Anger of the Devil

6. A house is not a home

Nadia was beginning to feel the burn in her arms as she carried her third bag to her new quarters. She couldn’t help frowning a bit as she saw her sister Cassie stroll by her with a massive box without breaking a sweat. Freaking werewolf strength. However, she was determined to carry her own stuff and she was going to do so without giving away how hard it actually was. Alas, she could feel the beads of sweat starting to form on her forehead which just made her frown even harder. 

She had initially not wanted to move to the new housing, but she hadn’t known how to tell her dad. Though her dad had seemed to have accepted her past choices, he was still as protective of her as he had always been. Besides, she was kind of shy about it. The only reason why she wanted to stay at the main house was Nathan, and though he had been nothing but sweet to her, she still needed to process everything. They had only started to actually get to know each other less than two months ago, and though the thought of him was consuming most of her free time, she still missed that determination in her that she had seen others have whenever they had found that special someone that they were meant to love forever. Love. That thought troubled her as well. Did she love him? She definitely had strong feelings for him, but the fact was that they had scarcely spent any time with each other. They had seen each other only five times before she had convinced him to go to the Lake Maroon Pack with her, and after that he had been helping Alpha Logan most of the time. Of course there was that one night, but Nadia couldn’t even think of that night without turning beet red so she reserved those thoughts for when she was alone. 

    “Need any help?”

Nadia had nearly walked halfway to the house, and there stood Cassie looking fresh-faced as if she hadn’t just carried all her stuff inside five times as fast as Nadia. Nadia raised an eyebrow as she grabbed her bag tighter. 

    “I know you mean well, Cass, but getting help from the one family member who’s actually smaller than I am is where I draw the line.”

Cassie laughed a bit as she reached out to take the bag. 

    “You have helped me plenty with all kinds of other stuff like school and playing with me whenever I felt left out by the other kids. See it as the only thing that I can help you with. Please?”

The earnest and sweet look in Cassie’s eyes were hard to ignore. Nadia rolled her eyes a bit as she let Cassie take the bag. 

    “You do know that’s normal big sister stuff, right?”

Cassie shrugged as she smiled. 

    “But it made me feel loved, so who cares if it’s normal?”

Nadia smiled as she relaxed a bit. 

    “Thank you.”

Cassie gave her a wide smile before she looked behind Nadia. 

    “Besides, I think that someone wants to talk to you.”

Nadia turned to see Nathan leaning against a tree while looking at her. She then turned to look at Cassie once more. 

    “Be honest; do I look like a sweaty mess?”

Cassie tilted her head slightly. Her face got a bit more serious as she studied Nadia, which made Nadia lift her eyebrow once more. 

    “Could you think about it a little harder?”

Cassie giggled a bit before she walked away with Nadia’s bag. Nadia took in a deep breath, dried her face with her arm, and turned to walk towards Nathan. 

Nathan started to smirk a bit as Nadia got closer. 

    “Yeah yeah yeah, I look like a mess. But guess what, this being human stuff is hard work I’ll let you know.”

Nathan’s smile grew wider and spread to his eyes. 

    “You look beautiful. You could be covered in dirt from head to toe and you would still look beautiful.”

Nadia could feel herself turning red, but she tried to play it down. 

    “Be careful what you wish for. I may very well try to prove you wrong by getting dirty.”

The sentence had just escaped her mouth when she realized what she had said. The flush in her cheeks got even warmer as her eyes grew bigger. The look on Nathan’s face, however, grew slightly darker.

    “Getting covered in dirt! That’s what I meant!”

Nadia closed her eyes as she almost screamed internally. Good job, Nadia, way to keep it cool. She had barely begun her inner scolding of herself when she felt a hand touch her cheek and warm breath in her ear. 

    “If that isn’t wishful thinking then I don’t know what is.”

His voice was hoarse and deep as he whispered into her ear. Every hair on Nadia’s body rose as amazing chills spread through her body. She could feel and hear Nathan inhale as he buried his nose in her hair. She felt as if she was about to melt when he stepped back a bit and made her come back to reality. She frowned a bit before she forced herself to look at him. 

    “Can we forget that I said that? For now?”

Nathan smirked a bit, his eyes still dark. 

    “Sure… for now.”

He then started to look behind Nadia where several members of the White Pines Pack were unloading trucks filled with stuff from their former pack grounds. 

    “How is moving going? Are you guys settling in?”

Nathan’s tone had shifted from the seductive voice to one that seemed more normal, however, Nadia was almost certain that she could sense something sad in it. She turned to look at the amount of White Pines Pack members rushing in and out of different houses.

    “It’s going fine. It’s quite hectic and I’m completely useless, but it’s nice being surrounded by family again, especially in these times.”

Nadia turned back around to look at Nathan once more only to find him looking even more sad than before. 

    “I can imagine.”

Nadia closed her eyes and sighed internally as she shook her head. 

    “s**t, I’m sorry. I… I keep on saying things, you really shouldn’t listen to me, I’m…”

Nadia turned her head and looked at her feet. 

    “Nadia, look at me.”

Nadia now sighed audibly before she raised her head to look at Nathan. He still looked sad, but the smile on his face reached his eyes. 

    “It’s okay for you to be happy that your family is here. I know that I’ve had little to do with your family for many years now, but I know that you guys are tight. I’ve never been like that with my father. Do I wish he had come to help us? Yes. But the truth is that I don’t see my father as family as I see your family as family. My father is my family, and many from my pack are my friends. I do care about them. But for most parts my pack house was just that; a house, It was never filled with love and safety. It wasn’t a home. In fact…”

Nathan stopped. Nadia could tell that he was having a conversation with himself. 

    “What?”

Nathan reached out as he gently tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

    “I haven’t felt like I’ve had a home since my mother died. At least not until I got here with you.”

The insecurities that Nadia had felt mere moments ago vanished as she stepped closer to Nathan and kissed him. His hands were fast as they grabbed the back of her head, fingers tangling into her hair. She felt herself getting guided to walk backwards and she soon felt herself getting pushed up against a tree. One of Nathan’s hands started to wander downwards as it stroked her body until it grabbed her waist. 

    “You have no idea what effect you have on me.”

His words felt warm on her lips. It ignited something in Nadia as her own hand started to explore Nathan’s chest.

    “Tell me.”

A low groan escaped Nathan’s mouth as he pushed even closer to her. 

    “I think of you all the time. When I’m alone at night I can’t sleep because I have a hunger for you that can’t be satisfied even by the most elaborate thoughts. I constantly reimagine our night together and then the wolf in me howls to touch you, to have you, to devour you. It’s the most delicious torture I have ever tried, and I fear and hope that it’ll never stop.”

Nadia moaned slightly before she considered Nathan’s words.

    “The wolf in you… how does it think of me?”

Nathan slowed down as he pulled back just an inch to look into her eyes. 

    “It…” He stopped. “Why do you ask?”

Something dark twirled in Nathan’s eyes, something darker than Nadia had seen before. 

    “I just had this thought, and it may be nothing, but since I have no idea how that part of it feels I need you to answer me honestly. I won’t get scared, I promise.”

Nathan’s breathing had gotten faster as if something had poked something inside him. 

    “Remember when I said that I sometimes feel as if I have to protect you from myself?”

Nadia nodded. Nathan’s jaw clenched as he continued.

    “Like that. Like you have something inside you that can make you afraid of what you might do. But I won’t ever let that part win, you need to trust me on that.”

His voice had gotten a pleading and somewhat desperate quality to it. Nadia leaned forward and rested her forehead on his. 

    “I trust you. Thank you for telling me.”

Nathan’s jaw was still clenched as Nadia tenderly kissed his bottom lip. She could feel his muscles relax a bit as she gently let the tips of her tongue caress his lip. 

    “You’re right. A house is not necessarily a home, ‘cause home is where the heart is. You should move in with us instead of staying at the Maroon Manor. We may not be your family in its original sense, but there are people who care for you there. And if nothing else, I’ll be there and I definitely care.”

Nathan huffed a laugh as he lovingly bit her lip. 

    “I very much intend on making you my family in the original sense. And thank you. I’ll consider it until I come back.”

Nadia leaned back to look at Nathan with furrowed eyebrows. 

    “Come back? Where are you going?”

Nathan looked down and touched Nadia’s hand in a featherlike way. 

    “California. To see my father.”

Nadia opened her mouth to speak when she suddenly heard someone yell her name. She discreetly lurked from behind the tree to find Alex looking around the place. She quickly turned to look at Nathan again. 

    “When will you leave?”

Nathan peaked to see if Alex had seen them before redirecting his focus on Nadia. 

    “After Lucas Ashwood's Alpha ceremony tomorrow.”

Nadia could feel her heart beat rapidly in her chest as she processed his words. 

    “Nadia! Where the hell are you?”

Alex had gotten closer, and though Nathan wasn’t a secret, she didn’t feel like getting caught like that by her brother. 

    “I should go. I’ll make sure that we’ll properly say goodbye before I leave. Promise.”

He leaned in and gave her a forceful kiss before he turned on his heels and disappeared into the forest. Nadia’s head made a thump as it hit the tree behind her. She definitely loved him.