Chapter 3 - Half truths and secrets
1265 Words
Elaine’s POV
I stood outside Noah’s school, arms crossed against the soft chill of late afternoon, watching as children spilled out of the building, laughing, yelling, and chasing each other with all the joy of freedom.
It had been three days since the wedding.
Three days since Nathan told me what he really was.
Not a criminal. Not a cheater.
Something worse.
Something… other.
No wonder I had always felt that strange pull to him. No wonder his touch burned and soothed all at once. No wonder his eyes went between ice blue and deep silver when he was angry. Or turned on. Or trying to hide something.
He wasn’t just hiding emotions.
He was hiding an entire world.
The mansion Nathan brought me to was beautiful, too beautiful. It sat far out in the countryside, with beautiful gardens, fountains, and rooms that looked like they belonged in a fairy tale. Or a dream. Or a trap.
In all the time I had known him, he had never told me he owned a place like this.
He had hidden so much from me.
“Mummy! Mummy!”
Noah’s voice brought me back from my thoughts. He ran up the sidewalk, arms waving, and wrapped his tiny arms around my legs, grinning up at me with those impossibly blue eyes that looked more and more like Nathan’s every day.
“My baby,” I murmured, leaning down to kiss the top of his head.
His cheeks were flushed from play, his backpack slipping off one shoulder.
“Where’s Daddy, Mummy?” he asked, looking around me with curious eyes, already scanning my brand new car waiting at the parking lot.
There it was again. The question he had asked at least ten times since the wedding.
I smiled, tired and hollow.
“Daddy has some important business, baby. He’ll be home soon.”
A lie.
I had no idea where Nathan was.
He married me, dropped the biggest truth of my life and vanished again.
It wasn’t supposed to affect me.
But I hated how often I thought about him.
I hated that I still hoped stupidly that maybe the wedding meant something real to him. Maybe he would stay.
But Nathan Kade was still an asshole.
Just a supernatural, beautiful, powerful one.
“Tell me what you learned in school today,” I said quickly, trying to distract Noah before he could ask again.
His face lit up.
“Miss Erica taught us about the sun! Did you know the sun is a star? And that it’s really, really hot but far away, so it doesn’t burn us?”
“I did know that,” I laughed. “But I’m glad you do too now.”
“Also, Daniel got in trouble again because he put glue in Sarah’s chair and then blamed Jason! But Miss Erica knew he was lying.”
He kept talking on as we walked toward the car, bouncing from topic to topic, his voice full of excitement and mischief. I listened carefully, not just to what he said but how he said it.
Nathan had warned me it might take time.
That the signs wouldn’t show overnight.
But every laugh, every question, every flash of emotion, I was searching. I was looking for something off. Something unnatural.
Because Nathan wasn’t human.
Which meant Noah might not be either.
Later that night, after dinner and a long bedtime story about pirates and dragons (which Noah made me read twice), I finally got a moment to breathe.
The house was too quiet.
I stood in the hallway outside Noah’s room, the soft sound of his breathing a comfort. He was safe. For now.
I went downstairs downstairs, barefoot, the marble floors cold under my feet. The windows and door were locked. Cold air still lingered in the room and I shivered cursing softly as I pulled my robe around myself. The help showed me how to put on the heaters but I was too tired to do that.
I poured myself a glass of wine, just one and curled up on the couch.
And then the front door creaked open.My heart stopped.
The security system didn’t beep. The locks didn’t click.
But someone was inside.“You should be asleep,” a deep, familiar voice said casually.
I turned sharply. Nathan stood in the doorway, tall and dripping from the rain, shadows clinging to him like a second skin. His eyes were unreadable, his dark hair plastered to his forehead. His shirt was soaked, clinging to his chest in a way that made my breath catch against my will.
“You brought me to this house,” I said coldly, rising to my feet. “You disappeared for three days. The least you could’ve done was call or let me know you were alive.”
He stepped in, taking off his coat and tossing it onto a chair.
“I had to take care of something, Elaine. I didn’t just disappear.”
“Like you disappeared five years ago?” My voice rose. “I’m still waiting to hear the exact reason you left me back then.”
His gaze locked onto mine. That strange silver shimmer appeared in his eyes, just for a second, like lightning flashing in a storm.
“I didn’t leave you, Elaine. I left to protect you.”
“Then why did you come back? Are you done protecting me now? Did you marry me just to ruin my life again?”
“Elly, don’t get like—”
“Don’t you dare call me that.” My voice trembled. “You lost the right to call me that five years ago.”
Anger flickered in his eyes. In the next instant, he was standing in front of me, faster than lightning. I gasped and fell back onto the couch.
He leaned over, his face just inches from mine.“I don’t think it’s wise to shout like that, Elly. I don’t want our son waking up.”
“He is my son,” I snapped. “You were never his father.”
His jaw tightened.“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, voice low. “All those times you tried to reach out... Why didn’t you say something?”
I froze. “So you did know I tried? You knew I almost lost my mind when you left?”
He looked away, guilt flashing across his
face.
“It’s complicated. I had to leave. If I hadn’t they would’ve hurt you.”
“Who’s ‘they,’ Nathan?” My voice broke. “Who or what made you pretend to love me and then abandon me?”
“I didn’t pretend,” he whispered. “I loved you then. I still love you now.”
“Liar,” I hissed, hitting him in the chest. “You’re a damn liar.”
“I’m not lying, Elaine. I’m telling you the truth.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me the full truth? Why are you just telling me about what you are? Why didn’t you tell me about this house? Why did you sneak back into my life and marry me?”
“I found out about our son, found out you had been pregnant and chose to hide it from me. I couldn’t let you be alone with him any longer. You would have been hurt.”
Half-truths. Half-truths.
I pushed him away and started to head to my room when I spotted a tiny figure staring at us from across the room.
Noah.
- Writer
