I think you guys are really going to flip your shit over this chapter...

I looked up from the finals I was grading as Chloe skipped in the room with her camera bag and an afternoon snack, grinning from ear to ear.

"All right, what'd you do?" I asked suspiciously, pushing my chair back as she plopped herself down in my lap.

She kissed me, not a sweet peck on the cheek either, a real kiss and I wrapped my arms around her. Just as I was starting to get—as Chloe so eloquently phrases it—"lost," she slid a piece of paper up my chest and pulled back with her Cheshire cat smile.

"What's-?" I opened the letter and my eyes widened in shock. "You… you've been keeping secrets from me."

"Well it wasn't easy, I've had it for awhile, I was just working out the finer details." She couldn't keep the smile off her face and I couldn't resist kissing her again. When I allowed her to come up for air she nuzzled my ear, whispering; "Like finding an apartment."

I stared down at the acceptance letter from the University of Syracuse, welcoming Chloe Saunders into their Television, Radio and Film program.

"Is… is their program okay?" I asked.

She gave me a mock-scowl. "Don't give me that crap Derek Souza, I know you looked at it."

"… Maybe a little."

She hugged me and I squeezed her back tightly, she'd been dodging my questions about her college decision for several months now, getting annoyed with me for distracting her from her senior project. I felt a tightness in my chest ease as it really hit me, Chloe was going to SU with me, I wouldn't have go a single day without seeing her.

Then the second part of what she said hit and I jerked her back by her shoulders. "Wait. Apartment?"

Her nose crinkled this time when she smiled, the way it did when she was really happy. "Well… I explained your medical condition to the housing lady…"

"… My what?"

"You know, the whole turning into a wolf every week and needing to go running around in the woods and stuff." She dead-panned and giggled when my eyebrows shot up. "I just mentioned that I was going to SU because a friend of mine with a B12 deficiency and an anti-social personality disorder needed someone to stay with him who was familiar with his medical history. After a little bit of coaxing she caved and gave me clearance to live off campus, even suggested a few apartment complexes."

"B12 deficiency?" I looked at Chloe, practically glowing with mischief and self-satisfaction and had to laugh. "That's pretty clever."

"It does explain the mania, psychosis, irritability and personality changes." She conceded thoughtfully.

"I don't think turning into a wolf counts as a personality change." I pulled her up into another kiss, loving the soft feel of her skin and lips belying her sharp mind. "I've been trying to get off-campus housing since getting the damn acceptance letter!"

"Well I told her that memory impairment is one of your regular symptoms and that you probably forgot to mention it since you are particularly prone to forgetting the really important details. When she still seemed hesitant I brought up the anti-social personality disorder and your history of violence without careful supervision part and she couldn't get me out of there fast enough."

"History of violence?" I sputtered.

She raised an eyebrow and I shut my mouth, begrudgingly acknowledging that she had a point.

"Point is, we have a place. And when you're done being indignant by the means I'll show you the end result." She waited until I rolled my eyes and sighed, taking this as a sign of surrender. "Okay! Check this out." She pulled her digital camera out of her bag and curled up in my lap again. "It's a one bedroom but it has vaulted ceilings and is on the edge of town…"

I stopped listening, it didn't matter what the apartment was like. All that mattered was that I was going to be with my mate for the next few years… my thoughts froze as I remembered that I was going to graduate before her.

"And with my senior project and my AP classes I have enough credits to give me the boost I need to graduate early, I'll just have to over credit a few semesters but that's not the end of the world." She said as if responding to my sudden flash of worry. "And if you want to it would be easy to double-major and get a head-start on the PhD programs you were looking at."

I felt the now-familiar tightening sensation in my lower stomach as I watched her talk about our future and encouraging me to pursue the academic career that I'd decided long ago took a backseat when it came to Chloe. She was more important, but the scenario she was laying out, that she had put together behind my back, made it so I wouldn't have to choose. She'd chosen for me and the choice she'd made was based on my happiness, not hers. There were better programs out there that she could not only get into easily but could also afford and she was going to Syracuse University to be with me.

I swept the papers off my work table with one motion and stood, placing her easily on the desk and pushed her shirt out of the way, arching her up with a hand behind her back so I could taste the skin on her stomach. Her initial yelp of surprise turned into a gasp as I sucked on the inner line of her hip hard enough to leave a mark. She reached up to get a handful of my shirt, jerking it over my head and tossing it to the ground with an annoyed huff, like it had personally offended her by covering me.

I hissed in a breath when her slender hands pressed against my skin, gripping my sides and pulling me urgently closer. Our mouths met with equal urgency, kissing and touching everything that—

"Chloe?" Dad's voice came up the stairs from the second landing and I froze, moving my hands slowly from Chloe's legs to the edge of the desk, ordering them to stay there.

"You have got to be kidding me." I growled, debating on whether or not to pretend he didn't exist.

"Chloe you've got to be at school in ten minutes to get ready for graduation!" I heard his steps retreat down the hallway and knock on Simon's door.

"T-ten minutes is plenty of time." Chloe said breathlessly, pushing up to get her mouth on my neck.

I chuckled darkly. "Ten minutes is not enough time for what I'm going to do to you." The words were an effort and came out husky and rough.

She looked up to meet my gaze and her gray eyes widened, lips parting in a silent 'oh.' I took advantage of that, pinning her against the desk with one last kiss, getting a final taste of her while my hands gripped the desk so hard I could hear the wood splintering in protest. I backed off, scooping up my shirt from the floor and backing out of reach towards the door, trying to ignore the small whimpers from Chloe while the animal in me said; "Are you crazy? Look at her! She's beautiful! Smell her! Her scent is intoxicating and she wants you now get back over there and claim her!"

I tried to shake it off, tried to not think about the torturous last two weeks. Chloe couldn't come with me to Stonehaven the weekend after the senior show which meant no Chloe in my bed for another three days. So basically I'd gotten the crap beaten out of me by Clay for no good reason. I had gotten in a few satisfying hits once I started channeling all that frustration into the sparring but it was becoming rapidly apparent that that wasn't enough to even partially give me the release I needed.

"Damnitdamnitdamnit!" I cursed a few more times with more imagination and went outside of my study. Shutting the door for the second time in so many days, and leaning against it while I could hear the woman I loved on the other side panting for breath.

As I started getting my clothes back in order I heard Chloe murmur softly to herself;

"Well if Derek's not going to help me I might as well finish myself."

My hands shook so badly that I ripped my shirt and growled for real when I heard her laughing on the other side of the door. I slammed it open, fully intent on revenge to find her fully dressed and sitting comfortably at my desk, reviewing the pictures on her camera.

"There's plenty of open area behind the apartment for you to run around in, we could even play fetch if you wanted." Her eyes danced with amusement that barely covered the same frustration I was feeling.

I tried to get my mouth to work but my jaw did not want to cooperate, it was too busy tensing and clenching furiously. I turned on my heel and retreated downstairs, determined to find some room in the house that didn't smell like Chloe.

I ended up in Simon's sunroom studio, reading The Hot Zone. I figured that if Ebola couldn't take my mind off of Chloe, nothing could. After close to half an hour dad poked his head through the door.

"Hey, what are you doing in here?"

"Nothing." I muttered gruffly, turning a page.

"Uh huh. Well I was just coming to see if you wanted a ride to the graduation."

I hesitated, I'd skipped my own high school graduation, it just didn't seem that important. However, the idea of missing Chloe's graduation brought images to mind of my mangled reanimated corpse, forced to be her slave forever—and not in a fun way.

I shuddered. "Yeah I'm coming."

"So." Dad started when we were in the car. "Chloe's turning eighteen soon right?"

"Mm hmm." I didn't look up from my book.

"And after today she'll be officially graduated from high school."

"Mm hmm."

"So when are you going to ask her to marry you?"

I dropped the book, fumbling when I tried to catch it and it took a lot to fluster me enough to throw off my reflexes. Lucky for me, dad knew all the right buttons to push to get me flustered. "WHAT?"

He glanced over, eyebrows raised. "Why are you surprised Dare? Aren't you basically the werewolf equivalent of soul mates?"

I'm sure I was bright red by this point. "Uh… I guess…?"

"And because of that you're not going to cheat on Chloe or want to be with anyone else right?"

I felt an angry growl trying to escape my throat at the very idea of cheating on Chloe and swallowed hard. "No. It's permanent."

"And considering everything she's done for you in the past, I'm going to assume it goes both ways."

I shrugged, picking my book up off the car floor.

"So when are you going to propose?"

I dropped the book again. "Damnit. Dad. I am NOT going to be getting married any time soon." Of course the idea appealed to me, maybe a little more than I was comfortable admitting even to myself.

"Why?" He looked genuinely confused.

"Be… Because… I'm still a teenager. Christ, she's still a teenager." I ran a hand over the back of my neck, my earlier frustration still making it hard to think clearly. "That's not really a casual thing to do."

He shrugged now. "Dare, I hate to break it to you but we're supernaturals, the rules and taboos that govern the human world don't necessarily apply to us. As far as I know the vast majority of our people already view you and Chloe as beyond married. Comparatively speaking marrying her is just a formality for appearances sake. Like Simon being diabetic; he can choose not to tell people but it doesn't change the fact that he is."

I dropped my head into my hands with an exasperated sigh. "And he chooses not to tell the vast majority of people because they'd view him differently. The same goes for us, I don't want Chloe to be labeled as the girl who got married right out of high school, that's not fair to her."

"Ah. I see. So you'd rather that the human population view her as available."

My head snapped up at that. "Of course not." It came out gruff and I had to swallow again to keep my growl in check.

"Why not ask her how she feels about it?" Dad slid me a sideways glance. "You'd be amazed at the ideas these modern women have about what designates their freedom."

I glared at him. "That's not funny."

"No. It's not. Think about it son, do you really think it's fair for you to decide what Chloe is and isn't ready for without consulting her? Talk to her about it. I'm sure she'd feel more comfortable in your relationship if she could somehow explain its depth to her human friends. Because saying you're dating, or that you're her boyfriend… it's just too light Dare." He frowned. "I'm not explaining it very well."

"You're explaining it fine. I get it." I looked away, deep in thought.

"Great! Well here you go!" He tossed a small box at me and I was preoccupied enough that I barely caught it before it hit the ground.

"What the-?" I opened the lid and let out a string of expletives that in any other circumstances I would never say in front of my dad. "You carry this around?"

He grinned at me. "Not usually but on special occasions where you might need it I keep it handy."

I stared down at the delicate gold ring with a single diamond chip embedded in the band. "What. The. Fuck?"

"That was my grandmother's engagement ring. Up till now there haven't been any potential fiancées petite enough to wear it, but I think it will fit Chloe just fine." He explained as though I hadn't said anything.

I shook my head vehemently. "Simon should have this."

Dad laughed. "You can't be serious. Simon designed the ring he'll propose with when he was eight!"

I couldn't help a small snort of laughter. It was true, I remembered when we were on vacation and saw a guy proposing on the beach. I think it was the look on that girl's face that really started Simon's love for making women smile. Afterwards he'd spent days drawing and redrawing the ring he'd use for what he considered to be a perfect moment.

"And it was Simon's idea." Dad added quietly. "He said it feels weird introducing Chloe as your girlfriend when at home she's part of the family."

I nodded slowly. "Yeah okay. I'll think about it."

"That's my assertive boy!" He clapped me on the shoulder. "Now we just have to get Simon to stop moping around and all will be right with the world."

I rolled my eyes and snapped the ring's box shut, shoving at the bottom of my pocket. I honestly didn't know if I'd bring it up to Chloe or not, I'd thought about the concept, but not really any specifics, I just thought we'd decide on it together when we were ready.

But the wolf in me was thrilled at the possibility of claiming her.

Collaring her. I told that part of myself sternly. She doesn't deserve to be put on the spot like that. This is a decision we'll make together.

The wolf didn't care, all it wanted was its mate and if that meant going through some silly human ritual then no amount of rationalization on the human's part was going to stop it.