The next day of my new reality began at dawn. Nate leaned against my bedroom doorframe, coffee in hand, looking entirely too amused for someone who'd just abandoned his Beta duties to babysit me.
"Morning, princess. Ready for another day of being delightful?"
"Good morning, Nate." I emerged in a soft pink dress, the picture of feminine grace. "I hope you slept well."
"Like a baby, knowing I get to spend every waking moment watching you pretend to be an idiot."
He pushed off the doorframe and walked down a corridor.
"Colin is handling morning patrols. Jake's covering the border reports. Amazing how much free time I suddenly have…"
The pack dining hall buzzed with morning conversation when we arrived. I headed for the coffee station where several pack members clustered, discussing the weekly supply run.
"We're short on medical supplies again," Tom was saying, frustration clear in his voice. "The order got mixed up. We received twelve cases of gauze but no antiseptic."
"Can't we just reorder?" Sarah asked.
"Not until next month's budget cycle," Tom groaned. "Unless someone knows how to stretch what we have."
My mind immediately calculated the solution. But I reached for the sugar instead, stirring my coffee with delicate movements.
"That sounds complicated," I said softly. "I'm sure you'll figure something out, Tom."
It was when Nate appeared at my shoulder.
"Katherine, didn't you mention something about supply management to me yesterday? Something about your mother's household tricks?"
I froze, spoon suspended over my cup. "I don't recall…"
"No, you definitely did." His grin was pure evil. "Something about dilution ratios? Or was it distribution patterns? Help me out here."
Everyone turned to look at me expectantly, and Tom's eyes lit up with hope.
"Well…" I said carefully, "Mother always said you could water things down to make them last longer. But I'm sure that's not helpful for medical supplies. That's probably dangerous, isn't it?"
"Actually," Tom said slowly, "our antiseptic is concentrated. We could dilute it to standard strength and triple our supply."
"Oh!" I clapped my hands together like he'd just invented fire. "How clever of you, Tom! I never would have thought of that."
Nate's laugh was barely disguised as a cough.
"Yes, Tom. Brilliant deduction. All by yourself."
Later, as we sat with the elder council during their weekly meeting, Elder Patricia was explaining the complicated history of pack alliances when she got the details tangled.
"The Riverside Pack alliance was formed in 1987," she said confidently. "After the territory dispute with Silver Creek."
I bit my tongue.
It was 1997 actually, and the dispute was with Stone Mountain, not Silver Creek. The error would affect three other historical points she was about to make.
"Fascinating," Nate said, watching me closely. "Katherine, you were just telling me how much you love pack history. Don't you have questions for Elder Patricia?"
"Oh, I wouldn't want to interrupt," I demurred. "This is all so far over my head."
"Nonsense," Elder Patricia beamed. "Ask away, dear."
"Well," I said hesitantly, "you said 1987, but I thought I saw 1997 in one of the books Gabriel showed me. But I'm probably misremembering."
"1997? No, that can't be... wait." Patricia's face went thoughtful when she pulled out her ledger, flipping through. "Oh my. You're right, dear. 1997. How observant of you!"
"Just lucky guess," I said sweetly.
"Right," Nate drawled. "Lucky. Just like your lucky guess about the supply management. You're the luckiest guesser I've ever met."
Elder Patricia continued her history lesson, getting several more dates wrong. Each time, she'd look at me hopefully, and I'd offer increasingly ridiculous ways of accidentally being correct.
‘I remember because 1997 has two nines, and nine is my favorite number!’
Or ‘Stone Mountain starts with 'S' like 'Silver,' so easy to mix up!’
‘By the love of the Moon Goddess…’ Elsie growled in my mind. ‘You’re embarrassing us, stop it.’
Like it for the first time, huh.
Nate's jaw was clenched so tight by the end of the meeting, I worried for his teeth. Patricia, however, was delighted with her "helpful" future Luna before we finally returned to Gabriel's house.
The moment the door closed, Nate's facade of patience evaporated.
"The treaty was signed in winter because you were thinking about snow?" His voice was dangerously low. "That's the best you could come up with?"
"Elder Patricia seemed to appreciate my input," I said mildly, moving toward the kitchen.
He followed me, crowding into space. "You knew every single date she got wrong. You were practically vibrating with the need to correct her."
"You're imagining things."
I reached for a glass, but he caught my wrist.
"No, I'm not." His grip was firm but not painful. "I know exactly what you're doing, Kat. Playing the sweet, silly girl because that's what gets you power. Just like every other she-wolf who threw herself at Gabriel before you."
I kept my expression neutral. "Let go of my wrist, Beta."
He released me harshly but didn't step back, gazing at me from the top of his height.
"You think I haven't seen this before? Cute and helpless girls are loved more than the ones who show their intelligence. They get the Alpha, the position, the authority. But you're smarter than most of them, aren't you? You're calculating every move, every word."
"You have quite the imagination," I said, turning to fill my glass with water.
"It's not imagination. It's pattern recognition." His voice turned colder. "Every ambitious woman who wanted to be next to Gabriel played some version of this game. Sweet, helpless, needing protection. You're just better at it because you're actually intelligent enough to pull it off convincingly."
I set down my glass and faced him fully.
"You know what people don't like, Nate? Arrogant know-it-alls who think they have everyone figured out."
"So there is someone real in there," he said with satisfaction.
"I don't have to justify myself to you," I said evenly. "You can think whatever you want about my motivations. Your opinion doesn't matter to me."
"Doesn't it?" He stepped closer. "Because you seem pretty invested in maintaining this performance. What happens when Gabriel finds out his sweet little mate has been lying to him from day one?"
"Gabriel sees what he wants to see," I replied. "Men always do. They want soft, they want gentle, they want someone who makes them feel strong. If that bothers you, take it up with society, not me."
"So you admit it. This is all about power, not love."
I laughed, the sound surprisingly bitter.
"Love? The mate bond might create a strong undeniable attraction, but true love takes time. Right now, Gabriel loves an idea, a performance. Just like you hate an assumption you've made about me."
"Then show me I'm wrong," he challenged. "Drop the act."
"Why would I do that? To make you comfortable? To prove something to my mate's Beta?" I shook my head. "I don't owe you anything, Nate. Not honesty, not authenticity, not a single real emotion."
"Fine." His jaw clenched. "Keep playing your games. But I promise you, princess, I will make every single day unbearable until that mask cracks. Every meal, every meeting, every interaction with the pack—I'll be right there, poking at your perfect little facade."
"You can try," I said softly. "But you might not like what you find underneath. Some masks exist for a reason, Beta Williams."
"I'll take my chances." He backed toward the door. "This isn't over, Katherine. One way or another, I'm going to make you show your true self. Gabriel deserves to know who he's actually mated to."
"Gabriel deserves to be happy," I countered. "And right now, I make him happy. Can you say the same?"
The question hung between us, loaded with implications neither of us wanted to examine.
"This isn't over," he repeated.
"No," I agreed, turning away from him. "It's just beginning."