Dawn mist clung to the north training grounds as I stepped into the clearing. Nate stood in the center, stretching his shoulders in fluid movements that showcased years of combat discipline.
Every line of his body spoke of controlled power—a true Beta in his element.
"You came," he said, turning to face me.
"Did you think I wouldn't?"
"Honestly? I gave it fifty-fifty odds." He circled me slowly, assessing. "First lesson—stance. Everything builds from your foundation."
He demonstrated, and I found myself mesmerized. The way he moved wasn't just skilled—it was art. Each motion flowed into the next with lethal grace, muscles shifting beneath his training gear like water over stone.
"Your turn."
He adjusted my feet with gentle kicks, hands correcting my arm position. Despite his promise not to go easy, his touch remained patient, instructive.
"Better. Now, hold that while I explain the three zones of defense."
Two weeks transformed my world. Every dawn brought new bruises and breakthroughs. My body learned to move in ways Mother would have called unseemly, unladylike, unwanted.
But here, with Nate, I felt alive.
"You're a natural," he said during our tenth session, tossing me a water bottle. "That counter-move you just executed? Most wolves take months to master it."
"Good teacher," I replied, drinking deeply.
"No. Good instincts." He sat beside me on the log, close enough that I could smell pine and sweat. "You know, I owe you an apology."
"For what exactly? Be specific."
"For thinking you were just another power-hungry fake. You're genuinely brilliant, Kat. The way you analyze movement patterns, predict attacks… it's extraordinary, really."
He turned to face me fully then, a soft smile blooming on his lips before he finally speak again.
"Thank you, for finally showing me who you really are." Something shifted in his gray eyes, warming them to silver. "I'm beginning to admire you. As a person, I mean. Your strength, your intelligence, the way you protect those pups even while maintaining your cover."
My chest tightened. The way he said 'as a person'—like he needed to clarify, like there might be another way he admired me.
"One more round," he said abruptly, standing. "Let's see if you remember yesterday's takedown defense."
We circled each other in the morning light. He feinted left, I dodged right, but his real attack came from below.
The world spun, and suddenly I was flat on my back with Nate's weight pinning me down.
His hands bracketed my wrists above my head. His hips pressed against mine. Every inch of contact burned through our training clothes. His breathing was ragged, eyes dark as storm clouds.
My body responded instantly—heat pooling low, pulse racing.
Was this the mate bond crying out for Gabriel? Or was it Nate himself, solid and warm above me, making my wolf stir with forbidden interest?
His gaze dropped to my lips and the air itself seemed to crackle between us.
It was when he kissed me.
His mouth crashed against mine, desperate and hungry. For one shocked second, I replied to the heat. Then I froze for a second when reality slammed back.
"What are you doing?" I shoved him off, scrambling backward. "Nate, what the hell?"
"Kat…” Horror dawned on his face. “Shit, sorry. I don't know what—"
"We're forgetting this happened." My voice came out sharp as glass. "Nothing happened. Everything's fine. We're fine."
"Katherine, wait—"
But I was already running. The worst part—the part that sent terror racing through my veins—wasn't just the kiss itself. It was a split second before I'd pushed him away, when every cell in my body had screamed yes.
When I wanted to pull him closer, to taste him deeper.
Gabriel.
I needed to think about Gabriel.
My mate, the man I craved with every breath, whose absence left me hollow. I counted the days until his return like a prisoner marking time. The mate bond ached for him constantly, Elsie crying for her chosen.
Gabriel's hands, Gabriel's mouth, Gabriel's warmth—that's what I wanted. That's what I was waiting for.
Yet my lips still burned from Nate's kiss.
That horrifying confusion chased me all the way back to the residence, leaving him kneeling in the dirt.
* * *
The Summer Wolves Festival filled the pack square with laughter and music that night. I stood beside the fortune-telling booth, watching couples dance while my stomach churned with anxiety. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt Nate's lips on mine.
"Katherine." His voice came from behind me, low and urgent. "Please. Let me apologize properly."
I glanced around. No one was watching us, too caught up in the celebrations.
"There's nothing to apologize for. It didn't happen."
"It did happen, and I'm sorry." He stepped closer, careful not to touch me. "I crossed a line. You're Gabriel's mate. My Alpha's, my best friend’s mate… What I did was unforgivable."
"Stop." I turned to face him fully. "You want to know why I'm really like this? Why do I play this role so perfectly?"
He nodded, eyes intent.
"When I was nine, my father was still Beta here. Strong, principled, everything a Beta should be." The words tumbled out, needing to be said. "Then the Alpha's son from the Mountain Ridge Pack beat one of our she-wolves nearly to death. She was hospitalized for weeks."
Nate's jaw clenched. "I remember hearing about that incident."
"My father demanded justice. But the old Alpha refused to act—politics were more important than one battered wolf. The alliance with Mountain Ridge mattered more."
My voice turned bitter, I could still see father’s face in my mind, his eyes full of rage and hollow at the same time.
"Father challenged the decision publicly. Said protecting pack members should come before politics."
"He was exiled for it?"
"We all were. Mother, me and Father. Banished overnight because he dared to say that a she-wolf's safety mattered." I wrapped my arms around myself. "Father died three years later. Broken. Away from his pack, his land, his purpose… everything."
"Kat…"
"Mother never recovered. She became obsessed with returning, with being accepted again. She drilled into me that the only way back was to be perfect. Sweet, gentle, non-threatening. Never challenging, never difficult, never strong enough to be seen as a threat."
Understanding dawned in his eyes. "That's why you can't drop the act?"
"I can't disappoint her. Not after everything she sacrificed, everything she lost…" I met his gaze directly. "This return, this acceptance—it's all she has left."
"And now you're the Alpha's mate."
"Which makes it even more critical that I'm perfect." I stepped back, creating distance between us. "What happened this morning… it can't."
His hands clenched at his sides. "And this thing between us?"
"Doesn't exist." The lie tasted like ash. He nodded slowly, though something in his eyes suggested this wasn't over. "You're Gabriel's Beta. I'm Gabriel's mate. That's all we can be."