Chase
i

Chase didn't want to admit it – and he certainly wasn't admitting it out loud – but he was worried. He was worried about Aubrey. He was worried about himself. He was worried about Genevieve. And then by proxy – Aiden.
Genevieve wasn't just going to let this go. And he used to admire that fire in her.
But he'd always thought that she understood the way he felt. And he always thought that she was going to wake up and see Aiden right in front of her.
But here they all were.
Or more specifically here he, Aiden, and Brennan were, standing by the fire.
Taylor, Stiles, and Aubrey had left just a few minutes ago and Chase had to force himself to stop listening for their footsteps.
It was impolite, Aubrey had informed him.
He was inclined to agree but he was just so…incandescent.

He'd loved her on first sight – had never believed it possible, but how wrong he was.
He'd loved her before he even knew if she would be selected, if Ross would agree to bring her. And it had probably been wrong of him to hope, selfish even but he couldn't help it.
He'd hoped for her, deep in the parts of him that he didn't talk about to anyone.
And there were still so many questions.
He still hoped for things that he shouldn't. He still wanted things he shouldn't.
Then again, he thought Aubrey wanted things she shouldn't want too.
The way she had just- but he caught Genevieve's scent, cutting off his stream of thoughts.
Chase tensed on instinct, struggling with a wince when Aiden and Brennan echoed him.
Genevieve would be thrilled by that reaction, no doubt.
Lifting his beer, he took a cautious sip.
"She run off already? That was surprisingly fast," Genevieve commented, slipping between Brennan and Aiden seamlessly.
Aiden shifted away slightly, if Genevieve noticed she did nothing to give it away.
Chase felt a flash of sympathy and a burst of irritation in rapid succession.
What did she think she was playing at?
"What do you want Evie?"
She only smirked at Aiden's wounded tone and Chase had to suppress a burst of anger.
This was why they'd never really been friends he thought, she just had to needle and needle until something blew up.
It never mattered what that something was either.

"I don't want anything."
A lie if they'd ever heard one.
"I'm just here for the party. Isn't everyone having fun?"
Brennan arched a brow and Chase could all but hear his internal comments.
He nearly smirked himself.
"I mean look at the two of you…all mated…to humans," she said, the words deliberately slow. "Aiden and I are the only bachelors left I guess." She added this with a slight pout, head cocking towards his shoulder.
Chase winced purely on Aiden's behalf.
"Maybe you should move on Gen."
Her eyes flashed and it was only then that Chase realized the double meaning.
He'd opened his mouth to say something, perhaps some sort of retraction, but it was too late he knew.
"Maybe you should," she said, jaw clenched.
He forced himself not to roll his eyes.
"I meant from the three of us. Right now."
That earned a snarl.
Chase's fingers tightened on the label of the bottle in his hand.
"Do you really need me to say it out loud then?"
He waited just a smattering of seconds before continuing.
"I don't feel that way about you," he said, "I never have. I never will. I would hardly even consider us friends. And your behavior now – towards my mate – is reprehensible."
There was silence around them, if there had been any doubt of people listening in, it was gone.
"I wouldn't have minded," Genevieve began, elongated teeth gleaming between her dark lips, "I wouldn't have minded if she was at least pretty. But that cow of a girl isn't worth a space in our pack let alone your time and how she ever got you to-"
Chase lunged, vision tinged red as he utterly lost control.
It was disorienting when Aiden yanked him back by the elbow and Chase lashed out without thinking, a snarl breaking his lips.
It was a collision of teeth and skin, bones grinding but over quickly.
Somewhere in a crevice of Chase's mind thought resumed.
This was Aiden. One of his best friends.
He hauled himself back, yanking a hand through his hair and gritting his teeth until they were flat again.
His chest was aching with the effort to breathe by the time he was human again.
It was only then that he realized he tasted blood.

"Okay?"
Aiden grimaced but nodded once.
Chase's relief was short lived.
Predictably, Genevieve was nowhere to be seen.
The silence around them was broken up as people began shifting again, Aubrey, Stiles, and Taylor moving through the gap created.
"What happened?" Aubrey snapped.
Chase inhaled slow, letting himself relax.
"Nothing, we're fine."
Okay, we're was relative.
"Don't try and sell me that line of shit Chase."
But he nearly smiled.
There she was, tough in a way that Genevieve could never be.
A hard edge curled around the way that she cared.
The way that she cared for him?
It was harder not to smile.
He moved towards her, skin singing out to be against hers.
"We're fine." He let his fingers curl over her shoulders, regretful of the denim jacket she wore. "Tempers flared and we had a little fight but now we're fine."
But Aubrey wasn't just going to take that either.
"Why are you fighting your friends?"
"I lost my temper," he said, softer and with a tiny smile. "I told you."
"That's not like you," she told him, eyes narrowed.
No, it wasn't.
But she brought out things in him that he hadn't known existed.
Aubrey arched a brow and pursed her lips, evidently waiting for his response.
"It could be like me," he offered, "you've only known me a couple days."

She didn't respond for a few seconds.
"Don't treat me like I'm stupid Chase," she finally said with a little huff.
His hands dropped away and he stood a bit straighter.
"I would not," he informed her.
She arched that damned eyebrow again.
"Everyone knows exactly who's causing trouble here and why you and Aiden, of all people, would be fighting."
Chase couldn't help a quick pout.
Damn all these werewolves and their penchant for gossip.
He made a quick effort to fix his hair before sighing quietly.
"Well people will just have to adjust."
It was simple to say it like that, even though it shouldn't be.
Because firstly, people didn't have to adjust.
And secondly, that was assuming that things were just going to fit together and Aubrey was going to stay with him. That she was going to want to stay.
But he supposed he could hope.

A/N: okay so hi :)

I assume you guys have noticed I started adding a header at the beginning, this will be the character POV we're in followed by either i or ii.
i is before Stiles and Derek officially get together.
ii is after.

Now by no means is this like exact. It's a general timestamp.
I'm still trying to NOT stress myself out with this fic.

anyways, thanks so much for reading!