It had been three weeks since I'd left Rafe. I had decided against any other packs, not wanting to jump into another group again, especially when I didn't know how long I would be there. Packs tended to not like bringing outsiders in unless they were going to stay and I couldn't promise that. 

Instead I had been living in the unclaimed areas of the woods. On my second day I had stumbled onto a small group of rogues, the only people who had no qualms with bringing in a stranger. 

There had been three women and five men in the group and they had set up camp within the woods. If I hadn't been looking for their setup, I never would have even found it. I had only come across them because one of the women had been out gathering plants, and I had seen her. 

She had graciously invited me back to their camp, setting me up with food and a place to sleep. I didn't know how I could have ever repaid her. But by the end of the night I had not only had a meal and a place to sleep for the night, but they said I could stay as long as I wanted. 

They had never pressed me about what caused me to be in the woods, never bothering me for an explanation of what I was running from, and for that I was greatful. I didn't think I'd be able to tell them what tore me away from what I had almost called a home. 

Not a day had gone by in the past week where I hadn't thought of Rafe though. Most of the thoughts had come with rage, but I couldn't understand why he was so present in my mind after what he had done. Shouldn't I just want to keep everything away from him, even my mind? But I thought of those deep green eyes, and the way he had looked at me the last time I had seen him. 

I wondered if he had seen the note, and if he had, what had he looked like when he read my words? What went through his mind as he reached the end? 

"Hey, Kat," Nolan said as he walked up to me, sitting down on the large rock right beside me. 

"Hey."

"What are you doing out here?" 

"Just thinking," I said, not taking my eyes off the horizon. The sun was starting to set and I had made my way to where the woods dropped off the edge of the mountianous area. 

"You look beautiful when you're thinking," Nolan whispered the words. 

I tensed slightly. Nolan had eagerly invited me to join them, he had been even more ecstatic with the idea than the rest of them, and I had soon found out why. He had a thing for me, probably because I had been the first female close to his age that he'd seen in a while, and in the passing weeks, that affection had only seemed to grow. He had now built up the curage to share his emotions about me with me. 

I hadn't known what to do. He was very nice, and absolutely adorable. If I hadn't gone through what I had, I may have even given him a chance, but I just couldn't. It wasn't because I had found my mate, though that was most likely part of it. Even after what Rafe had done, there was no way I could possibly stoop myself down to that level. Not unless I was never going to return, and I still wasn't sure about that. 

But I just didn't have room for that at the moment. I felt slightly empty inside with the hole Rafe's absence had created, and nothing could fill that void just yet. The way I felt when he touched me, when I was just there with him. He had made me feel complete and wanted. At least until Aphrodite had once again stepped in. 

"Nolan," I sighed. 

"I know. You don't feel the same way about me right now. But one day you might, I can at least hope for that." 

A part of me broke for him. Surrounded by the woods with no one but his fellow rogues, Nolan had felt alone. My appearance had given him some hope; hope that maybe he could find love out there after all. But that wasn't the case with me, and I couldn't lead him on like that, believing in this false hopes. 

"Nolan," I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I had to tell him. At least part of it. If I didn't then he would just keep holding out for something that would never happen. 

"I have a mate."

I could feel his eyes on me, like they were trying to read me. 

"Then why aren't you there?"

"Because I needed to get away."

"You needed to get away from your mate?" He asked, slightly interested. 

"Away from it all. I didn't fit in there. He had this whole life built up and I had just showed up out of the blue. I was like a piece from a different puzzle and I just couldn't force my way in."

"You shouldn't have to force your way in though. If he's your mate he should have a place right next to him for you."

"He did," I sighed. "But there was more to it than that. There was someone else too."

"He cheated," Nolan said bluntly. 

It flet like a blow to my gut. Yes, Rafe had cheated on me and I really didn't want to talk about it. But somehow it felt good to be able to confide in someone. 

I just nodded, my eyes still glued to the setting sun as tears stung at the corners of my eyes. I felt his hand on my knee and I looked down. I felt it flinch as he thought about retracting it but he decided against, keeping it there. 

"So you left him."

"I didn't leave him exactly. I left to clear my head, to think about things."

"What is there to think about?"

"The us part of it. I don't know if there's any room for an us. He's a pretty well known Alpha of a big pack, he has a past. I just don't know if I can be a part of all that. That would be a huge role for me to step into."

"So you're scared." 

I thought about it. Was I scared? I was the mate to an Alpha; that made me a Luna, the second most important person to a pack. With a pack the size of Rafe's, that was pretty terrifying. I guess I was scared, but that wasn't it entirely. 

"Kind of, but that's not the whole reason. He cheated. How do I know that he won't do that to me again?"

Nolan shrugged. "You don't know, you can only hope that he doesn't. Do you have enough faith in him?"

"I don't even know him. I only met him less than a month ago."

Nolan shrugged. "I only met you a couple weeks ago, and I trust you."

"You don't know me either, which would make you a fool," I said looking directly into his light blue eyes. 

"But I ususally have pretty good instincts," he said winking at me. 

For some reason I felt a little better about the whole thing. To just have someone there to talk to, an impartial person. He wasn't like Ty, he wasn't under Rafe's thumb, but he was just there to listen to me. It was like a weight had lifted off now that someone else knew. 

"So you're going back to him?" Nolan asked trying to hide the full extent of his curiosity. I knew he wanted to know my answer, his chances lay within the words I would say next. 

"I'd told him that I might be back at some point. Is there really a time frame for going back after something like that?"

"Everyone's different, Kat. It all depends on you."

Nolan leaned in and kissed me on the cheek before standing up. My stomach did a small flip before sinking. The attention was nice, but it just didn't feel right.  

"Come on, it's dark."

He was right. I had been so engrossed in our conversation that I hadn't realized it, but it was dark. the sun had gone down and we had just the moon to light our way. 

I wasn't sure what had really happened, but I suddenly felt better about everything. I just had to answer a few more questions before I knew what to do. Was there a chance that I could trust Rafe? Could I trust that he would leave Aphrodite and be faithful to me, or was his past with her too strong? 

Could I actually face him now? It had been a couple weeks, what if he had decided that I wasn't coming back. What if he decided to go on with the Luna ceremony as had been scheduled? What if my absence had just given him more reason to slink back to Aphrodite?

The questions started eating away as we made our way back to the camp. Nolan had helped me with one set of problems, but in their absense, a new set had appeared, and I had to decide what to do with them. 

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So what do you think about this Nolan character? He seems to have a thing for our dear Katarina even if she can't reciprocate. Caring so much that he's willing to help her with her relationship with another man. 

Remember to comment, vote, and fan!! :)