Chapter 117

Kayla

I was lost in the stars, as I often was this time of night, when I heard the sound of footsteps behind me. I looked up from my telescope, my breath catching as I saw Nicholas standing in the doorway of my haven. His jacket was covered in snow, his hair damp and disheveled, and his expression was thunderous.

The floorboards creaked as I took a step forward. “Nicholas, I—”

He cut me off before I could finish. “What were you thinking, Kayla? Leaving that note, making me think you were going to the cabin despite multiple warnings not to go there? Do you have any idea how dangerous that could have been?”

I flinched at his tone, but not out of fear. Out of guilt. “I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I was just… upset last night. I almost went to the cabin, but I realized it was a bad idea and forgot about the note.”

Nicholas’s expression softened slightly, but his eyes were still hard as steel. “Upset about what?” he demanded.

I hesitated, my cheeks flushing as I looked down at my feet. “About everything. The baby, Anna, the way things have been between us. I just… I needed to get away for a bit. I was impulsive.”

For a moment, he said nothing. Then, Nicholas sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Kayla, I’ve told you before. I only want you. Not Anna. You’re the one who decided—”

“Yes, I know,” I cut him off with a grimace. “But like I said, if the baby is yours, then that… complicates things.”

“But I told you that I don’t believe the baby is mine.”

I looked up at him, my eyes widening.

“I took a DNA sample last night in secret, and I’m having it tested,” he explained, taking a step closer to me. He smelled like pine and cold air from his trek through the forest. “But even without the test, I can feel it in my bones. That baby isn’t mine, Kayla.”

A heavy silence fell between us then. All I could do was stare at him as my mind raced a mile a minute. I had convinced myself that his drunken confession last night was just that—drunken rambling. But now, hearing him say it as if he hadn’t believed anything with more certainty in his life, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was right.

“And there’s more,” Nicholas said, lowering his voice another octave. “The hospital director is apparently good friends with Gray. If the guild is involved in this, then Anna might just be the next step in Gray’s scheme.”

I felt a surge of anger, my hands clenching into fists at my sides. Of course. Of course Gray was in bed with the hospital director—the same director whose back Marcus’s friend had to go behind to get a proper analysis done on Noah’s blood.

They were all in bed together. The guild, the people in power, the damn healthcare ‘professionals’.

I should have known. I supposed that I did know, of course, deep down. I’d just been too naive to admit it, even to myself.

“I’m so sick of the guild being full of corrupt people,” I blurted out before I could stop myself. “We have to do something, Nicholas. We have to stop them. You have to stop them.”

Nicholas blinked as if he wasn’t expecting me to respond so resolutely. “I know. And I will. But I can’t do it alone. I need you by my side, Kayla. You’re the only one I trust to help me make a real change.”

I was a bit taken aback, but nodded. “I’ll help you, Nicholas. However I can.”

“I mean it,” he said, his voice softening ever so slightly. “An Alpha needs his Luna. I need you.”

Something in the tone of his voice made my breath lodge in my lungs. He wasn’t just asking me for the type of support a friend might give, but something more. Something I hardly dared to put a name to.

He smiled then, his eyes softening as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. “I was going to give this to you last night at the event, before everything happened.”

My eyebrows shot up as he opened the box to reveal a small charm—a delicate silver star, perfect for adding to my charm bracelet.

“I noticed that bracelet you’ve been wearing,” he said as he took my wrist in his hand. His skin was ice cold from the winter air, but it sent a pleasant rush through me. “I thought you might like this.”

I felt my cheeks flush a deep shade of bloody crimson as he carefully added the charm to my bracelet, his fingers brushing against the thin, sensitive skin of my inner wrist. His touch sent a shiver down my spine, and I had to fight the urge to lean into him.

But it was no use. Because his grip tightened on my wrist, and he tugged me closer. Just slightly, but enough for my breast to brush across his abdomen and send an even deeper blush up my neck.

“I’ve been missing you these past days, Kayla,” he whispered, his eyes meeting mine. Flecks of gold caught the moonlight, like small stars winking into the center of an already star-bright galaxy. “I hope you’re not offended by how I kissed you last night, but I lost control. Again. Just like I always do around you. Like now.”

I swallowed hard, my heart pounding in my chest just at the reminder of the way his mouth had moved against mine like he couldn’t breathe anything other than the air inside my lungs. “I… I’m not offended,” I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. “I… like it when you lose control.”

Nicholas’s eyes darkened, a few of those stars winking out as desire took hold of him, and his gaze dropped to my lips. For a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me, and my breath caught in my throat.

I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted to taste him again. My body craved it, as evidenced by the flexing of my thighs and the warm pool of honey forming in my low belly.

I missed him these past days, too. More than I wanted to admit. And I, too, lost control whenever I was around him. But with him, I didn’t think I’d ever need to admit it; he had such a way of reading me like an open book that it didn’t matter what I said out loud. He just knew.

But then, just as he leaned in and the first morsels of our lips brushed together, the sound of our names being called for dinner broke the moment.

We both froze, the spell broken as we pulled away from each other. Nicholas cleared his throat, his cheeks slightly flushed as he stepped back.

“We should go,” he said, his voice rougher and headier than before.

I nodded, my heart still racing as I followed him out of the shed and into the house.

That night, I was sitting on my bed, my laptop open in front of me as I handled some Bluemoon matters. More emails, more notices about pack matters, trade agreements to sign, and then, of course, Mason.

The man behind the coups in Bluemoon.

He was still in custody, locked up in the cells beneath the pack house. Henry said that he was obedient, but wouldn’t give away too much information on his attempts to overthrow me. Not that he needed to, though. He’d already given away enough just by challenging me to that duel. And he’d given away even more when he’d pulled out a knife.

I shivered, my fingers trembling across the jagged scar that still marred my leg, now exposed below the hem of my pajama shorts. It didn’t hurt anymore—hadn’t hurt since Nicholas had unwittingly healed it—but sometimes I could still feel the ghostly pain.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Nicholas stepped inside without knocking.

“Sorry,” he said, his eyes flicking to my bare legs for the briefest of moments. “I just need to grab something from the closet.”

I nodded, watching as he crossed the room and opened the closet door. As he rummaged through the shelves, I suddenly remembered my conversation with Jade and Emma earlier that day.

“Nicholas,” I said, setting aside my laptop, “I was wondering… could we have our solstice party at the cabin? So Grace can be included?”

Nicholas paused, his hand stilling on the shelf as he turned to look at me. “The solstice party?”

I nodded, my heart pounding. “I know it’s not safe to travel there, but I just… hate the idea of her being alone on solstice.”

He considered it for a moment, his brow furrowing. “I forgot the solstice was even coming…” Then, pursing his lips, he said, “But I suppose we could go. It might be risky, but we’ll make sure it’s safe.”

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, a smile spreading across my face. “Thank you, Nicholas.”

He nodded and headed back toward the door. But before he left, he paused, his eyes meeting mine before they swept down to my bare legs again. To the scar on my thigh.

For a moment, I tensed, wondering if he might come and finish what he started in the shed. I wanted him to, if I was being honest. He didn’t, though; he just turned and left without another word.

Once he was gone, I reached under my bed and pulled out the gift I had bought for him earlier that day.

I held it in my hands, my fingers tracing the edges of the wrapping paper. I couldn’t wait to give it to him, to see the look on his face when he opened it on solstice eve.

But for now, I just sat there, a smile ghosting across my lips as I imagined the solstice party at the cabin, surrounded by the people I cared about the most.