‘Why does your heart race for him?’ Elsie's voice cut through my thoughts, accusatory. ‘Gabriel is our mate. Our chosen.’
‘I know it!’ I shot back. ‘And I despise myself for it.’
‘Yet you wait for his words. Hunger for his approval.’ She paced within me, restless. ‘Can a heart split between two males? Or has the coming war made you weak?’
‘Not weak. Human. Complicated.’
‘Wolves are not complicated. We choose. We claim. We keep.’ Her growl reverberated through my bones. ‘Gabriel claimed us. We are his.’
‘Then why do you stir when Nate looks at us?’
Silence from my wolf—damning, telling silence.
‘Enough,’ I commanded, shoving the entire internal war into a locked box.
Time to be Luna again. Gabriel's chosen. Perfect.
I spent the day being Luna—at least the version they expected. I walked the infirmary with the medics, carrying tea and quiet words while sneaking glances at their supply logs.
I stopped by the school to read to the pups and check the evacuation posters I’d “accidentally” helped redesign. Always. With the kitchen, I approved extra rations for night patrols.
I sat with widowed elders in the sunroom, listening more than speaking, and let the pack females parade fabrics for the harvest festival while I gently steered them toward sturdier choices.
Between it all, Nate and I traded quick, efficient updates—routes, curfews, which corridors still echoed too empty after dusk.
By evening my smile ached, but the house ran smoother than it had in weeks. Elsie had run hot all day—advising, prodding, guarding—until I was wrung out down to the bone.
‘Enough for today,’ she yawned at last.
And dawn brought departures. Gabriel cornered me against his car, hands framing my face as he kissed me with desperate possession. The display unfolded before an audience—Nate rigid by his own vehicle, several warriors pretending not to watch.
"Can't get enough of your Luna, Alpha?" Colin's voice cut across the morning, aimed like an arrow at Nate. "Makes a man jealous, doesn't it?"
Laughter rippled through the watching wolves. Gabriel pulled back, satisfied with his claim, fingers lingering on my jaw.
"Keep her safe," he commanded Nate, then softer, to me: "Three days. Then you're back in my arms."
His car disappeared down the pack road and I caught the look Nate leveled at Colin—pure murder wrapped in Beta control.
"Problem?" Colin asked, all innocence.
"Get to your post," Nate ordered, voice carved from ice.
We climbed into Nate's car—sleek black machinery that rivaled the Alpha's own. The leather seats held his scent: leather and restrained violence. The engine growled to life, and we pulled off the grounds, gravel spitting under the tires.
"Colin worries," Nate said suddenly, eyes fixed on the road. "He's my best friend after Gabriel. Keeps trying to solve my mate situation."
The words landed like carefully placed stones. My fingers tightened on the seatbelt. "How generous of him."
"Sets me up sometimes. Dates. Introductions." His tone remained conversational, but his knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. "Practically blackmail."
The image of Nate with other women—touching them, kissing them—sent something vicious through my chest. "And how did those arrangements work out?"
"Disasters." He glanced at me, quick and assessing. "Hard to charm someone when you're there against your will. I'm certain those women left thinking I was the rudest wolf they'd ever met."
"Oh, I'm absolutely certain that's true." The words escaped before I could cage them. "I know exactly what you can be like when you're not interested."
Our eyes met—a collision of understanding that lasted too long, said too much.
Elsie snarled a warning, ‘Stop. This is flirting. This is dangerous.’
The phone's ring shattered the moment and Lily's voice burst through the speaker, bright as broken glass.
"Katherine! Are you driving? Please tell me you're already on your way. I have the most incredible plan for tomorrow—"
"We're driving," I confirmed, grateful for the interruption. "What plan?"
"It's a surprise! But bring something nice to wear. Not pack nice—city nice. There's a difference."
"Lily—"
"No arguments! You never visit, and when you finally do, we're doing this properly."
I ended the call, turned to find Nate watching me with curious intensity.
"Your human friend sounds... enthusiastic."
"She's chaos in human form."
I let myself smile—a real smile, not the practiced Luna version.
"Owns a bookstore but reads maybe two books a year. Talks constantly. Has opinions about everything." I paused. "She's the complete opposite of what you'd expect, and somehow perfect."
"Like you," Nate said quietly, then caught himself. "I mean… unexpected."
Silence threatened to return, heavy with implications. I redirected desperately. "Tell me about Colin. About your friendship with him and Gabriel."