Standing up, Katie swallowed the lump in her throat as she saw Megan wrap her arms around Zach's waist.

Zach felt Katie's pain before he saw it in her eyes, and his wolf groaned with him at the thought of causing their mate such a feeling.

"Hello." Megan smiled politely at Katie, and Katie found herself wishing Megan wasn't nice to her so it would be easy to hate her, but she was.

"Hey." Katie blinked twice, refusing to let her emotions form into tears as she smiled back at the beautiful burnette.

"Well?" Megan raised a playful eyebrow at her boyfriend, "aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Right. Megan, this is Katie." He hestitated for a mere second before he went on, his gaze never leaving Katie's. "Katie, this is Megan, my girlfriend." He almost spit the words out, and instantly wished he hadn't when he saw how Katie's face fell even further.

Realization settled on Katie's face and she nodded her head. She understood that the Alpha hadn't told Megan about her, and it seemed like he wasn't about to. Trying not to think much of it, Katie blasted on a smile. "Nice to meet you, Megan."

"Likewise. I love your necklace, by the way." Megan admired, drawing Zach's attention to Katie's neck. His fists clenched automatically as he remembered the scene he saw earlier today. A male had put that there this morning.

"Thank you. It's a gift." Katie's hand travelled to the pendant, holding on to it for support like she did a hundred times today.

"Happy birthday." Megan smiled widely.

"How did you--" Katie trailed off as she remembered the tiara on top of her head. "Oh, right."

Zach watched as Megan laughed along with Katie and he felt like an ass. Indeed, he hadn't technically done anything wrong, but he knew that sooner or later he had to break someone's heart. And the two women in front of him were too precious to hurt.

"Thank you. It was really nice to meet you, but I have to go. Please enjoy the party. Alpha." Katie gave him one last nod, her eyes refusing to meet his, before she rushed down the stairs and dissapeared into the crowd.

"So? How did it go? You've been gone for too long, I'm dying to know. And where did you get that?" Jessica asked once she saw Katie walking back in another pink tiara.

"Let's just get out of here." Katie's voice was small enough for Jessica to study her friend's face with concern.

"Whoa, whoa. What happened? What did he do?" She asked in worry.

"Let's just go, Jess. I'll tell you in the car." And with that Katie pulled Jessica to the parking lot outside Mike's place.

****

"Is everything alright?" Megan's frown matched Zach's as he stared at the stairs Katie just rushed down.

"Everything is fine. I'm gonna head to the pack house. Nick and I have urgent matters to attend to. Do you want me to give you a ride?" Zach's voice was final.

"No, it's alright. I'll catch a ride with Sophie later." She pushed herself on her toes to give him a kiss. He kissed her back briefly ignoring how for the first time in two years it didn't feel right.

Pulling his keys out of his pocket, Zach got in his car and drove off, a pair of hazel brown eyes haunting him all the way home.

****

"Are you serious?" Jessica's mouth fell open as Katie finished explaining to her everything that had happened earlier tonight.

"Well, I'm glad you both beat the crap out of Rick, what an ass! And I'm sorry about Alpha Zach too. I never expected he would actually say that he was considering rejecting you. Are you sure he said that, Katie?" Jessica asked desperately, folding her legs beneath her on her comfortable bed.

"Not in many words, but yeah, Jess. He is truly considering it." She sighed in defeat, wiping away the tears she has let fall.

"Well, he won't. I know he won't. The moon goddess chose you to be the Luna of this pack; he can't just ignore that fact." Jessica shook her head rapidly, much to Katie's dismay.

"Enough, Jess. Enough. He doesn't care about all that. He loves her, and as much as I want to hate him for it, I can't. Megan is a sweetheart and they have been together for two years. How is he supposed to just end everything with her over night for me? I don't want to build my happiness based on someone else's pain, Jess. She doesn't deserve that." Katie cried even harder.

"And neither do you. You don't deserve to be rejected, Katie. You don't deserve to live miserably, so he could keep playing rendezvous with someone else. And you know what? If he actually does reject you then he isn't worthy enough to be your mate anyway. If he rejects you, then the moon goddess had made a mistake, because you deserve better than that, and I'm sure she'll grant you a second chance soon after." Jessica's hopeful and confident tone did little to calm Katie's heart.

"You know how rare it is to have a second mate, Jess." Katie rolled her eyes at her best friend's attempt of giving her hope.

"Rare, but not impossible, alright? You deserve someone to love and cherish you with no second thoughts. And if Alpha Zach isn't going to be that someone then the moon goddess just has to find you another." Jessica's tone left no room for discussion and despite her sadness, Katie found herself smiling at her best friend.

"I'm sure it's gonna be alright as long as I have you and Jared by my side anyway." Katie took a deep breath, calming her aching heart, and stood up.

"Where do you think you're going? Today has been a bad day for you; I won't let you spend the rest of it alone sulking in your dorm-room. You're spending the night. Take Jared's bed and I'll text him to crash on the couch." Before Katie could protest, Jessica had already grabbed her phone and typed away. Knowing when to pick her battles, Katie just sighed and went over Jessica's closet to borrow something to sleep in, already dreading the next day before it started.

****

Zach couldn't stop thinking about Katie. Every detail about her was engraved into his brain, challenging him to even try and think about anything else. The way her eyes spoke before her mouth did; the way she smiled at Megan with no ill will against her, even though he could feel how hurt it made her; the way she bit down on her lip when she got nervous.

Everything about her was mesmerizing him and he found himself so helplessly captivated, no matter how hard he was trying to fight it. His wolf was not only pissed off, it was furious. Unlike Zach, his wolf didn't care much about Megan. All he wanted was to run back to Katie and mate with her already, but Zach couldn't just do that.

"Hey, you sounded serious on the phone. What's wrong?" Nick finally arrived to Zach's office. His green eyes were laced with worry.

"I need your advice." Zach gestured for him to take a seat on the brown leather couch at the far end of the room. After they sat down, Zach took a deep breath and started filling Nick in.

"Well, shit." Nick listened carefully to his best friend's dilemma and felt sorry for him. He was in a tough spot indeed.

"Yeah. Now what do you think is the right decision?" Zach asked, running a hand through his black hair.

"Depends. Do you want my opinion as your beta or as your best friend, because they're totally different?" Zach was starting to get impatient as he held up two fingers. "Well, as your beta, I strongly advise you to accept your mate. She is our Luna, after all, and the goddess chose her for a reason, even with the age difference. You know how stronger our pack is going to become once you two mate. No matter how strong of an Alpha you are, you still need a Luna, there's no argument about that." Zach knew Nick was right so he only nodded for him to go on.

"As your best friend, I can't help but tell you to follow your heart, man. I don't want you to live the rest of your life miserable with a mate you feel nothing for, cursing the goddess for being cruel to you. Everyone knows you love Megan and you still could name her your Luna whenever you feel like it. Granted, she might not be fit for the position as your mate would be, but then again you too could become a totally different person once you mate with someone you don't love. Who says you wouldn't become a miserable, pissed off Alpha once you force yourself to live a loveless eternity?" Nick ended his opinion with a rhetorical question.

Zach looked out of the window into the dark woods and thought about his best friend's point of view. He knew Nick was right about everything he said except one fact. Deep down Zach knew he would never be miserable with Kat. Not if tonight was any indication. The fear he felt once her scent got away, the calmness that poured over him once he knew she was safe, the pride that rose inside him for her strength, the heat he felt when she spoke softly to him, the need to hear her calling his name, were all indicators.

No, there was no way he would be miserable with Kat in his arms. The thought alone made his heart skip a fucking beat. The only problem was that in order to have Kat in his arms Zach had to let go of someone he truly loved and cared deeply for. He had to break a promise along with a heart. And he knew just as surely that he couldn't bear to do that to his Megan.

"Let's go for a run. My wolf needs some fresh air." And just like that, Zach shredded his skin into rich black fur and made a run for it with Nick's brown wolf close behind.