Chapter 149

Kayla

I didn’t want Nora anywhere near me, let alone sitting at the fire I’d worked so hard to build. But something about the way she just stood there, staring at me with her arms crossed and her expression unreadable, made me hesitate. Maybe it was the exhaustion from the day, or the cold that had seeped into my bones, but I didn’t have the energy to fight her off right now.

“Fine,” I said, lowering my spear slightly. “But if you try anything, I’ll stab you with this.”

Nora raised an eyebrow, her smirk returning. “Oh, I’m so scared of your stick with a pointy rock attached.”

With that, she stepped closer and sat down on the other side of the fire. The flames flickered between us, casting shadows across her face. For a moment, neither of us spoke. The only sounds were the crackling of the fire and the occasional rustle of pine trees in the wind. I didn’t offer her any of my food.

“So, did you come to leech off of my fire or do you have more shit to stir up?”

She shrugged, leaning back on her hands. “I’m just curious, that’s all. What’s a wolfless Luna doing out here in the middle of the woods, playing survivalist?”

I clenched my jaw, my grip tightening on the spear. “I’m not playing. I’ve been training my ass off. Besides, I’m trying to prove myself.”

“To who? Yourself? Nicholas? The pack?” She tilted her head, her smirk widening. “Because I hate to break it to you, but no one expects you to actually catch the stag. They’re all just waiting for you to fail.”

Her words stung, but I shrugged. “I don’t care what they think. I’m not doing this for them.”

Nora studied me for a moment. “Then why are you doing it?”

I didn’t answer right away. The truth was, I wasn’t entirely sure myself. Maybe it was to prove to myself that I could do something on my own, without relying on Nicholas or anyone else. Maybe it was to escape the suffocating marriage I’d entered into. Or maybe it was just to feel something other than the numbness that had settled over me since the wedding.

“I don’t owe you an explanation,” I finally said.

Nora held up her hands in mock surrender. “Fair enough. But if you’re not going to talk, then I will.”

I frowned, my curiosity piqued for some reason. “What?”

She sighed, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees. “Look, I know we’re not exactly friends. Hell, I’ve done everything in my power to make your life miserable. But after that disaster of a wedding, I just… I don’t know. I guess I felt bad.”

I stared at her, my eyebrows shooting up. “You felt bad? Since when do you care about anyone but yourself?”

“I don’t,” she said. “But it was pretty pathetic to watch you marry him even after what I showed you.”

Despite myself, I couldn’t help but snort. “Tell me about it.”

She glanced at me, and her expression was unreadable in the light of the fire. “You shouldn’t have been surprised, you know. Nicholas is a playboy through and through. He’ll never be anything but that. You should have chosen Noah when you had the chance.”

I stiffened, my grip on the spear tightening again. “What, so you could have Nicholas to yourself and face the same heartbreak?”

Nora laughed, but there was no humor in it. “I can’t fucking stand Nicholas.”

The words caught me off guard, and I blinked at her, unable to find the words.

She sighed, running a hand through her hair. “I hate him. I always have. Well, not always. There was a time when I thought I loved him. But that was a long time ago.”

I didn’t know what to say. Nora had always been so possessive of Nicholas, so determined to keep him for herself. To hear her say she hated him was… unexpected, to say the least.

“What happened?” I asked, wondering quietly if this was just another one of her lies or manipulation tactics.

Nora hesitated, her eyes fixed on the fire. “When I was a teenager, I was… assaulted. By some random boy from another pack. It took me a long time to feel like I could trust anyone again. And then there was Nicholas.”

She paused, her jaw tightening. “I thought he was different. I thought he actually cared about me. So I confessed my feelings to him, and you know what he did? He laughed. Told me I wasn’t his type and that I should move on. Like it was nothing.”

I felt a pang of sympathy, but I quickly pushed it down. This was Nora, after all. The same woman who had spent months trying to ruin my relationship with Nicholas.

“After that,” she continued, her voice bitter, “I saw how he treated women. Like they were nothing more than playthings. And I made it my mission to ruin any relationship he might have. Not because I cared about the women he hurt, but because I wanted to hurt him. To make him feel even a fraction of the pain he caused me.”

I stared at her, my mind racing. I had always assumed Nora’s obsession with Nicholas was born out of jealousy or possessiveness. But this took me by complete and utter surprise. I still didn’t know if I believed it.

“Why are you telling me this?” I finally asked.

Nora shrugged, her usual smirk returning. “I don’t know. Maybe I just felt like being honest for once. Or maybe I just wanted to see the look on your face when you realized how much of a bastard Nicholas really is. Not just him, but all men.”

I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know if she was fucking with me still or if something about the lack of the moon in the sky tonight, the first night of the hunt, was miraculously turning her into an honest and open person.

“Unfortunately,” Nora said with a huff, breaking the silence once again, “you were both too fucking stubborn to let me ruin your relationship. I guess you’re perfect for each other in that regard.”

Before I could answer, Nora stood, brushing the dirt off her pants. “Well, this has been fun, but I should get going. Wouldn’t want to keep you from your beauty sleep.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, wouldn’t want that.”

She started to walk away, but then she paused, glancing back at me. “Oh, and Kayla? I look forward to kicking your wolfless ass tomorrow in the hunt.”

With that, she shifted into her wolf form and bounded off into the darkness, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I sat there for a long time, staring into the fire. Nora’s words echoed in my mind, mixing with my own doubts and fears. I didn’t know what to make of her confession, or what it meant for me and Nicholas. But either way, it left me feeling strange and even more confused than before.

The next morning, I woke up early, the cold air biting at my skin. I broke down my makeshift camp and set off into the woods, my eyes scanning the ground for any sign of the stag.

It wasn’t long before I found something—a pile of droppings, fresh and steaming slightly in the cold air. My heart leapt in my chest.

The white stag had to be close.