Kane followed the sound of his sister's high-pitched laughter down the staircase. He couldn't help but smile widely when he saw the situation that had unfolded in the kitchen. Nora stood at the bench, her hands grasping a bowl that had recently overflown. Grace sat on the top of the bench, lent over the bowl, with a mostly empty looking flour packet in one hand. She was laughing and swatting away at the flour that had flown about on the benchtop.

"What's happening in here?" Kane asked.

Both culprits looked up at him with amused eyes. Grace laughed.

"Well, we were attempting to make pancakes, but someone here got a little flour happy," Nora revealed before turning a cheeky grin towards Grace.

"Do you want to help us?" she asked.

Kane put his hands up in the air. "I think I'll stay out of this one."

He smiled as he turned away from the kitchen. It was nice to see Nora in a good mood. He hadn't seen her smile since they had gotten back from her pack, and seeing it had sent a nice feeling through the bond.

Kane heard his mother's voice from the next room, "How are they going in there?"

He found his mother on the couch. She looked up from her book to send him a smile.

"They are making one hell of a mess, but they are having fun," Kane told her.

Scarlett shrugged. "I'll deal with any amount of mess to see that girl finally smile again."

Kane sat down next to her. "You've noticed her recent mood, I'm guessing?"

Scarlett placed her book face down on the coffee table and turned to face her son. "I noticed something was off as soon as we got in the car to go home from Maysville."

"Why didn't you say something?"

Scarlett smiled slightly. "Mates aren't perfect, Kane. Every couple has a few hiccups when they first start out. I didn't want to say anything and make it more complicated for the two of you. It seems like you managed to work it out anyway, if her mood today is any indication."

Kane wished that he could attribute their current issues to just the hiccups of new mates. There was much, much deeper problems than that between them, but he wasn't sure how much of that to tell his mother. She didn't want her to hate Nora the same way Heath seemed to. He needed Nora to feel safe here, to be accepted, otherwise they had no future together.

"I don't know about that."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well," Kane glanced towards the kitchen to make sure Nora wasn't overhearing, "we had a fight in Maysville, a pretty big one, and we haven't talked about it. Every time I try to work it out with her, she just avoids it."

Scarlett nodded like she understood. "This is a big adjustment period for the both of you. She might have just needed some time to cool off. Try talking to her today."

Kane nodded. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course. Anything."

Kane wanted to tell her everything. His mother had always been his greatest supporter, even when he came out to her, she didn't even flinch. He knew that he could trust her with the full story, but again, his mind told him not to mess with the way she saw Nora.

"Do you," he asked slowly, "think that Nora and I are well suited together?"

Scarlett tilted her head slightly. "You are mates, she is the most suited person for you on the planet."

Kane nodded. He didn't want to relevel any more than he already had.

"Heath has spoken to me about his worries," Scarlett told him.

"He has?" Kane cursed his brother. He wished that he would keep his nose out of their business.

"Yes." She looked around the room before speaking. "Your brother believes that you and Nora aren't real mates."

"I know," Kane admitted hesitantly.

His mother suddenly made unwavering eye contact with him, that kind of put him on edge. "What do you believe?" she asked.

Kane shrugged. He felt like he was being put on the spot. "I don't know. Is it even possible for the Moon Gods and Goddesses in their infinite power to make a mistake like that?"

Scarlett pondered his questions for a few, long seconds. "I'm not sure, but for your sake, I hope not."

Kane stood. He couldn't handle a second more of this conversation. He had done the exact opposite as he had planned and now his mother knew that the bond wasn't right. Even if she didn't have all the details, she knew. He needed to talk to Nora. "I better go see how the chefs are going," he told his mother before running off to the kitchen.

He walked in to see Nora flipping pancakes on the stovetop and Grace still sitting on the bench, surrounded in flour. She was using her pointer finger to draw hearts in the flour on the benchtop. Kane walked over to her and ruffled her hair. "Having fun?" he asked.

Grace smiled up at him. "Yes."

Kane picked her up off the counter and placed her on the ground. "Can you go wash up?"

Grace nodded. "Only if I get the first pancake!"

Nora turned. "That sounds like a fair deal, what do you think, Kane?"

Kane smiled. "Only if you come back without a speck of flour on you. Do you think you can manage that?"

Grace smiled as she ran from the room. A few seconds later he heard her fast footsteps against the staircase.

"How's the pancakes going?" Kane asked. He took a few steps closer to Nora.

"They are great considering the batter I'm working with," she said with a grin.

"Can, uh, can we talk?" Kane asked. He didn't like how nervous his voice sounded.

Nora placed the spatula down on the bench beside her and faced him. "Yeah, I think we do need to talk."

"I've been trying to talk to you for days. Why did you keep avoiding it?" Kane asked.

Nora shrugged and a sadness overcame her eyes. "I guess, I knew what was coming and I didn't want to face it. I just wanted to go back to when we still thought that we could make it work."

"I feel the same," Kane admitted. He lent his hip against the countertop. "It was nicer thinking that we could fix the bond."

"It doesn't seem like we can, does it?"

Kane shook his head. "There's something wrong with it and I don't know if we can ever really fix it. It is what it is."

The sadness in Nora's eyes remained, but it was joined by a glimmer of hope. "I stick by what I said the other night. I would rather a future with you than a future alone. Just because the bond is broken doesn't mean that we have to reject each other."

"What other choice do we have?" he asked slowly.

"We don't have to be in love to be together. We can be friend mates, if that's a thing."

"Are you willing to leave your pack and start a life here if we aren't real mates?" Kane asked her. He wasn't sure if he would have done the same in her position.

Nora nodded without hesitation. "I told you, here I can make a difference. This is where I am supposed to be."

It didn't sound like a bad idea. He and Nora could still be everything they were supposed to be, just without the being in love part. They could help rule and guide the pack with Adam and Violet. They could be together and have a family together. They wouldn't have to tell anyone the truth.

"Okay."

"This doesn't mean that we stop trying, though," Nora told him. "I'm not willing to totally give up on us just yet, but it's good to know that we have a plan."

"What else can we do that we haven't already tried?"

Nora's eyes lit up. "Jade was telling me about this witch doctor that used to come around to the pack a few years ago. She said that she might be able to help with the bond if we were still having troubles."

"Witch doctors aren't real," Kane told her. "I thought they were mostly old wives' tales."

Nora shrugged. "Humans think the same thing about werewolves."

Kane could only laugh. "I can't fault you on that one."

"If I can track her down, would you meet with her?"

"Yes, but Nora, I don't want us to get our hopes up."

Nora nodded, but that hope was still in her eyes. It made Kane sad that she was still so hopeful. He had all but lost all hope that this point. He wasn't going to pretend that there would be some magic cure. They had been dealt their cards and it was up to them to make the most of them. He knew that he and Nora could still live a wonderful life, even if there wasn't romantic love between them. He still cared a great deal about Nora, and he hoped that would be enough.

"I'm sorry about the last few days, too," Nora told him. She reached over and flipped the pancakes. "I was rude."

"It's been a hard week for everyone, I can't blame you."

"I think your brother's upset that I ate his cookies."

Kane laughed. "Yeah, you might be right about that."

"I'll make him some more today."

"He will appreciate that." He hoped that Heath really would appreciate her doing that. He really wanted them to get along.

"Not a speck left!" Grace called out to them as she ran through the door. She was in a new dress and smelt strongly of soap.

Kane handed her a plate. "You better go ask Nora if there's a pancake ready for you!"

Nora placed the first pancake onto her plate. Kane followed his sister into the dining room and started setting up the table for breakfast. Soon enough, a pile of pancakes sat in the middle of the dining room table and Kane was calling his family down for breakfast.

It felt nice as Kane watched everyone eating together. He could almost pretend that everything was normal. Nora handed out pancakes to everyone but Grace, who was already digging into her third.

"These look lovely, thank you Nora," Sebastian said as he accepted a pancake.

"Do we have any syrup?" Scarlett asked.

Kane stood from his chair. "I'll go look."

As soon as Kane walked into the kitchen, he heard Heath behind him.

"What's up?" Kane asked as he started digging around the cupboard.

"Your fake mate certainly seems chipper this morning," Heath told him.

Kane stood back from the cupboard to face his brother. "Yeah. We are good now. I spoke to her this morning. Also, can you just refer to her as my mate, not fake mate."

"What did you talk about?" Heath asked. He seemed interested. "Was it about you not wanting to do the dirty with her?"

"I guess," Kane admitted. "Don't tell anyone, but we've decided to just be friend mates."

"Is that a thing?" Heath wondered with wide eyes.

"We are making it a thing."

Heath shook his head at his big brother. "You don't love her, do you?"

"No, I don't," Kane admitted in a hushed tone. It was hard to admit. It felt like going against the bond. It sent guilty feelings through his body, but he knew it was the truth.

"You are content with deciding to live a loveless life at seventeen?" Heath asked.

Kane didn't want to think of it like that. "I am deciding to be with the mate that I was given. This is the only way to do it."

"You are only seventeen, Kane. How can you act like it's okay for you to give up your entire life for this girl you don't even love?"

Kane could feel himself getting more and more frustrated with his brother. "I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

"You always have a choice."

"The Moon Gods made this choice for me, and now I have to live with it."

"They gave you her as a mate, they aren't the ones forcing you to stick with her. You could leave her and go live your life and one day find love with some mateless twenty-five year old. There's options for you."

Kane shook his head. "She's still my mate. I won't abandon her."

Heath sighed. Kane grabbed the syrup and pushed past his brother. As he sat back down at the table, his mind was filled with thoughts. He wondered if he really was making the right decision. He hoped and prayed that he was, for Nora's sake and for his own.