"Listen to me, Amory," Flynn calls out, running after me as I push open the front doors. "Amory!" Heads turn towards me, eyes locked upon the scene before them as either, from the viewer, their future alpha runs after a heartbroken pack member, or the 'bad boy' of the school runs after the best friend of Augustus.

As I reach the parking lot, I know he's gaining on me. Hell, he even parked two cars down from me unlike across the whole parking lot. Yesterday he said those words that sent me running home, on my own two feet and not looking back. Flynn didn't come after me, knowing rather to respect my personal space than intrude. How can this even be happening? How can he just say something like that to a girl who has found her mate and he has a mate somewhere out there? Hell, he should of found his mate two years ago when most of his title do. He should know that his mate awaits him, somewhere out there in this world that is tainted by sin.

"Amory, just listen to me," Flynn explains, grabbing my arm as I approach my little, blue Prius. I remember the first time I drove it here, Augustus made fun of it in a friendly manor, a smile gracing my face as I playfully punched his shoulder. Now this car is my escape from the world. All I do is drive away. "Just listen."

"You have a mate out there, Flynn," I snap, looking to the future Alpha, those green eyes meeting mine. "You know I have found my mate. You cannot just go saying these words to me. You cannot just say these phrases when I'm in a rough patch in my life."

"A mate that doesn't even know what he means to you," Flynn argues, grabbing ahold of my shoulders as he presses me lightly against my car. "Augustus does not see you as anything more than a friend and you still go for it. I don't have a mate, I don't think I'll ever get one, and here you are, the girl that has me head over heels for you like some cliché dumb blond movie."

I know Flynn is wrong. I know he is. Augustus, the words he spoke to me, how he did feel something. That kiss meant something to Augustus and I know that because of that, there is hope for me. Hope that the moon goddess may finally be answering my prayers.

"You're wrong," I snap, shoving at Flynn, seeing from the corner of my eyes Augustus waking out from the school. The last thing I want is for him to interfere here. Not because he is my mate, but because he is my best friend, and he knows he will do whatever it takes to protect me. Maybe there's a mate bond too that includes that, but Augustus has always seen me as his best friend. Sure, now he is beginning to feel things, but I know that in the end, he will chose Molly because he loves her more. But I have a mate. Flynn still has his to find and I cannot come in his way of that. "You have a mate and once you find her, you will know that what I saw is only helping you."

"What you're doing is denying both of us of a beautiful relationship."

There he goes. He just took out the big guns by saying relationship. He dropped the bomb and I know he's will stay fixated upon that thought. "We hardly know anything about-

"Hey! Flynn, what's going on?"

I'm screwed.

Augustus is speed-walking over, his eyes fixed upon the two of us. Already I know it's the mate bond. He's protective and jealous. This whole day is only going to get worse now. "What's going on, Flynn?" Augustus demands, shoving the future Alpha. Released from Flynn's grasp, my eyes widen as Augustus takes ahold of Flynn's leather jacket, pulling him close for intimidation. "Amory, are you okay?" Augustus asks, looking over his shoulder to me as I can hear Moly calling out his name. This is where it gets even messier.

"I'm good," I softly reply, motioning for Augustus to let go of Flynn. Augustus may think he can win a fight, but not with a werewolf. Especially to a future Alpha. Flynn could beat him down to a pulp and no one could stand in his way. "Just let Flynn go, he did nothing wrong." Augustus takes in a deep breath, wondering whether to let got of Flynn or cause a fight. If anything Flynn is just watching me, a smirk upon his face, calm and relaxed as he knows he will win anyway. "Augustus, let him-

"Augustus, what's going on here?" Molly shouts, storming over as she grabs her boyfriend's hand, taking it away from Flynn and into her own. Locking their fingers together, she places a soft kiss upon Augustus's cheek, my heart plummeting to the ground. She has him, she know she does, or at least is trying to remind herself. It seems as if the kiss is not just a statement of possession, but rather a reminder to herself that Augustus is her's. She knows I'm a competitor. We are playing a game, but Augustus should not be a game. We should not be competitions for Augustus. Mates are not just some World Cup game.

"Nothing is going on here," Flynn states, his tone playful as he suddenly wraps an arm around my shoulder. "We are all just peachy."

He knows how to offset Augustus. He knows that Augustus is my mate an he knows how to push those selective buttons. He knows that by displaying a form of possession over me that Augustus will only become pissed. Mate bonds are hard to just switch off and forget that they ever existed. "Doesn't look peachy to me," Molly comments, pulling Augustus a bit farther away from Flynn and me. With Flynn invading my personal space after dropping such a huge bomb, Augustus only keeps his eyes locked upon the two of us, never taking them away.

"We're good," I state, pushing Flynn's arm off of me as I open up the door to my car. "I'll see you guys tomorrow at the graduation rehearsal," I inform, hurting the car door as Molly pulls Augustus away from us and back to their cars. Just as I'm about to speed off, Flynn hops into the passenger seat, causing my blood to boil slightly. "Dude, just because you confessed that you want a relationship with me does not mean that you act like we're almost an item."

Flynn kicks his feet up, putting them upon my dashboard as my eyes widen. Right away I grab my plastic cup that held a smoothie earlier today, lightly slapping his feet. "Not to my baby. Don't leave your dirty footprints upon my baby." Rolling his eyes, Flynn takes his feet down, sitting like a normal individual in the car, going through my radio stations. "What's is all of this about, Flynn?"

"What is what all about?" He asks, settling for a classic rock station that plays in the background.

"Suddenly you just admit feeling for me and I'm expected to let you into my car and place claim over me before my mate?"

Flynn crosses his arms, rolling down the window as I drive off, knowing Flynn will probably just shift from wherever we are and come back for his car. "You remember the day I fought with the human...how you tried to talk it through with me?" I nod. "He made fun of you."

I'm screwed. He's had feelings and I don't want to know how long for. How though? How did I attract the future Alpha? How did the shy girl who faced a mate loving someone else end up causing another to fall for her?

"You don't beat someone up because they poked fun at another person," I calmly state, hoping to not get the future Alpha all rallied up. "Don't beat someone up over me because they make fun on me."

Flynn leans his head against the window, his eyes shutting as I press on the grass a little bit more. My baby speeds up as I hit the light at yellow, wanting to be home as soon as possible. But my parents will either bombard me with questions and details or watch me head up to my room. They know alive needed space lately, but they have no idea why I can't shift.

"I'm sorry."

I raise an eyebrow, taking my eyes from the road briefly to see Flynn looking my way. He just apologized. An apology from a wolf with Alpha blood is rare. It's strange. "What?"

"I'm sorry for beating that douche-

"Not a douche," I interrupt.

"I'm sorry for beating that kid up. Do you forgive me?" Flynn asks, his tone not sharp or demanding anymore, but sincere and peaceful. It's a genuine apology and that's what makes me scared.

"I accept your apology." Flynn responds with a small smile pulling at his lips, one that makes me smile in return. But he's not mine, he is someone else's that will soon claim him. "Well, are you going to run back home or come inside?" I ask, arriving at my house as I see my dad's truck is back from world. Flynn follows my lead, hopping out as well as we head for the front door of the house. Mom practically begged dad to buy this house. Dad wanted a place closer to the pack house and mom fell in love with this place. With four bathrooms, a nice game room, dinning area, and the essential rooms, that wasn't what hooked her, but rather the open rooms filled with windows, the wooden floors, and the garden from the previous owners.

Flynn enters my house, my parents sitting in the living room as we enter. Already I know he will be staying for dinner due to the looks on their faces. Before I know it my mom is pulling Flynn in for a hug and my father raising an eyebrow at me. He thinks something is going on. As mom grabs another plate for dinner and Flynn and my father sit in the living room, talking about an upcoming hunt, I take my place on the steps of the stairs, going through my texts. Augustus tried to reach me while Flynn was apologizing, asking if I would come over for dinner tonight.

"Dinner is ready," mom calls out. With everyone soon seated around the circular table in the dining room, I take ahold of the knife, digging into the stake in the plate as everyone else does as well. I keep up my manors tonight, knowing my dad would scold me for eating fast and like a savage before a guest on the walls of the house. Dad's mom was a manor freak, thankfully my father not taking the same habits when he moved away and soon enough married my mom. "So, Flynn, any plans this summer after graduation?" Mom asks, taking up the first step in conversation as my parents await a reply.

"Pack business and just running free. I'll be attending college, commuting for a business degree." Business. It's cliché how every future Alpha will most likely do business due to running the 'family business.' You need to know how to make treaties, manage money, and so much more as Alpha or even a Beta.

"Sounds interesting," my dad comments, taking a sip of the water upon the table. It's not the most interesting in my opinion, as well as that I know Flynn does not want to do that. Sure, he wants to become Alpha and run the pack, but not for a while. I've known him long enough to know that he wants to study nothing business at all, but rather computer programming. He wants to get a masters in it too, take a break from pack life, and then, when the pack needs him, return and run the pack. He wants to live a normal life a few years first before going back to tradition.

We carry on with the conversation of the year ahead, my mind bored as the subject of pack meetings is brought up. I can tell Flynn is bored as well, judging by how he looks at me with pleading eyes every few seconds or so.

As dinner comes to a close, I find myself watching my parents shoo us out of the room. Flynn follows me down the hall, into my room as I make sure nothing is scattered across the floor that could cause embarrassment. With a clean room before me, I open the door fully, allowing Flynn access as he knows the familiar room. He used to spend nights here after broken-hearted, bags under his eyes, looking like shit, and needing help.

"You don't have to get a business degree, you know," I inform, taking a seat at the futon beside my window. "You're a free person."

Flynn shakes his head. "Not with my parents."

"You're the future Alpha. You're strong. you stand up for what you believe and want," I state. "You don't have to follow their wants, just tell them, I know you want to." Flynn shakes his head, taking a seat beside my desk upon my swivel chair. "They won't be happy but they will understand."

"They won't-

"How do you know?" I question. "You've never tried it before. You follow what they want and don't try it your way. You don't know how they will respond."

"Amory, my parents want me to know how to run a business, the pack," Flynn argues, leaning back in my chair.

I shake my head. "You can tell them that by the time they want you to run the pack, you'll have a degree in business. You'll get your degree in computer programming and work until a certain age, get that business degree, and return to the pack."

Flynn's eyes brows furrow together, frustrated with the idea. We've talked about this before. We've discussed this talk to his parents before and every time, right when he finds his confidence to do so, he backs down. I know his mother, the Luna, a sweetheart who loves her family. His father...he's a tough nut to crack. But get the mother to agree and the father will have to as well. Women are the neck of the house and they can turn the head anyway they want. Simple logic taught by a classic RomCom.

"Promise me something," Flynn adds, causing me to wonder what he's about to ask. I nod. "I'll talk with my parents if you're there with me."

"We've done that before," I point out, remembering how Flynn backed down that time four months ago.

"I'll do it this time, I swear."

"Okay, I'll do it," I agree, holding out my hand for the future Alpha to shake. "Make it a deal."

Getting to his feet, Flynn takes my hand, shaking it as I hold eye contact with him. I'm proud of him, that he's finally taking charge. But he's done it before. I'll tell him how proud I am of him when he actually gets the talk over with.

Just as I'm about to drop my hand, Flynn pulls me up from the futon, holding me close as I find myself in the same situation as yesterday.

"Thank you," he whispers, pulling me in for a hug. "Thank you."