Jared's scent hit Zach like a slap on his face. So this Jared was the guy who Katie stayed with the other night, and the one who gave her her beloved necklace.

"I'm okay." Wrapping her arms around her best friend in relief, Katie promised with a deep sigh.

"Show me your shoulder." Jared pulled her back to examine the wrap she had around her left shoulder before turning his head to his father. "Is she truly alright, dad? Has she started healing?"

"She'll be just fine, son, don't worry. She's a tough gal." Dr. Hall winked at Katie whose cheeks redened and Zach felt like he wanted to smash something.

Clearing his throat a little too loudly, Zach glared at Jared in irritation. Jared snapped his head to see Alpha Zach standing next to his girlfriend looking as pissed off as ever. Flashing on his smirk, Jared gave them a simple nod. "Alpha. Megan."

Megan studied Jared and Katie from afar, silently debating whether they were an item or not, when she heard Zach snort beside her. "Is everything alright?" She asked.

"Everything is peachy." Zach bit the words out, his eyes never leaving Jared.

"Are you ready to go home, princess?" Jared asked Katie with a voice a little sweeter than the usual, making her narrow her eyes at him. "You're staying the night; you know that, right?"

Widenening her eyes in shock, Katie understood what Jared was trying to do, yet before she could respond Mrs. Hall clapped her hands loudly. "That's a great idea, Jared. She needs someone to take care of her. Now go and be safe."

Zach debated throwing everyone out of the room to have a moment alone with Katie and demand an answer about her relationship with this Jared, but he knew that would be catastrophic.

Katie could feel Zach's glare burning a hole in the back of her head as she turned to give Jared's parents a hug each. Saying her goodbyes, she turned to him and Megan and smiled briefly. "Have a good night."

"Night." Megan waved slightly as Zach remained silent, his eyes trailing after Kat, fixed on Jared's hand on the small of her back as they walked away.

****

"Wanna tell me what that was about?" Katie asked once Jared started the car and pulled away from the pack house.

"A little payback? Give me a break, alright? He broke your heart and I had to pick up the pieces and watch you cry over him from a week, Katie. I would punch him in the goddamn face if I could, but he's my Alpha and I can't do that. The least you can do is let me piss him off as I please, alright?" Jared's hands tightened around the steering wheel, and once again Katie felt like the luckiest girl in the world for having him and Jessica by her side.

"Well, thank you. But he didn't break my heart, Jay. He did, but it wasn't just him, I mean. It was a mutual decision." Katie smiled sadly as she turned to face her window.

"Doesn't matter. He still hurt my best friend." Jared spoke the words with grumpiness and Katie decided to leave it at that. What happened had happened. All she needed to do from now on was focus on avoiding Zach for good.

****

Zach walked into his office seething. He had no right to be mad, he knew that. Kat could do whatever she wanted and be with whomever she wished. Their mating bond was broken, he had no reason to feel jealous. It didn't even make sense to him.

"Hey, what was that with Katie?" Megan followed Zach into his office, breathing down his neck.

"What was what, Meg?" Zach glared at her, wishing she wouldn't do this right now. He was in a bad mood already.

"You were so keen on driving her home and that's not like you. And you seemed really mad that she declined your offer. Is something going on between the two of you?" Megan asked, confronting him about her concerns.

"We're not even friends. You don't have to worry." Zach spit out the words in a way that showed her he actually dreaded that fact, as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Fine. Well, do you want to join me to bed, then?" Deciding to drop the topic for tonight since he seemed already pissed off, Megan asked him.

"I still have work. There has been a breach in security and I need to know who is responsible and let those rogues in under their nose." Zach answered, his rage now directed wholly at the matter.

"Alright. Good night, Alpha." Megan pushed herself on her toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek before making her way back up to her room.

"Here's your report." With a knock, Nick showed up holding a folder in his hands. "How's Katie doing?"

"Fine." Zach gestured for him to take a seat as he took the folder and opened it.

"Thomas told me he just watched her leave with Jared Hall." Beating around the bush, Nick stated, gaining Zach's attention.

"You know him?" He asked.

"Yeah, I know him. Not well, but we used to train in the same team a few years back. He's a good fighter." Nick nodded and when he saw how Zach's jaw clenched he gave him an amused smile. "You're jealous, aren't you?"

"Drop it, Nick." Zach warned, not in the mood to have a heart to heart.

"I seriously don't get it, man. How on earth are you jealous right now?" Nick shook his head in disbelief.

Slapping his hand flat on his desk, Zach snarled. "Didn't I say drop it?"

"Alright, alright," Nick held his hands up in surrender. "Apologies, Alpha."

"Call for the meeting in five." And with that Zach burried his nose into the folder in his hands.

****

"Morning, sunshine." Jessica's soft voice woke Katie up. Stretching around, Katie once again appreciated the softness of Jared's mattress. "How's your shoulder?"

"Completely healed, thanks." Katie sat straighter and smiled at Jared when he walked in.

"Good morning to you too, grumpy." Jess teased her twin and he only gave both women a glare, before grabbing a towel and heading to the bathroom.

"I love how he insists everytime on me to stay yet becomes this grumpy the next morning." Katie giggled enjoying her best friend's childish attitude.

"You're in a good mood today." Jessica stated with a smile. After Katie filled her in last night, Jessica thought she would wake up as grumpy as Jared.

"Yeah, I guess." Katie's smile matched Jessica's. "I want to move on, Jess. After last night, I truly accepted everything that had happened. I no longer hold any grudges against Zach, Megan, or even the Moon Goddess. Alpha Zach is happy with Megan and I'm happy for him, really. And after last night, it's obvious that I care about him. I have accepted that fact too, whether because of the mating bond or something else, it doesn't even matter anymore. And that's okay, because I know we had something. No matter how little it was or how fast it disappeared, I know it was there and that's why I truly am happy for him. All I have to do now, however, is stay away from him completely and focus on being happy myself."

Jessica couldn't be more proud of Katie. She was such a strong person and without a doubt had the biggest heart Jessica had ever seen. Smiling widely, she pulled her best friend in a bone crushing hug. "I totally support that decision. And speaking of moving on, there's another party at Mike's tonight. How about we go enjoy ourselves and who knows, maybe he'll ask you out again?"

"That's a great idea!" Hopping out of bed excitedly, Katie decided that today was going to be a good day.

****

"Today has already been a fucking bad day, so don't start with me." Zach warned Nick who sat down on the bench with an amused smile on his face.

"Didn't say a word." Nick shook his head with a chuckle.

"You were about to. And before you ask, I'm only waiting for her to thank her about last night. Not that I have to explain myself to you or anything." Zach groaned in annoyance as he kept scanning the crowd for Kat. He wanted to thank her as much as he wanted to take a wiff and see if her scent was mixed with Jared's.

"Right," Nick nodded his head and narrowed his eyes, thinking deeply, "because she got herself bitten protecting you from a rogue. Which once again makes no sense to me since the mating bond is broken. You both seem to not get that idea somehow. Anyway, where's Meg?"

"Meg skipped today. There she is." Totally ignoring the rest of what Nick had said, Zach stood up once he spotted Kat walking in with Jared and Jessica. She looked beautiful as always with her caramel hair down and her big hazel eyes sparkling.

"He's coming our way. I can smell him. Why can I smell him?" Katie groaned in annoyance as Zach's scent came closer. Walking a bit faster, she hoped he was only heading to the building ahead, only he wasn't.

"Kat, do you have a moment?" Zach watched as she slowly turned around to face him.

Giving him a small smile, she cleared her throat. "Sorry, Alpha, but I'm already late to class."

"It will only take a moment." Zach forced a smile of his own, hating how he had to insist.

"Alright," Katie sighed before turning to the twins, "I'll see you guys later."

They both gave her sympathetic smiles before walking away. Zach could indeed smell Jared's scent on her again and he decided to bite his tongue not to ask her about him.

"How are you doing today?" He gestured at her shoulder, once again remembering how bravely she took down three rogues.

"I'm alright, really. Thank you." Katie wondered if that was all he wanted to say to her.

"I wanted to thank you for last night." He answered her unasked question.

"There's no need to thank me." She shook her head sweetly, and Zach could tell that she was nervous as she kept shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

"You did take a blow for me, Kat." A part of him had wanted deeply to remind her of that fact, as if he was reminding the both of them that she cared.

Not wanting him to notice how deeply she cared for him, Katie decided to brush it off. "It was the right thing to do. I'm a part of you pack and you are our Alpha, so." She finished with a shrug and Zach instantly frowned.

"Right." He nodded, his voice small. "Well, thank you anyway."

"Well, I really should go. Have a good day, Alpha." Katie didn't wait for him to respond as she turned on her heels and made her way to her first class with her heart beating faster than normal. Now she really should stay away.

****

"Hey, Katie." Mike greeted her with a big smile once she took her normal seat in class.

"Hey." She wondered if he was going to ask her to the party tonight. Even if they decided to be friends for good, she would still be glad for his company.

"So I'm having another party tonight. Try to come." His smile widened as he pushed the tip of his glasses.

"My friends and I will be there." Katie nodded at him.

"Oh? I thought you were gonna say you can't make it and I had a pretty good card in my pocket to pull in order to convince you." He chuckled.

"Oh, yeah?" Katie giggled at his sweetness. "What's that?"

"It's actually my birthday." Leaning in, Mike whispered.

"Really? I didn't get you a crown!" She frowned sadly, although her smile was still perfectly intact.

"Make it up to me by showing up tonight then." He suggested. Katie nodded and they shook on it with a laugh before the professor walked in and their class started.

****

"Remind me again what we're doing here?" Jared asked as Katie dragged him down yet another hall full of plastic crowns.

"We're here to pick a fake crown for Mike's birthday before we head to the party. We're meeting Jess there, by the way." Katie explained, looking through the shelves on her right.

"Right," he nodded with a smirk, "that's the same Mike who has been flirting with you since forever, right?"

"Well, yeah, but he's also the same Mike who asked me out on my birthday then decided to become my friend after I told him that I had found my mate." Katie shrugged. Jessica had suggested for Katie to ask Mike out herself but Katie decided against it. Firstly, it was still a bit too soon in Katie's opinion. Secondly, she didn't want to jump right into it with Mike. She was however eager to get to know him as a person and a friend, and let things go wherever they would after that.

"And since a certain Alpha-douche is now out of the picture, you're gonna try and see how things would go with Mike." Jared chuckled as he guessed correctly. If anyone knew Katie as well as Jessica it was indeed Jared.

"Don't call him that, alright? He's not a douche for choosing a person he loves over a person he just knows." Katie couldn't help but get a little defensive. Yes, Zach had hurt her, and yes, she was still in a lot of pain, but the situation they were in was unusual. She knew he had done what he had for love. And so had she.

"Alright, alright." Jared held his hands in surrender before pulling her to his side to pinch her cheek. "Good luck with Mike then. You do deserve the best and he is a decent guy. And if he ever hurts you it'll be so much easier to kick his ass than Alpha Zach, so I'm all for it, Kitkat."

"I hate it when you call me that." Shaking her head, Katie finally grabbed a silver crown fit for a prince.

"I know." Jared chuckled as he followed her to the end of the store.