"You're stalling."

Alek glared at his cousin, as she leaned against the standard school lockers, a smirk playing upon his face. He was clearly frustrated, though whether it was at Jasmine for pointing it out, or for it being true, he didn't really know.

"Am I that transparent?" He asked her, and though it was a rhetorical question, the arch of her brow was answer enough for him. He sighed, and leaned back against the locker next to his open one. "I want to see her. We never talked about what happened, and I know she's going to want to."

"And, what exactly happened?" Jasmine asked suspiciously, and the blonde haired Mai ran a hand through his hair nervously, and shrugged. However, his cousin certainly was not taking that for an answer. "No, Alek, I don't want a shrug. I want an answer, a real one. Not some evasive half truth, I want to know what happened!"

Seeing the frustration on the blonde Mai's face, she sighed, and softened her features. "Alek, I'm not asking you as Valentina's daughter. I'm asking you as your cousin, and Chloe's friend. I care about both of you, and I want both of you to be happy. Chloe is my friend, and I would lay my life down for her, as she is the Uniter, but my loyalties lie with you."

Alek sighed. "Good to know." Suddenly his gaze shifted, and he was no longer staring at Jasmine, but at someone approaching from behind her. From the tension in his jaw, Jasmine could easily guess who it might be. Placing a light, comforting hand on his arm, she smiled, and then walked away, leaving Alek to be alone with the girl who was walking towards him.

"Alek." Immediately the native Londoner tensed. The tone of Chloe King's voice was not good. She cracked his name, and sounded as if she bore the weight of the world on her shoulders. And in a way, she did. But it literally pained Alek to hear that tone applied to him, as if he was the one making her feel this way.

"I think feelings have been made perfectly clear on both sides." He said stiffly, and then turned to his locker, shoving books onto the shelf vehemently, as if the world depended on the arrangement of his calculus books.

However it seemed as if Chloe was not yet done with the situation.

"Wait, Alek! Just…wait." She grabbed his arm, and he froze, muscles still tense. "What happened last night was…special. It was special, and…intimate. Alek, I liked what happened last night." For a single perfect moment of bliss, Alek entertained the thought that Chloe might say that she wanted him, that she wanted to be with him, like they were supposed to be. But then she quickly crushed all his hopes.

"But that can't happen again. Not…not right now." Alek clenched his hands into a fist, his knuckles white. "It's just too…it's happening too quickly. I-I hope you understand."

Alek hated the fact that he still practically melted at the desperation in her voice. Here was the girl of his dreams, rejecting him cold, trying to offer some consolation, and yet he would still do anything for her. Since when had he turned in to such a bloody sap?

"I understand perfectly." He enunciated his words clearly, hoping that Chloe would catch the hint, and just leave. But apparently his obvious anger and pain was enough to get into Chloe's painfully thick skull. Or maybe Alek was just being a little bitter. She could be quite perceptive when she wanted to be, and apparently now was one of those times.

"I'm sorry, I really am. It's just too soon after Brian-"

And that was enough for Alek.

Slamming his locker shut with fury and force, he rounded on Chloe, his eyes practically black with fury. Fear was the dominant emotion on her features, but Alek didn't care at this point. The moment that name slipped from her beautiful lips, that had been the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back.

"I don't want to hear it Chloe. You have no idea how sick and tired I am of hearing about your precious Brian. When will you get it through your head? He is human? You can never be with him? Why do you even care? What can he offer you that I can't?" What? What had he just asked? This was not what he was planning to say, and Chloe looked stunned as well. But he had already dug himself into this hole, he might as well dig deeper, and get his feelings out in the open.

"He. Is. Human. Why do you want him, when there is an undeniable attraction between us?" He grabbed her upper arms, squeezing lightly. "I know you felt it. And I already told you that I care about you. We belong together."

Yet Chloe was still shaking her head, still refusing to believe anything. "Alek, I'm sorry. I'm just…I'm not in love with you."

"Yet you're in love with Brian." When Chloe did not speak, fury pulsed through Alek's veins. "I see then." His demeanor quickly became cold and harsh. "But don't you dare come crying to me when you kill him. Don't you dare let it affect your training when he breaks your heart." Alek took a threatening step towards Chloe, and placed his arm over her head, mirroring the position they had been in, before all the Mai drama interfered.

"And he will break your heart."

Mustering up her strength, Chloe managed to retort, "Oh, like you wouldn't."

Once again, Alek's eyes darkened, this time with pain. When he spoke, his tone was low, masking the hurt that was obvious on his face.

"Not in the way that you seem hell bent to break mine."

Turning around, Alek left a shocked Chloe King behind, taking some small amount of satisfaction, knowing that she was now responsible. He had flat out told her that she was breaking his heart, and now she would be held responsible for that, with the knowledge that every moment she spent with her precious human, she was hurting her so-called friend.

"You say that she refuses to stop seeing this human?"

Ignoring Jasmine's fierce glare on his back, Alek nodded. "Yes. She told me as much this morning." That was not, strictly, true, but Alek didn't really care. He had never been above lying, while start now? "She is still seeing him, and feelings are growing deeper."

Valentina sighed. "Alek, I told you to make her fall in love with you. That was a direct order."

Alek's eyes darkened, and he jutted his chin out. "It seems that she is determined to never let that happen. I apologize for failing my task."

At this point, Jasmine decided to intervene. She had no idea what Alek was getting up to, but she knew that on his part, the feelings for Chloe had been real. He didn't need to be reminded by her mother. "Mom, creating feelings in one another is a pretty hefty order. Besides, why was Alek supposed to get Chloe to fall in love with him? And why wasn't I aware of this?"

"I do not need your input Jasmine! If I wanted it, I would ask for it. And you weren't aware of this because you cannot be trusted with this, if your previous failures are anything to prove."

Jasmine's jaw tightened, and she turned away. Alek decided to turn the conversation back to the topic at hand.

"What exactly do you propose we do? Take out the human?" Alek was not a killer. But he might make an exception for this Brian. Something did not feel right with him, and Alek was determined to protect Chloe, no matter what the costs. Even if it meant she would never speak to him again. Which was a very distinct possibility.

"No. We will stick to our original plan. We will just have to proceed with haste. How soon can you be ready?"

Alek looked Valentina straight in the eye. "As soon as you need me to be."

She nodded. "Very well. I will make sure that Chloe is prepared by Friday." And with that, she turned around and walked into her office. Jasmine was quick to round on Alek.

"What the hell was all that? And why did you tell Mom that Chloe is still seeing Brian? You know very well that she isn't? Why were you told to make her fall in love with you? And what the hell is going on Friday? I want some explanations Alek. Now." She glared pointedly at the Brit, and he sighed, running his hand through his blonde hair.

"Do you honestly think that Chloe isn't seeing that guy anymore?" He argued with Jasmine. No way was he relaying their conversation from earlier. "Because she seems determined to live a normal life, regardless how many people she hurts to get that."

Jasmine's glare did not waver, though some pity was now infused in her dark look. "I didn't take you for the bitter type Alek. Chloe isn't selfish. Naïve, yes, but not selfish." She conceded slightly, and added, "And while I don't think she's still dating Brian, or whatever she was calling it, I agree, I don't think he's done with her."

"Exactly. He's dangerous, and she's a danger to him. But I'm starting to think that he's a bigger threat to her, than she is to him." Jasmine did not necessarily agree, though she found it comforting to a small degree that Alek was still just as overprotective of Chloe as always. Good thing that Chloe didn't break his heart enough for him to abandon all his love for her. Though she knew firsthand that unrequited love was the worst kind.

"But why wasn't I told about the plot to make Chloe fall in love with you? Was this something you and my mother cooked up? I know that you've had a crush on her for just about forever, but why does she need to fall in love with you?"

Alek closed his eyes as Jasmine brought up his long time crush on the ever annoying Chloe King. He remembered spending time wishing he could just tug one of her pretty blonde curls, wrap an arm around her waist, kiss her pretty plump lips. He had always thought that he would never get that privilege, that she was a human. So when she had made the transformation, and become not only a Mai, but the Uniter as well, he had thanked his lucky stars, believing that it was destiny.

Too bad Chloe did not share the same sentiments.

"I was supposed to make her fall in love with me so that things would be easier for her. We're still going through with the plan, but now we're doing it on Friday instead, and she's not in love with me. Though I don't think your mom will really care about that much."

Jasmine gritted her teeth in irritation. "You are dancing around the question! What is the plan! What does Chloe falling in love with you have to do with anything? Alek, I'm sick of being in the dark here! This is obviously going to affect both you and Chloe. I care about the both of you, and I want to know what's going on. You know that mom exaggerates my failures, you know you can trust me."

"Can I?" Alek asked evenly. "Can I trust you not to go running to Chloe the moment I tell you?"

A resounding smack, and a stinging cheek was answer enough for him. Jasmine glared at him, and he did not need Chloe's empathy to read her fury. Standing up from where he was sitting on the couch, he took a deep breath.

"The plan is that on Friday, Chloe and I will be Mated."

With those words, he walked off, heading straight for his room, leaving a slack jawed Jasmine behind. Today he was just slaying the ladies with these cliffhangers.