Wendy

"You still haven't told anyone?" I questioned the couple once we were alone. Beverly frowned and Mitchell sighed as they both shook their heads at me. "You guys are hiding the fact that you're mates. Don't you guys hate that you have to act like you're only friends?" I asked.

Beverly sighed and Mitchell had his jaw clenched. I think I hit a nerve with him. "Look. The Council had dropped that whole law against only Alphas ruling with their true mates because sometimes love just isn't for them. I'm not saying that this relationship isn't for us, because it is" she smiled at her mate, making him slightly relax his tense face. "But if we did come out, then he would have to leave his position" she stated.

I rolled my eyes. "No you don't. This is your pack, Bev. You make the rules. You've been doing a great job ruling on your own, and you can still do it by yourself. Mitch can keep his role. And you guys can be together publicly. Not behind closed doors and a bunch of secrets" I told them softly.

Mitchell looked skeptical about the whole thing, but it was obvious that Beverly was actually pondering over the suggestion. "She's right, Mitch" Beverly whispered to her mate. He sighed and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer to his side. "I hate acting like I don't have feelings for you once we leave a room. I hate it" she looked close to tears.

"I know, baby" Mitchell said softly as he pulled her onto his lap. I gave him two thumbs up and quickly went to the door to give them privacy. I had to turn around just to see them though. Beverly was cradled in Mitchell's arms as he softly caressed her head. Mitchell made eye contact with me and I felt my cheeks heat up because he caught me looking at them. He simply smiled at me, something that he didn't do before. "Thank you" he mouthed slowly.

I flashed him a quick smile and another thumbs up before actually leaving. I refrained from squealing, but I did do a little victory dance in the kitchen, until someone cleared their throat. I slowly turned around, looking redder than my hair. "Hey, Dominic" I said sheepishly.

He chuckled at me. "I think you're the only one that calls me 'Dominic'" he informed me, not commenting on my horrible dancing. I shrugged and went to the fridge to get myself a drink. I also got a soda for Dominic. "Thanks" he popped open the soda and took a long gulp like it was water and he was in a desert for two months.

Can he even breathe when he drinks like that? "Are you a fish?" I blurted. He slowly set his soda down and looked at me like I grew 15 heads. "You were just drinking a lot. And- I don't know. Like fish can breathe underwater and stuff. And- I don't know" I muttered.

Dominic laughed, then looked at me before laughing some more. "Okay. This is the second time" my head snapped to the back door where Shane was walking in. "You should be banned from coming into the kitchen with my best friends" he stated, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

I smiled and kissed his cheek. "Dominic was just telling me how he's half fish" I informed Shane. Smiles grew on both mine and Dominic's face, whereas Shane looked more confused than teenagers in math class.

"Dom" my eyebrows furrowed in confusion when Dominic said his own name. "You can call me Dom" he told me with a small smile.

I returned the gesture. "Okay, Dom. We're gonna go cause I gotta tell Shane something" I stated, already dragging my mate out the kitchen.

Shane let out a sound of surprise when I started pulling him. "Wrap it before you tap it!" Dom shouted from inside the kitchen. I froze outside the door and Shane started chuckling next to me. "Cover your blaster to avoid disaster!" he shouted another phrase. "Don't make a mistake, cover your snake!" God. How many of these does he have?

"For your information!" Shane shouted, but opened the door at the same time. "If I didn't cover my snake, we would not make a mistake. That baby would be gorgeous and treasured" Shane informed him. I couldn't help but slightly blush and grin at my mate.

I knew he would be a good father. "Cap that seeder before you breed her!" And the moment is ruined. Rolling my eyes, I started to pull my mate again. I could faintly hear Dom shouting more phrases about Shane wearing a condom.

We stopped at the stairs. "I don't know where your room is" I stated. Shane nodded and he started dragging me along like I did to him. We got to a door and like a gentleman, he opened it to let me in first. I looked around, seeing that it was a typical guy's room.

I laughed when Shane went to his bed to quickly fix the sheets that were messed up from him sleeping in it. "Sorry. I wasn't exactly planning on you coming in here" he stated. "Not that I don't want you in here" he said quickly after. "I mean, mating would be fun and everything. And I know we're not gonna do that right now. Wait- are we? Was Dom right?" he ranted.

"We're not" I said. Shane relaxed from his slightly panicked state. It was kinda cute seeing him get flustered over us mating. "Um... I just wanted to talk to you about Ty" I stated.

Shane slowly sat down on the bed and was staring at his lap. "When?" he blurted. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Wait- no. I don't care when. But why? I thought that you actually had feelings for me. I'm gone one fucking day, then- fuck" he cursed. He buried his hands in his hair and slightly tugged.

I quickly went to his side and took his hands in mine. "Shane. We didn't- I didn't sleep with Tyson. Nothing happened with us. I swear to you, nothing happened with him" I said softly. Why does he keep thinking that I'm gonna cheat on him?

"I heard that you guys spent all day together" he whispered, untangling his fingers from mine.

Seeing that he didn't want me touching him caused a pang in my chest. "We did. But we were just hanging out. We got to know each other, he's pretty cool" I stated. Shane took a deep breath and ran a hand down his face. "Do you really think that I would cheat on you?" I asked quietly.

Almost a full minute passed and he hadn't said anything. I dug my front teeth into my bottom lip to keep it from trembling. Without a goodbye, I left the room. I quickly wiped my cheeks once the door closed behind me. I ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. Dom was still inside and he frowned once he saw me. "You okay?" he asked.

I mustered up a smile and nodded my head. "I just need some air" I said quickly. I went out the back door and I bumped right into a chest. I blinked and moved my head up to look at the person. "Excuse me" I blurted, moving around him.

Wiping my face, I forced my feet to move faster. "Hey. Wendy!" he called after me. I was suddenly spun around, and I looked anywhere but at him. Tears were streaming down my face and I probably looked horrible with blotchy red eyes. "Where you going?" he asked.

I shook my head and turned away from him. "Ted right?" I asked. In my peripheral vision, I saw him nod his head. "Do you think I would cheat on my mate?" I questioned.

"I don't know you that well" he answered honestly. "Tyson should just about be done with patrol. I can take you to him, and he can take you home" he told me. I sniffled and nodded my head. "Right this way" he made a weird gesture with his hands.

After thanking him, we both started walking.

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"I'll make sure to get everything sorted so you can officially join the pack" Tyson assured me. I nodded my head as we entered Ralph's house. I decided not to go to Sarah's house. I didn't want to tell Sarah about what happened, so I'm staying with Ralph for tonight.

I thanked Tyson again, smiling at him. I already told him about what happened between Shane and I. Tyson got mad, but he told me that Shane's suspicions were justified. I don't know what I did to make Shane think that I would ever even cheat on him. However, Tyson said that jealousy could do unthinkable things to people's minds. It's not fair, but I can't really blame him.

I spent the whole day with my mate's best friend. In my defense, Shane was busy and it's not like he made an effort to hang out with me. What was I supposed to do in the first place? Did he expect me to sit around Sarah's house 24/7? "How long do you think she'll be like that until she realizes we're staring?" I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Ralph and Maddi.

Ralph gave me a smile as Maddi watched me with her eyebrows furrowed. "What did Shane do?" she inquired. Just hearing his name made my walls break down. The tears started again as I threw myself into my cousin's arms. He quickly wrapped his arms around me and I felt Maddi rub my back. "Come on. We still have four tubs of Oreo ice cream" she informed me.

I nodded my head in Ralph's chest and we started walking. My cousin kept an arm around my shoulders and pressed a kiss to the side of my head. I quickly went through my story with them with a shaky voice. Tyson was leaning against the wall, listening in along with Maddi and Ralph.

"Yup. Ice cream is definitely needed" Maddi stated once I was finished talking. She took out four tubs of Oreo ice cream, all unopened. She threw a spoon at each of the guys and handed me mine. "I don't understand why he doesn't trust you" Maddi mused as she put a huge scoop of ice cream in her mouth.

The woman is small, but she can eat ice cream like its potato chips. "It's not like you did anything bad to him. Right?" Ralph questioned, opening up his own tub of ice cream.

I shook my head as I began to eat. I didn't do anything bad to him. But it's possible that he might feel hesitant to trust me because of the Mark. I did spend the day with Tyson. However, there isn't anything that I've done to even make Shane think that I would cheat on him. There was that whole incident in the kitchen. But we were just laughing about octopi and Tyson spitting his soda out. Then it happened again with Dominic. Shane didn't get as mad that time, but I could tell that he was jealous and a little mad. That was just stupid of him. Dominic is an Alpha and he is happy with Janessa- his mate.

Stupid mate. Just because I'm talking to someone and laughing, doesn't mean that I did anything with them. "Wendy. You're doing that thing with your face again" Ralph informed me. I rolled my eyes and ate another bit of ice cream. "Just forget about your mate for tonight. We can eat some more junk food and watch a movie. Ty can take the couch if he wants to stay the night" my cousin offered.

I nodded in agreement and looked to Tyson to see what he wanted to do. "I'll stay over. I might start a fight with Shane if I go to the house tonight" he said honestly. I smiled at him and we continued to eat our ice cream. "Hey. You guys wanna know a fun fact about female octopi?" he questioned.

A grin made its way on my face as we both looked at Ralph and his mate. Before they had a chance to answer, the sound of crying rang in my ears. "Ty. You can tell them. I'll go get Clara" I stated. I hopped off the bar stool and made my way upstairs. I went into Clara's nursery where she was crying in her crib. "Hi, sweetheart" I cooed as I picked her up.

Remembering that she didn't like being cradled, I held her so that her face was by my shoulder. I had one hand under her bum to hold her up. I softly hushed her while rocking my body side to side. "Did you know that you're named after my mother?" I asked softly. I probably looked like a crazy woman talking to a baby. "She was a wonderful woman" I continued. "She was so brave and strong. She would've loved you" I mumbled. It's true. My mother absolutely adored kids. She was destined to be a mother. And she was a damn good one.

I looked up to the sky with a small smile, hoping that she was somehow watching over me.

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I have nothing to say.

Kayyyzzz Byeeezzz

~A.J.