?

The whispers grow and I feel my face flush hot. Great. Now everyone is going to think I'm mocking Braxton. I am, but not in a way he wouldn't totally agree with. A sweaty, slightly stinky arm is draped over my shoulder. Freda shoves her face in my space and reads his text. Giggling as I shrug her off (her arm is heavy!) she giggles and says, "I would totally take him up on that offer."

"Offer?" I ask. He's saying it would be sweet to kiss me... on my donut. Oh, my goddess.

Freda starts to laugh hysterically. "Your face!" she shrieks, pointing at me.

Bailey snatches my phone from my limp fingers and reads the text. With a knowing smile, she puts it back into my bag for me.

"What?" Cinda asks, looking back and forth.

"Nothing," Bailey says breezily. Between my three friends, she seems to be the only one aware of the crowd of wolves watching us. Grabbing my hand, she tugs me down the hall to the doors with Cinda and Freda on our heels. Velia and Vicente are nowhere to be seen. "Let's go, ladies. Ili has a meeting."

My stomach drops. I had forgotten all about my appointment with the nutritionist. Today was just so much fun, but if Freda is here, then that means...

"Daisygirl, Bailey," Sean is leaning against the side of the classroom building, hands tucked securely into the pockets of his jeans. Unlike Freda, he must have grabbed a quick shower. His hair is still damp and he... I gulp. He doesn't have his shirt on yet. Little droplets of water cling to his chest and let me tell you he is cut like a diamond.

"Daisy?" Bailey asks him.

"Ili's favorite flower," he explains. "She used to weave them into crowns when she was a pup."

"I was good at it, too," I boast. Inside my she-wolf is eyeing our never-mate suspiciously. What is he up to? As he and Bailey talk freely and easily to each other about me and my little fairy-crown habit, I wonder about Sean. Does he genuinely care about Bailey? I truly hope so, but my trust in Sean's feelings is nonexistent.

I spot Alphason Conner a moment later. My she-wolf straightens up, trying to look serious and put-together even though she was lying in the dirt just a moment earlier. Her lip curls in a silent threat when we get closer to see who he is standing with. Georgina is smiling up at him, twirling her hair, talking a mile a minute. The alphason, I'm glad to see, looks standoffish and bored, if not slightly uncomfortable. His green eyes are glued to his mate.

"There's Alphason Conner," I announce to Bailey.

I'm unsure about what happens next. All I know is that Bailey is barreling forward like a tiny dynamo. Alphason Conner steps away from Georgina and smiles. Even I catch my breath. I don't think I've ever seen the alphason smile like that. Not ever.

Their mouths fuse together. Bailey burrows into her mate's arms as if she's been gone a few months instead of a few hours. Bewildered, I glance around at the crowd of wolves. The LoboGris ignore the couple, but the ClearHowl wolves seem fascinated. The few RedMoon wolves, I notice, are not pleased with the display of PDA from BailNer. Ew, no, Ili. Not BailNer. Rhymes with nail-'er. That won't work. It's accurate, I admit as I watch them devour each other, but still gross.

Alphason C very reluctantly lets Bailey back down before he bends to pick up her backpack with one hand and sling it over his shoulder. Grabbing her hand, they start to walk away, but not before Bailey tosses me a goodbye wave over her shoulder.

"Wow," I remark, a little wistfully.

Laughing, Sean guides me forward with his hand on my back. "Nutritionist for you, Daisy." He steers me free of the sidewalk towards the parking lot where Alphason Conner is helping Bailey climb into his pickup.

"Bye Ili!" Freda calls out from behind me.

I turn back to wave to my friends, feeling a little bit like Bailey must have when Sean doesn't slow down. Georgina is standing in the same spot with two of her friends and a couple of RedMoon wolves, balefully glaring after Alphason Conner and Bailey before her head turns and her expression smoothes out when she spots Sean. My she-wolf wags her tail as the realization strikes; Bailey was staking a claim in front of Georgina.

Why?

Sean opens the passenger door to his truck for me. When I stop into it he thankfully doesn't help me, keeping his hands to himself.

When he is halfway to the clinic I ask him, "Why doesn't Bailey like Georgina? I mean, maybe because she's a genius and picked up on how utterly fabulous your girlfriend is, but it must be something else, too."

Sean's fingers whiten on the steering wheel. I expect him to hedge some sort of bullshit response or question my sanity, but instead, he softly replies, "she's not my girlfriend, Ili. I haven't been with Georgina since she cheated on me with Conner almost a year ago."

I choke on my spit. That's a lot to unpack. A lot. First, Georgina dated my mate. They both suck beyond belief. Second, she and Sean haven't been dating for nearly a year? Third, Alphason Conner fucked her? Vomit.

"I agree," Sean says calmly. When I look at him in confusion he explains, "you just said all that out loud, Daisy."

Startled, I exhale quietly. I used to talk out loud without realizing it all the time. Mom told me that it started on the long car rides to skating competitions. I would hum or talk to myself in the backseat and I guess it became a habit. Then the rejection happened and I stopped. I stopped doing everything.

"Except that Con didn't fuck her. She blew him on his birthday after Lydia rejected him."

"That's so foul, Beta." I gag a little. The image is dancing in my head. My she-wolf cowers, hiding her eyes. Our sweet, pure, virgin brain is being assaulted.

A small smile quirks on his lips. "Bailey doesn't have to be jealous though. Conner was drunk or it wouldn't have ever happened. He doesn't look at other females. He never did," Sean says with admiration and a slight hint of wistfulness that I ignore. "Now it's all about Bailey."

"Bonner, is awesome," I say.

Sean laughs, shaking his head. "Bonner? That's awful. How about... Baier?"

"Bear? No."

"Bayer," he emphasizes. "Ok, yeah, that's no good. Conailey?"

"Already tried it," I say smugly. "No."

"Con...a... Conney?"

I snort.

"OK, OK." He pauses. "You'll listen to the nutritionist, right?"

I roll my eyes. "Whatever, Beta. It doesn't work, alright?"

"What about it doesn't work, Daisy?"

"It's just too much food," I admit. "Even when I was training for six hours a day I didn't eat that much."

"I really find that difficult to believe, baby."

"Don't," I snap. I turn my head, glaring out of the window. Yes, I'm pouting, but a girls gotta do... right?

"Bacon," Sean says triumphantly as he pulls into the clinic's parking lot.

"What?"

"Bacon. Bailey-Conner. Delicious Bacon."

Damnit. Bacon is mouth-watering, even for me. "That's perfect," I tell him sullenly.

He flashes me a grin as he throws the truck into park. "Just like you," he coos. At my glare, he winks. "We'll get you perfect and healthy." He waves at the clinic mockingly, "after you, milady."

That's not what you said before, I want to snark. I wasn't anywhere close to perfect, right? I'm really, really careful to bite my lips, turning them into my mouth to make sure the words don't slip out.

Sean smirks and grabs my hand. "Let's go, Ili."

With a sigh, I tug my hand free and follow him into the clinic.

---

"Alpha," I greet Alpha Alexander politely, waiting for him to nod with a tight smile at the chair in front of his desk.

"Sean," he says after I take a seat, "you put in a request for Iliana to be in the Beta apartments?"

I think about the nutritionist's words. Ili has been given specialized diet instruction three times in the last year alone. She's ignored it all. Marge, the nutritionist, even attempted to call Jackie, Iliana's mom, directly. Nothing seemed to have an effect. Marge seems to think that Jackie was too soft on Ili, or that Ili just out-stubborned her. That I can believe. Fuck, Ili is the living, breathing definition of stubborn.

"She's faltering at home," I explain quietly. "Ili isn't eating properly and Marge thinks she needs a program where she's watched twenty-four seven. Mom has expertise in this area. I already asked her and she's all for it."

"Meghan always liked Ili," Alpha Alex muses thoughtfully. His dark eyes watch me closely. "Did you run this by your dad, too?"

I nod. "He's for it, Alpha."

Alpha Alex leans back in his chair, nodding. "I'll sign off on it, but Ili or her parents can ask for it to be revoked, understand? I'd be shocked if Gerard agrees to this."

Ili's father may be a problem, but I'm confident I can handle it. Ili needs this and mom would be perfect for the job. My wolf stretches, eyes fluttering. Both of his females in one space is right up the nut-job's alley.

"Alright Sean," Alpha signs the paperwork in front of him. "Anything else?"

I clear my throat. This next request isn't as easy. "Georgina told me she asked to be in the apartment next to mine?"

One eyebrow quirks up. "Yes?"

"Can you block her request?" I ask bluntly.

Alpha Alex frowns. "You had a falling out, correct?"

"Yes, Alpha." My jaw ticks. It's not the 'falling out,' I want to shout. It's Ili. Her sister can't live next to me. I know I've dug my own grave, but I can't ask Ili to lie down in it with me anymore.

"I can't stop it," he responds shortly. "It's a vacant apartment and Georgina's standing in training allows her to claim it."

"We have to integrate the RedMoon wolves, right?" I point out. "Can one of them take that apartment?"

A small smile of appreciation lights up his eyes. Alpha always likes clever wolves. He's probably still celebrating bringing Bailey into the pack, like a wolfish Scrooge McDuck, rubbing his palms together gleefully before diving into a pile of money.

Shit. Ili is rubbing off on me.

"I do have to integrate the younger wolves into the pack and the best way to do it is to fill those apartments," Alpha admits.

It's not a promise, however. I blow out a breath. "Then I would also like to request the apartment across from my parents. One of the RedMoon wolves can take my old space."

"The Beta apartments?" Alpha Alex asks, sounding astonished.

"Beta Teague hasn't used those in years. His family doesn't fit, right?" Thank the goddess I know this. Mostly because Conner complains that his parents don't bother to sneak away to the apartment like you would expect from them. Apparently, his dad gets bothered by the pack so often that it's pointless as an escape from their pups.

"I'll ask him," Alpha Alex responds.

I smile in thankful relief. "Thank you, Alpha. I'll just be going-"

"-there is one last thing, Sean, now that I have you here. What is happening with our latest rescued females?"

"We've contacted Rory's alpha," I explain. "He's asked that she be returned, but Rory seems terrified of the idea. Trey has been in touch with them and seems to think that there's an explanation. I've reached out to her older brother, Kade, but I haven't heard any response. The other female won't even share her name. Rory seems to support this. Medical states that both females were malnourished and slightly dehydrated, but show no signs of sexual abuse." I recite the facts a little coldly. We were all worried that the two girls had been victims of more than kidnapping.

Alpha Alex frowns. "She won't share her name?" he sits back in his chair, thinking. "We have DNA, I presume?"

"Yes, Alpha."

"Make sure it's run against the known database."

"It will take about a week," I tell him. Her profile was already sent in.

"Put a rush on it."

"Already done."

"Good, Sean." Alpha Alex rises from his chair as I echo his movement. Picking up the paperwork for Ili's transfer to my parent's apartment, he hands it to me. "Good luck with this," he tells me.

"Thank you, Alpha."

I text Ili as I leave - I'm coming to pick you up for dinner tonight. I have news.

I pocket my cell. with a satisfied grin on my face. I have a few hours to kill before I need to get home to shower and collect Ili. I know exactly where I am going. The past month of training with Conner has pretty much consisted of me working myself to the bone. Physical exhaustion makes my heart ache less for Ili.

Conner quirks an eyebrow at me in question when I walk into the weight room. I see a couple of other wolves, who leave when I walk in. The only one who stays is the coward, Owen.

"Finished with Uncle Alex?" Conner asks casually.

I avoid his gaze. "Yeah," I grunt. The satisfied grin on my face is probably suspicious as hell. I'm hoping he doesn't notice my weird behavior. He's been wrapped up in Bailey and their mating, but no such luck.

"Owen was telling me that you want to change the swimming classes?" Conner asks. "Is it because of what happened with Ili and Brax?"

"It's actually a good idea for wolves to learn to swim," I tell him, keeping my voice bland. I pick up the weight bar and start pressing it overhead.

"It is a good idea," the coward, Owen interjects. "Ili isn't a good example, though. She's terrified of the water. I guess she almost drowned once."

My bar clatters to the mat with a thunk. "Shit," I mutter, still refusing to look at my best friend. I pick up the bar, pretending that I meant to drop it. She almost drowned? I feel a trickle of nervous sweat run down between my shoulder blades as I heft it overhead.

"Yeah, she was pushed into the pool when she was like, five," Owen says it with a heavy dose of disgust. "Enya told me it happened at her birthday party. Her own sister shoved her in. Isn't Georgina your girlfriend?" Owen asks pointedly.

My weights hit the mat with a thud again.

Do I detect some interest in Ili? A new thought hits me; does he like my mate? My eyes snap up to his. He isn't looking at me, but at the mirror, as he does bicep curls.

I looked into Owen after the incident in the pool. He came to our pack when he was fifteen, just after his first shift. He wasn't there to know about Ili when we were little. When he came here the first thing he did was look for his mate. He found his mate and stayed in ClearHowl, but did he look at Ili and feel the same regret that I felt when Georgina and I weren't mates years ago?

"Georgina's not my girlfriend," I growl out, belatedly.

"'Friend you fuck', whatever," Owen scoffs. Brave of the little coward.

"I don't remember that happening to Ili," Conner is frowning, ignoring our spat about Georgina to focus on Ili almost drowning. His alpha protectiveness is kicking into high gear now that he has started his Claim on Bailey.

"She was sick for a while, Enya said," Owen offers.

"How the fuck do you know this?" I snap at him. How do I not remember this?

Owen meets my gaze calmly. "I like Ili. She's a good female. It's a shame she's MateLess."

I see red. She's not fucking MateLess! Pure fury rushes through me. I knew this fucker liked my mate. Mine! With an inhumane growl, I grab Owen by the shoulders, slamming him into the wall of mirrors. It shatters on impact.

Conner grabs me, throwing me off of Owen. "Calm the fuck down, Sean," he commands.

I seethe, staring daggers at Owen. She's not MateLess! Conner must see the craziness in me because he grabs me and shoves me towards the emergency exit. I go without a struggle, the trainers frown on shifting in the weight room and I already broke enough shit today.

Four paws hit the forest with a howl, one thought pulsating through my brain. She's not MateLess.

I feel teeth sinking into my haunches, claws digging for purchase through my coat. Conner's wolf leaps in front of me, snarling menacingly. I shift back, a scream in my throat.

"She's not fucking MateLess!"

Conner shifts back to feet and stares at me with knowing, harsh eyes. "How do you know that, Sean?" Conner asks lowly.

"Because she's mine," I gasp out, breathless from rage. The first punch hits my chin, snapping my head back. Almost immediately after, another punch gets me in a kidney shot. The breath whooshes out of me when another hits my stomach. I let it happen, even holding my arms out to the sides, letting the punishment rain down in a flurry of kicks and hits that I know I'll feel for a long time.

Conner is quiet, until I am on my back, gasping air through a punctured lung and broken nose. My vision is hazy, but I am still with it enough to know that the beating has stopped.

"How could you fuck up so badly, Sean?" Conner says quietly. His eyes shine with agony that makes my beating seem like child's play. He, better than most wolves, understands what I put Iliana through.

I turn dizzyingly, spitting out the blood pooling in my mouth so that I can answer. "Help me, Con. My Daisy," I rasp out in a slurred mumble. I don't even know how much he understands through my swollen jaw and broken teeth. I try to elaborate. I'm terrified she won't forgive me, but I can't speak anymore. Black spots are dancing in front of my eyes. I just hope he takes pity on me and brings me to the infirmary instead of leaving me here in the woods. Not that I deserve his pity, but I need to have dinner with Ili tonight.