Chapter 38

Chapter 38

The third knock on the door forced me to open my eyes. I rose up from the bed with a frown over my face. The sheets shuffled above me as I tossed them aside and got up on my feet. Whoever was at the door wasn't stopping.

It took me a moment to reach the door as I hesitated it opening for Nicholas.

I didn't want to see him nor did I want to talk to him.

Not right now.

My hand wrapped around the handle. What if it was Nicholas?

I blew out a breath and finally opened the door, revealing Malik who stood prepared for another day of unnecessary training.

"What do you want?" I rubbed my eyes and asked, still groaning as I had been disturbed from my sleep.

"We are getting late." He cleared his throat and replied while standing a small distance away from the door.

"I don't want to go anywhere and I don't want to do anything, especially hunt things with you so leave me alone. I don't want to do anything." I snapped after recalling last night's interaction with Nicholas.

He infuriated me.

The sole thought that he knew I was his mate for three years and didn't even bother to tell me drove to the edge. It would've all been different if ever knew.

Malik didn't say anything. He just nodded and stepped back. I remained surprised by his reaction. Wasn't he meant to force me?

"So you're just leaving?" I rose a brow while still clutching the door.

"Yes," he shrugged. "I can't really force you. It's up to you."

"Where's your alpha?"

"I can't share those details either."

My lips thinned. He was back being the alpha's favorite puppy. "Is he here? In the house?"

"No."

Great.

I offered him a smile before closing the door and returning to the room to freshen up. Midst of splattering water on my face, realization hit me hard and a gloom spread over my face. I didn't know why I was feeling like this, but I surely was. I should've known better than to keep expectations.

After changing, I headed out of my room and glanced across the hallway. There was no one, no scent of him either which meant he was truly gone for now. I stepped forward, heading further deeper into the hallway till I reached the door of his bedroom.

It was slightly opened with a woman working inside, cleaning and dusting the floors. For a moment, my heart jumped as I expected Nicholas to be in there. He didn't even come to me after what he had done.

My frown deepened.

I waited near to the door for the maid to leave. It took her only a few minutes before she was going down the stairs and away. Once she was gone, I stepped in and hurriedly scanned through the entire room before searching for my mother's bracelet that was in his possession.

I didn't trust him with anything anymore. I didn't even know the kind of man he was. The rumors weren't too far from the truth.

He was a cruel man with a stone as a heart.

What would've happened if he told me? I wouldn't have killed him for it. The knowledge alone would've comforted me as I spent my time at the pack house, or even on the streets. Some hope I would carry along with me wherever I went and that was enough.

I knocked over one of the cabinets and hit the side of my leg. Groaning, I rubbed my skin while staring at the drawers at the lower of the cabinet. He must've kept it somewhere around here.

I kneeled and began going through the drawers, opening and slamming them shut roughly till I had found my mother's bracelet. It was in one of the drawers, wrapped up in a piece of silk. I grabbed the bracelet and smiled at the memory of my mother.

Everything else that she had was burned and even if it wasn't, by now it must've been. There was a fire in the town when I fled from there, after the attack. I doubted anything was saved or left alive.

Just as I held it in my hands and nearly stood up from the ground, I sniffed Nicholas, standing behind me, right behind me, only inches away. My heart dropped to the ground, but I didn't turn.

"What did I tell you about that thing?" He spoke behind me, his voice dark and menacing as it has always been. "Keep it back. You'll get it once you leave."

"It's mine." I gripped it tight.

He stepped forward and a chill ran down my spine as I felt the heat of his body nearly meeting with my back. "Keep it back." He repeated.

My hair tumbled over my shoulders before I opened the drawer again and placed my mother's bracelet back above the silk piece of cloth. Before standing up, I closed the drawer slowly. He inched closer to in the silence just when I was meant to turn and leave.

I truly didn't want to see his face.

One of his hands raised and his fingers brushed across my arm. I shivered in both delight and irritation—I wasn't sure what it was exactly.

He was my mate after all.

His other hand slipped near to my hair which fell from my shoulders, he brushed away the hair from one side and lowered his head. My teeth clenched tight. I turned my head the other way around and across the wall, I found a mirror, showing my reflection.

My face dulled in disappointment.

"The truth is I didn't want a mate," He started, his both hands wrapping around my shoulders as if he was making sure I didn't move away from him. "I never wanted one and I never believed I'd find one. I caught your scent when I was running across the Moonblade mountains and I came down, trying to find who you were. It was a while ago. You were with another group of females, some trip from the school. I didn't know and I left after that, believing it was just my mind playing tricks on me."

It took me a moment until I recalled the day he spoke about it.

A few weeks before graduation. The school had taken us to the Moonblade mountains. It was a long bus ride and we camped there over the night before heading back.

"Because how could you believe that you're mated to a runt?" I raised my brow and questioned.

"No," He shook his head behind me and ran his hands down my arms. "I didn't know you were until the graduation. It was the second and the last time I had seen you because I couldn't stop thinking about you. You were too young to know and I simply needed time to accept it." He explained, and I wanted to believe him. But how could I?

My gaze lowered at my reflection and I looked away momentarily.

"Why did you come that night?" I turned and asked him, meeting his eyes and searching for even a glimpse of truth in them. "Why did you come to me?"

"I had to see you and I had to be sure you weren't killed by my men. I didn't know you were going to trail them back here, or that you'd come straight to me. I wasn't ready for any of it." His words caught onto me. There was fear somewhere deep inside him, fear I hadn't seen before. Something threatened him, and it wasn't me.

"Are you ready now?" I asked, my eyebrows raised.

He stepped back, but his hands were still wrapped around my arms. A moment of the crippling silence passed. "I want you, but I don't want to have a family."

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