The crowd surged around us, bodies pressed close in the dark.
Two futures stretched before me, both ending in exile.
Keep Gabriel and watch his pack crumble. Reject him and lose everything my mother had sacrificed to rebuild.
But right now, at this moment, I didn't want to be the calculating Luna or the perfect mate. I wanted to be the girl who used to scream lyrics about revolution, who dyed her hair black at seventeen, who kissed boys in dark corners just to feel alive.
Nate’s eyes were already on me, dark with the same recognition—this was our last chance before everything collapsed.
I kissed him like I was starving for air, and he was the only goddamn breath left in this world.
His name slipped from my lips, a low, desperate moan that got lost in the chaos of the concert, but he heard it—felt it.
Nate’s response was immediate, raw, and fucking primal. His hands—those goddamn hands—dug into my hips like he owned me, like he’d die if he let go. And I wanted him to own me, right there, in front of everyone, with the bass throbbing through the air and the heat of the crowd pressing in on us.
His tongue invaded my mouth, hot and relentless, and I met him with equal ferocity.
I bit his lip hard and the groan that ripped from his throat sent a jolt of electricity straight between my legs. His lips were swollen, wet, and damn perfect, and I couldn’t stop tasting him, couldn’t stop dragging him closer, deeper.
My fingers tangled in his hair, pulling him down until there was no space left between us, until I could feel every goddamn inch of him pressing into me.
“Fuck, Kat,” he growled, his voice rough and broken, and I swear I came undone just hearing him say my name like that.
The music was a distant thrum, drowned out by the sound of my heartbeat, my ragged breaths, and the wet sounds of our lips and tongues colliding.
Elsie was howling inside me, demanding more—
‘Love, are you both alright?’
Gabriel's voice exploded through my mind. The mate bond yanked tight, a chain around my throat.
‘Nate isn't answering his phone or the mind link.’
I tore away from Nate, gasping, but he resisted, trying to pull me back, eyes wild.
"Stop," I breathed against his mouth.
‘We're fine.’ I forced calm into the mind link, praying Gabriel couldn't feel my racing heart, couldn't taste another man on my mate's lips. ‘At the concert with Lily. I'll tell Nate to contact you immediately.’
‘Good. I was worried. Give him his phone—he needs to hear the update.’
‘Of course.’
The link closed and I stood trapped between Nate's body and the barrier, both of us breathing hard, the ghost of our kiss burning between us.
"Kat—"
"Gabriel wants to speak with you." The words came out sharp. "He reached out through the link. You weren't answering."
Nate's entire body went rigid. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, knuckles white. For a moment, raw hatred flashed across his face—not for Gabriel, but for the role, the duty, the cage of being Beta.
"Now?" His voice scraped rough.
"Now."
"We need to talk about—"
"No." I slipped sideways, putting space between us. "We don't."
"You kissed me."
"I made a mistake."
"That wasn't a mistake." He caught my wrist, not hard, but firm. "That was you finally choosing something real."
"Let go…"
"Not until you look at me."
I met his eyes and the pain there nearly broke me.
"I'll be right back," he said, releasing me. "Don't run. Don't disappear into that mask. For once in your life, don't run!"
He pushed through the crowd toward the exit, pulling out his phone. I watched him go, my lips still swollen, still tasting him.
‘That was beautiful,’ my wolf purred. ‘He kisses like he fights—with everything.’
‘That was stupid.’
‘That was real.’
Lily appeared at my elbow, drunk and glowing. "Where'd Nate go?"
"Phone call."
"During the last song?" She squinted at me, then gasped. "Oh my God, your lips… You kissed him!"
"Lily—"
"You absolutely kissed him! Katherine Winters, you magnificent disaster!" She threw her arms around me. "Was it everything? Tell me it was everything."
Over her shoulder, I could see Nate outside, phone pressed to his ear, free hand raking through his hair. Gabriel's voice would be filling his head with strategy and duty while another man's mate still burned on his tongue.
"It was a goodbye," I said quietly.
"Bullshit." Lily pulled back, studying my face. "That was a beginning."