Kane piled the heavy bags in his hands into the trunk of the car. He turned to go get the rest of them, but was instead faced with Eve who was standing next to the car with one duffle in her hand and another thrown over her shoulder. She handed the straps to Kane. "I brought these from inside," she told him with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Thank you," he said as he placed the bag on top of the others. 

Eve placed the other bag in the trunk and closed it. She nodded towards the path. "Come for a walk with me," she said. Kane walked next to her, their footsteps slow. They hadn't spoken since the afternoon before when they had arrived back at the pack house. Nora had tearfully told her what had happened. Eve had made them cups of tea and tried to comfort them, but Nora had run up to her room and Mason had sat silently, ignoring the cup in front of him. Kane had been the only one who could truly speak of it.

"I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday," Eve said with sadness in her words, "I really thought that it would have gone differently with Rita."

Kane sighed. "Yeah, I really wasn't expecting that."

"What did she say, again, about why she cannot break the bond?" Eve asked.

Kane shrugged. "She said something about not being able to change the bond once it was formed. Our bond is too strong since Nora and I met."

Eve shook her head in anger. "That's ridiculous. She's the one who made the mistake to begin with, how could she not even attempt to fix it."

Kane kept his eyes on the flowers beside them as they walked down the path which led to the back of the house and through the garden of flowers. "Yeah," he muttered. He wasn't sure how much he could speak of it without tears forming.

"What are you going to do?"

Kane shrugged. "I don't know yet, but I know that I'm not going to give up."

Eve nodded. "I believe, even after this, that you will find a way."

"I don't know if Mason feels the same," Kane admitted.

"Do you think he's given up?" Eve wondered.

Kane wasn't sure exactly what was going on inside Mason's head. Kane had tried to speak to him about what happened a couple of times during the night, but he would just change the subject at the first chance he could get. He was the opposite to Nora, who had come downstairs and sat at the dining room table with Owen all night long reading werewolf history books with cups of coffee in their hands. They had been searching for similar situations, but when Kane asked how they went Nora had tearfully admitted they'd come up with nothing. His mates were on either sides of the spectrum, and Kane wasn't totally sure where he sat on it to begin with.

"I think we are all struggling to make sense of it," Kane explained, "but he won't even speak of it. I wish he'd talk to me about it."

"It's a big thing to wrap his mind around," Eve said, "he had hope that it was going to be a quick solve with Rita."

"He was hopeful because of me," Kane admitted, "he was the one who wanted us to think of a plan B, and to be prepared in case she wouldn't help us, and instead I just kept telling him that it was going to be fine and it would all work out. I was wrong, he should be mad at me."

"I don't think he'd be mad," Eve assured him. "You aren't a bad person for wanting to remain hopeful."

"What if I do it to him again?" Kane asked. "What if I keep telling him that we can figure it out but we can't?"

Eve shook her head. "Kane, if there's one thing that I know for sure, it's that the moon Gods and Goddesses don't make mistakes. Rita may have tried to mess with fate, but the fact that you and Mason found each other anyway just proves that you can't ever really change fate. Rita is a powerful witch but the moon Gods and Goddesses are so much more powerful than she could ever be. They want you and Mason together, it's your destiny."

Kane took a deep breath. She was right. He hated that he had doubted he and Mason even for a second. He thought of Mason's words, you never give up, Mason was right. He wasn't prepared to give up. When it came to Mason especially, he would never give up. He glanced over at the house. "You're right."

"Of course I am," Eve exclaimed with a bright smile.

"Does my situation make you want to meet your mate less or more?" Kane asked.

Eve shrugged. "Well I do hope that my parents didn't make some deal with Rita as well."

"Have you asked them?" Kane asked with a smirk.

Eve laughed. "I probably should double check at some point!" She smiled, her eyes glancing down at her hands for a moment. "In all seriousness, I am really excited to meet my mate. I don't really know why I haven't met them yet, being an alpha and all I really thought it would be one of my school friends, but seventeen came and went and no mate bond happened. I don't mind though, I know that I'll meet them one day."

"Whoever you end up with is one lucky guy," Kane told her.

Eve lightly punched his arm. "You're too sweet."

Kane smiled over at her. "It's been really nice to meet you."

"You too," Eve said, "you guys should come back sometime soon. In fact, when you and Mason have your mate ceremony after all of this is sorted out, I do hope to be invited."

"You'll be first on the guest list," Kane assured her.

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

Kane saw something move out of the corner of his eye. It was Nora, standing at the back door. She was waving them over. He nodded back at her before she disappeared back through the door.

"I guess we are heading home," Kane said.

Eve reached over and hugged him. "Be safe, you don't want any more rouge encounters on your way back."

Kane shuddered even thinking of those rouges from the forest. "We will be safe."

Kane and Eve walked down the path around the house. As they turned the corner, Kane saw Nora talking with Owen. Mason was leaning against the hood of the car. When he saw them he made his way to meet them. He hugged Eve and thanked her.

Owen and Nora noticed them as well and walked over. Once they had all said their goodbyes, the three of them got into the car. As Kane drove out of the town, he couldn't stop himself from wondering what today would have been like if Rita really had reserved the spell. He only let his mind drift for a moment before he stopped his thoughts in their tracks. He was going to make it happen, not today but someday soon.

Mason sat next to him in the front seat. He was still much quieter than usual, his eyes turned to his window. Kane glanced in the rear view mirror at Nora, whose face was buried in a book.

"What are you reading?" Kane asked.

Nora smiled up at him. "Owen let me borrow a couple of poetry books."

"You and Owen got along well," Kane observed.

"Yeah, he's a really cool guy."

"He's also got the body of a male model," Mason interjected. "There's that too."

Nora laughed. "Well, you're not wrong."

Kane started feeling better after seeing the two of them smile. The longer they drove, the lighter the mood seemed to become. Kane made them play road trip games, which at first, they both rolled their eyes at, but eventually enjoyed. They stopped for gas and got enough candy to fill the backseat. Kane could almost forget that their lives were in shambles. When he saw Mason smiling out of the corner of his eye and see Nora blowing bubbles from gum in the rear-view mirror, he felt normal again. He had his boyfriend beside him and his friend in the backseat. That was all his mind needed to know for that moment in time, and it was nice.

They arrived at the hotel in the mid-afternoon. Kane pulled into the parking lot. "I'll go check us in," he told them. He grabbed his wallet and went inside. The office of the hotel was small with one desk to the side and behind was the hallway leading to the elevator. The man sitting behind the desk smiled as Kane approached. "You're back," he said with a smile. "How's the road trip been?"

"It's been interesting," Kane replied, unsure of how to really describe the last few days.

"We had a phone call for you earlier, your father wanting to know if you'd checked in yet."

Kane glanced down at his own phone, wondering if he'd missed any calls from his father. With only one bar, he wondered if he had lost signal during the drive. "Oh thank you, I'll let him know we've arrived safe."

He signed them in and picked up the room keys. Before he left he sent a text to his father, We have arrived at the hotel safe, drive was uneventful. Was there a reason you needed to call the hotel? My phone lost signal, sorry! Call me back if you need me.

Kane slipped his phone into his pocket and walked back out to the parking lot. He was surprised to see that both Mason and Nora had gotten out of the car and were standing beside it. Kane couldn't hear what they were saying, but Nora looked mad. Angry tears streamed down her face. Kane ran the distance between them. "What happened?" he asked.

They both turned to him quickly. "Nothing," Nora said as she wiped under her eyes. She scowled at Mason. "I can't believe you," she spat out at him.

Kane watched in shock as Nora angrily walked past him, snatching a room key from his hand as she went. Kane widened his eyes at Mason. "I thought you two were good?"

Mason shrugged. "She's just upset."

"Upset about what?" Kane asked. "She was fine just a minute ago."

"I don't know," Mason replied. He pushed his hair back with his fingers, he looked frustrated. "She just.... exploded."

"What did you say to her?" Kane asked.

Mason narrowed his eyes. "Nothing, okay?"

Kane didn't believe him. He wanted to trust Mason, but this didn't seem right. Kane didn't push the issue, instead he motioned towards the car. "Okay. Can you help me bring some bags upstairs?"

Kane arrived at the room, surprised to see that Nora hadn't arrived yet. The moment they were settled in the room, Kane texted Nora. Where are you? Are you okay?

She replied back instantly. I'm just outside the hotel. I need a moment.

Did I do something? What happened?

I don't want to talk about it, okay. You did nothing wrong.

Kane shook his head. He didn't understand.

He glanced over at Mason. He looked upset, his toes tapping against the ground. He was hiding something, Kane was sure. He just didn't know what. He and Mason had always been so open with each other, it was an unsettling feeling to know that there was a secret between them. He had half a mind to go track down Nora just to ask what the heck had happened. He knew better. She needed space, and he was going to respect that. Mason, however, was standing right in front of him.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" he asked bluntly.

"Are you texting her?" Mason asked, ignoring the question.

"Yeah, I needed to know she was okay."

Mason nodded. He sat down on the edge of the bed. "Do you want to get dinner at that diner we passed?"

"Sure," Kane agreed, "but, Mason, can you just tell me what happened with you and Nora? You can't tell me that nothing happened. In the ten minutes I was gone she went from being perfectly happy to crying."

Kane watched Mason, he saw the way that his expression changed. Kane knew then that he was right, something did happen between them. He had expected Mason to come clean, but instead, he said, "I'll tell you about it later."

That was as good as Kane was going to get. He nodded. "Okay." Whatever it was, Kane knew that it must have been serious.