A Second Chance

"I don't have time for breakfast. I still have to get my books from my dorm, and I don't want to be late." Kat informed Zach as she tied the laces of her white sneakers.

Zach nodded his head, walking out of the bathroom in dark jeans and a light blue Tshirt that hugged his muscles so perfectly that Kat almost whined the second she saw him. She moved her eyes up and down his body, swallowing the water that rose in her mouth. God, he was delicious. "You do look hungry, though. Are you sure, love?"

Kat blushed and moved her eyes to the mirror. What happened earlier played once more in her head and she wondered if her face was as flushed as she felt it was. She had never been that intimate with a man before, and she was glad that it was Zach with every fiber of her being. Despite all of her fear and worries, it felt so right to be with him, so easy, so normal. Clearing her throat, She shook her head. "I'll have something later."

"Send me your schedule." Zach grabbed a notebook and a pen before he took his phone off the charger.

"Wait," Kat frowned, turning to him. "I thought you weren't going to school today."

"If you're going, I'm going." Zach shrugged. After their lectures were over he would talk to his father. For now, he would drive her to school, show everyone that he was the lucky bastard who got to do that, and then drive her back home. Truly, it had never felt like a home as much as it did now, after she agreed to stay with him. Did moving in together follow the rule of taking their relationship slow? No, it didn't. Did Zach give a fuck? No, he didn't. Was he still afraid that Kat might suddenly try to push him back again? Well, that fear felt like something he would never be able to shake off, a constant reminder of the heartbreak he had caused her. But he was going to be patient with Kat, he knew. He would wait forever for her to give him everything she had to offer, because he too had asked her once to be patient with him.

Kat walked to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, while his traveled automatically around her waist. "Are you going to become my bodyguard now?"

Zach rolled his eyes at her. "I have a couple of classes too, and if you're going then I want to be there."

Kat's insides warmed at this protective Alpha in front of her. "Are you still not talking to your best friend, Zach? Is that who you're trying to avoid?"

Zach narrowed his eyes. Yes, he had beeen avoiding Nick. He was almost transparent to Kat now. She could read him as easily as she could her favorite book, and damn if he didn't love that fact. "He should've told me."

"I know. And he knows that too. You can't stay mad at him for the rest of your life. He's your best friend." Kat sighed when Zach shrugged childishly. "Look, we promised to talk our problems out, right? And so far it has worked greatly for us. I think you should try that method with Nick too. Sort it out with him, please."

Zach let out a deep breath and nodded. He hated it when they argued. Giving Nick a command to follow was easy, he was a damn good beta. But the other version of Nick, the best friend he had loved and trusted just like a brother, was a lot harder to order or control. Nick had a mind of his own, and Zach admired that, but when the decision making tampered with Kat's safety, Zach preferred to be the one calling the shots. Yet despite Zach's anger, he found himself missing his best friend more than he was comfortable with. He had a shit load of matters to discuss with him as well. "Fine, I will. Now let's go."

****

"So according to your schedule, it seems like I have two more classes after you're done for the day." Kat announced as Zach parked his cas at his usual spot.

"It's fine. I'll wait for you." Zach got out, his notebook and phone in hand and walked to Kat's side who was securing her backpack on her shoulders.

"No, it's okay. Jared usually drives me on Tuesdays, so I'll tell him to drop me at the pack house instead." Kat smiled. Oh, how badly she had missed the twins.

Zach wanted to protest, his wolf just as equally jealosu, but he knew he could never get in the middle of Kat's friendships like that. And he trusted Jared enough to bite his tongue and give her a nod.

Kat beamed at him, happy that he didn't argue with her and stepped on her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. "I'll see you later then." Turning around to head for her lecture, she managed to take only a single step before she was pulled back to his hard chest.

"What the fuck was that?" Zach frowned. "Kiss me properly, woman."

Kat smiled with a blush, her eyes scanning the crowd around them. "We seriously have a lot of eyes on us right now. You still are their Alpha, remember?"

"And their Alpha wants his damn kiss or he'll spank this tight ass of yours raw when you get home." His hand lowered from her waist the her ass and her eyes instantly widened. Pushing herself on her toes quickly, Kat moved her lips against his. Zach dragged his hand back up to rest on her hip, and kissed her lazily and softly, like he had all the time in the world and nothing better to do than taste her lips. Pushing against his chest slightly, Kat pulled back enough for him to see how red her cheeks were and he chuckled. "Now you can go, baby."

Kat shook her head and pushed her hair back from her face before taking a deep breath. "I'll see you later."

"Be careful, okay?" Zach demanded and she smiled at him sweetly.

"Always." Pecking his lips one last time, Kat sent him a wink before turning around and rushing towards her friends.

****

"What the hell was that?!" Jessica squeaked loudly the second Kat reached their usual bench.

Throwing her arms around her best friend, Kat hugged the life out of Jessica. "I missed you so much." Turning to Jared, she did the same, just as excitedly.

"That was one damn kiss, princess." Jared wrapped his arms tightly around Katie with a wide grin.

"Yeah, one that the whole damn school just saw!" Jessica laughed. "Are you two officially together now?"

Kat put her backpack down before she sat across from the twins with a shrug. "We haven't really talked about it this bluntly. We're taking it slow. Well, trying, at least."

"That didn't look slow to me." Jessica teased her blushing friend.

Jared chuckled and turned to Katie. "Are you happy, Kitkat?"

Kat nodded. "More than I ever thought I could be."

The twins grinned even wider before Jessica threw herself on Katie again. "That's all we wanted to hear! I'm so happy for you."

Kat laughed and hugged her friend back. A second later, she pulled away. "Yeah, but we have a lot to talk about. And I mean a whole hell of a lot. Meet me here in two hours?"

The twins nodded their heads before Kat rushed to her first class of the day.

****

"On a scale of one to ten, how still mad at me are you?" Nick walked to the bench Zach sat on while he waited for his next class to begin, and Zach stiffened.

"As my beta or as my fucking best friend?" Taking Kat's advice, Zach barked out and Nick flinched.

"I'm sorry. You were just finally happy, man. I have never seen you as happy and excited as you are with Katie, and I didn't want to ruin that with a stupid fucking hunch." Nick explained, sitting down across from the brooding Alpha.

"When was the last time you had a feeling about something and you turned out wrong, Nick? Your intuition is fucking ridiculous, and you know it." Zach argued.

"You're right." Nick dragged a hand through his hair. "Shit, you're right. I'm sorry, okay? I just didn't want you to worry."

"Who else am I gonna fucking worry about? She's my..." Zach bit his tongue to stop the words he wished were true, and he took a deep breath.

"She's your what?" Nick asked, instantly grinning and raising his eyebrows suggestively, and Zach rolled his eyes as his idiot of a best friend.

"I don't fucking know anymore. Shit is getting more complicated by the damn minute." Zach shook his head.

"Do tell." Nick urged, and just like that they were back at their old habits. Zach decided to skip his next class and spent the next hour explaining to Nick what they learnt on that awfully eventful trip.

"Holy shit." Nick's eyes were wide enough to let Zach know he had no clue how to help. Lowering his voice a notch, he asked, "has your back healed yet?"

"Yeah, but it took two days and a half, and the scratches weren't even that deep." Zach snarled,cringing at one of the many problems they had to figure out a solution for.

"I've never heard of mates who affect each other's healing process like that before. On the contrary, I've heared rumors where a mate's blood is the cure to a fatal wound, but people say it's extremely rare that I don't even know of it's real or bullshit. But for a mate to stop the healing of another is damn new to my ears." Nick had the wheels in his brain spinning, trying his hardest to wrap his mind about this. This was a disaster. If word got out that Katie could cause the Alpha a wound he couldn't heal from as he usually did, enemies would try every trick in the book to use that knowledge to their benefit.

Zach frowned. "Maybe this is happening to us because we're no longer mates. Maybe it's some kind of a punishment for those who break a mating bond, a way to make sure that they would never take their word back?"

"Well, I guess it's the most logical explanation we have right now." Nick shrugged, his frown deepening. "But wouldn't we have heard about it by now? A lot of mates break their bonds, if this was just as common, then I think word of the consequences would've spread. Maybe it has something to do with that soul'slink of yours."

Zach sighed. "It might, I don't know. I still have to talk to my father about that."

"Alpha Mark will surely have some answers." Nick nodded encouragingly. "I'll hit the library too, see if I can find anything about this. Meanwhile, you my friend, have to be extra careful with her."

Zach scoffed. "Tell that to my fucking fangs that keep sharpening almost every time I kiss her."

Nick's eyes widened again in horror. "You have trouble controlling your wolf?"

"Normally I control him just as easily as I breathe. But whenever Kat and I get intimate my fangs shoot out and her claws take over, it's fucking ridiculous. That's how she clawed my back. I'm getting better at holding the fangs in though, but it needs a lot of concentration and it physically hurts, as if you were trying to push them back in my gums with a goddamn hammer." Zach explained, shuddering at the memories.

Nick remained silent for a few beats. "What the fuck is happening?"

"I don't know." Zach shook his head in confusion.

"Maybe your wolf is desperate, you know? Mating bond broken or not, maybe he just wants her." Nick suggested but Zach shook his head again.

"That doesn't make sense. And even if that's the case, I shouldn't be losing control. But yeah, my wolf wants her. So what if we listen to our wolves and decide to mate despite the damn bond? A bite to the neck like that will kill her if she doesn't heal quickly. This is the moon goddess's punishment. It has to be." Zach concluded, his mood suddenly sour. He hated how fate seemed to be against them. Even worse, it was mocking them. Allowing them to get closer, more intimate, more desperate, only to hit them in the face again with more issues they weren't able to fix, was the definition of cruelty. It seemed like nothing was in Zach's control anymore, and he hated the feeling of being out of control. He wanted to see Kat, to have her smile at him in the way she always did, assuring him that everything was going to be okay, even if neither of them was sure. He needed to see her.

Nick frowned once Zach got up. "Where are you going?"

Not bothering to reply, Zach pulled out his phone.

****

Kat was listening carefully to what the professor was discussing when she suddenly felt her stomach turn upside down. She was familiar enough with the feeling to know that it had something to do with Zach. Tuning out the voices around her, Kat shut her eyes and tried to focus on the emotions he was sending her way. Not pain, that was a good sign. Not fear either. Taking a deep breath, Kat let Zach's feelings consume her, her senses relaxing against the thrilling buzz of emotions. It was sadness, worry and dispair, wrapped in thin a blanket of anger. She was getting better at reading them.

Excusing herself, Kat walked out of the lecture hall and pulled out her phone to call him, but it vibrated in her hand with his name flashinh across the screen. "I was about to call you. Where are you?"

"Outside the building you're in." Zach replied.

"I'm coming."

Zach let out a sigh, the sound of her voice already making him feel better. Pacing quietly, he was waiting for her to show when someone suddenly slammed into him.

"Shit!" A young man jumped off Zach instantly, and bowed in respect. "I'm so sorry, Alpha."

Zach snarled at the kid in front of him, not in the mood for anyone's bullshit when Kat's scent hit him.

"Zach, quit that. You're scaring him." Kat shook her head as she made her way to him, her eyes scanning the young person unfortunate enough to encounter the Alpha when he was in a mood. The boy looked so young she wondered if he even graduated high school. She gave him a sweet smile. "It's okay, don't worry about it. Have a good day."

The boy looked even paler now, but when Kat raised a questioning brow at him he quickly nodded his head and scattered away.

Silently, Zach grabbed the belt she had secured on her waist and pulled her to his chest, burying his face in the spot he loved most. Breathing her scent deeply, he felt his heartbeats steady.

"What's wrong, Zach?" Kat asked softly, moving her hands to caress his scalp, loving the feeling of his black short locks between her fingers.

"I missed you." He mumbled grumpily and she giggled.

****

"You should've let Zach kill him, Katie." Jared shook his head, his jaw clenched tightly.

"Killing is not the answer." Kat shook her head. "And you didn't see the way the Alpha and Luna begged me to spare him. She was literally on her knees, Jay."

"I think I'm with Jared on this one, Katie." Jess announced softly. Catching her friend's glare, she gave her a shrug. "I'm sorry, but you've underestimated his obsession with you once, and he almost bit you right after. Who says that he will give up now?"

"We could've killed him, and we didn't." Kat argued, frowning at her best friends.

"Which is great, princess," Jared grabbed her attention as he drove, "for his parents. I'm sure they appreciate it. But what the fuck guarantees that he doesn't try to bite you again, and this time even more persistently?"

"Exactly." Jess nodded her head. "Alpha Zach should have killed him." Turning her head to Kat, she grinned widely. "But letting you decide what he should do in front of everyone was so romantic!"

Kat smiled, lowering her body against the leather seat of Jared's car. He was driving her back to the house, and after she informed them of the rogues plans to harm her both twins decided to stick around for the meeting. They were going to do anything they possibly could to protect their friend, and Kat loved them for it. She refused, however, to consider the possibility they were worrying about. Peter was out of their lives for good, and sparing him was the right thing to do.

****

"Zach just told me about what happened. I'm so glad you're okay." Ella jumped on Katie the second they walked into the meeting room. Alpha Mark and Luna Mel were both already seated. Nick made his way to Jess with a smirk on his face and she huffed in annoyance the second he reached her, but the little blush that accentuated her freckles had given her away, at least to Katie.

Zach made his way to Kat with a smile on his face, shoving back the urge to carry her over his shoulder and run back to his room, only to prove to Jared and even Nick that she was his alone. Zach shook his head at the wicked thoughts that were messing with him. He had never been this possessive over anything or anyone in his entire life. Ignoring his little sister, Zach pulled Kat to his embrace. "Are you hungry, love?"

Kat smiled at him lovingly before stepping on her toes and landing a kiss on his cheek. She shook her head and turned back to Ella who had a sly smirk on her face. "I'm all good, Elle. Don't worry."

Kat greeted Zach's parents, who sweetly enough got up and gave her two parental hugs, before his mother told her she was proud of how strong she was. Kat beamed at the kind woman before everyone was seated.

Nick cleared his throat to grab everyone's attention. "Alright. For strarters let me explain the importance of not discussing anything we say here with anyone outside of this group. The secrets we will share tonight are fatal if they fall into the wrong hands. So please, anything that will be mentioned in this meeting should remain a secret."

Everyone nodded their heads. Zach grabbed the arm of Kat's chair and pulled her right next to him. Dropping his head to the side of her neck, he purred lowly in pleasure when her sweet scent filled his longing lungs. He could never get enough of her.

"Zach!" Kat whispered under her breath, well aware that everyone could hear them, his family included. Zach chuckled at the blush that adorned her cheeks and moved his eyes back to his beta. His arm, however, remained around her shoulders.

"So after the attack and Thomas's death, I have been searching his office a bit obsessively, trying to find any solid proof that connected him to the rogues. Last night, I found these." Dropping a folder on the round table, Nick took a couple of letters out. "Leters sent to Thomas from someone who I presume is the rogue's leader. These seem to be the oldest." He held up the papers. "In which he keeps asking about the Alpha's intentions of naming Megan Luna. From the next few letters it appears that Thomas convinced him that the Alpha was planning no such thing, because then the sender stated that they had more time that way to prepare better for an attack."

Kat's heart quicken its pace at the mention of Megan. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and Zach frowned.

"But you had." His mother spoke innocently and Kat stiffened. "Which means that even if Thomas was working with someone else here, whoever that person is, they're not close enough to you to learn that fact."

Kat had no idea that Zach wanted to name Megan Luna. She knew he was in love with her, she knew that everyone considered her Luna, but she didn't know that he loved her so much to the point of making her his forever. Making a woman Luna was like marrying her in the humans' world. That was how much Zach had loved her. And it had been nearly a couple of months since they had broken up. How on earth was that enough time for Zach to forget a love that deep?

Zach felt his heart drop to his feet the second Kat's jealousy and doubt hit his stomach. He loved that she was jealous, but the fear and doubt that he had been working really hard to erase were now coming back.

"True." Feeling the awkwardness take over the room after Luna Mel's declaration, Nick tried steering the conversation away from the Alpha's ex-girlfriend. "A couple of letters more stated that the preperation were going well, and that the rogues were getting stronger."

Nick was still talking but neither Zach nor Kat payed him much attention. She was not going to hold his past against him again, she had promised. Despite her fears, Kat knew she was not a rebound. She was not a second choice. Zach told her she wasn't and she needed to trust him. Whatever was going on between them had nothing to do with his past relationships, she knew that. Yet no matter how hard she tried to convince herself, fear that they might be moving too fast for her comfort crept its way to her heart once again.

Letting out a low groan, Zach reached for Kat's hand and held it tightly in his. Leaning closer, he whispered in her ear an apology. "I'm sorry."

Kat appreciated how sweet Zach was being, but his apology didn't do much if she was honest. No one can apologize for the way their heart felt for someone else. He didn't even need to apologize, she thought. He had lost hope of ever finding a mate, and he was in a steady relationship for two years. No one could blame him for wanting to take the next step, not even Kat. That conclusion, however, didn't make her feel the slightest bit better.

Forcing a small smile out, Kat met his eyes breifly before turning her focus in Nick.

"Now to the more important stuff," Nick shuffled through the small pile of papers in front of him and picked one. "This letter came with Katie's name on it and a clear command to kill her and I quote, "before it was too late." It was also stapled with a picture of her."

It was Zach's turn to stiffen. Jared frowned. "So the rogues leader is the one who sent the picture?"

"It seems so yes, but my guess is that Thomas had already sent her picture earlier with the news that she was the Alpha's mate, and the reply came back with the same picture and the plan to dispose of her."

"But how did Thomas even know about the mating bond between you two?" Ella asked. She had always known that Thomas wasn't who he pretended to be, but to try and overthrow their Alpha, kill their Luna, and take over the pack, was still a lot to take in.

"That, I have no clue about." Nick answered truthfully.

"Well," Jessica shrugged, tirning to Katie. "He could have noticed, the same way I did, when the bond first clicked on your birthday. If he was paying close attention I guess he could've noticed then."

"He could've," Jared shook his head, "but he still couldn't have possibly been sure enough to the point of planning murder."

"Besides, if he was this observant then how come he hadn't noticed that you guys broke the mating bond?" Ella voiced the question everyone was thinking about.

"Well, it doesn't matter much what he knew, or what he didn't." Luna Mel announced. "What we need to focus now on is that the rogues do want her dead before she mates with Zach. So we need to figure out a plan to protect her, especially after showing everyone in the RedShadow ball that you two were planning to become official soon."

Zach's brain was getting overworked with the many possibilities running through his mind. They still had so many unanswered questions, but the most important one was what were they going to do?

"Well,"Nick cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "I have an idea that might help us with that, but I'm not sure you'll be very fond of it."

"What is it, son?" Alpha Mark asked with full attention.

------

Tada! What do you think Nick's plan is?

Did you enjoy this update? It was a lot longer than usual.

Favorite quote: "Kiss me properly, woman."

Love, Farah x