"The words aren't magic, son. The moon goddess isn't an idiot to be fooled that easily. In order to have broken your mating bond, you had to simply mean the words you'd said. You had to actually want to reject Katie. So the question you need to ask yourself now is, did you really want to do that?"

Zach shot up to his feet instantly. He already knew the answer. Yes, he was confused back then, and yes, he had been in love with Megan for years before he had met Kat, but deep down he knew he never wanted to reject her. He just wanted time to let it all sink in, that after four long years he could finally have what he had always longed for. He didn't want to admit it back then, even to himself that he wanted Kat as badly as she wanted him, because he felt as though he was betraying Megan. So he wanted to buy himself some time, and then some more.

But as soon as the words left his mouth he wished he could take them back. Zach's wolf roared inside his head with relief and happiness equally. "The bond is not broken. She's my mate."

Alpha Mark grinned mischievously as his son finally saw the truth behind the lie they had been living. "Since that day you've been neck's deep in your guilt and regret that you couldn't even consider the possibility that you've done nothing wrong in the first place. You never actually rejected her, and what you felt break that day was your own heart, son."

"Holy shit." Zach dragged his hands through his hair quickly, his eyes moving once again to the woods outside. "I have to find her."

"There's something else you need to know first, Zach." His father's voice stopped Zach in his tracks, right before he reached the door.

Turning to face his father, Zach whined impatiently. "What is it?"

"Remember the spell. If you two try to mate, she'll die sooner than she can heal." Zach felt as if he was lifted up to the heavens and then suddenly dropped to the bottom of the earth. He almost dropped to his knees, but his father grinned wider.

"Did you know that in some extremely rare cases, a mate's blood could have healing abilities?" Alpha Mark wiggled his brows suggestively and Zach almost rolled his eyes at how much fun his father was having torturing him.

"Yes, Nick mentioned that before. But I can't take that risk with her. Not if she could actually die." Zach shook his head. They would have to wait, then, until they have killed the witch who cast the spell.

"Did I also mention that those cases were exactly as rare as a soul'slink?" Alpha Mark winked at Zach whose heart was pounding so fast that it ached.

"My blood can heal her." Zach whispered out.

"And hers can heal you. You two are really lucky. Don't ever risk what you have with your mate, even if you have to bite your tongue and shove down those animalistic urges to lock her in a bedroom during a war." Alpha Mark adviced, before his face turned serious. "My guess is that the rogues had a witch put the spell on you after they figured she was your mate. That way, if they were unsuccessful in killing her, you would do it for them."

Zach felt an intense wave of anger wash through him that he let out a low roar.

"Luckily for you, the soul'slink is exactly what will save her. But that peice of information needs to stay absolutely hidden from everyone." Alpha Mark looked his son in the eyes, his warning loud and clear.

Zach nodded his head, before giving his father a bone crushing hug. "Thank you."

"Go get your girl, son." Alpha Mark patted his son's shoulders. "And don't ever let her go."

Zach grinned at his father before rushing out of the house and towards the woods. Shifting in his way, Zach's wolf caught his mate's scent and he followed it with great joy.

****

Kat had been running through the woods, her wolf finally at ease, feeling the wind through her fur and the grass beneath her paws, when she suddenly felt a buzz of emotions vibrating through her so feirce that she halted to a stop. Breathing in deeply, she tried to focus and let Zach's emotions guide her like they usually did. But the feelings going through both them were so contradictory that she couldn't tell which one was dominant. He was happy and mad and worried and excited all at the same time.

Deciding to end her run there, Kat turned back and started her way towards the pack house, hoping that the emotions that just hit her were a result of Zach finding another way to solve their problems.

Kat ran for almost a minute before she saw Zach's wolf speeding towards her. Stopping once more, she couldn't help but admire how wonderfully scary his wolf was. She thought if it was bad of her to think that scary was now sexy, but everything with Zach had a tendency to drive her insane, so she wasn't even surprised.

Zach barked at Kat a clear order to shift and watched her hide behind a tree. Following suit, he too shifted and put on a pair of shorts faster than he could blink. Waiting for her to get dressed had never been so excruciating before.

"What's wrong?" Kat asked as she walked to him, ignoring the sight of his delicious abs. "Did you find another way?"

"I need you to listen to me, and listen damn closely, love, because what I'm about to tell you is fucking important." Zach took two strides forward and stopped only a few inches away, her scent filling his starved lungs.

"Okay." Kat said carefully, her heart picking up its pace. "What is it?"

"I know that I'm not an easy person to deal with." Zach started, shaking his head. "Fuck, I might even be the hardest. I drive you mad and I don't know how to stop doing that. We argue a lot and I know that you try damn hard to be patient with me, even when I don't make it easy for you. I get stubborn and stupid sometimes, but what you need to understand is that I'd rather argue with you for a single day than have a lifetime of jokes and giggles with anyone else."

Kat smiled sweetly, listening intently to every word he was saying. Her heart was beating loudly in her ears, but when he stepped close enough to rest his hands on her waist, she saw the intensity his eyes flashed with.

"I know that I've hurt you. That my past decisions still haunt you, and they might always do. And I know that I've given you more than enough reasons to walk away from me. But you don't. You never do, Kat." Zach spoke softly, trying his hardest to put his feelings into words. "No matter how many times you tell me to slow down, I don't. I try, fuck, I swear I do. But I suck at that because what I'm about to tell you right now might make you run for the damn hills, but I can't help it, Kat. I can't."

"Zach, you're making me worry." Kat frowned. "What's wrong?"

Shit, he really hoped she wouldn't run. "Do you remember when I broke the bond? Do you remember the words I said?"

Kat flinched. Of course she remembered. Those words were carved with a sharp knife into her heart, and her wolf's just the same. But when she nodded Zach raised his brows in a question. Sighing, Kat closed her eyes. "You said, 'I reject you, Katherine'."

Zach nodded. "Well, I have something else to tell you."

Kat opened her eyes and caught his intense gaze. "What?"

"I love you, Katherine." Zach lifted a hand to caress her cheek. "I love you, with everything that I am. Every single peice of my heart belongs to you, and you alone. And I know that you want to take things slow, and right now I'm doing exactly the opposite. I know that we haven't known each other that long and we still have so much to learn. And I also know that half of the shit you'll learn about me will drive you even more crazy, but I fucking love you. And you drive me just as mad, and I don't give a fuck. I've always loved you. I've been a coward and I've hurt you because I was too damn ashamed of my own feelings, but I will make everything up to you, I promise. I will make you the happiest on the damn planet because that's what you deserve."

Kat didn't even know if she was still breathing. Every word that left Zach's mouth ignited her. His emotions were so strong and so raw that they consumed her very soul. She felt his words as he spoke them, saw the love in his eyes as clearly as she felt it in the palm he rested on the side of her face.

"I'm so fucking in love with you, Kat. You're my friend, who lets me talk about whatever shit I need to discuss, even matters that hurt her. You're my equal, who challenges me more than anyone ever dared, and knows exactly how to keep me in check. My lover, who waits patiently for me to learn how to be a better man for her. And my mate, who hasn't given up on me even after all the reasons I gave her. I don't know how I ever got so lucky, but I'm fucking glad I did."

Kat swallowed, her eyes wet and heavy with tears, and goosebumps adorned her soft skin. She knew her feelings for him were just as deep at his. "Zach, I--"

"I'm not done, baby." Zach gently silenced her, moving his thumb across her pink full lips. When she nodded, Zach gave her a dashing smile that she knew would get her in trouble. "The mating bond was never broken."

Kat sucked in a loud breath, her eyes widening. "How is that possible?"

"I never wanted to break the bond, Kat. I said the words but I never fucking meant them. Luckily for me, the moon goddess knew that even before I did." Zach explained with a childish grin and Kat gasped again.

Her brain was working fast, trying to wrap itself around everything Zach decided to drop on her. "That's why we lose control when we get intimate." She realized. "Our wolves are dying to go through the mating process while we were too busy trying to calm them down."

Zach nodded. "That's why your scent drives me absolutely insane, yet it's the only thing on the planet that can calm me down. Because you're my mate and I'm fucking yours. Always have been."

"I'm your mate." Kat repeated, her eyes still wide but the tears started falling.

"You are my everything." Zach whispered, his eyes softening at the sight of her tears, and he used his thumbs to wipe them away. "Please don't cry anymore. I fucking hate it when you cry."

"I can't believe this. The bond is not broken." Kat felt like someone was going to shake her awake any moment now. It all felt like a dream, like a secret fantasy she had been longing for, where she and Zach had nothing to move on from, and just the future ahead to look forward to.

"The bond is not broken, baby." Zach assured, his eyes trailing desperately to her lips that he was dying to taste.

"Zach, I--" The rest of her words were muffled by his lips. Blinking for a second, Kat moaned against his mouth, her eyes shutting as she kissed him back.

Unlike all the kisses he gave her today, this one was harder, deeper and more urgent. One of his hands traveled to her waist to pull her closer to his chest while the other remained on the side of her face, tilting her head for him to enjoy every inch of her mouth.

Kat moaned the second her hands fell on his bare shoulders. Feeling his muscles beneath her fingers, she moved her hands to his chest.

Zach lowered himself a little and lifted her up, his mouth still on hers. Pushing her back gently against a tree, Zach cupped her ass in both his palms and gave her a squeeze.

Kat moaned even louder when she felt his firm grip on her ass, and when he started trailing kisses down the side of her neck she knew she was panting. She wiggled between his arms helplessly. "Zach."

"I love you so damn much." Zach left wet kisses on every inch of skin he could find, the scent of her arousal making him more confident by the second. Resting her weight on one hand, he moved the other to the hem of her shirt.

Kat gasped when Zach started lifting her shirt. "Zach, someone could see."

Growling deepling in her ear, Zach shook his head. "I've mind-linked Nick not to let a single soul into the woods, and send more guards to stand by the borders, just in case. It's just you and me, Kat."

Sighing in relief Kat tugged the hem of her shirt out of his hand and pulled it over her head. A blush reached her cheeks the second his gaze dropped to her chest.

Zach shamelessly let his eyes take in the beautiful sight before him, his length so hard against his shorts that it hurt. Releasing a deep groan, Zach lowered them to the ground. "You're fucking beautiful."

Kat's eyes shut when she felt Zach's mouth kiss her collarbone. He trailed his kisses lower, torturing her slowly and when he finally reached the peaking pink flesh of her nipple, she whimpered in blissful need. "Zach."

"Beautiful." Zach murmured against her soft skin, pulling the aching bud inside his warm mouth. He lifted his right hand to her the other breast, kneading it gently with his palm, twisting her nipple every once in a while.

"Zach, more." Kat whined, her chest involuntarily arching upwards the moment his mouth left her.

Zach chuckled at her impatient command as he pulled the hem on her shorts down just a little to kiss below her navel. Moving his tongue even lower, Zach felt her lift her hips to meet him.

"For God's sake," Kat mumbled grumpily before she pushed his head away enough to take off the damn shorts. Lying back completely naked, Kat watched the fire in Zach's eyes shine bright as he took in her core.

"I can see how wet you are for me." Zach's voice was so deep that it sent a shiver through her body. Dropping his head right where she wanted, he gave her one excruciatingly slow lick that had her moaning aloud. "You love it when I lick you, don't you?"

Kat felt her hips move against his mouth, building a rhythm of their own and she didn't care. All she could think about was her orgasm building up and when Zach moved a hand to fondle with her breast, the same time he inserted a finger inside her, her head fell back against the grass with a moan loud enough for every guard in the woods to hear.

"You always taste so good." Zach mumbled, moving his eyes to meet with hers as she panted, her claws buried in the ground beneath them.

Kat watched Zach lick the glistering wetness off his finger and she couldn't help but pull him down on her, meeting his mouth in the way.

Zach enjoyed letting Kat control their kiss, its intensity and its pace. She kissed him like she was starving, sucking on his tongue the way she had done his throbbing length and he groaned against her mouth, his hips brushing against her naked core.

He was her mate. The man who drove her absolutely insane, was her mate. The one who had her ask him to go slow for a minute then beg him to touch her the next. The man who put her whole being on fire, that they both were sure she was always burning hot for him. The one whose soul was linked to hers for eternity. Her equal. Her Alpha. Her mate.

"I love you, Zach." Kat mumbled against his mouth and he froze.