"I'm just saying, maybe there is some truth to his words."

"Spare me the lecture," I told Eli. "I'm not leaving when there are people here who are trying to cause harm and hiding in plain sight."

Eli and I were currently sitting outside in the backyard of my house. It had been two days since I returned and in those two days, everything seemed to go to hell.

"But who are they after, Nixon? You!"

"Which is exactly why I should be here."

"You make no sense," Eli shook his head. "Nolan's not going to let this go, you know."

Nolan didn't bother hiding the fact that he disagreed with my desire to remain in the pack. We'd spent the whole day arguing over it when I returned. And while I understood him, I wasn't going to run with my tail between my legs because I got a little hurt. I was the alpha of this pack and they would know that.

"He'll get over it in time just like he always does. It's Nolan we're talking about; he'll be pissed for a few days, rant to Roan, then he'll come back being his normal self. Don't overthink it."

"You didn't see how he acted when you disappeared though," Eli said quietly. "He was a mess, Nixon. The only reasons he managed to keep himself together were because of Roan and for the sake of the pack. He didn't want to cause panic."

I sighed. "He's another reason I can't leave, Eli. What if whoever attacked me goes after him? You know Nolan isn't a fighter and I wouldn't put it past some people to try and attack him if they learned that I was gone. He needs me here."

"He needs you alive. He'll be okay if you're gone for a little while. Roan and I will be there by his side. So will Gamma Atlas, you know this. Think about yourself, Nixon. You seem to always forget that."

"We're done with this conversation."

"Nixon—"

"Enough, Eli," I cut him off sternly. "I've said no, now drop it."

Eli frowned but he didn't argue with me. After being friends for years, he knew when enough was enough and it was time to back down.

Standing up, I stretched my body before entering the house through the back door. Many people said that a person's home was a representation of themselves, but that wasn't the case for me. Maybe it was because I barely ever spent time inside of it, but the walls were completely bare. There wasn't a photo in sight and the furniture looked practically untouched — just like it had been when I first moved in.

People called it depressing but as long as I got the necessary functions out of it, then I didn't see the point in decorating it or doing other meaningless things. There was only one factor I paid attention to when picking my house and that was the size. I refused to get a small house even if it was just me. If I was going to sleep here then I wasn't going to be living in some cramped place.

"The warriors kept up training while I was gone, right?" I asked Eli.

Eli nodded. "Yeah, Nolan had Roan and Atlas do it."

Roan ran training? Now that was something I had to see. I knew that the warriors didn't like him, but I also knew that they were well-trained. It made me question how they acted around him. Not to mention that the man was surprisingly docile. Physically, he was much stronger than Nolan, but he listened undeniably well. It was another reason why there were so many people who believed the two had something going on.

"How'd it go?" I asked Eli curiously.

"There were some hiccups at the start. A few of the warriors thought that if they messed with him enough then Roan would leave, but he held his ground fairly well without Atlas having to get involved. By the end of it, they were all following his guidance."

I nodded in acknowledgment. It was good that he didn't give in to the pressure. Had he, then none of the pack members would've respected him. As of now, there was still time for them to go around and I'm sure if they continued down the same path as they were now then it was only a matter of time before Nolan put them in their place. If he had given into them then it wouldn't matter what Nolan did or said in the future. They would never respect Roan as one of their own.

"Where did Roan even come from?" Eli suddenly asked. "It's like the man popped out of nowhere. Did Nolan find him on the side of the road or something?"

That was a question I'd wanted the answer to from day one. Nolan, however, wasn't willing to share the information no matter how hard I tried. I'd even resorted to attempting to search for Roan through pack systems but it was as if he didn't exist. That was another reason why I didn't like the man being so close to Nolan. I didn't know who he was. Hell, for all I knew, his name wasn't even fucking Roan.

"I don't want to talk about him anymore," I told Eli. "Tell me, how has this 'mate search' you've been on going?"

Eli's eyebrows raised. "You actually care about that?"

"No, but I thought I'd ask anyway. But if you don't wanna talk about—"

"Quit messing around," Eli said, but I could see the small smile on his lips.

"No luck yet, but I can feel it, Nixon. I'm getting closer."

"You said that last time."

Eli shot me a glare. "I mean it this time. Soon I'm gonna run into my mate!"

His voice was full of confidence so I didn't bother disagreeing with him. Eli had been looking for his mate for the past four years. I knew that it was his dream to find that 'perfect person'. It wasn't surprising seeing the way his dads looked at each other. Growing up in a house surrounded by love, it was only natural for him to crave the same thing, but not all mate bonds were like that.

People only talked about the bright side of mate bonds, they never talked about the mistakes. The ones that the Moon Goddess paired together because they were 'made for each other', but in reality were actually a living hell. They never talked about the abusive situations that many wolves often found themselves stuck in because rejecting your mate was seen as taboo in werewolf culture. They never talked about the pain and heartache that came with unrequited feelings and the feeling that came with knowing your mate was kissing or fucking someone else. They never talked about how fucked up the whole idea of mates was.

Everyone seemed to desire them, but they were a living hell. I knew that better than anyone.

I didn't say any of this to Eli, not that I had to. He knew my stance on mates and he didn't agree with it but I was fine with that. Eli was allowed to have his own dreams and who was I to break them down?

"If you say—" my words were cut off when the feeling of someone entering the pack lands ran over me. My brows furrowed and I glanced over at Eli. "Did you feel that?"

Eli nodded. "Yeah. I didn't know we were supposed to have visitors today."

"We weren't," I muttered. At least, I didn't think we were. Nolan always told me before he invited someone over and he hadn't today, but it was clear that the wolf wasn't a rogue so who was it?

"Nixon," Nolan linked me as if on cue. "Can you come to the office?"

"What's going on?"

"Just come, please."

His words only added to my confusion. Turning to Eli, I gestured for him to follow me as we left the house and quickly began to head toward the office. I was racking my brain trying to figure out who Nolan could've invited over. Was this supposed to help with our traitor problem?

The walk from my home to the office was short. Once we reached it, Eli and I quickly entered and made our way to the second floor and down the hall. I pushed open the door without a moment's hesitation. The first person I saw was Roan, the second was Nolan, and the third was...

"Tatum?"