Ezra Harland's PoV:

After Nyah washes up in what's my room—in the second floor—whenever we stay over at this house, she comes out, closing the door shut with a silent click behind her. Her chocolate hair flies around her in slow motion when she quickly turns around, falling back into its exact place a moment right after.

Man, she takes my breath away even while closing doors.

The red strapless dress she has on clings to every single curve provocatively, the material flowing over her like molten silk. It swishes and refolds itself around her with every move she makes, moulding itself to her like the material was literally in love with her creamy-soft skin, too.

Yes, I know it's that soft because I got to touch her. Yay, for me. I know.

'Yeah, right. It was like two seconds.' My Wolf barks, and I have to agree with him because it's true.

I can't do anything about it, either. Karma is definitely a bitch because all those times I interrupted Seneca and Micajah's romantic moment is now biting me back in the ass.

If I'd been forewarned of the consequences, I'd have been as discreet as a mother-effing chameleon in the woods.

'Cause then maybe the universe wouldn't conspire against me to ruin my barely-there romance.

"Ready to go?" I smile, hoping like hell to break this huge iceberg of awkwardness between us.

"Yeah." Nyah exhales, "I have to find Alessia. Thanks for helping me out—"

"Whoa, wait. Not so fast." I interject, raising my hands, "I'm coming with you to find her."

"Um, you are?" She looks super confused now, with her nose all scrunched up and eyebrows wrinkled in a cute manner.

My Wolf just went 'awww'.

I kinda did a little, too.

"Yes, this is a huge house and there are a lot of people. In this sea of perfume and pheromones, I'm sure it's almost impossible to track her scent either and obviously if she would respond to you through the tele-link, you wouldn't be so worried. So, all this equals to . . ." I raise my eyebrows for emphasis, shrugging, "You could definitely use some help."

Nyah is silent for a moment, scanning my face carefully. She looks more wary than suspicious, if you ask me. The difference is minute, but I'd say that's a big improvement. Finally, she nods a little bit. "Yeah, I guess I could. Thanks."

"Pleasure to lend a hand to the Alpha." I grin, doing a slight bow, making her press her lips together to control a chuckle, no doubt.

Yes, mission accomplished.

"M'lady." I do a sweeping gesture in the direction of the stairs, and Nyah shakes her head as if to say without words that my antics were absolutely ridiculous, making me chuckle and follow her with a skip to my steps.

This girl really is messing with my head.

~

After twenty minutes of exploring every inch of the first floor, we'd come up empty and gone back down to the ground floor, where she was still nowhere to be found. Finally, we'd found Alessia Clarke in the middle of a heated game of beer pong in the basement.

Yikes, this woman is damn competitive.

We hadn't gotten to see much, though. Just as we'd stepped closer, Alessia'd thrown her last shot, landing it clearly and making the other team go 'boo'. Alessia and her partner, some blond guy, high-five and fist-bump and do a whole lot of complicated hand-shake thingys as they whoop and gloat over their victory.

On second examination, the guy looks awfully familiar.

Uh-oh, it's only my least favorite person on the planet.

Alpha Chance freaking Parker.

Aka, the guy who bullied my brother all throughout his life and made him miserable.

Just as me and Nyah step right next to Alessia, Nyah goes stiff. Not like a little bit because she's uncomfortable with Alessia's overly friendly behavior, but as if something really big was bothering hr.

I have a gut feeling that Chance's got something to do with that.

"Alessia?" Nyah calls, finally dragging their attention to us. Alessia turns to Nyah and me with an excited grin to share her victory, but Chance goes a bit pale when he sees me standing right there.

Well, that's new. Usually his face twists into a gnarly look as he prepares to launch a verbal grenade.

"Uh, hello. Beta Ezra." Chance nods at me politely, surprising me even more, "And hello . . . Alpha Pineda, right?"

Nyah nods at him with a forced smile, "Yes, and I apologize, but I don't believe we've met before."

"Ah, that's unnecessary. Yes, we haven't met. I only recognized you because I know of you from friends. I'm Chance Parker, by the way."

"Oh, nice to meet you, Alpha Parker." Nyah extends a hand which he seems slightly taken aback by, but he accepts it nonetheless. "You, too."

And then his eyes move back to me, a pathetic expression of apology on his face. "Listen, Beta Ezra. I know all of you hate me, but I am not who I was. I'm extremely sorry for all that I did, and—"

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." I almost growl in response as I bare my teeth a little, getting closer to his face. "You know damn well who deserves that."

"I already did." Chance says forcefully, surprising me, "When he called to invite me, what do you think I did? Also, the moment I entered your place, I apologized once again to both your Alphas."

"Did he forgive you?" I cross my arms across my chest, narrowing my eyes into slits when Chance falls silent, looking down without reply.

"Well?" I prod, already knowing the answer, "Huh, that answers it." I twist around but he grabs my arms, refusing to let me go, "Please, wait. It's just, I just—"

"You what, Chance? Hurry the fuck up." I glare extra hard on purpose, tapping my foot impatiently.

Chance sighs, a sound that's pure regret and remorse, "The things I did, they can't be forgiven just like that. Heck, they can't be forgiven at all. I just don't want that to affect the relationship between our Packs."

When he put it like that, it wasn't that much of an unfair request.

The people of his Pack and his Mate don't deserve to be punished for a single man's actions.

"Yes, we're not petty enough to revoke our alliance. So, chill the fuck out. Speaking of packs, I heard you found your Mate. Your guy Mate. Is he here?" I purse my lips, making a show of glancing around as I try hard to control a smug smirk.

Because, no matter what, I don't wanna come across as some sort of homophobic bully. Goddess knows that the world has enough of that.

Chance goes red at that, looking down a bit too shyly. Who is this new guy in the place of 'Chance: The Asshole' and what has he done with him? "Yes, last year. No, he couldn't come. I—"

"That's what it is!" Nyah yells accusingly all of a sudden, and I turn to her in surprise. I only realize now that she'd been standing there all along, listening to us talking about shit that doesn't concern her. In my bad blood with the guy, I'd almost forgotten the presence of my Mate.

He really does bring out the worst in everyone.

"What is?" Chance looks lost, glancing at me for guidance. I shrug as I'm clueless, too.

"Your Mate. He's my brother, isn't he? You smell like him. From the moment I stepped near you, I've been thrown off. His scent is all over you, yet he's nowhere to be seen. If it's this strong and if he's not even in close proximity, then he must definitely be your Mate." Nyah's mocha eyes burn as her face twists in rage, anger rolling off of her in palpable waves, "Where is he? Obviously he didn't come here today because he knew there was a chance of running into me. Where's he hiding?"

Whoa, what the heck is this new shitty turn in events?

Estevan and Chance?

In no way on earth did I see that one coming!

Chance looks dumbfounded, surprising me. He raises his hand, trying to stop Nyah's continuos flurry of words. Finally, when she stopped, he speaks up. "Eh, first of all, there are lots of same-sex couples out there, so please don't assume that just because my Mate is a guy, it might be your brother. Second of all, if an Alpha heir is my Mate, albeit one who was banished, I would know. Third of all, he only couldn't come because he had lots of work to do, and lastly, his name is Alejandro Hernández, not Estevan Pineda."

He really does sound genuine. Either the guy's gotten way better at lying than he'd been, or I'd just underestimated him.

Then again, he'd hidden his identity for years behind the mask of a bully. He's better at lying than I give him credit for.

One eyebrow slants up, and Nyah is smirking fully now as if she's thoroughly amused, "I don't know what you think of me, Alpha, but I'm not dumb enough to make an accusation like that just because you're gay, too. I know my brother's scent and I know that that's what's on you. And if you're so sure that he's not my brother, why don't you show me a picture of your man?"

"I have to agree with Nyah on that," I pipe up in support, nodding. "She can't have mistook her own brother's scent. She'd been living with him all her life."

"She must've anyway, because there's no other explanation for this. I can prove it to you guys." Chance pulls his phone out and swipes through his gallery before pulling an image up, "Here you go."

Nyah snatches the phone from his hand with a simper that suggests she's sure of what she is going to be shown. I step closer, curiosity getting the better of me. There's a dark-haired guy standing beside Chance in it and the two of them are sporting huge grins as they look at the camera, but he definitely doesn't look like an older version of the Estevan I remember. Shit. On first glance at the picture, the leer slips of my Mate's face, replaced by a disbelieving look, which then morphs into a scowl.

"This is not your Mate. Look at you, you guys are standing so far apart it's so clear that you're bros. There's no chemistry, whatsoever." Nyah glowers, throwing the device back at Chance, who catches it easily.

I don't know what to believe now, so I stay silent.

"Yes, he is." Chance glares, looking a bit annoyed, "I was in the closet back then. So we didn't want to give our secret away."

Nyah still looks unconvinced, "You gave your phone to me with the 'Guided Access' mode on. Which means you don't want me to swipe through and see other photos of you and your real Mate, who's my brother."

Chance laughs heartily at that, throwing his head back for good measure, "You're accusing me now for using guided access? That's just something many people do while giving their phones to others. It doesn't mean I'm hiding stuff. Just that I like my privacy."

He sounds so convincing that I can almost believe his story. The guy is damn talented at this fibbing business.

Nyah shakes her head, her glare slightly wavering on her features, too. She's probably also realized that despite knowing the truth, she can't make accusations without backing them up. "Say what you may, Alpha Parker. I have a gut feeling that something fishy is going on here. I will get to the root of it."

Chance shrugs carelessly, shoving his phone back into his pocket with a smile, "Sure, Alpha Pineda. You can snoop all you want. I just can't allow you access into my territory any time soon, considering your attitude. Our pack is just recovering from life-threatening injuries to our beloved warriors in the rogue attack last week. I don't want you badgering my people in their vulnerable state."

Nyah was silent for a few seconds, understanding the truth in his words that it would be incredibly insensitive of her to pry people in their current state. In the lingering silence between the Alphas, I finally decide to speak up. "I can't believe you didn't call us in your time of need."

"Well, uh, you couldn't have arrived fast enough at the last moment, either. I should've done the right thing and apologized a while ago. Then we could've planned in advance and avoided a lot of carnage." Chance mumbles ruefully, looking down in shame. "I thank the Goddess everyday that no lives were lost."

"It's alright, man. Just know that we would never turn away anyone in their time of need. We just don't roll that way." I place a palm on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze, "Chin up, cap'n! Just make sure that this never happens again."

"The worst thing is, I know." He smiles sadly, meeting my eyes with his sorrowful brown ones, "I know that you guys would never turn me away. I just . . . I just couldn't do it."

"Alright. Shit happens for a reason. Take it with a pinch o'salt and move on." I give him another rough tap on his back, "Now you've come to Alpha Seneca's party. So, chill out and have fun."

"Thanks, man." Chance grins slightly, taking a step back. "I'm really glad we talked this out." He turns to the two girls, giving them a little salute, "You too, Alpha Nyah. And thanks for the game, Alessia."

"Alpha Parker," Nyah calls just as he's about to fade out of earshot. He turns around and walks back a little, looking at her inquisitively. "Yeah?"

"Nothing. Tell my brother that I love him. I'm angry enough to kill him, but I still haven't forgotten the promise I made him. I'm glad that he has you." Nyah's smile hurts my heart. "I miss him."

Chance looks stricken by her words, too. Still, he shakes his head, slowly taking a few steps back as he walks away in reverse, "I'm tellin' ya, Ms. Pineda. I don't know where your brother is."

With that, Chance Parker walks away. 

"I'm really sorry, but I . . ." Nyah's voice breaks a little, but she maintains her composure like a queen, "I really have to go now."

"I understand." I sigh, swallowing the urge to pull her into my arms and comfort her, to just remove all this pain she's feeling, "Let me see you to the door."

"No, please." Nyah looks at me with dry red eyes, and every fibre of my being is pushing at me to deny, deny, deny, to just wrap her up and take care of her, "But, Nyah. I—"

"Just please. I'll go." She shakes her head, refusing to look at me.

"Alright." I nod at Alessia, giving her a silent plea to take care of my Mate, "Drive safe."

"Thank you. See you tomorrow." With those words, my Mate walks away with a half-drunk best friend in tow, hurrying out so quickly that she's almost gone in the blink of an eye.

"See you, too." I mumble a moment later to the empty space she just was at, wondering if I'd just made a mistake.

Maybe I should've forced her to stay here and made sure she's alright.

Then, again. She doesn't exactly enjoy my company, either. I'd have just made things worse for her, right?

Right.

Then why is my heart saying that I should've just said 'fuck it all' and tied her up to my bed until she feels better?

Fuck you, heart.

~ * ~ 

Question: Is Chance lying or not? Is Estevan acting as Alejandro and lying so well that even Chance doesn't know? Or is Chance's Mate really someone else?

DEDICATED TO @coeurcache !

Hunter Parrish cast as Chance Parker. Pic above^

NEXT UPDATE: June 29.

Thanks a lot, my super-cool readers! I love you all for the amazing support that's getting this book higher and higher everyday. 

If you're enjoying Ezra's story, please do

VOTE, COMMENT & FAN! :) <3