"I have something else to tell you." Gabriel smiled mysteriously.
"What now?" My voice came out sharper than intended, still raw from confessing my inability to shift.
"A surprise. I rented a cabin here." He gestured toward the cottages visible through the trees. "Two days, just us."
"You planned this?"
"Last week. After Barrett's ultimatum." His jaw tightened. "I needed something good to focus on. Something that wasn't war and death and impossible choices."
"Gabriel—"
"Don't argue." He pulled me against him, his skin was warm. "Two days where you're not the Luna and I'm not the Alpha planning for war. Two days where we're just us."
The cabin stole my breath—windows overlooking the water, exposed beams, a bed that promised everything we'd been too careful to take.
"It's perfect," I whispered.
"Get changed." Gabriel's eyes darkened with mischief. "We're going swimming."
"The water's freezing—"
"Not where we're going." He dragged me along a forest path, our footsteps crunching on pine needles. The trail climbed sharply until we emerged on a cliff face. Fifty feet below, the lake stretched deep and dark.
"You're insane."
"Jump with me." He stripped to his shorts, muscles rippling in the afternoon sun. "Unless the future Luna is afraid of a little height?"
"That's not a little height, that's—"
He grabbed my hand and jumped. The scream tore from my throat as we plummeted. Cold water shocked every nerve when we hit, Gabriel's arms finding me instantly beneath the surface.
We broke through gasping, laughing, alive in a way that had nothing to do with war councils and political marriages.
"You’re crazy!" I shoved him, but I was laughing too hard to put force behind it.
"You loved it." He pulled me against him, our bodies slick and pressed together. "Admit it."
"Never."
He kissed me then, deep and claiming, the water around us forgotten. When we finally broke apart, his eyes held something desperate.
"I needed this," he admitted. "Needed you away from everything. Just mine."
We swam until our muscles burned, racing to hidden coves, kissing against sun-warmed rocks. Every touch felt stolen, urgent, like we both knew time was running out.
We didn’t stop until the light thinned and the water cooled. Dripping and breathless, we dressed in the fading gold—and let the day soften into night on the walk to the lakeside restaurant.
The lakeside restaurant hummed with conversation and clinking glasses. Gabriel had reserved a corner table, intimate despite the crowd.
"That couple," a woman whispered at the next table. "The chemistry between them..."
"Look how he watches her," her companion replied. "Like she might disappear."
Gabriel's hand found mine across the table. "Let them look. Let everyone see you're mine."
I squeezed his fingers, heat spiraling low as the room around us faded into a blur of candlelight and clinking glasses.
Later, with the lake wind in our hair and laughter on our lips, we slipped back to the cabin. The fire cast shadows across Gabriel's face as he pulled me onto the couch.
"Tell me something," he said suddenly. "What kind of Luna do you want to be?"
The question caught me off guard. "Whatever kind you need."
"That's not what I asked." His fingers traced my collarbone. "How do you see yourself leading?"
"I want to support you. Be kind with the pack—"
"Stop." The word cracked sharp. "That's the performance talking."
My heart hammered at his words. "What do you mean?"
"Katherine, I'm not blind. I see you swallowing arguments, biting back responses, forcing yourself smaller." His hands gripped my shoulders. "I know about your father. I know why you're terrified of showing strength."
"You don't understand what it cost us—"
"I understand perfectly." His thumbs pressed into my skin. "A Luna needs to be kind, yes. Supportive, absolutely. But she also needs to be strong. Even sharp-tempered when necessary. The pack needs to feel their Luna's authority."
"You want me to be difficult?"
"I want you to be real. Other Alphas need to know you're not decorative. You're powerful." His eyes blazed with conviction. "You can let it out, Katherine. With me."
Hope bloomed in my chest for one devastating moment.
"But," he continued, and the word shattered everything, "I'm also grateful for your restraint. The pack loves your gentleness. After years of aggressive leadership, they need softness. Your ability to hold back, to be diplomatic—it's exactly what we need right now."
"So be strong but not too strong." My voice came out flat. "Real but still performing."
"Be strategic." He kissed my forehead, missing my bitterness entirely. "It's not suppression, it's wisdom."
"Like a weapon you keep sheathed."
"Like a Luna who understands politics."
The fire crackled between us. Gabriel pulled me against his chest, satisfied with his half-vision of who I could be.
But my mind drifted to someone who wanted me unsheathed, who demanded every sharp edge, who saw performance as betrayal rather than wisdom.
"You're thinking too hard," Gabriel murmured.
"Just processing everything."
"Process tomorrow. Tonight, be here with me."