Kane ran from the car the second it was in park. Amelia was waiting at the front door. The worry in her eyes made Kane's heart beat faster. "What happened?" he asked as he ran towards her.

Amelia motioned for him to follow her. She started walking down the hallway. "Everything was fine and then she just started screaming. She passed out a couple of times. We wanted to call for medics but every time she woke up she would be screaming for you."

"Thank you for calling me."

"My parents want to call the Alpha. I managed to keep them upstairs, but if she doesn't feel better soon they are going to call him and medics."

Kane followed her into the bathroom. Violet stood over Nora, holding a wet washcloth to her forehead. Kane paused in the doorway, a sudden rush of feelings flowing through the bond. He felt her pain and it took his breath away. She was propped up against the bathroom wall, still in her party dress, her eyes almost closed.

"Kane," she mumbled out softly.

Kane rushed closer to her. He grabbed the washcloth out of Violet's hand and took her place. He wanted to apologise for what had happened at the party, but he knew that this wasn't the time. As he looked at her, Kane couldn't help but think of the last time he had seen her, of the hurt in her eyes. She had been upset and drunk the last time he saw her, but she hadn't looked like this. "I don't understand, do you know what happened?" he asked Violet.

Violet shook her head. "I've never seen anything like this before."

Kane cupped Nora's face with his hand. "Nora, can you hear me?"

She nodded softly. "I feel so dizzy," she told him. "My head hurts."

Kane sat on the floor next to her and wrapped his arm around her. He pulled her close to his chest. She was warm and sweaty. He looked down at her and felt her exhaustion through their bond.

"Mason?" Violet said, sounding surprised.

Kane looked up. Mason was standing in the doorway with wide eyes. "What happened to her?" He was looking at Nora, his eyes growing more concerned by the second.

"We don't know," Violet admitted. She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration.

"Did you hear her from across the street?" Amelia asked. "I wasn't sure if Kane dropped you home or not yet."

In the rush of it all, Amelia mustn't have seen Mason in the car.

Mason nodded quickly. "Uh, yeah, I heard it. Came to see if I could help."

As Kane looked at Mason he suddenly realised what was going on. His heart dropped. He hoped he was wrong, he had to be wrong. "How long ago did it start?" he asked Violet. He tried to sound confident in his question, but fear leaked into his words.

"Only five minutes before I called you."

It couldn't be. There was no way. Kane took a deep breath. "Did it seem like she was in pain the whole time or did it come and go?"

"I think it was coming and going," Amelia said.

"Yeah, she would quiet down and seem okay and then suddenly start screaming again," Violet added. "Why?"

It was their kiss. The bond didn't do anything on his end, but maybe Nora was receiving the consequence. He remembered how much it had hurt when he had almost kissed Wyatt, the pain in his head and how dizzy he felt. He had thought he might pass out. He couldn't imagine what he had been putting Nora through. He motioned for Violet to take his place. She sat down next to Nora and stroked her hair.

"Mason come with me, let's get her some water," Kane requested. He sent Mason a look that he hoped the other boy would understand.

Mason nodded and followed after him. Kane walked in silence until he was sure they were far enough away. As they rounded the corner into the kitchen, Kane turned back towards him. "Kiss me," he whispered.

Mason quirked an eyebrow. "What? Here?"

Kane looked around them. "Quick, before they come looking for us."

"Kane, I don't get it," Mason whispered back at him. "Why do you want me to-"

Kane interrupted him. "I think it's us."

"Us?" Mason bit at his lip. "What are you talking about?"

"Kiss me and I'll know for sure. Trust me."

Mason quickly darted towards him. The moment their lips touched, the sound of screaming filled the air. Kane ran past Mason. He reached the bathroom and he lunged towards Nora. She was screaming, her hands pressed over her ears. "KANE!" she screamed.

He grabbed her and held her into his chest. "Oh god," he muttered into her hair. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Her pain ran through the bond and he had to fight to keep himself upright. He knew that how he was feeling was only a fraction of how she felt. Kane squeezed his eyes closed and cursed himself for being so dull. He had been in bed with Mason and the whole time his mate was in immeasurable pain because of it. He felt as though someone had reached into his chest and was squeezing his heart. It was all his fault.

He held her until she stopped screaming. The pain from the bond seemed to die down. He felt her utter exhaustion. "It's going to be okay now," he whispered, as he stoked the hair away from her face. "Let's get you home."

Violet's hand was suddenly on his shoulder. "Is that the best idea? Maybe we should get medics to come have a look at her?"

Kane shook his head. "I'll look after her," he assured her.

Amelia came beside them and helped her away from the wall. "Let's get you to the car."

Kane picked Nora up in his arms and looked down at her. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing fast. I did that to her, he thought. He carried her to the car and placed her in her seat. Amelia came up behind him as he was doing her seatbelt.

"Please promise me that you'll call for help if it keeps happening."

Kane closed the car door. "I promise," he said. He knew for sure, however, that it wouldn't happen again. "I'll call you if I need you."

Violet came to stand next to him. "I think it's about time you see a witch doctor about this."

Kane hoped she hadn't figured out the real reason for this. He nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"What happened tonight and the bond problems might be related, right?" Violet asked.

"Bond problems?" Amelia asked.

Violet shook her head. "Come on, Amelia, let's get cleaned up."

Kane watched as they both walked slowly back up to the house. He noticed too that Mason was standing at the hood of the car, watching him. Mason turned and watched as the girls made their way inside. When they had been inside for a few seconds, Mason nodded towards the street next to them. "Can we talk?" he asked.

Kane followed him down to the edge of the street. "I can't really talk now, I need to get her home."

Mason nodded. "I know, but can we talk tomorrow, about us?"

He gestured towards the car. "I need to focus on my mate right now. If they hadn't called me tonight this could have gotten a lot worse. We could have killed her, Mason."

Mason shook his head. "I still don't understand how us kissing caused this. There could be another reason."

Kane sighed. "We did this. I did this. I shouldn't have kissed you."

"Don't say that," Mason said, his voice small. "Please don't regret it."

Kane ran his hands through his hair. He didn't regret kissing Mason. He wished that he could do it again, right that second, but seeing Nora like that made him feel sick. He couldn't look at Mason's lips without hearing the heartbreaking sound of his mate's cries for help. A shiver ran up his spine. He wanted to reach out and touch Mason's cheek, to make that horribly dejected look disappear from his face, but he couldn't.

"Mason, it can't happen again."

Mason stepped away from him. He faced the street. "I don't understand why this is happening. I thought, when we kissed, I thought maybe we could be together."

Kane sighed. "I need to go. I have to look after Nora."

"I get it, she's your mate," Mason said. He turned and gestured between them, "but there's something between us. You can't deny that."

"I need to go," Kane repeated. He didn't wait for Mason to speak, instead he walked towards the car and jumped into the driver's seat as fast as he could. As he backed the car out of the driveway he saw Mason cross the street towards his house.

Kane was silent the whole drive home. He kept the radio turned off and just listened to the sound of Nora's breathing next to him. It was reassuring, the way it seemed to even out and become softer as he drove. When they reached the house, he carried her up the stairs and placed her on the geometric patterned sheets.

"Kane," she whispered out as he tucked the blankets around her shoulders.

"I'm right here," he assured her.

"What happened?" she asked, her eyes opening for the first time since they left Amelia's house.

Kane sighed as he looked into her red, tired eyes. "Let's talk about it tomorrow."

Nora nodded slightly. "Okay."

"Do you feel okay?" he asked.

Nora touched the side of her head. "I have a headache. I don't understand what happened. Was it the alcohol? I've never drunk that much in my life."

Looking down at her angelic face and innocently wide eyes made Kane's head hurt. She needed to know the truth, eventually, but now was definitely not the right time. He thought about how he would even begin to tell her the truth. He would have to admit that he had been cheating on her and that was what caused this entire mess. He wondered if cheating was the right word, they were friend mates after all, whatever that means. Did that mean they were exclusive? He wasn't sure.

"I don't know," he responded after a few moments. He turned the lamp off. "Get some sleep. I'll be on the couch."

Nora patted the bed next to her. "Stay."

Kane shook his head in the dark. "I'll see you in the morning."

As he walked out of his room, Kane heard the front door being opened. Heavy footsteps followed. He sighed, another drunk person he had to get to bed. He ran down the stairs as softly as he could, just in time to see Heath stumbling down the hallway and collapsing on the couch.

He ran over and stood over his brother who was mumbling something incoherent to himself. He found a blanket at the end of the couch and pulled it up over his brother. The smell of vodka and rum radiated off of him.

"Kane," Heath mumbled as he saw him, "I knew you had it in you."

"What?" Kane asked. He knelt beside the couch.

"To kick that fake mate to the curb."

Kane smiled, he hadn't ever seen Heath this drunk before. His words were hard to understand because they were so slurred.

"You get some sleep, I guess I'll take your room," Kane told him.

"You deserve real love, you know," Heath mumbled into the side of the couch.

"Thanks buddy." He tapped him on the shoulder. "Sleep tight."

He made his way up to Heath's room and sat on the edge of the bed. He pulled his phone out and sent a text to Mason. "I don't regret it."