After a while, I wondered if Chase was right about me being nothing without them. Jasmine had stayed with Eli. Zoey continued to be with Micah. And I secluded myself at home for the rest of the week if I wasn't in school. Surprisingly the only person I could tolerate and feel comfortable around was Wes. At first, we didn't know what to say about the whole April thing—and we still didn't—but everything else was perfectly fine, assuring me that even if he had a true mate (who wasn't me), we were still a good match for each other. But that being said, I knew he was still thinking about my knowledge of things and even though he told Chase he could tell me about April, he was hostile towards him...so hostile that he celebrated his eighteenth birthday by himself. So with the full moon and his conflicting thoughts, he figured alcohol was his only companion for the night.

So now I was sitting on my chair in my room, spinning in circles as there was nothing to do on a Saturday night.

"Alicia, your friends are downstairs," my mom informed. I stopped spinning and looked to her.

"Tell the guys that I'm not in the mood for them," I said. I fake coughed. "Or I'm sick."

"Um alright, but it's Jasmine—"

"Jasmine?" I asked, getting up and jogging down the steps. I saw Jasmine at the door and Tori, Carina, and Kayla all waiting in a car behind her.

"Lili, get your butt in some clothes because we're having a girl's night out," Jasmine greeted. Somehow, a smile broke out on my face and I rushed upstairs to get dressed.

***

"So you have no idea about April or Jaylen?" Tori asked Carina as we all ate ice cream.

"Nope. Nothing," Carina confirmed sadly. Her gray and brown eyes looked up to me and mine fell to the table.

"Let's not worry about that. We're here to have fun," Kayla reminded. Five girls in a mall with ice cream. Yeah. Loads of fun.

"So Alicia...you like my brother," Carina assumed.

"What?" I asked nervously. Me? Like Chase Cane? Yeah right. The freaking werewolf needed to stop attaching himself to me and being a jerk. "I don't like him. I mean he's—"

"Well Debby said that—"

"Debby?" I asked.

"Yeah...Grayson's—" Daycare.

"Oh yeah. Debby," I recognized. "I love Grayson."

They all gave me a confused look except for Carina who smirked...just like her brother. The whole day I noticed how similar they were and wondered why Chase never mentioned her. But at the same time, I remembered my mom asking Chase how many siblings he had and he did say three. I never asked him further than that and that was my downfall.

"Yeah. I can tell," Carina replied. I bit my lip nervously and couldn't help but to think she met something else. And then she suddenly stood up. "Okay, I need to go to the restroom—"

"I'll go with you," Kayla offered while standing up. Yes, because girls can never go to the restroom alone.

"Um. I actually want Alicia to come with me," she said. I looked to her confused and then stood up with her to head to the restroom. She said nothing the whole way as she strutted through the mall with such a strong confidence you wouldn't have guessed she'd been kidnapped and isolated for months on end. I felt socially weak as I walked next to her in the mall. We rounded the corner and into the restroom. She immediately went to the mirror and pulled a box from her purse with makeup in it—like she needed any of it.

"So. When's the last time you saw my brother?" she asked as she stared at her face close to the mirror that stretched over the long wall. I noticed that all the stall doors were open—meaning it was only us in there.

"Since I gave him to you the day after you got back?" I answered. "So two weeks."

"Not Grayson," she laughed once. "Chase."

"Yesterday," I answered. Even though I didn't talk to him, I saw him yesterday at school. Carina raised her perfectly shaped eyebrow and shifted positions. She doubted me in a way. But why? I know she didn't go to our school, but come on.

"When's the last time you talked to my brother," she restated.

"About two weeks," I answered with a shrug. Her expression changed to shock. "No big deal."

"No big deal? Are you kidding? Why haven't you talked to him?" she said quickly. Um...why did she care?

"Because he doesn't want me around," I recalled.

"Oh please. That was only for the full moon and it's not full moon anymore," she chimed.

"I've been busy," I lied.

"Being cooped up at home all day? Yeah...real busy," she commented.

"No. I've been having family time with my older sister," I lied again.

"That's interesting seeing as she's always out with her boyfriend who keeps trying to mock Chase online," she commented. How did she know that? "Seriously, Alicia, why haven't you talked to Chase?"

"Why hasn't he talked to me?" I blabbed. About a week ago, I was wondering that if Chase were to keep his promises of being there for forgiveness after he screwed up, then why wasn't he calling or attempting to even talk to me?

"Is that why?" Carina asked.

"No—I don't know. It doesn't matter," I stammered. "He didn't want me and if I ever talk to him, it's gonna bring all this werewolf shit in it and apparently he never wanted me to know about them anyways..."

"That goddamn liar..." I thought I heard her mumble under her breath.

"What?" I asked for a clarification.

"Huh?" she countered just to confuse me. "He's just being stubborn." I couldn't agree more. Carina put her hands on my shoulders and then turned me to face her. "Everyone that knows about the secret has a place in this pack for a reason—even us," she started. "Whether Chase or Dane or whoever like it or not, you already know. So all that's left is to find out your place."

"I know my place. It's with Wes," I said confidently, even though I knew it wasn't true. Carina looked in my eyes with her light ones.

"No it's not. April's place is with Wes."

When she said these words, it brought back my consideration of the whole ordeal. Instead of feeling sad that my boyfriend was linked to another girl, I was just mad that it was being brought up again and I was still uncomfortable about it. Even though I needed to talk to Wes about it, I was already lashing out towards the closest person...and that happened to be Carina. "Well she's not here, is she?"

I walked out of the restroom and dialed Wes' number.

"Hey babe—"

"We need to talk," I demanded.

***

"April's my mate. No doubt about it," Wes explained. I finally asked him about everything and we sat in a field together with no one else around. His arm was around my waist and I leaned onto him as we sat on the ground. "When we met, I instantly imprinted on her. Little did I know that Chase had already met her and they hooked up because they were both drunk at the time. But since she went to school with Carina and Tori, it was bound for us to meet her. I thought that Chase previously knew her because Carina is his sister and April had been around their place before a place with all of us because he kept his mouth shut about her. After months of being together, she finally admitted that she had that fling with Chase. And yeah, I was pissed and it was a full moon so I told her to stay away from me so I wouldn't do anything stupid, but I guess she took it the wrong way and then bam...she's missing along with Carina and Jaylen."

"And what about Jaylen?" I asked in a whisper. I was pushing past the trauma of mates being separated because my concern for them was taking over. I couldn't imagine being in that position.

"We don't know anything other than the fact that they all went missing on the same day. Carina doesn't remember anything except getting out of there—and barely at that. So we don't know," he answered. I looked up at him.

"What happens if you don't find your mate?" I asked. "Chase said that when you meet them and they're taken away, you pretty much change completely."

"We do. It just depends on how attached we get," Wes assured. "Dane knew Jaylen pretty much his whole life because she was a family friend and they went to the same schools and stuff so he's been attached his whole life before he even phased and imprinted. Only when they got together, it was a year or so after she and Chase hooked up purely out of their drunken state and of course they regretted it because it was never supposed to happen. Dane easily forgave her since he was loyal to her and it was before he imprinted so she was technically fair game even though they were brothers. Aside from the Chase thing, they had always been in a good place. So when she was taken, he shut down. He didn't used to be this jerk he is now. He completely changed because she left. That's what the effect was on him because of the separation."

"And you?" I asked.

"I started to think 'what if she wasn't really my mate' and I played around with girls and knives for a while and then we switched schools and I met you," he answered. He laughed once and smirked as he looked down to me even though I worried about the knives part of his testimony. "Mason and Billy and Dane told me April was definitely mine and I believed it...but then I met you."

What did that mean? Did he think we were mates all because April was no longer here? Even though I'd obviously prefer for him to pick and choose me over someone else, I knew it didn't work like that. But his blue eyes were showing me something different. I didn't know how they could capture content and pain at the same time.

"We may not be destined for each other, but I do love you," he whispered before pressing his lips to mine. His hands were around my waist and my hand was on his cheek. I ran my tongue along his lip and against his lip ring, but then I realized something and I pulled away.

"But what happens if April comes back?" I asked quietly. He stayed quiet and I moved from his lap.

"I'm still going to love you," he started in announcement, looking at the grass. "But she's who I'm meant to be with. I hate to say it, but—"

"You'd leave me for her," I finished.

"Kinda..."

"It's okay. I understand," I said.

"Wait. You understand?" he asked, confused.

"Well yeah. I mean, if she's who you were literally meant for, then you should be with her," I said. I shrugged, thinking it would make me look nonchalant on such an important thing, but I was nothing more than serious.

"I should," he agreed, "but as of now, you're still mine and if they're right and April really is gone, I want to move on from her. And I want to do that with you."

Even though he was telling me what I wanted (or needed) to hear, something was off. I still thought to what Carina said about place in the pack...obviously mine wasn't intended to be with Wes, but for now, it was. I wondered what would happen if Wes and I hadn't worked out or ended on bad terms. I would still know the secret and yet have no purpose to the pack—like Kayla.

"Wes," I said, ruining the moment he took to lean in for a kiss. His eyes searched my face in confusion. "Why does Kayla know the werewolf secret?"

"Well Chase—"

"No way," I started to laugh hysterically without letting him finish. He had denied Carina ever being his girlfriend, but said nothing about Kayla. And I had noticed that just because Chase didn't mention something, it didn't mean that it wasn't so. Was it possible that Chase and Kayla were actually mates? If that was true, no wonder he was unhappy all the time.

"Chase met Kayla when Billy met Rebecca, and they hook up now and then," Wes finished. I stopped laughing.

"Why would Chase meet her just because they did? And is Rebecca Kayla's Mom or something?" I asked. It would make sense because she was in the wedding, after all.

"Me and Chase are cousins," Wes informed with a roll of his eyes. "His mom is my mom's sister and Billy is their brother and our uncle. Rebecca is Kayla's God mother that has custody of her because Kayla's parents died in a hunting incident. It's a small world."

"That still doesn't explain how she knows, unless Chase is her mate or she was told by mistake like I was."

"Kayla's dad was a werewolf. Her parents were killed in a hunting incident," Wes repeated slowly like I was stupid. In this case, I was. "Rebecca knew about the secret and with Kayla being not-so young anymore, she told her the truth and that's how Kayla already sort of knew. She was already exposed to our world...why would you assume she's Chase's mate?"

"I don't know...he escorted her to the wedding and she's always around and...I don't know," I answered.

"They may be together, but he's never gonna love her like a mate," Wes shrugged.

"Wait. They're together?" I asked.

"As of last week, yeah," he nodded. For some reason, that made me mad. "Carina hates it."

"Why?" She surely didn't have a problem with wanting me to talk to her brother and I was a stranger...so why wouldn't she mind her best friend being with him?

"All of her best friends are dating her family..." Wes reminded. I knew Carina was pro-"wolf girl" because we were a family, but maybe it was because she had to be. Tori was with Mason, April was once with Ws, and now Kayla was with Chase. And if Jaylen had been a family friend, there was no doubt that she was friends with Carina while being bonded with Dane. Every single one of her friends were with her family or pack. "Of course she's upset. She's just not saying anything to Kayla or Chase about it because she's a people pleaser."

"But if he knows he won't ever love her like that, what's the point of being with her?" I asked. He was right about the people-pleasing aspect of Carina, but this wasn't entirely on her. Chase was her brother; why didn't he have a conversation with Carina about this? And he was rather focused when it came to other people so if he actually did know Carina's disappointment, why would he risk it for a girl he knew wasn't his mate?

"What was the point of him dating Zoey?" Wes asked.

"Ouch," I faked.

"Kidding," he poked me. "I don't know why he's with her. I don't know Chase is complicated with anything he does."

"Well doesn't he want to find his mate?"

"Ask him," Wes replied. I sighed. "But considering you haven't talked to him in weeks, I doubt you'd ask him about it..."

"Okay. It's weird when his sister asked me that, but it's definitely weirder when my boyfriend talks about it too," I commented.

"Carina asked?" he questioned. I nodded and he got a weird look on his face. Hmm? He suddenly pecked my lips and pulled me onto him. We fell horizontally and he pressed me into him as he was beneath me. "Honestly, I don't care when you don't talk to Chase all because he was being insufferable. I rather have you all to myself and not deal with him at all—"

"Good," I replied before pecking his lips.

"—but I think you should talk to him," he added. I hit his shoulder and sat up. "I'm just saying!"

"Why?!" I shouted. "I don't want to talk to him. He doesn't want to talk to me—"

"What makes you say that?" he interrupted.

"Because it's the truth," I answered in a well-duh way.

"No it's not," Wes informed. "He's been wanting to talk to you, but Kayla is just so..."

"Stupid. Clingy. Bitchy—"

"I was going to say needy..." Wes informed with humor. "I didn't know you two had bad blood. Did something happen today?"

"I don't know. Just something about her..." I muttered. I never detected any hatred for her until today. Maybe I had back when she shot Wes ugly looks at the wedding, but she was vindicated for her behavior because Chase told me she knew Wes tried hooking up with Carina as payback. But today, I had found out she hooked up with Chase and it was making me uneasy for some reason.

"Understandable," he shrugged. "Speaking of which, did you call me to get away from them or because you just miss me that much?"

"A little of both," I nodded, "plus I was getting tired of Carina and this April thing that I didn't understand..."

"She brought up April?" Wes asked. I nodded.

"Yep. After her speech about us girls belonging in the pack for a purpose so it would benefit me to find my place," I paraphrased in a mocking voice. Wes grabbed my waist and pulled me on top of his lap.

"Your place is with me," he whispered. Unless April was here, he failed to add.

"Yeah I know. That's what I said, but then she brought up April," I explained sort of down. I looked into Wes' deep blue eyes.

"April's not here. If she was, it'd be different. But she's not," he whispered. "You are. And as for now, your place is with me and I wouldn't have it any other way."

"And what if I'm taken like April was?" I asked. His jaw clenched and then he tensed up. His beautiful blue eyes turned dangerous.

"That's not gonna happen to anyone else again," he said. "I'm not gonna let you go as easily as I let April slip through my fingers. And if they put up a fight and somehow separate us...they'll have an all out war on their hands and wished they never messed with us."

I watched as the scene-looking mutt and his mate laughed and stole kisses. I thought otherwise. I strongly thought otherwise. She would see it soon enough and I would have my chance to prove to her and the other werewolves who were too blinded by love to actually keep anyone safe. Not even this werewolf learned from his mistakes, but I knew it'd take more than April for him to break. It would take his new girlfriend to reach that point.

"What did you find?" my accomplice asked over the phone when I was far enough away now.

"Alicia is his weakness," I informed.

"Wait what?" I was asked. "No way."

"Would you like to see for yourself?" I asked.

"I'll pass," he responded. He sighed through the receiver.

"Sorry, man. It's gotta be done," I replied. He sighed once more. I already knew he had feelings for her as soon as he began spying on her. It didn't matter that they actually had no chance at being together. He was as foolish as the rest of them. "This time, just make sure she doesn't escape like the other ones," I added.

"Trust me, I'll keep her with me," he said as if she wouldn't have an issue staying with him. I knew by the look she gave our blue-eyed enemy that he would be disappointed.

"Unless she turns out like—"

"No. She won't," he interrupted. "You weren't even sure about the last ones. You better be sure about Alicia."

"Well maybe if you knew who was—" I stopped myself from accusing him because I didn't have time to talk in circles with him. "We'll plan it tonight, but after that it's all to you."

"Why me?" he asked.