Chapter 94

Nicholas

Noah was awake.

Somehow, by some strange, confusing, wonderful miracle, my friend was awake.

The plate slipped from my hand, sending cake and broken shards scattering across the floor by my feet. But I didn’t care about any of that. I only cared that Noah was awake. And looking damn good for a man who had been unconscious for over a week, if the color of his cheeks and the fact that he was upright instead of laying in a hospital bed was anything to go off of.

No sooner had Kayla shakily taken the small wrapped gift from Noah’s hands than I rushed forward and threw my arms around him. Noah sputtered beneath the crushing force of my hug, but embraced me back nonetheless.

“Noah, how the hell…?” I murmured as I pulled back, searching his eyes and his face for any sign of an answer.

He hesitated, his mouth opening and closing a couple of times. At that moment, Marcus hurried forward. “Perhaps this isn’t the best place for explanations,” my Beta whispered, dropping his voice so only I could hear. He nodded his head toward the exit.

Nodding, I looped an arm around Noah’s shoulders—I told myself it was just to help him walk since he still seemed quite weak, although a wiser man might have said that I was just afraid he’d disappear again if I let go—and together, we headed out of the crowded room and toward my study.

Once we were alone, Marcus explained his side of the story. He told me that his nurse friend who had taken Noah’s blood test gave him some medicine that cleansed the drugs from his blood and woke him up. And according to Noah, when he woke up, he found out about the party and insisted on coming in person.

“I couldn’t miss Kayla’s birthday. Not after what I was told she did for me,” Noah explained, his eyes shifting toward the floor.

I pursed my lips a little, recalling all too well how Kayla had selflessly offered to sever her bond with me for Noah’s sake. She had discovered Gray’s ulterior motive in that moment when I had been too beside myself with terror for my best friend’s safety to notice much of anything. If she hadn’t… I wasn’t sure if Noah would have survived.

“Anyway,” Noah went on, “I convinced the doctors to discharge me early. And now I’m here.”

There was a brief silence as I took in my friend’s appearance. He was wearing a crisp black suit and his hair was neatly swept back, although it didn’t fully hide the dark circles under his eyes or the slight pallor to his skin or the way he looked a little deflated, like a balloon with some of the air sucked out.

“I’ll be fine,” he said with a wave of his hand, as if sensing my thoughts. “Just a couple more days and I’ll be right as rain. I look worse than I feel.”

“Either way, I’m going to make you stay here where Jade and I can keep an eye on you.” My words were a command, not a question.

Noah nodded, knowing well enough not to argue with me. And after Gray had potentially poisoned him, it was safer if he was here. With us.

“Very well.”

There was another long silence after that. Now that the reunion had come to its end, it seemed there was another, more awkward elephant in the room.

“Kayla,” Noah said suddenly.

Hearing her name on his lips in that breathy tone made me stiffen. I couldn’t bring myself to be angry with my friend anymore, but I couldn’t deny that knowing his feelings for her still made my wolf bristle. I had marked her, after all.

And last night…

Well, I didn’t want to think about last night—about how I had lost my control when I had smelled the arousal on her skin. About how I had turned into an utter animal. And now her mark was freshly red, two new puncture wounds in place of the old ones.

She was right; if I hadn’t marked her the first time in my fit of jealousy over Liam, I would have marked her last night.

I didn’t know what to make of it. And I didn’t think that she knew what to make of it, either. At least we were both on the same page on that front.

Regardless, Noah went on, “I’ve decided that she can’t be my fated mate. Not if she clearly cares so much for you. And as for the guild… Well, I’m not sure if their words can be trusted now. So… I’m sorry for not realizing it sooner.”

My eyebrows shot up at that. “You mean…”

Noah shook his head. “I think the DNA test may have been fabricated by the guild. If Gray went to all this trouble just to split you two up, then I don’t think that my so-called ‘bond’ with Kayla is organic. In short, I think I was lied to.”

Lied to. That was putting it lightly. A guildsman practically tried to murder him.

“But,” Noah went on, rising from where he was perched on the edge of my desk, “maybe trying to figure out their whole scheme is a conversation for another day. Kayla’s birthday party is still underway, after all.”

Noah was right. Today was supposed to be about Kayla, who was still out in the banquet hall, dancing and eating with the others. She was already hurt enough when she thought I had forgotten her birthday, and I didn’t want to see that look on her face again. She deserved a nice birthday, and Noah and I could agree on that much.

So we decided to table that discussion for today, and together, Noah, Marcus and I returned to the party. Just as I suspected, Kayla was twirling with Jade and Emma, looking like a vision on the dance floor.

The party went on well into the night, even after many of the guests had left. Kayla’s energy was boundless, her smile infectious. None of us felt tired, not with her excitement keeping us all invigorated.

Soon enough, it was just us left—me, Kayla, Jade and Emma, Marcus, and of course, Noah. We eventually left behind the glittering decorations and retired to the living room on the other wing of the mansion where Noah could rest, but the party didn’t stop there. Emma pilfered the wine cellar and filled all of our glasses to the brim, and my vision turned pleasantly fuzzy around the edges as we listened to the music on the radio and laughed and talked around the crackling fireplace.

And all the while, I couldn’t rip my gaze away from her.

She looked utterly stunning tonight, even with that fresh mark on her neck. Her dress was shimmering in the light of the flickering fire, like a thousand stars lit up on a clear night. Or rather like a dream I hoped to never wake up from.

I couldn’t wait to show her her last surprise, which I’d been working on for a while now. And in fact, I was just moving across the room to ask her to come with me when Emma jumped in my way, swaying slightly from the wine.

“Nicholas, please play the piano!” she begged, clasping her hands together. “Please!”

I hesitated, suddenly feeling the weight of the silence in the room.

“Piano?” I asked, scratching my head as I glanced over at the piano against the far wall. “But I haven’t played in years…”

Emma continued begging, but her words faded into the distance. Because, in the background, I could see her.

Kayla’s eyes had lit up at the mention of playing the piano, her fingers delicately wrapping around the moonstone necklace at her throat. Her gaze was wide, hopeful, and irresistible.

I sighed, my shoulders slumping.

How could I say no to a face like that?