Betrayal - The Matlock Pack: Book Two

Chapter 14_Part 1 - Auden

Saturday 23 January

~*Auden*~

“Sorry for the delay, Nahi. I’d forgotten how badly morning sickness used to affect me.”

Nahi waved her hand in the air to disregard my worries. “We could have cancelled and tried again Tuesday. We didn’t have to do it today.” She looked across the centre console at me while I gripped the steering wheel. “Are you sure you’re okay to drive?” Her eyes were full of concern as they noted the thin sheen of sweat covering my forehead.

I glanced over at her and gave her a small smile before returning my attention to the road. “Driving would be better than being a passenger at the moment.” I swallowed back the nausea threatening my throat. “I don’t think I can cope with motion and morning sickness at the same time.”

“Okay,” she murmured, not sounding convinced at all. Worry and disbelief were plenty clear on her face, but she refrained from pushing any further, preferring to return her gaze to the passing greenery as we drove to Bunyip. She had needed some supplies and books for class with Cody that required the use of a car instead of her typical vanishing act.

I didn’t mind. It gave me a chance to talk to Tuka more about what to expect with a baby mystic. Plus, I felt more at peace in Bunyip Forest than I had for a very long time.

Almost like I was coming home.

What I couldn’t figure out, though, was whether those feelings were my own or those of the tiny life growing inside of me. I guess I’d figure it out when they were born.

I was grateful that Nahi joined me. It was at least a two-and-a-half-hour drive there, and the same back again, leading to an endless day in the car. Thank Goddess, we only had to make the trek occasionally.

“Can I ask a question, Nahi?”

She shifted in her set to face me. “Of course.” There was no curiosity in her response, making me wonder if she knew exactly what I was going to ask. I hated it when she did that.

“Why do you favour Takeshi so much?” I kept my eyes firmly on the curving road we were on. I told myself it was because the slightest distraction could end in disaster in these hills, even though I had driven them hundreds, if not thousands of times before, but the truth was I was nervous about what her answer would be.

Silence stretched between us while Nahi contemplated how to respond. Just when I had about given up on her answering at all, she let out a soft sigh. “It’s not him I favour.”

I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “It certainly seems that way.”

I felt her shift again to face the passenger side window. “It might look it, but it’s not the case.” She paused before continuing. “I favour the Matlock pack, much to the annoyance of the other Bunyips. They believe my… skills… would be better suited elsewhere.” Her tone was bitter.

“You favour our pack?” I felt my forehead scrunch up as a small frown formed in between my eyebrows. “Why?” The Matlock pack wasn’t the biggest pack in the state, let alone the country. Someone as powerful as Nahi to favour it made no sense.

There was a lengthy pause before she answered. She raised her elbow to the windowsill and leaned her chin on her hand. “Honestly? I’m not sure.” She nibbled her bottom lip as she thought. “I’ve had this feeling for decades now that something is coming, and that certain Matlock pack members are integral to resolving it.” Nahi massaged her fingers into the base of her dreadlocks as her eyes flashed lilac in the window's reflection and let out a breath. “But I don’t know which members or exactly what it is that’s coming.”

“And you favour us because…?”

She glanced at me quickly in the reflection before returning her gaze to the passing trees. “Because if I don’t, things would be much worse. For everyone.”

I blinked, then shuddered as an uneasy feeling ran down my spine. There she goes with her ominous premonitions again. “So… What’s that got to do with Takeshi? I know you said you don’t favour him, but let’s face it, you don’t spend much time with the rest of the pack.” I c****d my head to the side to reconsider. “Well, until Cody, that is.”

She smirked. “I seem to recall that I tried to spend time with you, but you didn’t want the attention.”

Snorting, I lifted a hand and smacked her on the upper arm, much to her delight. “Don’t start.”

She shrugged, but the cheeky grin didn’t leave her face. “Simply calling it as I see it.”

“No, you’re simply trying to distract me from asking about your relationship with Takeshi.” I raised an eyebrow at her in accusation.

Her smile widened. “You don’t give up, do you?”

I chuckled. “You haven’t figured that out yet? I figured it would’ve been the first thing you learned about me.”

“Meh…” She put her hand out in the air flat and rotated at the wrist, then laughed at my reaction. “Takeshi is the pack alpha, which is a powerful position, both physically and mentally. But he doesn’t abuse that power. It sits there until he needs to spend it, but he only ever uses it to serve his pack.”

“That’s the role of alpha, though. Pack alphas everywhere do that.”

“Do they?” Nahi raised a disbelieving eyebrow at me. “Do they, really?”

I pursed my lips as I thought through her reasoning. She did have a point. There were plenty of alphas around the world that abused their power.

“He only ever asks for favours for pack members, never himself.” She sounded proud of Takeshi. “Our ‘relationship’, as you put it, is mutually beneficial for both parties—he gets what he needs to keep his pack strong; I get his surplus energy, which I try to either store for what is coming or channel back into your pack.”

“Oh.” I blinked slowly as I took her words in. “Okay.”

A wide, knowing grin appeared on her face. “Of course, the s*x is f*****g fantastic.”

I choked on a breath and stared at her before remembering I was driving. Coughing, I returned my gaze to the road, to adjust the wheel before I ran us completely off it.

“What? It is.” Her smile broadened ever further. “You’d know that if you gave him a shot.”

I felt myself blush like I hadn’t since I was in my early twenties. “Nahi…”

Nahi cackled in delight. “Honestly, you should try it. He’s hung like a horse.”

My blush deepened. It seemed she enjoyed making me uncomfortable. Goddess only knows I’d done the same often enough to my daughter and Nat. I guess it was about time that the world figured I was overdue for some teasing. “You know this conversation is entirely inappropriate, don’t you?”

She laughed more. “And he knows just how to hit that certain spot…” She was barely getting her words out due to how hard she was laughing.

“Okay, Nahi. You’ve proven your point.” My cheeks felt like they were on fire. Good Goddess above, this was embarrassing. No wonder Nat and Cody ran from me when I did it to them.

Nahi spent the next few minutes trying to calm down. She came close to settling several times, but after one glance at my still reddened cheeks, she was off again. I decided it would be easier if I remained quiet and let her start the next topic of conversation.

“Seriously, Auden. Why haven’t you made love to him yet?” Nahi desperately tried to swallow her giggles. “The s****l tension between you both has been stretched to breaking point for so many years now, I’m surprised you two didn’t do the deed the moment you were free from Jackie. It’s almost been a month since we released you from him.”

I scrunched my nose as she reminded me of my ties to my former husband. “Our relationship isn’t like that. Takeshi and I are friends. That’s all.” A sliver of doubt entered my mind as I thought back over some of our recent interactions. We were only friends. Weren’t we?

She narrowed her eyes, obviously not believing me. She let my words bounce around in the car for a minute before she carefully responded. “You know there’s nothing wrong with two consenting adults being ‘friends with benefits’, don’t you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course, I know that.” I tapped the steering wheel absently with my index fingers. This conversation was making me feel strange. Nahi had f****d Takeshi for business so often that it was weird having this sort of conversation with her, not to mention the nervous energy that floated around my midsection as I thought about Takeshi slowly and lovingly sliding his giant c**k into my—

“Good. I’d hate to think I was talking to someone who wasn’t enlightened enough to allow themselves to feel joy for the first time in over a decade.”

My eyes felt like sandpaper as I suddenly realised that I had been staring out the window for far too long. I swallowed heavily and blinked, dragging moisture to where it was needed, not where it was currently pooling. “Mm…” I murmured, although I honestly didn’t know what I was agreeing with. My mind was way too distracted by other things.

Much more interesting things.

~~~

“Hey Nat!” I called out to her before Nahi and I headed into Building Two, arms laden with Nahi’s things. “I’ve got something for you.” I shuffled what I carried to one hip and rummaged in my satchel for the mail I had collected on the way back from Bunyip. Nahi grinned; she knew what I was looking for.

Nat and Cody stopped in their tracks at the sound of my voice, halfway across the courtyard between the pack house and Building Two. They both turned around, but only Nat made her way over.

“What’s up Auden?”

“Ah, here it is,” I mumbled as I awkwardly pulled the large envelope from my bag and handed it over to Nat. “Your results came in.”

She froze, the envelope hovering halfway between us. She swallowed nervously, her eyes darting from me to the envelope and back again. “Already?”

“Mm-hmm,” I said, a broad smile emerging on my face, moving what I carried back into both of my arms. “They put a rush on it for me.”

Nat’s hands started trembling. Cody noticed something was up and wandered slowly over to us, her interest levels at peak-Cody. Once she saw the envelope in Nat’s hands, Cody started bouncing lightly on her toes, clapping her hands together in glee.

Nat ran her fingers over the edge of the envelope, nervously fiddling with the seal. She looked at me with such wide eyes.

“Go on.” I nodded at her with as much encouragement as I could muster, a confident grin plastered on my face. I glanced at Cody, who was still jumping up and down in excitement.

Nat ripped her way into the envelope and tore the contents out, her eyes flying over the pages, before squealing. “I passed!” She started jumping alongside Cody, even as she was still reading. “And my first choice accepted me!?”

Cody threw her hands up in the air before pouncing on Nat and wrapping her arms around her waist.

“Well done!”

“Congratulations!”

Nahi and I looked at each other and laughed when we realised that we’d spoken at the same time, before we turned our attention back to Nat. She was undoubtedly over the moon.

I was so happy for her. She needed some good news after the horrors she’d been through over the past couple of months. Ever since she woke up from her coma, she’d been filled with anger. It wasn’t directed at anyone in particular, more as an overwhelming sense of rage at the world. Not that I could say that I was all that surprised. If nothing else, she would be grieving the deaths of her parents for months, if not years, to come. I’d be more worried if she wasn’t feeling so irate all the time.

“Thanks!” Nat’s eyes were still absorbing everything on the pages in front of her when Cody nudged her in the side and looked pointedly at Nahi and I. “Oh! We’re headed for dinner. Did you guys want to join us?”

“No, you girls go on,” I said before looking at Nahi for confirmation. She took one look at what was in our arms and nodded her agreement. “We’ve got to get these things away. We’ll grab something later.”

Nat looked at both of us and shrugged. “Okay.” She turned her focus back on the paperwork.

I peeked at Cody who looked a little disappointed at us not joining them for dinner, but as she had the attention span of an over-excited six-week-old puppy, she quickly shifted her attention back to Nat and the paperwork she held.

Chuckling to myself, I glanced at Nahi and motioned towards Building Two. She nodded, and we both turned around and left the teenagers to do their thing. They never even noticed that we left.

We took the elevator up to the top floor of Building Two and were heading for Nahi’s apartment when we heard Takeshi’s voice call out from down the corridor.

“You ladies need some help?” He caught up with us just as Nahi swiped her wrist for entry into her apartment.

“If you’re offering, then yes, there’s more in the car.” I dumped the parcels I had been holding onto the kitchen bench and handed my car keys over to him.

He nodded and disappeared.

“Where do you want this, Nahi?” I cracked open the box and began pulling the contents out.

“Oh, anywhere there will be fine,” she said absently, pulling the tape off her own box. “I’ll finish putting everything away tomorrow.”

“You got it.” Several minutes went by as we got to work. It was five more minutes before I realised Takeshi hadn’t returned. I frowned as I flattened the box. “Let me find out where Takeshi’s got to.”

Nahi was sitting on the couch, flicking through a giant tome that rested on the coffee table in front of her. “Hm?” Her brow furrowed when she lifted her head to find me watching her. “Oh. Okay. Sure.” She immediately went back to her reading.

I chuckled as quietly as I could and headed for the door. I was halfway to the elevator when it dinged, then opened to a wall of boxes standing on four legs.

“Takeshi?”

“Auden? That you?” Takeshi’s muffled voice drifted out from behind the pile of cardboard now navigating its way out of the elevator.

“Yeah… Uh… What are you doing?”

“Making one trip.”

I closed my eyes, shook my head, and tried to hold back my laughter. Bloody men.

“Hi Auden!”

“Amittai?!”

“Yup. Could you open the door for us before we drop everything?”

“Uh, sure. Give me a sec.” I backtracked down the corridor and rapped on Nahi’s door. Takeshi and Amittai were stumbling behind me and were halfway to their destination when Nahi opened the door. “Have you got a wedge we can hold the door open with? I’m concerned these two idiots will end up slipping a disk if we don’t help them soon.” I swung my thumb at the oncoming storm of cardboard and rolled my eyes.

“I heard that!” Takeshi’s voice sang out.

“You were meant to!” I called back.

“Just friends, huh?” Nahi quietly asked me, with a sly grin and a raised eyebrow. She nudged the door wedge into place and made her way to the two stubborn fools to ease their burdens.

“Oh, shut up, you.”

She chuckled. “I’m just sayin’…”

I let out a low growl, which, of course, made her laugh harder.

“Takeshi?” Nahi stopped in front of one of the towers and started dismantling it from the top.

“Yeah?” His voice came from behind the other tower, which I began disassembling.

A small frown appeared as she paused a moment before continuing her ministrations. “Who’s your friend?” She removed a box from the top-centre and a face appeared.

“Hello there,” Amittai said as he winked at her.

“Nahi, this is Amittai. Amittai, this is Nahi,” Takeshi said, sounding resigned. “You two happen to be neighbours up here. I’m surprised you haven’t run into each other yet.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Nahi.” There was a sparkle I hadn’t seen in Amittai’s eyes for quite some time, not since he laid eyes on his ex-wife for the first time. They had split about a year after Black Saturday, the pressure and stress of going through the insurance and rebuild process becoming too much for them to navigate as a couple. Thankfully, they remained friends to this day. I removed the last box blocking Takeshi’s face from mine and I gave him a determined raised eyebrow. What the hell?

He rolled his eyes at me and mouthed the word ‘later’ at me. My raised eyebrow turned into a disgruntled frown. This had the makings of a phenomenally bad idea. Although Amittai knew about werewolves, he was still human, while Nahi was anything but. Encouraging them to be friends had all the hallmarks of a disaster waiting to happen.

“Lovely to meet you too, Amittai.” Nahi’s voice was slightly wary, but pleasant enough.

I coughed. “Let’s get these in…” I turned around and wandered back to Nahi’s apartment, not caring if anyone followed or not.