Chapter 72

Kayla

The air thinned out the second that Nicholas stepped away from me. My fingers loosened around the stem of my wine glass, but I didn’t set it down. I held onto it like an anchor, like it was the only thing left tethering me to this world after losing his warmth.

It was ridiculous. I should have felt relieved. I should have been grateful for the sudden absence of his suffocating presence—the constant pull he had on me, the way I was like a statue under his stormy gaze. I should have been glad to have full control of myself again, to not feel like a pathetic little slave to my own desires.

But there was that damned ache again. That little spark of disappointment curling somewhere low in my stomach.

As he moved to answer the phone, I raised the glass of wine to my lips and took a long, slow sip to soothe my frayed nerves. But it didn’t really help. The bitterness just settled heavily on my tongue as I glanced over at him, watching as he grabbed his phone off the counter.

He didn’t look at me, didn’t acknowledge the tension still stretching between us. In fact, his expression was already schooled into something perfectly neutral as he hit the answer button.

“Alpha Nicholas Reynolds,” he answered smoothly, his voice calm and unbothered. You wouldn’t have guessed he had been two seconds away from pinning me against the bar out of pure jealousy just moments ago.

My eyes narrowed slightly as I watched him calmly nod in response to whatever was being said on the other end of the phone.

Of course he could do that. Nicholas was so damn good at swallowing his emotions, tucking them away so no one could see the storm raging beneath the surface. He had perfected it. But I saw through him now, just as I had that night when we’d all gotten drunk in the living room together.

Did he see through my facade, too, I wondered?

“Understood. We’ll be there shortly.”

Nicholas ended the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket, finally meeting my gaze. His amber eyes were as unreadable as ever now.

“The guild wants to see us as soon as possible,” he said simply, already turning on his heel and heading for the front door. “Put on your coat.”

That was it. No explanation. No hint of frustration. Just cold, clinical instruction like I was one of his pack warriors. I stared at him for a second longer, half-expecting some hint of the man who had nearly kissed me a few moments ago to resurface. But he just stood there by the front door, patiently waiting for me.

With a sigh, I swallowed the last gulp of my wine along with the thousand questions burning in my throat before I grabbed my coat and pulled it back on. I didn’t push him for answers. Not now. We had bigger things to deal with.

The drive to the guild hall was silent. Nicholas gripped the steering wheel with one hand, his other drumming lightly against the door. I didn’t bother striking up a conversation, or even asking about our impromptu visit to the guild.

I knew what this was about.

We pulled into the lot, and I caught the faintest flicker of irritation on his face when he spotted Noah’s car parked nearby. The muscles in his jaw tensed again, but he didn’t say anything.

Just as I suspected, Noah was already waiting for us as we entered the council chamber.

He was standing near the long oak table where the guild members sat in their formal robes, watching us like hawks. He shifted uncomfortably under Nicholas’s glare, his gaze dropping to the floor rather than holding it.

“Alpha Nicholas. Luna Kayla.” One of the elder guildsmen stood, folding his hands over his stomach. The same man who had brought up the fated mate bond on TV. Glancing at the name tag on his robe, I could see the name: Mr. Gray. “Thank you for joining us on such short notice.”

Nicholas didn’t smile. “What is this about, exactly? Kayla and I were just planning on going out for dinner.”

The guildsman’s gaze flickered to me, and there was a hint of something sinister behind his eyes that made my back instinctively straighten. “We are very sorry for getting in the way of your… plans,” he said coolly. “But we have called you here because we have conducted further investigations into the matter of Luna Kayla’s fated mate bond.”

I stiffened. My fingers curled into the fabric of my coat, but Nicholas didn’t move. He stood perfectly still beside me, radiating that same infuriating calmness that he was so much better than me at.

“We ran a blood test on Mr. Baker,” the guildsman continued, gesturing to Noah. “When compared to Miss Sterling’s profile, it has confirmed what we initially suspected.”

His eyes moved briefly to Noah, who shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.

“Luna Kayla is indeed Noah Baker’s fated mate.”

The world slowed. I felt Nicholas tense up beside me, but he didn’t say a word. His silence was louder than anything he could have shouted.

I never suspected that Noah was lying about the fated mate bond, but hearing the guild say that a blood test had proven it felt like a bucket of ice water washing over me. Fated mate bonds could be detected through blood samples—even without testing both people’s blood, it was possible just through cross-referencing the one blood sample to the DNA tests every werewolf had to conduct at birth to ensure placement in the correct pack.

And, just as I feared, the guildsman withdrew a paper from his robe and handed it to me. I swallowed and took it with shaking fingers, and the results were clear.

“Of course, we understand the… sensitive nature of this situation,” the guildsman added, his gaze sharpening as he looked between Nicholas and me. “But given the fact that your relationship is already under investigation, the fated mate bond creates further… complications.”

“Complications?” I murmured, even though I already knew the answer.

The guildsman’s eyes snapped to me. “Well, it’s known that fated mate bonds are irresistible unless properly severed by the guild. You claim to love Alpha Nicholas, you claim that your relationship is real despite our suspicions—how will those claims hold up against such a natural and innate bond?”

I swallowed hard, glancing incredulously at Noah. He wouldn’t look at me, of course, his eyes still fixed on his feet like he had just been caught doing something terrible. Nicholas, for his part, seemed as calm as a cucumber even though I knew he was likely vibrating with rage beneath the surface.

“But, given the situation, we are prepared to sever the bond between Luna Kayla and Noah if that is what Kayla wishes,” the guildsman continued. “However, there is one condition.”

Nicholas spoke before I could. “Name it.”

“Luna Kayla must prove her devotion to you, Alpha Nicholas. In front of the guild.”

My heart sank. Only the guild could properly sever a fated mate bond. If they deemed my devotion untrue, then they wouldn’t sever it. Which would create a lot of problems for Nicholas and me and our little arrangement.

“And how exactly is she supposed to do that?” Nicholas’s voice was low, but there was a dangerous edge to it now. “You already refuse to believe us enough as it is.”

The guildsman smiled faintly, as if the edge in Nicholas’s voice gave him some kind of sick glee. “It’s simple. All we ask is that she rejects Noah as her fated mate in front of the guild. Today. She must consent to the fated mate bond being severed, and she must make an oath that she will remain with you, Alpha Nicholas.”

My breath hitched.

“Formally. Here. Today.” The guildsman gestured toward Noah. “Once it is done, the bond will be severed permanently.”

I couldn’t breathe.

“And if she doesn’t?” Nicholas asked, his voice like ice.

“Then she will remain bonded to Noah,” the guildsman replied smoothly. “And her relationship with you, Alpha Nicholas, will be considered void.”

The room fell into silence. I could feel Nicholas’s gaze burning into the side of my face, but I couldn’t bring myself to meet his eyes.

“Well,” the guildsman said after a long pause, folding his hands behind his back. “The choice is yours, Luna Kayla.”

I finally lifted my gaze, scanning the room as I felt the weight of every single set of eyes fall onto me. Noah shifted awkwardly, his hands clenched at his sides, while Nicholas stood stone still beside me.

All eyes were on me, waiting for me to make my decision.