I was out of the car before it fully stopped, boots hitting gravel as I bolted for the tree line. But Nate's hand caught mine, yanking me back. "Hear me out."
I speared him with a look that should have dropped him dead.
"You're Gabriel's weak point." His grip tightened. "Every enemy wolf knows it. The second you're near him, he stops thinking tactically. Starts thinking about protecting you."
"Is that all this is? Following orders?"
"No." The word cracked like thunder. "I'll protect you with my life, Kat. Not because Gabriel commanded it. Because I—" He stopped, jaw clenching. "I don't care if you stay with him forever. I don't care if you never look at me the way you look at him. But I need you to live."
The confession hung between us—words spoken only because death circled close enough to taste. "Nate—"
"I know what I am to you. I know what I can't be. But let me be this—let me be the one who ensures you survive tonight." His hand released mine, fell to his side. "Even if it means dying so you can run back to him."
My chest cracked open. Every instinct screamed to find Gabriel, to fight beside him, to—
"Fine." The word tasted like glass. "But first we find my mother."
We ran. Not as wolves—we needed hands for weapons. The forest blurred past, smoke thickening with each stride. Orange light danced through the trees. The residential quarter burned.
The first enemy wolf came from the left—massive, scarred, teeth bared. I didn't think. The knife Nate had given me flew from my hand, burying itself in the wolf's eye. He dropped, convulsing.
"Behind you!" Nate roared.
I spun, dropping low as another wolf sailed over my head. Nate's fist connected with its skull mid-leap. The crack echoed through the trees.
Two more burst from the undergrowth. We moved without speaking—I went left, he went right. My training flooded back. Dodge, strike, twist. The wolf's claws raked my shoulder.
I drove my elbow into its throat, grabbed its head, snapped its neck with the motion Nate had drilled into me a hundred times.
"That's my girl," Nate snarled, blood dripping from his knuckles where he'd just torn out another wolf's throat. "Knew those morning sessions would pay off."
"Save the pride for later," I panted, retrieving my knife from the corpse. "We're not done."
Three more wolves circled us, these in human form, armed with blades.
"Barrett's elite guard," Nate muttered. "This'll be fun."
They attacked simultaneously. Nate took two, moving like liquid violence. I faced the third—a woman with dead eyes and faster hands. Her blade sliced across my ribs. I hissed, stumbling back.
"The exile's daughter," she sneered. "Barrett will pay extra for your head."
"Then he'll be disappointed."
I feinted left, dropped right. My knife found the gap in her guard, sliding between ribs. She gasped, eyes widening with surprise before life drained from them.
"Damn, princess." Nate stood over two bodies, chest heaving. "Remind me to thank myself for training you."
"Thank yourself if we survive."
The shelter entrance was hidden behind burning debris. We cleared it together. Inside, dozens huddled—elderly, children, those who couldn't fight.
"Katherine!" My mother flew at me, tears streaming. Her arms wrapped around me with desperate strength. "You're alive, you're here, oh dear Goddess, I thought—"
"I'm okay." I held her tight, breathing in her familiar scent beneath the smoke. "Are you hurt?"
"No, Colin got us here before—" She pulled back, examining my bloodied clothes. "You're wounded."
"Scratches."
Nate stood guard at the entrance, giving us space but keeping watch. His presence steadied me even as my wolf howled for Gabriel.
Then it hit.
Agony exploded through my chest—claws raking flesh that wasn't mine. My shoulder erupted in fire as phantom teeth tore through muscle. My thigh split open with pain from wounds I didn't bear. I crashed to my knees, screaming.
The shelter floor rushed up to meet me. Gravel bit into my palms as I tried to catch myself, but my body wouldn't respond. Every nerve screamed Gabriel's torment.
"Kat!" Nate lunged toward me.
Blood filled my mouth—not mine, his. I could taste copper, feel teeth loosening from impacts I hadn't taken. My ribs cracked with each breath that Gabriel struggled to take miles away.
"Gabriel…" I gasped, clawing at my chest where invisible claws had left their mark. "He's… they're tearing him apart—"
"Breathe. It's the bond. You're feeling his wounds, not receiving them."
"It hurts—" Another wave crashed through me. My back arched as something or someone bit down on Gabriel's neck.
I felt his blood leaving his body, felt his strength wavering.
"I know." Nate's hands framed my face, forcing me to meet his eyes. "But you're not dying. Neither is he. Focus on my voice."
My mother dropped beside us, hands fluttering helplessly. "What's happening to her?"
"Mate bond backlash," Nate said tersely, not looking away from me. "She's experiencing his battle injuries. Kat, listen to me. You need to separate yourself from the sensations. They're not yours."
But separating seemed impossible when I could feel Gabriel's heart stuttering, his lungs filling with blood, his wolf fighting against odds that—
"Beta Williams!" Derek burst through the shelter entrance, blood coating half his face. "Thank the gods. The Alpha sent me. He needs you both at the eastern border. Now."
Another wave of pain crashed through me and Gabriel's howl echoed in my mind—rage and agony combined.
"We go," I said, pushing to my feet despite the phantom wounds. "Now."
"Kat—" Nate started.
"That wasn't a request, Beta."
Mother grabbed my arm. "You can't go out there. You'll die!"
"Then I die fighting." I kissed her forehead. "Stay here. Stay safe."
"Katherine, please—"
But I was already moving.