Jane's mouth opened to respond to my simple statement, however she was cut off when the doorbell rang, lightening the tense atmosphere in the room by a few degrees.

Jane got up from her seat, walking towards the front door, leaving me in the living room with Barry and Andrew. A second later, her voice erupted through the room.

"Elisabeth dear, you never told us you had a boyfriend! And such a handsome one too!" My eyes widened at her statement, but they popped out of my sockets as soon as she walked in through the door, but not alone, hell no. She walked in with him. And by him I mean the almighty Alpha by her side. His eyes met mine as he smirked at my amused expression.

"Well hello there honey" he announced, walking up to me, my mouth sewn shut in utter shock.

What the actual fuck?

He advanced towards me until he was right in front of me. Slowly, he bent down to whisper into my ear.

"I believe you promised me a kiss the next time we met" he then moved his face from my ear and before I could process his words, his lips fell on mine for a short, but sweet kiss.

I stood frozen in shock as this all happened, not knowing how to react to the unexpected events.

What a daft cow. I thought, deciding to ignore and keep up with Ryan's act.

"Jane and Andrew, I would like you to meet my boyfriend, Ryan Barnes" I announced, playing along, my body clenching when Ryan's hand landed on my shoulders, nonetheless not attempting to take it off, as much as I wanted to.

"Oh darling, it's so nice to meet you" Jane greeted him, as we all resumed our positions on the couches. Barry remained silent on his seat as we had a little bit of small talk.

"Oh let me get you some tea love" Jane decided, once again elevating from her seat and heading towards the kitchen.

"So, Ryan, what are your intentions with Elisabeth?" Andrew's question caught my attention, causing a slight chuckle to escape me. Typical. Surprisingly, Ryan joined in my laughter too, as he looked back at me, his eyes piercing right through mine.

"Well sir, I love her. There's not much more to it" he answered, his eyes moving away from mine.

There was something about his look. I knew his words and feelings for me were real, but were they real? Would they have existed if there was no mate bond? Why didn't I feel anything towards Ryan? Why wasn't the mate bond affecting me in the same way it was affecting Ryan?

Most importantly, why did this all have to happen to me? As if my past wasn't enough of a mess. No matter where I went, fleeing from trouble and the unexpected was never going to happen. My eyes wandered to look at Ryan's for just the speck of a second, my mind pondering about what it was that I was missing? Or was it that I wasn't missing anything at all? Was it simply that I refused the bond? Or perhaps the bond was non-existent. Whatever it was, in the next second, my view of Ryan Barnes had changed from the guy I met at the club one day to a guy who genuinely cared. But did I? That was the bigger question.

How was I supposed to answer a question I didn't even know the answer to.

I decided to ignore my thoughts and focus on my present, desperately wanting to escape the current situation I was stuck in.

My eyes snapped back to Ryan's when I noticed his hold on me getting tighter. I frowned in confusion when I noticed his tense figure, my eyes floating around the room to find the source of discomfort. It was when my eyes landed on Barry's that I noticed his problem.

Barry's eyes were focused right on me, his eyes staring through me with great intensity. Noticing Andrew engage in a small conversation with Barry, I took the opportunity to face Ryan. My mouth arrived his ear, just close enough for us to hear what I was about to say.

"You need to relax; you wouldn't want to be exposed yourself in front of these people now would you?" his eyes flew back to mine, his eyes returning to their normal colour.

"He was staring at you" he whispered through gritted teeth with a slight growl integrated in his tone.

"I know, did you see me staring back? No right, it doesn't matter" his mouth opened to reply, but I found myself moving out of Ryan's arms. "I'm going to help Jane with the tea, I'll be right back" I announced, shooting Ryan one last glance before disappearing through the door into the kitchen.

"Hey Jane" I called, entering through the small door of the kitchen where Jane stood by the stove, heating up some tea.

"Hey love" she replied, a small smile extending on her face as she noticed me. "Ryan is a wonderful guys love" her comment, rose my discomfort once again, nonetheless I smiled, not wanting to blow everything off.

"Yeah, he's great" I simply repeated.

"I'm so happy and proud of you Elisabeth, no one should ever experience what you did at your age, and I'm so proud looking at you right here like this. You didn't give up, you kept going, you got a job, you a wonderful man, you got love. You are a fearless woman Elisabeth. It's what I admire most about you. It's why I instantly fell in love with you the very day I found you and brought you with me. I wish we could have adopted you" she said, pulling me into a hug. My arms wrapped around her, embracing her comfort. I smiled, sinking into the familiar touch. There was an exchange of smiles when we parted, and the sound of my phone ringing that diverted our attentions.

I walked a few steps away from her, pulling the phone out of my pocket and picking it up without a glance at the screen.

"Hello" I responded.

However, what I least expected, was what I heard next.

"Hello daughter, it's been a while"