Urquia

Chapter 15: You can't make a tortilla without breaking some spines and who is Gondor???

*Nathan's POV*

I didn't want to leave her, but my wolf and I were suspecting something was going on. Her whole demeanor changed after her sister called. It was like she was hiding something, but I couldn't figure out what.

She put her walls up between us in an instant, like an actress dropping character. On my way to the car, I even heard her say she wants to bite me with my enhanced hearing.

-'But was it us?' Shadow asks.

-'No, I don't think so. I think it's her kids. You noticed how her eyes flickered and became almost impossible to read afterward.'

When I get in the car, I link Ramirez on my way back to have him take the car back. Tom is following her from the rooftops of the warehouses and tells me she watched how I drove back. A few moments later, she went to another warehouse at the end of the street.

Why would she go there? Maybe she had more recycling stuff there. An hour passes, and my wolf is getting anxious.

-"Hey, you got home safe?" I send her a message. Bing.

-"Oh yeah, sorry about that. The kids got up, and then I kinda forgot I had to text you back. I'll talk to you tomorrow, goodnight."

-'That was cold,' Shadow says.

-'It does seem off, right?' I wonder.

Every time we've spoken, she's been so soft and flirty with me. And she opened up to me. She told me her dark secret; she was vulnerable with me. Now she's suddenly cold? Shadow whimpers, feeling rejected.

-'I don't think it's like that at all. Something's off.' I try to distract myself from all these doubting thoughts, and Tom just tells me random stuff about the pack.

Almost four hours pass, and she still hasn't come out. Maybe she needed alone time? Maybe I've been too fast? Or too much? I can see, smell, and feel her reaction to me, but maybe he broke her more than I thought.

-"She's your mate, isn't she?" Tom finally asks.

-"She is," I admit. -"The moon goddess brought her back to me."

-"She is great, man. She's kind and loving, and she takes good care of the people around her. She makes everybody smile around her. She'll be a great Luna for our pack," Tom says.

Suddenly, we hear noise coming from below. She comes out, a bit pale and with a controlled, stern face—that mask she puts on when she's handling a rough situation.

After her, Cris walks out too. They both lean on the wall and take a deep breath, holding it before letting it out in a slow sigh.

-"You okay?" Cris asks her sister, opening a beer and passing it to her.

-"Crazy people don’t know they’re crazy. I know I’m crazy, therefore I’m not crazy, isn’t that crazy?" she says, taking the beer.

-"Ayee, drink up me hearties, yo ho!" Cris says in a weird voice, and they drink up.

My mate says, -"I did what I had to do, but you know what worries me the most? I didn't even flinch. I don't have any remorse. Hell, I'd do it again just out of curiosity," as she lets herself fall to the ground.

She looks up, so we hide and just listen.

-'Nate, what's she talking about?' Tom mind-links.

What the heck? Why are they being so weird?

-"Don't say that. You gave them a lot of chances to tell you the truth, and they chose to lie to you, and you did what you had to do for the safety of our family. Damn, even for Nathan, Leo, Tom, and Ramirez AND their wives' sake. You can't make a tortilla without breaking some spines," Cris says, chuckling, trying to lighten the mood.

I look toward Tom.

-'What the f**k is going on? Have they seen you guys? Have you talked to them? How do they know you?' I blurt out through the mind link. Tom has his eyes widened, and he can't even answer me.

-"Momma, stop thinking like that. What we've done to those men was necessary. Think about Dami, Dee, and Sam. They are the ones who are important. I'd do it again and even more, you know that. And babe, trust me, you are very soft for a torturer. Remember what I did to that pervert? That was way worse, and it even made you sleepless. But we did what we had to do, and he can't hurt anyone now." Cris says.

-"Yes, but you just avenged what he did to those little kids. And I finished the job when you couldn't. And you didn't even look at me for weeks!" Andy says.

-"Yeah, but because I couldn't stand the pity eyes you gave me, like I'd break or something, not because I judged you."

-"I know," Andy sighs while taking a sip.

-"And even then, you killed him quickly. I would have made him suffer more than a month. You were kind even with him, and now you were kind with the men back there," Cris says.

-"I think I'm broken, Cris. It's not only that I can inflict such pain without even blinking, it's that I really don't care, I'm numb. God, you even heard me giggling like a damn psychopath," Andy says, exasperated.

She rubs her face with her hands.

-"What will the kids think? What about Mom and Dad? Will they be scared of me? What am I going to tell Nathan? 'Hey Nathan, you have to know I've got bodies in my closet, I occasionally torture, and I'll be taking down almost fifty more people... oh, but don't worry, it's to protect you, your family, and mine too so that we'll stop running around the world, so don't mind that. I like you. Would you be my boyfriend?'" She babbles.

At that, I am already a few levels up of WTF?!?!?! My head is spinning in all kinds of directions. Tom is freaking out with his eyes almost out of their sockets. I bet my face looks the same.

-'She killed and tortured?' he says through the link.

-'She likes me,' I say back with a goofy grin on my face.

-'She wants to be my girlfriend,' Shadow is wagging his tail.

I knew we were right. Something was going on, but not with us. Now, with this new information, we need to know what's really going on. She said she was going to kill fifty more to protect us and her family. What the hell did that mean? I need answers, and I will get her to answer me.

-"You had that much fun, huh?" Cris comments with a smile.

-"Best date I've ever had, Cris, you have no idea. I'm so whipped I'm afraid I'll give in before knowing him. What if he turns out just like Voldemort? What if he's a wolf in a sheep costume? What if he breaks me even more? I can't go through that again," my mate says.

-"Well, what if he's your soulmate? You'll never know if you won't give it a shot. And if anything goes south, well... I'll be here to bury the body," Cris chuckles.

-"Yep, you are WAY worse than me," Andy chuckles back. -"Why Is The Rum Always Gone?" She sighs when her beer bottle is empty.

-"We have to tell them. All of them. It'll take us long to track his f*****g minions, so they have to be ready. And we have to secure Nathan and his people. I won't let those Uruk-hai harm my people," she says, a bit lightened up.

-"THE BEACONS ARE LIT, GONDOR CALLS FOR AID!" Cris yells with a weird voice. They both start laughing hard.

-'Umm, who's Gondor?' Tom asks.

-'Don't know, maybe another code name?' I shrug.

Then they both say, -"AND ROHAN WILL ANSWER!" and they start laughing again.

Okay, right in this moment, I am so confused I don't even know where to start asking.

What I do know is we have more in common than I thought. She's like two beings in one body, too. There's her sweet, kind, and caring persona, and then there's this other side—fierce, ruthless, and so powerful it could scare the s**t out of you.

She has two contradicting faces of the same coin: different, but the same altogether. And I am absolutely in awe of both of them.

They go back in, and after a while, they go home. I go to the pack. I need to think about how to get her to open up even more.