I put the plate of bacon down in front of Stella who sat at the counter-bar. I ate a piece as I circled around to get something to drink, but then heard her sigh in the form of a scoff.

"What, can I only eat meat now?" she said beneath her breath and that's when I turned.

"Yeah, don't you know dogs only eat meat, so eat up," I said as bitchy as possible as I removed the plate from in front of her. She rolled her eyes.

"Sorry," she apologized and briefly glanced behind her at Stormy and Ryder who were pacing in the living room and trying to figure out a solution. "So you knew about all this?"

"About what?"

"...werewolves," she whispered as if it needed to be kept a secret. I smirked and tried to imagine myself being reserved about the knowledge of werewolves, but my reveal was much different. I could only laugh.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Did you get bitten too?" she asked.

"Ha," I laughed. "I wish."

"What do you mean?" she asked. I smirked while I turned my back to her to get something to drink from the fridge. I planned to answer her, but then Andrew entered the kitchen, hanging on the entry from where his room's hall was that led through the office and then the kitchen.

"I smelled bacon and I woke up so—" he had begun to say, but then stopped when he looked at Stella and then Ryder with Stormy in the living room. "What's going on...?"

"Who are you?" Stella asked, getting a look in her eye as if she found Andrew interesting to look at.

"Who are you?" Andrew replied with dumb look on his face. After pouring some apple juice and drinking it, I came into eye contact with Andrew. "Who is she?"

"That's Stella," I informed. Andrew nodded and then he was shaken from his confusion and began to make his breakfast plate. "She got Bit last night." I added. "By Preston." That's when Andrew frowned.

"Ryder!" Andrew nearly shouted before putting down his empty plate, grabbing the one full of bacon, and approaching Ryder in the living room. I didn't know what he was going to say—maybe he was going to listen in on Ryder and Stormy's conversation that he could very well hear from his room. Either way, I didn't listen for it as I made Stella a plate with more of a variety of foods on it and put it in front of her.

"That's my brother Andrew, by the way," I informed, but she didn't get that shocked look like Ryder or Bailee had when I revealed his relationship to me. After all, I wasn't close enough to Stella to tell her he died and I hoped her mother hadn't told her either.

"So he's...?" she asked if he was a werewolf too. I nodded and then grabbed a piece of bacon off her plate.

"Andrew, this has nothing to do with you, so—" Ryder began for protest from the living room.

"The hell it doesn't," Andrew replied to Ryder. I went back to trying to ignore their conversation, but it was hard considering the living room was right there, separated by nothing but a bar counter.

Stella looked at me, probably wondering why I wasn't doing anything to keep them from fighting.

"So how many werewolves are there in this town, exactly?" she questioned.

"I really don't know, to be honest," I said. "I've met about ten, but I'm sure there are more that, not to mention the ones who have moved away and—"

"I gotta go," I heard Stormy suddenly say and stand up.

"Seriously?" Ryder asked.

"Yes, seriously," Stormy said, walking out of the room. Stella had started to eat her food, but I listened in on their conversation. "Handle it like any other time you have a new wolf."

"This isn't like any other time," Ryder said.

"Why? Because you know that after she changes anything I've done to her to protect your sorry ass washes off?" Stormy lowered her voice. It made me frown and feel uneasy, but nothing else was said and the door was closed.

Andrew, alone in the living room, just retired into turning on the TV while enjoying his bacon now that Ryder had put him in his place. After all, this actually did have nothing to do with him. Ryder, with the biggest look of concern on his face, entered the kitchen and gave me one single sad look before beginning to fix his plate. As if his morning of sadness from me bringing up his dad wasn't enough, now Stella was bitten without desire. It was a lot to deal with, but he just remained quiet. I couldn't do much with Stella sitting here.

I need to talk to you later, he thought to me. There was no way I couldn't figure that it was important. It physically hurt me to know he was sad, like this morning, but it had been uplifted—not by his True Alpha power, but because after a brief moment, he wasn't even sulking anymore. He played back into his otherwise obnoxious self and waltzed himself right over to take the apple juice I was drinking right out of my hand. He held it up to his lips and drank it for himself while sending me a wink and walking towards the table. It only made me laugh because I remembered the last time he had done it; it was for him to rid me of a distraction so he could try to seduce me.

"This tastes good, by the way," he said while my back was to him in order for me to get more juice since the oaf stole mine. I turned around to glare at him, but he only smiled and I took the flirtatious gesture of torment lightly. I playfully rolled my eyes and still grinned as he looked down at his plate and forked around his eggs. After minutes, Stella glanced back at him and then looked to me in amazement.

"So how'd you find out he was one?" she asked in a mutter. Obviously she didn't know werewolves had good hearing, because she kept her voice low trying to keep the conversation between us. But it was nowhere near low enough to stop Ryder from letting out a laugh from twenty feet away.

"He told me," I informed. The look on her face was in disbelief. But then she pursed her lips and nodded.

"Makes sense," she said. "Werewolf boy chooses to be with the only werewolf girl. Makes complete sense now."

"I wasn't a werewolf when we got together," I informed.

"Then how—"

"I didn't need her to be like me for me to be with her," Ryder finally spoke up. Stella looked back at him, probably taking that comment offensive—like he assumed that Stella thought they weren't together just because he was a werewolf and she was human. Ryder, who had finished his food (I swear he just inhaled it all instead of chewed), stood up and neared the kitchen.

"He's saying that he told me he was a werewolf before we got together as a warning," I tried to cover. I just didn't want to rub my relationship with him in her face.

"Well I'm saying," Ryder began after he put his dishes in the sink and grabbed my waist from behind to make me face him, "that I was forced to tell you I was a werewolf because you're mine. The fact that you held up a deadly weapon to me was definitely motivation, but I still would've told you."

I glared at him, even though him searching my face and pulling me closer to him was making me feel attractive towards him. Especially when his hands started to slide down my backside. But he let go before I could mentally chastise him for grabbing me like that in front of Stella.

"But I wouldn't have told you as a 'warning,'" he then admitted after letting go of me and dismissing the moment he just tried to have.

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Warnings imply danger and you already knew I was trouble by then so," he reminded before taking my glass once again and drinking my apple juice. This time, I tipped the bottom of the glass and it spilled down his shirt. At first, he gave me an incredulous look, but then nodded and narrowed his eyes as if declaring war. I was laughing.

"Andrew," was all he called while still glaring down at me.

"Yeah?"

"Can I borrow one of your shirts...again?" he asked before Andrew got up and the two left for his room to find a new shirt.

You're just trying to look cool in front of Stella, Ryder accused, even though I was still in the kitchen laughing. But I know you, Ash. You just want me shirtless in any way you can get me. Well joke's on you, babe.

His comments made me laugh a little more, but now Stella was starting to wind down her own laughter and look at me crazy.

"It's weird how you two are," she commented but then her eyes widened as if she didn't mean to say it out loud. "I'm sorry, I just—"

"It's okay."

"No, it's not," she said. "I just mean that you to act and react so perfectly like you're on the same frequency. Like, even though he's sad about his dad or angry because I ruined your morning, he's not acting out like he normally would—you make him seem happy enough to push that to the side when you're around. I've never seen him like that with anyone."

"Makes sense," I said, sounding like her. I dropped a towel to the floor to mop up the spilled juice. I bent down before adding: "Considering we're mates and all."

"What was that?" she asked from the counter above. I stood.

"Nothing," I lied, not wanting to drop the whole 'I'm eternally linked to be with the boy you're in love with because he's my mate' bomb on her all at once. "I let him explain it to you."

"Oh...alright," she said. We both concluded our meal and though Cassandra was at work, I had called her to tell her what happened. Just as Ryder basically banned Andrew from his conversation, Cassandra had told me that this was Ryder's problem. But I was still too focused about all the possible prank ideas Ryder was thinking to me to make me paranoid from me merely spilling juice on him.

***

Hours later, I was upstairs in my room, trying to pick out something to wear considering school started Monday and it was Saturday night. I was actually on the phone with Bailee, giving into my girl tendencies to have an extra opinion.

"I mean, does it really matter what I wear?" I asked, laying spread eagle on my bed after destroying my closet.

"It's senior year," Bailee reminded. "We need to start it off right."

"But I mean we're seniors..."

"Yeah?"

"...and we both already have hot boyfriends," I added. "So I think we're starting off as good as it's gonna get, Bailee."

I heard a light knock on the door and as I sat up a quarter of the way, I saw Ryder wedge himself between the door. I smiled lightly—maybe out of embarrassment for him overhearing me call him hot—and he entered and patiently sat on my bed, repositioning my legs so they could lay out across his lap. I still sat up though, as Ryder noticed the articles of clothes...everywhere.

"But don't you want to look good for Ryder before he sees all the town sluts and—"

"If Ryder sees someone he likes all because they look better than me, then he can just go ahead and have her without me in the picture," I laughed and saw Ryder look at me quickly with a frown.

"Be careful what you wish for," Bailee warned and I playfully rolled my eyes.

"Well I'll pick something out and send you a picture later. I gotta go," I told her.

"Alrighty. I'll talk to you later and see you Monday!" she concluded before hanging up. I put my phone on my night stand and Ryder held up a shirt that was on the bed.

"Is someone stressing over what to wear to school?" he mocked.

"Um yeah," I replied. "I gotta look hot for a new school of boys who I haven't met," I joked.

"Oh really?" Ryder asked.

"Really."

"I thought you had a hot boyfriend," he reminded, trying to make me feel even more embarrassed for calling him that. But I didn't break my role.

"Eh, he's okay," I shrugged.

"Well I think he'll think you'll look fine in anything and still look ten times hotter than any school slut that he may or may not have already hooked up with," he said and then I smacked his arm for his last little detail. He grabbed wrist before it lowered and then he kissed my forearm while laughing. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding..." I pulled my arm back. "Maybe just five times hotter."

I smacked him once more.

"I'm kidding," he said defensively, taking both of my wrists and leaning in to steal a kiss. When he pulled away, I reached over even more to press my lips against his once more and then sat back in a criss-cross fashion.

"Did Stella get home alright?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he said, drawing circles on my knee. I noticed that his expressions dropped. Something was wrong. Before I could even attempt at asking, he looked up at me. "Earlier, I said we needed to talk."

"Alright," I allowed. "About what?"

"Stella," he sighed. I figured. But I didn't know what much more he could tell me other than explaining just how or why Preston bit her or how Stormy found her. But I had a feeling there was something else going on. He looked too...glum about this. "Just...promise you won't hate me, okay?"

"Why would I hate you?" I asked, grabbing his hand.

"Because if Stella does end up phasing, there's a lot of shit she can start giving me."