"What?! No!"


    "He sounds pretty serious about that," Rae said thoughtfully.


    "So you really don''t like cheaters?" I asked skeptically.


    "Of course not," Lance responded. "There''s nothing worse than somebody who would betray your trust like that."


    "How''d you like to prove that?” Rae gave me a curious look I smiled as I caught on to her idea.


    "How would I do that?" Lance asked.


    "Help us expose this cheater before our friend ends up married to him," I suggested.


    "It''s a great idea!" Rae said excitedly. "If we can find some kind of proof, then Steph won''t go through with it!"


    "You want me to help expose your friend''s cheating fiancé o prove that I''m not a cheater?" Lance asked incredulously.


    I shrugged. "Yeah, you got a problem with that?"


    "Your logic doesn''t make any sense," Lance said, shaking his head. "But if this guy is really a scumbag who''s cheating on his fiancée, then he deserves to be exposed. Som in."


    Rae made a little excited noise and pped her hands. "Awesome! I don''t think I could handle two of my best friends being married to cheating bastards. Oh-no offense Lance."


    "No, my brother is a cheating bastard,” Lance replied with a slight smirk. "Don''t worry about insulting him in front of me."


    That made meugh out loud, and theughter rippled through the room, the three of us sharing a rare moment


    of camaraderie.


    "Seems like we actually have something inmon after all," I said, smiling at Lance.


    He seemed to freeze for a moment before returning the smile.


    "Yeah... I guess we actually do."


    Third Person POV


    The sound ofughtering from the living room was unexpected, mainly because of the addition of Lance''s voice.


    The staff and betas in the pack house had grown ustomed to Rae and Ellie spending their afternoons together, eating lunch or talking in hushed tones. Their voices were beginning to blend into the background.


    But Lance''s voice still gave them pause.


    It was so strange to everyone who worked for Nn that Lance was spending so much time around his brother. It was well known that he couldn''t stand him. The fact that Lance was now apparently voluntarily spending time in the pack house was already cause for spection.


    And now..... hearing himughing with Ellie?


    It was almost too much.


    One of the betas stood just outside the doorway, listening as the three of them


    talked. He couldn''t quite follow what they were saying-something about some drama with one of Ellie''s friends-but it was the way the three of


    +25 Bonus


    them spoke that concerned him.


    It sounded... friendly.


    Not like they were faking being polite. And itcked all the tension that used to exist whenever Lance and Ellie were in the same room together.


    It was concerning.


    Knowing the way Lance felt about his brother, the idea of him and Ellie getting close could only result in problems.


    The beta was torn on whether or not he should tell Nn about this. The Alpha had been on edgetely with all the dealings surrounding the Moonstone pack, and he wasn''t sure Nn would react well to being disturbed with something like this.


    At the same time, if something was happening between Lance and Ellie, and it resulted in more drama down the line, the Alpha might be angry that he wasn''t warned ahead of time.


    It was a difficult position to be in. He needed to make a decision that wouldn''t anger the Alpha.


    He stood there a moment longer, listening to Lance''s voice the warm, friendly tone of it as he spoke to Ellie.


    And it unsettled him.


    Something was definitely off.


    He just wasn''t sure what.