After a few weeks, it was still sinking in that I was engaged to Torrance. The wedding would change everything—hell, the engagement would too considering it would distinct me from the pack. But that only made me realize that if any of the guys knew, Chase would find out and he'd want Torrance's head on a stick.

Despite the fact that Jackson had already taken it on himself to drive up here, the guilt was setting in. I couldn't even tell my own step-brother about my engagement or even my mom or Zoey. Once it was in Jackson's conscious mind, it would leak to the others.

"So what's the occasion?" I asked Jackson once I got to my dorm. He was apparently a pro at getting into places without permission.

"Do I have to have an appointment to see you?" he asked before holding up his spare key that I knew he copied from Zoey's copy. "I guess that would defeat the purpose of this though."

I laughed lightly and set all my work down.

"So what do you want to do? Chill here or go out to dinner or—"

"Let's take a walk," he suggested.

***

"You seem like you want to say something so you might as well say it," I said to Jackson as we walked through campus.

"Well..."

I laughed. "What is it now? You know you can tell me anything."

He stopped walking.

"Oh. So I can tell you anything, but it doesn't go both ways?" he asked with offense.

"What? I never said that—"

"Then why are you engaged and you didn't tell me?"

"How do you know that?" I said and felt a cold shudder run through my body.

"It doesn't matter," he dismissed. "Torrance proposed and you didn't even mention it to me. I thought we were closer than that."

"We are—"

"Then why did you hide it from me?" he inquired.

"I don't know," I lied about my reasoning. "It just happened, Jack. I didn't even have time to not tell anyone, let alone tell anyone."

"Uh huh sure," he said skeptically. He started to walk away from me with his hands in his pockets and I couldn't catch up to his strides.

"Jackson," I called, but he kept walking. How did he even know about it? The only person I told was Jasmine and she...could've told Eli. I dialed her number.

"Hello—"

"You told Eli and now Jackson's pissed at me and so is the pack, probably," I accused "I told you not to tell him!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What?" she asked.

"You told Eli about the engagement and now even Jackson doesn't trust me!"

"I didn't tell Eli anything," she denied.

I heard her and someone else—probably Eli—converse on the other side of the phone and then Jasmine started to speak to me again.

"I didn't tell Eli—"

"That's the only freaking way that he'd know, Jasmine," I reasoned. "And now the whole pack knows."

I hung up and marched back to the campus with loads of guilt, anger, and frustration, but the only thing I wanted right now was Jackson to forgive me. And instead of being alarmed at the pack's knowledge, I was mostly worried about only one of the werewolf's response.

***

I was walking around campus trying to find Torrance and stopped walking when I saw who he was talking to.

"Hey sweetheart," Torrance greeted with a kiss to my lips.

"Hi," I mumbled.

"Hey Alicia," Chase greeted as if nothing was wrong between us. He didn't know that I knew he knew. I just avoided looking at him altogether.

"What's up?" Torrance asked me.

"I've been trying to find you," I said.

"Well you found me now," he said as if it made up for it as his kissed my cheek. I blushed. "I've just been helping Chase."

"Yeah. I heard Torrance was an English minor so I needed help with an essay I have," Chase explained. I gritted my teeth.

"Last time I checked, you were an exceptional writer," I recalled from junior year.

"I guess I slipped up between now and then," he muttered.

"You guys had English together in high school?" Torr asked.

"Yeah," we answered.

"One of many classes," Chase laughed.

I held a straight face.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow..." Torrance concluded towards Chase. I grabbed his hand and dragged him away.

"What's wrong?" he noticed.

"I don't like you hanging out with him," I whined.

"I thought you were friends..."

"We are," I thought, but the turn in my stomach indicated guilt because I certainly lied. "But I just don't want you getting close to him."

"Leese," he addressed as he stopped walking. "What's the problem?"

"Are you sure there was nothing between you guys?"

"Are you kidding? No! It's just complicated."

"Well I think he's cool and I like him unless you give me a reason not to."

"Mm...did you by chance tell him we're engaged?" I asked.

"No? Why?"

Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Chase didn't know. That would be the only way Torrance was still alive after being face to face with him.

"No reason. I just don't want it to get back to him and anyone else back home to cause this big commotion of something that's happening in a couple of years from now," I covered."Especially since I haven't told my mom yet since she's still out of the country."

"Oh alright," he shrugged.

"Hi Torrance. Bye Torrance," a familiar voice rushed before Wes popped out of nowhere and grabbed my arm so forcefully that he hauled me away from Torrance.

"What gives?!" I asked him.

"You're in some deep shit," he informed. I was just confused that he was here so randomly in the middle of the week. But this wasn't a friendly visit. Blue flames danced in his eyes. "Why the f*ck are you engaged?" I rolled my eyes. Of course this is what it was about. That meant Chase had to know. If Wes knew, he probably would've told Chase to see him kill Torrance.

"Maybe I want to marry a wonderful guy who I love," I answered.

"What about Chase?" Wes asked. A shock waved through my body when he mentioned Chase.

"What about him?" I asked as if it meant nothing. As if Chase meant nothing.

"You're soul mates. You can't marry someone else," Wes insisted.

"Actually. I can. There's no bond, remember?" I recalled. "He can find someone else because obviously, I have."

"He can't find anyone else," Wes exaggerated before rolling his eyes. "Is this about Kayla? Because they're not even together. The only reason she's at the house is because she phased and we're training her," he revealed as if he thought that's what I meant by Chase finding someone else. I hadn't been worried about Kayla, but now I was in a different way—because now she was an actual wolf girl forever bonded with their pack. But I didn't care about her. "Look, years ago you told me that you loved him and you said you'd give up because he seemed to. So what if he never once gave up on you?"

"Considering how he never wanted to be with me in the first place, I doubt that," I expressed. "So whatever lie or game he's trying to play to win me over isn't going to work this time because as far as I'm concerned, no one can treat me better than Torrance and I love him. I'm getting married."

Wes sighed heavily and shifted positions as he looked away from me in stress.

"Oh and when you meet up with him in the next few minutes, tell him that if shit doesn't work out once, move on. It's better that way," I added. "Oh. And tell him to stay away from Torrance."

***

"Eli," I whined over the phone.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"My life is falling apart," I complained.

"Oh. What's going on?"

"Jackson and Wes are pissed at me for not telling them shit and Chase is just being sketchy," I told.

"What didn't you tell them?" Eli inquired. I hummed, not really wanting to tell him either. "Alicia."

"Okay. Well I'm sorta-kinda engaged and I didn't want to tell any of you guys because it would've caused drama, but all because of Jasmine, it's like everyone knows," I rushed. The phone line fell silent. "Eli?"

"Why would it be Jasmine's fault?" he asked. Of course that's all he cared about.

"Because she's the only one I told. She told you and you leaked it to the others," I insisted.

"Um no," he denied. "Torrance told me and I just happened to be home and they read through my thoughts."

Part of me wanted to rush up to Jasmine and hug her for acting like a jerk to her, but another part wanted to scream at Eli and Torrance for the negligence for discretion.

"Alicia?"

"So Chase does know?" I whispered. It still didn't make sense how calm he was around Torrance. I thought he would've thrown a fit.

"Well yeah, he was there."

"Fantastic," I groaned. "Just tell Jasmine to come back to the dorm and then—"

"Jasmine is at the dorm," Eli interrupted.

"No she's not..." I mumbled.

"But she left my apartment like half an hour ago to go home," Eli expressed. What?

"I'm sure she's somewhere on campus, okay? I'll just go find her," I calmed him down.

"Likewise," he added before hanging up. Don't do something stupid, Eli.

***

I was on my way to Mrs. Nesa's hospital room. Just as her husband was my favorite professor, I had also grown a special place in my heart for her too over the years. Both of them had been like family to me during my time at the university.

I rounded the corner and then heard two people arguing.

I looked through the glass on either side of the closed wooden door and saw Dr. Nesa standing up across the room from his wife as he talked to someone. The young man was familiar. I think Alicia and Jasmine said his name was...Riley? Dr. Nesa looked alarmed and cautious, even though Riley slightly reached out to him as if he needed to explain something. It was when he raised his voice, that I opened the door.

"Hey," I stated. Riley's position shifted and his jaw clenched.

"If you don't mind—"

"He was leaving," Dr. Nesa assured before shooting out death glares at Riley.

Riley reluctantly started towards the door even though the anger on his face indicated he didn't want to.

"See you around..." I mumbled as the door shut behind him.

"You know him?" Dr. Nesa asked.

"Not really. He and Alicia know each other from high school I think," I shrugged. "Why?"

"No reason," he covered. "Thanks for coming."

"Anything for you two. You're like family," I responded. I still wondered how he knew Riley, but he wasn't why I was here. Mrs. Nesa's failing health was. After my time of conversing and helping Dr. Nesa grade papers, my curiosity about Riley continued. Especially when I was leaving the hospital at ten o'clock and noticed that Riley was trying to persuade the nurse to let him through—but her eyes were glued to the computer screen as she said a firm "no."

Furthermore, I just kept walking.

***

"Well why were you there?" a familiar voice asked as I had made it back to campus and was walking towards Leese's room. I rounded the building by the courtyard to see Eli hauling off Jasmine with Chase walking in front of them. The boys suddenly stopped. "Wait."

From out of nowhere a silver object collided with Chase—or maybe the other way around—when he had slightly turned his shoulders to brace for the impact. The collision had instantly moved to the ground. They slowed down from their incredible speed to make me realize that it was Chase and Riley fighting on the ground.

"What are you doing here?" Eli asked.

"He's been here before..." Jasmine reminded in a mumble.

"Which is interesting to me because criminals shouldn't be traveling in such populated cities," Chase spoke as he pinned Riley to the ground again. In one swift motion, Chase was pinned beneath Riley instead. Eli rushed over and pushed him off. "You know that when Council reaches you, you're either gonna be jailed for life or end up like your friend Roger—"

"Maybe Council won't reach me," Riley figured.

"Maybe I'll tell them and the trackers where you've been," Eli threatened. Council? Trackers?

"I doubt it," Riley scoffed.

"And why's that?" Eli asked. Suddenly in a raise of Riley's leg, he was flew behind Jasmine coiled his arm around her throat. She grabbed his arm for air support, but still coughed.

"Because if you do anything, I'll be sure it's your new little wife's life to take in place of mine," Riley hissed. I started to back up for the fact that I was getting freaked out and all three guys' heads snapped to me. I ducked behind a tree in time, but I saw a smirk on Riley's face before he released Jasmine and she immediately ran over to be cradled in Eli's arms, rubbing her throat. Eli looked between her eyes to make sure she was okay before lunging towards Riley. Chase held him back. Riley started to step out, but Chase's words stopped him.

"Tell me why you're here," Chase ordered. "Answer me!"

"It better be a good answer because I'm ready to rip your throat out for touching her," Eli hissed.

Riley got a smirk on his face as if he was innocent.

"Why do people always think I'm here to be a menace?" he laughed. "I'm here to save someone's life."

"Uh huh. How? By changing them?" Eli asked.

"She's dying, okay?" Riley said. "My birth mother is dying. How else am I supposed to save her?"

Chase and Eli started laughing. Nothing was funny about that though.

"Your birth mother—your hunting birth mother, isn't going to want to be turned into a beast," Eli laughed as if a joke was said. Hunter?

"Therefore you're never gonna have permission from her and if you still amount to biting her, that's another crime," Chase stated. Crime? Biting? What?

"Not if you don't tell," Riley figured with a pessimistic smile. Eli snorted.

"You've kidnapped four people—killed one—got one shot. Crossed territories. Illegally sent hunters after us. And have been running from the Council and everyone in your Tier. Now you want to Change someone against their will? You're ridiculous," Chase notified. "And considering how I'm nearly the head of my own Tier in the Council and the fact that the girls you kidnapped were my mate, my sister, my Beta's mate, and my sister-in-law—who got f*cking killed because of you—in the process before you tried to get my pack hunted down? Hell yeah. You're going down whether it's us retaliating or the Council executing you.

"She died on her own and that bullet wasn't my fault," was all Riley said with clenched teeth. He didn't deny the rest though. How were they so calm standing in front of a sociopath?

"She died because you sent hunters after her! And yeah—it is your fault for her getting shot too," Eli yelled.

"How do you know it's not Wes' fault for even bringing her there or yours for getting directions mixed up that you had to call them for help?" Riley asked. Wes was in this too?

"Wes had nothing to do with her being there," Chase whispered.

"So if they weren't making out beforehand, you think she would've stayed put?" Riley asked. They were quiet. Riley started laughing. "You still don't like hearing it, do you? Face it, Chase. Your Beta is the reason why your own mate didn't get with you and why she doesn't give a f*ck about you—"

"Wes has nothing to do with that!" Chase yelled. "It was you for screwing all of that up with your threats, but it was more of my own decision to not be with her. Stop bringing her into everything. This isn't about her."

"You know this has always been about her or else you wouldn't have done so much to hide her from me," Riley hissed. "If this isn't all about her then why did you come back? Why did you enroll at the same exact school as her—again—and why are you trying to be her friend when we all know that's not gonna work?" He was asking to strike a nerve and Chase's composure showed the nerves bursting. I, on the other hand, was completely confused despite being intrigued. I was an investigative journalist. Of course I was intrigued.

"What do you get out of taking the past into the present?" Chase whispered. "You know, besides the fact that it was never your business in the first place."

"Ooh, did I strike a nerve?"

"Is that a question for me to strike your face?" Chase asked. Riley smirked and laughed again.

"Listen Chase, just let me do what I want and I'll leave your pack alone," Riley proposed.

"Mmh. No. How about I don't let you do what you want but you still leave my mate and my pack alone," Chase compromised.

"What about something else in exchange? I won't turn my mom and I'll turn myself in if you give me one satisfaction," Riley prompted. Chase tilted his head and crossed his arms.

"What satisfaction?"

"Well. You have two options," Riley started as he paced. "You can give up your title—"

"Never," Chase interrupted. Riley stopped moving and turned to him with a devious grin.

"Alright. That only leaves one option," Riley returned.

What is it? Not only did I think it, but I whispered it aloud beneath my breath—so low that I could barely hear it—right as Chase, Eli, and Jasmine asked it aloud to a menacing Riley. I noticed the guys' eyes look over in my direction as if they heard me though.

"There's only one thing important to you, Chase," Riley started. "Don't give me some bull about your pack. We both know it's her."

"If you touch her or even so much as talk to her, I will personally kill you," Chase threatened, taking a step towards Riley as his fists clenched. Of course Riley laughed.

"Dude. Come on. It's been, what, a total of five years and you still have no chance. Even when she and stupid Wes broke up, you still had no chance."

"Better chance than you," Eli muttered.

"At least I don't have to kidnap girls to convince them into being with me," Chase dissed.

"At least I don't have my Beta date my mate and then be the reason to break them up," Riley retorted. I guessed that Wes was Chase's "Beta," but who was his "mate"? Was she someone who also interfered with Alicia's relationship with Wes?

"I didn't break them up," Chase mumbled.

"Believe what you want. Do we have a deal?" Riley asked while clapping his hands once.

"I'm not giving up the throne and I'm not letting you have her," Chase hissed.

"I didn't say I was gonna directly do anything to her," Riley informed. Chase looked at him suspicious. "I just want to hurt you. Hurting something of hers is good enough for me considering it'll get back to you."

"I doubt that," Chase scoffed. "She's tougher than she looks. You know that."

"Let's make a list of things that are important to her..." Riley titled. "Her dog...her family...her best friend—sorry not sorry Eli... her idiotic ex-boyfriend...and then...oh right, her fiancé."