"Stay in this room, don't leave. I mean it," Dax playfully growled while swatting my butt over to Zoey.

"Zoey?" Meat, potatoes, gravy, and green beans were spread around her plate. None of it had been touched while her fork danced across her plate. I leaned over to find her hidden face. Her hair was short, so she couldn't hide behind locks of hair.

"Hey, Seraphina," the once perky voice was now missing, and a solemn voice replaced it. "How are you and your mates?" she quickly added. Not wanting to bring up the Trey issue, we talked about how weird all of this was to me. Growing up thinking this was all a fairytale, and now my soul is to be bound to two werewolves that were alphas; oh yeah, and they were princes too. I lived a true fairy tale and became a princess in one of my books.

Zoey laughed when I told her about Liz, the dumb she-Wolf getting her butt kicked by a human. "She was terrible when I was a kid, and I came to visit my cousin. Liz would pull my hair and pick on me because I wasn't like them. I'm glad you showed her who is boss."

"I'd do it again too; if I had known she picked on you, maybe I would have scratched her pretty face." Zoey snorted.

"You are too much!" We both laughed until the inevitable came up. Zoey had to talk about it; there was no going around it. She had been a wonderful friend to me, and now her emotional state was a wreck.

"How are you doing, Zoey?" I asked with concern. Zoey bit her lip, shaking her head.

"I don't know; I thought he really liked me." Her eyes glistened. "Maybe it was because I wanted him to like me. After getting humiliated in middle school, he was the first guy who wanted to be my friend and hang out with me. Now that we are older, I thought it could be something more. I guess not." Taking Zoey's hand in mine, I rubbed the top knuckles gently. "They killed him, you know?" My back straightened.

"They did this morning. I had the option to say goodbye, and I couldn't do it. Trey could have gotten so many people killed; he led your father here to take you away, all for what? Money? He wasn't the guy I thought he was," Zoey choked. "I'm a terrible judge of character, starting with Lonato. I'm just terrible picking out guys and friends." I faked pain in my chest.

"What about me?! I'm your friend! Am I that terrible?" Pretending to cry, Zoey back peddled the conversation, but we both ended up laughing. Zoey was hurt, filled with feelings that had nowhere to go. She grew up with a great, loving family, but the friendships she tried to start always failed. That's what happens when you live in a small town, and there isn't anyone to pick from. Her friends from the bar weren't really her friends, just other people she graduated high school with. Zoey wasn't a bad judge of character; she just didn't have anyone else to talk to.

"You are my friend," I told Zoey. "You are actually my very first friend."

"Really?" she wiped the snot from her wrist.

"Really," I deadpanned. "Now, let me ask you something." I leaned across the table, covering my mouth so no one could hear. "Do you still like Lonato? You keep bringing him up."

Zoey gasped. "How could you ask me that? My ex-boyfriend was executed this morning!" I raised a brow, cocking my head to the side. Zoey's once mean glare turned to embarrassment. Her fingers tapped the table, wiggling her body from side to side. If I waited much longer to rebuttal my reply, she would be sweating.

"Come on, I see how you look at him. You also looked at him that way when Trey was around. You liked Lonato better all along; Trey was just a replacement." I nodded my head over to the warriors' table. Lonato was the head warrior, and even I could see him glancing back over at our table to Zoey. Mission, 'get Zoey a mate,' had commenced. "Check out those muscles, Zoey." Zoey glanced back over to his table, their eyes locked, but Zoey looked away.

"I, I can't like him. He made it very clear what he thought of me in front of a ton of people," she stuttered. "He has a mate out there. Werewolves aren't into dating like that anyway." Zoey jabbed a fork into her green beans and chewed angrily. "Besides, I'm still mad at him."

"You were in middle school!" I rolled my eyes. Zoey scoffed. "Give the guy a break. Do you even know if he is your mate or not?"

"I'm not a Wolf," she hissed. "How would I know? Did you know you were mated to your mates?" I shook my head a bit.

Good point.

"Just when they touched me," I whispered. "Even in their Wolf form, I felt tingles running through my skin. At the time, I didn't know what it meant, though. When they were human though,” I laughed. "Just that they were extremely hot and made me extremely wet," I snorted. Zoey threw her head back to laugh. It was the first real laugh I had heard in a while.

"I think male or female would get wet at the sight of those two Alphas," she spoke a little too loud. A growl was heard across the room; everyone turned to find out where it came from Wolves quickly went back to their meals after a death glare from Lonato. I snickered, knowing that Dimitri's theory had to be true. Lonato was staring intently at Zoey, and she had no inkling. Zoey might even think that Lonato hates her.

"What if," I drank some of Zoey's drink, "we did an experiment?" Zoey eyed me up and down; her eyes looked back at Lonato for a moment.

"And do what?"

"Go touch him. See if you get the tingles," I taunted. Zoey acted as I slapped her in the face. Which I have already done once. On accident, so it was alright.

"No," she whined. "What if he looks at me weird? If I am his mate, wouldn't he have said something already?" She had a point. Wolves wanted their mates badly. Why wouldn't Lonato claim Zoey?

"Maybe he is embarrassed what he did in middle school. I mean, you both would be holding onto the past; that is how you guys are alike in some ways, maybe?" Trying to sound confident, I was failing because Zoey shook her head.

"Nah, not going to do it." I rubbed my chin.

"Then do what Wolves do, go sniff his butt or something," I waved my hand, drinking more of Zoey's drink. Wolves looked in our direction, and we burst out laughing.

"No way," Zoey's tears gathered in her eyes. "Werewolves don't sniff butts!"

"They sniff arousal; I wouldn't be surprised if my mates would stick their noses in my crotch to check if I was ovulating," I murmured.