CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Sun light streaked in through the window, casting small shadows over the sleeping lovers.

Kathryn stirred, a slight headache throbbing in her temples. She got up, slipped a t-shirt and some shorts on, and made her way to the kitchen, in search of painkillers.

She stood looking out the window, the aching in her head not dulling. The sun was bright in the crisp morning. The trees were green and everything seemed right, yet for some reason she had this knowing of wrongness in her mind – of danger to come. A bleep from the kitchen table caught her attention. She picked up her phone to find various texts from Christian. The newest one read RING ME ASAP AND FIND LUCAS. Slightly puzzled she rang him, wondering what could have been so urgent.

"Where the hell have you been?" Christians roar echoed through the phone, making her cringe. He never shouted at her. "What the fuck did you do?"

"What do you mean, what did I do?" Her puzzlement deepened. "I was sleeping."

Christian sighed down the phone at her, and she could almost picture him tapping his fingers on his deck in frustration. "You father just told me, you are no longer in our web… Please explain to me how this happened!"

Realisation registered through her, and she quickly opened hey psychic eye. She saw her star, flaming bright and true. It was linked by a fine, but unbreakable thread to a strong silent star. Bas. That was it. Just the two of them. Dread and horror rocked her body. "I mated with Bas last night!"

She heard nothing on the end of the phone, then suddenly, "Get yours and his fucking backsides to Lucas's now! No questions!"

He hung up, and Kathryn ran to the guest room where Bas lay sleeping. "Bas wake up!"

A groggy red-head poked itself out from under the duvet. "Where's the fire?" He protested.

Kathryn chucked him some clothes. "We have to get to Lucas's. My alpha just rang."

The urgency in her voice was clear to hear. Bas didn't take the clothes but shifted instead. Following his lead, Kathryn shifted too and they ran out the house side by side, leopard and wolf.

The run through the forest was breath-taking in the crisp morning air. The earth beneath their feet was dry and the leaves made crisp snapping noises as they ran between the trees.

Kathryn took in the views and the woody smells the filled the air, feeling truly at home for the first time since she arrived.

Bas looked across at the wolf that ran beside him. She was pure black with dainty white socks. She looked stunning as she ran smoothly along side him.

They arrived at Lucas's less than twenty minutes later, both panting and both exceedingly hot and sweaty.

Bas shifted first, not caring that he was nude. Lucas appeared at the front door and chucked him two pairs of sweats and a large t-shirts.

Bas passed them Kathryn, who shifted and pulled them on. The t-shirt was much too big, and it made her seem a lot younger than she actually was.

They jogged to the kitchen to find Lucas and Sascha stood there, also with Judd and Hawke. To the left of Judd was a familiar face.

"Christian!" She ran to him, wrapping her arms around him as he lifted her off the ground in a massive hug, which left her slightly breathless.

"Hey Cakes." His voice was slightly gruff with emotion. He looked tired and grouchy.

She stared at him. "How did you get here so fast?"

A slight sigh from behind her, made her whirl round in enough time to see Judd sink into a chair with a huge plate of chilli in front of him.

"Teleported, Judd was quite fast." The smugness in her alpha's voice made her want to giggle, but there was a more pressing issue.

With everyone finally seated round the table, and with Judd now able to concentrate after finishing his plate, Lucas cleared his throat.

"We need to discuss what is going to happen next." Lucas wondered if he looked as grim as he felt. "We can't break a mating bond, but if we do nothing, both of you will die." He looked across at Bas and Kathryn, their hands entwined on the table. To be a mated pair was a wonderful thing.

Bas cleared his throat. "We need to be blood bonded with you or Christian. That's the only way this will work."

Lucas looked at Christian, to find the other alpha was already looking at him. Lucas was very protective of his pack and wouldn't let any of them come to any harm. He also knew that Mercy would go crazy if Lucas let her brother be shipped off to England without even fighting for him.

Lucas cleared his throat again. "Seen as Bas is the more dominant in the pair, and because they are already here, it would make sense to have them blood bonded to me."

Christian shook his head. "No way! Remember she's only on loan for a year. Her family is Psy, if we blood bond them to me, their mini web stays unaffected."

Lucas growled. "We have our own mini web here. And Bas has family in that web too."

Christian stood, his chair tumbling to the floor, his eyes amber of the wolf. Lucas stood too, eyes carefully trained on the other alpha "I will not lose her, just because she's mated." He took a step backwards, his arms folded across his chest. "She is an important part of Willoughby Chase. We lose her and we lose some of our status."

Christian didn't mean to sound so hollow, but the thought of losing his best friend made his feel weak, and he would be damned if he would let the Alpha of Dark River know that. He saw tears in Kathryn's eyes, but before he could say anything, she was gone. Bas made to follow her, but he held out a hand as a sign to stop. "Let me."

Bas snarled, but sat back down, his distaste for Christian written all over his face.

It wasn't hard to find Kathryn. She was sat against a tree, arms hugging her knees. She didn't acknowledge him as he sat down beside her.

"I didn't mean it to sound so business like." He reached out to tuck a strand of her behind her ear. She flinched away, making him cringe. She had never been scared of him. "Please Cakes. It would kill me to lose you."

The use of the nickname made her turn round and meet his gaze. "Christian, I have never been so pissed off with you." She was always cute when she was angry and today was no exception. "You made me feel like a tool that you use to gain status."

He let her ramble for a few more minutes, before pulling her onto his lap, her head resting against his shoulder. He kissed her temple. "Now shhh. You know I worship the ground you walk one." He tapped her lightly on the lips when she made to interrupt him. "You also know that you are my best friend, which is the main reason I don't want to let you blood bond to Lucas."

Kathryn pouted, and he sighed again. Pulling out his phone, he picked a song and hit play.

The notes of Moondance began playing, and Christian stood up, pulling her with him, and twirled her round. He held her hand and her waist as they waltzed in the sunlight.

"You always do this." Kathryn felt the anger disappear "You charm the anger out of me." She nestled her head against his chest. She felt him smile, as they swayed.

"Cakes, I'm happy that you're happy." He stopped swaying, and looked her straight in the eyes. "I'm just going to miss you."

She hugged him, her hands round his waist, as he rested his chin on top of his. They swayed to the music, tears running silently down both of their faces.