A/N: Even though I've been editing this book, I figured the new readers deserved just as much warning as the older ones. SO just know, that AFTER this chapter a lot of things change...LIKE TIME, for example. If you like Wes, you'll like him and his jokes more. If you like Chase and his stubbornness welllllllllll, you'll be enthralled in his behavior. Things just...change. Okay? Okay!

****STORY START*****

For some reason I was trying my hardest the entire night to not act like I liked Chase. It was difficult...especially when he was inches from me and everything about him proved why we were mates tonight from how well he cleaned up to how he held me when we danced to how he handled everyone and their gawking that I was the girl who was at the prom with her sister's ex-boyfriend.

"Why now?" I suddenly asked, looking at his left shoulder instead of his eyes.

"What?"

"When and why do you choose when you're gonna treat me in different ways?" I clarified. "Why on Valentine's and why now?"

"I realized that I was always trying to resist from getting attached in case anything would happen and we'd be separated like Dane and Jaylen and end poorly...but then I also realized that I've been attached ever since I laid eyes on you and I shouldn't act like I get a choice in the matter because I'm glad it's you I'm attached to," he expressed. "I'd try to not have conflict with you, but I know that's impossible because we're both too stubborn and too far gone for that. As for tonight, you already knew I wanted to come with you...and I would've taken your non-answer as a no if it wasn't for my own Beta yelling at me 24/7 to man up."

"Wes has been yelling at you?" I wanted to feel guilty, but couldn't. Wes looking out for me wasn't going to change any time soon. And I couldn't feel bad about his lingering feelings because there were none. He had a beautiful loving mate to himself. They were happy enough that they didn't even come to this stupid prom because as much as April knew school dances weren't Wes' thing, Wes knew April wouldn't want to be in an environment around people she didn't know aside from me, Chase, Mason, Tori, Jasmine and Eli.

"He just wants you to be happy and safe," was all Chase said. I wanted to look up and see the dark look in his eyes that he usually had when he admitted anything between me and Wes, but I felt him sigh instead. "It's hard for him to see you with me and still be with April, but he still loves you. It's just a different kind of love. I get that now and I shouldn't have resented him this whole time for it," he added, which I thought was very mature for him. "And even though I say I'm looking out for the pack and as many of our people as possible, I have other shit to worry about and he's been taking care of everyone the best he can on such short notice—especially since I know he doesn't want to."

I found it incredible that Chase was finally giving Wes credit for something. It made me think to when Wes was talking about how Chase would grow up and accept our relationship in order to be with me—and I thought it being this soon would freak me out, but I was actually more relaxed than ever. An understanding went a long way even though I knew it took a lot out of Chase to admit it. I had noticed other things about him too, right down to the "other shit" he mentioned in his words. Sure, he opened all the right doors and spun me at the right moments, but I wasn't blinded by tonight. I knew that behind his charming smile, he was sad for some reason and needed tonight as badly as I did.

"Can I ask you something—"

"You don't have to ask me for permission. If I'm able to answer it, I'll answer any question you have," he promised. But that only made me derail my actual intentions of asking him about his apparent royalty and move onto another question that had deserved total honesty.

"Do you like me?"

He stopped moving and I could feel his gaze on me. "Of course I do," he answered. When I refused to look up at him, he still leaned over to kiss my cheek before continuing to take dancing steps. Relief still washed over me though. I felt pathetic needing something so small to be addressed, but it was all the reassurance I needed at this point considering his shady behavior in the past.

"But you're not going do anything about it, right?" I asked so I wouldn't immediately get my hopes up.

"What?"

"Even though you and I both know we have feelings for each other, you're just going to insist you don't want to be together like usual, right?" I clarified.

"If you think so lowly of me, why even bother to ask then?" he inquired within a breathy laugh. Though I should've taken it offensive that he thought me asking was pathetic, it was really him and his past actions that was pathetic enough to lead me to this point if we were being honest.

"Maybe because a certain Beta put it in my head that one day in the future you're going to want to settle down and I wanted to gauge just how long that'll take," I finished. I could sense his glare without me even having to lift my chin to glance at him.

"Well he's right," Chase informed, "and so are you. I do like you. More than you know. I swear. I'm just not in a position to be with you. Not now with all the shit going on at least." The jealous mate inside of me resented that because he was free and ready to be with Zoey and even Kayla, but not me. However, I had to calm her down to reason that at least Chase was being honest here. "But at least I know how you feel and as soon as I'm ready you'll for sure be the first to know," he said within another breathy chuckle while tightening his grip on my waist. I stopped swaying though.

"You're assuming I'd still have feelings for you by then." I looked up into his changing green eyes and realized something as soon as I said it. I'd never actually stop loving Chase Cane. No matter what I say, or do.

"If that happens, it'd be my fault, not yours," he replied. Another thought popped into my head.

"Can I ask you something else—I mean..." I stopped my intro to the question. "If we were together in the future, what would it amount to?"

"What do you think will happen?" he asked me instead of answering. He smiled down to me in wonder instead of in a way indicative that he was dodging the question for himself. But when he noticed that I wasn't going to answer him, he frowned. "No really. What'd you think? We'd get together to try it out and see if it works? Because I know it will. It's destined to, but what do you think? We'll break up or something? I know you don't trust me right now but come on..."

I kept quiet. I didn't want to embarrass myself with my scenario running through my head. But apparently I didn't need to because it was as if he read m thoughts on my forehead.

"You're thinking about the Mark," he guessed out of nowhere. Reluctantly I nodded. He raised a hand to cup my chin and tilt my head up to look at him. "I won't Mark you if you don't want me to. I probably won't anyways."

I scoffed. Well thanks.

"It's not you. It's just that no matter how much you can like me now, I'll always like you more. You have a possibility of getting fed up with me and your feelings conflicting. You still have an option to leave any time you want and even if we're decades into happiness, I'd offer you that option. But if we got a bond, it wouldn't be that lenient for you. It'd have to be broken and we'd have to be broken as collaterol," he explained.

"What if I want you to Mark me?" I whispered purposely so that maybe—just maybe he couldn't hear me beneath the loud music. Something flickered in his eyes with a green color and told me it didn't matter how loud the room was; he'd always hear me.

"It'd be a long way away," he shrugged. "There's only one reason I'd ever mark you and you wouldn't be up for it."

"I'm not having sex with you just so you can bite me," I instantly stated.

"Please, Ali," he scoffed as if sex was suddenly disgusting to him. "You don't get it. I only have one compromise to Mark you, but if you so much as persuade me sooner, I'd do it just because you said so considering how much you have me wrapped around your finger—even though it doesn't seem like it," he notified making my face heat up.

"I wouldn't want to be Marked sooner than a compromise," I muttered as my truce in lieu of his romanticism. "What is your compromise, anyways? You said a long time ago that you don't even consider marking your mate. What's with the change of heart?"

"Back then I didn't consider it," he admitted, "but then I realized something when something in my family came up and it seems like a good outcome."

"Too bad no one's agreed to it yet," I joked and he laughed slightly. "So what is it?"

"I'm not telling you," he chuckled. I held a straight face before rolling my eyes playfully.

***

It was hours later and we were sitting outside of the prom's venue. Chase, being my all-knowing mate, knew the whole dressed up prom look wasn't exactly my forte so he had brought me a change of Carina's clothes to change into afterwards since we did plan to meet up with the others to get food after. I was also thankful for the change of clothes because it allowed me to straddle his waist and face him. One of his hands was on my waist and the other was pulling a strand of my bangs into my face as if I needed another reminder that I needed to cut them. I blew them out of my face with my breath

"I'm sorry," Chase laughed. I leaned my forehead on his as my arms were around his neck and his were on my waist. Then something changed in his eyes.

"What?" I whispered.

"I'm just happy I actually got a romantic night with you and you're not 'in tears or hurt'," he smiled. I was glad he proved my earlier assumption wrong.

"If it was always like this, I wouldn't give you as much shit," I teased. He looked up at me.

"You really want to be with me?" he guessed. I nodded.

"I know I told you I didn't want to be with you because I'm Alpha, but I don't think you understood what I actually meant by that."

I continued to look at him and his hand fell from my face to my thigh.

"I need to be strong when I'm in charge of a large pack," he started. "You make me too weak."

Was that supposed to be romantic?

"Maybe weak was the wrong word. I meant distracted," he altered. "I haven't phased in forever because the chance that you'd be around. I can't get angry enough because you're always on my mind and I calm down instantly. But then moments like this, my heart's still racing and that's all we really need to phase so it just doesn't make sense unless I'm more controlled than I thought," he continued with a nervous chuckle. "Not to mention you already know that if anyone wants a weakness in me, they'll go straight to you. And I don't want that for you. I know I said I live for my mate, but I also want you to actually be living."

"I understand."

"Really?" he asked.

"Yeah," I lied. He looked as if he was to kiss me, so I did a favor by leaning in, but he pulled back.

"I can't," he whispered. "Unless you want to get hurt at the end of this night, I can't kiss you."

"But you broke the spell," I reminded.

"That's not why," he informed. I sat back down on his hips.

"Then why?"

He laughed.

"You cannot sit there and not notice the amount of lust radiating off of me," he laughed. He grabbed my head in his hands again. "If I kiss you, I might not be able to stop."

"That's a chance I'm willing to take," I waged before leaning in to press my lips against his and feel a surprising tingling in my lower regions as soon as the kiss deepened. I felt his tongue mesh and mold with mine and the movement grew stronger with each second passing. It was the same passion from before if not more, only he had learned not to bite down as hard on my lip. I thought that's all he had learned especially since his hands roamed down my backside and up my thighs, but then he took it upon himself to finally pull away before I was at the point he thought I'd be uncomfortable at.

He didn't look to me as if I was a meal to be devoured like last time. He looked to me in the way every girl wanted to be looked at full of awe and love and wonder. And he did so with a beautiful neon glow along the bottom of his irises.

"I love it when your eyes are green," I whispered. I immediately felt like an idiot for complimenting him, but his smile proved that he appreciated it before making a Chase Cane response:

"Wait until you see them after we make love to each other," he raised his eyebrows suggestively. I scoffed and gave him a disgusted look.

"What makes you think I'll f*ck you after you said that?"

He nudged me because he hated it to be called like that in such a derogatory fashion. I yielded but still rolled my eyes. His hands found mine. "And I'm not saying you will, but when we do do it, I think my eyes will stay permanently green. That or when we get together. I'm not exactly sure."

I couldn't really imagine him with green eyes all the time. As much as I loved them, I loved his chocolate orbs too. I had fallen in love with all of him from his changing moods to his changing eye color. If his eyes never changed, how would I tell his mood then? But maybe I didn't need to read them because if he had the intentions of being as honest as he was now, his actions would be as clear as day.

But part of me knew things wouldn't always be like how they were tonight.

"We're setting ourselves up," I mumbled. He frowned a bit.

"If you think I'm trying to play you, you're wrong," he stated.

"I'm just saying that we're clearly already attached only to resist each other after this apparently. It doesn't matter how we leave tonight if we know we're gonna be hurting each other," I clarified. Let alone when we leave for college in a year.

"I'm sorry if that's how you feel, but let me make you a promise," he started out of nowhere. "From now on, you should know for a fact how I feel about you. I'm not gonna hide that ever again, okay? I'll treat you better than anyone else when the time is right. I just need time to get the chance to other than tonight. Any fight we get into is probably justice, so I deserve it, but I just...promise you that. If your feelings changed and I'm not who you want to wait on, then I deserve that too, but just know that I'm gonna be honest with you no matter what. I don't owe that to anyone else."

To seal that I fully trusted him, I nodded. To seal that I loved this boy and accepted all of his ridiculous flaws, I leaned in to kiss him briefly.