I rubbed my eyes as I headed to my car, which I parked just a block away from where the guys wanted to meet.

I had only a little sandwich before I saw them, which did little to calm the hunger.

I was starving and exhausted at this point.

I felt a headache starting to form, and I couldn’t wait to get home and see Katie and get some sleep.

We had been spending so much time at the lab that we’d hardly been getting good sleep. We were either working or sleeping. That is what our life turned into.

I unlocked my car and hopped inside. I turned the car on and looked to the right, and paused.

I spotted Katie standing across the street with Nina and Ashley.

It was an odd pair of people to be together.

Surely, I was seeing things wrong. I couldn’t imagine a single circumstance in which those three would be together.

I rubbed my eyes and squinted at them. I scowled, seeing Katie looked like she was angry. She had her hands curled into tight fists and stood in front of Nina, who looked like a frozen statue.

I hopped out of the car and hurried across the street. I quickly realized that it was a heated discussion. Something had to have happened because Nina looked mortified, and Katie looked ready to lose her cool.

“You know, I’m getting really tired of people pointing out the difference between humans and shifters. Humans are just as important as you are. We are just as smart, just as beautiful, and just as strong as you can be.”

I paused, taking her words in. I had no idea what had happened, but something must have gone down for Katie to be this angry. Either way, it was late, and we were out in public. The best thing to do was to calm the situation and get everyone on their way home.

I couldn’t help but feel proud of Katie. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I knew that Nina had been picked on a lot. Jay told me that Nina was a very shy person and often unable to stand up against people if something was wrong.

I often thought Katie was the same, but after being with her, I quickly realized that wasn’t entirely true.

Katie was quiet, but she also knew her ground.

She spoke her mind when it was needed. Of course, this didn’t apply to anything science-related.

Katie couldn’t seem to keep that information inside.

I walked closer when Ashley’s eyes came up, and she spotted me first. “Henrik.”

Katie turned, and Nina glanced over her shoulder at me. They both looked stunned, and I stopped next to them, putting my hands in my pockets. “Afternoon, ladies. What’s going on here?”

Ashley huffed. “I was just talking to Nina when Katie came up and grabbed my hair and threw me to the ground.”

“That’s not what happened.” Katie snapped angrily, her hands curling into fists. “That is not what happened, and you know it!”

Ashley looked hurt, shaking her head. “You misunderstood our conversation and took it out of context.

Katie crossed her arms, shaking her head. “Tell him the truth, Ashley. That you were bullying Nina.”

Ashley gave another hurt expression, directing it at Katie. “Katie, that’s not the full story. I’m sorry if you think something happened, but again, you misunderstood.”

I stepped closer, frowning as I looked at Ashley. I wasn’t sure entirely what happened, but I knew something went down.“Is that true, Ashley? Were you bullying Nina?”

Ashley shook her head as she looked at me. “No! I wasn’t.” She looked at Nina. “Tell them, Nina. I wasn’t bullying you.”

Nina looked utterly terrified, and Ashley huffed. “I wasn’t bullying her, but I do apologize for this misunderstanding. Can we move past this?” She looked at Katie, offering a hand out. “Please? I do think we could get along.”

“That’s not an apology,” Katie snapped back. “Actually, apologize.”

I looked at Nina, seeing she was uncomfortable and glanced at Katie, wanting to put this to an end. We were out in public after all. “Katie, she apologized. Let’s move past this.”

Her anger snapped at me and her lips curled up. She looked at Nina. “Tell him what really happened.

“Katie, let’s not have a scene.” I stepped closer to her. “Please? It’s late.”

I glanced at Ashley. “We’ll leave. Have a good night, Ashley.” She batted her eyelashes at me and gave me a soft smile.

I hooked Katie’s arm, and Nina walked with us. As we got a little further away, Katie ripped her arm free. “I can’t believe you!” She growled at me.

I looked at her, a little surprised. “What did I do? I hadn’t done anything wrong. I pretty much sided with her. “Why were you even yelling at her?”

“Because she was being rude.” Katie snapped back. “She was picking on Nina! I know I didn’t misunderstand her.”

“Did you grab her hair?” I asked, crossing my arms.

Katie placed her hands on her hips. “Yeah, I did, and I would do it again, too.”

I glanced at Nina, who chewed on her lower lip. She looked uncomfortable before and now she looked ready to throw up. She spoke in a shaky tone. “Honestly, it was fine. I really don’t want to get into this. I honestly just want to go home.”

Katie scowled. “There was no reason she was speaking to you that way.”

I sighed. “Katie, let’s just put this aside. It’s late. Nina looks tired. I’m exhausted.”

Katie looked like I slapped her. “Are you serious right now?”

I looked at Nina, who looked ready to run. I could see she was looking around, trying to plan her escape, so I figured I should let her go. “I’m sorry for whatever happened just a few minutes ago. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to speak to my wife alone.”

“That’s okay. You guys have a good night.” Nina turned, practically running away. I put a hand over my face and looked at Katie. She crossed her arms. “You’re an asshole.”

I frowned at her. “How am I an ass!?”

“Because you let her off easy! She didn’t even apologize. She was practically screaming at me now. “ You should have sided with me!”

“Stop yelling,” I growled at her. “I am always on your side and I did side with you. But let’s not make a scene.

“Of course, you’re just going to let her get away with it because Nina is a human.”

I sighed, running a hand over my face, pinching at my nose. I didn’t even know what we were yelling for? I didn’t even know what happened. “Katie, please. Let’s just go home. We can talk about it later.”

She shook her head at me. “No, I’m not going home with you. I’m not going home with someone who doesn’t understand the importance of humans and what they are going through.”

She hit a nerve. I inhaled slowly, trying not to snap at her.

“Don’t,” I growled low. “I have spent my entire life making sure that humans had a home and a place to live comfortably. You don’t understand the balance that you need to keep something like that going.

You have to set aside the simple fights for bigger ones. ”

“And what about Nina?” She tilted her head. “Because you just failed her. You let some shifter walk all over here like she didn’t matter. And by that logic, you’ve failed tons of others because their fight isn’t big enough to have your attention.”

“That’s not...” I sighed. This was a lot of thinking for me. “Katie, please. Let’s go home. We can talk about this at home.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I’m not going home with you. I’m going to Jay’s and Sam's house because they get it. They would never let someone fool them into protecting them when they were in the wrong.”

Katie stormed past me, and I frowned. How had we gotten here? Just a week or so ago, we were so close and together.

I rubbed my eyes and turned to head back to my car. I crossed the street and froze when I looked at the small bar. The open light blinked in the darkness, and I looked inside. It wasn’t busy, but it wasn’t empty either. I suddenly needed a hard drink.

I headed inside, and the music was loud rock and roll music. I headed to the bar and took a seat. I waved at the bartender. “A beer, please. And a burger and fries.”

The man nodded, and I pulled my phone out. I ached to call Katie instantly, but I didn’t. I should give her an hour to calm down, and then I could call her.

I set my phone down instead. A beer was placed down, and I took a long swig of it.

Someone cleared their throat, and I turned to find Ashley standing just behind me. She gave me a half wave. “I was just heading home when I noticed you were in here. I thought I should apologize. I didn’t mean to start anything between you and Katie.”

I sighed. It was one of the reasons I wanted Katie to stop yelling at me. People shouldn’t overhear the Alpha and his wife having an argument. If she wanted to scream at me, I would have no problem with her doing so in the privacy of our house.

“You don’t need to apologize. I should be. We should have been yelling in public,” I said.

She pointed to the stool next to her. “You okay if I join you? I hadn’t eaten anything all day because I was nervous for my interview.”

I waved a hand, not bothered if she sat next to me. She sat down and ordered herself a beer. She then turned to me. “So, how’s married life?”

I snorted. “Well, it’s harder than I expected.” I took another sip of my drink. “How was your interview?”

Ashley shrugged. “It went well. Fingers crossed, I get it. I think I would do really well.”

I glanced at her. “Were you being mean to Nina?” I was trying to piece together what happened. I didn’t know what went down, but something had. Katie wasn’t the type to lose her cool like she did.

Ashley shook her head, taking a sip of her beer. “No. Katie misunderstood what was happening. But it’s fine. I understand it can be stressful being the wife of an Alpha.”

I looked back at my drink. I glanced down at my wedding ring, thinking of Katie.

I hated this feeling. I hated that she ran to someone else rather than speaking to me.

Just a week ago, we were making love. For days, we had been spending hours together in the lab.

How could we do that, but she couldn’t tell me what had happened just a few minutes ago?

I thought of when we ran into Ashley at the restaurant and how quickly Katie wanted to leave. I just thought she was jealous because of how pretty Ashley was. You couldn’t deny that Ashley was stunning, but we hadn’t been together in years.

“I’m sorry about everything. I hate to see you look like this.” Ashley reached out, placing her hand onto mine. I glanced at it for a moment before I pulled my hand free.

“I’ll be fine,” I said with a shrug.

“You shouldn’t just be fine, Henrik. You have a very stressful job, and your wife should understand that.”

It wasn’t that Katie didn’t understand that. She needed to clear her head, and I knew she would talk to Sam. Sam would probably call me and chew my ass out. I knew I should have sided with her, but I didn’t even know what we were arguing about.

“Marriage is hard sometimes,” she said, tapping her fingers on the counter. “If you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm all ears. I know we are exes, but I still think we ended this nicely where we could be friends.”

“Thanks, but we’re okay. We’ve been working a lot of hours, and both of us are just tired. We will be fine tomorrow.” The bartender dropped off my burger and fries. I popped one into my mouth.

She gave me another smile. “That’s good. She seems like she could be a lot of work.”

I frowned, raising an eyebrow at her. “Well, isn’t anyone a lot of work? Everyone has their flaws. No one is perfect.”

She nodded, taking another sip of her beer. She waved a hand. “I mean, of course, everyone is work, but some are more than others and sometimes not worth it. Sometimes, you have to decide if you just need to cut ties and go your separate ways.”

Was she saying that Katie wasn’t worth the trouble?

Had I heard her right? I stared at her, watching as she tapped her fingers, staring at me with soft eyes.

Ashley always looked perfect, down to her fingernails.

She always dressed up, even if I told her she didn’t need to.

Our relationship had been decent, but there was never a huge spark. Nothing like how I felt with Katie.

I looked away. “Katie is work, but she’s worth it. She is a kind and loving person. She understands that my position is a stressful one and she’s got the right to get frustrated at times. She has a stressful job herself.”

Ashley reached over, snagging a fry off my plate. She gave me a smile. “As long as you're up for the challenge.” She swirled her beer around. “I couldn’t do it. When we were together, I always put you first.”

Ashley had. Ashley had been an amazing girlfriend but she wasn’t right for me. I always felt that she tried, but I was never truly happy.

But Katie….my body and soul wanted her. Katie pushed me to be better, and she had her own career. It made me want to work hard, to be better for her.

I couldn’t help the smile that formed as I thought about her. “I love my wife, Ashley. And I don’t care if she’s a challenge.”

Ashley looked a little hurt, but she quickly fixed her face. She waved a hand. “Of course you do.” She placed her hands on the table. “But does she love you in the same manner? Would she protect you the way you protect her? Because from what I saw, it’s not the same.”

I ground my teeth together. Ashley knew nothing about our relationship. No one knew what happened behind closed doors but us.

And I didn’t like how Ashley was talking.

“I don’t know what happened before, but don’t take my warning lightly.

I will always side with her. I may not have demanded anything out of you, but don’t think I’m blind to what happened.

I know Nina, and I doubt she did anything to hurt you.

Katie wouldn’t have lost her calm if it had been something simple. ”

Ashley looked stunned and stumbled for words.

“If I catch you speaking the way you just spoke about my wife, I can assure you will see a side of me you didn’t know existed.”

“I did…” Ashley tried speaking, but I waved a hand.

“Don’t even try to take it back.” I pulled myself up, and Ashley’s lips formed a straight line. I could see the hurt in her eyes and maybe she never got over me. Maybe that was why she said what she said. Or maybe Katie was right and I didn’t know who she was at all.

I threw some money onto the table. “You can have my burger since I don’t want it.”

I turned and headed out. I didn’t know how I was going to fix things with Katie, but I knew that I would.