Ezra Harland's PoV:

"Damn," I sigh, falling back on the bed.

After driving for a couple of hours, we'd finally reached the Hillbridge University this morning. The college itself was a looming, giant old-ass building that looked like it belonged somewhere in the 16th century, built more like a castle rather than a college. I'd been surprised when we'd stepped in, coz the interior was relatively modern compared to the fire-lit torches and stone carved statues I was expecting.

C'mon, stop giving me that look, you can't blame me, the exterior gave that impression.

We'd been welcomed by fake-smiling human volunteers at the entrance, who'd ushered to the reception and helped us check in and receive our dorm keys. Since the Gotham dorms - I know, I know, I cracked up when I heard that too - were full of single rooms, it was co-ed.

And we all got adjacent rooms.

I tried not to make a scene when I realized our rooms were next to each other's.

You can't blame me, no one wants to hear their brother and best friend getting at it all night.

Now my slaves - ahem, my friends are carrying my boxes into my room.

Yes, I'm still getting the royal treatment because they think I've not gotten over my hatred for college yet.

Truth is, I've been convinced and okay with it for a while now.

I've just not told them about it, since, you know, it's nice for once to be given everything before you even open your mouth to ask for it.

"You liar!" Micajah yells all of a sudden, snapping me out of my thoughts. He throws the box he was holding with much force than necessary, letting it thud to the floor as he stalks forward, almost growling as he paces towards me. I'm disoriented and confused for two whole seconds before it finally dawns on me what he's talking about.

Fûck, busted. I let it slip up in my thoughts once again.

"I didn't lie," I protest, shaking my head with a roll of my eyes as I sit up, "It was just an omission."

"What's going on?" Seneca asks as she enters with yet another box of items — I seriously don't have a freakin' clue what shit they packed, but it seems like a lot of shit,  but her confusion morphs into anger in a moment. She'd probably looked into Micajah's head and realized what had just happened.

Unlike her Mate, she doesn't throw the box around. Instead, she calmly stacks it on top of the box Micajah just man-handled, turning to slowly look at me with a poker face.

Ahh, there's the Alpha I love and hate.

Basically, between Seneca wielding her poker face and Micajah looking like he might bite my head off, both of them convey one message with their crossed-arms posture, which is nothing but varying levels of, "I'm so pissed at you right now".

Seneca a bit more than Micajah, if you hadn't already figured that out.

I let out a dramatic sigh, "C'mon guys, I was just worried about the Pack now that all three of us are here." I fib, unable to meet their accusing eyes as I run my hand through my hair in a quick motion, hoping that would distract them enough to forget that they're pissed off at me.

No such luck.

"That was the dumbest lie ever, Ezra." Seneca snaps, calling me out on it like I'd known she would, "You know damn well as I do that we don't have any threats or enemies to be worried about, and Delta David and Skylar can very well take care of the basic necessities, plus, we'll be going home every couple of weeks and in between terms and during all those numerous human holidays."

I focus on the pattern of my sneakers, remaining silent. They look awfully interesting in this moment. 

She sighs, all traces of previous anger vanishing from her body in an instant. Her shoulders droop forward, almost in defeat as she makes her way to the bed, sitting beside me, "Now, spill." She cajoles softly, looking up at me with her big grey eyes filled with concern.

"It's nothing," I turn my head away, trying to escape her probing gaze, only to meet blue eyes resembling mine mirroring the same expression on the other side.

Goddess, when did he even sit beside me!?

"We know you wouldn't have lied just like that, Ezra." Micajah insists, pursing his lips, "No matter what people think, you're not that guy. The one who seeks attention without a cause."

That pushes me over the edge.

"I am, alright!?" I burst out, getting into his personal space. His eyes flare in surprise, but I barely register anything around me as I force myself to back the fück down,  "I am that guy!" I yell, pushing up to stand and taking a few steps away, trying to put a distance between us.

"No, you are not!" Micajah thunders back, fuming with the white hot anger that radiates in pissed off waves off him as he too, stands up, telling me without words that he isn't backing down either, "I am the reason for this! I came bulldozing into your lives and took the only person you had away from you! And now you're beating yourself up over the fact that you want to spend some time with your best friend, but you think it's wrong!" He grabs me by the arm, twisting me with sheer force to face him, "Let me tell you one thing, It's not. She was your friend before my Mate! You have every frigging right to just frigging say that you feel like a third wheel!" He jabs a finger in the air before me, and I flinch, feeling like I'd just been stripped bare and laid out in front of them without my defenses.

I swallow, looking away guiltily as I cross my arms, trying to act nonchalant.

Several moments of awkward silence pass.

"I told you to stay out of my head," I say weakly, finally looking up at him.

Micajah stares back at me, his normally present 'I-laugh-at-lame-jokes' humor absent, "I'm telling you again, brother. It's not." He enunciates firmly, grabbing both my arms and forcing me to look at him, at the sincerity and worry evident as day, "I'm sorry I didn't realize you'd been this affected before, I know I should've realized sooner —"

"Goddess, Aleph boy, stop making me sound like a damn whiny son of a —"

"Both of you, stop." Seneca's quiet, tormented voice cuts through our voices like a whip cracking the air, effectively silencing us.

I glance up in surprise, only to see Seneca looking at me like she'd just killed my puppy.

Oh, for goddess' sakes! This is not what I had in mind when I'd agreed for college!

"C'mon, Seneca! Stop looking at me like that! I'm fine, okay?" I insist, rolling my eyes at her melodrama.

"I . . . I uh, gotta grab a coffee," Micajah mumbles, cutting into the conversion as he quickly spins around to leave the room before I can protest.

The hell?

Frankly, I'm getting tired of all this bullshit, "It's not like you left me all alone and ran away with that nerd to make hundreds of nerd babies." I grab her elbow, subtly turning her and her suppressed attempt at a smile to face me, "It's been a hectic year with all the changes and I just missed you, okay? It's not your fault at all. And neither is it his. I know you've done everything to make me a part of everything you do, but sometimes it's more the fact that I haven't found my Mate, rather than feeling like a third wheel, you know?"

Seneca exhales, finally meeting my eyes with reluctant understanding.

A year ago, we'd almost had a similar conversation on one of our morning trainings, about our Mateless status, well, not exactly a conversation since she'd barely said five words, but that had been five words more than what she'd been used to communicating at that time.

Which was nothing at all.

Thinking back on how finding a Mate has only brought out the best in my friend makes me wanna crave it even more.

"I still am at fault," When I open my mouth to protest, she cuts me off with a glare, "You've been stretching yourself too thin lately with all the responsibilities you've voluntarily undertaken, and I should've suspected that your lying ass was up to something." She shakes her head, her lips pulling into a grim line, "Guess I thought you were too bored or something, I can't believe I've been so blind. I'm truly very sorry, Ezra." She looks into my eyes, like was peering into the deepest and darkest depths of my soul, "I'll do my best to make sure this never happens again."

"Aw, aren't just a ball of emotions?" I coo, pinching her cheek, hoping the crack would make light of the situation.

It doesn't.

Damn, I think I'm losing my touch.

"Tell me you forgive me," She says earnestly, still not breaking her nerve-wracking gaze from mine.

"Goddess, save me from this stubborn-ass woman!" I curse, unable to curb yet another roll of my eyes, and she still looks at me expectantly, "Yes! I forgive you, you daughter of a stone! Happy now?"

She grins, so wide and bright, an image of her younger, carefree self — before her dickwâd of a father ruined everything — flashes before my eyes, momentarily blindsiding me, and I'm once again struck by how much love can change a person.

Makes me wonder if I'll ever find something like that.

Guess I'll have to just wait it out.

"C'mon, Beta Ezra. Let's go and find this Mate of mine having 'coffee' somewhere. After that, we've gotta draft a schedule for some Seneca-Ezra time everyday."

I laugh, following her out.

~*~

We follow Micajah's unique Alpha-ish scent all the way across the huge campus, the trial finally leading us to a cafeteria sort of a diner there. The strangest thing is though, I feel like I should be walking in that direction. Like, Micajah has somehow found some sort of a slice of heaven on earth, and I must find out what it is.

Hm, nice.

The place is small, with a dark wood exterior and warm brown interior, with round tables crowded with wooden stools and antique rugs in colors of rustic reds and bronzes. All of it somehow works together to give it a mighty homey feel.

I could get used to this.

We spot Micajah sitting on a table at the end, partially covered by the wood carved divider thingy, making it the only table that offers the maximum privacy in here.

Seneca growls beside me, and only then do I realize that he's not alone.

A silhouette of a girl's head is visible through the craved openings in the divider,  since she has her back to it, and Micajah is replying animatedly to whatever she just said with grin the size of Texas splitting his face. He's so immersed in the conversation that his wolfy senses haven't alerted him to our presence yet.

Or maybe not.

He looks up immediately, his smile becoming impossibly wider as he beckons us over with a wave.

'C'mere, and meet this person!' He says excitedly through the telelink. His excitement must be contagious, or he is doing some mind control mojo, because I feel like I have to meet the person.

Like now.

Somehow, the fact that he isn't his slightly withdrawn self with the stranger he's talking to piques my curiosity even more, and the pull to just go there becomes impossibly stronger.

"Oh, c'mon, Seneca!" I grab the sleeve of her shirt, dragging her in my brother's direction, "Let's go meet my future girlfriend," I crack, making her roll her eyes at my jest as she reluctantly follows me, "Not funny, Ezra. Not when your Mate is waiting for you."

"Sure, sure." I shake my head, feeling Seneca slip into her normal, very withdrawn and cold self as we near the table.

Goddess, some things can't be changed.

"Hey," She greets once we reach them, leaning across me as she bends down, pulling Micajah into a suck-fest.

Gah. Alphas and their pissing contests.

I avert my eyes from the horrific sight I've been living with for a year, finally giving in to the growing need I've been fighting all along, turning to meet the eyes of the newcomer.

Several things register in my brain at the same time at that moment, making it the single most anticipated and life-turning point of my life.

1. She's impossibly beautiful, like the kind of beauty you see in the covers of air-brushed magazine covers and not in a tiny café like this.

2. She's a Wolf. An Alpha or an heir in the least, about to take over.

3. She's the person I've been waiting for all my life, the person on whom I had the biggest crush ever for the longest time, and my Mate.

My Soulmate.

Ir's safe to say that I just got the wind knocked out of me.

~*~

Random Question: Are all of you reading this book after She is my Alpha, or is anyone reading this book as a standalone?

DEDICATED TO @bloomai245 ! THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT!

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