"You're finally healed, princess. I'm glad you're back on your f--" Jared stopped once his eyes found Katie's neck. Blinking twice, he couldn't help but bark out a laugh at her embarrassed face.

Groaning, Katie slapped his arm. "Stop it." She couldn't deny that it felt wonderful to walk around with evidence that Alpha Zach was now somewhat hers, yet it felt just as embarrassing.

"Wow. At least tell me you enjoyed it." Jared teased her further, happy to see his best friend finally content. Yes, she seemed mad and yes, she was shy about it, but Jared knew her well enough to read beyond that. And in front of him stood a light hearted Katie who was genuinely happy.

"Shut up before I murder you." Turning around, Katie hurriedly made her way to Jared's ride, failing to keep her smile from breaking into her face. Enjoying it couldn't even begin to decribe how she felt. Trying to shove the memory to back of her brain in order to focus on the task ahead, she fastened her seatbelt with a grin. She was going to scold Zach more for this later.

****

"Am I imagining things or are you grinning like an idiot right now?" Nick asked with disbelief as Zach entered his office. Zach's heart was as light as his feet.

Glaring at his best friend, Zach took a seat, his previous memory with Kat refusing to leave his mind. "I'm happy." He admitted with a shrug.

"I can see that. Things going well with Katie?" Nick asked with a wide grin, already certain of the Alpha's answer. Zach seemed happier, younger, and calmer than Nick had ever seen him. Katie was changing him, bringing out the real him, and Nick couldn't have been more grateful.

He had seen how torn and depressed his best friend used to be. For two long years, Nick had to watch Zach get angrier and more impatient everyday than the day before. The pain of waiting hopefully for something as important as one's mate just for it to never show was suffocating Zach. And Nick was truly glad for Megan when she shoved her way into his best friend's life, and finally managed to put a smile on his face. Albeit still being brooding and pissed off most of the time, Zach was finally bearable after getting in a relationship wih Megan.

But now, with Katie, Zach was actually and undeniably happy. And Nick couldn't wait to see how greater of an Alpha his best friend was about to become.

"Yeah." Zach nodded, "did you find anything new?" They were still searching the pack house for any evidence against Thomas or any other traitors.

Nick groaned in frustration. "Nothing yet but we'll keep looking." Once again, Nick debated whether to tell Zach about his worries regarding the rogues and their knowledge of Katie or not. Yet the hint of a smile that remained on his best friend's face helped him reach his decision. He wasn't going to ruin his mood and shove worry and doubt into his heart after he had finally started to find true happiness. Nick was going to deal with this on his own, and until he had solid proof of his doubts he was going to keep it to himself. "I wanted to ask you, who do you want to announce as your new Gamma?"

"Ella." Zach answered. Yes, his little sister had a lot yet to learn but she had good instincts and intuition. She would work well with Nick too, Zach believed.

"Great decision. She'll be a good Gamma." Nick nodded in agreement. She had great potential and would never betray the pack.

"Alright. Let's go through the patrolling schedules for the next few days and the new defense plans before I leave." Zach suggested as he sat down and Nick followed with a pile of papers.

****

"Oh, my god." Jessica's eyes went wide once she saw Kat's neck and she instantly grinned. "What the hell, girl! Details, now."

"As happy as I am for you, princess, I don't think I want to hear the details." Jared made a gagging face and Katie groaned at her two best friends.

Walking to her closet, she shook her head. "I don't know what to say." She truly didn't know how to explain what she felt for Zach in words. It was beyond words, she knew. Indeed, she was still confused but her feelings for him were getting stronger by the minute.

"Oh, come on." Jessica whined in disappointment. She had truly missed Katie and missed how much they used to talk. Jessica too had a lot to tell her about Nick and how persistent he was to make her fall for him. "Well, are you two, like, together now?" She grinned, excited for her best friend to find the happiness she deserved.

"Not exactly. We're taking it slow." Kat sighed. It seemed to her that the harder she tried to stay away from Zach, the more fierce and intense her feelings for him would grow. So she decided to stop trying. "However, we're going on a trip alone for a few days to the Redshadow pack." She started explaining as she grabbed a suitcase and packed the essentials.

Kat walked back into Zach's bedroom after spending hours with her friends, talking and laughing. After she explained to them her mission with Zach Jessica demanded Kat to call her the second anything exciting happened between them again, or at least text, while Jared's main focus was on their plan to avoid any betrayel from their allies. They both were honestly a blessing that Kat was glad to have, yet every once in a while her mind would suddenly take her back to her last encounter with Zach without previous warning. It kept playing the scene for her on repeat, refusing to leave her at peace. She had missed him indeed, so when he didn't show up before midnight she had gotten worried.

****

Walking into his bedroom, Zach hoped to find Kat awake, because he had missed her insanely. Looking at his bed, he grinned once he saw her sitting comfortably. "You're still up."

Kat looked at Zach and smiled softly at him, glad that he was finally home. She sighed, her hand playing with the necklace around her neck. "You're back. I was worried you might have truly found somewhere else to sleep."

Zach walked to her and gathered her in his arms, inhaling her sweet scent. God, how good it felt to come back home to her. "Even if I had I still would've come to kiss you goodnight, love."

Kat laughed, pulling back enough to look him in the eyes. She had missed his eyes as much as she did those skillfull lips of his. "Tempting, but I'd still rather you stayed."

Zach smiled widely at the beautiful woman in his bed. His heart raced as he saw the skin of her neck still bright pink. "How was your day?" He asked as he got up to change. He wondered if she had thought about him and the heated moment they shared that morning as much as he did.

"Exhausting. How was yours?" Kat wanted to look away, to save herself from the embarrassment of shamelessly ogling him as he took his shirt off but no matter how hard she commanded her eyes they just wouldn't move. And the sight of him shirtless had her heart racing and her core clenching.

"Same." Ignoring how his heart skipped a beat at the painfully seductive pyjamas she had chosen to wear to bed, Zach changed silently into his own.

Once he was finally beside her in bed, Kat took a deep, calming breath. "Are you ready for tomorrow?" She had been wondering all day about how he felt regarding the whole matter. They never spoke of it after they agreed to go, and a part of her wanted to keep it that way in case the conversation would bring them any discomfort. Yet, her curiosity got the best of her.

With a heavy sigh, Zach gathered her in his arms. She was a magnet to his heart, and he couldn't help but pull her closer whenever she was near. "Are you? I know you didn't want to do this, but thank you, Kat. It means a lot to me and my family." Once again he remembered how she seemed uncomfortable earlier about pretending to be his mate and he slightly frowned.

Sinking further into his welcoming embrace, Kat filled her lungs with his deep minty scent. "You don't have to thank me. We were both selfish, Zach. We didn't think of the pack when we made our decision to break the bond, or of the consequences it will have."

Moving his hand up and down her arm, Zach nodded in agreement. "No, we didn't. Don't feel bad, though, we'll fix it." He promised.

Kat listened to his steady heartbeat as her head rested on his chest. Even though she loved how close she was to him, she still couldn't help but want to get closer, as once again she remembered their heated moment that morning. God, he had made her hot for him all day, torturously waiting for him to come back and finish what he had started.

Zach could feel her anxiety as well as he could smell her arousal and he let out a deep groan at the sweet scent. God, he needed her. Rolling them on the bed, Zach pushed Kat back onto his soft matress and hovered above her, resting his weight on his forearms. "Did you miss me today, love?"

Kat's eyes widened and she wondered if he read her thoughts. Yet the way he looked at her lips and licked his own made her lose a breath. She wanted to taste those lips as desperately as she knew he wanted too. Her voice came in a whisper as she replied, "All day long. I couldn't stop thinking about earlier."

Kat never thought she was a woman to openly speak her heart like that. She had always believed herself to be shy and closed off, especially when it came to anything sexual. Yet with Zach she could feel herself getting bold enough to drive him insane, and shy enough to make him desperate for her.

Zach felt himself as hard as stone when Kat kept searching his eyes, begging him to give her another taste. And he was just as hungry. "What did you think about?" He inched closer to her, his lips hovering barely above hers, painfully close.

Kat caught herself arching up, trying to meet his lips with her own, but Zach pulled back just enough to keep her wanting. Her eyes remained on his lips as her arms moved to his shoulders, trying to pull him down slightly, but he wouldn't budge.

Zach groaned again when he felt her squirm beneath him to try and get her body closer to his. "What did you think about, Kat?" He demanded again, as he lowered his body on hers enough for her to feel every inch of him.

Oh, God. "You." Kat couldn't help the moan that escaped her as she felt his hardness on her thigh. "Your lips on my neck. Your tongue. You, Zach."

Zach never thought her words would pleasure him as much as they did. Her voice was sweet and soft and so damn seductive, while her words were dragging him to the edge of losing control. "Doing this?" Zach lached his lips to her neck again, meeting with the sensitive skin he had assaulted earlier and Kat moaned. "Right here?"

Her hands clenched onto his shoulder, her heart beat faster, but all she could care about was how his tongue moved across the hickey, licking it slowly as if he could taste it. "Zach, please." She wanted him to end this torture already.

"Do you feel what you do to me, Kat?" Zach pressed himself against her harder, his length poking at her core through their clothes, yet the friction alone almost had him empty in his shorts already. "Can you feel how badly I need you, baby?"

Kat moaned louder, moving her hips to meet his again. He was rubbing her exactly where she ached for him and his teeth were grazing the sensitive skin of her neck. He was driving her mad. "Zach, I..." she didn't know what to say or how to explain her need for him. Yet, when she felt her nipples tighten beneath her shirt and rub against his chest she let out a loud moan.

"Fuck, Kat. You're killing me." Zach swore under his breath before pulling back enough to look her in the eyes. She was biting her lip, trying to contain her moans, her eyes wide and so damn deep that he could no longer control himself. With another curse, Zach finally crashed his lips on hers.

Kat froze a second for her mind registered the Zach was actually kissing her, before her eyes shut and her lips moved against his. With a moan, Kat lifted her hands from his shoulders to his head, moving her fingers through his thick soft black hair. His hair wasn't long, but long enough for her fingers to wrap around and pull in desperation.

Zach let out another throaty groan and felt Kat open her lips for him. In a second his tongue was inside her mouth exploring and tasting every inch he could find. Tracing her bottom lip with his tongue, Zach pulled it between his teeth and let it back with a pop. He looked her in the eyes, his irises dark with desire, while hers were fogged with pleasure. "You have no idea for how long I've wanted to bite that lip."

Each word was litting her on fire, igniting her very core. Unable to stop herself, Kat placed her hands on each side of his face and pulled his mouth back down to hers. Letting go of her restraints, she now understood how hungry for one another they both were. Their tongues danced together in a playful battle, teeth clashed, and lips sucked and bruised. Zach was afraid his brutal kisses were too rough for his sweet Kat only he didn't know that's exactly how she liked them. Pulling back to catch his breath, Zach couldn't help but growl when he saw her full lips red and swollen for him.

Kat was soaking for him, she knew it. She was sure he knew it too; that she was as wet as he was hard. Breathing heavily, she dared to look in his eyes that were fixed on her lips and when he licked his own she moaned.

Zach was a few seconds away from losing control completely, he was afraid. And when she pulled him again for yet another kiss, as if she couldn't get enough of him, he felt like fucking exploding already.

Kat couldn't kiss him faster, harder than she already was. She was in a frenzy, high on his kisses, drunk on his lips, and so damn happy. No, Zach wasn't her first kiss, yet she had never been kissed like that. He was hungry for her and now that he had tasted her he didn't know how to take small bites.

Zach could feel his control slipping as the scent of her arousal hit his nose again. She was moaning loudly as he trailed his kisses to her jaw and down her neck again, his erection still rubbing against her heated core. Sucking on her soft skin, Zach felt his teeth sharpen and his fangs ready to pierce her skin once and for all. His wolf had a hard time staying in control too it seemed. "Fuck. Baby, I have to stop."

Kat let out a whiney moan when Zach pulled back slightly, her chest heaving up and down with her uneven breaths. He flashed her his fangs for her to understand his reasons before he rested his forehead again hers. "It's okay." She was out of breath.

Zach groaned. No, it wasn't. They were making out and his fangs, along with his wolf, decided to mark her already. Despite having a will of steel, Zach knew he could still lose control and actually bite her if he wasn't careful. This was a wicked type of torture alright. He couldn't understand it, but it had physically hurt being this close to her and not biting her. God, what he felt for her he could no longer describe in words. The way his very soul was pushing against his body and mind just to reach for hers, was making his heart swell with an emotion he was afraid to name.

No, what he felt for Kat was no longer guilt or regret or even a deep attraction. He was falling for her, and he was falling fast.

Kat could stare at him forever, and her heart would never stop racing, she was sure. God, how strong he was to pull back from her in such a heated moment, just to save her from something he knew she wasn't ready to face. It fascinated her how in control Zach was, and how deeply he cared for her comfort more than his own pleasure. This was painful for him, the frown on his face and his erratic breathing told her that much. Yet he had willingly and selflessly stopped them, no matter how badly he wanted her.

No, Kat knew what she felt for him was no longer a simple crush on an Alpha that was supposed to be her mate. No. And when he took a deep breath and opened his eyes and smiled at her brightly, as if he hadn't been in pain a few seconds ago, she knew she was in big trouble.

"I'm sorry, baby." He leaned down and kissed her lips slowly and sweetly like he had nothing better to do. And Kat knew that was all the proof she needed. She was sure now, she was falling for him and she was falling fast. And as afraid as she was that he wouldn't be there to catch her, she still couldn't help but wrap her arms around him and kiss him back just as passionately.

Pulling back, Zach rolled onto his back and pulled Kat with him. He gave her forehead a kiss before taking a deep, calming breath. "Goodnight, love." He felt her nuzzle her face in his neck and he prayed not to have another nightmare that would threaten the paradise he was currently in.