Chapter 136

Claire POV

I stared down at Catherine for a moment, confused by the look on her face.

That wasn’t the expression of someone who had just been shot. And it definitely wasn’t the look of someone who had just woken up scared and confused in a hospital bed.

It was too aware, too smug.

Too knowing.

No, my cousin knew exactly what was going on somehow.

And she was staring at me with a look of triumph on her face.

Feeling troubled, I backed away from her and left the room, following Nathan out into the hallway.

He seemed to be finished with his phone calls, since he sat in one of the chairs lining the hallway, his eyes closed.

I thought about the night we’d just had, the fear and confusion during the attack, the rush of adrenaline as we hurried Catherine here, trying to save her life.

It’s no wonder he’s drained, I thought, studying the angles of his face.

I was feeling the weight of exhaustion myself. I knew as soon as I sat down, it would overtake me too.

So I sat beside him quietly for a moment, letting him rest.

“We have so much we need to talk about,” he said eventually, eyes still closed.

I sighed.

“I know.”

“I was going to come find you, after the event. I’ve been wanting to spend time with you,” he added hesitantly.

This surprised me. I’d wondered, after my last letter, what our next meeting would be like.

But it seemed like he wasn’t even going to mention it.

Instead he reached his hand over for mine. And when I took it, he squeezed.

Then he opened his eyes and looked at me, and his gaze felt like it pierced my soul.

“I’ve missed you, Claire.”

His words hit me like soft arrows, finding the most tender pieces of my heart and bathing them in warm light.

And still, I hesitated.

“Nathan, I…”

He squeezed my hand again. “It’s alright. I know, we need to go slow. I just wish…”

He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I need to get Catherine settled into the house, and arrange for more care for her.

“Once she’s recovered, you and I can talk.”

Worry worked its way through the glow of Nathan’s soft kind words.

Because I still wasn’t sure how that talk would go.

My bond with Nathan was like a living thing between us as we sat there.

But beyond that bond, was there trust?

Was there friendship and pleasure in each other’s company?

Was there anything else that an actual loving relationship needed to thrive, and to grow?

“I agree, we need to talk,” I said after a moment, letting go of his hand. “But Nathan, something doesn’t feel right here.

“Catherine has been acting so strange. And the things she was saying before the gunfire opened…”

Nathan looked down at his empty hand, then pulled it away from me, his eyes shuttering.

His expression went blank.

“Like what?” he said, his voice cool now.

I regretted that I’d been the one to make him act like this, to put that distance between us.

But I didn’t regret my reasons for hesitating.

There were more important things to talk about.

“Nathan, she was saying I didn’t deserve you, and that she was going to make you hers.”

His eyebrow quirked. “Did she?”

“Yes. And no, she wasn’t joking. Listen: she starts talking like that, acting so angry at me, and then some person starts shooting into the crowd?

“And she’s right there to save you?”

I shook my head. The more I thought about it, the more convenient last night’s events seemed.

Especially after that look just now on Catherine’s face.

She lay there with a hole in her chest still slowly healing closed, with a look on her face like she won something.

I took Nathan’s hand again in my need to communicate how serious I was.

“You need to be careful, Nathan. I think something is going on.”

He looked down at our hands, a question in his eyes.

This wasn’t the man who’d just told me he missed me.

This was an Alpha trying to decide if he believed someone.

Feeling awkward and frustrated, I let go of his hand and stood up.

“Just…be careful, okay?” I said.

Nathan thanked me, even though it was clear he didn’t quite believe me.

Which was fair. I still couldn’t quite believe it myself.

Catherine had been such a good friend to me, so warm and welcoming.

This change in her behavior was shocking.

I just hoped Nathan could actually see it, and not dismiss it.

“Believe me,” he said as he stood. “After Sabrina, I’m not letting my guard down for anyone.”

I drew in a sharp breath, feeling the force of those words, the insult of them, as he walked away.

He hadn’t been talking about Catherine in that moment.

He’d been talking about me.

I stared after Nathan for a moment, until he turned a corner and disappeared.

Then I went back into the room, to confront my cousin.

“What are you up to, Catherine?” I said, staring down at her. “What’s going on here?”

She’d been laying with her eyes closed. A part of me wondered if she’d been trying to listen in on our conversation out in the hall.

Now she opened her eyes and raised her head, wincing slightly, looking around the room.

Looking to make sure we were alone, I realized.

Because if Nathan had been here, she would have changed what she was about to say.

But when she saw that it truly was just the two of us, she relaxed back against the pillows and sneered at me.

“What’s going on here, Cousin, is I’m going to show Nathan what true love and loyalty looks like.

“I’ve already got a damned fine start on that, as you can see,” she added, gesturing to the wound in her chest.

My mouth dropped.

Was she saying what I thought she was saying?

Had she actually planned to get hurt somehow??

“I don’t plan on running away from him like you did, Claire.

“I’m going to prove to Nathan that I am who he is really meant to be with.”

Her eyes glittered as she smiled up at me.

“And there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

She turned her head away from me, closing her eyes again.

“Now leave me alone. I don’t want to see you again.”

Feeling helpless, I left Catherine’s room and then the clinic, heading back to Royal territory.

Something was clearly wrong with Catherine.

This sudden change in her behavior and attitude toward me, the fixation on Nathan, claiming to be his true love when they’d only just met a matter of weeks ago…

It disturbed me.

And yet, what could I do?

I had warned Nathan that Catherine was up to something, and may not have good intentions.

Warned him, but couldn’t make him listen.

Feeling frustrated, I called my assistant.

And instructed her to tell my head of security to do a full investigation into what happened last night at the event.

Because something wasn’t right there, either.

Something about all of this just felt off.