Nicholas’s POV
"You... punched me?"
I looked at my hands in horror, then at Elijah who stared at me in disbelief, still holding his jaw.
Instead of apologizing, I pointed at him like I was afraid. "You deserve it, you pervert!" I yelled and the next second, I was out of the restroom.
I walked as fast as I could and left the university, praying that Elijah wouldn’t follow me. When I glanced back and saw that he wasn’t behind me anymore, I let out a sigh of relief.
But I didn’t take the route back to the mansion. Instead, I walked down an alley and walked out the deserted road, my hands in my pockets as I kept my head down.
I suddenly heard sounds from behind me and I turned in an instant, looking around to see that there was no one behind me. I was on edge and alert as I continued walking down the empty street.
I could feel that someone was following me but when I turned around, there was no one there. I knew it wasn’t Elijah, he wouldn’t hide around to follow me.
It was either that I was being paranoid, or it was someone else following me. I turned down the next corner and waited to see if anyone would show up. But when there was no one, I let out a sigh of relief and concluded that I was being paranoid.
I finally made it to the store hidden deep behind some trees, and after looking around to see no one was following me, I walked in. The man at the door made sure I was scanned before being allowed to walk in.
"Nicholas." The storekeeper called out when he saw me, a look of surprise on his face. "You’re back early. Didn’t you get new supplies a few days ago?"
"I know. They’re out. I think my heat cycle is around the corner. My wolf is refusing to be controlled." I muttered in despair and he sighed, nodding in understanding.
"Shame. We don’t have any more supplies now." He said and my heart sank. "But I already placed an order. You know we can’t afford getting caught so you’ll have to be patient for a few days."
"How long?" I asked, my hands were already shaking as I spoke. "I now live with alphas and I’m on the verge of getting exposed. I don’t know how long I can stay without these supplies." I confessed and he looked at his computer for a while.
"About three to four days." He replied, and I almost collapsed. "Arrival would take three days. You know how this works, Nicholas."
"I know. I’m sorry. I’m just so on edge." I muttered, and he looked at me for a moment.
"If you can’t be patient, then just get fucked. It’ll help a lot."
My ears turned red when I heard his words and the four alphas appeared in my vision for a moment.
"You know I can’t do that. My pheromones will be everywhere and the alpha will find out my identity. What if they take me as a sex slave? Or abduct me? I can’t risk it." I pointed out and he grunted softly, placing his hands on his chin.
"Then take matters into your own hands. Pleasure yourself. Get a sex toy if you can." He suggested and this time, my face burned red as I shook my head violently.
"I’ll just wait for four days." I said in despair and he snickered as I made my way out of the store.
Four days. Could I actually endure that long?
I returned to the alley and walked out, looking around until I was sure no one was there before taking the route back to the mansion.
The security at the estate didn’t waste time to let me in, I was already recognized by them as one of the Blackthornes. By the time I arrived home, it was silent, except for the maids and guards who moved around.
My mom wasn’t home either, so I figured out that I was the only one at home. I quickly popped a few suppressant pills into my mouth, changed my clothes and then went downstairs to eat to my satisfaction.
I even snuck some into my room because I knew I’d be hiding in my room once they returned. By the time I was done, I walked around the house freely, searching for doors that could somehow lead me outside.
But there were no back doors. No escape route. This mansion was like a trap that I couldn’t escape from and I hated it so much.
Cars arrived at the mansion and I immediately bolted to my room and slammed the door shut, locking it tightly. As long as I remained locked up, I would be fine.
Or so I thought.
When Elijah returned, he knocked on my door over and over until I had to yell for him to leave.
"Where did you go after school? Why couldn’t I find you?" He asked, still knocking and I groaned in frustration.
"Because I have a life to live and I’m not obliged to tell you everything that happens to me!" I snapped and he snickered, tapping on the door gently.
"You know, after punching me today, you made me realize how intriguing you are. And I’m not giving up on you." He muttered and I kicked my legs in despair as I threw my pillow at the door again.
"Please go away and leave me alone."
"Not until you open the door." He replied so I ignored him and tried to act like I didn’t hear him knocking.
He finally got tired and left, making me let out a sigh of relief as I walked up to the door and placed my ear against it. He was finally gone.
Two days in, and I knew that Elijah was a troublemaker just like his father said and that Roman was a tease. I haven’t had any weird interactions with Adrian and Cassian except when I bumped into him this morning.
And I hoped to keep it that way. They were trouble and I didn’t like trouble one bit.
I skipped dinner and ended up eating the extras I had carried to my room earlier before lying on the bed. Surprisingly, Mom didn’t come to check on me so I figured she must be busy.
I had only fallen asleep for two hours when I woke up to pain coursing through me like I had somehow walked into the pit of hell.
I tried to get out of bed but my legs gave way and I fell to the ground so hard that my shoulder felt it. My wolf wouldn’t stop howling in dissatisfaction and I was the one who had to suffer through his tantrums.
"That’s enough for fucks sake." I pleaded as I curled into a ball but the pain only grew and I let out a soft cry of pain.
My body was so fucking hot that I thought I was burning up. My muscles were so stiff that I couldn’t even bring myself to move.
"It hurts..." I mumbled in pain as a tear rolled down my face but that didn’t make it stop. With a groan, I tried to crawl but every single movement I made was like I was piercing myself with needles over and over again.
Despite the pain, I kept crawling toward the bathroom, groaning when it became too much to handle. By the time I reached the bathroom, I stumbled inside and laid under the shower as I turned it on.
The water was so cold that I shivered but the heat inside me? Unquenchable.
I writhed and groaned under the water for hours until I finally felt it subside slowly. By the time the pain and heat were gone, I was shivering under the cold shower.
I finally turned the water off and dried myself off as I returned to my room only to see it was already past 4 am.
Collapsing onto the bed, I finally fell asleep.
The next morning, just as I made my way downstairs, Adrian was standing by the dining table and he said something that made me freeze in horror.