Chapter 15
2273 Words
Nick had no idea what to say or do after Kate revealed such a painful secret to him. Should he hug her? That was the first thing that came into his mind but he hesitated to act on that idea, not wanting to anger her. She did seem rather friendly towards him in the past days and he didn’t want to screw it up by stepping out of line. But he had to do something since her pain was somehow his pain as well.
“At least hold her hand.” Adira was frustrated that he refused to hug and comfort Kate and kept pushing him to touch her.
Touching someone’s hand probably wouldn’t seem that much weird, would it? Mustering up all his courage, he slowly placed his palm over her hand, ready to pull it back at the slightest sign of her displeasure. The sudden sparks and tingles that seemed to have been running between them when they finally touched made him draw a sharp breath. Kate must have felt something as well because she gave him a surprised look. But she did not try to move away, just rotated her hand so she could hold him too, intertwining her fingers with his. It felt so right it made Nick’s heart flutter.
Adira howled in excitement. “I KNEW IT!”
“What are you talking about? What does this mean?” Nick had a wild theory but it made no sense.
The wolf jumped up and down before dropping to the ground and rolling around, grinning happily. “Not now. Tell her about your dream,” she commanded.
“Are you sure you want her to know why I became a rogue?”
“Yes,” Adira nodded decisively. “She wanted us to trust her, that’s why she told you all this.”
Maybe it was for the better. Werewolves usually became rogues after committing some atrocious crimes, like raping or murdering someone. Did Kate think he killed someone? No, she probably wouldn’t let Zoe anywhere near him if she thought that. But he should still clear that confusion, no matter how embarrassing it was.
“I’m so sorry,” he pressed on her hand, enjoying the surprisingly pleasant sensation that touching her brought him. “I can’t imagine what that must feel like.” He paused to gather his thoughts. “My nightmare seems really… unimportant compared to yours. It was about the moment I became a rogue. You never asked me about it,” he raised an eyebrow, giving her an inquisitive look. “Aren’t you worried that I’m some murdering psycho who keeps body parts in his freezer?”
Kate gave him a kind smile, her brows furrowing slightly when she tried to slide her thumb over Nick’s hand, which sent more sparks through their skins. “If it makes you cry from your sleep, then it’s not unimportant. And yes, you absolutely give out the vicious psycho killer vibe. Do you torture your victims by forcing them to watch Frozen until they lose their minds and beg you to chop them in pieces and eat their brains?”
How was her giggle the most amazing sound Nick has ever heard? So bright and cheerful, no trace of her previous sadness. “Nick, if I thought for a second that you were dangerous, you’d still be chained to a wall in the cage, not hanging out alone with my seven-year-old niece. I didn’t ask you because it was none of my business and you don’t have to tell me. I just guessed that you stepped on the wrong toe or saw something you shouldn’t have seen.”
“I wish it was something that cool,” Nick sighed. “But… I never really fit in, most werewolves are all about aggression and dominance, and that was just never my thing.” Kate nodded, she probably noticed he wasn’t much of a fighter. “It was my eighteenth birthday, that’s the day we get our wolf and can shift for the first time. And my whole family was standing around me, waiting for me to shift so they could see my wolf, urging me to hurry the hell up, and…”
Nick still vividly remembered the panic he felt when he heard Adira’s voice in his head for the first time and realized she was not the big badass wolf an Alpha should have. Well, she was, but he instantly knew that the fact she was a female meant something was wrong with him. And that his father would never accept it.
“It hurt, it felt like every single bone in my body was shattered to tiny pieces, every muscle torn to shreds, every single nerve ending screaming in pain. And when they saw Adira, they were horrified and disgusted. My-The pack Alpha gave me an Alpha command to shift right back, that’s something every wolf must obey immediately, there is no way to resist it. Adira wasn’t even allowed to take a few steps in her new body. He called me a freak, an abomination, a disgrace to the pack. I was allowed to grab a few personal things and then he officially exiled me, severing any bonds I had to the pack.”
Nick’s hand slid over his chest. He could still feel the sore empty space where the connection to the Silverstreak pack used to be.
Kate stared at him in disbelief, clutching his hand tighter. “Are you kidding me? This is so f****d up! Just because your wolf is a female? That’s so idiotic! With cats, it happens a lot. Like, not all the time, but often enough so nobody really cares about it. It’s Bastet choosing our perfect counterparts for us, who cares about their gender? I would assume it’s the same with your Moon Goddess.” Nick shrugged, pleasantly surprised she seemed to know so much about werewolves. “Your family didn’t stand up for you?” she asked quietly.
“My family,” Nick snorted, remembering his brother’s victorious smirk. Elliot knew that this meant he was going to become the Alpha after all. “They were the first ones to condemn me.”
Kate let go of his hand, which made Nick frown over the sudden loss of her closeness, and hid her face in her hands. “s**t. That was right before you came here, right? You went through all that and came to Silver Falls to get a fresh start only to get kidnapped and tortured by a bunch of insane cats. f*****g hell!” A pained groan escaped her lips. “Bastet, Nick, I’m so sorry. I really f****d this up.”
“It’s alright.” Nick dared to put a hand on her shoulder, trying to make her look at him, but Kate just shook her head. “Really. Don’t worry about it anymore. I mean, I can’t exactly say that I’ve enjoyed all the silver and wolfsbane and the constant threat of an excruciating death. But you’ve made up for it and I accept your apology. No hard feelings.” She finally gave him a wary look, scrutinizing his expression, probably trying to figure out whether he was being serious.
Nick made sure there was a reassuring smile on his face, it hurt him to see all her pain and guilt. She smirked at him. “You do know that you are probably just suffering from Stockholm syndrome?”
“Yep, the thought did cross my mind,” he chuckled and rested his head against the headboard again, closing his eyes. It was pleasant to be so close to her, surrounded by her scent. Touching her would be even better but the tender moment between them has passed and it would most likely be weird again now. “And honestly, I don’t care. You and Zoe are amazing and I want to think that I’d like you even if we met under more normal circumstances. Although you would hardly pay any attention to a good-for-nothing rogue, so, in a way, all this kidnapping and torture business has played in my favor.”
Her brows furrowed and she smacked his arm slightly, letting her hand rest on it. “Don’t joke about that.”
Nick had to take a deep breath when her fingers slid towards his elbow. There was absolutely nothing s****l about that movement and yet, he felt hornier than ever, the tiny sparks that kept tickling his skin wherever it touched hers were only amplifying his desire. His clumsy attempt to hide the bulge in his pants with the blanket only drew Kate’s attention to it and she chuckled cheerfully.
“You are good for a lot of things, Nick,” she tried to sound serious. “Your cooking is amazing.”
Oh, yes, that was a useful skill. “You’d be surprised but that’s not a very desirable and appreciated skill when it comes to wolves.”
“Well, when it comes to wolves living under my roof, it is very much desirable and appreciated.”
Feeling his cheeks turning red, he tried to lighten up the conversation a bit. “Yes, I’m also good with remembering a ton of useless facts about movies and TV shows. If you ever need to know the name of a spell they used in Harry Potter, I’m your guy!”
“Knowing Zoe, that will actually come in handy sooner rather than later,” Kate giggled. “Alright, what else are you good at?”
Nick blinked in surprise a couple of times, not sure what to answer. He never really gave much of a thought to what he was good at, people around him only kept reminding him of the ton of things he was truly bad at. “Hmm. I’m good at hugging,” he tried to use the opportunity. Only after the words left his mouth he realized how incredibly stupid it sounded.
“Goddess, you are so f*****g hopeless,” Adira laughed at him.
“Oh, really?” Kate seemed to have a problem keeping a straight face and not starting laughing at him as well. “I guess flirting is another one of your strong suits?”
Damn, he just should have kept his mouth shut, this was so embarrassing! Kate shifted her position and was now kneeling in front of him, watching him with a mischievous smirk, her bottom lip stuck between her teeth. Her tiny shorts covered only a small part of her thighs and the fitted tank top didn’t leave much room for imagination either, especially since she didn’t seem to be wearing a bra under it.
He gulped. “No,” he tried very hard not to stare at her n*****s that seemed ready to pierce through the fabric now. “I’m actually pretty awkward at that.”
“I figured,” she sighed and suddenly got off the bed and moved to the door, opening it while looking at him. “Nick, you should probably leave. Fatim spent the past few days feeding me vivid images of what she would want me to do with you and I’m not sure I can hold it in for much longer. And I don’t want to take advantage of you because I kidnapped you and you are clearly still afraid of me.”
At first, he thought she just wanted to kick him out of her bedroom, which was totally understandable, and he quickly jumped down from the bed and headed for the door. But in the meantime, his brain analyzed what she actually said and he stopped right in front of her. Did she really want to have s*x with him but was worried about… what exactly? Taking him against his will? How ironic!
“Vivid images you say?” he smirked at her. It took all his mental strength to look nonchalant and confident when he reached for the door and closed it from inside. “Care to describe them to me?”
She was shivering, clearly still battling some doubts in her mind, or perhaps having another heated debate with her cat. Nick patiently waited, scared that she would send him away. He wanted her so much it hurt, and not just in a s****l way. He wanted to be near her, to touch her, hug and comfort her (he really was a good hugger, he wasn’t kidding about that). To feel that strange tingling sensation again, not just on his hand but everywhere this time.
Her scent got stronger and spicier and Nick closed his eyes, taking deep breaths to savor it, even though it only made his erection harder. Kate’s finger traced the outline of his chin and she hummed quietly, no doubt feeling the sparks jumping between them just as well as he was. “Are you sure?” Her voice was husky and she leaned closer to his neck, inhaling deeply. “Cats don’t submit to anyone.”
“We’ll see about that.” It was a mystery how he managed to sound so confident in front of her despite having literally zero experience with women. Perhaps Adira’s presence helped boost his meager self-confidence, her excited nodding when he said those words helping him sound calm and strong even though he felt the exact opposite of those things.
A mischievous smirk twisted Kate’s expression and her hand reached for the doorknob. She locked the door with a loud click, a corner of her mouth curling up even higher. “No escape now, wolf.”
***
Next update: Monday
- Writer
