Chapter 6

Nadia

My father called a meeting three days later, the kind that meant something serious. I sat across from him in his study while he explained who was coming: two of his advisors, and a man named Elder Row, head of a smaller allied pack.

"Elder Row's son is here too," my father added carefully. "Marcus. You met him once as a child."

I didn't remember Marcus at all, but something in my father's tone told me this wasn't a casual visit.

They arrived that evening. Marcus turned out to be tall, polished, the kind of confident that came from being told his whole life he was important. He greeted my father with practiced respect, then turned to me with a smile that felt more like an inspection.

"Nadia," he said. "You've grown up since we last met."

"I don't really remember that."

"We were young." He didn't seem bothered by my bluntness. "Your father tells me you've been attending public school. Bold move for someone in your position."

"It's been fine."

"I'm sure." His eyes lingered a beat too long before he turned back to my father, and something cold settled in my stomach that I couldn't quite explain.

After dinner, my father pulled me aside in the hallway. "Elder Row has proposed a match between you and Marcus," he said quietly. "An alliance between our packs. I told him I'd consider it, but I wanted you to hear it from me first."

My chest tightened. "You're considering it?"

"I'm considering the politics of it," my father said carefully. "Row's pack controls territory along our northern border. An alliance there would protect us from packs that have been testing our boundaries lately."

"I already have a mate bond forming, and you know it."

"A bond isn't a marriage, Nadia. Bonds can be resisted. Rejected, even, if the timing serves the pack better." He rubbed his temple, looking tired. "I'm not saying I'll force this. I'm saying Marcus isn't going away quietly, and neither is the pressure building around our borders."

I didn't answer, because there was nothing safe to say that wouldn't turn into an argument neither of us wanted that night.

At school the next day, Kade noticed something was wrong the moment he found me at lunch.

"You've got that look," he said, sitting across from me instead of beside me, giving me space. "The one where you're somewhere else in your head."

"It's nothing."

"Nadia."

I sighed, glancing around to make sure no one was close enough to hear. "My father had visitors last night. Someone proposing a political match. For me."

Kade went very still. "A match. As in marriage."

"As in an alliance my father is at least willing to consider, because of pressure I don't fully understand yet." I picked at my food, appetite gone. "It's complicated."

"You keep saying that."

"Because it keeps being true." I finally looked up at him. "There are things happening around my family right now that have nothing to do with you and me. Border pressure. Packs testing weaknesses. My father's trying to protect people, and sometimes that means considering things I don't like."

Kade was quiet for a long moment, jaw tight. "And where does that leave us?"

"I don't know yet."

He nodded slowly, like he was working hard to keep his voice even. "I told you I'd wait. I meant it. But Nadia, if someone's about to hand you off to secure a border, I need to know that's actually a possibility, not just background noise."

"It's a possibility," I admitted quietly. "I don't think my father wants it. But I think he might not have a choice, depending on what happens next."

That night, my father's advisors returned with worse news. I wasn't supposed to hear it, but I sat on the stairs outside his study, listening through the gap in the door.

"Three scouts confirmed it," one advisor said. "Movement along the northern ridge. Not Row's people — someone else, testing how far they can push before we respond."

"Which pack?" my father asked.

"Unconfirmed. But the timing isn't a coincidence. Word about a possible female Alpha heir has been spreading since the fall gathering. Rumors only, nothing solid, but rumors are enough to make certain packs curious about our current strength."

My stomach dropped. The gathering. Kade asking questions in front of others, my own carelessness that night — it had started something I couldn't take back.

"If they suspect Nadia's strength," my father said slowly, "and they suspect our border is thin without a stronger alliance—"

"Then Row's offer becomes very tempting very quickly," the advisor finished.

I sat frozen on the stairs, my heart pounding. Everything my father had warned me about was happening exactly the way he'd feared, and it was because of me — because I'd wanted one normal night at a bonfire, one boy who made me feel like more than a title.

I didn't sleep much that night. By morning, I'd made a decision, even if I wasn't sure yet how to carry it out.

I found Kade before homeroom, pulling him aside into the empty stairwell where we'd talked before.

"I need to tell you something," I said. "All of it. Not pieces anymore."

His expression sharpened with attention. "Okay."

"Not here." I glanced around, even though the hallway was empty. "Somewhere private. Tonight, if you can."

"I can make tonight work." He studied my face, clearly reading how serious this had become. "Nadia, are you in danger?"

"I don't know yet," I admitted. "But I think I might be running out of time to keep pretending I'm not."

He reached out, the same careful, testing touch from the bleachers, fingers brushing mine. This time I didn't pull away. My wolf settled immediately, steady and sure, like she'd been waiting for permission to stop fighting this.

"Whatever it is," Kade said quietly, "I'm not going anywhere. I meant that the first time I said it."

"You might feel differently once you know everything."

"I won't." He said it with a certainty I almost believed. "But I guess we'll find out tonight."

I nodded, throat tight, and walked to class with the strange mix of dread and relief that comes from finally deciding to stop hiding even if I had no idea yet what that decision was about to cost either of us.