Nathan’s hazel eyes caught the light from my phone screen where Kai’s contact remained visible. With a glare as sickening as death itself, I maintained my stance.
"Please, let’s sit. I’ve come for something important, otherwise I wouldn’t risk my...head," he spoke, amused.
I raised my brows, unimpressed. "What I need from you right now is for you to leave me the fuck alone. How did you even find this place?"
"You’re not really good at hiding," he replied, the smirk dancing on his lips irritating me to the core.
"I swear, I’ll dial Kai right now, and you know what he’s going to do to you. You won’t survive this time around." My voice came out firmer than I expected.
Good. I needed him scared.
He scoffed, lips tugging to the side. "You’ve really outgrown your former self, Alex. I love that. I’ve always been drawn to that fierceness in you." His gaze narrowed teasingly toward me.
"Leave. Now."
"I’m not the enemy." He took a step forward, and my breath seized. Without thinking, I took one back. "For centuries, the Alphas of SilverFang have taken from us. There is no care in them toward the people they serve, and you know what I’m talking about, Alex."
His words stung even as I tried to mask it.
"Kai could have looked for you, but he didn’t. He’s given up on you, manipulated you into being the one who leaves, so he can eventually be with Leo. It is a tactic, and you’re playing right into it."
"So convenient, coming from you."
"I was never the bad guy," he spoke through his teeth.
"Yeah? Need I remind you of your offenses? Trafficking all sorts of illegalities." I murmured, eyes fixed on him, sincerely hoping he would not cross the line more than he already had.
Silence settled over us a second too long, and then Nathan sighed. His dark hair melted over his forehead, which he brushed to the side. The sound of the cup landing against the table made my heart leap sharply.
To my surprise, he sat, crossed his legs, and leaned back. "No, you won’t call him."
"What...?"
"Kai’s not coming. Wake up, Alex. He’s left you. You have no one else but me." He muttered, and I chuckled at that, though it came out bitter rather than mocking.
"I told you, they don’t care about you. The man you’ve given yourself to is an Alpha who will walk in the steps of his ancestors, shower in the order of his father, and do nothing but use you up, dump you, and leave you rotten for anyone else to pick up later."
As if he had not done enough to get under my skin, he sniffed the air and cracked out a laugh. "Oh, right. He’s already done that. He’s marked you indirectly."
My skin crawled, my left wrist rubbing the side of my neck as though to cleanse myself of Kai’s scent. All this time, I had only thought about how much it saved me, never the consequences attached to it.
"You’re lying."
"Take a seat, Alex. You’ll wear yourself out."
Nathan gave me time to comply, and after contemplating my options, I realized I had no other choice. Outside the window, the street darkened beneath eerie shadows, the tinkling lights from other buildings becoming the only rays reflecting into the room.
As if to make his demeanor even more unsettling, Nathan turned off every bulb.
"Good, Alex," he complimented once I sat opposite him, a feeble plastic table being the only thing separating us.
"What do you want?"
"To show you the truth. Why did you think Kai found you?" He let the words sink in, taking his time. Seeing as I would not reply, he continued. "He wants the Aetherblood. I came back to save you from him."
"How...how did you know about that?" The chair scraped back in response to my movement, my legs planted to the ground, ready to bolt if I had to.
"I know things, Alex, and I know your parents didn’t die in a car accident. You were made to believe that."
The frown deepening my brows bloomed into a subtle headache. "What do you mean?"
Nathan cleared his throat, standing with such composure, his hair draped over his brows and darkening the glint caught in his eyes.
He knew he was the center of attention now. He had caught me.
Agitation crept up my spine. I sat on the edge of the stool, eyes following him like he held the answer to every question I had ever asked. In truth, he did.
I had always wanted to know about my past.
However, the last person I expected to know anything about it was the man standing inches away from me.
"Come with me, Alex. If you must know the truth, then you must learn how to control it too."
Ah, there was the trick.
I caught you, bastard...
My expression softened before hardening into a scowl, the words ripping out of me. He’s a fox cornered by wolves.
"You’re a fucking bastard, Nathan. I’m not going anywhere with you. You think you can trick me? Hell, get the fuck out of my house. Now. And I swear I won’t repeat myself again."
He kept staring at me, unimpressed. "Well then, good luck finding out the truth by yourself."
With that, he slammed an item against the table, the legs creaking beneath the force of his shadowed anger. It reflected in his eyes even when it never touched his voice.
"I made a mistake coming here anyway."
"What’s that?" I asked just before he turned to leave.
His gaze lingered on me for a second longer before he continued toward the exit, leaving both the apartment and a thousand questions behind in my mind.
A part of me softened at the thought that perhaps I had been too harsh, but what else could I have done?
"Those dreams will come again, and let’s see what you do with them when they haunt the hell out of you." Those were his final words before he disappeared.
His silhouette vanished alongside his figure, swallowed into nothingness. My heart hammered violently against my chest. Slowly, I approached the item.
A relic of some sort.
The wrought metal material looked like something from centuries ago, ancient even in its design. In the middle of a circle made of dots sat a faded golden emblem of a sword coiled with thorned vines.
The realization dragged a vision across my sight.
"I’ve seen this," I muttered beneath my breath.
Raising my head, I hurried to the door, scanning the hallway, but Nathan was gone.
How did he know about Aetherblood?
How did he know about my dreams?
How did he get this sigil?
Tightening it in my palm, my mind roamed with the uncertainty of a terrible truth. Tonight of all nights, as unbelievable as it sounded, Nathan might not have been lying.
How else could he know of my family’s heirloom when even I believed it had been lost to the fire that night...?