Yo yo yo yooooo, its ya girl. Here's another chapter!

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"But how will we know if she's okay?" I argue as I exit the bathroom, biting at the beds of my nails. There's not much left to them now.

Micah pulls back the cover to his side of the bed. "Elias will inform me. I've got my phone off silent and regardless, he will be informing the beta family of my pack. My father will know by morning of how the night progressed and what course of action the two plan on taking from here." He slides into the bed as I continue to pace, making him sigh. "It's in their hands now, Athena."

"I'm just worried," I blurt, running a hand down my face. "She was so inebriated its not even funny, and literally moments before she was telling me she didn't like him. What if she's not okay?"

"Athena she will be fine. No wolf in history has died from one party pill, and her mate is right there to donate Alpha blood if anything should go slightly south—its almost like fate has her back on this one," he ends sarcastically, raising a brow in a slight joke before laughing fully at my complete seriousness. This isn't funny. "Mennison, I pray the goddess give you insight to such things. Look—the worst that will happen to Gia is maybe some community service for breaking pack rules. She's the Betas daughter and this is my pack, I'll know if anything bad happens and I'll inform you straight away. Come to bed and get some rest, we've got a long trip back tomorrow."

I stand for a moment longer, a million thoughts racing through my brain before I huff, stomping over to my side of the bed before sliding in, my back turned away from him. The pillow barrier we fashioned last night wasn't there anymore, neither one of us bothering to build it up.

I turn the lights off on the control next to the bed.

My reservations about the whole situation are not out of line. Gia hates the pack structure, how can I know she is totally cool with being a luna now? How do I know she doesn't feel like I would if Micah had've taken me to his home that day we met.

The illicit drugs probably indicate that she's not thinking of a lot right now.

But I want to go and make sure she's alright and prove that I'm completely wrong and I would be able to if it wasn't for—

Micahs warm hand finds the skin of my arm and he rubs it soothingly, the action making calm rush through my body. He leans a little closer, moving his body so that his head is just behind mine, the heat of his bare chest so close I feel it like the blanket over my skin."You're not mad at me, are you?" He asks hesitantly, his hand pausing with the question to lay just above my elbow.

I sigh again and shift, moving his hand from my arm. "It's fine. Let's just get some rest."

His hand returns but instead snakes around my stomach as he embraces me from behind, pulling me gently towards the heat of his body. "I'm sorry," he says tenderly, placing a light kiss on my shoulder. It makes me lose my breath. "I know it's confusing for you but there is only so much we can do. This has become a matter of pack politics and the lines are too blurry for us to navigate with the tensions so high. I promise you tomorrow we will visit Gia and Elias and you will see that all is fine."

My shoulders slump slightly, the last remnants of tension smoothing out. "Okay," I mummer.

He places another light kiss onto my shoulder and smirks into my skin, the feeling of his lips there killing me. "Do you forgive me?" He whispers into my ear, placing another kiss below it.

This is exactly what I was concerned about when it came to sharing a bed. This closeness, the comfortable nature that is implied with it. The fact that though logic is screaming at me to reject this, my heart denies its protests.

He pulls away again. "No? What else have I done to anger you?"

I shake my head but I realise that maybe I am still a little angry about something else. About someone else, more specifically—but I am not admitting that to him. No way.

"Nothing," I mummer and I think he's dropped it before he leans in once more, hugging me to his chest.

I feel his lips trace the skin beneath my ear.

"I can tell when your lying to me, Thea," he whispers, his voice shifting into a low and grumbly thing. "What's wrong?"

I think about the way that they smiled at each other, at how they embraced yet I wasn't even allowed to touch Elias and I feel anger bristle me. He and Sophia... she is who should be his mate, not me and the very fact makes me hate myself. He deserves that happiness, to smile and laugh and enjoy his life and yet this is his reality.

He looks at me with anguish and struggle and I return it by being as cold as I am now. I don't know that we've ever had an interaction with as much pure joy as the small one they had today.

He rests his face in the crook of my neck and sighs heavily, his body relaxing. "Talk to me," he begs in a whisper.

"It's not you," I mummer, touching his arm lightly before turning myself over, leaning on my side to face him. I can only see the outline of his strong features under the dim moonlight that enters the room. "I just... I just don't know how I'm feeling right now, it's hard to explain."

I shake my head and he gently tucks my loose hair behind my ear. "You don't have too," he concludes and I'm grateful because I don't want to.

He is here next to me, his eyes peering down at me, he's probably not even thinking about her. I think back to what he once said about Gabe, how our conversation ended on him bringing up the fact that I never told him I was mated. He told Sophia the moment he saw her, proudly showed me off... I don't think I would've felt great if he didn't.

"Do you remember that argument we had on the beach?" I say softly and his relaxed body shifts slightly.

"Yeah."

I bite down on my lip. "Tonight..." I don't even want to say it. I shouldn't say it, it's embarrassing. So I don't.

Instead I just place my hand onto his chest, right over his heart and I feel how it thunders, how nervous he is at whatever I might say. I roam my hand up and entangle it into his hair and he lets me, undecided on how to act for a moment before his hand wraps around my back and he pulls me to him.

How can I feel jealous when he holds me like this? When the moon and stars force him to feel this way for me and no other? Yet still, I want to claim those lips that smiled so tenderly at her, to make him smile and think only of me as horrible as it is to admit to myself.

I guide his head towards my own and he takes the hint, leaning down to capture my lips with his own. My body feels aflame and I part my lips slightly, allowing him to deepen the kiss. Every slight movement makes me feel so alive, makes sparks dance over my body and passion light up my blood.

He pulls back and a smile takes over his face, my hand now lingering on his cheek as I frown. He laughs, pecking me on the lips again. "What?" I ask, a smile of my own appearing just at the sound of his happiness.

"Were you actually going to sneak off with them and smoke pot tonight?" He asks me and I wish that the light was on so I could fully see his grin.

I don't really know how to respond to that. "Maybe," I mummer and he laughs again, leaning back down to peck my lips.

"You know I'm starting to think maybe I've got you all wrong, maybe you are just as much of a bad influence as those other trouble makers," he mummers into the skin of my neck, the side that doesn't explode with sparks.

His statement, low and grumbly, makes my core tighten and I bite down onto my lip once more before pulling back slightly. "Why is that so surprising?" I say, moving to plant a kiss on his neck. He lets a low breath escape his mouth and I smile at the way he looses all sense of himself with the simple action.

He smiles broadly. "You haven't got so much as a detention against your name."

I chuckle and my grin widens, the action so effortless around him."Maybe I'm just good at not getting caught," I say, a complete and utter lie. He is dead right, my record is clean because I have never so much as toed the line of disobedience around pack authorities.

I rest my fingers on his warm chest, exploring the hard surface and his palm finds my thigh, grabbing it gently.

His eyes glitter as he stares directly into my own and I notice slight gold flecks on the outer edge of his iris and I am so mesmerised that I don't register his movement until his soft lips rest over my own, igniting sparks through my veins. He draws me towards him as he guides me to lay plat, hovering over me and the way his lips move against my own, with such expertise, I wonder if he's done all this before.

I pull away briefly, a serious glint to my stare. "Just kissing." I confirm because despite the need that burns me, I can't go further, not when we leave for home tomorrow. Not that I would anyway.

He leans back down and kisses me and I feel his lips stretch into a smile."That's fine by me, Mennison." He gently kisses me before biting down softly on my lower lip, a silent question in the action. I open my mouth to the kiss and he moves swiftly with the permission I grant him, deepening the kiss like his life depends on it. Like the opportunity may never arise again.

His hand moves from my cheek to rest over my collarbone, his thumb grazing over the skin of my neck, his index connecting with that traitorous spot that makes my whole body feel aflame. The hand then moves down over the thin fabric of my clothes, gliding down my side to rest on my waist. The fact that he can even move while supporting himself on one hand... I pull back and glance at his bare chest, at the muscle looks like it was crafted from stone.

My cheeks burn and I can't help the sheepish grin that crosses my face. I can't believe I'm kissing someone like this. I can't believe I am kissing someone that looks like this. I can't believe I'm underneath him at all.

He laughs softly, pushing himself up a little higher so there is space between us. "What's got you blushing?" He questions, with a large, cocky grin and I swear he flexes his muscles on purpose, like he knows full well.

I grin. "Do you brush your teeth with flavoured toothpaste?" Shock befalls his face for an instant and then he's the one blushing before laughing. I make a face, contemplating for a moment. "Let me guess." I pull his face to my own again and place a kiss on his smiling lips. "Bubblegum."

He pulls back and tips his head back with laughter. "Bubblegum and fairy floss, actually. Do you like it?" I nod my head because oddly, it is nice and he stares at me like I am the entire universe. "You are so beautiful, I could look at you forever."

I believe him, because the way he stares at me it's like I am some sort of drug to him. "So are you," I reply honestly, he's far more beautiful than me, so handsome it's near deadly.

He nuzzles his head into my neck, the side that doesn't erupt and breathes deeply before placing another kiss there.

A phone buzzes next to us faintly and I turn my attention to it, breaking my contact from him. "Was that yours?" I ask and his hands hold me in place. "Maybe it's Elias," I say and he growls lowly, the sound catching me entirely off guard.

"Sorry," he mumbles, before the corner of his mouth lifts. "I'm not sure I like the sound of another male on your lips, not when I look at you like this." He lifts himself up so his rested one hand is fully extended before he lightly pecks my lips. "Better."

I go to move but he pulls my lips to his again. "It can wait, Thea," he says, my name almost a beg from his lips and I shiver before pulling back.

A laugh leaves my lips and I unwrap myself from underneath him, moving to my night stand as he does his. "It's me," I say and I open a message from Henry asking me to call him immediately, making my brows furrow in concern.

"Whats wrong?" Micahs hand is on my shoulder again but I move quickly from the bed. Something about just receiving a message from Henry makes me feel like he is here, like if he knew of the last few days he'd kill me.

I haven't even told him.

"I've just got to make a call," I say, ringing Henry's number the moment I stand up. He answers immediately.

"Athena," Henry says, relief filling his words and I move towards the door to the hall.

"Henry, what's up? Is everything okay?" I ask before my hand pauses on the handle. I turn back to Micah as he switches the light on. "Can you let me back in?" I ask him.

Micah yawns and nods. "Yeah," he says and I leave the room immediately.

"Who was that?" Henry asks, though he knows. I cringe, who else could it be?

"It's just Micah, there was this whole situation with the rooms and so we are sharing but it's fine. God I have a lot to tell you," I admit, my heart beating fast in my chest. "But what happened with you? Is everything alright?"

"Not really," he answers immediately as he sighs into the phone. "Its bad."

"What happened, Henry?" I press more firmly.

"It's Gabe, we both went out to a bar and had some drinks after our shift tonight and just hung out like we usually do. We didn't even have much, I had one beer that he brought for me and he had maybe two. But then these guys came in—wolves—the beta's son to be more specific." Gia's older brother, my stomach forms knots. "There was some conversation and it didn't end well."

His confession makes me want to die. I thought he was sick, what sick guy goes out and has a beer and gets into— "What happened?" I press. "What conversation, Henry you are killing me just spit it out."

"I don't want to," he complains. "Thea promise you won't be mad."

Promises to us were about as sacred as the goddess is to wolves. It must be bad. I inhale deeply. "I promise I won't be mad, just tell me."

He is silent on the other end for another moment. "Well one of them is a little older and he has a human mate who tried running. I tried to ignore the conversation but it was so loud, Thea, I couldn't not—we couldn't not." He sighs again. "And anyway he was just venting about it and I can tell it affected Gabe, especially when he boasted about getting her back despite the laws for his station. And then... then they started talking about you."

I dreaded the turn, closing my eyes shut as I try to calm myself. "They were rude, and they started talking about how all human mates should have to stay with their partners, not just for the higher ups and how the laws were unjust towards them and their sacred bond. And the beta started up about how you were going to fill the role of luna for Micah one way or another and then Gabe just snapped."

I think about my mate sat in the room, about what we were just doing. "What do you mean snapped?"

"He basically asked them if they would kindly shut the fuck up and quit talking about you. In fact he said that if he heard one of them speak your name again he'd make them regret it."

"Jesus, Henry. Why didn't you stop him? Where is he now? Is he okay?" I ask fervently.

"What do you think?" He responds sarcastically like right now is the time to do that. "He picked a damn fight with the future beta and his friends and now he's in pack detainment. I'm at the office with him and we are just waiting for the Gamma to come and assess the situation but I don't know... I thought maybe you could help."

Me? "Did things get physical?" I ask.

"Not really, Gabe shoved his chest and then they pretty much arrested him, one of the wolves was a cop that had just come off patrol so the car was outside and waiting. But he's refusing to use the provided lawyer and I figured... honestly I don't even know if there is anything you can do."

"I'll speak to Micah and see if I can help from my end and I'll text you with anything that can help. I can't come back until tomorrow, I have no transport." I tell him, sighing heavily.

"I get it, just—if there is something that you can do please do it. Otherwise I'll see you when you get back," he says and I nod, forgetting he can't see me.

"Okay, tell Gabe to not do anything stupid," I say.

"I will, bye Thea."

"Bye." I hang up the phone and stand still for a moment, processing it. Gabe is in jail for attacking the future beta over me. Maybe it was more his position on it all, an influence from what happened to his mom, but me being brought up obviously tipped him over the edge.

And what did the beta even mean? Fill the role for Micah one way or another and who is the human mate trying to get away?

Micah opens the door and rests against the door frame, his eyes full of concern. "Is everything alright?" He asks and I shake my head.

"Not really," I admit and I move past him into the room, all the lights now on as he closes the door behind himself. "Remember how you said you wanted to be Henry's friend? You might have a chance to win some brownie points."

He scrunches his brows further, folding his arms across his chest. "How? Why?"

I slump onto the bed, sitting down. It's so late and I am so tired. "Well Gabe got into a fight at a bar with Gia's brother and now he is in prison. Apparently, one of the Beta's friends has a human mate and they started up talking about how she tried leaving him and then I came into conversation and—it just got out of hand. Henry said Gabe just shoved him and was arrested which feels a little extreme but I don't know. Is there anything that you can do?"

His confusion had turned steely. "He did what?" He asks again, shaking his head. "Thea, I'm sorry but I really don't think that this guy is good news. Getting violent in a bar towards the future beta of this pack? It is up to the Gamma enforcers to decide the severity of his crime."

"It wasn't like that," I defend and he shoots me a look.

"You weren't there," he says and I am befuddled.

"Neither were you, you can't just take the side of the Beta without knowing the full story. Henry would've told me if it was anything more than a shove and he did warn them that he would do something if they didn't shut up."

"So he threatened them as well? Athena... I have done my research on him and he doesn't have a clean record. He's reckless and dangerous and I really don't trust him, call it intuition, call it what you want but this only furthers my belief."

I stand up from the bed, despite still being tired. "They were making comments about human mates that my friends found offensive on my behalf and so they asked them to stop."

His jaw clenches tightly. "I think that our opinions on offensive are going to differ greatly. I know those guys, and they would never say something disrespectful towards you—no wolf would but one with beta blood? I just find it incredibly hard to believe."

"Well I know my friends and they wouldn't say something if what they heard wasn't bad." Neither of us look like we are going to back down. "I know him and he is a good guy, he just talked back to the wrong people and that is what got him into trouble, not some crazy ultra violent personality."

Gabe has told me about his past, a few drag racing events gone wrong and a couple rough nights in college. Nothing that has permanently scarred his record or put him behind bars for an extended period of time.

"Yeah he did, it probably isn't wise committing a crime in front of a pack enforcer, or too one. Look Thea, I'd rather leave this in the hands of the authorities. I don't like the guy, I've been honest with you about that. He's shady, he's got a criminal record and him caring about you seems to always show up when he's voicing opinions that go against me and our bond. I want you to be safe and to protect what is rightfully mine, he clearly goes against that."

This isn't a concern for my safety, its insecurity.

"Oh so suppose I should also go and interrogate your friends then, if caring is enough to warrant a complete invasion of privacy," I press, making him scrunch his face in annoyance, like the idea is absurd when posed to him. "Should I hire a private investigator to look into the background of Sophia? She practically threw herself at you and wouldn't stop drooling the entire night. How is it that you can have friends that are clearly in love with you, friends that touch you, and I can't even have a completely platonic friendship with a colleague who cares?"

His face morphs into something that almost borders disgust. "Sophia and I have been friends since we were kids. She is not in love with me, maybe hugging her was an oversight considering we are not fully mated but it doesn't exactly stop you from going and hugging your male friends."

I let out an angered laugh. "You can't be serious. She so clearly thought that she was supposed to be your mate, any idiot could read love on her face. It's not even the fact that she hugged you." Though it did sting. "Its that she is in love with you, probably has been since you were a child and that's okay. That's fine. But me having a guy friend isn't?"

He narrows his eyes, like he finds my facts to be unbelievable. "How the hell do you think I feel about you and Henry?" He asks, his tone slightly raised. "Sophia isn't in love with me, she's about as devout to the goddess as they come and she respects the bond we share, cherishes mates. And even if she once harboured feelings for me, I have never seen her that way. I cannot physically imagine being with anyone else, to do so would go against everything that I am, it would make me feel ill. You don't have to worry about me the way I do you, our jealousy is entirely different."

I shake my head immediately. "I am not jealous. And don't you think that if Henry and I were to get together that we would have done it by now? We have had plenty of sleepovers and not once have we—"

The growl that passes through his lips feels like a threat and it makes me stop out of sheer fear. "Don't continue that," he says lowly, the warning clear as day. "It is hypocritical of you to judge my friendships. I won't deny the urges that I have to protect what is mine and despite the fact that you might, I won't deny my jealousy."

"I'm not—" I stop myself, reigning in my emotions. He is being logical, completely logical but to admit he is right means admitting that I can't have friends outside of him. That there is no one else. "I'm not jealous of her, what you and her choose to do is your business."

I can see the sting my words has through the shift in his expression. At the implication it makes — that I can do what I want and its my business. "Oh?" He says, sweet sarcasm dripping from his words. "So you wouldn't mind if me and Sophia had a sleepover?" He presses and I feel anger sprout inside me. "What if we spent every waking moment together, ate lunch with one another religiously, hung out despite her disliking you?"

The image of them sat together alone makes me want to scream, makes me feel... Micah moves closer to me. "Tell me, Thea. Humour me. If I were to leave here now and go and sleep beside her instead, how would that make you feel?"

It makes me feel jealous.

Searing, burning hot jealousy.

But my lips are clamped shut, even as he moves closer to me, reading every inch of conflict that crosses my face, making me hate myself even more. I'm an open book, I know he knows that I'm jealous, he just wants me to admit it, to satisfy his position in this argument. To prove a point.

I shake my head, holding my hand out and stopping him from getting any closer to me. "I don't see how this has anything to do with Gabe or Henry. You have no need to be jealous, I have made that so clear to you, hell I have never gone as far with another guy in my life as I have with you over this weekend!" I laugh loosely, near crazily as I run a hand through my hair.

What the fuck is wrong with me? Why did I even allow myself to be put in a room alone with him? To do what I have done?

"He is dangerous and I don't believe that he only cares for you as a friend. Henry, I can accept, but I am not going to go out of my way to protect a guy from pack justice simply because he has a crush on you."

I feel like an idiot for even asking for help, I should've just told Henry that there was nothing I can do—he should have known. I am not the luna of the pack, I am just Micahs mate and I can't do shit without his approval. It was incredibly naive of me to think I could get help.

"I'm not doing this right now," I decide, shaking my head. It's not worth it, it never is. I move over to the couch and pick up a jumper, pulling it over my head as I grab my socks, sitting down to put them on.

"Yes we are," he rebukes, though he makes no move to stop me. "What are you doing? Where are you going?" He asks me, his tone a whole lot less angered and a whole lot more concerned, like he can feel the control slipping from his fingers.

I grab my shoes. "Out somewhere, I don't know. Not here," I tell him. "Maybe I can find some other way to help my friends, or find Gia or do anything other than argue."

"You can't just leave, Athena it is the middle of the night. Don't be ridiculous. Look, I'm sorry for raising my voice, this subject isn't any easier for me and I don't want to argue either but—" he stops himself as I pull my shoes on, standing up, his body shifting slightly to block my exit with his hands extended in surrender. "We can talk about it in the morning. Let's just go to back to bed." But it won't be like we are going back to how we were before Henry called and the look on his face tells me he realises that and I note the underlying anger. The frustration.

Probably towards Henry, if he never called, if he and Gabe didn't get into a fight then we'd probably be asleep right now, cuddled together under the warm blankets or making god knows what other kind of mistake. I'd be even more of an idiot. "I need to get some fresh air," I reply shakily, running a hand through my hair as a headache begins to slice my brain in half.

"I can come," he says, getting desperate now and I shoot him a look of half sympathy.

"I need to get some air alone. I won't go anywhere and I'll be back in maybe an hour. I just need some space right now to think, Micah and I think that you do too."

He is silent in response and we stand facing each other in a standoff, his hand twitching at his side like he is fighting himself before he steps to the side. "An hour?" he asks, his expression now solemn and I nod. "Please don't go far and stay safe. If you aren't back in an hour just text me or—"

"Or you will come and find me, got it. I'll see you later." I don't wait to hear his response and exit the room, leaving him stood alone with neither of us any closer to getting what we wanted.