7
1123 Words
Nathan Pov
I quickly raised my head to stare at Ryan who was about to spill something he wasn’t meant to. This was meant to be a secret between us and divulging it now would not only bring chaos, but might disrupt the wedding which our father really wanted.
“Ryan!” I growled angrily as I gazed at him, panting heavily as though I were at the verge of pouncing on him.
My wolf growled in rage too and tried to take full control of me, but then, I was willing to withhold myself from that until the very end.
I couldn’t say what the whole force behind that was, but I needed no one to tell me that it was the mate bond.
There was a need for me to protect my mate, and I wasn’t ready to compromise that because of Ryan’s violent attitude.
“Why not take father out of the dark? Tell him and let he know if he is willing to go through this so-called marriage!” Ryan yelled out of his lungs and immediately, I shifted to my wolf form.
I hardly shifted into my wolf form in the house, except in extreme cases when I was pissed to the core.
My eyes shifted to Evelyn, who was clearly in shock. She was frightened and sort of scared, but I didn’t care much about that. Since Ryan wanted a fight, then he would get it.
He hasn’t mentioned anything pertaining to being Evelyn's mate too and so, we had shoved it aside with the conclusion that he wasn’t her mate. However, that gave him no right to talk about her in such a manner.
I growled and pounced on Ryan, who had also shifted into his wolf form. He snarled angrily and used his claws on my face.
I quickly held him and threw him to the far end of the dining hall, ignoring the noises coming from both my father and other brothers.
I walked over to Ryan and crouched low to his face.
“Don’t get me angry! Respect Evelyn even if you’re not her mate! She is not ready to say a word about this, don’t get her scared and nervous!” I whispered into his ears, after which I shifted back to my human form, breathing heavily and staring at the different eyes that stared back at me.
“What was that?” My father asked as he walked closer to me.
I wore a small smile, after which I clasped my hands together to apologize.
“I’m so sorry! Please — forgive me”, I said and bowed my head in respect.
My father turned to look at Ryan, who was currently nursing the wound he had sustained on his neck.
“You suddenly started fighting with your brother, and you say that it’s fine?” My father asked with his eyes red in rage.
I gulped down hard again and shifted my eyes to Evelyn, who was looking at me with a worried gaze.
I made to talk, but my father grabbed me on my shirt and peered piercingly into my eyes. I could tell that he was angry and sad that we had behaved so irresponsibly right at the front of the woman he wanted to get married to and her daughter.
“Alpha!” Evelyn said and walked over to us in a jiffy.
She was breathing hard and clearly trying to think of what to say.
“Please, it’s not his fault! It’s my fault”, she said, and for a minute, I thought that I had heard wrongly.
Was she trying to tell him the truth? Even if I had just covered up for her?
“Evelyn!” I wanted to say, but she smiled and gestured for me to be quiet.
“Last night, I was so hungry and all I could do to help myself was strolling over to the kitchen to help myself with some food. Ryan caught me and kept telling me to report myself to you”, Evelyn said to my father, who took in a deep breath and nodded in understanding.
“Nathan was only trying to protect me since he thought Ryan was attempting to intimidate me”, Evelyn continued, and I couldn’t help but open my lips in surprise.
She had just saved the situation with a single lie.
“I’m sorry! It’s my fault. I should have told you what happened”, Evelyn said as she lowered her eyes to the ground.
My father patted her on the shoulder and started laughing aloud.
“Don’t mind Ryan! That is not a crime. You can always go into the kitchen whenever you want and that would never be a bad thing”, my father continued, while Evelyn smiled and nodded her head in understanding.
We all returned to the table, even if Ryan kept throwing dead glares at me. We rarely fought, and I could tell how surprised he was to see me shifting just to fight for a girl.
“I’m sorry”, I finally apologized to him using the mind link.
He was restless and I could feel this.
“She is my mate! I have to protect her feelings”, I continued, still using the mind link to communicate to him.
“It’s fine”, his response was short and swift, but I was glad that we got everything sorted out.
We got done with the dinner and everyone dispersed from the dining hall. My eyes shifted to Evelyn, who was still sitting down and lost in thoughts.
“Aren’t you leaving yet?” I asked with a worried expression, while she smiled and shook her head negatively.
“I want to wait for a while. I just need a moment to myself”, she said calmly.
I could imagine how she currently felt and without uttering another word, I walked over to her.
I pulled her into a warm hug and patted her on her shoulders.
“You are strong! We would get through this”, I assured her, while she smiled in between her smiles of uncertainty.
“Thank you so much for trying to help me out!” She said and smiled again.
Again, I hugged her. I felt as though she required more hugs at this point, and I was willing to give them to her.
“Whenever you need me, remember that I’m only a second away!” I said, after which I dashed out of the dining hall.
It was night already, and the next day was a big one, not just for my father, but the pack.
- Writer
