I was on cloud nine after my talk with Reuben.

Our conversation at the library kept replaying in my mind as I walked home. One chance. Reuben actually agreed to give me a chance! Sure, his driving force was different from my own, but I still saw it as one firm step in the right direction.

After a lot of back and forth, the two of us managed to come to an agreement. The first part of the talk focused on getting him to agree to not avoid me anymore. If he was serious about this—serious about giving me a chance—then I wanted to be sure that he wouldn't take off at the sight of me. Reuben, being Reuben, of course, had some of his own rules to go with it. At the very top of that list were friends. If by chance we happen to run into each other when one of us is out with friends then we leave each other alone. This rule didn't really mean much to me since all of my friends were back in the pack, but if it made Reuben feel better then I'd go along with it.

The second thing we discussed was keeping our new...situation quiet for now. It was Reuben who had brought this up, but before I could agree with him, I needed to understand just what he meant by quiet. After more talking, he explained to me that by quiet he meant from friends and family—with emphasis specifically on family. I agreed to this not so much for Reuben's sake but for my own. If word got out about this then I'd have Nixon and my parents outside my door before I could blink. I was sure that the three of them would work together to tell me about what a mistake I was making and I didn't put it past Nixon to try and confront Reuben himself if he knew that he was here.

We then talked about outings. Reuben was adamantly against them at first, but with a little compromise, I got him to agree to go to some of them.

We spent another half an hour talking about a bunch of small things before it was finally time to leave the library. Before leaving, I stopped him and asked for his number. Reuben stared at me funnily and it appeared as if he was about to say no, but I quickly reminded him that otherwise we'd have no way to contact each other he reluctantly agreed—but not before telling me not to spam his phone with nonsense.

As we were getting ready to leave, I offered to walk back with him to which he responded by snorting and telling me to slow down.

"This is the first actual conversation I've had with you since I've known you and you think I'm going to show you where I live?" He raised an eyebrow. "Slow down, Romeo."

So instead we went our separate ways. Embarrassing ending aside, I was hopeful—excited even—to see where this led to. Reuben had told me not to get my hopes up, but it was hard not to. I wanted this to work out.

So I walked back to my apartment with a goofy smile on my face and stepped into the elevator before hitting the button for my floor. Just as the doors were about to close, a man slid into the small room. He didn't hit a button, but instead, he leaned back against the wall and briefly stared at me.

My body tensed slightly at the aura the man was giving off. He was a wolf, but that wasn't what stood out about him. His hands were crossed over his chest, his foot was thumping against the floor, and his sharp eyes were glaring daggers into the door.

This man was here for a reason and he wasn't happy.

Just based on what I could tell, this man wasn't an alpha, but I couldn't quite tell what he was. His scent was subtle; strong enough to tell he was a wolf, but too weak to tell what kind of wolf he was.

The elevator's doors opened and the two of us stepped out. The man walked in front of me with a purpose. I half expected that we'd be going in different directions, but it seemed with every step he took, I was right there and I wasn't the only one to notice.

When my room came into view, I mentally sighed and approached the door. I expected the man to continue walking, but he stopped at the door beside mine. His dark eyes stared at me before he raised his hand to knock on the door. I quickly fished my keys out of my pocket before moving to unlock the door. The man stood there for a few more minutes before the door opened, revealing the blue-eyed man I'd seen the other night with Reuben. The man from the elevator easily slipped into his apartment and the blue-eyed man met my gaze before scowling and closing the door.

I stood there for a few minutes and wondered what that was about, but ultimately I decided that if it didn't have anything to do with the mission or they weren't harming anyone then I'd drop it.

I unlocked my door and entered before making sure to lock it behind me. I then grabbed some clothes before heading to the bathroom and taking a quick shower. Today's events replayed in my mind while I did so and once I was finished and had dried myself, I got dressed before grabbing my phone and texting Reuben.

Eli: Did you get home alright?

I waited for a few moments until the read receipt appeared. For a few minutes, it looked like he was going to respond. The three dots appeared, but they, unsurprisingly, disappeared just as quickly. I started to set my phone down until I felt it vibrate.

Reuben: Yes.

A small smile formed on my face. It was just a text. Just one message; just one word and yet, I couldn't help but be happy. Hopeful even.

Eli: I just wanted to say thanks again for agreeing to meet up with me.

There was a pause before Reuben replied.

Reuben: It's not a big deal.

Eli: It's a big deal to me.

It was even if he didn't think so.

Reuben: you don't need to thank me for that. Just don't forget what we talked about today.

Eli: I won't.

There was no way I could after I practically begged for this.

Reuben didn't say anything else, so I set my phone down, leaned back, and stared up at the ceiling. Most days I tried to focus on happy thoughts. I tried not to think about the past; about what happened, but today was different.

As I rested on the bed, I couldn't help but wonder just where was Fen now. How was he? Did he regret what he did? It was hard not to think about him after all the years we spent together. I should hate him. I should regret all the years of my life I spent with him. I should be over it all but to be honest, I wasn't.

I didn't hate Fen. I didn't regret those years. I wasn't over it. What I felt for Fen before everything was love. It wasn't romantic, but the type of love one felt for a sibling. Fen was like a brother to me and now? What I felt for him now was a deep mixture of anger and betrayal; however, despite everything he did, I didn't hate him and honestly, I don't think I ever would.

It was once said that the opposite of love was indifference and while that wasn't what I felt towards Fen now, I hoped one day I would be able to hear his name without wincing; to stop feeling the need to look back on all the memories we shared and try to spot where he changed; to say that Fen meant nothing to me.

I grabbed my phone again and went to Fen and my messages. I scrolled upward until I came to a stop on a picture of Fen and me. It was the day before he went away for months so I decided to make the day special. We spent the whole day outside and this picture was meant to be a happy memory of that day.

Little did I know that the next time I saw him would change everything.

The sound of a knock on my door caused me to jump and nearly fall off the bed. My brows furrowed together. Who would be visiting me? If it was someone from the pack then they'd give me a warning before showing up.

"Coming!" I called out just as the person knocked again. I hurried toward the door, took one glance back to make sure nothing important was out, and then unlocked it.

"Hello—" I started, but the words died on my lips when I saw the angry blue-eyed man from before standing there with his hands crossed over his chest. "What can I do for you—"

"Save it," The man cut me off, pushing his way into my apartment and taking a seat on my couch. "I just have one question."

"And that is...?" I questioned as I stared at him and then back at the door before sighing and shutting it.

He leaned forward, eyes meeting mine and narrowing. "Who the hell are you?"