As they walked out Quinn realized when Alivia said 'us' she meant Christopher too. She cringed, cursing Alivia internally.

"Nice of you to join us Quinn," Evan said "it's like we never get to eat with you anymore."

"Well, you know... cooking for everyone takes a lot out of me sometimes and since I'll be taking over for mom soon, I'm extra busy" Quinn said, avoiding mentioning the real reason she didn't want to eat with them.

"I understand," Evan said "we just miss you is all."

"Trust me, Evan. I miss all of you too. It's just been hard, you know?"

Evan gave her a reassuring smile, understanding exactly what Quinn meant.

Not sure where she got a sudden dose of bravery, she turns to Christopher. "So, where's Emma? I thought she'd be here since you've been taking your meals together lately."

Christopher was taken aback, not expecting such a forward question from her. Alivia had a mischievous smirk on her face, proud of her bestie.

"She's on patrol right now and couldn't make it to dinner," he coughed awkwardly.

"Are you two mates? I never asked but since you've been spending so much time together, I wanted to congratulate you." Quinn said with sincerity.

"Well, no. We're just friends. I'm actually waiting on my mate."

Quinn knew what he was referring to. She stood up from her chair, "it was nice seeing you guys. I'm sorry I can't stay to eat with you, I've got work to do for the event tomorrow."

She bowed her head at the three ranked wolves and made her way out of the dining hall. Christopher watched her as she walked away, not quite as satisfied with his "victory" as he thought he'd be.

After dinner, Alivia asked to speak with Christopher alone. He agreed and she followed him into his office. There was an awkward silence before Alivia decided to finally break the ice.

"Uh, can you explain to me what the fuck is going on?" Alivia asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me Chris. You know exactly what I mean! You said you were going to talk to her and instead, you're running around her with another girl, making people think she's your mate!"

"Things happened and I changed my mind." Christopher said, still unsure about what he was going to do.

"What caused this? The last time we talked about it, you were going to accept her?"

"I don't know Alivia, why don't you ask your friend?!" Christopher was getting angry by Alivia's prodding.

"I'm sorry. Maybe I'm crossing the line here, beta," she said sarcastically, "But she's my best friend and you're clearly hurting her with what you're doing!"

"Well, I'm hurting too! She's the one that betrayed the bond. SHE slept with someone else while she was at culinary school. I've stayed faithful. I'm just not sure I want to do it anymore."

"What do you mean she slept with someone?"

"Do you remember when I was in the hospital for a few hours? Ruben found me in absolute agony."

"Yeah..."

"Well, it was her. She was with someone else and I felt every bit of it. SHE betrayed our bond. I DIDNT! And I don't want someone else's sloppy seconds."

Alivia was dumbstruck. That didn't sound like her best friend at all. She knew Quinn didn't want a mate but she would never do anything like that, especially not to Christopher. She really liked him.

"I'm sorry for accusing you, beta. It won't happen again." Alivia bowed her head and made her way out of Christopher's office unsure about whether she should confront Quinn or let her explain to her in her own time.

Alivia decided it was better for her to wait and give Quinn the time she needed to feel comfortable enough to talk to her.