A/N: I promise. I am working on this story. However, I have been working on others more. If you want me to update this before I actually do, feel free to tell me to update, but please give me about three days to do so.

Thanks

~Rissa

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As soon as Vincent left, my mate sighed with relief and leaned against me. I rubbed her arm and watched as she closed her eyes.

"Goddess, I hate him," she said with a small huff while she rubbed her face and grimaced. "Do you know how much I hate him?" she asked.

"Yes," I confirmed and nodded, a little amused. I rubbed her arm some more and placed a kiss on her cheek, and she closed her eyes and went, "hmph." "You have told me that many times." I rubbed her arm again, hoping that it would relieve some of her stress.

She sighed and cleared her throat. "I don't like him leaving like that," she said, and she groaned while she stayed in my arms. "I don't like him having this freedom and being around our pack members."

"I know," I said, "but he is being followed by two guards, so he can't do anything without them knowing."

"Or he could," she grumbled. She cleared her throat and licked her lips, growing serious. "Do you two think any differently about me?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She opened her eyes and stared at me before she looked at Mike.

Pain filled her eyes, and it broke my heart to see her looking at us like that, even though what happened wasn't her fault.

She was a child herself and hadn't known the people that wanted her to go with them.

Mike scoffed and rolled his eyes, also annoyed with her question. "What for?" he asked, letting her hear the annoyance in his voice. He glanced at me when I growled a low warning before he looked at my mate. "You were just a little girl. Why would you go with someone when you didn't know them?"

She shrugged and didn't respond. Her whole body was tense, and I could tell that what her father had said did not help her anxieties at all.

I pressed my lips to the back of her neck, and her whole body grew stiff while her heart skipped a beat before it started to pound faster. I kept a hold of her and did not let her go because I wanted her to know that I still loved her no matter what.

Gently, I started to rub her arm with one hand and waited for her to relax and lean against me.

"Move your lips, and then I'll relax," she said, her voice breathless and shaking slightly.

I smiled and pressed the kiss closer against her neck before I pulled away. I kept her in my arms and continued to rub her arm, and she slowly started to relax against me.

"What about you?" she asked and looked at me. Her green eyes were filled with more silver, and she looked at me through guarded eyes as if she did not know what I would think. "Do you think any differently of me?"

I shook my head no. "What he said didn't change anything," I promised. "Like Mike stated, you were just a little girl. You weren't going to go with some stranger because they claimed to know your biological father, who you had never met, might I add."

"Bu-"

"No, Beth," I said, interrupting her. "It didn't change my mind about you. I know who you are and who you want to be. What happened in the past is in the past, and that is where it should stay."

Beth frowned and cocked her head while she studied me. Her brows were furrowed, and she looked so worried and afraid that it broke my heart.

I cupped her face with one hand, leaned closer to her, and gently kissed her lips, and she kissed me back instantly. I didn't say a word while I kissed her, letting her know that I was proud of her and that I wasn't upset that she hadn't gone with them to save her family.

Bethany Ann pressed her lips against mine and silently told me 'thank you' before she pulled away, stopping the kiss. She stayed silent while she stared at me, her eyes searching for secrets that she thought I hid.

I stayed silent and let her see that I still loved her and everything, and I didn't care that she didn't go with them. I let her see that she was the one that I wanted to be with, and nothing could change that, not even some dick wanting to take over my pack.

"Awwww," Mike said, and we looked at him. He grinned and swooned, and I raised an eyebrow at my best friend. "You two are so cute together," he said. "When are there going to be some mini yous running around?"

Bethany Ann's face turned red, and she ducked her face into my chest. She didn't say a word and gently slapped my chest when I chuckled.

"It won't happen until they leave," I said. "Or at least until Vincent is dealt with."

Mike pouted and wrinkled his nose, and I could tell that he didn't like our answer. "And when is Vincent going to be dealt with?" he asked, and we looked at each other and shrugged before we looked at him.

"He hasn't made a threat to the pack directly," I said. "I am still under obligations to "host" his pack for the time being."

"We should snoop and see why he has to be here in the first place," Mike grumbled and folded his arms across his chest while he bit his lip. "Like, is it just a Rogue problem, or is there something else that he doesn't want us to know?"

Bethany Ann and I looked at each other before we looked at Mike, staying silent but silently agreeing with him.

Mike looked between us and furrowed his brows, confused by our sudden silence. "What?" he asked and cocked his head. "What is it?"

"There could be something else..." I said and cleared my throat, agreeing with him. "Do you want to see if you can find something that he might be hiding?"

Mike blinked and blinked again, looking shocked that I agreed with him. "Uh... what?" he asked, and Chloe snorted and rolled her eyes. "What did you say?"

"He's asking if you want to look into it," Chloe said, "or if you want to see if there is anything else going on."

Mike blinked and blinked again while he looked at me and then at my mate. "Are you sure?" he asked, and Beth nodded in confirmation. "Do you re-"

"I nodded, Mike," Beth said, interrupting him. "Go ahead and see what you can find about him. I do not know what is going on, but we could probably use it against him."

"It could be dangerous," Mike warned. "Like dangerous towards you, Beth. Whoever he deals with could come and attack you because they now know who you are and where you are located."

Beth tucked her head closer to her chest and looked at him in a way that had him shifting nervously in his seat. "I have a pack that has my ass and then friends of different species. I am sure that if something tries to attack me, then I am protected."

"Not to mention that she is also able to fend for herself," I added and held her closer to me. "And I will not let anything bad happen to her when you start digging for information."

Beth bit back a scoff and leaned closer against me. "Stupid Alphas," she grumbled mockingly, and I snorted, amused. "All bark and sometimes no bite."

I placed a kiss on her mark, and her whole body grew stiff while her heart skipped a beat. "Are you sure?" I asked, breathing over the mark, and she involuntarily shuddered.

"Stop," she gasped out while she moved her head to the side so that I would have more access to it. "We have guests."

I chuckled and pressed another kiss to her mark before I looked at my beta couple, who were grinning from ear to ear. "See what you can find," I said. "Do not leave anything unturned. I want to know who he has been in contact with and why."

My mate relaxed against me and looked at them while they nodded.

"Will you two be doing the deed while we are looking into it?" Mike asked and wiggled his eyebrows with a small smile on his face.

I tightened my grasp around my mate but didn't do anything else, knowing full well what he was suggesting.

"No," Beth said, slightly breathless, and I had a feeling that she wanted to do it too but was holding back for some reason, and I made a mental note to ask her what was wrong. "We have guests to attend to. I think that they are wanting to go out of their rooms now that he is gone."

"But when everything is settled?" Mike asked and raised an eyebrow. "And he is dealt with? Will you do it then?"

"Maybe," she replied, and my heart skipped a beat before it grew warmer because I knew that it meant she trusted me. "But that is far into the future and not right now."

And it was a future that I couldn't wait to happen, no matter how long it took to get there.