"Chase wants us to stop by and get Grayson and go to the House," Wes informed as he picked me up from home on Wednesday. We didn't have any school because it was Thanksgiving Break, but even if we had school, I figured there still would've been silence between me and the guys. Wes stayed quiet as he swung around to the opposite direction. We ended up at a daycare.

"There's a girl named Debby, find her and tell her that Chase told you to pick Gray up," Wes instructed when he stopped the car. I climbed out and walked in. I approached the lady with short blonde hair and a friendly smile.

"Hello," she greeted.

"Yeah. Hi. I'm here to pick up Grayson Cane..." I started.

"And you are...?"

"I'm his brother's friend," I informed, unsure.

"Are you on his list of guardians that can sign him out?" she asked.

"No...I don't think so, but you can talk to Chase over the phone if you need to," I offered with a kind expression. I didn't know why Wes instructed me to do the picking up when I was certain his name was surely on the guardians list.

"I'm sorry, but we can't have—"

"You're here to pick up Grayson Cane?" another voice asked. I turned to see a lady with short brown hair and glasses. Her name tag read Debby

"Yes..." I answered. She looked to the receptionist and then back to me.

"I talked to his brother. Come with me," she said. I followed her as she walked through the entrance doors to the actual day care place. We took a right and walked through another set of doors that was for babies, unlike the rest of the place with screaming toddlers running around and playing. We entered the bright colored nursery and I noticed that Grayson was the only one there, giggling in the back crib. I also noticed that Debby shut the door behind us.

I took the liberty to walk to the back and play with Grayson. I picked him up as he remembered me.

"You must be Alicia," Debby said.

"You must be Debby," I said in the same tone, pointing to her nametag.

"Chase told me about you," she informed.

"Hopefully that's a good thing," I laughed.

"It is," she smiled. She looked to Grayson. "Grayson thinks it's good too. He really likes you. After all that goes on in their family, he needs a breath of fresh air sometimes."

"So I've heard."

"Chase put you on his contact list," she said randomly.

"Wait what?" I asked, mistaken.

"If anything happens to Grayson and we can't reach Chase, he wrote down to call you after Dane and a couple other people," she clarified. "Is that okay, or...?"

"Yeah. It's fine with me. Trust me, if I found out that something was wrong with Grayson, I'd rush right over, but..." I said with the truth. Grayson was like my little brother. I loved him as soon as I set eyes on him.

"But?"

"My boyfriend is my only transportation and Grayson doesn't really like him..." I said, rubbing a hand through my hair.

"Wait. I thought that Chase was your—" before she finished her sentence, my phone started ringing.

"Did I not just see you?" I humored to Wes.

"Ha ha," he replied. "Hurry up. We need to get to the house sooner than expected."

"Okay okay," I said. I hung up and sighed to start with Debby again. "Well, I guess I'm going."

"See you soon..." she said as I started to walk away. I wonder if Debby knew about Grayson's family being werewolves.

***

When we arrived at the pack's house, everyone was sitting in the living room. Well Mason, Wes and Eli were and then the other werewolves were forced to stay outside of that area. Mason and Tori talked quietly about something, Jasmine sat on Eli's right side with his arm around her shoulders and Chase was missing. Wes' arm went around my waist. I heard something slam down in some other part of the house and then heard Chase and Dane's voices briefly. Although Wes already sat down and was about to pull me onto his lap, I still held Grayson in my arms. I started to walk toward the kitchen and then saw Dane and Chase arguing. They stopped at once and heavily sighed as they stared at each other. Grayson made noise and then they turned to me. Dane had the same cold stare that he always had towards me. Chase's eyes stayed away from mine. Dane walked out and I stepped up to Chase.

"How is she?" I asked in a quiet voice as I looked to his muscle-shirt-covered chest that heaves up and down from deep breaths.

"Ask her yourself," he replied. He looked down at me.

"Chase—"

"No seriously. Take Tori and Jasmine and go talk to her," he said down to me. "She wants girl time or whatever."

"Umm. But I don't even know her—"

"Alicia," Chase interrupted with his eyes close briefly. He opened them and revealed dark chocolate eyes. "Please."

"Fine," I said, gesturing for him to take Grayson.

"Take Grayson too. She hasn't seen him in forever," Chase said. I turned on my heels and started to walk. In forever? Does that mean she's seen him before, within the last five months? Who was she? It made all the sense in the world for her to be Chase's mate.

I called Tori and Jasmine with me to head up the stairs and I ended up at the room that I was in the various times I was at this house—getting hurt and such. I entered to see the girl that was in Dane's arms a couple days ago. Her dark hair was frizzy but straight, there was color in her face now.

"Knock, knock," Tori said as she went in. Carina looked to her and smiled immediately.

"Tori!" she squealed as they reunited in a hug. Tori pulled away and then gestured to me and Jasmine as we awkwardly walked in.

"These are—"

"Yes! More wolf girls," Carina said before holding out her hand to me and Jasmine. We shook it cautiously. "I'm Carina."

"Jasmine," Jasmine returned with a smile.

"Eli's mate," she named correctly and received a nod and a blushed smile from Jasmine.

"And I'm Alicia," I said.

"Yeah. I've heard of you..." she said.

"Yeah. Wes' mate..." I said.

"Wes' mate..." she repeated slower, yet somewhat confused.

"Uh...so Carina..." Tori said, breaking the tension. Carina's forehead wrinkled as she stared into my eyes with her gray dusted hazel ones. "Where the hell have you been?!"

That was the question I kept hearing from everyone in reference to her. Apparently she had been missing.

"Haven't Dane or Chase told you?" she asked, looking between us.

"No one's told us anything," Jasmine said.

"I'm pretty sure they haven't even told Eli or Mason," Tori voiced.

"Oh, well Dane found me and I don't even know anything that's happened over the last few months except for running away..." Carina explained.

"What about April? Or Jaylen?" Tori whispered. Who were these random girls that kept coming up? The guys never mentioned them. Maybe they had a reason for that.

"I...I don't know..." Carina answered dazed and looking off. The door busted open and then I saw a blonde familiar girl march over and hug Carina.

"OMG. KAYLA!" Carina squealed. Kayla pulled away. Well, that answered my question about her knowing about werewolves.

"Don't you dare scare me like that again," Kayla scolded.

"No problems about that," Carina replied. Kayla looked around.

"So...the family's all here," she said.

"Family?" Jasmine asked.

"If the boys can bicker and still call themselves being in a pack, we can go right ahead and call ourselves a family too," Kayla said. So she did know about them being werewolves...but if she was Carina's best friend and Carina was Chase's mate, then why did she go out with Chase for Billy's wedding? That was a number one dating thing that girls live by—don't date your friend's ex.

As the three familiar girls caught up briefly, there was a knock at the door and I turned to see Wes.

"Let's go," he said to me. I turned back to the girls. I just noticed that Grayson fell asleep in my arms.

"Oh, um, Chase said that you wanted to see Grayson..." I said all late to Carina. She extended her arms out and grabbed him. "Sorry for him being asleep. He falls asleep on me a lot."

"That's fine," Carina said, something sparking in her beautiful eyes.

"Alicia, let's go," Wes said. I turned back to him and stood up. I lastly turned to the girls.

"We should do this again sometime," I suggested before walking out with Wes' arm around my waist.

"Why is she with him—" I heard someone attempt to whisper as we walked off. It took me until I saw a depressed-looking Chase for me to say something.

"Did you seriously take Kayla out as your date to the wedding even though she's Carina's best friend?" I asked.

"What?" Chase asked. I veered away from Wes' hold and grabbed the end of Chase's shirt to pull him through and out of the back door.

"You. You went out with Kayla," I reminded.

"And?" he asked with a clueless look on his face. His eyes were dark and his voice was low.

"She's Carina's best friend," I added.

"So what?" he asked, more confused. I sighed in grief. "I really want you to explain, but if it's something you don't want people to hear, I really prefer us talking somewhere else, because nearly everyone here can hear pretty far."

"Then where do you suggest? The same place we've been talking?" I asked.

"It's far enough," he decided quickly. He grabbed my arm and threw me over his back and started to run at an amazing speed. Minutes later, we ended up at the same place we gazed at scars at or shared brutal honesty. Last time we were here, our time was cut short because of Carina's return. "Now what do you mean. So what that I escorted Kayla?"

"Um. She's like Carina's best friend," I reminded with obvious annoyance in my tone.

"So...?"

"You do not date your ex's best friends—even if it was for one night!" I finally yelled.

"Carina's not my ex," Chase informed. Oh.

"Then current girlfriend—whatever," I changed. "It's still the most jerk thing you can do and if she finds out—"

"Carina has not, is not, and will not be my girlfriend," Chase interrupted, crossing his arms with a clear of his throat. I felt stupid now. But he was caring so much for her and worrying about her. You could tell by his eyes that he loved her. "She's my sister," he informed. And then I understood. It was the wrong kind of love that I was implying. "You really thought she was my girlfriend?"

"I thought she was your soul mate," I informed. He smirked but not with arrogance or laughter. It was because I was pathetic.

"That's what her kidnapper thought too..." he muttered.

"Who kidnapped her?" I asked. "Why'd they kidnap her?"

He stared down at me.

"There's something I need to tell you," he stated. I sat down and patted next to me.

"Then tell me," I invited. He sat down and laid down with his elbow, propping himself up. He played with pieces of grass.

"Remember how a few days ago, you were asking the third reason why we exist?" he asked. I nodded. "It's simple." His chocolaty brown eyes went to mine and lightened before me. "We live for our mates," he finished. That's romantic, "so without them, a little more than half of us ceases exist. Especially if we've already met them and instantly fell....only to have them taken away from us. It's one of the worse things you can do to us." What? "And just like everyone else in this world, we have enemies too who happen to know the quickest way to kill us..."

"Through the heart," I answered.

"Yup."

"So if your enemy separates you from your mate..."

"You start to die on the inside," he finished. "Our whole life changes if they're not there."

"What does this have to do with Carina if she's not yours?" I asked.

"Everything," he answered. But how? Before Chase could answer, his phone rang. He answered it and put it on speaker.

"Where the f*ck did you take my girlfriend?" Wes shouted through the phone.

"You're her 'mate' so you should be able to somehow find her," Chase teased as he gestured me to be quiet.

"I can't," Wes said. "You know that Kayla and Carina are here. I...I can smell her, but I can't trace her and now Alicia's with you and...and—"

It sounded like Wes was about to break down.

"Calm down," Chase responded. There was a brief silence between the two of them, even though there was crashing objects in the background. "I need to tell Alicia the truth."

"What?" Wes spat angrily.

"Can I tell Alicia?" Chase asked quieter. Wes cussed out a line of profanities.

"You know what, fine. Do whatever the f*ck you want to because we both knew you were gonna tell her one way or another," he said lastly before cussing out the name of Chase and the pack and then hanging up.

"Tell me what?" I asked Chase, but really wanted to march back to the house to comfort whatever was wrong with Wes. But then again, another part of me was afraid of his emotional range.

"Carina wasn't the only girl taken from our pack," Chase whispered. "April and Jaylen were taken too."

Kayla mentioned them back with Carina. I blinked for him to continue.

"Being at the top of the pack and the oldest, me and the guys are always targets for our enemies," he informed. "Without us, the pack falls apart so if you can take us out...you have nothing standing in your way but a bunch of young wolves...Back when the girls were taken only two of us had really found out about being mates. Of course I was lost in priorities back then and I met both the girls before Dane and Wes could," he said. I realized what that meant. "That's why everyone I've had sex with was a mistake. And that's why Wes and Dane have been trying to get back at me since then for what I did."

"Wait. You slept with someone else's mate?" I asked while piecing it together. Unbelievable. "More than once!"

"I was drunk both times and I didn't even know what happened or why I was doing it," he explained. My respect for him had diminished a slither. "Anyways, Wes tried getting back at me by trying to sleep with Carina, but she didn't because she knew about him and April. Everyone knew about them. That's why Kayla hates him and why she was being a bitch to him at the wedding. And that's why I said you're not Wes' mate. April is," Chase said, looking directly into my eyes. His eyes were light hazel with green faintly around. I felt bad. I hated it. Wes was using me. Regardless of whether or not his feelings were real for me, he still lied...more importantly he used that as an excuse for me to even consider having sex with him. I stood up and started to walk, but Chase grabbed my waist and turned me to face him. Our bodies were inches apart.

"Wes does like you, but not like that. Not in the way he loved April. He can never get back to that," he told me. I could physically feel the moisture collect in my eyes now. "This is why I didn't want to tell you—"

"It's better that I knew," I said before trying to break out of his grasp, but his hands stayed securely at my waist.

"You're right," he agreed. I got a confused look and added my hand to his forearm so he'd release me.

"Let me go," I whispered.

"Why? So you can run off or get lost? Yeah right. Where do you possibly have to go?" he muttered.

"To...find my contacts," I lied, looking away from him and trying to find an excuse.

"You wear contacts?" he asked, doubtfully.

"No," I said as my voice got shaky.

"Then why would you leave to find contacts?" he asked. I know he was just playing along so I'd admit my lame lie.

"Because—I don't know?! Can't you just leave me alone?" I asked. I recognized why my voice was getting shaky and I didn't like it.

"No," he answered. I sniffed, preventing any tears as I still looked at the ground past him. "There's only one reason I'll let you go."

"Fine. What is it?" I asked impatiently.

"Go break up with Wes."

"No," I declined.

"Over the phone when he said he could smell her but not trace her, he was talking about April—not you. Her scent is on Carina," Chase said. "I don't know if Wes loves you, but even if he did, keep in mind that you're never gonna be his mate, so then why the hell would you stay with him?"

"Maybe I love him back! Just because you're some guy that expects girls to immediately love you, don't think that there aren't others in this world that go around loving someone without that other person loving them back. Maybe just maybe there's that hope" I shouted. Chase's eyes darkened a shade and he pushed me back by my waist.

"You know what? Fine. Be with Wes. Be with him, love him, f*ck him, it's whatever. I don't care," Chase said back to me, mad. "With Carina around, he'll respect you less and less. And when April comes back, don't be surprised when he kicks you to the curve."

"If he does, it'll be my relief. That means I won't have to deal with you anymore!" I shouted back. "That's the only reason I'd break up with him. So I can get away from you and this werewolf shit that I never asked for."

"If you never asked for it, then why the hell did you make friends with us in school? Or make out with Wes the first chance you got? Or follow us into the forest when no one invited you?" he said down to me.

"Because unlike you, I actually care about people. I cared about Eli that night when I thought there was something wrong with him!" I answered.

"And whose fault is that?" he asked. I stayed quiet. "Exactly. So stop trying to blame us for everything," Chase demanded.

"It doesn't matter," I whispered. "If I never even met you guys, my life wouldn't be this complicated. I would be in perfect health right now. I wouldn't be arguing with you for the millionth time. If I didn't meet you guys, I'd be a whole hell of a lot happier."

I lied on the last part though.

"If you never met us, you'd be nothing," Chase muttered. He walked around me. "I wish you didn't know."

"Good. From now on, I'm gonna act like I don't know," I responded. Chase turned to me.

"Don't start that 'I'm gone' crap. Once you're in, you're in. You can threat all you want and I can yell at you all I want, but we're still gonna come back to each other, Ali!" he shouted. "So save yourself the worry by not even threatening anything that you can't live up to."

I knew he was right. I had been upset with him so many times and gave him so many chances, that I knew he was right despite not wanting him to be.

"Stay on the trail. It leads to the house. Someone will drive you home," he said as he started to walk away. He turned on his heels to face me. "Oh. And stay away from me."

I didn't have to worry about that one considering how at odds we were plus the rising full moon.