CHAPTER 3

"So this is where you were!?" Hope and Penelope jumped in shock at the sudden voice beaming into the TV room, both turning their heads towards the door where Harley stood with his arms crossed over his chest and his brows knitted in anger. "Your dad is still going all out on his speech." He said as he stepped into the room and sighed out. "As the alpha you have to be there." "Come on Harley," Penelope whined as she peered from the edge of the couch to the door. "You look bored." "Gosh, I am..." Harley sighed as he walked over to the couch and threw himself on the seat beside Hope who moved to give him space. "So, an alpha now huh?" "Yeah." She chuckled out as she smirked out, leaning back into couch. "And you're a beta." She chuckled and he nodded with a grin. "I guess it pays to have a best friend I can compete with every single day. I managed to fight off every single competitor and just came out with one broken rib." He chuckled as he pulled his shirt up to reveal the spot he claimed to have been injured. "Well it healed pretty quickly because we have werewolf blood." He shrugged his shoulders as she smirked at him. "Yeah, I didn't hear from anyone you got hurt at all." Hope rolled her eyes as she sighed out. "No one said you got badly hurt." "Hey, that's only because I pretended to be fine-" "He just wants you to worry about him more, Hope." Penelope chuckled under her breath as she wiggled her brows to Harley who widened his eyes and batted his eyes in shock. "T-That's not what I even wanted!" Harley hissed as he glared towards Penelope whined chuckled and shook her head in denial. "I honestly just wanted more training." "She's a married woman, Harley." Penelope hissed as she grabbed onto Hope's shoulders and pulled her to her chest protectively. "Keep your perverted eyes to yourself-" "I wasn't thinking about that." Harley sighed out in defeat as he shifted his gaze to the screen. "Hope's my best friend, I can't look at her that way." "Hm." Penelope nodded before letting go of Hope. "Which reminds me, I saw Ronan earlier before I got here." Harley said as he glanced towards Hope who locked eyes with him. "Did he need anything?" Hope asked as she shoved the bowl of popcorn into Penelope's chest before getting up from the couch. "Not that I would know." He sighed out and waved his hands around before glancing back to her. "Ronan doesn't really like me you know?" "Probably because his wife's best friend is a man. Even I would feel very insecure about it." Penelope sighed out as she placed the bowl over to the glass coffee table while Hope made her way towards the door. "Where are you going?" Penelope asked as she glanced towards Hope who was already at the door. "I'm going to meet Ronan. What else?" She smiled cheekily before leaving the room. Penelope glanced towards Harley who raised his eyes in curiosity as she furrowed her brows and narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion. He shrugged his shoulders and reached over to the bowl of popcorn, getting himself a fist full of popcorn for himself. "I can't believe you." Penelope said as she watched Harley stuff his mouth with the popcorn before glancing towards her as he reached for another hand full. "Why?" He asked as he shoved the popcorn into his mouth before reaching for yet another hand full of the salty soft and crunchy buttery popcorn. "You've been Hope's best friend since both of you were born. You share the same birthdays, always spend the afternoons together right after training and before lights out, and you both always love to eat chocolate." She pointed out with her fingers to count the common things they had together. "And your point is?" Harley asked as he swallowed the popcorn in his mouth and reached for the unopened cans of soda just under the table. "You two are seriously an ideal match made in heaven. When the mating ceremony came for her, why didn't you mark her?" She asked with pouted lips that Harley sighed to and glanced at the can as he opened it, letting the ‘whizz' sound slip out of the can as he tilted the clip, breaking the seal. The fresh of sods filled his nostrils instantly, making his mouth water and lips turn dry just at the scent. "What you're saying is mostly true, but Hope and I have never seen each other in other ways other than just best friends." He said before taking a large sip of the soda. "We've been friends since we were born, share same birthdays of course, we're different years but we just take each other like twins for that fact. We act mostly like siblings when we're together." He cleared his throat as he clenched the can a little. "If we started seeing each other in another way, things wouldn't be the same. She wouldn't be the Hope that I know anymore." "Yeah but she would be better." Penelope sighed out as she reached her hand into her hair and leaned deeply into the couch. "Ronan is a good man anyway." Harley shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah maybe best a bit stubborn, but he's still with her and they seem to be in love. That shouldn't be a problem." He raised his brows at her as she frowned at him and crossed her arms on her chest. "What if she liked you?" Penelope asked as she watched his stunned expression. "What if Hope had been waiting for you all this time and hoped that probably during the mating ceremony, you would eventually mark her instead. That maybe she's been seeing you as a man and not just her best friend?" She asked and Harley couldn't help but glance away and down to the floor. "What would you do?" "Did she tell you that?" He asked more as a mummer and she shook her head in denial. "She's never said anything about you except that you're her best friend." She shrugged her shoulders and threw a leg over the other as she glanced at the screen that continued to play their movie silently. "It was just an assumption. Hope doesn't really share much for her feelings, that's how strong she is, she thinks she can just live with it and as time goes by, it will fade away. That's why I also think she's the best fit for an alpha. She won't let her feelings get the better of her." Penelope smiled as Harley frowned slightly at the thought and how much Hope had been shielding from them. It was true that Hope wasn't always sharing her emotions, but he just thought Hope never had much emotion to share. "Harley, Hope is still a woman. Don't forget that." She smiled before getting up from the couch and stretching her body. "That said, don't tell her anything about this or she'll come for my head. She's really in love with Ronan so please don't tell her I was forcing you." She chuckled as she winked and ran towards the door and out of the room. "Goodnight Harley!" "Yeah... Night." Harley sighed as he ran a hand through his short thick hair. Well, that changes everything...