The days following my breakdown passed in careful silence.
Nate and I moved around each other like wary animals, maintaining distance while fulfilling our respective duties. No sarcasm from him, no attempts at connection from me. Just coexistence.
At the pack school, Nate had somehow transformed into the pups' favorite visitor. He brought wooden practice swords for show-and-tell, demonstrating basic defensive stances that had them squealing with delight.
"Beta Nate, show us the wolf move again!" Emma bounced on her toes, completely forgetting the tension from last week.
"Only if Luna Katherine says it's appropriate," Nate replied, glancing at me with careful neutrality.
"It's fine," I said quietly, returning to the reading corner.
The pups cheered as Nate demonstrated a rolling dodge, his movements fluid and controlled. Their laughter should have lifted my spirits.
Instead, it highlighted the hollow ache Gabriel's absence had carved in my chest.
Two weeks. Two weeks since he'd left, since I'd felt the warmth of our bond at full strength. The connection stretched thin across the distance, present but muted, like trying to hear music through water.
When his name finally lit up my phone screen that evening, and my heart nearly stopped at that moment.
"Gabriel?" My voice cracked with desperate relief.
"Katherine." His voice wrapped around me through the phone, deep and warm. "Goddess, I miss you. Tell me everything. How are you?"
"I miss you too. So much it hurts." The honesty spilled out before I could stop it. "When are you coming home?"
"Soon, my love. Barrett is being... difficult. But hearing your voice makes everything bearable. Are you eating properly? Sleeping?"
"Nate makes sure I eat." I curled into Gabriel's pillow, breathing in his fading scent. "Your bed feels too big without you…"
"I dream about you every night. About coming home to you, holding you…" His voice dropped to that intimate rumble that made Elsie whine. "Just a little longer, sweetheart."
"How much longer?"
The pause that followed sent ice through my veins.
"I need to stay a bit more. Barrett's demanding additional concessions. Territory adjustments, trade agreements… He's making this as painful as possible."
"Oh."
The single word carried all my disappointment.
"Katherine, I'm sorry. I'm trying everything—"
"I know. I understand. Pack comes first." The words tasted like ash.
"You come first. Always. But I need to handle this carefully to protect our future."
We talked for another twenty minutes, but the magic had dimmed. When we finally said goodbye, the loneliness crashed back tenfold.
The next morning at breakfast with pack members, Sarah touched my arm gently. "You look tired, dear. Are you alright?"
"Just miss Gabriel," I admitted, pushing eggs around my plate.
My mother appeared at my elbow as if summoned.
"Katherine, a word?" She pulled me into the hallway, her expression stern. "Your sadness is too obvious. Everyone's noticed."
"I can't help missing my mate—"
"You can help how you display it." Her fingers gripped my shoulders. "People love sunny and kind, Katherine. Not this moping shadow. Hide it better."
"You're right." I straightened my spine, forcing brightness into my expression. "I'll do better."
"Good girl. Remember, sweetness and light. Always."
I returned to breakfast with a practiced smile, chattering about lesson plans and upcoming pack events. But Nate watched from across the room, his gray eyes tracking every forced gesture.
That afternoon, he finally broke our unspoken ceasefire.
"Stop."
I looked up from the book I wasn't really reading. "Stop what?"
"The fake cheerfulness. It's worse than your usual act." He dropped into the chair across from me. "My wolf can sense your misery from across the pack lands. It's... unsettling."
"Your wolf shouldn’t care about my emotional state."
"Actually, he does." Nate ran a hand through his hair, seeming to wrestle with something. "Look, this is ridiculous. We're stuck together for who knows how long. Gabriel would want us to get along."
"We are getting along. We haven't fought in days."
"We haven't talked in days. That's not the same thing." He leaned forward, elbows on knees. "I'm offering a truce. Real truce. Not just avoiding each other."
I studied his face, searching for the trap. "What kind of truce?"
"The kind where we actually do something besides circle each other like wounded animals." He gestured broadly. "I'm literally assigned to you twenty-four seven. Might as well make use of it. What do you want to do? Anything. Name it."
"Anything?"
"Within reason. Can't take you to Paris or teach you to fly." His mouth quirked slightly. "But otherwise, I'm at your disposal. What has Kat always wanted to do but couldn't?"
The question hung between us, and suddenly I felt the weight of every restriction, every 'that's not ladylike,' every dream pushed down.
"I want to learn to fight.4"
The words tumbled out in a rush, followed immediately by heat flooding my cheeks.
Nate's eyebrows shot up. "Fight?"
"Self-defense. Combat training. Real training, not just theory." My hands clenched in my lap. "Mother always said it wasn't appropriate. Fighting is for warriors, not proper she-wolves. But I've watched every training session I could, memorized the forms, studied the techniques…"
"You want me to teach you to fight." He said it slowly, like he was tasting the words.
"Forget it. It's stupid…"
"It's not stupid!" His whole demeanor had shifted, energy crackling through him. "It's the first genuine thing you've said to me. You really want this?"
"More than anything…" The admission felt like stepping off a cliff. "I'm tired of being helpless. Of standing on the sidelines. Of pretending weakness is the same as femininity."
"Your mother will lose her mind."
"Mother doesn't have to know."
Nate grinned then, a real smile that transformed his entire face. "You want to secretly train behind everyone's back? That's almost devious, princess."
"Can you arrange it or not?"
"Oh, I can arrange it." He stood, already planning. "Early mornings, before the pack wakes. Private training ground in the north woods. We'll start with basic stances, build your foundation properly."
"Really?" Hope bloomed in my chest for the first time in weeks.
"Really. But I won't go easy on you just because you're the Alpha's mate. You want to learn to fight? You'll learn properly. That means sweat, bruises, and probably some tears."
"I'm not afraid of hard work."
"No," he said thoughtfully. "I'm beginning to think you're not afraid of much at all."
The anticipation thrumming through my veins felt better than any practiced sweetness.
"Tomorrow?" I asked.
"Dawn. Wear something you can move in." He headed for the door, then paused. "Kat? This stays between us."
For the first time since Gabriel left, I smiled genuinely. "Thank you, Nate."
"Don't thank me yet. Wait until you see what I have planned for your first session."
The promise in his voice should have worried me. Instead, it made Elsie practically sing with anticipation.