He huffed, the veins in his neck throbbing as he made his way to the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge. I closed the door with ease and carefully approached him, sitting at the island, waiting for his words.

"Well." He began, wiping the sweat from his angry red face with a clean dishtowel. His eyes couldn't meet mine just yet. "I went up to Alpha Blake's office.. sat down, told him I wanted to get to the bottom of why Grace is my mate.. maybe she isnt who she says she is ya know?" He glanced up at me, Green mossy eyes steadily trained on mine now. I nodded for him to continue.

"Blake agreed.. thats when he pulled out his phone and said it was time we got some answers. I was ready.. figured Alpha Conrad would be relieved to hear Grace found her real mate.. Blake called and talked to him.. told him we had a problem. Said Grace found her mate.. that it was Zaryn's mates brother.. a beta blood. Conrad was silent for the most part. Until he accused us of lying! Said there was no way his daughter would be mated to anyone but an Alpha.." his eyes grew dangerously dark.

I put my hand on his arms, smoothing his ruffled fur. Nic took a deep breath, calming himself before he went on. "Alpha Blake said he knew, thats why we called. Asked if maybe Grace isnt really an Alpha blood. Well.." he laughed sarcastically. "That pissed Alpha Conrad off. He accused us of being the liars.. said perhaps im the one with the wrong blood." He shook his head in disbelief.

"Alpha Blake calmed him down and assured him that he has known me my whole life.. as well as our family. He told him he wasnt accusing him of anything but that we needed to figure it out. Conrad agreed and said he would come to our pack soon to discuss the matter and to see about Grace. He sounded sure.. as if there was no way anything was amiss on his part but Nova, there has to be. There is NO way Grace would be an alpha blood and be my mate. Something isn't right with it!" He pounded his fist on the table angrily, shaking the contents on top.

I jumped a little from surprise but managed to soothe him again, rubbing his back. Nic's been more agressive lately.. which i understand why, but its worse than just being in a bad spot.. He is acting unlike his usual carefree self. I can smell more testosterone coming from his as well.

"What else happaned Nic? Did he say anything about you and Grace?" My voice was soft.

A sarcastic scoff left his lips. "No. Infact, you wanna know what he said? That if i wasn't alpha then i wasnt Grace's mate.... and its too late anyways because Grace is pregnant and set to mate with Zaryn. Alpha Blake said Zaryn has his right to refuse but he will still do the right thing by her aside from marking her unless he changes his mind. Well that pissed Conrad off.. told Blake to make sure i stay away from Grace and he will be up here soon to have a discussion with all of us present.. to get down to the bottom of things. He thinks we are lying Nova! The nerve of that cocky arrogant bastard!" He yelled out in a rage.

I sat there in disbelief.

Grace's dad was so sure of himself and his daughter that he had decided to come up here?

"Nic. Its going to be alright. We are going to find out why the two of you are mates, okay?" I brought him into me for a hug, squeezing him lightly as i felt him relax. Contempt for Grace flooded through me. Meeting her dad would set everything right.

"But now i have to stay away from her. I can't ask her anymore questions.. wear her down to tell me why she is so caught up with Zaryn.. aside from him being next Alpha" his words came out muffled from his face being in my shoulder.

Pulling away, my eyes met his. "Maybe that's the only reason Nic. Because he is an alpha. Did alpha Blake order you not to talk to her?"

A sly smirk pulled up at the corner of his mouth as everything clicked. "Well... no he didnt."

I grinned. "Which means that... you can do what you want." My smile fell when I actually thought about it.. "Nic. What is your goal out of all this? Do you want all of this to go away so you can be with her? Even if there are some dark secrets she is keeping?"

Eyes staring blankly into mine, "I don't know Nova. I dont know what I feel... i just know i want to see their union fall apart. I dont want her.. but i feel something when I catch her scent or see her. She's been tainted... I dont know if I could accept her. I just know i want the truth."

I nodded my head, giving him a tight smile. "Well, then i guess you will get your chance to talk to her. Get in her head."

I didn't know how i felt about that.. the woman that ruined my life... is mated to my brother.. If he wanted to be with her, i dont know if i could handle that. My stomach knotted up with the anxious feeling that Nic might actually want to be with her despite his words. I just hope he keeps his witts about him.

"Thanks sis. You know, to be so young... you do give good advice." He grinned down showing his perfect white teeth before kissing my forehead and disappearing up the stairs.

My stomach rumbled, wanting lunch but the thought of eating made me sick. I still had this letter in my pocket too. I needed to get it to its destination before dinner.. all these questions building up in my mind were stressing me out and eating a hole in my stomach.

Im slowly putting peices of the puzzle together... But i cant seem to think when im like this.

A knock at the door had me returning back to Earth, jumping out of my daze with anxious thoughts. A frown made its way onto my forehead as I went to open it. We weren't expecting anyone...

I opening the door, my eyes went wide when I saw who it was. I felt excitement as butterflies beat their wings against my stomach... my heart speeding up ready to jump out of my chest. Confused yet relieved and excited.

"Eden." I breathed

_________________________________Wow!