"Don't fuck with my love

That heart is so cold

All over my own

I don't wanna know that, babe

Don't fuck with my love

I told her she knows

Take aim and reload

I don't wanna know that, babe."

"What do you mean by there has been another rogue attack?" My voice didn't do anything to display the amount of shock I was in.

I thought that rogues have been reduced to an insignificant number by now. But this was the third attack in the last week that our pack suffered by rogues.

And they were, obviously not a small group of them. It was an entire army. They were a lot.

And they were trained.

Training requires money and trainors which give us a hint that someone was funding these rogues because otherwise, rogues are generally jobless.

This is simply because of the fact that alphas don't give them permission to stay in their territories for jobs and neutral lands are too risky and jobs are scarce there.

So they need to live on stolen food and need to run from pack to pack to get food and do odd jobs.

In all, their life's pretty pathetic.

So they never get to train themselves or buy the equipments even if they are in a group. Hence, it shocked me to learn how powerful this particular army was.

"I mean that they attacked again and my family was once again the target." Katherine gritted her teeth as she finished the sentence and leaned back on her bed.

We were sitting in her room where she brought up the topic.

"But...why are they suddenly targeting out pack? We aren't the strongest pack in America and we don't have much land under us either." I questioned.

"That gives them even more reason to target us, Oli. Because they feel like they can win easily." Kat's hand fisted and she growled lowly as she said. "But we won't let them win. We'll fight."

"Are they here because your father helped your grandma's pack to defeat them in Mexico?"

Kat looked at me and sighed. "I don't know. I am not sure. It can be the reason. But that's not the entire thing. They do want to avenge their lost partners by killing my father but that's not their original motive."

I sat patiently and listened as Kat continued.

"I don't know how accurate this is, but back there in Mexico, grandma told me that this rogue group has come together with witches to create an immortality potion."

I eyes widened. They found the witches?

Years and years ago, when witches started misusing their powers to exploit humans, vampires and werewolves had come together for the first time to lock them up or hide them. Some were taken away with the wolves for help, some were killed if they tried to protest and the others were compelled to live in the dense portions of the Amazon forest. No other supernatural creature knew what happened to them and where they were. Only the Alpha of each pack had control and responsibility over 2 witches each. One, who lives within the pack to help out and the other, who has been sent away.

Even a common pack member didn't have knowledge about their whereabouts.

But it was obvious that the witches were angry for what we did and it wasn't a surprise that they wanted revenge.

"Witches were working on immortality when they were locked away and taken by us but these rogues free them from every pack they invade and now there is an army of them working together."

Immortality isn't unheard of in supernatural world. Vampires are immortal. But not werewolves. We have long life span that exceeds two hundred years sometimes but we aren't immortal. That is because we have souls but vampires are soulless.

"Did they succeed in preparing that potion?"

"No. Not yet. It is said that they need the last essential commodity for that- which is a precious gem that is hidden somewhere under the influence of werewolves. So they have been searching and invading every pack to search for it."

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. "So they are ready to kill every werewolf to make us immortals?"

"They want to make themselves immortal. They want rogues to become more powerful than regular werewolves. They want to turn the table around."

My mouth turned into an "o" as I thought over it.

They are looking for a precious gem.

"One of the witches with them prophecized that the gem is in a pack of America and only the Luna of that pack can get them to it."

I nodded, taking the information in.

"But it doesn't explain why they attacked a pack in Mexico..." I whispered and Kat shrugged.

I shook my head as I tried to get rid of the thousands thoughts that were floating in my brain at that moment. It was hurting my head to think of all that.

I chewed on one of my pencil as I tried to solve the numerical in front of me. Chemistry is my jam but physics is an animal I can't tame.

I groaned and banged my head on the table as the question just won't get into my head.

Chance isn't here. He had gone to deal with the rogue business, otherwise he'd help me with physics. He's good at it.

But now I have no one to help me out and I am going to get an F in this assignment we have to submit tomorrow.

The higher ranks get leverage from the teachers (who are mostly werewolves too) if there is a pack business but I am no high rank and I have to submit this my tomorrow.

Certain "someone" who shall never be named anymore is also good at this and old me would have asked for his held.

But the old Olivia is dead now.

I should stop listening to Taylor Swift with Kat too much.

I slammed the book shut and held my head in my hands when the door of my room opened and someone entered.

I looked up to see just the person I didn't wish to see anymore.

Talk of the devil....

...and the devil's here.

"Livy, I need to talk." He said in a calm voice.

Oh so he's calm now?

"It's Olivia to you." I said in a dry, indifferent tone. "And who the fuck do you think you are walking into my room without knocking?"

I used the same words he used yesterday and he flinched.

Let him take a taste of his own medicine.

"Listen, Livy, I just...what happened yesterday... she's my mate, you don't understand-"

"Are you dumb or what? It's Olivia. You don't have to explain, honey. Because you know what? I don't care."

It's partly true. I kind of didn't care anymore. Yesterday, when I went home, I cried so much. His words kept repeating in my mind like a broken record and they stabbed my heart to an extent where I was numb to him.

I am like that only. Either I care too much, or I don't care at all.

This would have happened with Chance too, but luckily for him, he's my mate. And moon Goddess has tied my soul to him. I cannot, not care for him.

But with Ryder, it wasn't like that.

I always felt like I had a connection with him. A connection that was way stronger that just best friends. Way more than what I felt for Katherine.

But yesterday, when I cried, I felt like that connection snapped. It wasn't there anymore.

I was cold towards him. The warmth I felt with him wasn't there anymore. I didn't feel safe with him anymore.

And it might seem like I am overacting but that's how I felt.

It was way more than where our understanding goes. It was internal. It was soul related.

It was like my soul detached to him.

I couldn't feel his presence anymore.

"Please, Liv-Olivia... Don't be like that...just hear me out." He pleaded once more.

I pursed my lips and stayed put. I didn't interrupt him. I let him speak. Because if I cut him off and prevent him for putting his point, it will make me a hypocrite because the reason I was angered at him in the first place because he didn't let me defend myself.

"My wolf couldn't handle seeing Cindy like that...she looked so hurt and when she said that you did it... I couldn't handle myself. Don't make me choose between you two, Livy. I don't want to lose you...you are my best friend..." His voice broke in the end.

Usually when his voice breaks like that, it breaks my heart and I comfort him.

But today, that didn't happen. It didn't affect me the slightest bit and I stood there, cold. The only concern I felt was to the level where humanity is. Like the kind of concern you show to a stranger.

What the fuck is wrong with me? Why don't I feel anything towards him anymore? Why am I so cold? Is something happening to me?

I questioned myself as to why he felt like a stranger to me when he was the one person I've known for the longest.

"I never made you choose, Ryder. It was never a matter of choice. Plus I don't really see where the choice is if she doesn't want you in the first place!" My voice that started neutral first turned loud and angry in the end and I saw his hands fist and he looked away.

"I understand that seeing your mate hurt, hurt you and you were raged but that doesn't mean that you had to say all of that to me. Especially when all I have ever wanted is the best for you. If wolf was blinded, at least you could have been rational. At least you could have asked me why I did that or what were my reasons instead of jumping to conclusions."

Ryder's eyes still didn't meet mine as he hung his head in shame.

"The best part is that I didn't ever hurt her as much as she showed. But did you ask me? Of course not! I am not worth it, right? It's none of my business and my help is not needed. So you know, what? I am not even going to help you anymore. Because I am not a damn fool! I am tired of caring too much. I am tired of people walking over me like a damn doormat and now I'll let people do what the ever fuck they want to do with their lives." I finished with my nostrils flaring and my knuckles turned white as I tightened my fists way too much.

But anger was the only emotion in me. Anger, not of betrayal but of disrespect.

I don't understand why I feel so detached to him. What he did was wrong, but was it so wrong that everything that happened since childhood was lost?

All those memories, all those days, all that trust, all those laughs together... were they gone?

"You didn't have to hit her because she rejected me!" Ryder said in an exasperated tone and I laughed bitterly.

"Jumping to conclusions, again, are we?" I scoffed. "I didn't hit her for that, Ryder. I just wanted to talk to her. I hit her because she said somethings that disrespected me to no end and somethings that shouldn't have been done. I hit her because she did things she shouldn't have done and I hit her because she's fucking selfish!"

"What things?" Ryder asked. His tone sounding genuinely confused and surprised and I almost slapped him for being so damn blind.

But at the end of the day, did he even deserve to know after what he did yesterday?

Did he even deserve to know after saying he didn't want my help and I wasn't needed?

I was really tempted to pull a Kermit and say, "But that's none of my business," at the moment and walk away childishly.

But I didn't.

I didn't because that would just complicate things further and I just want to get over with this.

Plus saying that would mean that I still cared and his words still hurt me. But that wasn't true.

So I decided to just tell him everything. From her little fling with chance, to the rumors of us cheating that the entire pack house was talking about, to what she said about stealing Chance.

And I told him.