"Hey Hazuki," Alex put her finger on the tip of my nose teasingly, "What's going on in the brilliant mind of yours? You have an interesting look on your face. Did something happen to you yesterday?"

I looked up into her soft green eyes. But I kept thinking of red eyes. I couldn't sleep at all last night, my mind full of what Neil said to me. He would not leave my mind at all. I didn't know why I felt like this. But I didn't tell Alex this of course. I didn't think she'd be very supportive of it. But I could tell her some things.

"Well I did see something interesting," I bit my lip slightly before continuing, "I was in the woods and I saw Neil. He shifted."

"Really? You saw him shift?"

"Yes. Wait, did you know? That he's a werewolf?"

"Of course," she turned her head so that our eyes weren't meeting, "I didn't want to tell you that he was. Not because I was hiding something, don't get me wrong. I was being respectful of Neil. I'm sure that he wouldn't be very happy if I told a human that he was cursed as well. I know how private that guy can be. More like a shark than a wolf."

"I don't mean to be nosey, but what exactly happened between you, Neil, and Allen? He was very angry about it."

Alex froze at those words and gave me an uncomfortable laugh, "I'd rather not talk about that, Hazuki. It's a bit personal. I'm still a bit depressed about it myself."

"Should I not have asked?"

"No no. That's not what I'm saying. But I guess I may as well tell you. I'm sure that asking Allen to explain it would lead to some awkward questions. But I don't think he'd mind if I tell you."

"What do you mean?"

"Let me explain will you? When I first shifted, Allen and Neil both confessed their feelings to me. And let me tell you that it wasn't a very easy decision to make. I really did love them both, but I had to make a choice. It wasn't very easy, but it would have fixed the problem. But I'm reminded that I had to hurt Neil. I didn't mean to make them both fall for me. It just kind of happened."

"How did you know that Allen was the one for you?"

"It's kind of complicated," Alex scratched the back of her head in thought, "Before I knew that Allen was cursed, I saw him as a wolf. For some reason the wolf was special to me. I know it sounds silly, but I felt a connection to him. So I was really surprised when I found out his real identity."

"I don't think your connection with that wolf sounds silly." I felt the same connect to Neil. Well his wolf side anyways. When he was human, he was very hard to connect to. But I wanted to get closer to him.

"Well thank you. But as I was saying. Neil had found out that I shifted and showed me that he could as well. The same day that he confessed. Allen had interrupted us then and admitted his feelings as well. The fight they had then was terrible. It made me feel even worse."

"So how exactly did you know that Allen was your soulmate?"

"I knew both sides of him."

"Huh?" I blinked, "What do you mean?"

"I got to love the wolf side of him before I realized my feelings for the human part. If that makes any since to you."

"It does."

"Good. I learned every aspect of him. I liked Neil very well as a human. But the wolf side of him was foreign. I couldn't love him all the way if I didn't understand him fully. I would have liked to get to know it, but it's in the past. I think about what would have happened if I chose Neil instead, but I don't regret my choice at all," she gave a small grin, "I love every part of my husband. We have a deep bond that I don't ever want to let go of."

"I don't want to let go of it either."

Alex and I both jumped a bit at the deep voice from behind us. I turned around to see Allen staring at his wife with a soft smile. I could see that a blush started to bloom on his face.

"Hey honey. You're home early." Alex went up to him and took the sleeping Alison from his arms and cradled her.

"I had a pretty small amount of customers today," he kissed her lightly, "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Should I leave?" I smirked at the married couple, "Wouldn't want to overheat if you two decide to end up steaming up the house."

"Hazuki!" Alex turned red while her husband chuckled.

"I'm just saying."

"Oh Hazuki. I saw that Soseki was fishing near the river. He might want to see his girlfriend," Allen informed me, "By the way, your hair looks a bit messy. You might want to fix that before seeing him."

"It looks fine to me," Alex replied, "You leave the salon and still think about hair."

"Appearance is important."

"Yeah yeah," I huffed, "I'll brush it. Don't get a heart attack now."


I walked away from Alex's farm a few moments later. It seemed like her and Allen wanted some alone time, so I respected that. But I saw Neil and Rod talking near the general store. My eyes met the blonde for a second. Even just a second seemed to make me a bit uncomfortable. I hurried up so that I wouldn't have to deal with my damn heart beating.