With the glass swept to the side, Fen sitting on the right side of the couch with a pack of frozen peas against his head; Nixon sitting on the left side with his arms folded against his chest, eyes darting around as if he were looking for the next item in my home to assault; and me sitting in the middle, wishing to be anywhere else, I let out a low sigh and started to speak.

"I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this already, but for the sake of asking, why are you here?" I turned my attention to Nixon.

He stared at me with an expression full of anger and disgust. "I came here looking for him," he turned his angry eyes to Fen. "You were just a bonus."

I should've stayed with Easton and Kai for one more day.

"Does Eli know you're here?" Fen spoke up. "Does your boy toy know?"

Somehow, Fen seemed to unlock more anger and I quickly shushed him before they could start fighting again. Honestly, it was a miracle in itself that I managed to get them to sit down in the first place.

"I'm taking your silence as Eli doesn't know," Fen said and I shot him a glare. "What? I'm trying to make sure I have all the facts."

"No, you're trying to get me punched. Again."

He studied my face. "You're fine."

"I don't feel fine."

"Get some ice," he retorted.

"Are you serious?" Nixon interrupted before I could respond.

"What?" I asked.

"Are you seriously going to sit here and be friendly to him after what he did? What did he do to Eli? Not to mention what he did to his previous pack—"

"I've already spoken to Eli about what happened between us," Fen interrupted, the annoyance clear in his voice. "As for what happened at the pack, believe it or not, as much as I don't like you, my intention wasn't to kill you."

"Bullshit," Nixon scoffed while I stared between the two of them, wondering what the hell they were talking about.

"I took part in the planning of the attack, I won't deny that, but my goal wasn't for you to get hurt as badly as you did. Just to...temporarily immobilize you. The others made that change. You aren't exactly a likable person."

"And that makes it better?" Nixon's eyes narrowed. "You still attacked me—you still attacked your alpha."

"I didn't say that it excused anything, I simply corrected your statement. Though you may have the title of alpha, I don't see you as one. From the day I first met you, you were nothing but an asshole and let's be honest, Nolan did the heavy lifting between the two of you."

Both Fen and Nixon continued to go back and forth, becoming more aggressive as the argument progressed. For a second, I stared up at the ceiling, wondering how Eli had spent years dealing with the two short-fused men.

"Alright, that's enough. I don't need my house becoming a WWE wrestling ring again. I don't know what happened between the two of you and to be honest, I don't think I want to. Fen and I aren't friends by any means. Truthfully, I don't know why he's still here in the first place, but it isn't because of me."

"Let's talk about Eli then," Nixon said. "More specifically, let's talk about how you hurt him not once, but twice. If it was someone like Fen, I could try to understand—" Fen scoffed. "—But Eli is one of the kindest people you'll meet. What's wrong with you?"

"You can save the lecture, okay?" I interrupted him. "I...I feel bad enough as it is." That familiar feeling called guilt began to creep its way up me. "I fucked up. I know that. I didn't mean to hurt him, I...I wanted him to be happy."

"How is rejecting him twice supposed to make him happy? Playing with his feelings?"

"He never said he did a good job," Fen responded and I shot him a glare. "Don't look at me like that. It's the truth."

"I never meant to play with him. When I first met Eli, I was positive I'd never take a mate—that I didn't want one. Then, I got to know him and well, things started to change. My feelings started to change. One part of me wanted to be with him and the other was holding onto the resolve of never having a mate. I don't say this as an excuse but as an explanation. I royally fucked up. I can admit that."

"And what about now?" He asked. "Are you still confused? If you were sitting in a room with him then what would you say?"

What would I say...?

"I don't know," I admitted and I saw the way his expression changed, so I quickly added, "I don't know because I don't know how he feels. We didn't leave on good terms and honestly, if the roles were reversed then I wouldn't want to see him again, but, no matter what, I'd apologize."

I could think of numerous things to say to Eli, but they all started with the same two words.

"A sorry doesn't fix everything," Nixon said, but it looked as if his statement was directed more at Fen than me.

"I know that, but he deserves it either way."

Nixon fell quiet for a few minutes before letting out a groan. "I feel like I'm going to regret saying this, but you should call him."

"What?"

"Personally, I think he can do better. I don't think either of you deserve him, but I know he still cares about you even if he shouldn't and I'd rather see him happy than moping around. That being said, if you hurt him again, all this—" he gestured around the house. "—will just be my warm-up."

"And you," he focused on Fen. "You need to stay far away from Eli. You don't deserve a second chance. I should've called the council the moment I heard you were here. I could still do that. Don't talk to him, don't mention him, don't try and use people he knows to get close to him. If I find out that you are then I'll call them and you know once they get a bite, they don't let go until they have their target."

Fen's jaw was clenched and a small part of me wanted to know what was going through his mind, but I didn't dare to ask.

Nixon stood up and headed toward the door. "I'm leaving, but I'm serious Fen. Stay the hell away from all things Eli-related. I won't be so nice next time."

With that, he left and it was only then that I realized that I'd have to clean up and replace everything he broke. I glanced around the house and let out a sigh before heading to the kitchen and grabbing a dustpan and the broom.

"Get up," I ordered Fen. "You helped create this mess so you're going to help clean it."

I expected some type of backlash, but he stood without complaint and took the dustpan from my hands. His eyes were almost clouded over, letting me know that he was lost in thought. He stayed that way throughout the whole time we were cleaning and once we had the house looking semi-decent, he disappeared into his room without a word.

I stared after him for a few moments, wondering if I should say something, but ultimately decided against it. Fen wasn't the type to open up and I doubted that'd change any time soon.

So, instead, I took a seat on the couch and grabbed my phone. I stared down at Eli's number and before I could back out, I hit the dial button. I held my breath as it rang and a few seconds later, I heard him.

"Reuben?"

AN: Now they're talking! Let's hope Reuben doesn't mess it up this time. Then there's Fen and Nixon. He's not going to be happy when he figures out that one of Eli's good friends is actually Fen's mate.