It was weird, Nate thought, as he tried to reign in his feelings from that confession. It was a big secret that he had saved the Prime Minister's life. No one wanted to know that such an action had been required, seeing as the male in question rarely went out.

But it had happened, and it still gulled on Joel Marshall's nerves ­— or so Nate had been told. That was the reason why he was still standing here. Joel didn't want to be known as ungrateful, especially when it pertained to the one person who saved his life.

Zara's eyes widened slightly. "What? How come something like that never came out in the news?"

But as soon as those words left her mouth, her expression changed. Her forehead furrowed as her lips tightened into a straight line; displeasure and a heavy dose of anger flashed across her features. "He couldn't let the public know how easy it was to kill him."

"Yup," he whispered back. "No Alpha in their right mind wants to be seen as weak."

"Does that include you as well?" she countered. Eyes that he had once considered unreadable where now a vast ocean of emotions. The question laid a heavy stone inside of him. So heavy, it almost felt hard to breathe.

"I think there are exceptions to that rule. Don't you agree?"

It was a cheap shot. Nate knew that Zara still had some secrets to share and wasn't being forward with them. The reason behind that was still unknown to him, but he promised himself that he would find out. Even if it meant he had to fire at her when she least expects it.

"I think we can both agree that we are not here to talk about me, but about you at the present moment."

"Hmm." He shifted in his seat, tucking the covers around her legs when he saw them pebble under the soft glow of the moon. Casually, he leaned towards her, wanting to bask in her presence.

Right here, stood a person who he didn't mind getting personal with. And with that thought, he wondered why. Past experiences often suggested that he wasn't comfortable building long lasting relationships, but with her?

With her, he could imagine decades.

The heat of her stare made him look down at her lips, not wanting to meet her eyes. A shot of pink burst through them, licking at the corner before white teeth pinched the tissue. Nate could feel a small shudder run through his body at that small action.

"How did you save his life?"

Turning away from her, he faced forward to stare at the black wall in front of him. A medium sized bookshelf wedged in the far right corner caught his attention for a split second. It was overflowing with books, ranging from literature to medical, and even history.

"You have a wide assortments of books. I can't imagine why..."

"You are diverting from the question," Zara cut in. "Is it something that cannot be said? Would you get in trouble? I mean, if I assume, more than what you already are considering the topic we are having."

Soft silk curled around his palm before her fingers interlocked with his. The sound of expelled air traveled to his ears.

"Nate, you don't have to tell me if you can't. I'm just being nosy. I'll leave you to rest."

He could feel her hand beginning to slip away from his. Quickly, he anchored her to him, not ready to let go. No, he needed her there with him. Unknown to Zara, she was his lifeline at this moment.

"Don't go. Please," he whispered to her. Hoping she would hear the desperation in his voice. But of course she would, because she knew him. Just like he knew her – or was starting to.

"Yeah, okay. I'm here."

Taking a deep breath, he let his demons free.

"We – that is, my team and I – were camping in the desert when we received the call. Marshall's daughter had been taken, and they needed an extraction team ASAP. We weren't that far from where her last known location was, so it made sense to send us in. My team leader told us to suit up and get moving after relaying the information.

"Once we got there, we saw that it was a base camp. The structure was sound and there was heavy militia surrounding the premises. It took us about eight hours to formulate a plan and we had to move fast before they moved her again."

As if he was reliving the day once again, the temperature in the room turned sweltering. The hum from the fan above him became louder. Transforming the gentle sound into something strident – as if it was covered in sand. Grating and oppressive.

"It wasn't an easy mission, but it also wasn't as hard as the others we've done before," he continued. He was thankful for the silence Zara had bestowed on him. As if knowing he needed that small respite in order to continue.

"Sparrow, our team lead, took point. I followed behind while Cook, Santos, Arrow and Mike took the rear. Love and Flint had stayed behind to cover our asses. Whenever I think back to this day, I should've known something was wrong," he grunted out.

"There wasn't as many armed men as we'd expected. Which was weird and concerning, seeing as how they had the Prime Minister's daughter in their hands. But we were high with adrenaline, so that thought never passed through our minds."

Nate felt Zara's smooth fingers trailing up his arm. Rubbing it in small circles, giving him permission to continue while at the same time letting him know everything was okay.

"It took about thirty minutes to kill everyone there and get to her. Sophie wasn't in bad shape, just a few scrapes and bruises. I think that was partly due to when she was kidnapped and transported from place to place. Love called through the our secured ear piece that a halo was touching ground.

"As we regrouped with the others and made our way to it, I saw someone emerge from the chopper."

"The Prime Minister," Zara concluded.

"Yes. I didn't think nothing of it. To mine, and everyone else's eyes, here was a worried father too desperate to see his daughter again, that he went against orders and went to the extraction site."

Zara's small body moved closer to his, laying her head on his shoulder. Offering her warmth.

"What happened?"

With a steady breath, he turned his head and buried it into her dark tresses. Her honey and citrus scent, along with a hint of vanilla, wafted straight to his nose. Nate wanted to treasure this moment and ingrain it in his mind.

Hoping to chase away the guilt and sorrow that wanted to take hold.

"The chopper had taken off with us inside and we were a few hundred feet in the air when the blast shook us. Turns out, the other half of the armed militia was waiting until we were high in the air before taking us down. From what was relayed to us later on, they wanted confirmation that Marshall was in the helicopter."

Zara stopped breathing beside him. "They had planned to shoot him, and his only daughter, down. Regardless of anyone else who might have been in there with them."

A chuckle slipped from him, one without mirth. He always knew his girl was smart.

"As you might have guessed, the pilot lost control and we went down. I can still feel the flames as the licked against the metal. Could still hear the screams of Sophie, who at the time was only six years old. Sparrow had covered his body against her while I curled myself against Marshall.

"We hit the ground – hard. It was jarring. The sand had never felt so hot before, so rough. It took a while before I regained my hearing and started to hear the loud pops of gunfire raining on us. I had lost my gun in the crash, and the only thing protecting me was the pieces of metal that was sprawled around."

Nate took another deep, hard breath.

"Marshall was next to me, unconscious. My team was also in the vicinity, but we had lost two of our members – Santos and Cook. The pilot had also perished and Sparrow was badly injured. We needed reinforcements, bad. The bad thing about it, was that no one knew we were even there. That's what happens when you're in a covert mission; if you are hurt, no one will go and if you die, no one would know.

"We were running out of options. One, we didn't have sufficient gunpower, and two, we were outnumbered. In that moment, I felt the claws of death gripping my arms. Trying to pull me down into their depths. But as I looked around at the scene before me, I knew they wanted only one thing – the Prime Minister."

"You guessed that the reason why they had kidnapped his daughter was for him to come out of his hole. And once he was out, they would take the chance to kill him."

"Correct. It had all been a plan for them to get their hands on Marshall. They knew that if they killed Sophie, or harmed her in any way he wouldn't show up. So they played it smart and waited. I'm sure that sacrificing a few soul for their greater cause was something they were all willing to take."

He felt her head move beneath his nose. Opening his eyes, when had he closed them?, he captured the sparkling jewels. She moved closer, running her nose up against his chip. Planting a small kiss there.

"But you got out." Her quiet statement caused his lips to curl at the corners.

"Yeah, I got out. It took some time, and we had to wisely use whatever ammo we had, but we took them down. All but one."

She frowned up at him, a question swirling in her eyes. "What do you mean?"

Softly, not wanting to startle her, he took a hold of her hand with his left. Sparks sizzled when their palms touched and he moved it up against his chest, trailing her fingers against the hot skin. Like every night, he'd forgone a shirt, knowing he'd be a sweating mess once the nightmare took hold of him.

He moved the digits towards his right shoulder, where the skin puckered right below his clavicle.

"Oh." Zara exclaimed, running her thumb back and forth against the healed wound. "I've never noticed this."

"I don't often take my shirt off, except at night."

"You were shot?"

Nodding, he traced the back of her hand. Now his turn in drawing circles, over and over again. Trying to sooth the hurt he could smell emitting from her body.

"The was one we had missed. Before Love could kill him, he took the opportunity to shoot at the Prime Minister. I lunged myself between Marshall and the bullet."

"And that's why he's in debt to you. But I thought the mission was undercover. He could've used that to his advantage and never have reported it while taking the chance to silence you all. Why didn't he?"

"Oh, he tried. My team, who I thought had my back and was my family, did not report the incident. Which is why I don't like working with other people – until you. Somehow I knew you wouldn't stab me in the back."

She laughed and curled up against him even more. Nate took the chance to wrap his arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer to him. "So if you're team kept quiet about it, how did it get out?"

"Sweet Sophie saw everything that happened and made sure everyone knew about it. Guess Marshall wasn't counting on his six-year-old daughter to spill the beans."