Chapter 99

Nicholas

The wind chapped my bare knuckles as I wove my motorcycle through the winding roads, but I hardly felt it. All I could think about was her.

Not Anna, the woman I had had a one night stand with more than seven months ago.

But Kayla.

If it was true, if Anna really was going to have my baby, then I wouldn’t back down from ensuring that both mother and child were completely taken care of. I would happily pay child support, ensure that the baby had everything he or she ever needed, that the mother wouldn’t have to work another day in her life.

But I had no intention of marrying Anna, or anything of that sort. She was just a casual drunken fling from a bar that had resulted in a child, nothing more. Seeing her again today, her belly swollen with a baby inside, didn’t reignite any feelings—feelings that had never truly been there to begin with, if I was being honest.

Most of all, however, I was worried about Kayla.

The way her face had gone pale when she heard the news broke my heart. It broke even more when I saw her paste that watery smile onto her face, a vague attempt at hiding her true pain.

When we had slept together the other night, it had been pure and utter bliss. I would be the first to admit that I had had my fair share of sexual regrets in my life, and she certainly wasn’t one of them. No, she was the best by far. That had been more than sex to me; it had been a joining, an awakening of a chosen mate bond that could never be paralleled by anything or anyone else.

But now, she had closed herself off from me.

I could feel it through our bond, which had been alive like electricity over the past couple of days. The moment she had seen that headline on the TV, something that I could only liken to an adamantine wall had slammed up between us. Whether she meant to put up that wall or not, I wasn’t sure. But it was there now. And I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to break it down again, if ever.

There was no way I could blame her for that reaction, of course. I knew how Kayla struggled to open herself up to others, a trait that was mirrored all too often in myself. And yet she had opened up to me, quite literally laid herself bare to me.

“You have to fix this,” my wolf growled in the back of my mind, his voice a low, angry rumble like the hum of my motorcycle’s engine.

I grit my teeth and pulled my bike into a nearby gas station. “Trust me, I’m working on it,” I replied.

My wolf hissed with dissatisfaction. “You’re not trying. You’re running, just like you always do.”

Of course, I had no rebuttal for that. Because he was right. The moment I had seen Kayla turn on her heel and flee upstairs, I had left. Jade called me a selfish bastard, but I didn’t turn back. I had hopped on my bike, no gloves or jacket, and sped off into the wintry landscape.

Sighing, I parked my bike next to one of the pumps and climbed off to fill the tank. I wasn’t sure where I was planning on going, but I planned on being out for some time today. I needed to think. And be alone.

But as I was waiting for the tank to fill, I pulled out my phone and cursed. An email from the guild.

I was summoned.

Again.

Of fucking course.

A little while later, I found myself striding into the guild hall, even more infuriated than the last time I had been here. On the bright side, I picked up some food for Grace on my way, so I’d have a chance to see her while I was here. But as soon as I stepped into the council chamber and saw none other than Gray sitting there, completely alone, I froze.

“What do you want?” I blurted out before I could stop myself.

Mr. Gray stiffened slightly, his chair creaking under his weight. He hesitated, his cold eyes sweeping up and down my windblown clothes, before they settled on my own.

“That’s no way to speak to a member of the guild, is it, Mr. Reynolds?”

I wanted to tell him to fuck off right to hell, but I restrained myself. Finally, after eyeing me suspiciously for a moment as if I might suddenly pull a bomb out of my pocket, he continued.

“I’ve called you here to discuss that little incident yesterday.”

My eyebrows shot up. “What incident?” I asked, and then it hit me. “Oh, you mean Noah offering to sever his mate bond with Kayla.”

Gray nodded curtly. I pressed my mouth into a flat line, knowing fully well that this so-called ‘mate bond’ was complete and utter bullshit. Noah wasn’t Kayla’s fated mate. Most people never even came across their fated mate in this overpopulated world, and Kayla and her fated mate were both extremely unlikely to feel that bond since she had no wolf. All three of us suspected, at this point, that Gray was just fabricating all of it to try and push us apart. And yesterday had only proven that.

But I kept my expression neutral, feigning ignorance on that matter, and said, “What about it?”

The guildsman shrugged. “She made a bargain, you know; the boy would be taken to the hospital, and she would leave you. I did my part. And yet it seems she has no interest in following through with her half of the bargain.”

I clenched my jaw, willing my face into indifference. “Yes, well, maybe she was just saying what she felt she needed to say in order to keep our friend alive.”

Gray’s shoulders straightened, and I knew I had struck a nerve, even if he was trying to hide it. He waved his hand dismissively. “I’m not sure why she would feel that way. We were going to get Mr. Baker the medical assistance he required.”

If it weren’t for… well, everything, I might have laughed. “Were you?” I said, planting my hands on my hips.

If my question struck the guildsman, he didn’t show it. Rather, he let out an almost weary sigh, one that was laced with more frustration than exhaustion, and gestured for me to leave.

“You may go. But, Mr. Reynolds, know this; I know that your ‘relationship’ with Miss Sterling is a facade. And it will only be a matter of time before that glass house you built begins to crack and shatter.”

For the first time since I’d arrived, Gray’s words struck me. I managed not to show it, but they hit my core like a punch to the gut in more ways than I wanted to admit.

Scowling, I sketched a mocking bow before turning on my heel and storming out.

After my little ‘meeting’ with Gray, I dropped off Grace’s food. She was sleeping when I arrived, so I quietly placed the food in her cell with a small note promising that she would be out of here soon, then slipped back upstairs to leave.

I was just about to head out through the side door when I passed by Gray’s office. The door was cracked open, and I hesitated, backpedaling a bit to get a better look. When I peered inside, he wasn’t in there.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have done what I did next, but I couldn’t help myself. Kayla’s nosy streak seemed to be rubbing off on me, and so I quickly checked over both shoulders to make sure I wasn’t being watched.

Then, taking a deep breath, I cautiously pushed the door open.

The wood creaked as the door swung open, revealing the cluttered office within.