Enzo’s POV: The night had arrived, and we hadn't seen Atticus the whole day. After the incident happened, he stormed off. "He is not responding to me," Rosalie pouted, holding alcohol in one hand and her phone in the other. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying for hours. I had to take her out and bring her to the mountains, where we three always meet and drink. "I have left him a message to come meet us here," I said, watching Rosalie let out a bitter laugh and then chug straight from the bottle. "Maybe you should tone it down a bit," I suggested as her small sip turned into a chugging competition. "I have to be drunk to see him. You know he's mad at me, right? He's angry with me because I poured that coffee on his mate. The same mate who doesn't give a shit about him." She laughed through tears and shook her head. Seeing Rosalie like that was difficult for me. I had a crush on her from a very young age. I always thought I would grow up and feel a mate bond with her. There were times when she also made it seem like she was interested in me. But recently, I have been thinking-- She obviously showed interest in me because of my friend. She managed to insert herself into our group through me, and now we find ourselves in a strange dynamic where we behave as if we're a couple, yet neither of us wants to officially acknowledge it. "Rosalie! The mate bond is a powerful connection. He's inevitably going to have feelings for her," I apologized on Atticus's behalf. Cynthia wasn't someone I saw a long-term future with. When she first started attracting attention from the bullies at school, my interest was mainly in having a casual relationship with her, adding her name to the list of girls I'd been with. However, after discovering that she was my mate, I couldn't bear to see her in pain. "He rejected her," she grunted, as though she might hit me over the head with the bottle she held if I referred to them as mates once more. "She didn't. Besides, it's not just the mate bonding that has Atticus concerned for her. We're aware that he had a crush on her---," I was getting a bit irritated as I had to repeat the same explanation to her multiple times, but as always, she had an excuse for everything. However, this excuse was the only valid one among the others. "And she crushed him. Do you not remember an alpha broken, drinking, and crying, lamenting about his crush being the destroyer of his life?" She slammed the bottle down in frustration and engaged in an argument with me. "You know, sometimes I wonder if it wasn't an unintentional ---," I stopped abruptly and turned away from her. "What?" she inquired."What you said about developing feelings for Atticus? I just don’t understand how you went from wanting to be with me to gradually suggesting that it's acceptable for us to share you as friends. Would you be okay if I also had someone on the side?" I inquired while observing her evident discomfort. I recall her expressing her emotions towards me and desiring to become a part of our group. After that, she began making advances on me, but only when Atticus was present. It was almost as if she was preparing us for this very situation. And then, following Atticus' heartbreak, she accomplished her objectives by becoming involved with him physically. He wouldn't become too emotionally invested, but he would be there whenever we were engaged in activities. What's strange is that she manipulated me into convincing Atticus to join our relationship. Now, I feel like a fool. "I trust you, babe," she pouted. "Even if you're sleeping with someone else, I believe you'll return to me." Her absence of aggression and possessiveness regarding me caused me to offer a faint smile in response. I was already upset when I realized I wasn't her mate, and now this. "Come here," she whispered, her arm encircling my neck as she attempted to draw me nearer. When I didn't allow it, she inched closer on the grass and rested her hand on my pants, grasping my erection through the fabric. "This is mine! You can let others play with it, but only when I allow it," she whispered, tilting her head and placing a kiss on my erect member. And that was the predicament. I loved her so profoundly that I would dissolve in an instant whenever she displayed even a hint of affection toward me. "Now! Come on, I want my pleasure," she said, then pulled back, very drunk at this point, and pulled her skirt down. I realized she was not wearing any panties when she spread her legs wide and rested her head back on the grass. "Come on! My pussy is waiting for your tongue," she said; wasted. I just stared at her as she closed her eyes and began to fall asleep. ‘I hope you know we should not touch her right now,’ my wolf said. ‘Zone! You don’t have to remind me of that. I am not a bastard.’ I rolled my eyes at him and drew Rosalie’s skirt up, covering her legs with my jacket. ‘What about Cynthia? She didn’t ask you, but I want to know how you feel about her,’ I knew Zone would ask me that question. He was bound because of the mate bond, but was I? ‘I don’t know. It's just that the things she did to Atticus are what keep me away from her,’ I mumbled. ‘Does that mean you would have continued with Cynthia if she hadn’t manipulated Atticus?’ Zone asked, but I shook my head as I gazed at Rosalie. ‘I---,’ before I could finish, I found myself interrupted by an incoming text message. 'Oh, look who's texting us,' I smirked as I read the text, 'it appears that somebody else wants our dick.'I knew what I had to do to punish Cynthia for ruining so much between us.