Chapter 4

Nadia

"I'm nobody," I said. "Just a transfer student. That's all."

Kade didn't move. "You're lying."

"I'm not"

"Nadia." My name in his mouth sounded different than usual, quieter, more careful. "I've sparred with a hundred students who claimed to have no training. None of them moved like you. None of them made my wolf sit up and pay attention just by walking into a room."

I took a step back. "You're imagining things."

"Am I?" He closed the distance again, slower this time, like he didn't want to spook me. "Tell me you don't feel it. Tell me right now, and I'll drop it. I'll never bring it up again."

I should have lied. My father's voice was loud in my head, every warning he'd ever given me stacked up like a wall. But looking at Kade in the firelight, waiting for an answer he clearly already suspected, the lie wouldn't come.

"I feel it," I admitted quietly. "I just don't know what it means."

Something eased in his shoulders, like he'd been braced for me to deny it completely. "It means you're my mate. Or at least, that's what it feels like on my end."

The word hit harder than I expected. Mate. My father's warning echoed louder now, sharper. *If his wolf confirms the bond, everyone will know.*

"That's not possible," I said, even though every part of me knew it probably was.

"Why not?"

"Because you don't know anything about me."

"So tell me." He said it simply, like it really was that easy. "Start with your last name. Voss isn't a pack name I recognize, and I know every pack within three territories."

My mouth went dry. "It's complicated."

"I've got time."

I glanced back toward the fire, the noise and light suddenly feeling very far away. Priya was still out there somewhere, laughing with people who had no idea what I really was. My father was at home, trusting me to keep one simple promise.

"I can't," I said. "Not here. Not yet."

Kade studied me for a long moment, and I braced for him to push harder. Instead, he nodded slowly, like he'd decided something. "Okay. Not tonight, then. But Nadia — I'm not going to just let this go. Not when it feels like this."

"Kade"

"I'm not asking you to explain everything right now," he said. "I'm just asking you not to disappear on me. Whatever you're hiding, I'd rather figure it out with you than have you vanish before I get the chance."

Before I could answer, voices drifted closer through the trees, a few of his friends, calling his name, wondering where he'd wandered off to. Kade glanced over his shoulder, then back at me, reluctant.

"I have to go deal with that," he said. "But this conversation isn't over."

"I know."

He hesitated another second, like he wanted to say something else, then turned and jogged back toward the fire, leaving me alone at the edge of the trees with my heart pounding and my wolf strangely, dangerously calm.

I found Priya twenty minutes later, sitting near the food table with a paper plate balanced on her knees.

"There you are." She looked up, then narrowed her eyes at whatever expression was on my face. "Okay, what happened? You look like you saw a ghost."

"Nothing happened."

"Nadia."

"I just need to go home," I said. "Can you cover for me if anyone asks?"

Priya's teasing dropped away, replaced by something more serious. "Are you okay?"

"I will be. I just need some air that isn't this air."

She didn't push, which I was grateful for. "Text me when you're home safe. And Nadia — whatever's going on with you and Kade Ashford, you can talk to me. I don't scare easy."

I managed a small smile. "I know. Thank you."

I walked most of the way home instead of calling for a ride, letting the cool night settle the storm in my chest. By the time I reached the gates of the Royal Pack territory, I'd almost convinced myself I could keep this from my father a little longer.

He was waiting in the front hall when I walked in, which told me almost convincing myself hadn't worked.

"You're back early," he said, studying my face the way he always did when he already suspected something was wrong.

"The gathering wasn't really my scene."

"Nadia." Just my name, but it carried a warning in it. "What happened?"

I could have lied. I'd been lying for a month straight, to teachers, to Priya, to almost everyone at that school. But my father had given me one night, trusting me to protect both of us, and I'd already come close to breaking that trust once tonight.

"Kade felt it too," I said quietly. "The pull. He asked me straight out what I was."

My father went very still. "What did you tell him?"

"Nothing. I said I couldn't explain it yet."

He exhaled slowly, some of the tension leaving his shoulders, though not all of it. "That's something, at least. But Nadia, if his wolf has already started reacting this strongly, this won't stay quiet for long. Mate bonds don't wait for convenient timing."

"I know."

"Do you?" He rubbed his eyes, looking older than I liked to see him. "If this comes out before we're ready — before we have a plan for how the packs will react — it won't just put you in danger. It could shift the balance between three territories. People have started wars over less."

"So what do I do?" I asked. "Pretend it isn't happening? He already knows something's different about me. He's not going to stop asking."

My father didn't answer right away. He walked to the window, staring out at the dark grounds like the answer might be waiting somewhere in the trees.

"Let me think," he finally said. "In the meantime, keep your distance where you can. Don't confirm anything, don't deny it outright either. We need time before this becomes bigger than the two of you."

"And if I can't keep my distance?" I asked, thinking of the way Kade had looked at me by the fire, steady and certain in a way that made every warning feel very far away. "What if it's already too late for that?"

My father looked at me for a long moment, and for the first time, he didn't have an answer ready.