Chapter 155

Kayla

I didn’t hesitate. “Take me there,” I said, turning abruptly toward Nicholas.

Nicholas furrowed his brow slightly, as did Emma. I knew they were both surprised at my sudden interest in Nora, who had been nothing but a thorn in my side since we’d met. And frankly, I didn’t blame them. Maybe a few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have batted an eye at her getting injured—hell, I might have even said she deserved to get hurt.

But things were different now. Not wildly, but just enough. She was a member of my pack, the pack I had married into, and I was her Luna. Maybe if I had invited her to my fire on the second night of the hunt, she would have remained by my side, and not gotten into a nearly fatal fight with another warrior.

Or maybe I was just trying to make both of us feel better after months of hatred by being there for her now. Maybe there wasn’t much more to it than that. And maybe that was okay.

Finally, Nicholas nodded. “It’s too cold to take the motorcycle,” he said, already moving toward the house. “I’ll drive. Emma, you and Marcus handle the feast. Make sure no one panics.”

Emma nodded, shooting me one last confused glance before she hurried off. Nicholas and I made our way to the house, then hopped into Nicholas’s car in the driveway. I rubbed my cold hands together as he warmed up the car and pulled away.

We drove in silence, the only sound between us the hum of the engine and a random pop song playing faintly on the radio. I didn’t have the strength to look at Nicholas—not when I knew that if I would, I might melt entirely.

Love.

He loved me.

The very thought brought a warm flush to my cheeks, and I had to look out the window in an attempt to hide the small smile that tugged at my lips. After Liam, I had thought that ‘love’ wouldn’t be an option for me, especially not with the playboy Alpha, Nicholas Reynolds.

But according to him, I had been wrong.

He loved me, and when he asked if I wanted to be married to him, he was essentially asking if I loved him too.

Did I love Nicholas?

This wasn’t the first time that the thought had whirled through my mind. I’d wondered, multiple times before, if I felt that way for him. I knew I cared for him deeply. I knew I craved his presence, his touch. I knew that if something were to happen to him, I would be heartbroken.

Was that love? Did I even know what love was anymore after what Liam had done to me?

Unintentionally, my hand must have moved toward his, because I felt his fingers briefly brush mine on the center console. I glanced over, and Nicholas wasn’t looking at me as he drove, but I could see the faint twitch in his jaw—that telltale sign that he was paying attention, for better or worse.

I didn’t pull my hand away, although our fingers didn’t intertwine more than that.

When we finally arrived at the hospital, we hurried inside, where a nurse showed us to a private waiting room. Jade was already there when we entered, pacing the floor.

“You two came,” she said, turning to us as we walked into the room. “I thought you were going to stay at the feast.”

Nicholas nodded his head toward me. “Someone insisted on being here.”

Jade’s eyes softened as she looked at me, and I held her gaze. With her, I didn’t need to say anything out loud for her to know that something had shifted between me and Nora, either at some point during the hunt or when I had rushed to save her life, and she respected it.

“Well,” Jade said, inhaling sharply, “she seemed to be stable, but then they found internal bleeding. They rushed her into surgery, but there are no guarantees.”

I nodded, suddenly feeling my legs go weak. Three days walking nonstop in the forest, living on berries and squirrels, finally seemed to be catching up to me. I sank down into a nearby chair, slumping slightly.

Nicholas glanced at me, then walked out of the room without a word, leaving me and Jade alone.

“Did you two talk yet?” Jade asked as soon as he was gone.

I blinked. “You were really counting on that, weren’t you?”

She shrugged. “Sort of. Either way, you two seem different. Not glaring daggers at each other every two seconds. Are things back to normal yet?”

Sighing, I glanced at the door that Nicholas had just disappeared through. Normal.

Love.

Finally, taking a deep breath, I offered Jade a small smile and said, “Yes. We talked.” That was all I divulged.

My friend looked relieved, and sat on the couch beside me. Nicholas returned a few minutes later with three cups of coffee and a veritable mountain of snacks and sandwiches from the hospital cafeteria, most of which he forced me to eat.

“You need calories after the hunt,” he said when I protested weakly. “Eat the food, or I’ll force feed you.”

I didn’t want to risk that, so I ate all of the food, suddenly realizing just how starving I was—and it was a whole hell of a lot better than having to eat the stag, so my appetite quickly returned.

Meanwhile, Nora remained in surgery for hours with no news. Jade went to check multiple times, only to return with a somber expression and a shake of her head each time. By the time Nicholas was starting to suggest that we go home and get some rest, however, a surgeon entered. I shot to my feet, wringing my hands.

“Well?” I blurted out, my voice coming out harsher than I intended.

The surgeon looked exhausted, her face pale and drawn, but she offered us a thin smile. “She’s stable again. You can go see her, if you want.”

We didn’t need to be told twice. The three of us immediately rushed to Nora’s hospital room.

My knees almost collapsed when I saw her sitting partially up in bed, her face ashen but her eyes cracked open. She was hooked to countless machines and looked like she’d lost about fifteen pounds in the span of one day, but she was alive.

“Nora,” I said, moving forward. I gripped her hand without even meaning to. “How are you feeling?”

Her pale eyes flicked first to my hand, her nose wrinkling slightly as if in disgust, and then she looked up at me. “Like shit,” she croaked.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “You look like shit.”

To my surprise, Nora’s mouth twitched into a smirk. But then her brow furrowed when she saw Nicholas and Jade standing awkwardly behind me. “Why did you all come here?” she asked, glancing at me again.

“Because we’re your Alpha and Luna,” Nicholas answered matter-of-factly.

Nora didn’t look convinced. “No, there’s more to it than that. You guys hate me.” She nodded her head toward Jade. “Especially you.”

Jade’s face tightened, and she turned abruptly, storming out of the room as she muttered something under her breath. Nicholas just stood there, looking at me as if in question.

Finally, I sighed and dropped Nora’s cold hand. I turned to look at both her and Nicholas at the same time. This wasn’t about me, I realized. That wasn’t why I had come. I knew that now.

I had come with Nicholas because I knew that he and I weren’t the only two who needed to talk. We weren’t the only two people holding grudges.

“You two,” I said, gesturing between the two of them as I began moving toward the door, “need to have a discussion.”

They both stared at me—Nicholas in confusion and Nora in righteous anger—as I closed the door and left them alone.