Trevor was down the hallway when someone reached out and tugged him into the narrow passage leading to the boy's restroom.

He was pushed up roughly against the wall, " Tell me it's not true" Williams breathed into his ears.

In a normal situation, Trevor could have shivered with the way their bodies were touching, but Williams' livid expression pushed away all romantic imagination.

"What are you talking about?" He was confused.

"Don't make a fool of me, Trevor! Your sister, how many mates does she have?" He asked furiously, eyes staring straight into Trevor's like a flaming sword.

Trevor was so shocked his mouth dropped, had Williams figured it out already? But how? Had he somehow put two and two together after his odd question last night?

But Trevor was snapped back to reality when he recalled it was his sister they were talking here.

Williams was loyal to his father and once Shane heard this strange report, there was no doubt he would reveal it to the council straight away.

So he quickly pushed Williams off him, straightening his clothes.

"What the f*ck are you talking about? Having two mates?" Trevor scoffed,

"You told me yourself that it was impossible yet here you are, about to rip my head off because of a crazy accusation?"

Trevour knew it was shameless of him to do this but if he didn't bring his personal matter into this case, the Williams he knew would never believe him.

"You're not possibly doing this because I rejected you last night, right?" Trevour asked, causing Williams' clenched jaw to tick.

His eyes darkened, "Is that how abjectly you think of me?" Williams growled, pressing Trevor against the wall.

Trevor laughed sarcastically, "You tell me, man, cause I don't know what to think anymore"

They both became speechless, chest heaving and staring at each other eyeball to eyeball, trying to gauge each other.

It was obvious Williams was having a hard time believing Trevor but it was more ridiculous thinking about the idea of his sister having two mates.

"Gentlemen, do we have a problem here?" A voice interrupted them but both knew whom that belonged to.

Asher stood at the entrance of the hallway that cut into this smaller passage, with his arms wrapped across his chest and his piercing green eyes scrutinizing them lazily.

"There is no problem" Williams pushed away from Trevor, "Sir" he added slowly with a hint of mockery.

Raphael's attention shifted to Trevor's, "What do you say, kiddo?"

He had just been heading to Asher's office when he heard the commotion and decided to check it out only to discover it was Lia's brother being intimidated.

Normally, he wouldn't have interfered in their matters but the Asher he knew was a peacemaker aka busybody, and wouldn't leave those kids alone until he sorted their problems as the principal he was.

Also, that boy was his mate's brother. Raphael had to create a favorable impression on Trevor before his mate returned. But from the way both kids were having a staring contest, it dawned on him that he interrupted a lover's squabble.

Raphael knew their argument was connected to his mate since he caught snippets of their conversation.

"There is nothing to worry about" Trevor assured him with a smile - a fake one.

"Fine then, if you say so," Raphael said, pivoted, and left for his office.

Since Trevor didn't want his help, there was no need to hang around those two lovebirds who were having a crack in their relationship. Also, the boy loved his sister and wasn't stupid enough to expose her secret, so he had nothing to worry about.

As soon as Raphael stepped into his office, he sensed another presence that felt oddly familiar.

"You're late to work" Dan pointed out as soon as Asher walked into his office. He was sitting at the edge of his desk and had been waiting for a while now.

He watched Asher frown at him, he was probably going to ask about his mate.

"Why are you here?" Raphael asked, disturbed by his presence. If he could remember, Asher strictly warned him not to leave his mate's side.

That was strange, he didn't ask about Lia, Dan was quick to observe. Perhaps, Asher was just surprised by his unexpected appearance.

"It's Daniel"

"Did anything happen to Lia?"

"Oh, he noticed at last " Dan sassed mentally. He shook his head pathetically, Lia was the only person in Asher's eyes right now- he didn't even ask about his wellbeing.

"Nothing has happened to her yet," he told Asher.

"What do you mean 'yet' ?"

"Well, it's quite a long story but in summary, your troublesome mate has got another alpha hot on her tail"

"What?!" Raphael was bewildered, " You're kidding, right?"

"You should know by now I don't joke about something serious" Dan replied with a straight face.

Raphael scratched the side of his temple, he has another idiot on his list to eliminate. Seems he would first have to get rid of this dog before moving over to Daniel. He had everything planned but the emergence of this fool would lead to some adjustments.

He knew Lia was going to choose between Asher and Daniel but that pathetic brother of his no longer occupied this body, it was his to rule the way he wanted. Raphael was no gentleman like Asher and he would not sit and wait to be chosen like some damn goods; he would take what he wants.

"Tell me what happened," he told Dan who spent the next minutes narrating the event as Ryan described.

"Since it's not confirmed that there would be a war, keep your eyes on my mate and make sure nothing happens to her" He commanded Dan.

Dan in question narrowed his eyes into slits but for a second, he didn't want to expose his emotion to Asher. He had noticed the way he used "My mate" instead of "our mate"

Due to the fact Asher had made a pact with Daniel, Dan had watched him subject himself to getting used to "Our " instead of "My mate"

Perhaps, Asher forgot, Dan thought. Even vampires do have a slip of memories sometimes, right?

"Sure, I'll protect your precious mate" Dan assured him with a hint of sarcasm

"But war or not, Daniel says to inform you that the students would be leaving today."

Raphael didn't like this sudden development, he had hoped on them returning tomorrow to tie up all loose ends but he has to shift his plans now.

"Fine, they can return" he had no choice but to acquiesce.

Raphael suddenly realized it was hard being Asher. Left for him alone, once he rescued his mate the others can go to hell.

But the person he was impersonating was too kind. Dan would figure out something was wrong the instant he said something contrary to Asher's attitude.

Unknown to Raphael, Dan could not help but feel something was amiss here, he just could not point it out.

"Are you keeping something from me?" He couldn't help but ask any more.

There was a shift in Raphael's countenance which Dan failed to capture. If that vampire notices he was not the real Asher, he would have no choice but to kill Dan to stop his secret from being leaked and suffer the consequences afterward. He has hardly put his plan into action, it was not time to get exposed.

"Why do you ask?" Raphael asked.

"Did something happen while I was gone? I feel like a major event occurred and you're keeping it away from me. What are you hiding from me, Asher?" Dan asked Asher without breaking eye contact.

"You're right"

"What?"

"Raphael attacked me while you were gone"

Dan was furious, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you'd be like this and leave Kinney village with the intention of protecting me from further attack hence keeping my mate unprotected" Raphael tried his best to answer the way his kind and compassionate brother would.

Asher was right, if he had gotten hold of this news on time, he would have abandoned his role in Kinney village and returned to him.

But this made Dan all the more furious, was he so obsessed with his mate that he would disregard his own life? This was a mistake, he shouldn't have left Asher's side.

"Were you injured?" Dan asked out of concern, his eyes softened. Asher was his best friend and the closest thing to a family - which he was since they were from the clan.

"Is nothing I can't heal from" Raphael answered.

"Fine, I'll relay your message to Daniel and try to return as soon as possible" Dan promised his leader before teleporting back to Kinney village.

"I wish you wouldn't return at all" Raphael mumbled under his breath as soon as the vampire vanished.

Dan was Asher's second in command hence his unwavering loyalty and the greatest thorn in his plan.

If that parasite called Dan was easy to eliminate, Raphael would have done it way before he even exchanged soul with Asher.

But unlike his brother, Dan wasn't cocky and extremely vigilant. Seems like he would have to master more of Asher's "normal" behavior.