It had been one month since Nate’s last phone call. He hadn’t even called me on his birthday to confirm if that guy from his class was his mate or not. Not that it mattered. Nate was mine. He’d always be mine. My dad had no business transferring his family to our new ally pack.

I was pacing my room so much; I was surprised I hadn’t worn down the wood; how was I supposed to get my chosen mate back? I didn’t want Bree, destined mate or not. I’ve always wanted Nate. My father was watching me closely and he’d been using my grades as a false threat to keep me from attending the Summit. He knew how I felt about Nate, how I had felt about Sam. Now they were gone.

Bree had spoken with Nate. Why hadn’t he spoken with me? Was his mate the jealous type? Had I been replaced? Was he happier without me? I ran my hands through my hair, tugging at the strands until they were saturated with sweat and stood on end—what if Nate forgot about Purple Moon entirely? Did he even want to come home? Bree told me that Nate was now the Luna of Pacifica and he and Neo were busy revamping the pack so it was more open-minded.

Neo. Neo. Neo. Neo! Neo! 

That disgusting, sorry excuse of an Alpha! How dare he take away my chosen mate! My father never should have signed that peace treaty with that worthless pack! Neo has brainwashed my best friend, my pack’s beta, my chosen mate. That traitor probably deleted my number from Nate’s phone. Yeah.. That has to be. Nate would never have gone this long without at least texting me. My father must be keeping details from me as well. I can't trust anyone. No one. No one. 

There was a knock on the door, and then Bree entered without waiting for a reply. Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. She’s hiding something. Does she know something about Nate? I bet she did, everyone is hiding information about him from me.

“Beck, the Alpha wishes to speak with you. He’s in his office.”

What did that bastard want from me now? Hadn’t he done enough? I ignored her, and stalked past her; she’d turn eighteen in six months and then I could no longer hide the fact we were destined mates. Nate believed me when I said I didn’t want to tell her because I wanted her to feel the bond uninfluenced by my feelings. 

I didn’t even bother knocking on my father’s office door, I just barged in; not caring if he was in a meeting or not. He wasn’t, he didn’t even seem to care that his door just crashed against the wall; he just looked up at me with disdain on his face,

“Sit down Beckham.”

“I think I’ll stand. What do you want?”

“I need this rebellious behavior of yours to stop. It's unbecoming of a future Alpha to be acting like a petulant child.”

“You transferred my future Beta to a different pack. My best friend, my only remaining true friend! How’d you expect me to act?”

“Your age for one. Two, as the future alpha you should be thinking about the welfare for not just this pack but for all of the werewolf species. What if there were to be an attack and we needed allies? None of the packs around here are well trained or qualified to come to our aid, and Pacifica is the largest pack on the west coast, with proper training they would be a formidable ally. The O’Rourke’s are the best family of warriors on the east coast, they were more than qualified for the transfer.”

“Nate is my best friend…why did you send him away too? He would’ve been eighteen at the end of that week. He could’ve stayed with me.”

“Beckham, I know how you truly feel about Nate. I know that Nate didn’t feel that way about you and if you were to be rejected I feared for Nathan’s life.”

“I would never harm Nate!”

“That’s what you said about Sam.”

“I didn’t hurt Sam! He was killed by rogues!”

“No Beckham, he wasn’t.”

“You’re lying! You’ve done nothing but lie to me!”

I ran from the room, right past Bree and slammed my bedroom door shut. I didn’t hurt Sam, I would never hurt Sam, or Nate. Dad was wrong…he had to be wrong. The calendar on my wall caught my attention, a black circle beckoned me towards it and the date on it made me fall to my knees:

June 12th Sam’s One Year Death-versary

Sam had been dead for a year today. No wonder I’d been feeling this way. Unwanted memories came to the surface, replaying like an airline movie…forced and cringeworthy. I had been on a run in wolf form when I had picked up on the familiar scents of my best friends and I had ran towards them, thinking they were running to catch up with me; but what I saw broke me. Sam and Nate were embracing each-other, romantically…almost kissing. Sam was whispering sweet nothings in Nate’s ear, and Nate was giggling. How dare they do this to me? Behind my back? Didn’t I mean anything to either of them? 

I saw red. Before I could stop him, my wolf Calum broke through and took over, knocking out Nate and picking Sam up by the throat. In my crazed state I couldn’t see reason, all I could feel was jealousy and abandonment.

“Why? Don’t you know how I feel about you two?”

“Beck, stop…please. It hurts.”

I didn’t hear his words at that moment, all I saw was a traitor and traitors had to die. I squeezed tighter, looking into the eyes of a rogue, he was turning a funny color, grasping at my hand; his claws drawing blood…but I felt nothing. I snapped his neck, and dropped his body unceremoniously to the forest floor before running off in wolf form. Leaving Nate unconscious with the dead body of our best friend.

I had killed my best friend…and let the other believe it had been rogues. I’d hurt Nate too…but they had betrayed me--they’d been sneaking behind my back, hiding their feelings for each-other from me, I was justified right? I’d been overcome with jealousy, wolves have done worse with less. 

Nate would forgive me, wouldn’t he? Nate loves me, Nate has always loved me. We’re mates, we belong together…Nate could never reject me. Dad is wrong. He’s always wrong…he took Nate away from me. Neo took my Nate away from me. Neo is holding my Nate against his will, and his whole family…and my dad is in on it. I can’t trust anybody…I have to save Nate.

Nate needs me. Nate needs me to act like everything is normal. Yeah, Nate needs me to shape up and act like I got over him being ‘transferred’. I’ll be the model son, I’ll go to school, stop getting into fights, I’ll go to dad’s Alpha training sessions, all so I can go to the Summit. I’ll challenge Neo for Nate. Yeah and Nate will be so overjoyed he’ll have me mark him right there in front of his disgraced ex-mate and then we’ll challenge my father and get our revenge.

Nate and I will be together, even if it has to be in Paradise. We belong together…the Moon Goddess was mistaken. Nate is mine. I will get him back. I would have him back in my arms again; we'd be together forever, never to be separated again.

There was yet another knock on my door, but this time it didn't open until I yelled,

"What?"

Bree opened the door, a cellphone in hand. She knelt in front of me, her eyes sad before handing me the phone,

"Call him."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Nate is happy where he is, maybe if you heard that yourself, you'd start being happy for him."

This was a trap. Bree was working for my dad. Dad told me no contact; I was grounded, so I had  to wait…respect my dad’s wishes. Even though this was killing me, Nate’s voice was a button away, no I had to be strong so I could get to the Summit.

“No. Dad said no contact.”

“Are you sure?”

“Just tell Nate that I miss him and hope to see him soon.”

“Okay…can I get you anything?”

“No, I’m okay.”

I waited until she got up and left before shifting into my wolf. It felt good to stretch these muscles; Calum shook out his fur before going to the window and jumping; unfortunately he landed wrong, and I heard the distinctive sound of a bone breaking; Calum didn’t stop to see how bad the injury was; he just ran into the forest. 

Where was he going? We weren’t even supposed to leave the house, I shifted so it didn’t hurt as much once I was free to do as I wanted again. I scanned the trees that were flying past; Calum was running at top speed but that didn’t seem to distract him from his destination. Calum didn’t stop running until we reached a familiar clearing.

This is where Sam died.

I held onto Nate as he cried, his sobs were the only thing that could be heard in the clearing. Not even a bird could be heard, he clutched onto my shirt, his face buried in the crook of my neck. He smelled so good, like lavender and pine trees…and strawberries? His body shook, I soothed him with my voice, stroking his hair and rocking him back and forth.

“Hammy, promise me you’ll never leave me. I don’t think I could survive it.”

My breath caught in my throat, did Nate feel the same about me? Was he in love with me? No that was impossible, I had seen him with Sam; they were together so intimately that day. What happened that day? My memory was so hazy, every time I tried to remember, it slipped through my fingers.

“Hammy?”

“I promise Nate. I’ll never leave you.”