#Chapter 3: Unwelcome Guests

I blinked slowly, still taken aback by this sudden and unexpected interaction. We hadn’t seen each other in such a long time, and Nathan looked so… different now. He looked so much more mature than the rambunctious teen who I last saw before my dad and I got evicted by the old Alpha.

 

“Nathan,” I muttered, smoothing down my messy hair from a night of sleep, “it’s… it’s good to see you. You’re so tall now.”

 

Nathan stared at me for a moment. There was what looked like a ghost of a smile playing on his lips for the briefest of moments before his face turned stony. He seemed to drink in my appearance, as though he was appraising me.

 

“You look good,” was all he said.

 

I thought back to what the operator on the phone told me last night. Nathan, my childhood friend, was getting married now. He looked so mature now, but it still felt odd to think of him as a groom-to-be. It made me wonder…

 

“Who is your bride?” I blurted out. Nathan looked at me in a surprised way for a moment, almost as though he didn’t expect me to even know that he had a bride.

 

“Her name is Layla,” he finally said. “She’s the Alpha female from our neighboring pack.”

 

“Oh,” I muttered. In a strange way, it made me a little sad to hear it. I had no clue who Layla was; Nathan, who was once my closest friend and someone who I told everything to when we were kids, someone who knew every little thing about me up until ten years ago, now had a life that didn’t have anything to do with me anymore.

 

It felt strange and uncomfortable, and part of me wished that it was different.

 

Suddenly, Nathan said something that took me by even more surprise.

 

“Olivia, I didn’t think that you’d really dare to come back.”

 

I was taken aback by this statement. The operator last night had told me that my eviction order expired, and that I was invited to the new Alpha’s wedding. Why was Nathan now acting as though he didn’t even expect my return?

 

“What do you mean?” I asked. “I figured that you were the one who lifted my eviction order and wanted me to come back for your—”

 

Nathan shook his head and folded his arms across her chest. I just now realized that his arms, which were once thin and twiggy, were now thick and muscular. He exuded the appearance of an Alpha.

 

“Someone must have made a mistake,” he insisted. “Your dad’s eviction order did expire, but… I wouldn’t have invited you to my wedding. Why would I invite you?”

 

Now, I was even more taken aback. “We were friends,” I said, trying to hide the shake in my voice. “Best friends… since we were kids. I thought that you wanted to rekindle our friendship.”

 

Nathan looked puzzled. He paced away for a moment, leaning his hands on the dining room table with his back turned to me.

 

Through the glass door that led outside, now that he had stepped out of the way, I could see that there was a team of craftsmen who were standing there and looking at us through the glass.

 

When they saw me looking, they all turned away in unison and appeared to be looking at blueprints together. That must have been who Nathan was talking to.

 

“That was a long time ago,” Nathan finally said, turning back to face me while he leaned back on the dining room table. He crossed his legs at the ankles and leaned back on his palms, his blue-green eyes staring at me in a stern way. But there was a hint of humor to it too, and that only made him look all the more handsome.

 

In a strange way, his new stern Alpha appearance drew me to him.

 

“We hardly know each other now. We were friends so long ago, when we were just kids. Both of us have changed. I wouldn’t invite a stranger to my wedding…”

 

I was dumbfounded by my friend’s indifference, but even more than that, I was dumbfounded by his apparent disinterest in inviting me to his wedding when he was supposedly the one who invited me himself. At least, that was how it seemed.

 

Was he just feigning indifference, I thought to myself? He had to be.

 

“Look,” I said, deciding that it wasn’t worth it to get into what he said about our ‘little friendship’, “The operator told me specifically that I was invited to your wedding. Just last night, over the phone, he said that my eviction order was lifted and that I was invited—”

 

Nathan waved his hand dismissively and chuckled. His voice was so much deeper now than when I had last seen him. Maybe he was right; maybe we really didn’t know each other anymore.

 

“It must have been a mistake,” he said. He paused then and licked his lips, before standing up straight again and shrugging. Everything about his mannerisms exuded the spirit and arrogance of an Alpha, and it was a far cry from the awkward and heartfelt teenage boy who I used to know.

 

“Well, since you know about it, I won’t be rude,” he said. “It would be disrespectful, after all, not to let you come after all of this. So, I guess you can come, Olivia. It seems to be important to you.”

 

“Important to me?” I asked, feeling the beginnings of anger starting to bubble up inside of me. “I could care less about your damn wedding! Why would I want to go to a wedding if I’m not welcome, anyway?”

 

Now, Nathan seemed to be the one who was dumbfounded. We stared at each other in shocked silence for a few moments, and during those moments I was reminded of all of the little cat fights that we had as kids.

 

We were both bullheaded and emotional children, and our clashing personalities often led to arguments. Once or twice, we even got into physical scuffles over minor things, like who was allowed to have the last slice of pizza or who cheated during our games.

 

I could tell that Nathan seemed to be remembering those days, too. The air between us felt electric, like we would burst out laughing at any moment now over this argument. Maybe then, we would be reminded of how close we used to be and we could rekindle what used to be a good friendship.

 

In fact, the tension between us seemed to slip away as we stared at each other. A smile played on Nathan’s lips, and I couldn’t help but smile too at the ridiculousness of the situation.

 

But then, suddenly, I remembered where we were: we were in my aunt’s villa, the morning after I received a key and the deed to her house with my name on it. Why, then, was Nathan in here first thing in the morning with a team of craftsmen, who were now all looking back through the windows again?

 

“Nathan,” I said, shaking my head incredulously, “why are you even here? This is my villa.”

 

Nathan frowned. The hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips instantly faded, and he narrowed his eyes.

 

“Your villa?” he asked. “This isn’t your villa. This is my wedding house.”