Kane sat at the kitchen counter, a cup of coffee between his hands. He looked over at Nora, who sat next to him, hastily eating a piece of toast. He wondered how she wasn't choking on the thing, with the speed she was trying to consume it. "Slow down, speed racer," he said between sips of coffee.

Nora laughed and pushed her hair back with her free hand. "Violet will be here any minute."

"I really don't want to do the Heimlich on you," Kane warned with a smile.

Nora pointed at the catalogue on the counter. "Can you focus on picking one please?"

Kane glanced down at the catalogue. Nora was trying to convince him to pick a new colour theme for their room. His style appeared to be too basic for her liking and from Kane's look at Nora's previous room, her preferences included every colour of the rainbow. Kane smiled at the memory of her exceptionally bright room. He liked this. He liked the normalcy of picking out colour schemes and eating breakfast next to his mate. No, they weren't mates in the traditional sense, but things like this made him feel like maybe this really could work out.

"I like this," Nora said around a bite of toast.

She was pointing to a colourful bedspread. Kane shook his head and pointed at a plain black one. "I like this."

Nora rolled her eyes. "Kane, be serious."

"I am being serious," he said. "We could even paint the walls black. How cool would that look? We could be that weird emo couple?"

Nora's eyes widened. "You cannot be serious."

Kane laughed. "Come on, some black eyeliner and I'd fit right in."

Nora shook her head at him. "If you don't pick right now, I'm going to come home with a unicorn bedspread."

Kane feigned shock, his eyes wide and hands up in the air. "Please, don't!"

"Then pick," she said with a smile.

"You pick," Kane told her.

Nora took a moment before pointing to a photo of a bedroom filled with greens and whites. "I like this."

"Then this it is. Go crazy."

Nora smiled. She gulped down the last of her breakfast. "Are you sure that you don't want to come with us? It will be fun?"

He shook his head. "Somehow, the idea of shopping with you, Violet and Amelia doesn't sound that enticing."

"I can bribe you with food?" Nora offered.

Kane shook his head again. "I made plans to hang out with Mason anyway, but thank you for the offer."

The doorbell rang. Kane followed Nora to the front door. She opened it to reveal Violet with a huge smile on her face. "Good morning lovelies," she said before wrapping Kane in a hug and then Nora. "Are you ready to go?" she asked.

Nora nodded. She reached over and grabbed her purse from the side of the couch. "Ready."

Kane pulled Nora in for a hug. It was nice. Violet made a cooing sound as they hugged. Kane shooed her off with the flick of his wrist.

"Have fun with Mason," Nora told him. "Don't get into too much trouble."

Kane smiled and ushered them out the door. He stood near the window and waved them off. As soon as they cleared the driveway, a sudden hit of emotion slammed into him like a brick wall. He felt like a liar. He didn't know why at first, why that guilty feeling hit him so hard.

He sat on the edge of the couch. That was when he realised what it was. It was the normalcy that he had been praising just a few minutes before. It suddenly felt fake. He and Nora were playing house, tricking their friends into believing that they were a happy couple when in fact, they were more like happy friends. It was Violet's expression that did it, he realised. When he hugged Nora, he had seen Violet's love struck face as she made cooing noises at them. She was so happy for them. She was happy for the couple that didn't even exist.

Kane felt his brother's words creeping up at the back of his mind. He tried to push them away, but suddenly they were right there, bolded and unmissable. You always have a choice. The weight of the words hit him and he closed his eyes for a moment, unsure of what to think. He and Nora were making the most of it. They were doing the right thing. Yet, if he really did have a choice, then he didn't know if he would pick her. It was a horrible thing to think, and yet he couldn't move the thought from his mind. She was willing to give up everything for him, and yet he suddenly wasn't sure if he could do the same.

Kane was thankful for the distraction that came when he noticed a car pulling into his driveway. He didn't recognise the car, but he recognised the two people in it. Duncan stepped out first. He had been in the driver's seat. He was looking at the house with a quiet scepticism, as if he had to be cautious of it. He opened the door for the person in the passenger seat, who Kane knew instantly was Wyatt.

He hadn't seen Wyatt since the party, and a wave of guilt hit him. He remembered that night, the almost kiss, them falling to the ground. He remembered the look of anger and fear in Duncan's eyes as he ran towards them. The guilt amplified.

Kane opened the door as the two boys were walking up the porch steps. Their hands were linked.

"Hi," Kane said softly.

Both of them stopped in their tracks, their eyes flickering upwards in a millisecond.

Kane didn't know what to do. He stood awkwardly in the doorway, waiting for one of them to say something.

"Can I come inside?" Wyatt asked.

He seemed different. Kane tried to meet his eyes, but Wyatt wouldn't look straight at him, instead his eyes seemed to float between Duncan and the porch steps. Kane didn't know what to think of that.

"Yeah of course," Kane told him. "Both of you can come in."

Wyatt looked up at Duncan. "Can you wait out here?" he asked softly.

Duncan seemed unsure. He glanced at Kane and then back at Wyatt. "You want to be alone with him?" he asked. Duncan forced his voice into a whisper. "After what happened last time, is that a good idea?"

Kane spoke before Wyatt had a chance to. "It won't happen again, I promise."

Duncan's eyes met his. Kane felt the radiating anger that came from Duncan's gaze. He held his eyes for a moment before looking away.

"He's my friend," Wyatt told his mate. "I can trust him. Can you wait out here, please?"

Duncan must have nodded, because after a few seconds Kane looked up to see Wyatt walking towards him and Duncan had sat down on the porch steps. Kane was instantly thankful his house was empty, he wouldn't want to have this conversation around his family.

Kane led Wyatt to the couch. He pointedly sat adjacent to Wyatt and not next to him, in case Duncan was watching through the window. He took a few moments to look at Wyatt. He seemed nervous, his fingers fiddling against his leg and his foot tapping slightly against the rug. It was strange to see him now. Before everything happened, he would see him every day, but now it had been almost a week of no contact. He missed Wyatt.

"You're here," Kane said, breaking the silence.

"I am," Wyatt replied simply.

"I thought that I might not hear from you again," Kane admitted. He knew that his voice was on the verge of breaking. Seeing Wyatt was hitting him harder than he had thought.

"No way," Wyatt told him. He lent towards him, his face softening. "No matter what, we are friends first. That won't ever change."

Kane could tell that Wyatt really did mean what he had said. He bit at his lip. "I'm really sorry, Wyatt. I am so sorry for what I did."

Wyatt reached over and grabbed his hand. "I know."

"You don't know," he told him. "Wyatt, I have been the worst friend to you and I don't even know how to explain why I did what I did."

"I knew that you were going to break up with me."

Kane paused. "What?"

Wyatt sighed. "Do you remember at the wedding, when Adam caught us in the tent?"

"Yes."

Wyatt bit at the edge of his lip. "I, uh, I hid around the side of the tent and I was listening to your conversation with Adam."

"Oh god, Wyatt-," Kane started to speak, but Wyatt cut him off.

"I heard you say that you were going to break up with me and I held it together and pretended that I was okay until after the wedding and then I went home and cried myself to sleep. I knew that it was over and I realised, that night, that I did love you too."

"You did?" Kane asked, his eyes wide. "But, you were always the one to say it was just sex."

"I know I was," Wyatt told him. Kane saw the tears forming in his eyes. "Yet, I realised that I did love you and it wasn't the same type of love that I have now, with Duncan, but that didn't make it any less real. I was so calm when you broke up with me because I had prepared myself, not because I was okay with it."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kane asked. "We could have-"

"We could have what?" Wyatt asked.

Kane didn't know.

"I still would have met Duncan and you would have met Nora. Things would have been the same, but maybe I should have told you and we could have avoided that mess at the party."

"Maybe."

"Maybe."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Kane asked.

"I am telling you this because I want you to know that it's okay that you loved me, because I loved you too, and I know why you kissed me. I'm not mad anymore." Wyatt pushed stray strands of white hair out of his eyes. "I know that you did it because you were scared. You were losing me and you had this new mate you weren't sure about. I can't blame you for wanting to hold onto what we had."

"You aren't mad?"

Wyatt shook his head. "I'm not mad. If I hadn't had that night to cry and think about what I was losing, then I would have done the same thing in your situation. You don't need to feel guilty about it. All is forgiven."

"Thank you for understanding."

"You know, one day soon you won't be in love with me anymore, you will have been in love with me, and that will make it easier. Once things get better between you and your mate, I think things will change."

"I think they already have," Kane said in awe of the realisation.

"What?"

"I'm not in love with you anymore," he admitted slowly, every word a new realisation.

Kane was speaking the truth. It surprised him as much as it seemed to surprise Wyatt. He had been thinking, sitting there, looking at Wyatt and he didn't feel the same way that he did before. He didn't understand how or when it happened, but when he looked at Wyatt he saw his friend. He didn't want to hold him like he used to. He didn't feel jealous of Duncan, the way he did before. In fact, Wyatt used to always be on his mind, but since the night of the party, he hadn't thought about Wyatt once. How could he have not realised? He hadn't been thinking and obsessing over what happened at the party. He hadn't been seeing Wyatt when he closed his eyes like before. That night, things changed. He wasn't sure if it was the kiss, or what it was, but things were different. It was just like Wyatt had said, he loved Wyatt still but he wasn't in love with him anymore.

Wyatt's eyes widened. "That's good. Things must be getting better with your mate then?"

Kane shook his head. "I don't think that's it, but something's different."

"Whatever it is, if you've moved on, then that's great!"

Kane nodded. "Yes." He believed it too. It was good that he had moved on. The realisation had him in shock. He wasn't sure what to think.

"This makes what I'm about to say much easier," Wyatt admitted.

Kane braced himself. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the main reason I wanted to come over here today was that Duncan and I have decided to move to his pack."

Kane waited for the pain to come. He waited for that heart wrenching pain of loss to hit, but instead, somehow, he felt happy for Wyatt. He smiled. "I'll miss you, but if this makes you happy, then you should do it."

"Really?" Wyatt asked. "You aren't just saying that?"

"No. I really mean it. I want you to be happy, Wyatt."

Wyatt quickly stood from his seat and sat down next to Kane, wrapping his arms around his waist. "You really are my best friend, Kane."

Kane hugged him back. He was shocked when he still didn't want to kiss him. He just wanted to hug his friend. He was just happy that Wyatt was happy. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll come visit heaps, plus you can come stay with us whenever you need a break."

"Thank you."

Wyatt let go. "So, what's going on with your mate? Tell me about her."

Kane shrugged. "It's a complicated story."

"I have time."

Kane told him everything. He started from when they were at the diner after the ball, all the way to this morning picking out colour schemes for their room. Wyatt didn't say anything the whole time, he just sat and listened intently. Once he was done, Kane sat back and waited for Wyatt's advice.

"That's messed up," Wyatt said suddenly.

Kane couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, you aren't wrong."

"Are you sure that being platonic mates is a good idea?"

Kane shook his head. "If I'm being honest with you, it's like I'm living a lie. I'm playing house with a girl that I don't love."

"You need to get to the bottom of why this happened. I don't think that Nora is your mate. I've never heard of a mate bond like yours, and after just meeting my mate, I know that it isn't right."

"What do I do?"

"Have you heard of witch doctors before?"

Kane nodded. "Nora suggested we go see one."

"I think you should. There isn't many of them around, but from the stories my mother told me about when the pack had one visit a long time ago, they are pretty powerful beings. A witch doctor might be able to tell you what's caused this bond to be so messed up."

"Thank you, Wyatt, I will do that."

"Can I be honest with you for a moment?" Wyatt asked cautiously.

Kane tilted his head slightly. "Of course."

"You're gay, Kane. I know you better than you know yourself and you're one hundred percent gay. There's something fishy going on with this mate bond. It isn't right."

Kane took a few moments to process what he said, and it wasn't that he disagreed, but he didn't know what that meant. If Wyatt was right, then how did this mistake happen? Would a witch doctor be able to fix it?

Wyatt stood up. "I should probably go make sure Duncan is okay. It's not easy for him to let me be alone with you after what happened at the party."

"It's going to take a while for him to trust me, isn't it?"

Wyatt nodded. "A long, long time."

Kane sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Wyatt assured him. "He will like you eventually."

Kane smiled over at him. "I'm really glad you came over today. Thank you for everything."

"I'm still here for another week or two. Let me know if you manage to track down a witch doctor."

"I will."

Kane let Wyatt out. He watched as Duncan kissed him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. They did seem happy. The way Wyatt smiled when they touched. He could truly say, for the first time, that he couldn't have been happier that Wyatt found his mate. He didn't know what had changed, but he wasn't in love with Wyatt anymore. That was another mystery to add to the pile. He would focus on that later. His new goal was finding a witch doctor.  

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