Chapter 5

Nadia

Keeping my distance lasted exactly two days.

On the third day, Kade was waiting by my locker before homeroom, arms crossed, looking like he'd been there a while.

"You've been avoiding me," he said.

"I've been busy."

"For two straight days? Skipping lunch with Priya, taking the long way to class, switching your training slot so we wouldn't be paired again?" He raised an eyebrow. "That's not busy. That's avoiding."

I closed my locker harder than necessary. "Maybe I needed space to think."

"About what I said at the gathering?"

"About all of it."

Something in his expression softened, the sharp edge easing out of it. "Okay. Then think out loud with me for five minutes. That's all I'm asking."

I glanced down the hallway. Students moved past in loose clusters, none of them paying us any attention. Still, my heart beat faster than it should have. "Not here."

"Then where?"

We ended up on the bleachers behind the gym, empty at this hour, wind cutting across the empty field. Kade sat a careful distance away, like he'd learned something from how quickly I'd bolted after the bonfire.

"So," he said. "Talk."

"I don't know where to start."

"Start with whether you're even considering it. The mate thing. Or if you've already decided to pretend it isn't real."

I picked at a loose thread on my sleeve, buying myself a few seconds. "I'm not pretending it isn't real. I felt it too. I just have reasons I can't be with you the way you probably want."

"Reasons like what?"

"Reasons I can't explain yet."

He exhaled, frustration flickering across his face before he pushed it down. "You know how that sounds, right? Like you're hiding something big enough to be scared of."

"Maybe I am."

That seemed to surprise him, the honesty of it. He studied me for a long moment, then said, quieter, "Are you in some kind of trouble? Is someone forcing you to hide?"

"No. Nothing like that." I almost laughed at how close and how far off he was at the same time. "It's not danger from outside. It's just... complicated. My family has rules. Expectations. Things I can't walk away from just because my wolf decided it liked the smell of your pack."

A small, surprised smile broke through his frustration. "Is that what this is? You just like my smell?"

"That's not what I—" I stopped, catching the teasing look on his face. "You're impossible."

"So I've been told." He leaned back on his hands, some of the tension easing between us. "Look, I'm not trying to push you into something you're not ready for. I just don't want you disappearing on me because you're scared of a conversation."

"It's not just a conversation, Kade. If this turns into something real, it won't stay quiet. People will notice. Packs will notice."

"So let them notice." He said it so simply, like it really was that easy for him. "I'm not ashamed of feeling something for you, whatever you are. Royal blood, rogue, doesn't matter to me."

The word *royal* nearly stopped my heart. I kept my face still, hoping he hadn't meant anything by it, hoping it was just a careless example and not a guess getting too close to true.

"You don't know what you're saying," I said quietly.

"Then help me understand." He turned to face me fully now, his eyes steady, patient in a way that made it harder to keep hiding. "I'm not going anywhere, Nadia. I've got royal pack duties myself one day — I get complicated. Try me."

I wanted to. Sitting there with the wind pulling at my hair and his eyes waiting on mine, I wanted nothing more than to tell him everything and let the pieces fall wherever they landed.

But my father's voice was still louder than the wanting.

"Give me time," I said instead. "Please. I'm not saying no. I'm just not ready to say everything yet."

Kade studied me a long moment, then nodded slowly, like he'd decided patience was worth more than pushing. "Okay. Time. But Nadia" He reached over, hesitant, and brushed his fingers lightly against mine, just barely, testing. My wolf surged toward the contact so fast it startled me. "Don't shut me out completely. That's all I'm asking."

"I won't," I said, and meant it, even though I had no idea how I was going to keep that promise and my father's rules at the same time.

That evening, I found my father in his study, papers spread across his desk, a map of the northern territories pinned to the wall behind him.

"You look like you have news," he said without looking up.

"Kade cornered me today. He wants answers. I told him to give me time, but I don't think time is going to be enough."

My father set down his pen, finally meeting my eyes. "How much does he suspect?"

"He said the word 'royal' today. I don't know if it was a guess or if he's getting closer to figuring it out on his own."

My father was quiet for a long moment, tapping his fingers against the desk. "The Ashford pack has always been loyal to the crown," he finally said. "If the bond is real, and if Kade proves trustworthy, there might be a way to bring this forward on our terms instead of having it discovered by accident."

Hope flickered in my chest, small and cautious. "You mean tell him the truth?"

"I mean consider it," my father said carefully. "Not yet. Not until I speak with a few people I trust, and until I understand exactly what kind of man this boy is beneath the pack name. Bonds are permanent, Nadia. If we open this door, there's no closing it again."

"I understand."

"Do you?" He studied me the way he always did, seeing straight through to the parts I hadn't said out loud. "Because it sounds to me like you've already opened the door a little, whether I gave permission or not."

I didn't answer, because we both already knew what my silence meant.